Newsletter - 2010 07
July 2010
Business Success
Brought to You By BMA Marketing
BMA Marketing
Chris Swanson
Ray Tuttle
SALES
Is Cold-Calling Really Dead?
The top two ways to generate quality new leads, according to marketing gurus, are referrals from clients or partners and cold-calling or telephone prospecting.
Although referrals are important, it is still necessary to actively develop new business in order to grow your customer base.
Cold-calling - whether in person or by phone or email - is still one of the most efficient and effective ways to seek out and establish relationships with new prospects.
People who say cold-calling is dead often do not understand the goal of the practice.
You should not expect to close a sale during a cold call.
Every sale goes through an inevitable cycle from introduction to information gathering to offering a solution to final closing.
But cold-calling is a reliable technique for getting your foot in the door of a new company.
Once inside, your aims should be to qualify the organization, to find out who the decision maker is and to get to know the gatekeeper.
If you do nothing more on a cold call than learn the name of the decision maker, qualify the prospect and obtain a gatekeeper's name, you have succeeded.
If you're fortunate enough to meet face to face with the decision maker when cold-calling, you should take no more than five or 10 minutes to introduce yourself, explain the purpose of your call and set up an appointment for a presentation.
If appropriate, you may engage the prospect briefly about their needs with respect to your product or service and offer some collateral materials.
Be sure to ask for contact information and inquire about the protocol for arranging a follow-up meeting. Be aware that your call is an interruption and show respect for the prospect's time.
Here are some tips to keep in mind during cold calls:
- Be direct and forthright about why you're there.
- Focus the conversation on the prospect's needs and how you can address them.
- Make it clear that you are not there to waste their time.
- Ask permission to follow up at a later date, and then get the information you need to do so.
One of the biggest raps against cold-calling is that it is time-consuming because you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.
However, by breaking down the barriers that today's screening technologies create, it has to be considered time well spent.
A cold call is just one of a variety of ways to find prospects who might be interested in knowing what your product or service can do for them.
It does not automatically create a new customer, but it is targeted and effective and it can definitely open the door of opportunity.
In combination with softening letters, emails, flyers, networking events and trade shows, cold-calling can be a key element in attracting new business.
MARKETING
How to Make Videos Your Customers Will Watch
Empty Lanes?
Get a FREE green laser pointer when you try our FREE market test to see how we can...
- Drive in $6k to $24k of new bowler income in 90 days
- Create a hot list of new bowlers to fill Fall Leagues
- Email monthly offers to your open bowlers inviting them back each month
- Advertise your center locally over 24,000 times per day
Quick Quiz
Each month I’ll give you a new question.
Just reply to this email for the answer.
In what story did Sherlock Holmes make his debut?
Why Not Pass Me On?
If you've enjoyed this newsletter and found its information useful, please pass it to another businsses owner or a co-worker.
Worth Reading
Selections from the best articles seen online this month.
Five Questions to Build a Strategy
My preferred approach is to treat strategy making as developing a set of answers to five interlinked questions.
On Writing: Accentuate the Positive
Tone makes all the difference in the world. Which one of these emails would you rather buy from?
Do It Anyway
This is an important post. I say that because this piece addresses (after procrastination, which is the #1 champ) the single greatest excuse/reason/cop-out that prevents aspiring writers, artists and entrepreneurs from taking action to pursue their dreams. That excuse is, "First I have to _________."
Who Is Easily Manipulated?
If you want to focus on the short run and sell something, get a vote or gather a mob, the easiest place to start is with populations that leave themselves open to manipulation... I'm not saying they are wrong or right, just pointing out that these behaviors make you open to being manipulated. Here are a few general categories of behaviors that manipulators seek out.
Online video marketing is a great way to communicate effectively with Internet shoppers, especially the affluent, web-savvy Gen Y demographic. Video offers a fast, highly sensory way to engage viewers in real time and to present products, services and marketing messages.But video is a complex, multidisciplinary medium. Prominent Placement: Where you place a video on your website is key to whether it will ever get noticed. Make it obvious. Be sure the invitation to view it has plenty of screen real estate.Short and Crisp: The average attention span of a web surfer is measured in seconds. In Internet video time, two minutes can seem like an eternity if content is static and lifeless. Be sure to let viewers know the length of your video.
Recurring Theme: A well-crafted video is knitted together with a strong motif, such as a color scheme, thematic background, graphic pattern and/or typeface.
Visual Choreography: The editing pace of an online video should be similar to that of a TV commercial. The average length of a single shot is about five seconds, just long enough to demonstrate a feature, make a point or transition from one topic to another.
Soundtrack: Video is more than simply a visual medium. Effective video combines sound and vision into a cohesive whole.
Online video marketing can be a key business differentiator for your company.
Effective video communication requires a blend of compelling content, creative visuals, rich audio and novel approach.
MARKETING
Pulling a 'Richard Branson' May Bring You More Business
BOOK REVIEW
The Sticking Point Solution, by Jay Abraham
As the economy struggles to pull out of recession and many businesses are finding it harder to win profitable customers, the title of this book is timely: Many businesses feel stuck.
For anyone who has been a student of Abraham, there isn't a whole lot that is new in this book. But for those unfamiliar with his work, The Sticking Point Solution is an excellent starting point.
Abraham's teachings include the importance of tracking your marketing to measure what gets results, employing leverage in all aspects of your business to make the most of every dollar earned, finding partners who will take you to customers in return for a percentage of income, and positioning yourself in the market as a trusted advisor rather than someone just selling stuff.
This is all excellent advice, and the book is packed with actionable strategies.
Fine-tuning your business is super-important right now. This book will help you do that.
Wisdom
Quotes by...Mary Kay Ash
"Sandwich every bit of criticism between two thick layers of praise."
"Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve."
"We must have a theme, a goal, a purpose in our lives. If you don't know where you're aiming, you don't have a goal. My goal is to live my life in such a way that when I die, someone can say, she cared."
"If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right."
Mary Kay Ash was the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
Richard Branson, the flamboyant and irreverent founder and chairman of the London-based Virgin conglomerate, is as renowned for his wild publicity stunts as for his business acumen.His crazy, daring exploits and feats of showmanship have given the Virgin brand an inimitable cachet.He uses every outlandish publicity stunt as an opportunity to promote the Virgin brand, flaunt conventional business wisdom and tweak his buttoned-down competitors.
Virgin is a $3.5 billion international mega-enterprise, and the brand can be found on everything from condoms to wedding gowns and transportation services to financial services.
Branson's antics to promote the Virgin brand include driving a tank down Fifth Avenue in New York to introduce Virgin Cola to the U.S., breaking records in high-profile hot-air balloon adventures and portraying a drowning victim in an episode of Baywatch.
He reportedly devotes a quarter of his time to public relations activities.
Although zany, his publicity stunts are carefully planned and always congruent with his business goals and strategies.
Have you ever thought about pulling a "Richard Branson" and doing something out of the ordinary to market your business?
Using yourself as a promotional strategy can be an effective way to gain attention and distinguish your brand.
Publicity stunts don't have to be dangerous, just creative and newsworthy.
Your aim is to get people talking, make them aware of your products or services, and promote your brand in a clever way.
And maybe have a little fun along the way too.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Business Owners: Never Feel Lonely at the Top Again
Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners, solopreneurs and chief executive officers of large corporations have one thing in common. The buck stops with them. Business leaders bear the burden of responsibility that comes with making tough choices and hard decisions and running an organization. As a result, they often suffer from loneliness and isolation.
Business owners frequently find it difficult to seek out advice and support. But even the best athletes don't succeed by themselves. They have coaches who offer them guidance, advice and constructive criticism.
It's important to stay out of the pits of loneliness and isolation and to get good advice and counsel. A business mentor or coach can offer perspectives and ideas and help you develop strategies, plans and solutions.
Following are some other sources of advice and support for SMEs:
Free: Small-business development centers, peer groups
Less Than $250: Chambers of commerce, continuing education classes, industry trade groups
Other Resources: Consultants, franchise peer groups, legal and accounting consultants
Following are a few simple ways to ease the loneliness that accompanies the top spot:
- Visit clients and suppliers regularly.
- Collaborate with others in your field.
- Attend professional or social networking events.
- Focus on things that inspire you
- Lighten up on yourself.
