Make more sales & 'stand out' from the crowd
An article by Jim Connolly
Do you work in a competitive industry? In this article I am going to show you how to make more sales and increase the profitability of your business - no matter how many competitors you have! It’s actually REALLY easy and I am going to show you right now - for free!
Firstly, I would like to tell you about a common mistake, which in my experience almost every business makes AND which is costing them a fortune in lost business, lost opportunities and lost profits. When you fully realise the value of what I am about to share with you and work with it, you can massively increase your sales and profits with little effort.
The common mistake is simply this:
Most companies fail to differentiate themselves from their competitors. They use the same marketing to sell the same products or services to the same people as their competitors!
If you look at the companies in any industry or profession, 99% of them use the same marketing messages and tools. They advertise in the same places, to the same people and use the same generic messages.
Why is this such a problem?
If you and your competitors are simply replicating one another’s marketing, you literally cancel one another out! The only winners are those you waste your money advertising and marketing with. You are also potentially killing your business!
When we replicate the approach of our competitors, we make it impossible for a potential client/customer to differentiate us from any other provider out there. So, what does a potential client/customer (from here in referred to as a client) do when they have nothing obvious to base a buying decision on?
Simple - They base their judgement on PRICE or FEE!
Imagine you are in the market for a new accountant. You decide to meet three different accountancy firms. The first quotes you £1,500 for your requirements, the second quotes you £2,000 and the third £3,000.
Based on the facts as you know them; that each accountant promises great customer service and that your needs would be handled by a qualified professional – which would you choose? In almost every case, with little to differentiate the three potential providers, one would select the least expensive quote. After all, the ‘cheapest’ quote was from a chartered accountant just like the most expensive – so why pay more?
I use the example of an accountant here because they, along with law, recruitment and financial services, are generally regarded as the worst when it comes to using the same generic ideas to market their selves.
This generic approach to marketing means you have people from the same profession, in the same area, using the same marketing, to sell the same service to the same prospective clients – then they complain because their clients are ‘fee-sensitive!’ What other than fee does a potential client have in order to make a purchasing decision, when fee or cost is all that differentiates them?
In one accountancy firm, I was able to win them over 30 new clients almost immediately, simply by using ideas like the ones I am about to give you!
Obviously, it is impossible here to give you a full breakdown of all the things I do in order to transform a company’s results and fortunes – but here are a couple of things I have used with great success with hundreds of my clients.
Everyone SAYS they are the best, so develop a VALUABLE SELLING PROPOSITION (A VSP)!
If you are currently using generic promises like “we offer superb customer service” or the dreaded “free initial consultation” - guess what? Your competitors are all saying / offering it too – rendering it worthless. Potential clients expect great customer service and no-one expects to pay to be sold to in an initial consutation!
Drop your USP and develop a valuable selling proposition for your company and then use that as the cornerstone of your marketing message. You will set yourself apart from the crowd and make it easy for a potential client to pick you from the bunch. Your VSP needs to be something that a potential client would value – like being open earlier or later than your competitors or offering a valued guarantee.
Learn from other industries
What are people in other industries or professions doing to win business that could be successfully applied to your company or practice? I was introduced to this concept by Jay Abraham many years ago and it changed everything for me. I have experienced too many successes to mention, where a business has generated hundreds of percent increases in profits, by using an idea to generate business that already works outside of their field.
A great example of the effectiveness of this strategy is the music industry. For years they moaned about the ‘threat’ of people downloading their music illegally – without offering people the opportunity to legally download music from their internet sites. Eventually, someone looked at the model used to sell ring-tones to mobile ‘phone users and applied it to the music industry. The rest is history!
To your success,
Jim Connolly
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