WomenCorp Radio

If you're a small business owner, you might feel intimidated when coming up against the products and services of a giant corporation.

Just remember the advantage for you is that they can't do what you do....they can't react as quickly nor give the kind of personal attention that you can.

To pull this off you must be dedicated to customer service. There's nothing like it to beat the giants AND to earn referrals that grow your business.

That's also your marketing message. Promote your original, award winning service and point out any obvious differences between what you can do and what other big companies can't..like make instant decisions.

Don't discount your price in an attempt to get business. You can't give top notch customer service if you're not making enough to afford the time.

People like working with people who care! Love your prospect, show 'em you care and watch what happens.

Reader Question...

You speak of marketing and sales techniques. Isn't public speaking part of this? What can someone do to improve their public speaking or communication skills?

Roxanne's Answer...

The answer is YES! public speaking is definitely one of the great ways to capture prospects. I've known master marketers who got all their prospects that way.

You can only improve your public speaking abilities by practice. I know that’s scary but that’s why organizations like Toastmasters are excellent for people who want to do this because you’re in a room with a lot of other people who have the same fears and goals. So you are all practicing.

The first thing you need to know about public speaking is you have just a few seconds to capture someone’s interest. But many speakers start off with all the gory details of who they are, who their company is, blah,blah,blah. Who cares?! Your introduction doesn’t need to be blah,blah,blah and blah. It needs to be ATTENTION GRABBING. Make a bold statement, a headline if you will.

A bold statement for someone presenting an educational product or service might be “87% of students will fail one course in the next five years”.

For someone who is a financial advisor looking for more clients, they might start with…
“One in four of you in this room will no longer be working for the same company or working at all in the next three years and 70% are unprepared!”

For someone selling a management program it might be…
“The most successful people are those who are good at plan B !…..James Yorke said that and it’s true. The problem lies in that most people don’t have a plan “B” and are flying by the seat of their pants. It is said that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Where are you in your business…failing to plan or planning to succeed?”

You can get headline ideas to grab attention by looking through magazines and books to see what short phrase, story or "headline" grabs your attention.

The point is...if you're going to use public speaking to get prospects and clients, make sure you are worth listening to!

Happy Prospecting!
Roxanne

Reader Question...

I don't know where to spend my advertising dollars. Is it better to spend it on newspaper or magazine publications that might stay around longer?

Roxannes' Answer...

The answer is, it depends. What are you selling and how often are you willing to advertise it?

If it’s a product or service that’s easy to order by phone or stop by, then sure, go ahead and advertise in the newspaper. But be sure to give incentives within your ad for people to actually take action. That could be a limited time coupon or discount just for “call now!”

If it's a magazine, is it one that gets circulated a lot and if so what can you offer that will cause a person to tear out your ad and take action? Is it a lot more expensive or a little more expensive? How many people will see it?

The reason it matters is that effective advertising is FREQUENT advertising. Can you afford it?

Industry studies have show that it takes people 5-7 times of seeing your message to begin to even recognize the name. It’s the rare bird who buys on first glance. More often, people have to get the idea in their head, mull it around, hear it again and again before they will take action. Therefore, if you commit to advertising anywhere it is not going to work unless you set up a program of doing it frequently and at least 5-7 times.

It doesn't have to be all in the same place either. Set up a campaign where you can be seen multiple times within a short period of time. For example...you can set up a scheduled campaign to insert an ad in the regional magazine, submit press releases to the largest newspaper, submit a story or press release to other publications like "widget today" if that's your market and send a note to your prospects with a copy of something that got published. Plan it, then coordinate the timing to release all this within a few weeks time and take action.

If you're really ready to rock, also see if you can get set up as a speaker or event coordinator for an organization where your prospects will see you. You can then suggest to the local radio station that they interview you for a few minutes to promote the event. Send email audio postcard to everyone you know including your prospects who are on the membership list to promote it further!

Readers Question...

I'm finally making a little bit of money in my small business but I don't know how to manage it. So I have two questions. 1. When should I pay myself? 2. How much should I leave in the company?

Thanks, Mary Anne

Roxannes' Answer...

Great Question! The reason I say that is that too many women business owners struggle and wait too long to take money from the company OR they spend it all which is not smart.

If you never reap the benefits of being a woman business owner, you'll get tired of it pretty fast. What happens is you start to lose your enthusiasm. In short, there's nothing to fuel your desire to work hard. Plus, you're not treating your business as a real business owner would.

Instead, make a plan. Because I have no idea what your profits are, I'll use a rule of thumb I used as a financial consultant with my clients. ALWAYS pay yourself first by setting aside 10% in savings for your long term goals. This could be a retirement or other investment account. I've seen many clients get rich over time this way.

Then, save 10-20% for short term needs. I've also seen companies go bankrupt when they hit a dry spell only because they had no savings.

For a business, set aside 5-10% for marketing to bring in more business as it's crucial to keep growing. About 40-60% of business income should cover your expenses including salaries. Pay yourself a small amount as a bonus and use it to just have fun! I

f you enjoy the results of your hard work, you are likely to continue. We use to set aside money to take a trip with our team, but I always paid myself a little bonus too for each sale I personally brought in. Then I might go buy a new pair of shoes or go out to a nice dinner as a reward to myself. It keeps you fresh and enjoying life! That helps keep your enthusiasm high and many a business has been built on enthusiasm.

Reader Question...

I can’t figure out where I lose my prospects, but though I manage to get in front of them, they’re still not buying. What am I doing wrong?

Roxannes' Answer...

Oh Lordy (as us southerners are prone to say). That’s a tall topic for such a short blog.

Here’s my advice. Begin to tune in to subtle changes in body language when your prospect begins to get restless, dismissive or starts looking around the room. It’s your cue as to where in the presentation you’re losing them. It's crucial to analyse in order to solve the issue.

It could be you are talking too much. That often happens because we’re nervous. For some reason I've noticed many people assume their job is to TELL all they know. Listening to someone go blah,blah,blah,blah...is just plain boring! But asking them questions precisely aimed at discovering how you can help them is far more effective. You get them talking and they’re always interested in what they have to say.

Then reconfirm what they told you were their issues by repeating it back “So I understood you to say that …”. It takes practice so try it on your spouse, friends, kids or whomever. Finally, ask “if I can provide a solution for that, would you be ready to implement immediately?”

Don't despair, though. Even bad sales skills can be overcome with good marketing. Just keeping in front of your prospect can make a hugh difference. That is why many smart marketing gurus and small business owners use entrepreneurs tools like Audio Generator to engage their prospects on a regular basis with informative or helpful hint audio postcards.

I've had plenty of prospects who in the short term told me no, just to come around a year or two later. I've done a little side marketing to help my husbands architectural business at various times over the years. It took me 3 years, four visits and three different contacts to land one of those prospects for my husbands business. That same prospect has given him over $400,000 in revenue since then. The longest one took 12 years, but they have now been a client for 6 years and keep on giving him work.

Remember, no matter what they tell you, things do change and if you're in contact so they remember you, it just might be that you'll benefit. Don't forget tools like Audio Generator that help you stay in front of your prospect without annoying phone calls.