1. Settle On The Right Way Forward
The purpose of your promotions is to get more sales, not to soley enhance the image of you or your company. As a salesperson you must understand this right at the beginning or you will be wasting your's and every one else's time.
You must be enthusiastic about the product or service you are promoting. If you're not why should the customer be?
Communicate with the customer on their level and talk about what they want from your offering. Its a simple enough way forward. But how often do you not hear this being done?
2. Start To Target Your Customers
Not all customers will buy your product or service. The skill is in targetting those who are more likely to. The end result is more sales and reduced costs for contacting them. Amongst customers there are good ones and bad ones.
The good ones are repeat buyers; those who have bought before and are happy to use their favorite supplier. Unfortunately, this type of customer is least likely to be swayed by advertisers lile yourselves and therefore hardest to win over.
Conversely, the bad customers are far more likely to respond to advertisers, including you, then move on to another advertiser, leaving you behind...and they always complain and want more and more for less and less.
You want more business...the right sort of business... the profitable sort. To be as exact as possible is very important.
Finding the best ones for you; Apparently only the top 20% of potential customers are very profitable and the bottom 20% will lose you money.
Therefore, depending on where your company stands in relation to the above there are diferent strategies to use;
Finding repeat customers: Apart from new customers, the obvious source of more sales is existing customers. This is often forgotten and the costs are small in comparison to getting new customers. Customers who have bought before are less likely to be wooed by competitors, as long as they are happy. Or should I say, kept happy.
Some budget should be set aside for existing customers and establishing or reinforcing some 'Loyalty' strategies or scheme. You know the sort..Discounts for existing customers and repeat purchasers.
3. Supply Customer Satisfaction
If you can convince your customers that they will be more satisfied than with your competitors then you will win. But to do that you need to know;
a) what satisfaction they want
b) how you can provide it and
c) how to tell them.
Customers are satisfied when all their needs are fulfilled. But it would be practically impossible to satisfy everyone's needs in one communication...there will be so many. And mass marketing rarely hits on the most profitable segment.
That it why it is important to target specific groups who have similar needs with specific advertisement messages.
4. Identify Important Customer Groups
Large companies can afford to send out separate promotions to lots of different customer groups, addressing their specific needs exactly.
Smaller businesses can't do this but there may be common needs amongst their customer groups, albeit not primary ones for all of them, but enough commonality to be effective for one promotional publication.
This one publication should wherever possible combine the customer groups and their satisfied needs into its structure (story). e.g. Combining the primary manufacturer customer group and secondary retail customer group, the producer and the seller.
5. Use People Who Can Make Things Happen
Identify those who can help you in your promotions.
6. Find Out How Much Your Customers Know About You
You need to find out from your prospective or new customers what they know about you. This can done through surveys and questionnaires (with incentives to complete). After all they might never have heard of you and are hardly likely to buy from you.
They may be misinformed and have the totally wrong impresion of what you do or supply. Sales promotions can't be planned properly without this information.
(c) Paul Curran, CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and webmaster at Wealth-Building-Secrets.com, providing strategies and advice for financial success, sales success and personal development success.
This article may be reproduced in its entirety provided the resource paragraph above is included and all urls kept active. A courtesy copy of your publication or web page URL would be appreciated.
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
Telephone canvassing, or cold calling, is the practice of sitting... Read More
Being a good listener requires more than just keeping quiet... Read More
The traditional "Quotation" was originally devised during the Industrial Revolution... Read More
Have you ever sat through a movie and got to... Read More
My new job was to sell Commercial Service Agreements. It... Read More
While living in the technology age where everything is computerized,... Read More
The purpose of a 1- or 2-hour seminar is to... Read More
Prospecting is the engine that propels anyone in sales. Without... Read More
There are many fund raising ideas on the market today... Read More
I just got off the phone with a friend of... Read More
I learned something very interesting this week. Thankfully, what I... Read More
"I was at your site for all of two minutes... Read More
The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is based on the assumption... Read More
After reading and researching thousands of books, articles and other... Read More
When you are in the business of sales, among the... Read More
It's early January 2004. The Green Bay Packers are just... Read More
They say if you wait long enough, a style you... Read More
The fastest way to get a decision made is to... Read More
Whether you're a conventional sales person, a professional ? such... Read More
After our first half-hour telephone coaching session, when asked what... Read More
If Chicken Little were alive today he wouldn't be running... Read More
If you are in the mortgage business, the very first... Read More
The best day of the week is TODAY, of course.... Read More
Some businesses flourish while others slowly fade away. There's usually... Read More
VOICEThe Image the customer has of the Salesperson is vital.... Read More
Hi, I'd like to discuss the most powerful words you... Read More
There are seven major reasons why adults continue their pursuit... Read More
* Are you sending e-mails to prospects instead of calling... Read More
As a professional service provider you face special challenges promoting... Read More
By a show of hands, how many of you grew... Read More
This is an important and potentially profitable piece of advice.... Read More
What do you think it is? Many experts insist it's... Read More
I just bought six square pieces of spongy fabric for... Read More
The Technical Revolution has done a lot for us --... Read More
What do people buy? They don't buy your wonderful presentation.... Read More
Article I of a two-part series.No matter what customers say... Read More
Value is in the Eye of the BeholderSales today is... Read More
A mannequin head is a life-size head that includes all... Read More
At-ti-tude, n.One of Webster's dictionaries describes the word attitude as:a... Read More
Prospecting is the engine that propels anyone in sales. Without... Read More
You stand there, in front of your great presentation material,... Read More
Neil Rackham turned the world of high-ticket salesmanship on its... Read More
What can strike terror into the heart of even the... Read More
We all know that you can't earn your commission until... Read More
Products for sale need to be displayed in a manner... Read More
Now business owners and sales professionals can develop a Faster... Read More
Have you ever run DOWN an escalator that was going... Read More
When was the last time you thanked your customers?This often... Read More
Does your Sales Pipeline leak? If you answered no, you... Read More
On an introductory call, how do you gather all of... Read More
John Di Lemme on "Miracles are your responsibility"Miracles are your... Read More
A sales letter is a document designed to generate sales.... Read More
Many pressure washing companies try to stay away from the... Read More
"I am Sam. Sam I am. Do you like green... Read More
Some businesses flourish while others slowly fade away. There's usually... Read More
You have just walked out of the office of a... Read More
A few days ago, I was signing copies of my... Read More
VOICEThe Image the customer has of the Salesperson is vital.... Read More
Growing up in the South, I used the phrase "big... Read More
Linda felt like she had reached a plateau in her... Read More
If you are in the mortgage business, the very first... Read More
In the course of my career, I've had to deal... Read More
Myth 1: Sales People are all Shady!In the Broadway play... Read More
Do you know your conversion rates? Conversion rate is the... Read More
An area that can become profitable for many businesses in... Read More
I've found that winners say "I choose to." Whiners, on... Read More
Sales |