Tip for January 1, 2006

Instead of leaving business cards, brochures, pens, memo pads or the typical junk that gets pitched as soon as you leave a cold call, Guerrilla Don Snyder will leave a list of Top Ten Reasons they should be using his company. List items are all true, sometimes humorous, statements why they are the best game in town. He actually gets his prospects to call HIM and laugh about the list while he gathers data on their needs!

Tip for January 2, 2006

While 90% of all new products in America fail, 90% of all products introduced by Rubbermaid succeed. Why? Speed in getting to market.

Tip for January 3, 2006

Online conferences make you an expert Conducting an online conference in a forum is a great way to boost your credibility and visibility with a receptive audience. The main conference rooms on America Online, CompuServe, and other online services are always booked for nationally-known movie or media stars, but special interest groups or forums are always looking for experts that can speak to their audiences. You can be that expert, and by doing so you'll provide a powerful incentive for customers to buy from you. To schedule yourself for a conference: * Find an online forum or special interest group related to your business. * Locate the transcripts of previous conferences in that forum, and scan them to see which topics have been done before. * Send an e-mail note to the forum administrator, pitching your topic and yourself as the person to present it. If your topic is accepted, your conference will be promoted a week or two in advance on the forum's welcome screen, and it may even be promoted on the online service's main welcome or What's New screen. When the day of the conference arrives, you'll field questions from the audience via a phone call, and a conference administrator at the online service will translate your responses into text that appears on the screen of the forum's chat room. To get a better idea of how this works, attend the next conference in your favorite online forum. Then follow the steps above and become a recognized expert in your field.

Tip for January 4, 2006

Ask and you shall receive. Ask for the order! And ask again! Self-absorbed salespeople may fail to ask the customer for the order. By listening more and talking less, absent-minded salespeople can pick up on closing signals, ask for the order more frequently and close the sale more often.

Tip for January 5, 2006

Sales Incentives #1: Discount A reduced price is one of the most effective sales incentives you can offer. Discounts should be used with restraint, however, because a steady diet of discounts, educates your clients and prospects to expect a discount, erodes your profits, and fails to differentiate your firm from your competition. Discounts can be combined with other incentives and work best when there is a close and strictly enforced deadline.

Tip for January 6, 2006

Sales Incentives, #2: Delivery and shipping Symbolic price incentives can take the form of relatively low cost, but highly visible, concessions such as free delivery or shipping. Free shipping of products like books can give you a competitive edge over local vendors. Free delivery can give you a competitive advantage over local discounters when selling large, bulky, and heavy products, like home appliances, big screen televisions, furniture, etc.

Tip for January 7, 2006

Sales Incentives, #3: Supplies When selling products and services that consume supplies, like ink jet cartridges, laser toner, or paper, consider bundling some of the supplies. Be creative in defining offering consumables. For example, if you are offering a high-priced seminar, "supplies" can include a free luncheon, a free tote bag for handouts and other materials distributed during the session, or even a hotel lodging or breakfast vouchers.

Tip for January 8, 2006

Sales Incentives #4: Terms Payment terms can be used to create an incentive to immediate purchase. Instead of requiring full payment, the billing period may be extended in several ways. One type of incentive may be an immediate discount for full payment. Or, the first payment may not be due for 30 days, or payments at 30, 60 or 90 days may be made without interest fees.

Tip for January 9, 2006

Sales Incentive #5: Financing Financing differs from terms in that the buyer pay a third party, like a bank or finance company, rather than directly paying the seller. Financing incentives can include no down payment, no payments for 6 months to a year, or interest-free payments.

Tip for January 10, 2006

Sales Incentive #6: trade-in allowances When selling physical products, consider offering an allowance for returning used or previous versions of the item. This makes special sense when the trade-in can be sold to another buyer, like automobile and camera retailers routinely do. Train yourself to be creative. In the case of books, especially when dealing with high-margin items where economies of scale reduce per-unit production costs. For example, even if a publisher offered a "trade in" on earlier versions of a book or CD and discarded them, the profits from sales of the new versions could generate healthy profits.

Tip for January 11, 2006

Sales Incentives # 7: Convenience It pays to make it as easy as possible for customers to buy. Convenience can take the form of toll-free telephone numbers, credit cards, 24-7 availability, online ordering, and self-addressed/postage paid envelopes. Businesses that are usually only open during normal business hours can offer extended hours or weekend availability for a limited time during promotions. For retailers, if parking is a problem during special events, consider offering validated parking, or even valet parking, for a limited time during the promotion.

Tip for January 12, 2006

Sales Incentives #8: Rebates Rebates are refunds offered to buyers after they have paid for an item. Rebates are similar to discounts in that the buyer ultimately pays less, but the seller has use of the buyer's money for a varying amount of time (i.e., until the rebate check is cashed.)

Tip for January 13, 2006

Sales Incentives # 9: Removal Retailers selling large, bulky, or heavy products, like furniture or home appliances like refrigerators, can offer limited-time removal of the item being replaced. Often, the store's normal policy may be to charge for removal, but these charges can be omitted during limited periods of time.

Tip for January 14, 2006

Sales Incentive #10: Disposal In this environmentally conscious age, many products, like automobile tires and computer monitors, must--or should--be properly disposed of. Many waste-handling authorities charge for accepting these objects. The free pickup and appropriate disposal of everyday items which can pose future hazards can become a powerful incentive when offered for a limited amount of time.

Tip for January 15, 2006

Sales Incentives #11: Training The wealth of operating features built into many products can be overwhelming to users. This is especially true when dealing with high-tech products like software applications. Training and customer support above and beyond the normal "documentation" or "instructions" is often offered at extra cost in these cases. Eliminating raining and instruction charges for training--whether it be delivered in person or through books, online, CDs, or DVDs, creates a powerful limited time incentive.

Tip for January 16, 2006

Sales Incentives # 12: Accessories Many products require, or can benefit from, accessories. The performance of products like computer printers can benefit from extra memory, paper trays, and duplexing options. Software can benefit from templates which provide a "paint by numbers" framework for immediately putting the programs to use. Information products like books, seminars, and teleclasses can benefit from printable worksheets, notetaking sheets, and action plans. Rather than discounting your product or service, consider offering accessories which you normally charge extra for free during a limited time.

Tip for January 17, 2006

Sales Incentive # 13: Recycle Offers to intelligently recycle products--like used laser toner cartridges--cam provide an "environmentally friendly" incentive that can give your firm a "moral incentive" over its competition.

Tip for January 18, 2006

Sales Incentives # 14: Packaging Seasonal, or personal, packaging can provide an incentive that can set your product or incentive apart. One example is free gift wrapping during holidays, or when products are sent as gifts. Another incentive might be extra-secure or brightly colored packaging to indicate "deluxe" versions of a product.

Tip for January 19, 2006

Sales Incentives # 15 Testing and Certification As products become more complex, there is more to go wrong. You can build confidence in your product as well as add extra value to it by offering a pre- or post-delivery testing and certification of the unit's performance. This guarantees that the buyer will be receive all of the performance they have paid for. (It also eliminates post-sale service calls.) This technique gains value when you normally charge extra for it, but eliminate the surcharges during limited time periods.

Tip for January 20, 2006

Sales Incentive #16: Installation and hookup Installation and hookup differs from delivery in that you or your representative do not leave the buyer's home or place of business until the new product has been installed and hookup and is performing properly. In the case of information products, you could make sure that your product or service is performing properly by offering to review the buyer's first business plan, spreadsheet, or action plan created with your product or service.

Tip for January 21, 2006

Sales Incentive # 17: Quantity For a limited time, you can offer additional products or services at no cost. When selling supplies, for example, you can offer increase the quantity without increasing the price by offering a Baker's Dozen (13 for the price of 12, etc.) When selling books, you could send four copies for the price of three-which would expose you're your book to the buyer's friends and co-workers. When selling seats at a conference, you could offer three seats for the price of two. You could also offer site licenses for several teleconference attendees from a single organization.

Tip for January 22, 2006

Sales Incentive # 18: Customization There are several ways you can customize a product or service. When selling books or event attendance, you can include workbooks or sessions appropriate for vertical markets, i.e., accountants, educators, retirees. When selling products, you can include--for a limited time--templates, connecting cables, or software required for use with specific hardware and locations.

Tip for January 23, 2006

Sales Incentives # 19: Personalization Personalization differs from customization in that the value added element does not serve a practical purpose. A baseball hat or mousepad personalized with the buyer's initials does not function better than the same item without the buyer's initials, but the initialed version will create a far stronger emotional bond--and will be kept around longer. Personalization does not have to be complicated. Offering a computer monitor buyer their choice of screen saver software--perhaps their choice of photographic subjects--might be enough to convert interest into a commitment to purchase.

Tip for January 24, 2006

Sales Incentives #20: Bundled Solutions You can extend the benefit of your solution by bundling additional utility and information with it. Additional utility can take the forms of occupation-specific templates, handbooks, tip sheets, keyboard shortcuts, or instructions for frequently encountered scenarios. Bundled solutions can also include offering frequently purchased accessories and supplies as part of the purchase price for a limited amount of time.

Tip for January 25, 2006

Sales Incentives # 21: Upgrades When selling information products, you can promise to provide the next product version, or upgrade, for free to buyers. This can include the next version of your software program or the next templates or "how to" instructions. When selling information products with a low cost-per-unit, such as teleconference attendance or downloadable audio recordings, you can invite buyers of your current product to attend your next teleconference on the same subject for free. Authors can promise to send a free copy of new versions of an e-book to buyers.

Tip for January 26, 2006

Sales Incentives # 22: Expanded Scope When encountering resistance when selling services, such as speeches or workshops, expand the value of your presence by offering to sit in on a panel--or moderate a panel. When appropriate, you could also offer to deliver a workshop or be available for a special question and answer session. The more valuable you make yourself to the event organizer, or any other time of client, the more likely you'll close the deal. An incremental addition of time can be the incentive you've been looking for.

Tip for January 27, 2006

Sales Incentives # 23: Sample Perhaps there is a way you can allow your prospect to sample the product or service you're trying to sell. Samples take many forms: excerpts from a longer publication, a one-hour teleclass instead of eight hours of training, a video of a previous performance, or a free introductory telephone consultation. Common to all of the above is not only offering prospects a chance to sample the actual product or service, but to get them to commit--which is the first step towards purchase.

Tip for January 28, 2006

Sales Incentives # 24: Trial Trials differ from samples in that a purchase is usually required, but only a portion of the full product or service is delivered, and there is no obligation to continue the relationship. Magazines and book clubs often offer a trial membership, i.e., 6 issues for $1.99, with the expectation that subscribers will be so pleased with the quality--or so busy they forget to cancel--that they continue at a higher rate after the initial trial period is over. Information marketers can use this technique to build membership in subscription web sites or when selling newsletter or teleclass subscriptions.

Tip for January 29, 2006

A company must gain 20% sales volume to break even on a 5% price cut.

Tip for January 30, 2006

Post-promote your conference appearance If you conduct an online conference, a transcript of the event will be stored in one of the forum's libraries. Find the transcript after the conference is over. You may be able to turn it into a question-answer document which can then be published on your web site or in other locations. Also, mention your conference appearance in messages you exchange with others or in discussion group postings. Your having done a conference gives you immediate credibility, so take advantage of it.

Tip for January 31, 2006

The little things make a difference. Send a thank you note after every sales interview. A successful salesman recounts that only after a new account he opened had grown to 35-40 temps a day did the customer tell him the reason he placed the first order. It was because he appreciated the thank you letter he received, the day after the initial sales interview. Ah! The little things do make a difference