Category: Uncategorized

First, it doesn’t matter if you say yes or no, you need to be present on our simulcast this Thursday on how to be remarkable in 2010. Register right now for the Be remarkable seminar and then continue reading.

Now, back the the subject.

There really isn’t a lot of place in the market for businesses that don’t stand out, and I don’t mean that only in the sense of having exposure. Today you need to take care of every detail in order to succeed and be remarkable.

Have you ever been to Disneyland? I haven’t but I’m an avid student of how Disney markets. I know the place is really clean, every paper is picked up by any employee and they see this as part of marketing and it is. Every detail in the process counts.

One point where most businesses are less than remarkable, especially small businesses is during the sales process. There is no system for the sale itself, no upsells or downsells and many times there is not even a call for the sale itself. It is interesting how people many times feel guilty to ask for the sale, try to upsell is almost a sin. But we are in business for profit right? We also tend to judge our audience and decide for them if they can or cannot buy from us. If you don’t take anything from this article, take at least this: Don’t judge your audience! Let them figure how they are going to pay you and if they can or cannot afford your prices. Take another thing: Create a structure for your sales, think about upsells and downsells and create a follow-up process. It is really naive to think you only need to talk to a person once to make the sale and to think they are not willing to buy more things from you. More on this topic on our call Thursday. See you there!

We are about 6 weeks away from Christmas which is usually a good time for businesses, especially retail.
On the other hand, everyday we hear complaints on how bad things are witht he economy and why sales are down. Many times, we go check these businesses online and they either have no presence online or they just don’t show in local searches. Come on! People search online, read reviews, research before they go out and buy. Much more, search engines are the new yellow pages. People use their phones to look for businesses all the time. Just the other day we were looking for a different restaurant to try and that was exactly what we did. Used the phone with GPS and found a cool Thai restaurant in the area we were. Being found is key for business.

You hear all the time that people don’t want to be sold, that traditional advertising is dead and you need to approach clients in a different way.
But how do you do that?
Here is a small list that will help you attract clients and sell more.
1. Use the word YOU often. People want to know what your product or service can do for them.
2. Answer these questions: What is this about? Why should I care? What’s in it for me and what do I have to do? People might not word these questions, but they will be thinking about it.
3. Increase your credibility by showing passion, expressiveness and accessibility.
4. Generate emotion. Have in mind that people tend to buy with the heart and justify with the mind. Go for emotion first, features later.
5. Vary the way you present. Remember that some people are visual, some auditory, some kinesthetic. Use text, pictures, props.
6. Become a storyteller. People love stories, stories are engaging and can generate powerful emotions. You can tell stories with pictures, analogies and words.
7. Don’t use too much information. People only want the amount of information they can use. Less is more. Too much information will only overwhelm people and the confused mind doesn’t take action. More words do not equal more impact.
8. Be transparent. Let your personality show.
9. Don’t be boring. Boring is really bad for business.
10. Be honest and be someone people can trust.

Sales will follow.

by Shahar Boyayan
We had a great labor day weekend! We attended a storytelling festival here in Utah. It was an amazing event attended by thousands of people. Families would be together some times with members of 4 generations, all laughing or crying with the same stories.

The power of stories in our lives is greater than we think.
Stories put the audience in a world of sensory impressions where it combines reality with the story. We feel like we lived trough the experience even if we only heard it.
When we listen to the storyteller, we get a subliminal message that he/she cares for the audience. One can say that stories equal caring.

We as business owners and leaders need to master storytelling and we need to acquire the ability to tell stories and motivate people to act.

You can tell stories with your voice, picture, packages etc.

Here are a few points to consider:

You may use stories from any source as long as you can tie them into the world of your prospect.

* Your story needs to have a point or it will be a waste of time.

* Make the story personal and add passion to it.

*Contrast what your prospect’s life was like before your service and their life after.

* Present specific, tangible benefits.

* Diagnose the pain

* Highlight the gain.

One simple way to tell a story with pictures is the before and after pictures you see in weight loss programs.

By looking at the contrast of the before and after, the story is told, it is personal, since you see the picture of the person, it shows the pain before and the gain after the product was used.

I always like to give the example of a great story told in a package using the packages of Vosges Chocolates.

In every package the company call you to use your 5 senses when trying their chocolate. You should take a look at one, because it is a very good example of business storytelling and how it can engage consumers.