Marketing tips, marketing help and advice

The 3 step process that can double your sales results

August 20, 2020 by Jim Connolly

I recently helped a training company to increase sales by just over 180% in 5 months. The strategy I used can be summed up in just 3 words.

Assess.
Improve.
Execute.

Here’s how it works.

Assess

The first step to boosting your sales results is to assess your current situation. We need to discover what’s currently blocking you from getting the sales (or attracting the new clients) your business needs, in order to achieve your goals. The main hurdle to overcome here, is that the business owner usually can’t see this for themselves. If they could, they wouldn’t have the problem. So, you need to figure that out, ideally with the help of an informed, outside perspective.

In the example I mentioned earlier, I spent some time digging into my client’s sales and marketing process. I identified her company’s primary problem pretty fast. It turned out they were talking to too few prospective clients. One of the basic rules for increasing sales is to speak with more, great prospects.

Think about it.

Regardless of your conversion rate, you will double your sales by doubling the number of targeted prospects you speak with.

Once we identified the root of her problem, it was time to improve things and free my client to dramatically increase her company’s sales results.

Improve

There were a number of areas in my client’s marketing and sales process, which were under-performing. This is why she wasn’t generating the volume of high quality enquiries she needed. She knew her marketing wasn’t great. But like many business owners, my client assumed the enquiries they attracted were about average in number and quality. She was wrong on both fronts. A common mistake, which had been losing the company a fortune, without them even knowing it.

Overall, my client’s marketing had been quite similar to their competitors. Moving forward, this was wonderful news. Why? Because it meant they were competing against lots of providers who were dabbling with their marketing, rather than using an expert, strategic approach.

By making a couple of quick improvements at the very beginning, we were able to considerably improve her company’s results. And fast. I remember the easiest adjustment I made, was to improve the focus of their sales message. It had previously focused on what their business did, how well they did it and how great their team was. It’s a common mistake.

If your marketing has a similar focus, it’s a bad, bad idea!

And here’s why.

No one buys a service or a product. They buy the result.

You don’t buy exercise equipment. You buy looking and feeling great.
You don’t buy the services of a virtual assistant. You buy the additional productivity, freedom and flexibility of handing-off certain tasks.
So, sell the result of hiring you or the result of investing in your product.

Anyhow, we then dug in deeper and uncovered a series of similarly untapped, marketing opportunities. We wrapped these up into a plan and were good to go.

Execute

Oh man! Without doubt, this is the stage that excites me most. This is why I do what I do.

It’s where we execute on the new marketing strategy and measure the feedback. There’s something wonderful about the energy I get from clients, as they see their business performing the way they always wanted it too. And often far, far better.

An important point: Just as no two people are alike, their businesses are a complex mix too. Your business is as unique as your fingerprint. Others will be similar, but none with your unique make-up. This is why marketing seminars, marketing training, marketing books etc., are so limited. My client had previously wasted 7 years spinning her wheels, following general marketing advice, when like every other business owner, what she desperately needed was specific help in key areas.

Assess. Improve. Execute. Focus like a laser on those 3 steps and watch your business grow.

Whose plan are you following today?

August 19, 2020 by Jim Connolly

I shared an idea recently with some entrepreneurs, which I think you may find useful. It’s a powerful, yet very simple difference in how the most successful business owners run their day. It’s about the need to plan your work and work your plan.

Note: I’ve also included a tip, which you can use to accelerate the growth of your business.

Let’s go!

It starts with an observation I’ve made, time and time again, since starting my business in 1995. When I speak with business owners, who work hard for too little reward, they spend a lot of time reacting. Specifically, reacting to the demands of their clients / customers and colleagues. As such, they spend too little time developing their own business.

This scenario is most commonly expressed in that often-repeated business advice; “You need to spend more time working on your business and less time working in your business.”

Of course, every business owner needs to respond to the needs of their business. What I’ve discovered is that the most successful business owners respond differently from their average counterparts.

It looks like this.

The smartest business owners remain focussed on their plans. This means they do what’s required for their clients, colleagues etc., and then refocus like a laser on their own plans. They plan their work, and work their plan. As a result, each day brings progress. Some days more than others. The key thing is they move their business forward every single day.

The average business owner also has a plan or at least a to-do list. However, they find their plans are often derailed by the demands of others. This means that although they start their day correctly, their plans often go out the window. They work hard, but make little if any progress on their plans. Before they know it, a day of too little progress becomes a week of too little progress, a week becomes a month, a month becomes a year…

What’s the answer?

The short answer is that we need to plan our work and work our plan. It’s the second part that’s tricky. As I mentioned a moment ago, most business owners have a plan of some description.

The challenge is sticking with the plan, when the day-to-day needs of their business come along.

Here’s what worked for me: I used the following, simple approach, to ensure my focus returned to my plan for the day. I set a reminder on my phone, which went off every 3 hours during the work day. When the alarm went off, a message would appear on my phone, saying work your plan.

Did you notice how the previous paragraph is in the past tense?

That’s because after a couple of weeks, I didn’t need the alarm. I learned to automatically refocus on my plan for the day, as soon as I’d completed an off-plan activity. It’s hard to overstate what a huge, measurable improvement this has made to my business and the businesses of many I have shared the idea with.

So, plan your work and work your plan. Harder then it sounds, sure. However, it’s extremely valuable my friend.

How to overcome the apathy that stops people hiring you

August 18, 2020 by Jim Connolly

I’d like to introduce you to your main competitor.

Oh, and it’s almost certainly not the competitor you’re thinking of. Whilst there are a few (very few) exceptions, your main competitor is not an alternative brand, vendor or service provider.

No.

Your main competitor is apathy: The decision by your prospective clients (or prospects) to avoid the risk, hassle and stress of switching to you, from their current provider.

Small business marketing almost always fails to address this effectively. It focuses on reasons to hire them or buy from them, without even addressing the huge leap of faith required by a new client. This is especially the case for service providers and those selling high ticket goods.

Your marketing needs to simultaneously build trust in you AND convince prospects that switching to you is easier, than enduring their current provider.

The smartest business owners ensure their marketing clearly demonstrates the following.

Why people can trust them. For example, by showcasing their “trust assets”. (I put some of my trust assets here).
Just how frictionless it is for prospectives to switch to them.
That they’ll handle the whole on-boarding process for the prospect.
All the promises and guarantees required, to give their prospects total peace of mind.
How prospects would be nuts, not to upgrade to their vastly superior service.

I recommend you do the same, and also introduce it into your sales conversations.

Another type of apathy

There’s a second apathy challenge you need to be aware of. It’s not about switching. It’s about hiring you, rather than doing (whatever) themselves.

For example, many business owners who hire me have never had expert marketing help before. So, they’re not switching to me from another provider. They hire me, rather than continue to dabble with ineffective, DIY marketing and suffer lousy results. They switch from apathy (with the status quo) to action.

And it’s still vitally important to make their switch from apathy as frictionless as possible. Otherwise, the fear, risk or doubt that’s held them back will carry on doing so.

Tip: Whenever I speak with a prospective client, I make sure they know that I look after them, personally, every step of the way. I call this partnering with my clients. It gives them great peace of mind. And that makes the decision to hire me massively easier for them.

You should do something very similar for your prospective clients or customers.

Moving forward

Never wait for a prospective client to tell you they have doubts, before you address the subject. By that point, a barrier to doing business with you will have already been created. And you’ll find yourself facing an unnecessary uphill challenge. Ouch!

Instead, take the initiative. Give them the peace of mind they need, in advance. Let them know there are no barriers to hiring you or buying from you. Get this right and you will have overcome your main competitor. Apathy.

Plus, you’ll have created a major marketing advantage over competing providers, who are failing to address apathy correctly with their marketing.

A wide-open opportunity for your business to thrive

August 17, 2020 by Jim Connolly

Today’s post offers you a wide-open opportunity for your business to thrive in the months ahead.

Yes, you read that correctly.

No, it’s not a play on words.

Allow me to explain

As we all know, these are very uncertain times. Yet there are some really important things we can have a high degree of certainty about. Here are just a few of them.

We’re looking at a period of months (or longer), before the world population can safely return to a pre pandemic way of life.
It will take years for world economies to recover.
Previous periods of long-term economic crisis have simultaneously seen some businesses thrive, whilst others vanish.

By focusing on the things we can be almost certain of, we give ourselves a much steadier foundation from which to make our decisions. Acknowledging the long-term nature of the situation also helps us avoid going broke, as we can see it isn’t viable to wait for things to return to normal again.

Your wide-open opportunity

Back in March and April I offered a ‘Thrive” service, exclusively to help my former clients not just survive the pandemic, but thrive. I mentioned it at the time 1, 2 and 3. In every case, by focusing on the things they can be almost certain of, my clients were able to do spectacularly well.

We found that they had almost no competition. That’s because the vast majority of their competitors were scared stiff. Frozen with fear. Waiting for things to return to normal. Doing zero or minimal marketing. I found that my former clients had uncontested access to the marketplace, which made our marketing more effective than ever. And they have even less competition now, than they did back then, as their competitors now have even fewer financial resources and are even more scared. The competition have left the doors wide-open for my clients.

As I write this, that same wide-open opportunity to thrive is available to you.

That’s to say, your competition will largely be operating from a mindset of fear and doing the absolute minimum. To thrive you’ll need to be willing to do what your competitors won’t do. This includes things like focusing on what you want rather than what you fear. It means adapting your business to the new needs of your marketplace. It also means looking for opportunities to grow and having a commitment to being agile.

With 24/7 news coverage pumping fear and uncertainty at us, it’s way too easy to focus on the confusion and fear, which uncertainty brings. That’s a wholly ineffective mindset for any business owner.

Focus on the things that are under your control. Shift from a survive mindset to a thrive mindset. Do everything you can, with everything you have.

It beats the alternative and allows you to be justifiably excited about your future.

1 Essential word your marketing needs. Plus 1 you absolutely MUST avoid

August 15, 2020 by Jim Connolly

Here’s a very quick tip, to help you improve the sales effectiveness of your marketing. It’s all about a word you use regularly, which is negatively impacting how people feel about your business.

That word is change!

People are hard-wired to fear change.

We know that change, good or bad, is a source of stress. Even something as positive as the change that comes from getting married, buying a new home or setting off for a week in the sun, is a cause of stress. In short, change is a trigger word, which places the prospective client or customer in a suboptimal state.

Because of the negative way people feel when confronted with change, it makes sense to remove the word from your marketing. Don’t worry, I am going to give you a massively more powerful, motivating alternative!

Improve, rather than change

Whenever possible, use the word improve, rather than change. Improve, is a positive word. It’s an attractive word too, because we are always looking for something better.

For example, look how the phrase below becomes far more powerful, when change is replaced with improve.

“This copywriting tip will change your marketing results.” (It could make them worse)

“This copywriting tip will improve your marketing results.” (It will make them better)

Your prospective clients or customers fear change, but want things to improve. So, stop offering them what they fear and give them what they want.

How to motivate people to take action, right now

August 13, 2020 by Jim Connolly

All successful marketing has one important thing in common. It motivates people to take action, now!

Here’s how this looks, in 3 simple steps.

It motivates people: It gives them a compelling reason. A reason, which is powerful enough to grab their attention and generate desire.
To take action: It makes a direct request. It asks them to call us, click here, proceed to checkout, visit us, read this, subscribe, etc.
Now: It asks them, whilst their motivation is high, to take the action required. Right now. Straight away. That’s because even if they love what you said and are genuinely interested, their attention will soon jump onto the next thing. And you’ll lose them. They tell themselves “I’ll do it later” and later becomes never.

Almost all small business marketing is missing at least one of those essential steps. It’s either not motivating enough, lacks a direct call to action or lacks urgency.

So take a look at all your marketing messages and check you have all 3 of those steps fully covered. It’s hard to overstate what a massive, positive impact this will have on your marketing.