If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Don't Be This Guy.
This is CRITICAL to effectively selling anything…
And it’s one of the biggest mistakes I see marketers, both newbies and veteran guys alike make.
When I worked in sales jobs, a lot of the older sales guys I worked with were “old school”, they talked about all of those selling concepts like…
- “ABC, Always be closing.”
-”Be aggressive, don’t let them leave without a commitment.”
-”Dial for dollars, it’s a numbers game.”
The classic “used car” selling tricks are a waste of time and energy. I’m not saying they don’t work, they do, but ultimately you’re working much harder than you need to in order to close the deal.
And I see these same tactics being used online. People focusing on a one-off sale as opposed to building relationships.
For those of you who don’t know, I’m a marketing consultant and copywriter.
I don’t go out begging for work. I don’t manipulate my clients into hiring me when I’m on the phone with them for the first time.
I have my whole business set up so that I don’t need to cold call, or chase down potential clients.
I’ve positioned myself so that clients come to me… And when they do I make sure to do everything I possibly can to make them clients for life.
I could cold call. I could spend my days hunting down potential clients. But that’s a massive time suck, and selling is A LOT more fun when you don’t need to sell at all…
When your potential customers want to buy what you’re offering, and you position yourself as the best place to purchase whatever it is they’re looking for, there’s zero resistance.
It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, you can apply this to your business…
Gary Vaynerchuck sells millions of dollars worth of wine, books and speaking gigs every year using nothing but his personality.
If you’re an affiliate, you can do the same thing. Go beyond direct linking. If you’re selling weight loss try setting up a blog, forum and newsletter with entertaining/informative content. Give people what they want. Keep them coming back with awesome content, and when they’re ready to buy they’ll buy from you.
Positioning yourself as “the best” in your industry does a TON of things to make your life easier and make you more money…
1. It immediately makes your business competition proof. If you’re an authority in the fitness vertical, and you have a loyal fan base who listens to everything you say, you’re 100x as likely to land the sale for that new supplement than some affiliate testing the niche for the first time.
2. It builds a lifetime business. The first sale is ALWAYS the most expensive. People who buy from you in the past are VERY likely to buy from you again in the future. If you’re going for a one-off sale instead of creating customers for life, you’re 100% leaving money on the table.
3. It forces you to provide real value. If you’re promoting garbage products, yes, you can make a lot of money very fast. But not one of those people you ripped off is ever going to spend another penny with you.
4. It allows you to charge premium prices. If you’re known as “the best”, at whatever you do or sell, you separate yourself from selling a “commodity”, people will pay a premium to work with and buy from the best.
And it’s ALL about positioning…
Think about it. Say you wanted to start a consulting business…
Would you rather be the guy doing $100 web design or the guy doing $20k/month contracts? They both exist, and what they charge is entirely their decision.
How can you be the best in your niche?
How can you position yourself so that instead of chasing customers down and hard selling them, they line up ready to pay premium prices to buy from you?
It starts with great content. It starts with giving people what they want.
It’s about building communities. Building relationships.
It’s about knowing what people want, and positioning yourself/your company as the obvious choice to buy from.
That’s what separates the boys from the men in this business.
Something to think about.
Now go hustle,
-Scott Murdaugh
P.S. If you have a product or service you need help selling, if you want to position it as “the best” in your niche, I can help. Drop a comment or fill out the form at ResultsCopywriting.com.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Scott, you make a great point of building a relationship with your customer.
When I read that, it reminded me of a Gary Halbert seminar, he said the same thing about building a relationship with your customer. He compared it going up to a woman and saying ” Hey, Wanna got to bed with me ”
There’s has to be more first.
Anyway, another great post,
Bill
Hey Bill,
Thanks for stopping by! Yeah, I love the “seduction” analogy.
You can take a little time to get to know her, make her laugh, learn a little bit about each other and then let whatever happens happen naturally…
Or you can try the “Nice to meet you, let’s go back to my place” approach.
The first one takes a little more work but it’s 100x more likely to payoff.
Great point in various areas Scott – most people (not only copywriters) get a client and don’t even think about nurturing the relationship. They’d rather get a NEW client than focus on building the relationship with PREVIOUS clients!
I do the same as you for getting clients as well – the huge majority come to me…usually through a referral.
The best part is…in probably 70% of the cases, they’ll call for a 30 minute consultation – and end up hiring me on the spot after I PROVE how much of an expert I am.
I just had a client who emailed me on a Tuesday to set up a time to talk. We talked Wednesday, and I had his check Thursday morning to secure his spot in my schedule.
Keep in mind..this is WITHOUT even seeing any of my samples.
That’s the power of actually BEING an expert instead of just pretending to be one! (e.g. the power of continuous education)
Jeremy Reeves
http://www.ReevesCopy.com
P.S. My whole point with that was that I wasn’t “selling” at all with him. I was HELPING him instead of trying to sell.
Jeremy,
Your last point… Bingo!
If you know what you’re talking about, and you’re actually showing value when you first meet a new client, there’s no “selling” required, people want to work with you.
And no matter what you’re selling, when you treat people like people, instead of customers or numbers, you get customers for life…
Customers that want to spend money with you. Customers that don’t need to be sold.
Attraction/relationship marketing is A LOT easier than constantly trying to hunt down new blood just so you can eat. Especially when you don’t have to bother with “selling” them anything.
Thanks for the comment.