Letters From Dan

I recently read a post on SavvyBlogging.net titled “Ditch the Pitch”, which made me wonder more about the role of the sales pitch in the consumer buying process?  I wouldn’t ever advise getting rid of the pitch because the pitch generates the sale. But I would say the author makes some valid points about the sophistication of consumers.

Crystal Collins, the author of “Ditch the Pitch” insists that we’re now so socially savvy we can see a sales pitch from a mile away. I totally agree with that, in fact I use that to my advantage and try to look at everything from the view point of the other side. I’m always wondering “what is their motivation in this arrangement” thus when is the pitch?

While I’m sort of against being victim to the hard sell pitch, I know first hand that it works very well a great deal of the time. Having spent the last 8 years in the infomercial world, I’ve seen up-to-the-second tracking on our TV infomercials and can compare that to the incoming sales call log. We can track at what second during the show a person calls and compare that to what they just heard. 9 times out of 10 it’s the sales pitch that starts the phone ringing.

The #1 website shopping cart mistake isn’t one that you make when you’re building your shopping cart. The mistake was made back in college when you decided that Psychology 101 was so easy you could skip half the classes. Because it’s what you would have learned in psychology that will drive more sales to your bottom line.

And ultimately – this is a really simple fix to a common mistake.

To fully understand why you need to do this you can either read Frank Kern’s new book, which I don’t even think has a title yet, or read Influence by Robert Cialdini. Both of them cover this concept quite thoroughly.

Kenny Brooks is the funny door to door salesman that everyone is watching on YouTube. He says that 2 years of door to door sales is like a college education in sales communication. And that line probably does help him make sales . . . but . . . has he learned enough to be successful selling something else?

On his blog, Marty Fancke commented that Kenny was doing lots of things right. He appreciated Kenny’s ability to make the customer smile, his use of product demo’s, leveraging social proof and asking for the sale several times. I believe his buyer’s would agree.

Creating a marketing plan that matches the consumer buying process strategy is crucial to the overall conversion rate of the campaign. And the key is understanding that marketing plans don’t have to be difficult – the framework itself can be very easy.

In reviewing where we are on a client’s site, I detailed the basic framework we’re using for this site here in this video. Making a plan like this makes it somewhat easy to determine from day to day what part of the strategy you’re working on and how it fits into the overall plan.

I recently read an article over at Alejandro Reyes’s website (which you can see here) where he published the results of a survey his readers took. I thought what he learned from his readers would be quite germane to your business.

He asked his audience three questions:

• What kind of content do you want to see in 2011 on AlejandroReyes.com?
• What format do you like best?
• How can I help you best in 2011 to become more successful?

If you can’t identify with those questions because it sounds like a website owner asked them, have you ever had a customer request something? If you’re a hair dresser, has anyone ever asked you what kinds of foods promote shiny hair? If you’re a hardware store owner, has anyone ever asked you if you do workshops? Why not ask them by e-mail what kinds of things you can do to make their experience better – and how they’d like you to do it. I’m sure you can think of three questions.

What Alejandro learned will certainly make his business better over the course of 2011. His readers said they’d be interested in hearing how other successful entrepreneurs became successful. That was great for Alejandro because he loves doing success interviews. I bet your customers, if you’re a hardware store owner, would love to see what other successful ”birding” folks are doing to attract bluebirds or cardinals to their feeders.  Ask your customers what you can provide.

Alejandro also learned that his customer prefer blog posts and video over podcasts. Wouldn’t that be nice to know? Would it be great to know that your real estate clients would much rather attend open houses on Thursday evening from 5 – 7 than Sunday from 2 – 4? How would that change your business?

Your customers have already researched what they need to know about your products. They’ve decided your place of business serves their needs, and many of them are repeat buyers (meaning they’ve overcome any buyer’s remorse). Your job now is to become a more staple expert in their mind and expand the services you can provide to them.

The only ways you can make more money is to get customers to buy more or get more customers. In the case of the survey, you have a prime opportunity to provide more value in exchange for money.

Surveying your customers is extremely easy on-line. There are many, many free polling and survey services you can use. To get people to take a survey, put the link in the footer of your e-mail signature. Send a postcard with a link to the survey.  Add the survey to your website home page. E-mail your customers and ask them to take it. Or even ask them in-store.

Surveys will not only make your relationship with your customers tighter and give you opportunities to meet their needs, but will also start a conversation with your customers that you can continue by e-mail all year long. So don’t forget to ask for their name and e-mail – then you can really serve their needs.

What are your thoughts on surveys? Why haven’t you done them yet? Some people are afraid it will annoy their customers. Do you feel that way and why? I’m interested in your thoughts so leave a comment below.