As many of you know, back in October I flew out to LA to attend a private, 1-hour brainstorm session with Richard Branson, the 261st richest person on the planet (according to Fortune Magazine). This meeting was organized by Joe Polish who runs the Master Mind group I belong to. In attendance was yours truly along with 16 other very …
Root Cause: Chances are you didn’t qualify the prospect well enough, AND you made the mistake of using the proposal to close the sale instead of using it ONLY as a way to solidify on paper what you’ve already discussed and agreed to in person. A lot of people request proposals as a nice way of saying, “I’m not interested.” …
Here are 5 ways you can raise your prices and get paid MORE for the services you are already performing. #1: Just raise ‘em. Pretty ingenious, huh? That’s why I get paid the big bucks. Just type up a simple letter explaining that on X date, your rates are going up. You don’t need to apologize or get a note …
I’ve heard it said that Harvard didn’t become the prestigious school they are today based on who they admitted; they become Harvard based on who they kept OUT. One of the most powerful sales and marketing techniques you can employ is take away selling. That is basically where you position yourself as “THE” go-to-expert in your city or industry and …
The other day I received an article from eChannelLine where an IDC author wrote, “Buyer optimism is at its lowest point this year…” and that “buyer optimism is clearly on the wane with August marking the fifth consecutive month of flat or falling buyer intent.” Notice they didn’t say sales – just “buyer intent,” whatever the heck that is. This …
Have you seen the latest product called P.B. Slices? It’s peanut butter formed into pre-packaged slices like cheese so you don’t have to spread it onto bread. I think it was P.T. Barnum who said that no man will go broke banking on the laziness of the average man. This is just a micro example of a trend in America …
I’m always amazed at how non- existent follow-up is with companies that obviously want to generate more sales. Over the last month, I’ve been shopping online to purchase a new sofa. From the number of sites available and amount being spent on ad words, I can safely assume that the furniture industry is a very competitive business. Yet, these very …
A typical, but unfortunately not uncommon example: I get a call from a member who used one of the letters I have on the site and is perplexed because it didn’t pull one response. He’s using the methods I teach EXCEPT he cut the letter down to two pages because “no one reads long letters”, EXCEPT that he modified the …
New Year’s Resolution #6: GET CONTROL OF WHERE YOU ARE SPENDING YOUR TIME. The last Master Mind Call was on the topic of planning and prioritizing where you spend your time for maximum productivity. If you were on this call (and all of you should have either been on the call or listened to the recording by now), you should …
The single biggest marketing mistake I see on a regular basis is lack of testimonials or other proof. Get this straight: none of the prospects you market to have any reason to believe a word of what you are saying. As far as they are concerned, you are just like all of the other average businesses out there that screw …
