Qualify Hard, Sell Soft – Getting To Yes, Through Next…

We all know that time is money.  When you own a small business – it becomes more and more apparent when you find yourself saying, “there just aren’t enough hours in the day” or “I couldn’t get anything done today with all the interuptions.”  And in the end - the person that directly effects is you – and your bottom line.

So, how do you get through the day with more time on your hands?  There are dozens of tips and ideas for doing so, and making your business more effective, but we’ll begin with:

Qualify Hard and Sell Soft -

So, what does this mean?  Well, in the past, businesses selling things and especially the sales people making the approach, were encouraged to qualify soft and sell hard (present the features, and then apply heavy handed tactics to close the sale.)  This progressed to Qualify soft, sell soft – where the sale takes on the feel of a relationship – albeit a somewhat laissez faire one.

In today’s marketplace, you can save the potential client and yourself a great deal of dancing (read “wasted time”) by asking pointed direct questions that will help qualify the sale, so you can ask 5-10 minutes later – “are we now in a position to do business together?”  Most people frown on this approach, but it is far and away the most effective method.  People don’t want to use it because it seems almost sure to cause some people to walk away.  But really, if they walk away due to a few tough questions – would they EVER have been a customer – and how much time would it take to find out?  This is what we mean by getting to yes, through next.  Instead of hearing no – hear next – and understand the customers who are qualified are the ones you want in the first place.

Qualifying hard isn’t meant to upset – it is meant to engender honesty, integrity and trust right upfront, and show the potential client you care more about the business being right for BOTH of you, than you do anything else.  And personally, that will get me to “be someone’s friend” much faster than anything else.

So, what questions do you want to ask?Understanding what the customer wants, if they are new, or shopping around, if they’ve ever bought widgets before, if they enjoyed that experience, if not – why not, and more are all key to bringing them into your world and making them your customer – oftentimes, when qualifying is done right, it means they are yours for life.

If you want to know more about the idea of qualifying hard and letting the sale fall into place by sharing, you can drop me a line with questions or thoughts.

Inking the Deal?

35 trillion dollars is a lot of money, folks….and that’s what’s at stake in the new black gold market – printer ink refills.  We did our research and we have two recommendations for you – one is the established franchise company who resells refilled catridges – Catridge World.  They have over 700 locations worldwide and are reputable and reliable from our experiences.  The other is an entreprenurial startup which has unlimited potential for changing the way in which those who like to do-it-themselves can refill cartridges, and can even provide a business of it’s own.

 

Option #1 

Cartridge World allows you to save up to 40% under the costs of new cartridges – which is impressive – and helpful to the bottom line.  In addition, by working with them, you can help save the environment – one cartridge at a time.  Schools also can benefit from the catridges for cash program.  The refilled cartridges carry a warranty stroger than most new cartridges and delivery can be arranged.  Learn more and find the Cartridge World nearest you.Option #2

 

Next up, we found a great new company that serves the SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) crowd as well as small-medium sized companies and the entreprenuerial DIY (Do-it-Yourself) crowd.  Founded by Lenny “Inkman” Greene - who has been in the imaging business over 30 years – and built three companies from the ground up – FreeInk4Life is pretty amazing.  Most of the DIY kits we’ve seen from here all have a few fatal flaws – mostly low quality ink, or hard to follow instructions (or no instructions at all, even!) 

In addition to providing a world class series of instructions on cd-rom and updated online, the FreeInk4Life system includes some other amazing perks (now and ongoing, as in “for life.”) 

The kit is in an easy to carry, easy to work from briefcase style box.  All inks are top quality, and run the gamut from photo to dye and pigment inks – and are all in 65 ml bottles.  There is an included tool kit and no syringes, either.  Guesswork of where to drill each cartridge is eliminated, and this makes the system easy to use, while the 3 ml delineations on the bottles make overfills and miscalibrations a thing of the past.

• But the REAL kicker is holding true to “Free Ink For Life” – unlimited free ink for life (including the pigmented/archival ink) – and you can re-order your free ink online any time 24 hours a day @ FreeInk4Life.tv

Finally, for the entrepreneur out there, this is a prime opportunity to be your own “InkMan or InkWoman” – an opportunity to start your own personal inkjet refilling (with a price suggestions for your customers), with experienced professional tech support to answer all of your refill questions, so you can earn as you learn.

Top 9 Trends for Marketing

Top 9 Trends For Marketing

Get moving on mobile – by 2008, almost 90% of all brands will send text and rich messages to mobile devices, which now include phones, web browsers, mp3 players and will soon begin to replace the plastic cards in your wallet.  Seriously!

Big Ole Boomers – this is the only segment of population growing right now, and 25% increase in next few years.  Boomers are retiring earlier, and wanting more – find a niche and drive it home – especially if you can find a way to help meet their needs.

Learn to keep it simple – really simple – for syndication – RSS feeds can reach people more than email, and easier, for wanted info from a trusted source.  This will replace opt-in email’s current role and allow people to get the info they request.

Friendly Encounters – finding friends on the social networks has never been easier as they boom and grow – invite folks to come hear more, learn about you and find the good stuff they would otherwise be missing.  Don’t be afraid to be real – the internet online networking community requires a large degree of transparency.

Get Smart – with Smart Bomb Marketing (go Agent 69 on them!)– as in, messages that work within the space they are seen, on articles people didn’t expect to find them on.  Be creative – use Sidewalks, Hubcaps, parking tickets, more.

Take a step up. Take a new level with your brand, for a better price. But still keep the same midlevel offering. Given a choice, people often take the best value. “They may not always remember what they pay, but they will always remember what they got.”

Blog is a 4 letter word, but one that gets used more than the others. Leverage the power of free speech with solid info to get the traction you are seeking.  Blogging along with podcasting lends instant credibility to your position.

Although you can’t be everything to everyone, you should help people see your service and image in as many lights as possible – be sure to cross cultural boundaries with your messages, images and ads. This will position you to capture the AA and Hispanic buying power, which is, by 2010, expected to exceed Canada’s GDP.

Live your brand – once you know what it is. ID your target market, walk a mile in their shoes, and then, live your brand with the client.  This will help you express the idea of who you are through words and actions – which is a much more powerful delivery mechanism.

Taking Your Publication Online

While I was in a meeting the other day, I was turned on to a really cool new online company, called Blue Toad – by my friend Josh Felix.  I was amazed when he told me he’d found a company that could take his publication online for $3 a page(use code SYBL for discount beyond $3/page) I know many other magazine publishers that have paid a pretty penny (10-30k – yes, 10-30 thousand dollars) to install and then $5/page to update their magazines.  So I called Brad at Blue Toad, and asked him more. 

Turns out not only is there no set up fee, but the cost is $3 for uploads per page (Brad offered a .25 cent discount – use the promo code – coupon code SYBL) , plus his company hosts the content.  So, there had to be a catch, right?  Charges for streaming video or links or something?  Nope – $3 (use SYBL and get it for $2.75) and Blue Toad does all the work.  In addition, all ads are hyperlinked and so is email – giving advertisers in the publication a chance at double value, and through some new twists, even a ROI tracking option.  Plus streaming video is included, so is some Flash and other components competitors to Blue Toad charge for. 

Drop Brad an email and check this service out – it will blow your mind – but not your pocketbook – and bring more value to your readers and your advertisers.