Selling Strategy By Bruce Bloom | No comments yet

Your 60-second sales presentation

When you have trouble getting a customer or prospect to agree to sit still for your sales pitch, here’s a way to get his/her attention – for 60 seconds.

That’s just time enough to get your major sales points across, provided, of course, that you have a strong 6o-second presentation ready to go. You say, “I know you’re busy. All I need is one minute to give you some valuable information. Will you listen to my 60 second sales pitch?”

Most people will give you that minute, if only to see if you really can do it. Go ahead and make your pitch, keeping your eye on your watch’s second hand. You can be sure they’ll remember you when you follow up later.

About your presentation: Make certain you have it down pat. Hit only your strongest sales points. Keep your sentences short and punchy. Don’t waste a word. (Most people can speak 120 to 140 words in a minute, without rushing.) Write it down. Try it out on a few friends. Memorize it.

If a prospect wants more after you’ve enticed him/her with your minute of highlights, you’re getting close to making the sale.

Start-Up Costs By Bruce Bloom | No comments yet

Cheap start-up: store within a store

Want to sell to consumers, but don’t have the money to start up a store? Make a deal with an established store selling a related line. They give you display space in the window and floor space inside. You give them an appealing commission on your sales.

It’s a win-win situation.

You share in the traffic your host store generates. You have little if any construction expense. You pay no utility costs. You have no big overheads. You’re in business quickly.

Your host offers another product line, while earning new revenue from unused floor space.

Business Finance By Bruce Bloom | No comments yet

It’s not what you MAKE…it’s what you KEEP

Some small business owners love to talk about their sales volume, as though that were the the most important index of their business success. OK, but how much of that is really profit? Because bringing money into the company doesn’t mean much if most of it — or all of it — is going out to cover expenses. In the end, it’s what you keep that buys you and your family what you went into business for in the first place.

And there’s more. The business structure of your company, and your tax options, have a great deal to do with what you walk away with when you decide to cash out, say in 20 or 30 years. Should you be an S corporation or a C corporation? Should you institute a defined benefit retirement plan? Don’t get too far down the road without seeking expert help in these matters. What may seem remote in the early years of your business, can assure you of a worry-free retirement when you hang up your hat.

Selling Strategy By Bruce Bloom | No comments yet

How to make a sale in 20 seconds

When I was just starting out in the advertising business, I had a very wise boss who told me, “You’re always auditioning for somebody.” He meant you should always try to look and act like somebody special, because you never know who could become important to you — somebody you meet who might hire you, or do business with you.

It’s happened to me many times — chance meetings that led to accounts for my new company.

The point is, you should be ready. How? Be ready to give your elevator pitch.

Let’s say you’re an accountant with your own office. You get on an elevator one morning, and after exchanging a few pleasantries with a woman standing next to you, she says, “And what do you do?”

You could say, “I have an accounting practice.” This is a totally boring answer that interests her not at all. When the elevator gets to her floor twenty seconds later, she says, “Have a nice day,” and she’s gone. A valuable opportunity has died on the spot.

Let’s do a different scenario. You get on. She gets on. She says, “What do you do?” You know you only have about 20 seconds to tell her, but you’re prepared. You say, “I’m Jerry Thompson, and I’m an accountant who specializes in designing bookkeeping systems for companies with complicated tax situations. I show my clients how precise record keeping protects them from audits.”

Now you have her attention. “Do you have a business card?” she says. You give her one.

Next week you get a call from someone in her company. They want you to come and talk to them. You have a new piece of business.

You really made that sale in the first twenty seconds. You were prepared to grab someone’s interest and make her want to know more.

It’s called an elevator pitch, but it’s not just for elevators. It’s for business meetings, phone conversations, voice messaging, any place and any time you have the opportunity to introduce yourself.

Your elevator pitch can be your most effective new business tool. Make sure you have one.

Advertising By Bruce Bloom | No comments yet

Your yellow pages advertising: closest to the sale

People consult the yellow pages when they’re ready to buy. If you have a local business, the yellow pages put you closer to making the sale than most other media. Even if you have only a small ad budget to invest, it’s smart to have an ad in the phone book. It doesn’t have to be big — just big enough to make your case.

Many yellow pages ads are poorly written. Often they’re written by the people who sell the space. Their main concern is sales, not making the ads. As a consequence, yellow pages are filled with ads that are much alike. They tell what the advertiser sells, and the phone number, with little to differentiate one company from others in the same business.

Your ad will work harder for you if it sells harder than the other ads on the page. Don’t just tell what you do, or the products you sell. Tell why a prospect should call you rather than one of the other guys.

Remember, it’s likely that the person who’s looking up the information knows little or nothing about you and the others who are in the same business you are. All they know about you and them is what the ads say.

Look at the other guys’ ads. See what they say, and what they don’t say. If there’s something you know is important to a prospect, and nobody else is saying it, then you include it in your ad. (The words “On time, on budget” in a small ad for a contractor increased response by 50 percent.) Don’t be afraid to pack your ad with information. That’s what prospects want, and they’ll read every word.

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