Tip for December 1, 2006

Guerrillas know that people do not buy features and benefits. Well maybe they buy benefits to them, but they really buy solutions to their problems. Some prospects disguise this pretty well. They will tell you that it's all bottom-line, and request a lot of facts, figures, and data. But we know that they will buy because your product will make them look better in the eyes of others. They will tell others that they bought because of the following features, but don't be fooled. They bought it because it'll make them look better than if they' bought Brand X.

Tip for December 2, 2006

What two factors are most important in selecting a partner for any kind of venture? Mutual dependence comes in first and trust comes in second. Ideally, these will enable you to take a long-term perspective, always the most productive.

Tip for December 3, 2006

Guarantee everything Mail order is a 50 billion dollar a year industry, but it didn't get that big until everyone in it began offering a no-hassle guarantee on everything they sold. Most businesses will take their goods back if the customer isn't satisfied, but guerrillas turn guarantees into weapons by making sure their customers know about them. State your guarantee at the top of your online catalog, on your store's home page, and on your order form. Each repetition builds customer confidence and by making buying from you a risk-free proposition.

Tip for December 4, 2006

Try to find one small thing you share in common with every prospects. Building rapport is important. In some cultures it is more important than in others. In North America, finding some one thing that you have in common with another strengthens the bond of confidence and trust between buyer and seller. But remember you're on a business call. Find one non-business rapport item chat for a few minutes about it and get on with your problem-solving business.

Tip for December 5, 2006

Recycle those reprints Guerrillas know that magazines have tremendous credibility and reprint value. Buy a full-page ad in a major magazine and reprint and use it repeatedly to indicate your credibility.

Tip for December 6, 2006

Explain your order form Ordering goods or services online is a very new thing in our world. Most people have never done it, and the process is a nerve-wracking one. When designing your order form, calm customer jitters by explaining every aspect of the ordering process. Explain how to select an information blank and fill it in, how to move from one information blank to the next, how the order form isn't transmitted until the visitor clicks a Send or Send Form button at the bottom, and how the form's information is automatically cleared if the customer clicks away to a different page. Most people don't know these things, and even if they do, they'll appreciate your desire to set them at ease.

Tip for December 7, 2006

Everyone likes to buy stuff. Some like to sell, but nobody likes to be sold. Stop selling! We may need to remind you that your job,as a professional (read guerrilla) salesperson, is to uncover a pain that your product alleviates. Find out how your service will make your customer look better. Selling is very much like the practice of medicine; your job is to find sickness or accident and cure it. You are a specialist. You are to find and cure only the pain that your product illuminates.

Tip for December 8, 2006

Research into direct response TV in England showed that the majority of responses come within 45 minutes of the spot appearing. The best response rate from among 8500 commercials was 0.23% (2300 calls per 1,000,000 viewers). The average was 0.038%.

Tip for December 9, 2006

Guerrillas know that, ultimately, buying is an act of faith for the prospect. We always buy the cover, not the book. The cover can be intriguing, colorful with a catchy title, but what if the content's awful? There needs to be a way out, an easy exit. In sales this is usually some kind of guarantee. Do you have one? If not, get one. Make it liberal. Increase the buyer's faith factor.

Tip for December 10, 2006

Confirm every order One of the great barriers to increased sales in cyberspace is the lack of a direct connection between buyer and seller. Customers place orders, but they don't really know the order was received and is being shipped until they hear from the seller. The sooner you can confirm each order, the happier and more comfortable your customers will be. Make it a goal to confirm every order within 24 hours of receiving it. In your confirmation, repeat the contents of the order and the sale price, and then state when and how the order will be shipped. Your customers will appreciate your follow-up and professionalism.

Tip for December 11, 2006

The ten most common direct mail mistakes in the U.S.: No letter in mailing; no continuity with other marketing; no benefit offered on envelope; no guarantee; no testimonials; no personal letter from the owner; too many messages; illegible colors, especially using colored ink on a colored background; offer not stated up front; and no headline. Remember, 75% read the headline, so always have one!

Tip for December 12, 2006

No hard hats, please Companies everywhere are anxious to build a presence on the worldwide web, and companies already there are continually improving their storefronts with new departments. But customers hate being inconvenienced by store renovations in the real world, and they don't like it much better in cyberspace. It's fine to give customers a reason to return by telling them about an upcoming change to your store, but don't place a link to a new department in your store directory until that department's page offers something to see. When you offer a link to a page that says "Under Construction," you're wasting your customers' time. Either offer an enticing description of the new feature, or keep mum about it until it's finished and ready to go.

Tip for December 13, 2006

A Great Guerrilla phrase: "That sounds important. Do you mink if I take a few notes?" This is an excellent way to accomplish three critical guerrilla pillars at the same time. In taking notes, you not only appear interested and professional, but you also imply a contractual relationship regarding the terms of your offering, price, and terms. Always take written notes.

Tip for December 14, 2006

Who calls help lines? 17% of men have; 8% of women have; 5% of people 18-24 have; and 20% of people 45 and older have.

Tip for December 15, 2006

Don't go public until you're ready If you've spent weeks or months designing your web site, you may be anxious to open it to be public. But before you do, put the storefront through a rigorous testing schedule to make sure everything in it works the way you expect it to. Click each of the links or icons in the storefront to make sure it works. Examine every page to make sure it shows you really want to display without errors or omissions. Ask friends to test the store from different types of computers at different times of the day or night, and to report anything that seems confusing or slow. Make sure the store's performance is acceptable, and ask your service provider to make some changes if it isn't. Customers have little patience with sites that don't perform as advertised, and their first shopping experience will be their last unless your store is ready to sell.

Tip for December 16, 2006

The New York Times has increased its type size and spacing in editorial stories to increase reading ease among baby-boomers. We get older; type gets larger.

Tip for December 17, 2006

Packaging pays In the ethereal world of cyberspace, anything you can do to enhance your distinct identity will contribute to your bottom line. Packaging is one way to reinforce your business identity, reputation, and visibility in the online marketplace. Packaging is having a consistent look and language in all your online communications, whether it's your storefront, your electronic brochures, your e-mail signature, or your discussion group postings. Come up with a consistent format for your text, for example, or use a logo or a slogan (or both) with each of your communications. The more you can do to visually unite your various marketing messages, the more consistent and powerful your online packaging will be.

Tip for December 18, 2006

Guerrilla Peter Schroeder runs a collection agency near Toronto in Waterloo, Canada. He sends gets postcards to prospects from Florida with the following on the back: "Please don't send my overdue account for collection to Rampart Canada collection agency. I am having to much fun with your money here in Florida!" He adds to the fun by forwarding them to Florida for a more authentic postmark. Response to his creative campaign is great, but there have been a few complaints. Non-Guerrillas might think even one complaint bad, but when Peter explains that it's just a funny pitch, they sign right up!

Tip for December 19, 2006

The Guerrilla wants to find out what the client heard him say on the phone when he got the appointment, not what the guerrilla thinks was said or understood. So, he ask something like, "So I can be more effective with your time, will you please tell me what you heard me say that made you want to see me today?" This may appear a bit long and somewhat convoluted, but it is a very powerful first question. It will get you big results. Memorize it and use it today.

Tip for December 20, 2006

Brrrr! Cold, wet and windy weather is good for retail sales according to a monthly weather-economic barometer. Why? "Keeping warm" may be why.

Tip for December 21, 2006

Repetition, repetition, repetition Your online visibility depends primarily on repeatedly exposing your customers to your company name and marketing messages. If you're relying on a web site to accomplish this repetition, you're putting your whole strategy into the hands of your customers, because their decision to visit and return to your site determines the number of repetitions they're exposed to. The best online marketers use every weapon at their disposal to gain repeated exposure. These weapons include signatures, discussion group messages, storefronts, billboards, classified online ads, print ads, directory listings, notices in offline and online publications, online conferences, advertising specialties, links on other web sites, tv ads, and fusion marketing arrangements. Use as many of the weapons as possible as often as possible. Repetition means visibility, and visibility means business.

Tip for December 22, 2006

For the non-guerrilla sales person, following up, what we call "tracking," is done rarely and then only superficially. Once they have won, sales people want to move on to the next battle. There's little interest in a long-term relationship. Studies consistently show that selling to repeat customer a much cheaper and infinitely easier operation than finding new customers. The most efficient sell is reselling current customers on products and services that they've purchased in the past. The second most efficient sell is new products to old customers. Follow up within 30 days of the last sale.

Tip for December 23, 2006

Guerrilla business card savvy: Don't hand out a card till you've established rapport; always have cards handy so you can find them easily; jot down pertinent notes on the back of the card but ask if that's okay; ask for two cards instead of only one; follow-up within ten working days.

Tip for December 24, 2006

Bad visibility is worse than no visibility Visibility is important, but not so important that you should plaster your company name in places where it isn't wanted. You can get a lot of visibility by simply posting the same advertisement to every newsgroup on the Internet, but doing so will do your reputation more harm than good. Avoid mass e-mailings, mass postings to discussions, or indiscriminate placement of your messages. Every location you seek for visibility should be one where your message will reach prospective customers, and where it will be welcomed by them.

Tip for December 25, 2006

Guerrillas never complain about politics, the weather, the traffic, or the rough day they're having. Stay positive and enthusiastic! Few things are less motivating than getting negative news or negative commentary from a sales person. Most of us don't like and distrust sales people in the first place. To have this person telling us how lousy things are really sets the stage for failure. Stay 100% positive, but don't over do it!

Tip for December 26, 2006

What's your identity? Write a positive statement of your honest identity, not your image. This statement will dictate the personality and style of your marketing.

Tip for December 27, 2006

Economy equals customer service With so much to see and do online, time is one of the most precious commodities. Show your customers you respect their time by keeping your messages as short and clear as possible. Whether you're planning your storefront or crafting an electronic brochure or simply responding to a question in a discussion group, keep your messages short and sweet. Economical messages show your professionalism and save customers time, which makes doing business with you a little easier.

Tip for December 28, 2006

The non -guerrilla salesperson rarely analyzes objections and often gives long, argumentative responses to them. Instead of clarifying the prospects' concerns, these sales people will try to overwhelm the prospect with facts, arguments, and personal pressure. Better to listen. When you listen they'll tell you how to close them. They'll tell you their pain. They'll tell you how your product will make them look better. Stop winning arguments and losing sales.

Tip for December 29, 2006

What percentage of the U.S. business population is in sales? A hefty 10%, proving that many of us are salespeople in one way or another.

Tip for December 30, 2006

Information is your product People go online seeking information, and no matter what you're selling, information is all you can offer online. Therefore, the quality of the information you provide will determine whether or not you're successful in cyberspace. Evaluate everything you do for its information content. The information should be of maximum use to your customer. For example, simply listing color choices won't mean as much as showing samples of those colors. Listing candy or muffin or coffee flavors won't mean as much as describing tastes. Put yourself in your customers' shoes and think about what they need to make a decision about buying, and then make sure you supply that information. Good information is good business.

Tip for December 31, 2006

A Guerrilla shakes hands by connecting the base of the thumb with the other's thumb base until a good, flat hand shake is made, a "web to web" connection. The web is the flesh between your thumb and your index finger. Don't shake anyone's fingers again; no bone crushers either. A good firm hand shake starts your sales encounter off on the right foot, so to speak!