Paradenitis

What Do Your Customers Really Want? Ask Your Competition by Karon Thackston © 2004 http://www.marketingwords.com

It’s not always an easy task. Sometimes discovering what your customers really want is like pulling teeth. It is imperative for any business owner who hopes to develop new products/services or to write effective advertising copy to know what is important to his customers. But when direct questions don’t deliver the results you need, what’s the next step?

Actually, your competition can often lend a hand in this area… and without even knowing it! Many marketing pieces such as brochures, sales letters, or Web sites include testimonials. I’ve found over the years that this is an untapped source for “customer intelligence.”

Look at this example from a Web-design site:

“I’m truly speechless! I knew my site design was in need of revamping, but I never imagined how exceptional it could look. You have done an amazing job! The colors, the graphics, the layout… everything shows that you have a good understanding of my business and my target audience. You’ve made me look as professional as IBM! I often bring the site up in my browser just to remind myself that this really IS my site. I am a loyal customer and would not hesitate to recommend you to anyone in need of professional Web design services.”

What do you think this customer wanted based on his comments? A few things he mentioned were:

1. colors 2. graphics 3. layout 4. his target audience 5. professional

Here’s another one from a copywriting site:

“I just wanted to thank you for everything. Thank you for bringing my vision to life in words. Thank you for “getting” me. And thanks for your patience.”

This customer needed:

1. someone to express his vision in words 2. someone who understood what he had to say

Here’s one more:

“You had the product I wanted, it was in stock, at the lowest price I could find. There was no shipping charge or sales tax. Your website was easy to use; you followed up immediately by Email; I was able to track the shipment; and the product arrived on time and in good condition. What is there not to like?”

This customer of an appliance-sales Web site was obviously impressed with:

1. item being in stock 2. low price 3. no shipping charges 4. customer service 5. timely arrival

Doing a good bit of research into the testimonials customers give to your competition can shed a bright light on what they’re looking for. I’d recommend visiting several sites each week and creating a chart to track what you find.

Just as I did above, jot down specifically what impressed the customer in each case. Then look for trends. The more times a particular service is mentioned, the more importance it will hold.

Now, look back over your own business. Can you offer what your competition offers? Can you offer something better? Is there a way to improve your service in the areas that those who wrote the testimonials mentioned? If so, do it!

Staying in touch with your customers’ needs should be top priority. When you take the time to understand what your customers really want, you stand a better chance of improving sales and increasing customer loyalty.

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Oh it’s so true. Those shiny bits of earth, carved out into circular shapes are downright gorgeous. My future husbands will just have to get me the biggest possible diamond there is, and it better be custom made. Maybe even a mission style necklace to go with it. I mean, so what if untold millions of lives in another continent have been destroyed by the mining of such elegant and beautiful gemstones like diamonds. What matters is that for only several thousand dollars, I can have my very own itsy bitsy round glaring stone on my finger.

My future husband will most certainly have to take out an enormous loan to pay for such a diamond. Which is fine with me, as the showpiece rock is much more important than living within our financial means. Even better though, is if I marry rich, and then hell, I’ll get a bigger jewelry stones and we won’t have to worry about little things like the economic crisis or paying our bills, because everything will already be paid for. There’s one place in particular that I want to purchase my diamond from, it’s in downtown riverside custom jewelry place. I think that will be the place to pour in lots of cash for small shiny rocks.

Tie together the two of people’s primary leisure actvities and you have got is something that’s titled a sportsbook. Well, what could be more imaginative? Imagine a bunch of fanatics clapping in support of any preferred local players, and almost always antes are certain to be set right along with the noise. Aspiring to get their piece of the pleasure, onlookers frequently try to speculate who will prevail in the approaching competition. In the end, this eventually evolves into a warmhearted competition known as sportsbook.

Get in on the best sports betting online web site action on the web!

Conceded that it may sound quite habit forming but, rather, sportsbook wagers is actually solely for fun and to tie up with your fellow sports enthusiasts. Here, you’ll be able to bet a a minor quantity of chips and nevertheless have a excellent time. Beyond this, here are various basic pointers to help you get started sportsbook wagers.

To wager, you’ll probably want to visit a sportsbook, i.e. a setup that offers sportsbook. In the USA, there’s currently no less than four states where to go for sportsbook wagers legally, but if legality is no concern, you can do it anyplace provided that you can discover a bookie and you are of legal age. Covered sports activities you can choose to wager on are pro including, beyond, college basketball as well as football, pro hockey, pro hockey, including, beyond, bets on both horse and dog racing. You’ll be able to bet on the whole tally of a competition, when the contestant will be defeated, and even if a tossed coin in a competition lands either heads or tails.

The betting establishment will depend on number crunching to help you guess which players you may believe will prevail. Primarily, there’s spread, which is a points lead pertaining to the disadvantaged competitor assumed to be defeated by a specified number points. Of Course, this comprises the odds maker’s accepted style of enabling fifty-fifty bets for a Sports Book. To take a practical example you could choose to risk money on a contestor assumed to be defeated and and nevertheless win the bet provided that the competitor actually loses by a specified number of points.

One can opt for miscellaneous breeds of wagers- straight, parlays i.e. combined antes on multiple games, teasers, which are related to to parlays, the difference being that you will add or subtract points from the chances to make your wagers stronger and others, the straight bets being the most common in sportsbook wagers.

So do run a test or two and enjoy the amusement simultaneously? Just determine that you won’t get too enthusiastic and drain your total pension plan on a crotchet. For otherwise you’re sure to catch yourself repining till the end of your days.

Mortgage Leads, Where to Begin

If you are considering investing your hard earned money with a mortgage lead company, or you are switching lead companies because you have gone through the pain of seeing your money go down the drain, here is a good place to begin.

Before you take that leap of faith with a lead company, take a step back and reexamine exactly what it is you are looking for from a lead company.

You should be looking for the exact same thing that you would expect from any other reputable company that you deal with. And that would be good quality service.

Before you invest your money, research the company, most of the research can be done right there on their web site. Read the FAQ’s, read about their return policy, read about how they acquire their leads, etc.

Once you have read all there is to read about their company, give them a call and speak with someone in their customer service department. Ask as many questions you feel to be appropriate, and verify everything you have read with them.

You should be able to get a good read on the company from the customer service representative about what their company has to offer. And make sure their answers to your questions are matching up to what their site implies.

Lead generation will be something you definitely want to research. It is crucial for you to find out where exactly the lead companies obtain their leads from.

Do they own and operate their own sites to obtain their leads? Or are they buying their leads from other lead companies and recycling them?

Remember, as with just about everything else, the better the quality of the product, the better your chances of success with it. The same holds true for mortgage leads.

Also, consider the pricing that is involved. Make sure you compare companies, and will you be getting what you paid for? You don’t want to be spending twenty-five dollars on a lead that has already been sold five to seven times.

Check out their return policy. Is it fair? Will they refund your money if the contact information is bad? Will they return your lead if the person on the lead is not responding to your calls? Will they return your lead if the customer says something to the effect of, ” I took care of that months ago.”

There is a lot to consider, so before you invest your hard earned money, take the time to do your research.

One more thing . . .

Before investing, call the lead company to make sure someone answers the phone, if you have to leave a message, make sure they return your call. Than, e-mail them and make sure you get a response, if not move on. If they are unresponsive now, you can bet they will be unresponsive when you have an issue with the lead.

You have worked very hard for your money, so before you invest it with a lead company, make sure you do enough research where you know that whatever company you decide to go with, you will be getting the best return on your investment. Good luck.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

Make sure you target women. It’s true for almost anything you are selling. According to Women Mean Business: The Secret to Selling to Women, eighty percent of all checks written in the US are written by women and they purchase 80-% of all consumer goods in the U.S. That’s not a market segment you can afford to ignore. Even for items traditionally thought of as male dominated, such as consumer electronics, women have significant influence.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) found women actually spent more on technology in 2003 than men, accounting for $55B of the $96B spent on electronics gear. Auto industry research shows that 65% of new vehicle purchases are substantially influenced or directly made by women. A 2005 study by Lucid Marketing found that your business will suffer if your business web site doesn’t measure up with women consumers.

How can this help you? Make sure you actively pursue women as customers, even if you don’t sell goods or services that you think appeal to women. Make sure your site or facility appeals to women as well as men. Women tend to feel uncomfortable around unhelpful or pushy salespeople. This occurs often in segments such as automotive or consumer electronics, where sales people tend to try to dominate or “sell down” to women. This could give you an advantage if you sell on the web, where this would not be a concern.

According to the Lucid study, women value the following attributes in an e-commerce website.

* Easy navigation

* Maximum product selection

* Product reviews / recommendations

* In-depth product information

* Competitive pricing

Make sure your site provides these things.

According to retail statistics, women tend to make purchase decisions based more on lifestyle and aesthetics. Keep this in mind when formulating your product mix and promotional strategy. Women and men both desire flat panel TVs for example, but for different reasons. Men tend to either want to impress their friends or have them because they are ‘cool’. Women want a flat panel more because they intrude minimally on a room’s design, space and aesthetics.

Women also tend to be influenced by safety and security more than male customers. Make use of this on your site and in your store.

For all of you that sell in traditionally male dominated segments, explode your sales by making sure you don’t neglect women. This strategy will open new horizons to your business and allow you to generate more referrals from satisfied women customers.

10 Important Things To Tell Your Prospects by: William R. Nabaza of http://www.Nabaza.com

1. Tell your prospects that you offer free delivery. This may cost a little money, but, you will gain the extra customers to make up for it.

2. Tell your prospects that you offer a lower price. If you can’t afford to offer a lower price you could always hold the occasional discount sale.

3. Tell your prospects that your product achieves results faster. People are becoming more and more impatient and want results fast.

4. Tell your prospects you’ve been in business for a longer period of time. People think if you’ve been in business longer you have more credibility.

5. Tell your prospects that your product tastes, smells sounds, looks, or feels better. When you target the senses you’re triggering human appeal.

6. Tell your prospects your product is compact or light. People may want to take the product on a trip or don’t have much room where they live.

7. Tell your prospects that your product lasts longer. People don’t like to spend more money purchasing replacement products all the time.

8. Tell your prospects that your product is easy to use. People don’t want to buy a product that they have to read a 100 page instruction manual.

9. Tell your prospects that your product has better safety features. People want to feel safe when they use your products.

10. Tell your prospects that you stand behind all your products. People want to know that you backup any claims you make about your product. —- William Nabaza of http://www.Nabaza.com specializes in domains, webhosting, webmaster’s tools, netpreneur’s articles and resources. Stands out as a freebie provider, business opportunity provider and the like. Visit his site at http://www.nabaza.com or contact him directly at william@nabaza.com

more free articles here: http://www.nabaza.com/resources.htm

Palazzo Torre Barbara ,is situated at “Punta Scutolo”, in Montechiaro, which is part of Vico Equense and is on the main road to Sorrento, about 250 metres above sea level.The Building has ancient origins but it has been recently renewed with care and passion by the young owners, the result is a charming combination of old architectural elements and modern italian design.

Palazzo Torre Barbara, found along one of the most beautiful mediterranean coastlines, enriched with lush vegetation and perfumed air from local fruits, is the ideal place for those who prefer to chill out and relax.

ROOMS –
All rooms are air-conditioned, comfortable, with telephone, satellite TV, internet access, mini bar and safe. Most rooms overlook the sea. The internal have been designed in a sober and sophisticated manner, with attention to every detail in a simple modern style, elegant with a touch of originality.

SERVICES –
The panoramic view you can enjoy from its gardens and most of the rooms is breathtaking, with the magnificence of Vesuvio, Capri and the Penisola Sorrentina. Each spot is a world of its own, a fantastic world which dazzles the imagination and inspires unforgettable impressions. The public areas have been designed in a sober and sophisticated manner, with attention to every detail in a simple modern style, elegant with a touch of originality. The structure offers: private parking, front desk 24 h, solarium, equipped panoramic terrace, swimming pool.

HOW TO REACH US:
Palazzo Torre Barbara is the ideal place for those who wish to spend an unforgettable vacation overlooking the Gulf of Naples, just a 5 Km far from Sorrento, capri, 16Km from Positano and Pompei and 40Km from Naples

BY CAR:
From the A3 Napoli-Salerno highway, exit at Castellammare di Stabia; continue along the SS145 state road following directions for “Sorrento”. After Vico Equense you will reach Seiano. Continue for about 2km more and you will see the hotel on the left.

BY TRAIN:
From Naples central station (Piazza Garibaldi), take the Naples-Sorrento train on the local “Circumvesuviana” line, and get off at SEIANO. Using the same ticket the hotel can be reached by public bus heading towards Sorrento.

BY AIR:
From Naples Capodichino airport, take a bus or taxi to Naples central station, and from there take the local “Circumvesuviana” train. Alternatively you could book a private transfer.

Looking for budget Hotel in Vico Equense? Pls visit our catalogue of Hotels, where you can find also a wide range of Hotels in Naples and compare price for double room in Vico Equense.

Baldness in lads affects nearly 8 million in the United Kingdom, the most common kind of hair loss is genetic male pattern baldness. The loss of hair will often develop as very young as 22 and cause emotional stress.

Male pattern baldness is commonly genetic and might well affect gents as well as girls. The hair loss appears due to the hair follicles on the head shrinking and the hair dropping out. Loss of hair generally follows a balding pattern around the hair line and also at the middle of your head. Visit Advanced Hair Studio and get a free hair and scalp check.

Baldness is not a horrible disease and does not affect your actual health, although your emotional health might become affected through lack of self esteem.

There are 3 great main treatments for loss of hair, Minoxidil, Finasteride and Strand by Strand from Advanced Hair Studio, also known as AHS. The first prime hair loss treatment is a topical lotion that goes on the head and is available from hair loss clinics. The hair loss treatment Minoxidil works by reducing and slowing down the rate of hair loss, simply great. Finasteride works through blocking the conversion of the loss of hair hormone. The breathtaking Strand by Strand hair restoration method from Advanced Hair Studio, aka AHS, uses the very latest loss of hair medical technology and involves new hair strands growing on the scalp strand by strand over a short time. With both the Minoxidil and Finasteride treatment methods they need to be regularly applied for the hair growth effects to continue working.

I really just don’t get it.

How can so many businesses be missing the lead generation boat by such a long country mile?

Billions of dollars in profits, flushed away!

Just because of 7 innocent, yet deadly, tactical lead generation errors. Its nuts!

Now before I continue, let me just say that some of you who read this might find it upsetting.

I’m going to reveal some controversial ideas here. And yes, some of them are likely to fly in the face of many of the things that you’ve probably read & heard about lead generation, and come to believe.

But I urge you to keep an open mind.

At the very least, weigh this article without prejudice. When you’re finished reading, I give you full permission to thumb your nose, and go back to doing lead generation the way you’ve always done it.

“The 7 Sins”

Sales & Marketing on Separate Floors

This, my friend, is the cardinal sin.

Marketing guys sitting in an ivory tower, pontificating about company image & branding, and coming up with a bunch of award winning creative mambo that amounts to nothing more than pompous chest beating.

And everyone waxes poetic about how good the company looks, and finds an excuse for justifying the money pit with the orders that some dialing for dollars sales guys brought in against the latest “marketing promotion”.

Nobody seems to notice that the marketing “campaign” is lame & useless, and that it’s the sales force that is driving sales against the “promotion”. And sales stay flat, because the promotion is really nothing more than another way of packaging a discount.

Meanwhile, in another part of the building, the sales force is struggling to meet their numbers, and spending 80% of their time generating leads by leaving voice messages, and battling to finesse their way by gatekeepers, and showing up in lobbies unannounced because they happened to be in the area. Why? Isn’t that 6 or 7 figure marketing campaign supposed to put them in front of pre-qualified prospects, with a genuine need for what their selling, so they can help them to solve problems, and close business?

FACT, a real marketing program can actually do this.

Effective lead generation is just “Salesmanship in Print”. Its primary goal should be to automate nothing less than the top two thirds of the sales funnel. Full Stop.

Salespeople are expensive. They should be spending their time interacting with prospects that are already pre-qualified, and pre disposed to doing business with you.

How much more profitable would your company be, if your salespeople were up to 5 times more productive?

“Content” Websites

Maybe you’ve head the expression “content is king”, when it comes to web sites. Allow me to debunk this popular myth for you once & for all.

Do you want to win awards with your web site, or generate leads with your web site? Do you want to make your web site a really cool place for your prospects to hang out & push buttons, or do you want them to respond to your sales message in a meaningful way that advances the sales cycle?

Forget about cluttered web pages that offer too many choices. If you want to rock your prospects world, give them one clear & compelling message at a time; one that they can focus on without distraction. Ask them to do one or two things per visit. Simple.

In my humble opinion, the best way to format the page is in the form of a letter that addresses the title of the person you’re most likely to be selling to. And it should have a bold heading that clearly trumpets the benefits of reading it.

If you must have a content page, fine, but don’t drive traffic to it. When generating traffic, advertise a benefit, not your company, and direct traffic to a page that deals with just that. If someone wants to come back and visit you later, they can then visit your content rich home page, and browse for what they want.

Giving Away Intellectual Capital

Many businesses seem to realize at some level, that customers do value their expertise. So they publish whitepapers & ROI calculators, and reports, and make them freely available on their web site, off in the corner somewhere. They’re just one more distraction on a content page that leaves the visitor wondering what they’re supposed to do next. How about the back button?

All that a prospect has to do to obtain the report or the tool, or whatever it is, is to click on a link. Good Golly, Miss Molly, what a huge mistake!

I hope you’re not making it.

Isn’t a dose of your expertise at least worth having the customer tell you who they are?

And while they’re at it, why not make it easy for them to subscribe to your newsletter, or a specialized course that you can deliver via email. Whatever you do, don’t let them leave your website without introducing themselves. Good grief.

Sometimes it takes several exposures to your print persuasion before the prospect becomes comfortable enough to come forward and make personal contact. But when they do, you’ve got a live one!

And make no mistake. A prospect that convinces themselves that they need to talk to you by reading your problem solving story, is more than twice as likely to buy, versus one that you’ve cold called. Savvy?

Boring & Hard To Read Copy

Some people will tell you not to use a lot words in your promotional materials. Poppycock.

Prospects that are actively looking for what you’re selling will read & read & read until they’re red hot & ready to talk to you. But you have to know how to actively engage them.

If you bore them with product features, or vain puffery about your company, or just plain poorly written bafflegab loaded with techno-speak drivel, forget it.

If you want effective lead generation, grab them with a benefit riddled headline, jab to the solar plexus with a trance inducing opening, and bam, down they go, straight to the meaty emotional appeals & logic of your argument.

Black type on a white background, large text that’s easy to read, and plenty of white space between ideas works best. Now you’re cooking.

The more you tell, the more you sell, but only if you keep them awake.

No “Soft” Follow Up

Hi, it’s Sally Sales, are you ready to buy yet? Is this your idea of follow up?

Don’t you just love to hate this annoying little voice on the other end of the phone?

Just as with the initiation of the sales cycle, it remains critical to your odds of closing that you get the prospect to continue to be the one who initiates the lion’s share of the communication.

It’s a huge psychological advantage! You’ll only achieve it by nurturing & caring for your prospect base with effective direct response follow up mechanisms. Things like newsletters, courseware, special reports, offers, tutorials, and the like.

When you continually spoon feed your prospects information that is genuinely useful to them, and that helps them to better understand the implications of the problem that you can help them to solve, they’ll call you when they’re ready.

Selling “Product” Too Early

If you want to really stand out from the crowd, and turn your lead generation hopper into the horn of plenty, don’t sell your product too soon.

To catch infinitely more fish, drive potential prospects to your web site, and pitch problem solving information, in return for your prospects contact information, and permission to follow up.

More than ever, your prospect is interested in your experience & expertise, as well as your product. What better way to demonstrate it, than with a well-written whitepaper?

It’s dead easy to write a whitepaper that automatically qualifies prospects, and graduates them effortlessly to the next milestone in your sales process. If you need a little help getting started, try this.

What your prospects are really looking for are results, not products. It’s the “How To” that they crave.

Lame Publicity

Few businesses take advantage of good lead generation publicity.

There are people out there right now searching trade magazines & publications for ideas about solving their problems. They should be reading your articles. They should be reading case studies about how your customer’s reached their goals with your help. They should be exposed to your press releases, announcing the availability of your problem solving whitepapers.

Just don’t make the all too common mistake of doing these things without a carefully planned out system for harvesting prospect contact info & permissions.

Smart & highly choreographed publicity is stealth marketing. It slips right under the prospects sales resistance radar.

Since childhood, society conditions us to trust & believe things that we read in the media, and to distrust paid advertisements.

So publicity is a far more effective lead generation tool than traditional advertising!

But rare is the marketer that appreciates this, or knows how to do it.

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Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto Canada. Recently, Daniel & world-renowned publicist & copywriter Joe Vitale teamed up to co author “Million Dollar Online Advertising Strategies – From The Greatest Letter Writer Of The 20th Century!”, a tribute to the late, great Robert Collier.

Let the legendary Robert Collier show you how to write words that sell…Visit the below site & get 3 FREE Chapters!
http://www.Advertising-Online-Strategies.com/ad-strategies.html

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Why do we get into sales? Typically it is two reasons for most people. One is to make money, and the other is often that we like working with other people.

Yes, there are good reasons to be in sales. To be highly effective and win on a consistent basis, we must remember that sales is a team effort. Its great to have a big ego (of course you would here this from me). A big ego will carry you far. A big ego is also a strong ego in my world. A strong ego is someone who knows when and how to put him or herself aside, and bring whole team along.

There are two sales then that we must constantly win to be effective in sales. The first is the one that we talk about all of the time – selling to our prospects and customers. This is where we spend most of our time.

The other is the internal sale. To be effective, everyone who supports us in our jobs has to believe that we are as great as our customers think we are (and we that we are). Top salespeople know this. They make sure that their sales consultants, sales engineers, financing specialists, product support personnel, contract administrators, office managers, administrative assistants and receptionists absolutely love them.

This is an important way to achieve real influence. When your internal team loves you, you are a force to be reckoned with. You can call resources to bear when you need them most. When a big deal comes up, and you need the extra help for the fight, the support staff will want to give it to you because they like you.

Salespeople that behave like raging assholes around their support staff don’t get a lot of help when they are in a bind and really need it. Sure, you can have their boss order them to do it. Then their boss will dislike you too. And the first time you stumble, people will be line up to pile on you. And in today’s less than certain economic environment, you’ll be on high on their hit list.

Having been in sales for a long time myself, I admit that there have been times where I have been less than wonderful to some of my support people. Since I’ve been there, I know how it happens. You’re under a lot of pressure. You’ve got a quota that you gotta make. Maybe you don’t know everyone well because you are new. You are not so certain that you are going to get the help that you need before either losing the sale or being fired.

The common reaction for some people is to become a little Hitler. We have all this work that has to get done. It has to get done now. There’s not enough time in the day or in the week. Yet these people that work with us, they don’t seem to share our commitment to doing whatever it takes to getting the job done. Doing whatever it takes to win the deal.

So we get strident with them, speaking in stressed out voices with wrinkled faces, repeating over and over just how urgent things are and that they must get done now.

Well, these people that work with us and support us, don’t for the most part have the financial incentives that we do. They aren’t the risk takers that we are. If they were, then they would be in sales too.

This is the source then of the stress that comes up at times between salespeople and our support staffs. We have different incentives towards the same common business goals of selling products and acquiring new customers.

To be a leader then, one must have perspective. One must remember that while we may be in a risky business, the potential rewards are why we are here. Our support staff do not share the same rewards as we do, nor the same risks.

It is unreasonable then to expect our support people to “do whatever it takes” without having a reason for such a commitment.

You must become the reason.

When you do, you will feel your influence increasing and your power multiplying.

We want to sell and influence our support people just as we sell and influence our customers. That is, first get to know them individually. Find out what their wants, desires, and pains are. See how you can make their job easier and more enjoyable while working together to make more sales. Everybody wants to enjoy their work and to get some fulfillment from it. They will enjoy working with you, and will want to help you.

Doing this will help you to get what you want out of sales – to make money and to enjoy working with people.

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown’s sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/