And there’s yet, another school that teaches that some businesses are started by the wrong people… that those people lack entrepreneurial skills and foresight. That they would be better off working in the business as technicians or employees rather than trying to run the business.

Many business owners believe that the most important business asset they have somehow has to do with their building, their location, their computers, their staff, the products, policies and services they sell, or the knowledge, managerial abilities and sales skills they may have.

Of course, all of these things are important and will certainly contribute to the success or failure of a business, but they’re not the most important, nor are they the most valuable… not by a long shot.

The Most Important Asset Any Business Has

When you get right down to it the most important business asset any business has, is not their wonderful products, their top-notch sales people, their to-die-for location, or even their state-of-the-art production capabilities. It’s their customers, their clients, their patients, their members… it’s whoever pays for the things the business sells or provides.

If a business were to lose everything they have… their building burns down, their delivery vehicles are stolen, their employees and salespeople leave to go to work for someone else, their facilities are totally destroyed, and their products completely wiped out… as long as they maintain a base of customers or clients to sell to they may still be in business. They can rent another building, lease computers, vehicles and equipment, and even hire staff to replace those they’ve lost.

But if all their clients walked out the door to do business with someone else, all those material things I’ve mentioned are just overhead and continue to cost the company money. So the most important skill a business can have, is knowing how to cost-effectively attract (that’s “acquisition”) and keep (that’s “retention”) an adequate number of loyal and profitable customers.

If your customers are your most important and valuable business asset, then knowing how to cost-effectively attract them in large numbers, then profitably convert them into loyal, renewing or repurchasing customers who will not hesitate in referring others to you, is the most important business skill you can possess.

Your Business’ Number One Priority

The bottom line is, if you really want your business to be successful you’ve got to make getting and keeping profitable customers your number one priority.

And that’s where “Marketing” comes in. Letting others know about what you have in such a way that they are compelled… nearly forced to want to find out more, and then ultimately, pay you for the products and services you offer, and not your competitors.

Properly utilized, effective marketing can skyrocket a business to new and undreamed of heights. Not under-stood or under-utilized, a business can sink like a lead weight. Most businesses… no, not most… every business makes mistakes with their marketing efforts. Some are worse than others, and if done often enough, or severely enough, can put your business out of business.

But it’s not enough to just acquire new business. You’ve got to keep that business on the books and keep your customers coming back again and again to make repeat purchases with you if you want to build a massively successful business.

Business analysts and savvy business owners will tell you that seasoned business… that is, business that you already have on the books or that has purchased from you in the past, is more profitable to sell to than raw new business. In fact, statistics tell us that it’s six to eight times easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to acquire a new customer.

Think about it. When was the last time you heard of a company going out of business because they had too many happy, satisfied customers buying from them? My guess is you never have.

On the other hand, you can probably name quite a few businesses… even very large corporations that are no longer around because they didn’t have enough people making repeat purchases from them and referring others to them.

It bears repeating, that if your customers are the most important business asset you have… and the number one cause of business failure is not being able to attract or retain enough customers, then it stands to reason that the most important business skill you can possess, is knowing how to cost-effectively attract and keep profitable customers.

The first thing you must do is put yourself in the shoes of the person you want referrals from and ask yourself why would they want to give you a referral? What is the benefit to them? It’s important for you to realize that when someone refers their clients to you… a client they have spent countless hours and dollars cultivating a relationship with… they are putting that relationship and any future business they may do with that client on the line. And in order to maintain that relationship, or better yet, enhance the relationship, your referrer must be absolutely convinced that you have something of value to offer them and the person they refer to you.

And that’s the key… value. Everyone wants value. And the more value you can bring to a relationship the better chance you have of getting referrals from your intended referral source and future business from those whom they refer to you.

If you can demonstrate real and actual value to your potential referrer and do it in such a way that they immediately and directly benefit from it, it can literally become a no-brainer for them to refer their associates to you. So how do you do it? How do you demonstrate that kind of value?

Here is a simple 10-step process you can use to position yourself as someone your sources will refer without hesitation:

1. Let them experience what you do. Put them through your process and do for them exactly what you are proposing that you do for their clients. Only do it on a smaller scale and don’t charge them for it. It’s called “Sampling”. And it’s the same thing Debbie Fields did when she started her Mrs. Fields Cookies business. She stood outside her store in the mall and handed out free samples of her cookies. If you took one and liked it you went into the store and bought a dozen or two to take with you. You can do the same thing. Give those you want to refer business to you a “taste” of what you can do for their clients. Let them experience the benefits in their own business and create a “WOW!” experience for them. Make it practically irresistible for them to not refer their clients to you so they can experience the same thing. Here’s an example of what you might do using CPAs as an example:
2. Compile a Competitive Intelligence Report for 4 or 5 CPA firms. “Mystery shop” their businesses by calling and/or visiting them to see what they do, how they do it and how you’re treated. Talk to a handful of people who have done business with this type of business – not necessarily your target, just these kinds of businesses. Find out from them what they like, what they dislike and what they would change if they owned that business. Compare their ads and marketing efforts and come up with a few ideas that if applied could make their business stand out from the others and give them a competitive advantage.
3. From what you’ve learned in gathering your information, select the ONE CPA that you feel is the most open-minded and who would be the most receptive to listening to your presentation.




4. Send them an attention-getting package in the mail that contains information about what you do and how it will benefit them to give you some time to make your presentation. Your package might include, a couple of articles you’ve written, a copy of a book you’ve written, perhaps an Audio Business Card, page of testimonial comments from others you’ve worked with, and a letter that introduces you. Give them step-by-step instructions on how to go through the materials you sent them and tell them to watch their mail for a “Special Invitation” that will be arriving in a couple of days.




5. Two days later send them an “Invitation on a Silver Platter” that invites them to a 30-minute “Strategy Session” with you to be held in their office, where you will demonstrate exactly and step-by-step how they can grow their business by XX% in XX days. Tell the CPA that you don’t want to bother them, and if they will let their secretary or assistant know what day and time is convenient for them, you will contact their assistant in two days time (say, Wednesday at 2:00 PM) to confirm. What you are doing is showing respect for the CPA’s time and acknowledging and extending respect and importance to their assistant.




6. At the same time you send the invitation to them, send a small box of cookies to the secretary or receptionist… the person responsible for scheduling their time. Included is a note that lets them know that a couple of days ago you sent their boss a package and that today you sent him or her an “Invitation on a Silver Platter” requesting a meeting. Let her know that the meeting is very important and you would like her assistance in scheduling a time for you to meet with the CPA, and that the cookies are your thanks in advance for her assistance. Now two things have happened. First, you have included the assistant and have not gone around her directly to the CPA. This shows that you respect her and have “recruited” her to be on your team. Second, you have invoked the Law of Reciprocity by giving her the cookies up front. Now she has an “obligation” to get her boss to give her the day and time for your meeting. This puts some gentle pressure on the CPA and helps ensure that your meeting is actually scheduled.




7. When the meeting actually does occur, bring the assistant another small gift – perhaps a gift certificate for dinner at a local restaurant – for helping you arrange the meeting.




8. During the meeting with the CPA, present your Competitive Intelligence Report and the first sheet of the Business Growth Calculator showing a hypothetical business and the significant growth that occurs to the business if you make some simple tweaks or improvements to a handful of key areas.




9. You then give the CPA a few things that he or she could put in place immediately to increase their business. You might consider things like a regular newsletter to keep in touch with their clients and to make special offers, a Referral Reward program, packaging certain of their services in order to increase the average transaction value, creating their own Audio Business Card, holding special Preferred Client Appreciation Seminars or Get-Togethers to reward or show special appreciation to their best clients.




10. Explain how by them referring their clients to you, and you making those clients more successful, their business can grow without them having to do anything except endorse or recommend you to their clients. Because they are trusted advisors to their clients, those clients are likely to act on their recommendation and at least give you audience for 20 to 30 minutes while you demonstrate to them why it is in their best interest to enlist you to work with them on their business. In effect, you do for them what you just did for the CPA. You demonstrate the real and immediate value you can bring to their business.

There are so many things that can be done to get a team of professionals on your side as referral sources. They’re fun, they’re productive, and they can be very profitable. Some things will work and some won’t. Some professionals will be receptive and some won’t. That’s business. The key is to take massive action and get the Law of Large Numbers working for you.

Here are a handful of practical ideas that have worked for some of the world’s largest and most prestigious businesses and that will work for you in your business as well. These ideas and strategies can be used to very quickly and easily take your business to the next level and begin adding profits to the bottom line of business’s balance statement.

You should pay very careful attention to each of the following sub categories.

Increase The Value Of Each Sale

Getting more money from each sale, or increasing the average transactional value of each sale. That is, getting more money from every purchase your customers make has the potential to add an immediate 30 to 40 percent in pure profits to your bottom line. Using this technique, and making a simple suggestion, fast food restaurants add millions in profits to their coffers every day.

Jus a few of the strategies they use include:

Up-selling – Not selling anything additional – just offering a larger size or more of the same item the customer is already purchasing. Super-sizing a drink or an order is an example of Up-selling.

Cross-selling, or suggesting that your customer buys an additional item that they didn’t intend to purchase, is another effective way to increase the monetary value of the order. Asking if a customer wants fries with their hamburger and drink is an example of how a fast food restaurant uses this technique.

Packaging, bundling, or combining several items together and giving a discounted price is another way to get your customers to spend just a little more and get a better value. “Happy Meals” or “Value Meals” are an example of this technique.

Each of these techniques only adds a little more to the total cost of the meal, and aside from the actual hard costs of the additional products, that “little more” is pure profit since there are no advertising, marketing or acquisition costs involved.

Sell More Products And Services

The goal of every business should be to make sure their clients and customers are getting the maximum value, use, enjoyment, benefit, and satisfaction from the products and services they purchase from them.

If your business has additional products or services that would help your clients and customers increase the benefits they derive from their original purchase, you have an obligation to your clients and customers to make those products or services available to them.

If you don’t have anything additional that you can make available to them, you could easily look outside your company to other businesses who offer products or services that are complimentary, but not competing, and that would enhance the value of the original purchase, and work out joint venture arrangements to make those products available to your customers.

Increase The Number Of Times Customers Purchase

Too many businesses operate with a one-time sale mentality. They give very little thought to repeat sales or back-end purchases. But that is where the real money is. It’s not uncommon for a business to lose money or barely break even on the initial sale. And it oftentimes takes several repurchases before any real money is made.

Establish And Maintain A Segmented Database

One of the most effective ways to increase sales is by having an up to date, clean and segmented database of all your customers – past, present and future customers – your prospects. When you keep track of your customers and what they’ve purchased in the past, and then see that they are informed of special sales and offers, special events, and new items, and discounts and promotions on items they would be interested in, shows them that you care about them, and encourages them to make additional, often more profitable purchases.

Increase The Average Buying Lifetime Of Each Customer

It just makes sense that the longer a client or customer continues to do business with you, the more products and services you’ll have the opportunity to sell that customer, which of course, translates into more profits.

And the longer that client or customer keeps coming back and buying from you, the more benefits they’ll receive from the products and services they’ve purchased, which leads to a more satisfied customer, and again, means more profits to you.

For example’s sake, let’s say your average customer stays with you for a period of five years before moving on to do business with another company, or no longer needs the product or service your business offers.

If that five years could be extended by just one year, it would mean an increase in profits of 20 percent – even if nothing else changed. Actually, it would be somewhat more than 20 percent, because there were no acquisition costs for that extra year like there was for the first year the customer did business with you.

And naturally, the longer the customer’s buying lifetime with you, the more chances you’ll have of selling additional products or services to them and of getting referrals of others who can use and benefit from the products and services you sell.

If you’re serious about growing your business, give these ideas a try. They have been proven time and time again in countless businesses, a variety of industries and in nearly every profession, and they can work the same magic for you and your business, too.

To either get someone to buy the products or services you’re offering, or…

To generate interest in potential customers so they will contact your business (either call or visit you) to obtain information that will enable them to make a buying decision.

The question you need to be asking yourself is… how effective are the ads you’re running at accomplishing at least one of these two objectives? Are your ads getting you all the clients and customers you hope for when you place them?

It’s no secret that clients and customers are the lifeblood of your business, no matter if you run a service-oriented business or you operate a professional practice. And it takes a steady stream of new clients and customers to keep your business alive and prosperous, and to replace the customers you lose through attrition.

In order to gain more new customers, your ads and promotions have to be strong enough to convince your prospects (your competitors’ customers) that it is more advantageous for them to do business with you than it is for them to continue doing business with your competitor.

Your competition isn’t going to let their best customers (your best prospects) go easily. They’re going to do everything they can to retain those buyers… to keep the money in their pockets rather than letting it flow into yours.

On the flip side, your competition is at this very moment, making plans and actively taking steps to take your clients away from you. So not only do you have to be proactive in the protection of your clients and customers, if you want your business to grow you have to also be proactive in aggressively recruiting more new clients away from your competition, and convincing potential clients who may be shopping for a business to buy from why yours is the best choice.

You can’t afford to be complacent in this area. When you allow your competitors to hang on to their current clients and you let potential clients slip into the hands of your competition, you lose in two ways. First, your competition picks up the money that those customers could have spent with you. And second, your competition will use those dollars to strengthen their relationships with their current clients, and in their marketing efforts to attract your clients away from you.

For most businesses, advertising plays a big role in helping bring new customers in to your business. But advertising isn’t free; it costs money. Sometimes a LOT of money; especially if you run a decent size ad, you run more than one ad, or if you send a lot of direct mail with multiple contacts.

It stands to reason then, that to be an effective marketer and get the greatest return on your advertising dollar, that you should know the best techniques possible to make your ads and sales letters stronger, make them stand out, and produce the greatest number of responses.

Your Ads MUST Bring You New
Clients And Customers

The entire reason you run ads is to bring you new customers. Your ads have to produce results that are measurable, quantifiable, predictable, trackable, and more importantly, profitable.

As a smart business owner, you must realize that if you are investing your money in advertising, it’s critical that you know how many leads or responses your ads are pulling and decide whether it makes sense to run the same ad again.

Or if you need to make appropriate changes before you repeat the ad in order to make it perform better. You may even decide to stop running the ad altogether if it didn’t get the result you hoped for or that you expected.

Ideally, as your potential clients read your ad they should learn how their problems can problems can be solved, minimized, or eliminated by doing business with you; be enticed by an offer they can’t refuse to take advantage of; and then be presented with a compelling reason to contact you to either buy or to learn more about the benefits and advantages of what you have to offer.

A “Catchy Ad” Isn’t Enough. You’ve Got To Give Your Readers
A Compelling Reason To Contact You

Here’s a quick checklist to help make your ads more effective:
Do you have an attention-arresting headline that tells the reader specifically who you’re targeting, and why they should read the rest of your ad?

Can you take your name, address and phone number out of your ad and insert the same information from one of your competitors and have the ad work just as well for them as it does for you?
Does your ad take full advantage of the available space, and make it easy for your readers to focus their attention on your offer?
Do you make it very clear what you can do for your readers (potential clients)?

Is what you can do for your readers different in a beneficial way from what your competitors say they can do?

Do you give clear and persuading reasons for them to do business with you as opposed to your competitors?

Do you make a compelling offer that they can’t refuse?

Do you tell them exactly what you want them to do and what steps to take next?

Do you make it easy for them to respond or to contact you?

Does your call to action include a sense of urgency to get them to respond now?

In other words, does your ad not only stand out from the others, but does it give your readers the information they need, and sufficient reason to rush to the phone or jump in their car and come to your place of business? That’s what an effective ad does.

Look at your competitor ads. How do they compare? Do ANY of their ads answer the above ten questions positively?

Gaining The Upper Hand In Advertising Doesn’t Have
To Be Complicated Or Difficult

It really doesn’t take much to create an ad that out pulls your competition. And if you want to capture a larger share of your market, that’s exactly what you’re going to have to do. But before you jump into creating an ad, here are some questions you should consider concerning the products you’re selling or the service you’re providing:

What problems or challenges does your product/service solve for your prospects?

What specific benefits does it provide them?

What distinguishes the products you sell from those your competition sells?

Why should your prospects choose what you sell or provide over those your competitors provide?

These questions are designed to get you thinking about what your products, your services and your business has to offer that will be of benefit to your prospects and customers, and more importantly, why they should buy from you as opposed to any other options they have.

You know the story. You’ve done business with someone for several years and they’ve been good customers. You’ve given them the best service possible and you think they are your customers for life. But then some little thing possibly out of your control goes wrong, or they see an ad or get a call from a competitor, someone they’ve never met before, with a slightly lower price, and the next thing you know, they are gone, oftentimes without a single word to you.

At first you don’t notice it. But one day you realize that it’s been a while since you’ve seen or heard from that customer. When you find out what happened you feel badly because if they would have just called you, you might have been able to make a couple of changes and save the business. But it’s too late, they’re gone.

This scenario is repeated time and again with businesses owners from every kind, size and type of company that sell every type of product or service available. It is going to happen and it does happen. To pretend that it doesn’t or won’t happen is simply deceiving yourself.

It’s incredible how many business owners just write off the loss of a good customer. But that’s not the thing you should do. Instead, now is the time to become even more proactive and go after your “lost” customers – those who have done business with you in the past, but for some reason are no longer patronizing you.

At one time they liked you, trusted you and believed in you enough to give you their money in exchange for some type of value you could provide them. It may be that they still need the products and/or services you offer, but now they’re getting them elsewhere. What happened? Why are they still not doing business with you? Why did they move on to another supplier or vendor? Understanding the reasons people are no longer doing business with you, and then taking action to prevent the defection of your current customers and regain your lost customers can put a LOT of money in your bank account.

Why Customers Quit

Some years ago a study was done on the reasons customers quit. They found that…

1 percent – die
3 percent – move away
5 percent – develop other friendships
9 percent – competitive reasons
14 percent – product dissatisfaction
68 percent – indifferent attitude of employee

The study was good as far as it went. But there are other reasons that people stop buying from a business. People’s lives change over time. As their children grow, get older and leave home their housing and other family related needs change. Job, career and hobby interests also change with time. And as those changes occur their need for certain products or services also change, and for the business that offers those things it may mean a loss of customers.

Another reason that people stop doing business with a company or organization is that they get out of certain habits. A loyal gym member who returns from an extended vacation may find it difficult to get back in the “groove” and start working out again.

The important point to all of this is that people stop doing business for a variety of reasons – most of which are preventable. There’s not much that can be done about those who die or move away – or even those who no longer have a need for your products or services. But the numbers of those who fit those categories are very small. It’s the other categories that for the most part are very much within your control and capabilities to save.

How To Stop Customer Defection

The easiest way to prevent your customers from leaving you and defecting to the competition is to let them know that you care about them. Customers are very much like spouses. If you don’t tell them you love them once in awhile, someone else will and you’re likely to lose them. You have to continually keep in touch, communicate with them and let them know that you appreciate their business and that you value them as individuals. People don’t buy from businesses. They buy from other people. And the more you can make them feel appreciated and needed the more responsive and loyal they’ll be to you.

Reselling your customers on the reasons they bought from you in the first place is one of the best ways to cut down on defections. Regularly scheduled meetings or conversations with your customers to remind them of how you came together and what their motives were to initially buy from you can go a long way in helping insulate your business from the competition.

Remember that your competition has similar products, services and prices. Also remember that your customer’s reasons for buying are only 35 percent based on those products, services, and prices. The other 65 percent is for what you can do for them.

The more you can do for them beyond what the actual product or service they buy from you does, the more you’ll build value in doing business with you rather than them buying from you because you happen to carry a particular product or deliver a certain service. Review your customers’ needs, wants and concerns. Remind them why they bought from you in the first place. Reinforce their motives, and their decisions for buying, and you will reduce your customer defection rate and develop not only loyal customers, but friends, as well.

You know how it works (or at least how it’s supposed to)… when more people buy from you, you take in more gross dollars, and as a result (depending on your margins and overhead), you make more bottom line profits. As a spin-off benefit, the more people you add to your customer base the larger it becomes, and the larger it becomes the more people you have to go back to for additional sales and the referrals they’re capable of giving you.

It’s in this one single area where most business owners (including your competition, and probably, you, too, if you’re honest), spend most of their time, effort and money. If you’ve been in business for any length of time you probably realize that getting new customers is not always the easiest, the most time-efficient, or most profitable thing you can do. Most businesses only have one or two main methods of attracting new prospects to their businesses.

For example, you probably remember in times past before the Do Not Call law was passed, that a large number of businesses were heavy in the use of telephone soliciting. In fact, you, yourself, probably got more than your fair share of calls when you were just sitting down for dinner.

Other businesses and professions (such as chiropractors, car dealers, truck driving schools, and lawyers) take a different approach. Many of them advertise heavily on television, especially during the afternoon hours to attract new customers. They’ve found that a large part of their intended audience… the people who are most inclined to use their services, watch television during those hours, and it’s a cost-effective way to reach them.

Each business, industry, or profession has their own methods and timing to contact those who are most likely to be interested in their products and services. What works for some businesses, may or may not work for other businesses in the same or different industries or professions. Think about your business and your company for a minute. Chances are that you, like nearly every other business owner in your industry or profession also utilizes one, or perhaps two main methods of attracting new prospects. Most likely, the method you use is the same method that nearly every other business uses. It’s called the, “That’s how things are done in our industry or profession,” method.

Typically, when a person first chooses to go into business they look around and see what everyone else is doing. Then they lay out their office, shop or place of business just like every other similar type of business they’ve seen. They look at what everyone else is doing to market or promote their businesses, products and services, and adopt those same marketing plans and methods to market or promote their business. This activity isn’t isolated to just a few businesses – nearly every business in nearly every industry or profession is guilty.

But wait a minute. Who set up that system in the first place? And who says it’s right or that it’s the best system for you to use? The fact is that there are an unlimited number of methods of attracting new customers to your business and your imagination is the only limiting factor. Some of the best, most productive and cost-effective methods you can use can be adapted from what others are doing in totally unrelated businesses.

This brings up a couple of questions. First, how observant are you? What are others who are in the same business that you’re in doing? And how effective are they?
Next, look around at what other businesses… unrelated businesses in other, unrelated fields, industries or professions are doing. Have you seen what’s working for them? Is there one business that just stands out by doing something different or unusual? Or do they all pretty much use the same marketing methods?

Next question: How creative are you? Can you look at what some of the other businesses are doing and adapt (with a few minor changes) their methods to your business? In other words if you were brand new, just starting in business, and had no idea of what anyone before you had done to attract new customers, what would you do? How would you go about getting new customers? Would you use the same methods you use now, or would you do something completely different?

A dentist I consult with specializes in working with children and their teeth. He loves children. And he recognizes that as they get older they may need braces, they’ll probably get married and have a spouse and children that will all need dental care. So he set up his reception room with a special, “kid-height” counter so when the children come in they can talk directly to the receptionist, transact their business just as an adult would, and schedule their next appointment. He’s even decorated his reception area with artwork and pictures that some of his young patients have created.

How do you think those young people feel? Well you probably guessed it. They absolutely love it there. And they tell their friends about it, too. And their parents? They’re thrilled. Imagine having your kids want to go to the dentist! And then be treated, not like a second-class citizen, but as an equal transacting business (with the parent’s help, of course), and having a hand in scheduling their future appointments. What a learning and growing experience for them. And who do you think the parents use for their own dentist? That’s right. The spin-off business of catering to, and working with children, is their parents.

As the kids grow up and have families of their own which dentist do you think they’ll use… that they’ll insist their spouse switches to and that they’ll bring their own children to? The relationship this dentist is building with those young people of friendship, of trust and of caring, will provide him all the financial security he’ll ever need and allow him to do whatever he wants and go wherever he pleases for the rest of his life.

So, what about you and your business? What are you doing? Specifically, what marketing methods are you using, right now to attract new customers and to build lasting relationships with them so they’ll do business with you for a lifetime? And second, how many different marketing methods do you presently and concurrently have working for you? There’s a real danger in having just one or two main methods of attracting new customers.

One of my consulting clients depended almost entirely on a telemarketing team to acquire business to business leads for their salespeople to follow up with. When a well-funded competitor opened for business not far away they hired nearly all that business’ telemarketing staff and nearly shut the business down. The business was nearly a total disaster. When they called me in as a consultant I could see that we had to do something quick just to save the business. So we got to work and hired and trained a whole new telemarketing crew and got the business up and running again.

But then we looked at other marketing options and put together an effective direct-mail program, started a proactive referral-generating system, and worked out some joint ventures and host-beneficiary relationships with other complementary, but non-competing businesses. Now if something happens to any one of their marketing methods they have other strategies or other “pillars” in place that can keep the business from collapsing and keep it running smoothly.

What about your business? How can you apply this? Well, why not start by going back and revisiting the questions I asked earlier. Then see if there are some areas that you need to improve in. Make sure you’re not dependent on only one or two main methods of attracting new customers. New customers are important to your business, there’s no question. But they’re not just important, they’re absolutely vital… not only to the growth of your business but to the very survival of the business.

It’s critical that you have multiple systems in place to ensure that your business continues running and growing uninterrupted if anything unexpected happens.

The important thing to realize, is that no matter what the arrangement or situation you presently find yourself in you are really working for yourself. If you work by commission, for example, the sales you make are not only putting dollars in your employer’s pocket, they are putting dollars into your own pocket, as well. The more you sell, the more you make.

Just consider yourself as a business that prospers or falters financially by the amount of commission dollars you generate. The point is, even though you may be working for, or associated with another company or concern, you are really working for yourself to increase the amount of money you earn for you.

Three Keys For Success

It’s important to realize that your success in whatever you do in business, or in life, for that matter, will always be determined by three things:

-The need or demand for what you do,
-Your ability to do it, and

-The difficulty in replacing you.

In other words, how valuable are you and the service you perform, to other people? To illustrate this point, let’s apply our 3step formula to the job of an elevator operator. In today’s world of pushbutton, selfoperated elevators, how much need is there for the job he or she performs? Most people are quite capable of operating an elevator themselves. It doesn’t take much knowledge or training, so an operator can be replaced without much difficulty. As a result, elevator operators, if you can even find one, are not paid much.

Now, contrast the elevator operator and the money he or she commands with that of a professional major league baseball player. Specifically a player that is good at batting. What is the need for what they do? A look at attendance figures for baseball games will show that more than just a few fans are interested in watching what they do. So the need obviously is great.

How about the batter’s ability to do what he does? Sports analysts say that the action of hitting a ball moving towards you at over 90 miles per hour is the single most difficult movement in sports. In the game of basketball, the target (the hoop) doesn’t move. Same in golf. While the ball moves, the hole, or goal, remains stationary. In football, there are 11 teammates all with a common goal of advancing the ball. But in baseball, it’s the batter alone, trying to hit a small, 90 m.p.h. target with his bat. So it stands to reason then, that the better or more often a batter can hit the ball, the more he or she will be compensated.

Now, what about the difficulty in replacing a good batter? When only the best in the world can hit the target less than a third of the time, and most of the other players are successful far less than that, it doesn’t take long to realize why the best batters are among the highest moneymakers in the world.

Obtaining Superior Rewards

Now how about you? It’s been said, that you can tell how professional a person is by the size of their income at the end of the year. And you can tell exactly how valuable the service you perform is, by how much people are willing to pay you for it. If you do the same job that everybody else does, and do it no better than the way they do it, you can’t expect to earn more money, or be considered any more valuable than those other people.

The market, by nature, will pay superior rewards only for superior goods and services. It will pay average rewards for average goods and services, and it will see that inferior rewards are paid for inferior goods and services. In other words, you will be rewarded in direct proportion to the value you provide your customers. It’s inescapable. That’s the law of nature.

If the products and services you sell or provide are similar in characteristics and price to everyone else’s (and most of them are, today), then the difference between you and other people in your position has to be in the type and amount of personal service you provide your customers and clients. This, then, has to be the area you excel in – it becomes your competitive edge.

Guaranteeing Business Success

So one of the main keys to success in business, then, is, number one, to make sure that there is a great need or demand for what you do. One of the best ways to guarantee that is to make sure you only spend your time selling to qualified prospects. That is, people who need, want and can pay for what you’re selling. There may be people who need or want what you have, but if they can’t afford to pay for it, or if you can’t arrange suitable payment options for them, you’ll spend a seemingly endless amount of time and get nowhere.

On the other hand, there may be people who have the ability to pay, but not the need or want. In these cases, you can also waste considerable time, because surely, no sale will result from your efforts.

The second point, is that you are paid in direct proportion to your ability to do what it is that you do. That is, to identify, qualify and sell the products and services you offer to your prospects and customers, and then service their needs as they arise. In some businesses, the sole function of salespeople is to seek out qualified prospects and sell them the products or services offered by the business. The necessary service work for the customer is provided by an office or support staff.

In other businesses, each salesperson is responsible in every way for each of their customer’s needs, from the initial sale, to providing all the necessary service the customer might require, including updating the product or service, customer complaints, changes of address, or any other service work that may be needed. The determining factor then, is not what your responsibilities are, but rather, how good you are at performing those responsibilities.

Third, remember, that you are paid in direct proportion to the difficulty in replacing you.
When I think of this area, I think of Disneyland and Disneyworld. As attractions go, they have very little competition. And as far as theme parks? They are unsurpassed. Their average daily attendance figures bear this out.

-Disneyland, in California 35,342
-Disneyworld and Epcot Center, in Florida 78,082
-Disneyland in Tokyo 32,877

With 146,193 guests visiting each day, and paying an average of $69 per person, the Disney properties are light years ahead of their nearest competition. And, why? Because they have met the criteria outlined in the 3step formula. Consider each of the steps of the formula as they apply to Disney.

First, is there a need for what they do? Certainly there must be. Entertainment is the largest and fastest growing business in the world today, both in terms of participants, and in total dollar revenue.

Next, how about Disney’s ability to do what they do? With over 53 million people visiting their 3 parks each year, evidence would indicate that they are doing at least a few things, if not a whole lot of things right.

And finally, the difficulty in replacing them? Nothing has come close yet, and with those 53 million people spending over $3 billion, odds are that the people who visit the Disney properties are pretty satisfied.

People buy your products and services for the same reason… not for a hole, but for the benefits those products or services provides. Ask the next 10 prospects you come in contact with if they want to buy the product or service you’re selling and chances are, you’ll receive a negative answer.

There are many factors that influence people to react that way, and each person has his or her own reasons for doing so. Regardless of individual reasons, it’s a fact, that people don’t want to buy products and they often resent people trying to sell them.

People Buy For The Benefits

On the other hand, if you ask the same person that previously turned you down if they want the specific benefits the products or services you’re selling will provide them you will most likely receive a positive answer. They may give you a hard time about the prices you are charging but in most cases, the answer will be a “yes.”

Like the quarterinch drills, people are not interested in products but they are interested in the benefits the products will provide them. It makes sense then, that when you are making a presentation, that you don’t emphasize products. Rather, you should talk in terms of specific benefits, and how those benefits apply directly to the particular prospect in front of you at the time.

As mentioned previously, each person is different and each person has his or her own reasons for buying or not buying. And each person will buy for his or her own reasons – not yours or anyone else’s. If you try to sell them for any reason other than their own, you run the risk of turning them off or otherwise alienating them, which usually ends up destroying the sale you are trying to make, as well as any future sales.

Trying to figure out why people make certain decisions can be a complicated, even frustrating process, at best. But an understanding of basic buying motives can make your job much easier.

Motives For Buying

Behavioral psychologists tell us there are seven basic motives that move a person to action – that cause them to buy. An understanding of these motives and how they apply to your customers and prospects at the time a buying decision is being made, can give you a tremendous advantage.

Desire For Gain Or Profit

Nobody likes to lose. People want something in return for their efforts and hard work. And the easier they can get it, the better. The success of the lottery games in various states bear testimony of people trying to find an easy way to get gain and profit. The products you sell can help your customers realize their dreams for gain or profit, too. Your customers can and will invest in various types of products or services you sell – not to own them, per se, but in an effort to increase their profitability and the amount and value of their assets.

Fear Of Loss, Or Need For Security

People will go to great lengths to prevent losing something. In an effort to protect their property, some people install burglar or fire alarms, smoke detectors, or night lights that automatically come on when movement is detected. Some people carry spray cans of mace, or tear gas, while others have resorted to carrying guns or other weapons to protect their person. 

Psychologists say that the fear of loss or the need for security is perhaps the greatest of all the motives. If the products and services you sell can help protect them, their families or their businesses from loss, or can increase their security, either at present or sometime in the future, you should be capitalizing on that fact as much as possible.

Pride Of Ownership, Or Status

People want to be noticed and recognized. Little boys ride bicycles with no hands, and little girls dress up and act out dance routines and shout to their parents, “Watch me! Watch me!” Adults do the same things, but in different ways. While they may not verbally shout out, they still say “Watch me! Watch me!” just as loudly. They do it by the kinds of cars they drive, the clothes and jewelry they wear, the houses they live in, and the material things they possess. While people may buy because of the benefits, they like others to see the actual product. In some cases, it’s just another way to say, “Watch me! Watch me!”

An Interest In Doing Something Easier Or More Efficiently
We all want methods of doing things easier. One only has to look around his or her home to notice the abundance of time and/or moneysaving conveniences we all enjoy. What about your products or services? Do they somehow make a person’s job, or a business’ way of doing things easier or more efficient? And if they do, what are the direct and indirect benefits to your prospect or customer? Is this something you can capitalize on?

The Desire For Excitement Or Pleasure

A popular bumper sticker states, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.”

That message is a clear indication that people want excitement and pleasure. And it seems to suggest that pleasure comes in the “having,” rather than in the “getting.” It’s whomever has the most at the end that wins. But in reality, excitement” and “pleasure,” for most people comes in the acquiring of things. Think back about the times you have worked hard to get something, and how excited you were in the process. But then, once you had whatever it was that you were working for, how the excitement was dulled. Sometimes it’s not the end result that counts as much as the process of acquiring. A more practical interpretation of the bumper sticker might read,

“He who lives with the most toys, wins!”

Of course, these applications have to do with “things.” Some people really enjoy acquiring “things,” and even keep score by how much they accumulate. Other people gain great pleasure or excitement knowing that their family’s future educational and livings needs, as well as retirement will be taken care of. Business owners like to know that their businesses are operating at peak efficiency and profitability and are meeting the needs of their customers, and as a result, will be around for long time providing jobs and security for their employees and their families as well as providing retirement funds for the owner when the business is sold.

Self Improvement Or An Increase In Effectiveness

Investing money and time in self-improvement materials and education is a good example of your desire to become better at who you are, what you do, or perhaps increasing your effectiveness and/or income. People want and need to improve and to be able to do things more efficiently. Sometimes that involves taking risks with time or money. Not all risks have to be “risky.” Calculated risks based on well thought-out plans and outcomes are the safest way to go, and can contribute greatly to the successful improvement in effectiveness and efficiency.

The Desire For Importance Or The Need To Feel Appreciated

According to noted psychiatrist, Dr. Abraham Maslow, this is one of the basic needs of all humans; acceptance and appreciation. Children want to be accepted by their parents and peers, and parents want their children to remember them when they grow up and leave home. 

In his book, The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor explains that workers are motivated more by “significant works,” and a feeling of being needed and appreciated, than by money. People want to make a difference, and be appreciated for it. Fathers and mothers not only have an obligation to see that their family’s futures are provided for, but they want their family to understand and appreciate their efforts.

Business owners have an obligation to the people who buy from them, the employees who work for them, their employees’ families, the suppliers and the vendors who sell to them. Too often, each of those groups of people live with an attitude of expectancy and entitlement. That is, they expect that the business owner will take care of them. How much better it would be if more appreciation would be shown to those who make our lives better.

If the products or services you provide the marketplace can help make this possible, you may have an open ticket to success because of the great unsatisfied need that exists.

If you understand these basic motives and how they apply to your business of selling your products and services, and then sell to the needs (both stated and unstated) of your customers and prospects, you will prosper.

And if you are not prospering, it simply means you are have not uncovered your prospect’s and customer’s motives for buying. You are not addressing their specific needs. In most cases you can’t wait for your customers to tell you what they want. You have to be able to recognize their needs.

Remember, you are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of your business. If you are doing it right or wrong, either way, the marketplace will let you know.

Instead, consider these courses of actions:

If you’ve heard an idea before, say to yourself, “Yes, I’ve heard that before, but am I using it?” If not, “Why not?”

If you are currently using the idea, ask yourself, “How effective am I at using it? How can I ‘plus’, or improve on it to make it even more effective for me and my business?”

Next, ask yourself this question: “What will I do as a result of what I’ve learned?”

Remember, it’s not what you know – it’s what you do that counts. Ideas are powerful. And good ideas are really important for any business. They’re what keep your interest up and your business fresh, alive and growing. And be sure to put into action the good ideas can make a huge difference in the way you do business, the results you realize, the fun you have, and the profits you make.

The “Real” Business You’re In

If you don’t learn another thing, remember this…

You’re NOT in the (What business you’re in) business…
You’re in the MARKETING business.

Read those sentences again… and again… and again. Digest them. Understand them. Internalize them. Make them an integral part of your business philosophy. Because unless and until you do, your business will be no better and no different than any of the other choices your prospects and customers can select to do business with.

Let me explain by using the insurance profession as an example, and as I do, think about how these principles might apply to your business.

It’s a well-known fact that very few people (if any at all), want to actually buy an insurance policy. It’s true, they may want the benefits, security and piece of mind that insurance provides them and their families or their business, but they don’t necessarily want to spend their money on an insurance policy. But, what do most insurance sales people sell?

They sell insurance!

No wonder the business is so difficult. It doesn’t take a Harvard degree to figure it out. If you sell insurance and know that people don’t want to buy insurance, why would you continue to beat your head against the wall trying to sell it?

Consider the way most people shop for auto insurance. They call up a number of insurance companies and ask for a quote. The agent or his or her representative asks what coverage the caller is currently carrying, and gives a quote based on those figures.

The caller then thanks the agent or staff member, and goes to the next number on their list. They keep repeating that scenario until they’re convinced that they’ve found the lowest price, and whichever company comes in lowest gets the business.

But, wait a minute. Isn’t there more to buying insurance than just “low price?” Well, sure there is. And you and I both know it. And so do most insurance agents. Why is it, then, that nearly every agent from nearly every insurance company you call tries to sell on price… knowing that there’s probably someone out there with a lower price than they can quote?

Why is it that so few agents try to differentiate themselves from their competition, and change the prospect’s base of thinking away from price, and on to other, more important things?

Price is important, don’t get me wrong. It’s very important. And it carries a lot of weight in a prospect’s buying decision. But it’s only one of many factors that a person needs to consider when making their buying decision.

In actuality, there’s very little difference in insurance policies issued by any number of insurance companies in the same geographical area. Likewise, there’s usually very little difference in the products or services you sell versus those same types of products or services sold by your competitors.

General overhead costs, utilities, phones, supplies, wages, and product costs are also similar for most companies that sell like products and services. So, if all those factors… similarity of products and services, overhead costs and product costs are pretty much the same, the prices charged by each individual business must, out of necessity, be pretty close, as well.

It’s true, that one company may, for example, obtain a lower purchase price on their products and as a result, be able to offer a more attractive sales price for a certain period of time, but eventually, things change and the playing field becomes pretty level once again.

There are other factors not to be overlooked such as investment income and tax write-offs or advantages that can play a role in the prices businesses charge for the things they sell. But overall, all things considered, the prices charged for the goods and services from one company to another similar company are going to be fairly close over the long haul.

The point is, that… no matter what business you’re in…

You will never maintain, long-term…
a competitive advantage because of the products 
you offer, or the prices you charge.

As soon as you develop a new product, or offer a new service, it’s just a matter of time before your competition latches on to it and offers the exact same thing, or maybe enhances it and offers it for a lower price. And as soon as you lower your prices, your competition can do the same thing.

The marketplace you operate in is so fiercely competitive… so cutthroat… so unforgiving… that you absolutely must do something to differentiate yourself from your competition. If you don’t, you’ll be relegated to just another “me-too” business, just like all your competitors.

Now… you want to know the good news? That’s how your competitors operate… in a “ME-TOO!” mode.

Just look around. They’re all the same. Their businesses all look the same. Their products are all the same. They walk and talk the same. And their advertising all looks like and says the same things as the next guy’s. And because they all operate that way and don’t know how to change… it gives you a tremendous opportunity!

You see, if they keep on doing what they’ve always done… they’ll keep on getting what they’ve always got. But you… if you want to get something different… you’ve got to be willing to make some changes. Changes that will produce real and measurable results in your business. And that means you’ve got to constantly be on the lookout for new ideas, new strategies, and new systems… proven strategies and systems that you can implement with a reasonable amount of effort and expense.

Remember… it’s not enough to just learn about the ideas… you’ve got to take action on them, if you expect anything different than what you’re currently getting.

Yet, very few business owners have paid much attention to this highly profitable and highly leverageable step of increasing the size of the order. If you think for a minute, about how easy this is and how profitable it can be you’ll see why it’s such a powerful concept. And you’ll also see why nearly every fast-food restaurant has embraced, has mastered, and requires that every person who takes orders understands and is proficient in the use of the “up-sell” and “cross-selling” principles.

Think back about your own fast-food restaurant experience. You drive up to the speaker and place your order… a sandwich and a drink. And then what happens? A voice comes back over the speaker and asks if you’d like an apple pie or fries with your order. That’s an example of cross-selling. Selling an additional product in addition to or beyond the initial purchase. Or they might suggest that you “super-size” or “giant-size” your order. That’s an example of an up-sell… increasing the size of the initial order.

In any case, if you take them up on their suggestion what they’ve done is just increase their profits substantially, since they made an additional sale but had no acquisition or marketing costs. They realize that a certain percentage of their customers will say “yes.” And the only reason they say “yes,” is because a suggestion was made to them. So they play the numbers game. And the result? Well, by being aware of what their customers might want but not ask for on their own, and then by asking questions or making suggestions they bring in a substantial number of dollars. And other than the actual cost of the product those dollars are pure profit.

Here’s another technique fast food restaurants frequently use. It’s called “bundling” or “packaging.” It’s where they combine a sandwich, a drink and fries, then throw in a couple of “bonus” items like maybe a cookie and a toy. They put it all together in one package and give it a name like “Happy Meal.” They’ll charge you less for that package than what each of those items purchased separately would have cost, but the total dollar amount you spend will be higher. And since there were no marketing costs involved other than the cost of the items themselves, it’s pure profit, and it goes straight to their bottom line.

Now, what does that have to do with you, and your business?

Well, you may not be in the fast food business, but the same principles can still apply. Just ask yourself this question: “What additional products or services do you have that would be natural complements to what your customers initially buy from you?”

Well, you know the answer to that and I won’t go into all the details here. But for instance, if you have the type of business that offers more than one product to your customers you have a tremendous advantage to capitalize on the up-selling, cross-selling and bundling techniques. Some types of businesses, such as insurance companies that may offer only one product or service can also benefit from these strategies by packaging certain policies that cover multiple family members, adding riders, or including other complementary services that go beyond the actual policies themselves.

Do these things seem like common sense to you? Well, they probably do. But as I mentioned before it’s surprising how few businesses make effective use these three simple principles. Think about it. In reality, you have an obligation to your customers… the people who trust you to provide them good quality products and services, give them sound advice and who hand over their hard-earned money to you… to make sure they get the very best value, the best use and the most enjoyment from their original purchase. And if you have additional items, either products or services, that can enhance their value, their use or their enjoyment, then your obligation is to do everything that’s reasonable and ethical, to see that they at least have the option of taking advantage of those items.

Again, it’s playing the numbers game. Some will take advantage of your offer and some won’t. But at least, you will have given them the opportunity, and you will have fulfilled your obligation to them. You haven’t made the decision for them. You’ve given them a choice and you’ve let them decide. If you come across as sincere they’ll not see you as being pushy, but they’ll realize that you are really trying to do them a favor… to help them get more value, more use, and more benefit from their decision and their purchase. And they’ll come back to do business with you again and again, and will refer others to you, as well.

Up-selling, cross-selling and bundling… these are only three of more than a dozen immediate, profit-producing methods you can use to skyrocket your business to the next level. If you do nothing more than find a way to incorporate these three techniques in your business (which you should be able to do within the next twenty-four hours), you’ll blast your profits completely through the roof.

Think about it… increasing your sales… increasing your profits… without increasing your expenses. It’s an exciting concept, and it can add an immediate twenty, thirty, even forty percent or more, in pure profits to your bottom line!