You're just guessing

In the yesterday morning's post, I talked about business stupidity. In this post lets talk about delusionary decision-making.

Oddly enough, many business owners don't realize just how much guessing and "making it up" they are engaged in.

They create marketing positions without surveying the market. They create Value Propositions without any source statistics and they try to sell benefits without knowing what the customer wants.

In other words, many business owners live in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Ivana Taylor was rescued from this land of delusions and wrote an article entitled: "Is What You Say What Your Customers Get?"

The Motivated Prospect

Every human being is motivated.

If your prospect is human, they are motivated.

The difficulty many salespeople have is identifying what motivates their current prospect.

Actually, many salespeople never even attempt to identify what motivates their prospect. They have a canned presentation and they deliver the same presentation, time after time.

However, if you really want to make sales, you need to identify what motivates your prospect. Your prospect is motivated by wants, needs, dreams and a desire to alleviate pains.

Jonathan Farrington wrote "Find the Buyer's Motivators."

I'll Give You A Daisy A Day, Dear.

Apparently, one of the hardest tasks for most small business in house marketing is, looking at your content from the perspective of the outside world.

In order for your internet marketing efforts to be successful, you have to avoid the head on approach to promoting yourself.

Winning a prospect has some similarities to courting a sweetheart.

If you are going to win someone's heart, then you have to convince that person that he or she will benefit from dealing with you. But you also have to convince the person that you hope to win, that he or she is special. If you come off sounding to your prospects as if anyone will do, they may seek someone who will make them feel as if they are the most important people in the whole wide world.

But you also can not come across as if you will wait for your prospect forever, or your prospect may take you for granted.

Ardath Albee wrote an article about "Back Story."

The moment that changed the world forever

I suppose it depends upon what world we are talking about.

Actually, what I have in mind in this posting is your prospect's world. Have you had a prospect who seemed to like your service or product but never seemed ready to buy?

And then one day, seemingly out of the blue, the prospect who would never budge, decides to buy?

Has that ever happened to you?

Maybe something happened that changed your prospect's world.

Craig Elias wrote "Shorten Sales Cycles - By Capitalizing On Trigger Events."

When you need some Publicity

Sometimes availability, advertising, publishing, contacting and marketing just don't seem to be enough - and a business owner decides that what we need is some good old-fashioned publicity.

Today, I am suggesting an article about publicity BUT before I do, let me tell you that I disagree with the first point in the article. Expressing a USP frequently sounds like blowing smoke. (blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH.) I strongly recommend that you consider a Value Proposition and make that as unique as you can.

Ritu Pant wrote "Five Publicity Strategies ..."

The Value of the Value Proposition

Are you more interested in Results or in Aesthetics? If you replied "results," then you should be using a Value Proposition. Value Propositions are succinct statements based on Outcome and Results and not on methodology or process.

I was first introduced to VP by Jill Konrath. Headlines from her articles appear from time to time in the right sidebar of rainmakerwebsites.com. (If you are trying unsuccessfully to sell to large corporations, you have to get to know Jill. Her book, Selling to Big Companies, is one of the best books for closing corporate accounts.)

Drew Stevens wrote an article explaining Value Propositions and how to develop a VP.

Three Marketing Strategies

What is more effective than improving Quality or Lowering Price? If you are seeking to affect your client, should your client be affecting you? How do you get past the prospect's skepticism?

These questions are answered by an article by Corte Swearingen.