Sales & Marketing Authority, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

Much like the complaint and suggestion boxes of yesteryear, the internet is, among many other things, a place where people gather to complain about things. Movies, music, politics – think about how much of what you see on the internet is negative reactions and reviews. You can use this to your advantage in looking for ways to run your business more effectively.

To take a simple example, imagine that you were running a hotel. In looking to make your hotel the best one on the market, you could go onto a site like orbitz or expedia, and look at the reviews of your competitors, the other established hotels in your area and price range. However, by focusing on the lowest reviews, you could find exactly what customers didn’t like about the hotel, and find ways for your product to pick up on opportunities that were missed by your competitors.

You can do this in any industry, and with any type of business. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look, and how to properly turn the negative feedback into useful and constructive advice.

Begin by knowing where to look, and what to look for. This depends primarily upon your industry. There are hundreds of industry-specific review websites and social networks out there, some of them better known than others. Twitter and Facebook are obviously great places to start, as are social media sites like Yelp, provided that they are relevant to your industry.

To find additional review sites, just browse through what people are linking to on Twitter and Facebook, or do a Google search for “your industry + reviews.” You’ll be surprised just how many sites there are out there.

Once you find negative feedback, you’ll need to incorporate what you’ve learned into your business. So if you see a lot of customers complaining about a business practice that is common in your industry (even if the complaints are specifically directed toward your company), then you know to change that practice. For instance, if you see a lot of complaints about online marketers sending out too many useless emails, you might want to take a step back and think about whether you’re personally guilty of that sin.

On the other side, if you see a lot of people complaining about something that doesn’t exist, then you may have found a niche for your business to profitably expand into.

At the end of the day, it’s always good to know what customers are saying about your business, and the other businesses in your industry. And considering that people are 10 times more likely to post a negative comment than a positive one, looking for negativity is a great way to start.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

In this age of internet marketing, SEO, and social media, it’s important to remember just how important face-to-face communications are. Marketing or selling your product in person may seem like a quaint, antiquated, notion, but in fact it is still one of the most effective ways to motivate people to buy your product. Top salespeople will always jump at the chance to make a pitch in person, as they know it’s the most effective way to move the product off the shelves. By following a few simple rules, you can make yourself orders of magnitude more effective at in-person sales.

Make or Break

Never forget that, more than any other type of sales, face to face selling is a make or break opportunity. People are busy, they have short attention spans, and typically they aren’t very interested in what you’re selling, at least initially. Which is all the more reason that it is absolutely essential to open strong and close quickly.

Capture Their Attention

Once you get the first few seconds of someone’s attention, you can easily build from there. But getting the first few seconds is the tough part – how do you get someone to take a break from their busy life and listen to what you have to say? By making a creating appeal to their emotions, or by offering them a deal! Even the busiest among us are always looking for a way to save a couple of quid, so give them a chance to do just that.

Create Urgency

Along with being make-or-break, face to face selling needs to move along quickly. As opposed to internet-based sales, where you bring in your customer slowly with free information before offering them an opportunity to buy, face-to-face sales need to close quickly.

If your customer walks away without making a purchase, you will likely never hear from them again. So build urgency in whatever manner you can. Stress that there is only a limited amount of your product left, or that the offer you’re giving them will not be good forever.

However, here you must be careful to steer away from hackneyed phrases like “limited time offer,” and “only available for a short time.” People are so accustomed to these phrases being thrown around that they won’t believe you even if you’re telling the truth, and you’ll damage your credibility by looking like a pushy, amateur, salesman.

In today’s age of faceless promotion and internet marketing, face-to-face sales are more effective than ever. However, the key to effective in-person selling is understanding that your customers are busy, making a powerful appeal, giving them an offer, creating urgency, and closing deal without coming off as pushy or annoying. Sounds like a tall order, but the only way to get better at it is by practising.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

A 5 minute video on why the modern day buyer has changed.

They’ll take the shirt off your back if you’re not careful!

You’ve spent hours preparing your sales presentation and managed to land a meeting with the decision maker at a local corporation. After the presentation you are asked a series of questions about your product and then the decision maker starts to ask you real questions.

He wants to know about the price of your product.

Of course he does – and rightfully so! But here’s where most salesmen begin to falter. They’re uncomfortable talking about price because they aren’t sure how the customer will respond at this critical point in the sales process. What they don’t realize is that their level of confidence visibly drains, their body language completely changes, and their response to this question is more of a turnoff than a convincing close.

Why wouldn’t you be confident about the price of your product? You just spend a good 30-60 minutes telling your prospect about the pros, cons, and benefits of your services. Don’t you think it’s priced competitively?

Never be afraid to confidently answer questions about the price of your product, especially if you’re at the point in which the sale may close. Maintain eye contact with your prospect, use the same hand gestures you’ve used throughout the entire presentation, and make sure your body language and tone express how excited you are about the product and the way it is priced.

Feeling uncomfortable? Stand in front of your mirror in the morning and talk about your price point as if you are talking to a client. Repeat yourself several times until you are comfortable with this part of your presentation.

Remember this! Your confidence will give your prospect confidence!

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker