Googling “sales strategy” or “marketing strategy” will yield thousands upon thousands of results but most will miss the core ingredient. The core ingredient is building a relationship by offering value. The vast majority of websites, e-mail inboxes and even green space in cities are covered by advertisements trying to sell you something. On top of that are online businesses and self-checkouts popping up everywhere which lack a personal touch to the product or service.
I bet you couldn’t count how many advertisements pass your eyes every day, chances are you won’t remember most of them. If you are not giving attention to these ads, do you expect yours to be different? You probably do because you value your product or service and believe everyone needs it, and most probably do, but how do you reach them?
The new way to sell and the only way to sell, is to offer value. Give tips, advice…anything that will have your viewer or reader feeling educated and relieved. Whether that is a blog post, video blog, social media posting or e-newsletter. Find out what the major headaches are of your clients and aim to resolve them in a way that costs them nothing at first. Let’s look at a few examples:
Business Coach A:
First Touch – Ad 1 – Facebook Ad – Sign up today and get your first month free!
Second Touch – Ad 2 – Facebook Ad – Business Coach A spent 25 years in a corporate environment, hire me today.
Third Touch – Ad 3 – Facebook Ad to Blog Post – Need more sales? Try our proven method to grow your business by 500%!
Business Coach B:
First Touch – Blog Post – Step by Step Process on How We Helped 10x Business C
Second Touch – Buys you a coffee – No pressure, get to know each other and your businesses. She gives you advice on different things you can do to grow your business or overcome a problem
Third Touch – E-Mail – Two weeks later, Business Coach B sends you an e-mail of a TED talk they came across that might help with the problem you talked about
Fourth Touch – Free or Discounted Session – Business Coach B offers you a session to help you understand their process and offer more value
Who would you choose? Of course you would choose Business Coach B over A, they have given you so much value, built relationship and never felt “salesy.” During these 4 steps Business Coach B is qualifying you to make sure you would be a good fit with them as well.
How are you offering value to your clients or potential clients right now?
How are you building relationships with your clients and potential clients right now?
You will need to take a step back and look at your business to answer this question. If you feel you can do better it may be time to create a new strategy and implement some new processes. To get started on offering value check out our blog post “Pushing Your Business to the Next Level.”
If you need help switching gears or managing your clients let us know, we would love to help you with your CRM and E-Mail marketing to make sure no one is forgotten.
Derek Burbidge, Manager of Sales & Marketing
VEA
Contact me directly at [email protected] if you are looking for help or if you have any questions about the article.
