MySuccessCompany.com E-NEWSLETTER
October 2024
This Month’s Selling Principle:
Long Term Marketing, part 5 – Getting newsletters or blogs read
As far as defining moments go, what’s the difference between meeting someone new, interesting, and exciting and getting someone to read our work? The answer is…not a thing!
Several of you have asked, besides the additional expense of slipping them into an envelope, what’s the best way to get our newsletters read. First, our newsletters, just like our blog, must always be worthy of being read, of course, then another way to make sure they get read is through the use of proper introductions. These intros can be placed prominently on the side opposite from the address panel on a tri-folded newsletter or as the opening line of our blog post.
A good personal introduction will establish interest, expectations, and a direction that the initial conversation can go. Likewise, a good written introduction will establish the direction an article or newsletter is going to take, will create expectations that can be met, and will also serve as a mental Pit Bull that grabs our reader’s attention and won’t let go. Here are some ideas:
Open with a question:
Can you guess what the most common complaint about sales people is, from both customers and sales managers alike?
Open with a quote:
“This just may be the single most important moment of your entire life.” That’s exactly what the red- haired, green-eyed beauty said to me just before she introduced herself.
Open with an announcement:
Two of the most important elements in selling anything are the ability to build trust and confidence. The evidence manual is designed to help us do both.
Open with a personal experience:
While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had one of those life changing experiences that you only hear other people talk about. You know, the kind that sneaks up on you unexpectedly? Well, this one occurred a mere two feet away from me!
Open with a bold or challenging statement:
Contrary to what you may have been told, knowledge is NOT power! It’s not what we know, but what we DO with what we know that makes the biggest difference.
Open with how we felt:
My mouth was dry. My hands were sweaty. My breathing grew quick and shallow. My world went silent as the time drew near.
Open with a riddle:
As far as defining moments go, what’s the difference between meeting someone new, interesting, and exciting and getting someone to read our work?
Even if we’re the most exciting person on Earth, no one will ever know unless we get properly introduced. The same holds true for our work. Even if it’s the greatest piece ever written, without a proper introduction, no one will ever know. (Oh yeah, it’s also a good idea to make reference to our introduction in our conclusion!)
Until next time, be well, and do good work!
Michael D. Hargrove
Follow on Twitter @MDHargrove
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Objection of the Month: “Just looking/not buying today.”
These are just a few of the most common strategies shared at the workshops we’ve conducted all across North America and attended by thousands of the top sales people in our field. Please keep in mind that nothing works all the time, and no one thing will work for everybody. Each of these strategies, of course, need to be tailored to the individual user, to the specific customer, and the particular situation. Also, this is by no means the definitive work on overcoming this particular objection and it’s not intended to be.
a. “Great! That’s the first step of ownership. Let’s look together. Were you interested in a four door or a coupe?”
b. “Great, we encourage that sort of thing around here! Some salespeople get turned off when they hear that but not me! I realize that looking is a necessary part of owning so let’s get to know one another and look together. Were you interested in a previously owned car or something new?”
c. “You’re just looking? Well, we might be related ’cause I’m goofy looking! Nice to meet you! So, what brings you to our store today? “
d. “You know, I love that line. My sweetheart said that to me when we first met. We’ve been married now for seventeen years. To me, that’s the opening line to a wonderful relationship! Now, in order to save you some time, may I ask you a couple of quick questions?”
e. “That’s the reason I’m here! Isn’t the beginning stage of owning something exciting? Let me be a resource to you. You can pick my brain and save lots of time and aggravation. Were you interested in a two door or a four door?”
f. “Let me make sure I’ve got you right. You’re just in the investigation stage right now, just gathering information, and you’re not going to buy today. Is that right? Good, we welcome that here. I know it turns most other salespeople off but not me. You see, we’ve worked hard to create an environment that’s comfortable for customers just like you who want to shop around without feeling pressured or hassled. So, I want you to know, YOU ARE IN COMPLETE CONTROL, okay? And as far as you not buying today, I also want you to know, that you always have the right to change your mind. Fair enough? “ (We need to make sure we say this last sentence with a smile on our face while looking directly in our customer’s eyes.)
g. “May I ask you something? Do you go to the dentist’s office just to read the magazines? I know that’s a silly question but I promise to make your visit here with us a lot more comfortable than your last dentist visit. May I do that for you?”
h. “Glad we got that out of the way because some salespeople will try to force you to buy when you’re not ready…but I’m a professional. I’ll make sure you get all the info you need, so that whenever you are ready, you’ll be able to make an intelligent car buying decision. Sound fair? “
i. “No problem, Sir, today’s not my last day either! So, whenever you are ready, I’ll be here to help you then too. Now, were you looking for a brand new one or a previously loved one?”
j. “Not buying today? Well, Sir, that would be our fault, not yours. Did you have a specific model in mind or are you still trying to figure that out?”
k. “That’s what most people do. What I’ve discovered is that most people just want to find a car they like, get figures on it, and then think about it. Is that what you two had in mind?” (When they tell us ‘yes’, we continue with,) “I’d be happy to help you with that.”
Next month’s objection will be: “We need to think/sleep/pray about it.” We need YOUR input!!! Please forward your ideas on this one, or your suggestions on which objection to cover next, to [email protected].
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing”.
Abraham Lincoln
On Success:
Thinking “Out of the Box”
Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.
The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.
What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.
“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.
“The sooner we forgive, the sooner we become emotionally available again. Forgiveness is the glue that mends and the key that unlocks.”
Michael Hargrove
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