How Does a Small Business Get Away With This?

Recently I called a local small business with a question about my account. I was told that the person in charge of billing was out until the next day and that it was best if I call back then.

I offered to leave my message on the person's voicemail to which the receptionist flatly told me "we don't use voicemail."

As a consultant to small businesses, it was hard for me to resist the urge to find out why.

"Why is that?" I asked curiously.

"We find it impersonal. And we just don't use it."

Her frankness floored me. I just couldn't fathom how a small business in today's environment could be so shortsighted.

I understand the fact that voicemails can be impersonal. Sure, we all would rather talk to a live person. But if the appropriate person is not available, why make things more difficult for your customer? Now the burden is on me to chase down the person I need.

Things must be going swimmingly at this business if they expect customers to chase them. What a luxury!

I couldn't hide my disappointment with the receptionist. I wasn't rude, but I pressed for more information.

"You really don't use voicemail?" I asked.

"No, we don't." the receptionist stated.

"Well, you may not want to use it, but your customers might." I responded.

I broke the awkward pause with, "so thanks for your help. I will try back tomorrow."

I hung up incredulous. What business can really afford to make it more difficult for their customers?

Business basics: make it easy to do business with you. This maybe one of the easiest and most successful ways to add value and it should be part of your Marketing DNA.

Move your business to the next level by ensuring your customers don't have to chase you.

Then again, if your business can afford to make life more difficult for your customers, maybe the next level is not for you.

4 Ways to Put Your Marketing on Cruise Control

The last thing you want to do is market your business passively. Right?

Wrong.

Passive marketing is the key to move your business to the next level.

Passive marketing is marketing derived from an activity in which you do not materially participate. Word-of-mouth, referrals, recommendations and repeat business are all examples of passive marketing. Passive marketing is thus marketing on cruise control.

So how do you achieve cruise control?

Here are four ways:

1) Gather and Publish Testimonials: testimonials are very powerful. They build credibility and brand awareness. Ask a handful of your best customers for a brief testimonial. Take the best ones and put them on your website, in your blog, on your brochures, etc.

2) Incent Referrals and Recommendations: a realtor client of mine offers a 25% referral fee to anyone that refers business her way. 25% of a $5,000 commission is extremely attractive. Needless to say, she has many people doing some of her marketing for her.

3) Refer and Recommend Other Businesses: you have to give to get, right? The Golden Chain of Referrals is extremely powerful. Refer your friends and customers to other non-competing businesses and watch those same businesses fill your sales funnel. A leads group, a networking group or a business association is a great place to do this.

4) Create and Use a Customer Retention System: repeat business is the most important component of passive marketing. New customers are always more expensive to find than existing customers. So for each customer interaction, make sure you have a method to follow up with that person. The easiest thing to do is to capture contact information and mail that contact regularly. Try SendOutCards for some great personalization. Or go big and invest in a customer resource management software to really put things on cruise control.

In all, passive marketing is about filling your sales funnel with as little effort as possible.

Nevertheless, don't think that passive marketing is easy. Quite the contrary.

Achieving passive marketing requires much time and energy. Passive marketing is not autopilot. It's cruise control, so you still need to steer the course and be aware of what's going on.

In the end, passive marketing will move your business to the next level more efficiently and more effectively than active marketing. When nurtured properly, the 3 R's (referrals, recommendations, repeat business) can generate amazing returns on your marketing investment.

Best Marketing ROI: Passive Marketing

Passive income is income derived from an activity in which you do not materially participate. Collecting rent or earning dividends are examples of passive income.

Active income, on the other hand, is income earned with blood, sweat and tears.

Robert Kiyosaki popularizes the concept of passive income in his Rich Dad/Poor Dad Series when he illustrates that the key to personal wealth building is to leverage passive income. Active income, Kiyosaki states, is the trap to keep you in the rat race.

Let’s apply this same concept to marketing.

Passive marketing is marketing derived from an activity in which you do not materially participate. Word-of-mouth, referrals, recommendations and repeat business are all examples of passive marketing.

Active marketing, on the other hand, is marketing earned with blood, sweat and tears.

Think about your business. Do you generate more revenue from active marketing or passive marketing? Are you successfully leveraging passive marketing? How can you generate more passive marketing?

There’s no easy answer and Kiyosaki would probably agree: you need a certain amount of activity to generate the return on the passivity. It takes lots of blood, sweat and tears to reach the point at which your income chases you instead of you chasing it.

But if you start to think in terms of passive marketing, you start to see its power.

Move your business to the next level by focusing on how to achieve more passive marketing. Concentrate your Marketing DNA on generating repeat business, testimonials, referrals, recommendations, customer retention and word-of-mouth.

After all, what someone says about your brand is always more powerful than what you say.

Absolute #1 Way to Increase Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is easily attained. Nowadays, it doesn't take much to get your name out there.

Just ask the parents of the Balloon Boy.

But Balloon Boy's time has come and gone. The original buzz around the controversy has lost its momentum. We will see some follow up news about this family because their actions were so remarkable, but interest will wane because people feel duped.

Marketing via controversy is not a long term strategy.

The best way to increase brand awareness over time is to increasingly supply value. Value is the fuel for the brand awareness machine.

Add value--per your Marketing DNA--and move your business to the next level.

Sure, you can increase brand awareness with a publicity stunt, a controversial idea or some other audience-grabbing event. But if there is no substance beyond the initial exploit, then awareness will fade faster than it was built.

The graph is an illustration that strong brand awareness is built by increasing levels of value. Per the small curvature, you can reduce value and still increase brand awareness. But this is just a blip, just like the Balloon Boy.

In order to build a strong brand, you need to increasingly provide value without any blips.

For most small businesses, brand awareness depends on referrals, recommendations and repeat business. Value is the key to unlock the flood gates of referrals, recommendations and repeat business.

So host a tasting event, have a customer appreciation week, give informative (i.e. not salesy) presentations, offer an add-on service for free or otherwise create some additional value for your product or service.

Adding value will build your brand and move your business to the next level.

It's Not What You Do; It's What You Do With It

Marketing is not what you do. It’s what you do with it.

Time after time I have seen small businesses fail in their marketing efforts because they simply “do” marketing and they don’t “do anything with it.”

Successful Marketing DNA requires more than just marketing alone. Successful Marketing DNA requires taking that next step and doing something with your marketing.

As you plan your next marketing initiative, think beyond the marketing and determine what you are going to do with it. Here are some ideas to get you started:

What you do: publish a print ad

What you do with it:
• Lead generation: “Call for more details”
• Invite participation: “Come to our FREE tasting”
• Encourage response: “Mention this ad and take 10% off your next order”

What you do: e-mail marketing

What you do with it:
• Send out informative topics to encourage readers to always open your content
• Provide valuable information in each email so that responders forward your email to others
• Build a community around your database by mentioning and referring your contacts to other businesses

What you do: build a Facebook page

What you do with it:
• Build a following by providing links and information that directly benefits your fans
• Engage in discussions and dialogue to encourage participation amongst fans

What you do: mail a postcard

What you do with it:
• Commit to at least four direct mail touch points with the same audience: one postcard does nothing
• Incent response with a simple yet compelling offer
• Test two versions of the same card and track responses to determine optimal messages

What you do: sponsor an event

What you do with it:
• Have enough free “takeaways” for everyone: examples include pencils, key chains, product samples, coupons, etc.
• Make your presence known with huge signage and other display items that will make your name standout
• Donate products or services to event coordinators to use in a raffle or something else

I could certainly go on, but I think the idea is clear.

It’s not about doing marketing. It’s about doing something with your marketing. If you want to move your business to the next level, then be sure you do something more with your marketing.

The Only 5 Seconds That Matter

Researchers suggest that the majority of purchases are impulse buys—purchases made in less than five seconds.

While this makes perfect sense in a retail setting, I don't think it explains buyer behavior with respect to services, big ticket items or long term contracts. Most people tend to ruse a bit longer over a decision like that than they would, say, over a pack of gum.

But the five second rule still applies.

You see, regardless of the setting, a marketer has less than five seconds to make an impression. With so many marketing messages orbiting our daily lives, consumers have only a fraction of time to respond to any single message.

For this reason, the idea behind successful marketing is to build positive brand associations with a consumer, even for only five seconds at a time. After handful of five-second positive associations, the consumer's opinion is shaped. This opinion would lead to the ultimate five-second interaction: the decision to buy.

Five seconds. That's all it takes.

So what does this mean for the small business? How can you take advantage of this five-second rule and move your business to the next level?

Simple: with every marketing piece, idea and collateral, take the 5-second Test. The 5-second Test will determine if your marketing message will resonate during the only five seconds that matter.

Start with your marketing message. If you can communicate one and only one thing, what would that be?

Now design your marketing communication around that message. Email, print ad, sign, social media post, etc. The medium doesn’t matter; just stick with one message.

Once you’re ready to execute the marketing, take a glance at your piece. Give yourself five seconds: can you walk away from that marketing communication in five seconds or less and understand the meaning you wish to convey? Try the test with others. It usually helps to get a second, third or even fourth opinion.

Five seconds is not a lot of time, but it is the difference between successful and unsuccessful marketing. It truly is the only five seconds that matter.

5 Ways to Get Your Marketing Message EVERYWHERE

Unless your Starbuck’s or McDonald’s, you’ll have a hard time getting your message everywhere. These guys have the deep pockets necessary to invest in massive marketing campaigns.

Most small businesses do not have deep pockets, particularly in today’s environment.

Nevertheless, even a small business can create the perception that its message is everywhere. Perception is the key. You don’t need your message everywhere; you need the perception that your message is everywhere.

Here are five ways to shape the perception that your message is everywhere:

1) Narrow Your Focus: Remember the 80/20 Rule? 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers. So narrow your focus to those 20%. Really dig into that segment and find out what they do, read or watch and get your message there. You don’t need to be everywhere for everybody. Just 20%.

2) Use Multiple Channels: this basic marketing strategy is an area where many small businesses fail. One ad in one newspaper is not enough. Only a certain segment of you market—and a shrinking one at that—reads the newspaper. Be sure you leverage a number of marketing channels. At a minimum, have a plan for at least four marketing channels. Choose from events, direct mail, print ads, the web, sponsorships, social media, relationship marketing or more. Select ones that your target market will hit.

3) Keep Your Message Clear and Consistent: the last thing you want is a confusing or convoluted message. Find one key message and repeat that same message across all channels. The more clear and consistent the message, the more pervasive it becomes. Repetition and consistency feed the perception that you are everywhere.

4) Leverage Technology: technology is an excellent way to do more with less. There are sophisticated web companies, like Acerno, that can set up banner ads that will actually follow web users from your site. Someone that visits your site will get a cookie that enables your banner ads to pop up on other sites on that visitor’s computer. This makes the visitor feel that you are everywhere, when in fact you are just following that one person.

5) Feed Your Word-of-Mouth: the ultimate goal for any marketing message is to have the message spread with as little investment as possible. This is the entire basis of viral marketing: the message spreads like a virus while the original agent does nothing. So feed the word-of-mouth. Get your message recipients to spread the word for you. Create some buzz and excitement that will get people to talk and communicate to each other about your message.

In order to move your business to the next level, you need to create the perception that your marketing message is everywhere.

Even the heavy hitters with million dollar marketing budgets can’t get everywhere. Yet with a couple of tricks like the ones mentioned above, their marketing message is pervasive.

So get pervasive, or at least create the perception that your message is pervasive.

Here is Your 2010 Marketing Plan

I know you’ve been procrastinating. You should have planned a 2010 Marketing Plan, but you keep putting it off. You keep telling yourself you will get to it soon, but little things pop up and drag you down. Especially with holidays here.

So I want to help you out. I’ve got a skeleton of a plan here. You just need to fill in the blanks. Think of it as an extremely focused version of Madlibs.

So here goes:

2010 MARKETING PLAN FOR_____ (your business name) _____

Objective(s): _____(state one or two measurable objectives, like “Double the size of my email database” or “Increase sales by X%”)_____

Target Market: _____ (Who is your ideal paying customer? What are they like?) _____

Initiatives:

1) First Initiative:

• Marketing Channel: _____ (Choose one channel like events, direct mail, advertising, signage, social media, etc.) _____


• Marketing Message: _____ (Based on this initiative, what one message do you want your target to understand?) _____


• Timing: _____ (When will you do this? For how long?) _____


• Intended Results: _____ (What do you hope to accomplish? How will you measure it?) _____


• Roles and Responsibilities: _____ (Identify who will do what components of this initiative. Do it yourself? Assign it to a team member? Hire a firm?) _____


• Estimated Cost: _____ (How much money?) _____

2) Second Initiative:

• Marketing Channel: _____ (Choose a different marketing channel) _____


• Marketing Message: _____ (Based on this initiative, what one message do you want your target to understand?) _____


• Timing: _____ (When will you do this? For how long?) _____


• Intended Results: _____ (What do you hope to accomplish? How will you measure it?) _____


• Roles and Responsibilities: _____ (Identify who will do what components of this initiative. Do it yourself? Assign it to a team member? Hire a firm?) _____


• Estimated Cost: _____ (How much money?) _____

3) Third, Fourth, Fifth, etc. Initiatives

• Repeat the above for as many initiatives as your resources can handle. This all depends on what you and your business can handle. By all means outline some more. However, if you are just doing this by yourself or if your resources are few, don’t do any more than five.

Not too complicated, right? Sure, we could dig into this even deeper and optimize this for your particular business. So just consider the above plan as your starting point. Now, fill in the blanks and strategize about your business and your marketing message.

I know you can do it. So get off your procrastinating bottom and get planning. Failing to plan is planning to fail!

As you move through 2010, you should be able to understand what is working and what is not. This will really take you to the next level because you will grasp where to best invest your marketing dollars.

Lastly, just a reminder that a good Marketing Plans is S.M.A.R.T. (Strategic, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound). If you really want to move your business to the next level, you need to get S.M.A.R.T. with your Marketing Plan.

So what are you waiting for? Your plan is ready to go. No more procrastinating and let’s get to that next level!

Why You Don't Need More Followers

Many small businesses are ramping up their social media efforts to catch the Twitter and Facebook waves. As business owners build their online communities, the general focus is on getting more followers and more fans.

The more the merrier, right?

Not exactly.

While generating as many followers and fans as possible can certainly grow your brand, the real focus should be on quality and not quantity.

Your list of followers and fans should represent either a source of income or a source of referrals. Income and referrals build a business, not merely fans and followers.

If your list of followers and fans neither produce income nor referrals, then it might be time to rethink your social media strategy.

Would you rather have 10,000 self-proclaimed MLM Gurus following you or 25 qualified leads? 10,000 sounds like a lot, but the 25 leads are the ones that are interested, engaged and potentially profitable.

The same principle applies for email marketing and direct mail marketing. Unless each and every contact on your list is a potential customer, you waste time, money and energy marketing to massive lists.

If you want a number of followers and fans to shoot for, try 150. The Rule of 150--based on Dunbar’s number and a key component to Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point--states that communities with a high incentive to remain together rarely exceed 150.

So build your community around 150 advocates. Find 150 customers that will support your business and influence others.

But you might be asking, what about scale? If I don’t get thousands of fans and followers, how will I build scale?

Simple: let your community of 150 build scale for you. If you provide consistent and authentic value to your community, scale will come.

So devote yourself to a small community of dedicated listeners and contributors. Don’t worry about generating thousands of fans and followers. Focus on the 150 that can truly move your business to the next level and nurture the heck out of those relationships.

Going Rogue or Just Plain Nutz?

Marketing via controversy is a tough way to build long term marketing success. Nevertheless, you don't have to be "liked" in your marketing efforts.

In fact, a lot of great buzz can be created with divisive tactics.

Take Bookshop Santa Cruz for example. A locally owned and independent bookstore, Bookshop Santa Cruz has made a national name for itself with some notorious maneuvers.

It's most recent initiative was to include a bag of "Just Plain Nutz" with every purchase of Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue.

Santa Cruz leans left on the political spectrum, so there was little surprise locally. However, this tactic alone generated national coverage including a blog post on The Huffington Post.

Risky, maybe. Effective, yes.

It goes to show that a little contoversy, if managed correctly, can generate some terrific publicity.

If you are thinking about a good publicity stunt, ensure the possible outcomes are more Bookshop Santa Cruz than Balloon Boy. For Bookshop Santa Cruz, they either sell more books or resonate more with their target audience. Both outcomes are favorable.

You can use controversy to move your business to the next level. Just make sure all possible outcomes are positive.

It Doesn't Take Money to Make Money

Given the tough economic times, a lot of business owners are in the "it takes money to make money" rut. This line of thought is forcing many owners who see their bottom lines shrinking to pull back on marketing efforts.

From a marketing perspective, now is the time to get out of that rut.

Recall that money is not the only currency in marketing.

You can do a lot with time and energy. Arguably, you can do more with time and energy than money alone.

A wise investment of energy, for example, can lead to greater creativity, a fresh look at an old idea or a new way to leverage resources.

But energy doesn't produce itself. The First Law of Thermodynamics teaches us that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change forms.

So don't think that you can energize your marketing by just sitting there. You can't just create an energy and buzz around your brand. But you can change its form.

Think of ways to divert the energy and attention towards you and your business. Use your own energy to convert it into different energy like new customers, repeat business or referrals.

Instead of sitting in your rut of "I need money to make money" get out there and drive the energy bus. Move your business to the next level with pure energy: go the extra step, ask for that close, create value, uncover new partnership opportunities, feed the "word-of-mouth" buzz, deposit referrals into the Golden Chain of Referrals. Marketing energy alone can go a long way!

Take inspiration from Chris Farley and Adam Sandler that created comedic energy from a couple tables full of food in their famous "Energy Brothers" skit on Saturday Night Live.

You don't need money to make money, but you do need energy.

Final Verdict: Keep It Simple

My tenant trashed my condo.

As my tenant was vacating my home, I inspected the residence. Needless to say, it looked like a college dorm after years of parties, fights and mistreatment.

The tenant refused to pay for any of the damages so I took him to small claims court. It was there that I got an important marketing lesson: keep it simple.

You see, I created a spreadsheet, I photocopied receipts and estimates and I printed a slew of photos. I was extremely prepared with tons of materials.

Big mistake. In the end, I was overly prepared.

The judge did not take the time to look at all of my documents. Instead, he focused on a couple of minor things, stated that the damage I was claiming was covered by the tenant’s security deposit and he ruled in favor of the defendant. Ouch.

Had I understood the target audience better (the judge) I would have focused on just one or two things. Had I known that the judge did not intend to review all of the documentation I provided, I would have kept it extremely simple and to the point.

Same goes for marketing. Less is more.

Marketing, much like the small claims court, is about communicating the important action items concisely and succinctly.

Succeed in marketing with brevity, clarity and simplicity. Move your business to the next level by communicating the core message and nothing more.

I should have taken my marketing expertise to small claims court.

Good thing I am not a lawyer.

Marketing Haiku

Track all marketing.

Perfect message and channel.

Test, learn and repeat.

5 Ways to Do More with LESS

Leverage should be a primary objective for any business owner. The ability accomplish more with fewer resources is a necessary skill to move your business the next level.

In terms of marketing, there are a number of ways to leverage your efforts. Keep in mind that the currencies of marketing are time, money and energy. So here are five ways you can spend less but accomplish more with your marketing:

1) Delegate: a good business owner will tell you that her human resources are perhaps the most valuable asset to the business. Find good people that can do the things you loathe to do or don't do very well. Researchers, virtual assistants, blog writers or even marketing project managers are very common ways to accomplish more marketing with less resources. Note: delegation takes both ego management and human resource management but if done well it can free up both time and energy.

2) Automate: not all marketing is good on autopilot, but automation of some marketing efforts can be very effective. Autoresponders through Aweber or other services can automatically send emails to people that fill out information on a website. Simple direct mail campaigns can be set up to send out on dates you specify. SendOutCards is one such service that has excellent do-it-yourself functions.

3) Share: there is much to be leveraged via sharing. Find a business that serves the same niche you serve. See if you can partner with that business. Get more contacts by sharing your list. Get more exposures by piggybacking on each other’s marketing initiatives. Build credibility and add to one another’s sales funnels through genuine reciprocation.

4) Use technology: I am no techie, but there are tons of tools available to help marketers do more with less. The mobile space is really blowing up in terms of applications and services that small businesses can use. A simple web-enabled cell phone can let you market on the go. Update your social media, check email, track your campaigns, monitor your security cameras and more while you wait in the doctor’s office or otherwise have some spare minutes.

5) Focus: many of us get bogged down in to-do lists. Marketing efforts are no exception. To avoid getting bogged down by all the marketing you wish to accomplish, pick one or two significant tasks per day. By streamlining your focus to one or two tasks per day, you will actually get more done with less. You will concentrate on performing one or two tasks well instead of offering a half-hearted effort on many tasks.

Nobody said leverage is easy. It takes work. The above are just some of the ways you can achieve leverage. Like anything, it will take some time to develop the right people and the right systems.

But if you can’t leverage your marketing efforts, it will be very difficult to move your business to the next level.

Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

Despite Aesop's sage advice, I say you should count your chickens before they hatch.

In The Milkmaid and Her Pail, Aesop tells of a young woman balancing a pail of milk on her head as she walks to market. She dreams of buying a dress with the money she will earn from selling the chickens she will buy from selling the butter she will make with the milk in her pail. Her dreams are ruined when she spills all of her milk as she fantasizes tossing her head at gentlemen suitors while wearing her new dress.

Excellent story and a great moral. But it's the exact opposite advice I give to small businesses. I say count every single one of those chickens before they hatch.

Run your numbers. Run your scenarios.

If you are on your way to market, be sure to calcuate what investment will yield the greatest return.

Some simple math can go a long way. Consider some basic marketing metrics like response rate, conversion rate and traffic. Apply some conservative assumptions and predict your outcomes.

Be sure to account for the pitfalls, hurdles and obstacles that might prevent you from reaching the desired outcomes and adjust your plan accordingly.

Had Aesop's milkmaid really counted her chickens before they hatched, she may have figured out some different options. Maybe she would have decided to make the butter at home instead of transporting the milk. Maybe she would have travelled a faster route to market or maybe she would have created a more focused plan to prevent daydreaming.

For your small business, think with the end in mind and plan accordingly. Move your business to the next level by counting each and every chicken before they hatch.

Marketing Metrics 101

If you still subscribe to the "50% of my marketing works but I'm not sure which 50%" axiom, it's time to move your business to the next level.

Marketing must be measured. Just like any investment of time, energy or money you need to know what level of return you can expect.

Sure marketing is both an art and a science, so you can't measure everything. But you have to start somewhere.

Here are some very simple metrics that you should track:

Response Rate: the number of responders divided by the number of recipients. This metric can be used for email, direct mail, calling and event campaigns. When measuring response rates, keep this number in the back of your pocket: 1% is the industry average for direct mail response rates.

Conversion Rate: the way to calculate conversion varies by industry but it is essentially the number of new, paying customers divided by total prospects. For example, let's say you email your database about a new product or service. Responders will just call you or email you back for more information. Conversions, on the other hand, are those that actually purchase.

Traffic: if you have a retail shop, measure how the amount of foot traffic for your center, your shop and even particular areas of your store. Test how traffic changes by varying your signage and in-store messages. If you don't have a retail presence, measure your web traffic and how that changes based on your marketing efforts.

Percentage of Repeat Purchases: how many of your customers are repeat business? This is a key metric to understand since it is more costly to sell to new customers than to sell to existing customers.

Sales: measuring sales goes without saying. You should always know your sales cycle and how that is impacted by controllable (marketing) and uncontrollable (weather) circumstances. Also be sure to measure sales against all marketing initiatives so you can track how an initiative impacts sales.

The above metrics are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to measuring marketing, especially if your business is online. Really you should be able to measure every advancement of the Sales Funnel, from Stranger to Advocate.

Most importantly, be sure you track your metrics consistently and over periods of time. This allows for direct comparisons.

Finally, make sure the data you track becomes actionable. As always, think with the end in mind. Ask yourself what you would do with the data when the measuring is complete.

To move your business to the next level, the marketing you measure should ultimately enable you to allocate your resources in a more informed manner.

Great Marketing is a Yawn

Yawn and the world yawns with you. Well, sort of.

Yawning is clearly contagious. Next time you are in a room with people, feign a sleepy yawn and watch how many people yawn in return.

Better yet, set a measurement to it: count the number of people that return your yawn and divide that by the total number of people in the room. Maybe you’ll come up with a metric like 7 out of 10 (70%) people yawn when they see someone else yawn.

This would be a measurement of the contagiousness of your yawn. If yawning is truly contagious, your number might even exceed 100% since you could create a never-ending chain of yawning.

Now, take this same concept and apply it to your marketing.

Measure the contagiousness of your marketing message: count the number of people that respond to your marketing message and divide that by the total number of message recipients. This is also known as a Response Rate but it is the first step in understanding how transmittable your message is.

If the message continues to spread—like a yawn—your responder to recipient proportion might exceed 100% and you could have a very contagious message on your hands.

Is your marketing message transmittable? Can you leverage one message and have it spread virally across multiple recipients? Does your word-of-mouth proliferate?

To move your business to the next level, make sure your marketing message is as contagious as a yawn.

Objective of Event Marketing NOT the Event

Event marketing—much like all marketing—requires careful planning. Executing a successful event depends mostly on preparation.

Key areas of focus include appropriate collateral, scripts for key messages and basic logistics for the day of the event.

However, the day of the event is only part of the equation. The follow up is where the real conversions happen. To move your business to the next level, ensure that you plan and prepare for what comes after the event.

Think with the end in mind.

The day you confirm an event and put it into your calendar also map out dates for your follow up plan. This way, when you show up to the event you will know what you need to do to execute your follow up.

You will know when to send emails, what to do with business cards, how to handle prospects and where to allocate your energy.

And don’t forget that a lot of great follow up happens just outside of the event: in hallways, elevators, restaurants and other gathering places.

Growing a brand means creating relationships and awareness both during and after the event. And in order to do that optimally, spend the necessary time before.

Plan for your event but plan more for what happens after.

"Everybody Gets Tired When Nobody Listens"

A direct quote from my daughter: "Everybody gets tired when nobody listens."

My daughter is four. She made this enlightened statement between giggling on the swings and hanging from the monkey bars.

While I am certainly biased in thinking my daughter is brilliant, there is no doubt that she speaks the truth. Listening is perhaps the most important skill in both business and in life.

The application of consistent listening serves tremendous marketing benefit. From customer service to employee interactions, a small business owner must be able to truly open her ears and probe for more information.

I previously recommended that a business owner must continually question their customer comments to dig for more information. In order to extract the most information, it is necessary to put aside egos, open up the ears and let the other party do the talking.

This life skill will move your business to the next level. You will find that customers will give you great information, employees will feel empowered and the competition will struggle to match your level of service.

It is tiring when nobody listens. Think how much energy is sapped with the simple act of seeking attention.

Do yourself, your employees and your customers a favor by energizing them with your listening.

140 Characters: Not Just For Tweets

At first glance, 140 characters is extremely limiting. What can you possible say in 140 characters that delivers meaning and generates response?

A whole heck of a lot, that's what.

In fact, I encourage my clients to think like tweeters even if they are not using Twitter. Limiting your marketing message to the core basics will get you to think like a savvy marketer.

In the marketing world, less is more. The less you need to state, the more powerful the messages.

Just as Nike, Google, Jiffy Lube or any other business you can think of that communicates their core message briefly and succinctly. Efficiency is very effective.

Remember, a marketing message does not need to communicate anything and everything about the business. It simply needs to move the audience through the next level of the Sales Funnel and advance prospective consumers through the Buyer Decision-Making process.

So when you are creating your next marketing piece, think like a tweeter and truly limit your message. Dig down into the core of what you want your audience to do.

Communicate the essence--and nothing more--and you can move your business to the next level.

What I Should Have Learned in B-School

Check my transcript: I took all the right classes.

Accounting, Finance, Operations, Marketing (lots of Marketing), Economics, Statistics...you name the B-School course, I took it. I even did an "Advanced Topics in Finance" class since I thought number crunching was what I needed to learn.

However, despite all my efforts, I failed to learn perhaps the most important lesson in business: your net worth is directly attributable to your network.

Only in the years since business school have I been able to fully comprehend the importance of your network.

I will never regret my time in business school. It was beneficial beyond measure and it propelled me into a career that I love. I was challenged by both professors and colleagues. I became a smarter and more well-rounded professional. And I recommend continued education to anyone and everyone.

Nevertheless, as I look back, I think I could have benefitted from a Networking 101 class. I can envision the modules: Honing Your Elevator Pitch, Public Speaking, Managing Your Rolodex, Follow Up Techniques and Giving to Get.

I should have learned these topics in b-school, but maybe these lessons are best taught outside of the classroom. Maybe the school of hard knocks is the best way to learn how to network.

After all, it's not the economy, stupid. It's your network.

6 Levels of the Sales Funnel

Good marketers know that steering a potential customer towards a purchase takes considerable effort. Few purchase decisions happen after just one contact. In fact, it may take 10-12 marketing touchpoints to convert someone into a customer.

For this reason, it is crucial to understand the Sales Funnel. Perhaps just as important as the Buyer Decision-Making Model, the Sales Funnel demonstrates that a concerted effort is required to create a customer.

Since much has been documented about the Sales Funnel, I don't feel the need to go into great detail. However, it is important to understand Sales Funnel basics. Sales Funnel basics boils down to the six levels of the funnel outlined here:

1) Strangers: these are people that have no idea about your business. They represent the mass of potential Contacts that have no awareness and thus float around your Sales Funnel. The best Strangers are identified as your niche, or your target market.

2) Contacts: once awareness is established, Strangers become Contacts. They dip their toe in the funnel. You may know very little about them and they may know very little about you, but at least there is some awareness.

3) Leads: a Contact becomes a Lead once there is some exchange of contact information. The most successful way to convert a Contact into a Lead is via permission marketing. Permission marketing is when a Contact gives you permission to contact them. This can take many forms like web sign ups, emails or even personal calls or visits. The basic concept is that a Contact gives your their contact information and they seek some type of follow up.

4) Prospects: once a Lead has been contacted, they should be qualified. Qualified essentially means that they are either moving closer to the purchase or moving away from a purchase. Prospects are those that are moving closer to the purchase.

5) Customers: there are many ways to think about Customers. My tried and true definition of a Customer is one that pays for a product or service. Look at your database: the people that are paying you are your Customers. Treat Customers as gold because the ultimate goal of the Sales Funnel is to convert Strangers into Customers.

6) Advocates: Advocates are those that recommend your business to others. They might be the most important component to your Sales Funnel because they will fill your Sales Funnel for you. Most often Advocates are satisified Customers, but Advocates can come from just about any level of your Sales Funnel.

In all, it is important to recognize that your entire Sales Funnel requires investment, attention and much care. Successful businesses will invest in each and every level. Tending to one level at the expense of another is rarely a good idea. I've seen many businesses focus on Prospects or Customers alone and forget to fill the Sales Funnel with Contacts. Or vice versa: a business fills their funnel with Contacts but fails to convert them into Leads, Prospects or Customers. Either approach is a recipe for failure.

Focus on all levels of the Sales Funnel. Fill your funnel AND move people through your funnel at the same time.

I reommend the 80/20 Rule here: spend 80% of your efforts moving your Contacts through the Sales Funnel and spend 20% of your time filling your funnel with new Contacts. This formula should be part of your Marketing DNA and successful implementation will move your business to the next level.

6 Steps to Successful Event Marketing

Event marketing is extremely labor intensive. But if done right way, it can fill your sales funnel with highly qualified leads and prospects.

The key to event marketing, much like any marketing, is preparation. In fact, successful event marketing is directly due to the upfront work.

The following are some suggested steps to successful event marketing. You’ll see that most of the work comes before the actual event:

1) Pick the Right Event: take some time to really understand the event, the audience and the promoters. Due diligence is critical because you want to showcase your product and service to the right people. More importantly, you want to be sure the event is promoted well. Trust me. There is nothing worse than setting up your booth at an event only to watch the grass grow. A simple way to perform your due diligence is to call the vendors that attended previously and ask them about their experiences.

2) Establish a Specific Objective: set your S.M.A.R.T. (strategic, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) goal for what you want to accomplish. Think of your objective as two-fold: 1) what do you want your audience to say about your business and 2) what do you want to capture from your audience. Setting up this specific objective will directly determine how you approach the event, what you bring and how you expect to interact with attendees.

3) Negotiate the Terms: part of picking the right event comes down to getting the right terms. Most event promoters will accept any vendor willing to pay the fee. But you shouldn’t see yourself as any vendor. Besides, if you pick the wrong event and get no traffic, then your time and money are worthless. Work with the promoter to help you achieve your specific objective. There are a lot of ways to accomplish this: get a good booth location, base your event fee on the amount of traffic to your booth or get your business promoted in the event program or other avenues. Terms can make or break an event.

4) Keep it Simple: too often business owners want to post several signs, have several give aways and have time to meet with prospects. You need a hook to bring people in, but keep it simple. Think about your specific objective and work towards accomplishing that one objective. Everything else is extraneous.

5) Give, Give, Give: to really create buzz, give away your store. Literally. Sure, selling is important. But when you have the chance to target hundreds of prospects, give them a reason to remember you. The best way to do this is to give away what your business values most, namely your product or your service. This can be done without breaking the bank. Think of ways to give value for free which would then entice attendees to buy more. A presentation, for example, is a great way to do this. Give away invitations to a special presentation in which you reveal industry secrets. Once you have them in a presentation, then you can show them you’re an expert which will lead to more sales.

6) Follow Up: succesful event marketing is contingent upon follow up. Procrastinate on follow up and you'll waste time and money. Once you put the event date on your calendar, put the event follow up shortly after. Put it in your calendar now and you will do it. Don’t save it for later.

There is a lot involved in successful event marketing. So break it down to the basics, follow the above steps and move your business to the next level.

What a Marketer Must Continually Ask

The first activity I generally do when giving a marketing workshop—particularly if the emphasis is on sales—is to review the Buyer Decision-Making Model.

It’s crucial that business owners and salespeople clearly grasp the consumer thought process during purchase decisions. Getting into the brain of the consumer is the key to successful selling.

In order to do that, a marketer or a salesperson must understand the six steps every consumer takes when deciding to buy. Here is a brief summary of the Buyer Decision-Making Model and the six steps:

1) Awareness: the consumer must have some awareness of your product or service. Without awareness, nothing more will happen.
2) Interest: awareness is the first step, but the real push towards a purchase comes when there is interest.
3) Understanding: the consumer must clearly comprehend how the product or service can fulfill needs.
4) Attitude: after understanding the product or service, the consumer will develop a positive or a negative attitude towards the offering.
5) Purchase: purchasing is predicated on the previous four steps. Note that the first four steps may take seconds to complete, but a purchase decision may take more time.
6) Repeat Purchase: create so much satisfaction that the consumer returns to buy again, or they recommend your product or service to others (which in turn creates awareness, interest, etc.)

In which step does a marketer most influence the buyer?

Each and every step.

Thus, the most important question a marketer should continually ask is if their marketing message, copy and collateral drive the target audience towards purchase and repeat purchase.

Strategically, this means that a marketer must understand in which step their target currently resides. Without awareness, a marketer must get the word out. If there is interest, the marketer must create understanding and shape attitudes. Each message must target the audience appropriately to move buyers to the next level.

Understand how to move buyers through their decision-making process and you will understand how to best market your product or service. This understanding alone will move your business to the next level.

Memo To Those Marketing Via Controversy

If you use controversy to market your business, your business model is not sustainable.

Especially via social media.

We've seen you're tactics. Marketing via contoversy can take a number of forms: a tweet that incites anger, a derogatory blog against a respected practice, an email that gets under your skin or even a scam claiming everything else is a scam. These are just some examples.

For these type of marketing initiatives, one thing is clear: while controversy may increase short term awareness, it will ultimately prohibit long term business success.

In today's marketplace, the Long Tail is more important than the quick sale.

Add value. This will move your business to the next level and should be a part of your Marketing DNA.

The 3 Marketing Assets

In order to move your business to the next level, make sure that you leverage all three of your marketing assets.

Assets, by definition, generate revenue.

There are three marketing assets: product, service and brand.

If your business does not generate revenue from all three assets, it's time to create another revenue stream.

Service: if you primarily sell a service, find complimentary products to sell along with your service. They certainly don't have to be your own but you should find ones you feel comfortable recommending. Look around for a good wholesaler or distributor. You might find a very profitable situation.

Product: if you primarily sell a product, develop an accompanying service. Maintenance, warranties or insurance plans are popular among the big retailers. Info products are an excellent option for smaller businesses. Seminars and presentations add value and can also generate leads.

Brand: if you have both a product and service, think about how to create revenue from your brand. Licensing your product or service is the best way to do this. If licensing is out of the question, get creative. Small businesses might leverage their brand in exchange for leads or goodwill as opposed to revenue. This may not help the bottom line immediately, but a warm lead can turn into revenue.

It certainly takes some hard work to leverage all three marketing assets. Your Marketing DNA will be tested.

Nevertheless, move your business to the next level only when all three marketing assets are producing the highest return.

Question Your Customer Comments

Dare I suggest that you question what your customers say?

Absolutely.

Many small businesses utilize surveys, suggestion boxes, comment cards or other mechanisms to solicit customer feedback. These can be excellent forms to gather input, but too many business owners misinterpret the data.

First of all, there are rarely enough data to make a well-informed decision. Without significant sample sizes, a business owner might react to one comment that may not represent the whole.

Secondly, the interaction represents one snapshot of time. Just what one person was thinking at that one time.

Third, the population that is inclined to fill out a survey is either extremely satisfied or extremely dissatisfied. While their feedback can be useful, often times their comments do not offer constructive advice: satisfied people like business as usual and dissatisfied people simply need to vent.

Thus, the best way for a small business to handle customer feedback is to question it.

Engage in dialogue with your customers. Then listen.

If you have a feedback mechanism, like a comment card or a survey, provide a means to follow up so you can dig into the comments.

If you receive a compliment, find out more. What specifically was good? Why was it so good? Do others share your opinion? And the best question of all, why would you recommend our business to others?

If you receive a negative comment, dig for more information. Set your ego aside and ask deep, probing questions. What was so negative? Why was it negative? How could we make it better?

In either situation, the 5 Whys are a terrific way to really question customer comments. Asking why 5 times for every interaction will produce actionable results.

To take your feedback to the next level, utilize social media and other on-line platforms to engage with customers and encourage dialogue. Social media can enable a larger sample size, a more varied perspective of time and a broader opinion base than a survey.

Gather your own customer panel via ratings on websites, fan pages on Facebook or tweets with a particular hash tag. Use the question and answer pages on LinkedIn. You will truly converse with your customer base and you can continually demonstrate the value you provide. Best of all, social media is free.

Just make sure you question every and all comments. Deep questions and lots of listening.

This act alone will move your business to the next level and it should be part of your Marketing DNA.

3 Currencies of Marketing

"Slash your marketing budget" is one of my favorite recommendations to small business owners.

There are many ways to market your business that don't require significant financial resources. Here are four no cost marketing initiatives.

The key to these initiatives is the understanding that successful marketing is funded by three separate currencies: money, time and energy.

Money is obvious. It takes money to make money. It takes money to hire a marketing consultant, advertise and otherwise get your name out there.

But money alone does not make marketing successful. In fact, some of the most powerful messaging can be created without spending a lot of money.

For this reason, I recommend small business owners consider investing time and energy into their marketing. Allocating time and energy to a marketing challenge often times results in greater return on investment than money.

Take time, for example. I generally recommend that businesses dedicate at least 10% of all revenue to marketing initiatives. What if business owners spent 10% of their time on marketing? That's really only one hour a day for most.

A lot can be accomplished in one hour: post a blog, give a presentation, cold call, network, optimize other marketing communication or strategically plan your Marketing DNA.

But don't look at time as simply punching the marketing clock. Energy is as valuable as time when it comes to marketing investments. So dedicate energy as well as time.

Investing your energy will allow you to think through your marketing challenges and it will ensure that the time you allocate is well spent.

One great way to invest energy is to generate referrals for other businesses. The Golden Chain of Referrals should start with you, and this strategy generally requires much energy to know the businesses and know to whom to refer their services.

In all, marketing doesn't need to cost money. Time and energy are equally valuable currencies to move your business to the next level.

4 No Cost Marketing Initiatives

Looking for ways to market your business on a limited budget?

You're not alone. An informal poll of my clients confirmed that most are looking for ways to market their businesses on the cheap.

I support this strategy. In fact, I recommend slashing your marketing budget and filling your sales funnel without spending on advertising.

There are many marketing initiatives that do not require a major financial committment. A lot can be accomplished with both time and energy.

Here are four ways to market your business at no, or little, financial cost:

1) Teach: to borrow a phrase from Brian Clark of Copyblogger, "teaching sells." Showcase your product or service. Host a presentation, seminar, conference call or a webinar. And do it for free. Show people what you can do. Magical things happen when you showcase your skills. Your sales funnel will fill up for you as you generate brand awareness and develop credibility.

2) Network: nowadays, there are many ways to network. There are leads groups, business associations, social networks and more. Some groups may cost money but there are many groups that you can join for free, particularly on-line. The key to successful networking is to give more than you receive. Dedicate quality time and energy to the network and the referrals you receive will grow exponentially.

3) Blog: a good blog takes commitment, but it is an excellent way to add value to your marketing. Even if you do not have many followers, the act of posting weekly entries about your product or service will force you to better communicate your key marketing messages. It's also an outstanding way to advance your target market through the sale funnel. Leads and prospects learn more about your product or service through a blog and thus take a step closer to becoming a customer.

4) Partner: this doesn't mean take on a business partner. Rather, partner with a resource that could potentially refer you consistent business. For example, a real estate agent might partner with an executive recruiter. Or a loan officer could partner with a bankruptcy lawyer. Maybe a restaurant partners with an event planner. The list is endless but requires some creative thinking on the part of the business owner.

There are other initiatives that produce an excellent return for little investment. Search-engine optimization, affiliate programs and other ways to leverage the power of the internet are areas to explore if they make sense for your business model.

That said, the four suggestions above are an excellent way to move your business to the next level without a lot of money.

In all--as long as you dedicate time and energy--there are many effective ways to market your business for no cost.

Marketing Motivates Action

When preparing marketing communication, be sure you can answer this question: what action do you want to your audience to take when they receive your marketing communication?

It's a simple question, but too often small business owners miss the mark on their marketing pieces. They forget that each marketing communcation must motivate some action. Each sign, ad, e-mail, web page, presentation, blog post, tweet or other marketing message should push its intended audience to do something.

The easiest way to think about how to use marketing to motivate action is to remember the sales funnel: contacts become prospects, prospects become leads, leads become customers, customers become advocates.

Each marketing communication needs to move your target through the sales funnel.

Here is one simple example:

1) Simple branding--like logos, signage or letterhead--should create awareness and generate more contacts.

2) A website, for example, might convert contacts into prospects with valuable content.

3) Prospects become leads once they complete an opt-in form on your website, or otherwise give you their follow up information.

4) Leads convert into customers with some strong sales calls using scripts.

5) And finally, customers become advocates after their experience with your product or service encourages them to tell others.

One thing is common in each step: the marketing is set up to encourage action. Each marketing communication motivates action to the next step.

To move your business to the next level--and to move your target market through the sales funnel--be sure that your marketing motivates action.

So next time you have to create some marketing--no matter what marketing you choose--ask yourself: does this piece encourage action and movement through the sales funnel in the best way possible?

The answer to that question may have you rethink how you communicate your message and how you market your small business.

Social Media Demystified

Believe it or not, many small business owners—particularly in the off line world—are still confused about social media.

Perhaps the confusion is due to trepidation: many mom and pop shops fear technology and change. Or maybe the confusion is due to a lack of knowledge: many folks are still out there asking “what the heck is Twitter?”

Regardless of the reason, the confusion should stop here. Small business owners, take note as the following should clear everything up for you regarding social media:

Social media is nothing more than another marketing channel.

Simple enough, right?

As long as a business owner understands that social media is just another marketing channel, the confusion around social media and the uncertainty of its practicality should be completely demystified.

Take out the tweets, fan pages, diggs, stumbles, reddits, you tubes and other vernacular about social media and boil it down to its essence: social media is just another form of communication. Basically it is no more than an additional avenue for business owners to communicate the value that their product or service can provide.

In this light, we can even take another step towards social media enlightenment by asking one simple question: does your target market use social media?

If yes, then get plugged in, get tweeting, get a fan page, post a video or otherwise get to work communicating your message via social platforms. They are quick, easy and extremely inexpensive to implement.

If no, then do nothing. Why waste resources on communication channels that your market does not use?

Admittedly, there are fewer and fewer businesses that cannot benefit from a strong social media presence. Many are using the power of social media to move their business to the next level. The interactivity, the immediacy and the ability to leverage your message are all reasons to consider the use of social media.

But social media is no different than any other marketing: if you cannot hit your target, don’t waste your ammunition.

Stay Longer, Buy More

Shoppers that stay in your store longer will buy more. Nothing revolutionary here. It's one of the main conclusions and recommendations from Paco Underhill and his excellent book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping.

Mr. Underhill suggests that retail shops and stores invite their customers to stay longer. His ideas include: making the environment pleasant, placing children's items low so they can interact with the products and providing seating like an area for husbands to so their wives can browse longer.

Kind of like the beer commercial where the guys set up the tv in between the clothes racks so they can catch the game while the wife shops.

But Mr. Underhill's recommendations apply to the online world as well: keep your browsers and shoppers on your site or your blog for longer and they will buy more.

How do you do it?

First, provide valuable content. The more valuable your content on your site, the more time people will spend with your information and the more they will soak up your brand.

Second, if you have a blog, make sure that the links you add to your posts open a new window. It takes a bit of HTML coding, but it is not too difficult to do. For Blogger, I go to the "Edit HTML" tab and I add the following code to the end of each link: "target=_New". This ensures that a new browser window opens from a link and the reader won't get bumped off my blog, thus absorbing more of "me" and my message(s).

Third, get interactive. Browsers and consumers that can interact with your site by posting comments or providing ratings will engage your readers and have them spend more time with you.

Finally, give browsers a reason to come back or give them a reason to get more information from you. This means you will need to update your content frequently. You will also need to provide ways for prospects to subscribe to your newsletter and feeds or a widget so they can become a follower.

Mr. Underhill studied the off line world, but his recommendations apply to both on and off line: if prospects stay longer, they will buy more. And if your prospects spend more time with you and your message, you will move your business to the next level.

38 Witnessed Murder; No One Called Police

It's called the "bystander effect" and it became a focus of study after the murder of Kitty Genovese.

Genovese was stabbed to death by a serial killer in 1964 in Queens, NY. According to newspaper accounts, 38 people heard or witnessed the act as it was occuring, yet no one contacted law enforcement officials.

The exact number of witnesses--and their lack of action--remains debatable today. However, the incident spurred numerous studies into human behavior and our response to emergencies.

Pyschologists have concluded time and time again that the more witnesses present in an emergency, the less likely those witnesses will respond. Put one person in a room as someone has a seizure, the one person calls for help. Put twenty people in a room as someone has a seizure, and everyone waits for the others to act. Hence, the "bystander effect."

This has led me to a burning question: is our economy suffering from the "bystander effect?"

In other words, are we all sitting around waiting for others to act? Are we assuming that someone else will respond to the emergency? Are we simply bystanders?

Many small business owners will be the first to say, no way. They are doing everything they can to keep their business afloat. They are responding to the emergency.

But others, I would argue, suffer deeply from the bystander effect. Perhaps this effect is exacerbated by the government's stimulus plan. People assume that the government's aggressive spending package will be the solution, so we can be "bystanders" until the economy corrects itself.

Have you tracked where stimulus dollars are going? First stop: back filling budgets previously cut. Second stop: maintaining current staffing levels to avoid further layoffs. Given these two significant stops, most stimulus money is not generating new spending, at least not yet.

The government might be doing some valiant things to combat this emergency, but if we are all bystanders in this emergency, then few will respond.

So I propose that we all become responders and not bystanders to this emergency.

Go out and create some value. Determine right now that you will create value today. Recall that value is the relationship between the perceived benefit and the price. Create much benefit for little price.

In other words--perhaps in more business-like terms--create much revenue for not much cost.

If each and every person created value today, the economic ripples would be felt worldwide.

So move your business to the next level. Avoid the bystander effect and be a responder. Determine that you will create and add value today.

After all, the responders are the heroes. If you want to be a hero in this economic crisis, go out and create some value. Add value right now!

Speak < Sell

In plain English, speak less than you sell. Or conversely, sell more than you speak.

It's a magic formula that will actually force you to speak less and directly sell more.

How does it work? Simply put, say only a few things and ask only the really pertinent questions. This lets your prospect do the talking and--more often than not--the prospect sells your product or service to themselves!

One caveat: this strategy is best used when advancing a prospect through the sales funnel. To move a lead through the sales funnel, its a matter of prospecting, presenting and following up. Prospects generally need more information, so it may be okay to speak more.

However, the best way to convert a prospect into a lead and eventually a customer is to let them do all the talking. They will tell you what they need. You can then decide of your solution meets their needs.

Amazing things happen when salespeople ask the right questions and then keep their mouths shut. The customer really opens up and tells exactly the information that the salesperson needs to close the deal, namely their biggest needs.

Call it the Socratic method of selling, but it really works.

Try it next time you are trying to close a sale. Ask good questions, let the customer do the talking and watch them close the sale for you.

It takes a bit of discipline. We all want to show how good our product or service is and tell how much we can help the prospect.

But I guarantee, speak less and sell more and you will move your business to the next level.