Business people are among some of the most confident folks in the world. Not only do most business leaders have egos that can be seen from space, they often surround themselves with like minded individuals who refuse to refute anything that comes from their superiors. This, of course, leads to sales mistakes that qualify as epic in scale. While it is always important to take chances where others fear, it is also recommended that you get a second opinion on your choice from someone who isn’t afraid of you. Let’s take a look at a few common sales mistakes.

Misjudging your audience

Often times, when your company offers a product or service that is so good, you tend to forget that without the proper marketing technique, even the best product is doomed to fail. For instance, during the 1980’s Coca Cola’s market share was slipping significantly against competitor Pepsi. Coke believed that the solution to their problem was to reformulate their product to more closely resemble Pepsi. In doing so, they alienated most of the American population, and “New Coke” has gone down in history as one of the worst marketing decisions ever. What most Americans don’t realize is that “New Coke” was a huge hit around the world and is still sold all throughout Europe. The Coke company completely misjudged their audience at home, but they hit a home run abroad. Make sure you understand what your customer base really wants before you radically change your product or offer a new service. Otherwise, you may be left wondering what went wrong.

Learn how to niche market

One of the biggest challenges in today’s business world is cracking through the force field that many people have when it comes to advertising. We see so many ads every day in newspapers, magazines, television, outdoor advertising and online that most of them simply bounce off our cerebral cortex and fail to make any impression at all. While the initial investment is likely to be staggering in cost, coming up with several niche sales campaign instead of one blanket campaign is one sure way to break through that force field. If you can market your product or service to several niche areas instead of simply tossing a billboard ad out there, you are significantly increasing your chances of having the demographic you want not just see your ad but understand it and have it motivate them to action. Any other sales strategy is simply screaming at windmills.

The Internet isn’t just for kids, anymore

At the dawn of this century, the Internet was still mostly the playground of the young and the middle class and occasionally a middle aged Christmas shopper. Today, grandmothers and inner city school kids use the Internet on a daily basis. If you have been reluctant to jump on the Internet bandwagon with your product or service, now is the time. You’ll reach a larger audience than you ever thought possible, and that audience is growing each and every day.

Click on one of these links to check out sample legal documents drafted by Amlaw 200 Law Firms for Fortune 500 Companies.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Ah, those magic words - “Attract Clients”. Virtually every professional I know loves the idea of attracting clients, and would be even happier if there was a “magic formula” for accomplishing it. Well, actually there is a formula that works like magic for attracting clients to you. And I’m going to reveal it - right here, right now. (OK, to be more specific, it’ll be at the end of the article. But no cheating! You need to read through the article for the formula to make sense.)First of all, this isn’t about simply “getting” clients. It’s about attracting them to you. It is the concept of building a business without chasing prospects, dogging down purchased leads, or operating a “quote mill” - turning out quote after quote hoping to have the lowest price. Unfortunately, many professionals are either trained or take it upon themselves to uncover prospects “at arm’s length”. It seems that either intentionally or inadvertently, companies often train their team to build their business by pursuing prospects. Although many companies and managers praise the benefits of “attracting” clients, when it comes time to meet production quotas, all the methods which “pursue” clients are the ones encouraged. By the time “meeting production quotas” become an issue, drastic measures are called for.

The solution, of course, is to avoid being in that place of “catch-up” to begin with. By learning how to attract clients and by applying those methods consistently, you side-step the need to pursue clients altogether. Virtually every professional who has a sizable, growing business - characterized by high retention and a steady flow of client referrals - does it by attracting clients rather than pursuing them.

There are two key components to successfully attracting clients.

The first key is to understand that people will be attracted to you by WHO YOU ARE, rather than by WHAT YOU DO. While there will be a small group of people who will do business with you strictly based on your depth of knowledge, most people - in fact, the majority of people - will do business with you because of who you are. Having good knowledge of your products, services, and industry is important. And having strong technical skills is useful and important as well. It’s just that being knowledgeable and skillful isn’t sufficient.

The second key component in attracting clients is actually getting out, so that people get a chance to see you, know you, and be attracted to you! The reality is that when you are in your office behind your desk, prospects never get to experience you and those people skills you possess. The result? If you try to get clients from behind your desk, you end up having to pursue them. On the other hand, when you get out and allow people to interact with you, you end up attracting them.

OK, so here’s the “magic formula” I promised. The way to successfully attract clients is to improve your people skills, and get out and meet people. I know it’s a pretty simple formula, but … it works like magic.

Written by Michael Beck, “Head Zookeeper” at http://www.ClientMonkey.com , a marketing strategies website dedicated to getting more clients, making more money, and having more fun! Receive a FREE program on recruiting & prospecting success at: http://www.PowerRecruitingandProspecting.com

Click on one of these links to check out sample legal documents drafted by Amlaw 200 Law Firms for Fortune 500 Companies.

Popularity: 3% [?]