We all love easy sales.

The ones that call you and say “Hey, I need to buy from you! Could you give me a quote?” Those are just the best - they’re so much easier than cold-calls or going out to find leads.

But making that phone ring is just freaking hard sometimes! So I’m going to break down some of my tips for getting the phone to ring, but first…

Side Note:

I’ve seen business owners plugging thousands of dollars into marketing campaigns and then failing at one of the most crucial keys to business growth: having a sales plan for those leads! Just because someone calls you and expresses a desire for your service doesn’t mean they will automatically convert into a customer.

You must have strong sales plans, scripts, and skills in order to make those cold leads actually produce revenue.

On to your regularly scheduled programming…

Be Active in Distributing Value-Ad Content

Both online and offline!

By this I mean things like flyers, blog posts, social media, podcasts, sponsorships, everything you can think of that is a diverse way to get your message out there. And make sure it’s Value-Adding.

I often see business owners use their marketing as a megaphone to say things like “We have a sale! We have a sale! We’re amazing!” It’s all self-promo, the problem is….

This isn’t the 1950s anymore.

Back then all you needed was an ad on TV and you’d get sales - people would just show up to your doorstep. But that was a completely different world from today. We’re living in a much more cluttered, stressed, and crowded marketplace. Today we have to find ways to stand out to prospects in a packed world.

Let me clear up a misconception: Value-ad doesn’t only mean education.

Yes, knowledge is valuable and if you’re educating your customers you’re doing great. But emotions are valuable too! If you can get your prospect to cry (in a good way…) or laugh or feel something, then you’ve created an emotional response and connection that will create a stronger desire to do business with you down the road.

Think about this: we pay to have our emotions touched. Have you ever paid to go to a funny movie? How about something that inspired you or excited you? So evoking those emotions was valuable for you. Why aren’t we all doing this for our customers more often?

Make Sure Your Message is Consistent and Applicable

This is a two-pronged approach

1)

You have to be consistent everywhere. Every platform you market on has to have the same message -- your facebook ads can’t tell a different story from your flyers. People associate familiar things together so the message has to be the same everywhere, otherwise it’s like they’re seeing ads from completely different companies and it doesn’t resonate as thoroughly.

2)

People need to be able to connect to the message. It needs to speak to what they want and what they don’t want. If they want to be treated like a Queen, then find ways to treat them like a Queen, like they are the top of your priority list.

One last thing about this…

Make sure you’re telling and showing that message. I had a client once whose message was “we make your life easier.” Great message, but their website was so complicated and hard to use that it was a huge disconnect from their message. They didn’t live and breathe their message, so it was one touch-point that was costing them customers.

Answer Questions!

People have questions and concerns that are preventing them from pulling the trigger on working with you. Whatever marketing you’re putting out there (Website, TV Ad, Booth at an Event, etc.) should be answering those questions for them.

Think about what the most commonly asked questions about your business are and design marketing that answers those questions.

Two reasons why this works:

1. It sticks in people’s minds -- especially if you can “read their mind” and predict what questions they’re going to have. You blow their mind!

2. People are often too intimidated or too lost to ask their questions. They want the information, but they don’t want to sound stupid by asking the question, or can’t figure out what question to ask. Putting the answer out there without them having to ask the question solves this issue!

Reach Out to Your Advocates

Keep yourself front of mind…

You should have a group of raving fans, whether they are clients or vendors of yours. Your job is to reach out to them and keep yourself at the front of their mind. They are out there spreading the word about your, responding to your social media posts, and creating social proof that you’re incredible.

Social proof goes beyond having an account and posting. People look at what others are saying about that account and post to determine whether or not to buy.

Stay in touch with your influencers and advocates: they are doing more for you than you know!

Give Them Something to Talk About

Your fans can’t talk about the same thing over and over and over and over and over….

People will stop listening.

Something interesting has to be happening in your business.

Maybe one month you’re donating proceeds of your business. So you go to your influencers and let them know that now is a great time for people who have been on the fence to buy because their purchase is supporting something greater than the business.

Give the people who want to talk about you something cool to talk about!

Be Personal and Engaging in Your Marketing

One of the things that small businesses often forget is that you need a forerunner for your marketing.

That person should be someone that prospective customers can easily identify with and relate to.

Think about the major companies out there that you look up to see their commercials regularly:

Progressive has Flo & Jaime.

Sonic has “The Sonic Guys” (You know who I’m talking about).

You get vested in seeing what they are up to and you build a relationship with that company.

Too many small business owners fall into the thinking that their advertising is allowed to be boring because they’re small businesses. To borrow a phrase from Star Wars: “It’s a trap!”

Marketing is like an Arrow…

All of these things come together to form the arrow of marketing. If your arrow has a blunt tip it won’t do as much damage to the prey as if it’s got a sharp one, so make sure your marketing all comes together well to form a point that will make the most impact.

The key to making your phone ring for you is in your marketing.

If you’re struggling to have those raving fans of your business, consider coming to the Grow2020 Retreat. It’s happening in January and we’re bringing the King of Customer Experience Expertise to the room: Jesse Cole! He’s going to be walking our attendees through his steps to creating the ultimate customer experience that develops your raving fans, and we can’t wait to get in the room with him. Check out his page on our website here!