The Competitive Advantage

August 6, 2014

How do you respond to, “That’s just too expensive!”

Ooooh… the dreaded, “I like it – but it’s just too expensive.” Or “It’s not in our budget.” Or “Your competition is 35% less.” Or some other legitimate – or not-so-legitimate – excuse.

How do you respond?

If you’ve done a good job of presenting your services, deliverables and value, then there are really only 3 ways you can respond…

August 2, 2014

Not getting the email results you want? Make sure you’re following these 7 email marketing guidelines.

There’s not a person reading this whose firm isn’t doing some sort of email marketing. And you should… even with all of the technological changes taking place in the world of marketing & sales, good ol’ email continues to be one of the most effective and cost-effective ways to generate leads and then nurture them over time.

But like anything else… it requires planning and discipline to do it right. To help make the most of your email marketing efforts, make sure you’re following these 7 critical guidelines…

July 29, 2014

9 Questions to Ask Before Deciding to Exhibit

You hear from your friends in the industry that a particular conference was really good… strong educational sessions, impressive roster of attendees, good networking. Sounds like an event where you need to exhibit next year, doesn’t it?

Like most every other marketing decision, the answer is, “It depends.” Before you plunk down your firm’s hard-earned money and commit several days of your time, take a few minutes to answer these questions to make sure it’s the right event for you…

July 23, 2014

Is the customer always right? Uhhh… pretty much!

As I write this, I’m in the midst of a project with a client… helping them to develop their “go to market” messaging for a new service line. We’ve been talking about features and benefits, what “pain points” we think it addresses, what those that have tried it think about it and so on.

But we can only do so much. If you believe that “the buyer’s perception is the seller’s reality” (and I do!), then before my client makes any final decisions on messaging, he needs to get some input from those for whom the messaging is intended… his clients and prospects.

The fact is, getting feedback from clients could be the answer to most of your business questions and problems. Think about all the issues you deal with and where client input could be helpful…

July 16, 2014

C’mon, don’t be ordinary… dazzle me!

My kids got me a FitBit for Father’s Day… it’s a device you wear on your wrist that acts as a pedometer and comes with an app to track weight, diet, activity, etc. Pretty neat little item and a good reminder to stay active. Nice.

And if you achieve a certain level of activity – say, 10,000 steps in a day – it sends you a little ‘congratulations’ email. Again, nice.

But yesterday, I got an email telling me that my FitBit battery was getting low on power and needed to be recharged! What?! OK, it’s a small thing… but it’s also one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Somebody at FitBit was thinking – and in real-world terms, too. Yup… they dazzled me.

July 9, 2014

To create a better customer experience… make it ‘easy’

We invoice all of our clients monthly… but recently took on a new client that wanted to pay with a credit card. No problem. I called the credit card processing company we had used in the past to make sure that we could accept AMEX, to go over the monthly amount and to let them know we’d be processing the card manually.

You would have thought I asked for nuclear missile launch codes! I was going to have to send in an exception request every month, talk to the “limits department” and so on. What a ridiculous pain-in-the-a**!

Coincidentally, I had coffee with my bookkeeper that same afternoon and told her the story. She suggested I look into Square.com – the company that provides that little device that merchants use to take credit cards with their iPhones, etc.

Holy cow! What a difference.

July 2, 2014

Great business quotes #5 – on taking charge of your business.

Thanks so much for all the positive feedback on the first four posts in this series on great business sayings… I appreciate all of the comments and ‘likes.’

Here’s a quick recap of the first four great sayings:

• “Activity breeds results.”
• “All things being equal… people do business with people they like. All things NOT being equal, people STILL do business with people they like.”
• “Sales prospects don’t care about what you can do… they care about what you can do FOR THEM.”
• “What gets measured gets done.”

Our fifth – and final – saying is…

Hope is not strategy.

June 27, 2014

10 Ways to Get Clients to Sell FOR You (and they won’t cost a dime!)

Nothing is harder than getting a sales prospect to take a chance with your firm the very first time. They want to… but they don’t really know you, or more importantly, trust you.

Good news… the solution is right at your fingertips! Nothing can help prospects overcome their trepidation like a “thumbs up” from other similar companies – your existing clients.

Following are 10 [no cost] ways to leverage your existing clients to help assuage the fears of your soon-to-be clients…