Marketing & Sales

5 Secrets to Sales

Posted on Thursday at 11:19

As a new startup, you will find yourself doing some form of sales around the clock. Selling investors or bank officers, selling potential strategic partners or key employees, selling customers and clients. Sales is king in the new economy. You success will be determined by your ability to generate revenue and sell, not just your products and services, but also yourself.

Here are five signs you’re well positioned to succeed at the art of selling:

1. Remember, you are in the people business.

Don’t make the mistake of getting so caught up in what you are selling that you forget to make meaningful connections.

2. Focus on the results, not the effort.

Don’t confuse results with efforts. Your success in selling is all about getting results. Therefore, you should evaluate your results and not your efforts. You don’t try to get an appointment, you either get it or you don’t.

3. Do the uncomfortable thing.

Don’t shy from the tough customers or the tough sales. You can’t bring the big deals home without getting into the deep waters where the big fish swim.

4. Wow the customer.

Sales is all about emotion. Constantly look for ways to inspire a customer’s emotional involvement and create the urgency to take ownership.

5. Ask for the sale

This may seem very simple, but most salespeople never ask for the sale. If you don’t ask, you will only sell to those who are going to buy regardless.

More details about these 5 tricks can be found here.

Tags: bank, Business, client, customer, investor, partner, sales, startup

Behavioral Targeting and What it Means to You

Posted on Thursday at 7:54

The internet is a constantly evolving mass of information that has only been around for a few decades, but is making a deeper and wider impact on global society each and every day. The concept of behavioral targeting is relatively new and is making an impact on each individual who uses the internet.

What is behavioral targeting you ask? Well, it all begins when targeting companies reach agreements with publishers and they put a specific piece of code into their website. As you browse the web, this site places a “cookie” on your browser. Now that the cookie is attached to your browser, the targeting is already under way. Data points are constantly being gathered as you navigate the world wide web taking note of the sites you are on, what you buy, as well as what you search for. As time goes on this data amasses itself and not only puts you in demographic categories but also takes note of your interests, preferences and hobbies.

The ability to gather this information on every individual using the internet allows companies to target specific segments of the population and thereby achieve a higher rate of interaction when marketing online. This may seem like a very costly way to advertise on the surface but the rate of interaction that you get from this method may prove to be extremely cost effective in the long run.

There are overreaching effects outside of the obvious marketing and advertising impacts that this technology can have for start-up companies trying to reach new customers. A whole new level of personalization is on the horizon. Jeff Hirsch, president and CEO of AudienceScience says that “10 years from now we will all look back and laugh that we ever had to type something into Google to find what we were looking for.” The algorithms that are being developed for this level of personalization are extremely complex and are now able to grasp a human’s depth and therefore avoid inundating you with Nike ad’s just because you were on ESPN.com. These newer and constantly evolving algorithms are breaking down website content that you view and these targeting techniques are viewing people as multi-dimensional beings.

The fact that these data points are constantly being compiled means that advances in this concept will come quick. If you are a startup company it would be wise to research this field and determine the best ways for your firm to use it to your advantage. When it comes to technology it doesn’t take long to get left behind so stay on the cutting edge with this one because its benefits to start-ups and entrepreneurs are limitless.

Tags: behavioral targeting, Business, data, market research, online marketing, personalization, start-up, startup

Social Media for Startups

Posted on Tuesday at 12:00

The global social media frenzy continues to gain momentum each and every day. The impact that social media popularity has had on the business world is immense. Most startups and existing companies can no longer justify staying away from the trend because the benefits are too many. We will discuss these benefits and provide some strategies on how to get the most out of your social media endeavors.

Now that internet access is commonplace in almost every corner of the world, your customers are closer to you than ever before. In the past, businesses had to employ many different techniques to get the attention of the general public. Strategies like direct mail marketing and door to door canvassing of target neighborhoods. These techniques were often very costly and difficult to analyze the results of, and are no longer relevant. Currently, with the average American Facebook user currently spending six hours per month browsing the network, your customers are actively looking for what they are interested in and passionate about, and you have a great opportunity to reach out to them.

Because it is the most popular social network, we will use Facebook as an example of how to employ social media strategies to gain momentum for your startup. You have already set up your Facebook page for your business and are starting to attract fans of your page. Your goal now is to be able to engage the people who “like” your page and get them to interact with you on a consistent basis.

The first way to do this is to humanize your venture. This can be done simply by updating your pictures regularly. Add new albums, take pictures with your satisfied customers and showcase them to the rest of your fans. If you host an event, be sure to upload pictures from the event so that your fans see that you are real people, not just a company with no face.

Another great way to bolster positive interaction on your Facebook page is to have a sense of humor. People enjoy laughter, this is as inherent as the existence of gravity. If you make people laugh, they will associate happiness and joy with your business, and that is a connection that any business owner would love to have.

A very good way to get your fans involved with your page to pose questions directly to them. Asking questions that will stimulate your fans and create a reaction amongst each other over responses is a great way to increase overall participation on your page.

Social Media strategies are all about creating a buzz and a brand identity for your business. Remember that you should never be using social media just for the sake of it. You need to develop clear goals that you hope to achieve through the implementation of your strategies, and these goals should tie into your business plan. Social Media is an extremely potent tool to growing and developing your business, so harness that power and use it wisely, and your customers as well as your bottom line will thank you for doing so.

Tags: branding, Build your Website, Business Idea, Business Plan, customer engagement, facebook, fan pages, How to, Social Media, social media for small business

Understanding the Types of Social Media

Posted on Thursday at 12:00

Social media is a great way to build awareness about your company as these sites allow community members to share their experiences with you and other members of the community. A customer’s good experience with your products or services can lead to positive feedback and word-of-mouth buzz. This feedback and word-of-mouth content spreads across social networks leaving an effect on your company’s image and your customers perception of your company. An explanation of the various types of social media sites is provided below.

Social Networking – Social networking sites allow community members to upload photos and videos, add comments, create and join groups, create events, post bulletins, etc. Facebook is the largest social networking site in the world followed by LinkedIn.

Social News Sites – Social news sites allow members to share news stories, blogs, videos, articles, and photos. The community can then vote up or down for the submitted piece and can also add comments. The more votes a submitted piece gets the more likely it is to appear on the front page of the site. Digg is a very popular social news site, and it can drive lots of traffic to a website in a short time if the piece appears on the front page of Digg.

Social Sharing – Social sharing sites tend to share materials mainly in two forms: videos and photos. Community members can upload videos on YouTube or pictures on Flickr, for example. Uploaded photos or videos of your company, product or service can lead potential customers to your website.

Social Bookmarking – Social bookmarking sites allow you to bookmark and share your favorite websites with an entire community. Delicious, Magnolia, and Diigo are online communities that have a lot of opinion leaders who want to find great sites and share with their friends.

Microblogging – Microblogging is a very abbreviated blog consisting of short messages often sent from smart phones and laptops. Your messages are sent to people interested in seeing your posts. Users can post comment on your microblog and forward it. Twitter started all the rage for microblog, and it is by far the most popular platform for public instant interacting.

Unlike traditional marketing, in which people passively receive information, social media turns the table around and lets users create and/or interact with the content. A customers post about their personal experience with your company, product or service is far more valuable than any advertising slogans. Be sure to provide your customers with social media outlets to share their positive experiences with your company, product or service.

Tags: brand awareness, Business Plan, How to, Social Media, social network

Focus on the Customer

Posted on Thursday at 12:00

When considering the business model of the sales for your startup, leave yourself the flexibility to cater to the precise needs of every specific customer. As your business is small you can do this better than your big competitors. Accommodating the specific needs of every one of your customers is your competitive advantage. You know your customer face to face and you communicate with him in person. Therefore, you are much more likely to close on your customer, as you spend a little time on every one of your targets.

Know the fears of your customer. Often people are anxious to buy something that is too expensive or that would take a long time until it is ready to use. So, avoid their fears. Offer them a smaller package, or a sample, or a free week of using your product. In fact, offer all of this options and then track the results so that you know what has worked for you. If it is the price that scares away your customer, offer different payment options or financing programs. In the end of the day, what is most important is the fact that you have made a sale.

Be prepared to take the time to learn about your customers not only in the business sense but also figure out why they are successful, what their hobbies are, what conferences and business seminars they go to. Customize your product to fit their lifestyle or simply use your knowledge to craft a more compelling message to them or to build a better marketing campaign. As your business grows you would be able to use your customer knowledge and group your clients by their similarities and differences. Use this to your advantage when you target them later.

Tags: Business Plan, competition, customers, sales

Create an Effective Online Presence

Posted on Tuesday at 6:30

The environment of the web is continually changing, the weighted importance of real-time content, social integration and mobile compatibility rising significantly in the last few years. These changes are creating opportunities and challenges for companies and organizations of all scales and experience depending on adaptability and preparation.

Your online presence is created by the ongoing conversation between the website (your virtual storefront), fresh and relevant content, and your community (social media integration).

The first step is to lock down your brand, define your identity and stick to it. Create your website to reflect your company’s purpose and ideals, while keeping visual elements consistent. If you removed your logo, would visitors still recognize it as your brand?

The ease of use of your site for both the visitor and the content manager is one of the most important elements for online success. Establish a clear purpose and goals for the site’s foundation. Develop a strategy to encourage visitors to take action and draw out a sitemap to support your goal. Navigation and layout should be simple and intuitive, promoting the visitor to explore.

Create your site in a content management system that allows you to easily and comfortably update and add content. It is increasingly important that your site stay fresh and offer your audience a reason to return. This not only positions you as a knowledgeable resource, but also improves your position in search results.

The shift to mobile web browsing is expected to overcome traditional browsing in the next few years, making the effectiveness of your website heavily reliant on its ability to maintain functionality across devices. You should know your audience and what devices they use, but your site should ideally perform across all platforms. The recommended method is to create one responsive design layout, versus creating and updating multiple devise-specific sites.

Integrating media outlets will allow you to operate more effectively and efficiently, while stimulating real-time conversation in the community. Your involvement in the various social media platforms will vary depending on your business. Carefully select which of these will be the most effective in achieving your goals and commit to evolving your brand’s presence in each. Tools are readily available to integrate posts from one platform to another, saving you time and increasing exposure. Even with a wealth of content, only posting to your own site will most likely not create the following or involvement you desire.

In the era of the web, creating your presence online can be equally, if not more important than a brick-and-mortar establishment as many people start the purchasing process with research online. Integrating your brand’s vision with its website, relevant content, and community will establish your company as an authority in the industry and could be the deciding factor in whether or not you make the sale.

Tags: branding, Build your Website, Mobile, Pre Launch, Social Media, Startup Phase

5 Rules for Your Cash Flow Plan

Posted on Thursday at 6:30

Critical to your success, cash flow.

Create an effective plan for positive cash flow with five basic rules. Every business owner should have an understanding of his or her cash flow situation – sales minus expenses. Positive cash flow is critical to continuing business operations.

Forecast realistic monthly sales. It is very important that you don’t optimistically estimate sales figures. Base these numbers around historical data or worse-case scenario figures. The estimates set should be easily attainable. This is necessary to ensure the business creates enough revenue to continue to operate.
Plan for timing of receivables. Sales made with payment terms can take weeks or months to become available cash for operations, while cash and credit card sales are immediately accessible. Depending on your business, payment terms should be set and plans should be made so that operations will not be negatively impacted by this fluctuation in timing.
Consolidate base operating expenses. Your business will have a set of predictable monthly operating expenses, often including rent, payroll, and utilities. These should be consolidated into one operating expense to be the baseline for the amount of cash that must come in to keep the business running.
Keep cash available for growth. Businesses often fail because they can’t afford the capital necessary to support growth when the opportunity arises. Project the expenses that will be required when an increase in sales occurs. This could include equipment or additional employees. Cash from the new sales will unlikely be available before costs are incurred for expenses, so be sure to have this on hand.
Recognize and plan for the known unknowns. Scenarios may develop for your company when cash is needed in order to capitalize on an unusual opportunity. Create a comprehensive list of possible unknowns and their associated expenses. Every cash flow forecast should include a contingency plan with funds to cover an unexpected situation.

Tags: Cash Flow, finance, Operating Expenses

5 Parts of Your Customer Interaction to Consider

Posted on Friday at 3:27

There are five key factors to consider when formulating your company’s interaction with its customers (marketing, sales, product, customer service/product support, and resale). By carefully considering these aspects in your business plan and business planning processes, you will be one step closer to successfully managing these areas of your business.

Marketing. If you consider the original meaning of the word, marketing literally meant ‘going to the market to buy or sell products/services.’ From that, we understand marketing to be a proactive step. If you are ‘going to the market to…’, you have to know the market (who, what, where? etc) you’re selling to and or buying from. Marketing is a tool for understanding the perceived needs and wants of the customer, ultimately selling your product and/or service to them. It’s the means whereby you portray your company, product and/or service’s value to your customers. Effective marketing will allow a company to identify, satisfy and maintain customers. All businesses, large and small, rely on marketing to grow their company.
Several types of marketing exist. Social marketing focuses on societal benefits of products or services. Online or digital marketing refers to that done via the internet such as email, blogs, Facebook, Google, etc.
Marketing answers the question, “What do I want my product/service to convey or be to the customer?” And, “How do I want to get that message across to the customer?”

Sales. Sales and marketing will often be sandwiched together for a few reasons. One, company’s pursue marketing strategies in order to generate more sales. Marketing creates buzz, or the desire for a product/service. In addition to marketing, several factors regarding the actual sale of the product/service must be considered. The customer’s buying experience, or how the product/service was sold to the customer, is important. You must decide what type of selling channels your company will employ – direct selling, online, storefront, etc.
The process of purchasing the item/service puts a lasting impression in the customer’s mind. This has to do with customer service. Several questions can and should be answered in this regard. One, ‘did everything go smoothly during the customer’s transaction?’ Two, ‘did the customer leave satisfied with the purchase?’
Additionally, regular monitoring of sales channels (online, storefront, etc.) is also important. Determination of sales percentages coming from each channel allows the marketing efforts to be adjusted. For example, if most of your sales are generated online, through the company website for example, greater resource allocation to online marketing may be a smart move.

Product. Obviously, the quality of the product is essential.But, product positioning makes all the difference. If you want to use the cheapest materials to keep costs to a minimum while marketing (or positioning) the product in the high end, high quality segment, you are likely to have many dissatisfied customers whose high expectations for quality and reliability were toppled.Had the cheaply made product been positioned properly, in the low cost/low quality segment, customers would have had lower expectations.If the product broke down, the customer may have thought, “Well, I payed a lot less for the item, I got some good use out of it and did not expect it to last as long as it did.”Much of your ‘customer interaction’ has to do with expectations.

One successful strategy but difficult to achieve is to make a product inexpensively, but market it in such a way that you convey your product as superior to that of competitors. This is often done by convincing consumers that ‘this product will make me run faster’ or ‘make me cool’. If the positioning is done well enough, the product could be priced much higher than competing products which may be of better quality.

Customer Service/Product Support. One of the best ways to establish a better position for your product or service is to have a level of customer service and support that customers actually talk to their friends about. If your product is not very reliable but your customer service and support is excellent, the strength of your overall business improves because most customers recognize and appreciate good customer service.

Make it a point that all of your staff have the customer’s interest at the forefront of their mind. Training your employees to always be thinking of ways to meet customer needs – whether that is answering questions, fixing a problem, helping the customer feel satisfied and happy – does not cost much to implement yet pays large dividends for the business and for employee satisfaction.

Ideally, there are two parts to address when interacting with a customer for product/service support: #1 fix the problem and #2 make sure the deeper issue of what caused is resolved.

Resale. In order for this last factor to be effective, the previous four much also be successfully implemented. With most large, successful businesses, the incremental growth of repeat customers is essential. Companies achieve repeat customers by positioning their product well, selling their products/services through the proper channels and offering stellar product and customer support

The five parts of customer interaction that we have identified are entirely interrelated. Without effective marketing, sales would not be maximized. Without a well-positioned product, factors such as ineffective marketing, less sales, poor customer service and product re-sale may result. By incorporating these aspects of customer interaction into your business plan and business planning processes, you will will be one step closer to successfully managing these areas of your business.

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*themiddleshelf.com

5 Ways to Increase Landing Page Conversion

Posted on Tuesday at 11:51

Trying to maintain high web visibility is difficult. Trying to gain high levels of conversions once you have high web visibility is even harder. For any business to succeed, they need to have a high conversion rate which isn’t always easy considering that they only have a few seconds to capture a visitor’s attention.

If you are finding that your business’ site is struggling with conversions, ask yourself if your site contains all of the following elements:

Important Content in Plain Site

If your visitor is going to have to visitAnywho.com to find the contact information they want or your Facebook page to find out relevant information about your company, you will most likely lose your conversion. You don’t want to force your visitors to have to scour your page for the information they need. Instead, you want to make sure that it is front and center so that it is not only easy to find on a desktop, but also on a mobile web browser.

Simplicity

Don’t overwhelm your visitors with a ton of tabs, pages, photos, and content. Try to keep your landing page as simple as possible and with easy and comfortable navigation features. This will allow visitors to find the information they want and need more easily which will increase the likelihood of a conversion.

Make Every Word Count

Because site visitors typically only spend a few seconds on a webpage, you need to make sure that every visible word counts. If you have a title or header, make sure to briefly explain what other information that page may make available. You need to provide as much information as possible in as little time as possible which means making every word count.

Urgency

Visitors are never going to understand why they need your product or service unless you tell them, and they are never going to feel as if they need it right then, unless you make them feel like so. Make sure that your few words used on the site convey a sense of urgency so that you are more likely to increase conversion rates.

Remember Mobile

More and more internet users are starting to browse the internet through their smartphones. If you want to increase your conversion rates, then your business site needs to be mobile friendly. Make sure that the site and the information you want to see first is able to pull up on multiple mobile web browsers so that visitors are more likely to stay on your site.

If your site doesn’t contain any of the above elements, that could be what is keeping you from high conversion rates. Sites that take too long to load or are difficult to navigate are often frustrating or overwhelming to visitors, which will have them clicking the back button quicker than you can think about it. If you want to increase your conversion rates, make your site more simple and give your users easy access to the information they want at all times.

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Four Common Startup Marketing Mistakes

Posted on Tuesday at 12:03

* blog.intuit.com

First time startup owners are usually professionals in the field of their product and/or service. However, they are likely beginners in marketing their product or service. To achieve your marketing goals of growing your business, you need to avoid making the following four mistakes.

Entering the market without research. Many first time entrepreneurs fail to properly identify their industry, competitors and target market because their market understanding is based on passionate guesses rather than informative research. It is necessary to collect data and factual information that supports your strategic decisions. You need to research your industry, competition and target marker in order to create an effective marketing strategy.

Spending heavily to get new customers. The most direct way to generate sales is to get new customers. However, the cost of getting new customers can be very expensive. You may be able to persuade existing customers to purchase more of your product/service or with a higher markup by utilizing those marketing dollars to offer more value to existing customers.

Ignoring online marketing. Online marketing is playing a more and more important role in small businesses. It provides cost-effective marketing methods that are wide-reaching, readily available and easily measurable. If you spend a lot of money renting ads in newspapers, you probably need to explore different online marketing tools.

Neglecting to measure marketing metrics. Results and feedback are crucial to measuring the success of your marketing strategy. By developing and tracking your marketing metrics, you are able to continually adjust and revise this strategy to improve the yield of your marketing dollars.

First time entrepreneurs should have a marketing plan or business plan that is tailored to his/her business before they launch. When running their businesses, they should continually look back at their plan, checking their strategies and revising them according to their metrics. Developing a system for tracking their metrics and adjusting their strategies will allow entrepreneurs to become experienced marketers in addition to already being experts in their field.

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