1) Provide outstanding service every time. “Wow” your
customer with your fast turn-around, or low pricing, or free trial, or
unexpected extras, or generous guarantee, etc.
Quality and high satisfaction guarantee repeat customers.
And they generate word-of-mouth referrals... the most targeted and least
expensive way to develop leads, produce contracts, and increase profits.
Make every moment and dollar count! Identify and focus on
attaining your “Most Wanted Response” (MWR) (i.e., what you most want your
visitor to do). For example, visiting your site, or subscribing to your
newsletter, or reading an ad, you “most want” your visitor to contact you.
Everything you do must in some way help to attain that MWR.
Strive to get the best possible traffic-building and lead-converting results
for every dollar... and for every hour you spend on your business.
However, maximizing profits does not imply that you must
only minimize expenses. After all, if you spend no money or time on a
business... you have no business!
Action Steps
1) Fine tune your time-management skills. Whether your
service business is a small home-based operation with a work force of 1 (you!)
or a company with 5- 10 employees, you are constantly in “multi-tasking” mode.
Follow these simple but effective guidelines...
• Touch it once and move to the next step.
• Make lists, but stick to “The 6 Most Important Things.”
• Plan how long each task will take.
• Assign time slots for accomplishing each task.
• Focus on the difficult/important projects first.
• Throw stuff away that clutters your computer/office
2) Manage your business and money effectively. Focus on your
bottom line, manage your cash flow and collect payments that are due. If you
lack these skills, get training through books or business courses. Or purchase
inexpensive accounting software programs to keep track of your records.
3) Market the smart way. Get the right message to the right
people via the right media and tactics so they will respond and hire you for
the contract, with the highest ROIs (Return on Investments) possible…
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i) Build your own Theme-Based Content Site. This is the
highest ROI technique for any service seller, yet most don’t dream of doing it.
This course will put you five steps ahead of your competition.
This type of site is loaded with high info-value
Keyword-Focused Content Pages. These pages rank well with the Search Engines
and will pull in more targeted traffic and get more prospects to contact you
for further details about your service and/or hire you for the job (i.e.,
increase your Conversion Rate). Your profits grow geometrically when you
concentrate on maximizing both traffic and Conversion Rates. And the Service
Sellers Masters Course will show you exactly how to do it all!
ii) Develop a powerful “Valuable PREselling Proposition”
(VPP). Create an eye-catching short statement that sums up in a few words what
sets you apart from the competition. For example, Mike’s Pizza restaurant has
this VPP... “Delivery in 30 minutes or it’s free.” The message is simple, clear
and “hot.” Weave your VPP into the fabric of your business.
iii) Match marketing strategies to your target group and
your business. Remember our earlier example about the two tax accountants, one local
and one global in nature?
The local bean counter should place ads (which include his
Web site’s URL) on local community bulletin boards, in the local newspaper,
etc. -- great locations for the general tax accountant to market his services.
The other more specialized accountant would be better served
placing his ads (with URL) in well-known financial investment e-zines or
magazines that have a broad circulation base, and through Pay-Per-Click Search
Engines. The two, however, benefit from some common techniques, too -- all
covered in the coming DAYS.
As well, both accountants will profit from offering a free
opt-in newsletter off their Web sites. A good benefit-focused newsletter/e-zine
builds a familiar and credible relationship with subscribers. (Don’t worry
about these details right now. I’ll walk you through everything later in the
course.)
A service seller’s “sale” cycle (introduction --> trust
foundation --> contact --> contract) is generally longer than a
Netrepreneur who is selling his own product. And the Conversion Rate (the % of
visitors who become clients) will be lower than if you were just selling a $20
e-book. But as we saw earlier, the “Return on Investment” is much higher when
you consider the value of a lifetime client. So you can “afford” to budget more
for marketing costs.
iv) PREsell! Don’t sell. Use great, and related, content
that is of value to your visitor/potential client on your site, in your
newsletters, and in your ads. It is the most effective way to build
credibility, trust and an “open-to-hire” attitude in your visitors’ mindsets.
v) Guarantee your work. There is nothing more powerful than
a simple statement or stamp that says “All Work Guaranteed.” Live up to your
promise.
vi) Provide verifiable testimonials that include full names,
cities and contact information. An effective testimonial outlines a specific
benefit, something that is relevant to your target group. It is “believable” –
you can clean up gross typos/spelling mistakes but don’t turn a testimonial
into a polished piece. It is proof that someone else has used your service and
you more than lived up to her expectations.
vii) Be super accessible. Place your contact information
(toll-free phone number, a contact form, fax number, mailing address --
whichever way you want people to contact you) -- in highly visible locations.
On your site, for example, place contact info at the bottom
of every content page and, if you like, build a special bio page as well (i.e.,
some interesting background details about you, including a photo or two).
Include a link to your contact form in your newsletter. Add your phone number
and URL to your sig file. As you can see...
“Easy and fast” should be the operative words for how people
can reach you.
Make all traffic count... have a second income stream.
Some visitors who land on your site may be overly cautious,
or they may just be doing some preliminary research, or they may be a little
short on funds at this time, or whatever. There are many legitimate reasons why
not all visitors followthrough and contact you about your service.
Use this traffic to your advantage by PREselling related
products (or noncompeting services) for merchants you represent through their
affiliate programs.
Action Step
1) Research and join affiliate programs of merchants who
offer quality products that are related to your service and offer fair
commissions.
For example, let’s say that you are a dog trainer. A visitor
who has a 3-month old puppy arrives on your site. She is just “shopping around”
and wants to have identified the “perfect” trainer by the time her puppy is 5
months old. She doesn’t need your service now but she is very interested in the
puppy books and grooming products that you are recommending. She clicks through
to your merchants’ sites and buys! Two commissions equals additional income.
It makes good business sense to diversify your income where
you can. The more legs you have to stand on, the more stable you will be. If
one income source takes a dip for any reason, additional income streams can
keep your overall income steady.
Continue doing what is profitable. Stop what is not.
Action Steps
1) Monitor and track your business constantly, especially
the more abstract aspects like... knowing where your traffic is coming from,
the satisfaction level of your clients, the new trends in your field, the
effectiveness of your newsletter, ads, etc., etc.
2) Concentrate on actions that contribute positively to your
bottom line and drop the ones that do not. In other words, stay on top of your
business so that you can take advantage of new opportunities and avoid any
pitfalls. OK, time for a philosophical perspective...
In life, the vast majority of people just keep doing the
“same old thing.” It seems easier that way. But it guarantees the “same old
results.” So in the long run, it’s actually much, much harder.
In the movie, “The Renaissance Man,” Danny De Vito’s
character makes a
profound statement..
When he said that, I remember thinking, “You know, he’s
right. Except in rare cases of extraordinarily good or bad luck, everyone
basically ends up where they are as a result of choices they make and courses
of action they take.” People tend to blame a lack of success in life on “bad
luck” or “poor timing” or other people. And yes, at times, that can be
accurate. A heck of a lot of factors beyond our control can blindside us. In
the long run, however, as long as we persist in our efforts, these factors tend
to even out and De Vito’s statement remains valid.
Now, here’s the good news...
E-commerce is simpler than life. Due to its digital nature,
there are fewer variables... so the outcome is more controllable. Which means
that we can boil De Vito’s statement down to “The #1 E-commerce Reality.” This
Reality is almost self-evident, yet it’s so easy to forget. Your success with
anything you do in the world of e-commerce flows from it. Internalize it and
act upon it and you will succeed.
Yes, it’s that fundamental.
So… multiply your contacts and contracts five-or-more-fold.
How? Not by working harder at your business, but by simply channeling your
motivation in a better direction. Don’t sell!
Instead, warm your visitors by PREselling them with great
content that they value, respect and trust. They will contact you with pleasure
and with an “open-to-hire” mindset, anxious to find out more about you and your
service. And then it’s up to you to close the deal!
It’s your PREsell effort that will boost your traffic and
Conversion Rate (CR). Which in turn maximizes your income.
This brings us to our second philosophical premise...
***************************************************
The #1 Service Sellers Reality...
Your Conversion Rate (CR) will vary greatly depending on...
1) HOW YOU REACH your visitor, and…
2) WHAT YOU SAY to her, and…
3) HOW ACCESSIBLE YOU ARE.
***************************************************
Your CR depends upon what you do and how you do it. You do
not need Lady Luck, Sir Serendipity or anyone else. There is always a reason
for how well you do, and that reason always relates to what you do and how you
do it. Once you realize this, then you know success really is do-able. Some
people do succeed big-time… but not necessarily the first time. Just keep
trying until you find the right approach.
To quote Calvin Coolidge… "Nothing in this world can
take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a
proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence
and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has
solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
Why is The #1 Service Sellers Reality true?...
Because how you reach your customer, and what you say once
you reach her, and how accessible you are directly affects your visitor’s
mindset when she is trying to decide whether to contact you or not.
A positive mindset turns into contact and a contract with
amazing regularity. A negative one is near-impossible to overcome.
And that is what “high-CR” service sellers have known all
along. “Create content that fosters an ‘open-to-hire’ frame of mind.” So write
The #1 Service Sellers Reality onto a yellow Post-It Note and stick it onto
your monitor...
***************************************************
Your Conversion Rate (CR) will vary greatly
depending on...
1) HOW YOU REACH your visitor, and…
2) WHAT YOU SAY to her, and…
3) HOW ACCESSIBLE YOU ARE.
***************************************************
OK. Take a quick stretch and then we’ll continue with the
principle of PREselling.
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