Let me start by saying this post has nothing to do with politics (for those of you who remember the “lipstick on a pig” comment).  What this has to do with is addressing the common questions and objections your prospects have when buying from you.

Hopefully you have heard the phrase, “…the elephant in the room…,” if not it just means there is something that is so big it stands out and cannot be missed.  In your business you have “elephants” just like the rest of us.  So, what do you do?

I have always been a big proponent of addressing the common objections that people have about your product or service.  I believe the sooner you can get those out of the way the better.  If you voluntarily answering these objections it will leave your prospect with very little ammunition to come up with reasons not to buy.

Here is a very simple exercise that will help you sell more effectively and get more clients and more referrals.  First, write down the questions you answer on a regular basis.  “Your cost is too high.”  “Your store is too far away.”  “How do I know I can trust you?”  “How do you know this will work for me?”  You get the point.

After writing those down come up with answers that will directly address why those questions shouldn’t be of concern.  This will allow you to use this in your sales presentations and in your marketing messages.

After you have come up with the main questions be sure to take note of others that come up with your clients and prospects.  Write them down and answer them too so you are ready whenever they come up again.

Put some shiny red lipstick on the “elephant in the room.”  Your product will look much more attractive now!

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I hope you watch Donald Trump’s “The Celebrity Apprentice.”  Trump makes a bunch of celebrities do tasks to try and win money for the charities they are representing.  Watching this provides many instructive lessons of which we will focus on one.

By the way, I am not here to fire you, although for many that might be just what you need to get a wake up call!  The point is you need to be selective on who you are working with and getting referrals from.

Don’t Be Afraid To Fire Your Clients Or Referral Partners! I just heard many of you scream after reading that.  Don’t worry I promise this will be the best exercise you have done in your business in a long time.  Let me share with you a story.

Early on in my residential mortgage business I was fortunate (not really) to get a vast majority of real estate agents in an office to send me their home buyers to help them with their mortgages.  I thought this was amazing!  It wasn’t until 18 months later I sat down and analyzed this relationship.  What I found was startling.

The prospects they were referring me were challenging to work with, many never bought homes, were high maintenance and had the lowest closing percentage of anyone I was working with.  There was also a high volume of prospects coming my way that most mortgage professionals would give their left arm for.  What I realized though, was the opportunity cost and stress level these prospects brought to my business was actually costing me money.

So, one day I went into the real estate office and fired them!  That’s right, I went into the office and politely said thank you for the past business but we no longer are a fit.  You know what happened?  My stress level went down.  I started to attract higher quality prospects.  I worked less hours but made more money.  This was one of the hardest things I ever did that turned out to be one of the best things I ever did!

Take time to weed out those clients that are costing you money.  Take time to find the referral sources that are sending you prospects that eat up your valuable time and fire them!  It will be one of the happiest days of your life.  Make this a yearly habit.  A little purging goes a long way!

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I remember the first time I went to a coffee shop and heard the women in front of me order her drink with 8 variables to it.  Are you kidding me?  I was stunned and then intimidated because I was just going to order a coffee!  Was I doing something wrong?  How do I learn this secret strategy so many possess?  I am outsider looking in.

It didn’t take long for me to realize how much better my favorite beverages tasted by customizing and sorting out the coffee variables to meet my exact tastes.  This experience reinforced how important it is to have this kind of attention to detail in your business.

A big mistake I see clients making before they consult with me is they are trying to sell to everyone versus selling to their best customer.  Also, they are using the same message to everyone even though my clients know they have a mix of different customers that need and want different things.  So, here are a few suggestions that will help you sell to more clients, sell your product easier and ultimately get more referrals.

Extreme List Selection. Let’s say you are composing a marketing message to your client list about coming to your restaurant for Valentine’s Day.  Instead of sending out one offer to everyone (men & women) you should develop individual marketing messages that will go out to men and women.

Your message to men is that you are helping them come up with a romantic solution for their significant other.  Your message to women is to get them to show their significant other that your place is the place to be.  You could further dissect your list by the following categories: married men, married women, married men with kids, married women with kids, single men, and single women.

You could go one step further and craft different messages to those segments above that dine with you more than 6 times per year versus those that come only 1 time per year.  Make sense?  There is power in segmenting your list to target your message with laser focus.

Give ‘Em More Than They Ever Imagined. Using the restaurant example above, don’t just offer someone a complimentary appetizer for joining you on Valentine’s Day.  Make a bold offer.  “Get the Unforgettable Platinum Romance Special Guaranteed To Make This The Most Amazing Valentine’s Day You Ever Had!”  Included would be a limo picking you up at your door step, an exclusive bottle of wine not offered to the general customers, a beautiful bouquet of flowers at a table with a view reserved exclusively for you, a personal gift from the chef, and on and on.  I hope you get the point.

You want to find those that understand there is value in an experience.  You can charge premium prices and have little to no resistance in this offer because there is extreme value and something no one else in town in delivering.

Now it is time to choose.  You can be in the commodity business or you can be in the experience business.  Which will it be?

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Have you ever had a prospect give you resistance when presenting your product to him?  My guess is you have, just like everyone else.  This can be frustrating so let’s figure out what lesson we can learn from it.

Resistance Lesson #1:  Get better prospects.  Too many times I have had clients tell me they are having a difficult time improving their sales conversions.  It isn’t until we do an exercise that we find out what the problem is.  Here is what I want you to do.  Take some time and look through your database of clients.  Find your top 5%, those that buy the most and refer the most, and look for common characteristics and common buying patterns.  This will give you the clues you need to find out who your best clients are.  Once you know this you can get BETTER prospects because you now know who your real target market should be.

Resistance Lesson #2: Prepare Your Clients. Think for a moment about your favorite sport you play, whether it is golf, volleyball, softball, basketball, etc.  Do you perform better just jumping right into the game or after you take time to warm up?  I hope you said after you warm up.  When you take the time to prepare you perform better.  It is no different than with your clients.  Think about how you can prepare your clients for the selling experience.  You could send them a list of questions to be ready to answer, address common objections ahead of time in your correspondence or tell them a story about how a client successfully uses your service to get them to visualize having that same experience by having familiarity with it.

Resistance Lesson #3:  Stop Selling On Price Only. One of the biggest lessons I learned in my successful business career was to stop selling and comparing myself to others in my industry.  Figure out and apples to oranges comparison.  Look for ways you can add bonuses or extras to what you are selling to create more value.  Find what attracts your clients to you above and beyond the price and your core product.  You will never win playing the price game long term.  You will become frustrated beyond measure if you are constantly worried about your price as the main reason for someone to buy.  There is always going to be someone down the block or on the internet that will sell it for a cheaper price.  Get out of the commodity game and get into the value game.

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The title of this post is a famous line from a popular song by Morris Albert in 1973.  This album and song put Morris Albert on the map for worldwide fame and recognition

So what does this have to do with Business & Marketing?  There are three components to this that are valuable to pay attention to.

First, it is very important that you understand a client’s feelings matter more than the reality of how useful your product (or service) will be for them.  More money is spent on how something will make you feel than on the logical, rational thought process of the absolute need of a product.  How many women need to get a pedicure?  Women get pedicures because it makes them feel beautiful.

Second, the experience your clients have with you during the sales process will ultimately determine how they feel about your product.  No one likes to be “sold.”  If you are doing your job right when it gets time to “sell” it should seem obvious and non-threatening to your client.  If you have to end with a strong close you will want to go back and review what that process looks like.  This experience will determine whether or not you get clients to buy from you again, as well as, whether they will refer you their friends and family.

Third, Morris Albert’s song was recorded and performed by many well known artists, such as, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Vinton and Elvis Presley to name a few.  When you take the time to make your product exceptional, sell it exceptionally well and become known for it others will want to be part of what you have.

A classic example of this is franchising.  Why do people invest money in McDonald’s or Subway?  They do it because they see the value in the business model and systems that are in place and want to become part of it for their own success.  You can do this to by private labeling your product, franchising or licensing your business model or allowing others to sell your product as an affiliate to name a few.

I cannot stress how important it is to pay attention to the way your clients react to you, your product and the experience they have.  It will determine how easy it will be to get more clients to do repeat business with you and refer more clients to you more often.  Don’t take your clients for granted.  Remember, they drive your business.  Treat them that way!

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