3 Winning Sales Strategies You Can’t Market Without!

1. Attention-Getting Ads Get Results

Think about it…how many advertisements do you hear every day…how about every hour?  Let's face it, we're bombarded with magazine ads, newspaper ads, TV ads, radio ads, and the Internet is plastered with ads on every site.  Not many of the astronomical number of advertisments stick with us, and make an impact.  How can you make your ad STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD?

• Make a dramatic statement:  “Even my dog knows  ….”
• Surprise them with the unexpected:  “Use for 30 days totally free…”
• Ask a thought provoking question:  “Is your current insurance costing you hundreds of extra dollars every year?”
• Use high impact headlines – it's important to snag their attention right away.

2. Get Personal

How many times have you been caught in the cycle of automated phone services? Yeh, you push 15 numbers and end up back at the main menu and never did talk to a sales rep.  People are hungry for personal interaction in the marketplace.  Look for ways to make your business a personal experience that your customers will appreciate.  Get to know something about the people who walk through your doors.  Let the people who visit your website know something about you.  Yeh, it's easier to trust an individual than a huge impersonal company…and trust is crucial to building a pool of loyal customers.

3. Paint a Picture

Ah, the end of a hectic week has finally arrived!  As I  lock the doors on a still cluttered office, my mind wanders to the many things that will demand my attention this weekend.  I long to just escape the demanding voices…escape to the waters of the lake across town.  It would be like heaven to plop myself across the back seat of a boat, and watch the sea gulls dip and dive as the waves rock me peacefull to sleep. Yep, I can almost hear the sound of their splashing when the clang of metal alerts me to the fact that I've dropped my keys.

Put your customers on the boat.  Yeah, painting word pictures that capture their emotions will be more effective that the raw facts of the benefit your product offers. Describe what the benefits will do for them, vividly and in great detail…get them panting for the end result.  Paint your way to a sale!

Think about it…the 3 tactics we've talked about deal with human emotions or behaviors, rather than your product itself.  Yeah, when we affect the inner part of the customer, our sales are likely to see great results… and hey, they'll feel good while they're  writing out the check!  What more could you ask for?

The Cutts Group, is a marketing company located in the Lehigh Valley, PA. We have been serving local, regional, and national companies for more than 12 years, we have a vast knowledge of *What's Working & What's Not*. There is a tremendous opportunity for businesses today… Since only 26% of businesses have invested any time or effort in online marketing, the market is wide open for those businesses that take the time to discover what the Cutts Group can do for them. These days, since 97% of consumer's research local companies online before making a buying decision, it is critical that businesses have an outstanding online presence and reputation, and are prepared when their prospects reach the zero moment of truth.

Contact Information:
Cutts Group, llc
www.CuttsGroup.com

(800) 250-9510 | phone
(610) 441-7390 | fax

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Questions: 5 Keys to Capturing Prospective Buyers

Spring has sprung.  The birds are singing as they busily build nests and do their mating dances.  Yeah, it won't be long before the flowers bloom, and grass starts growing.  You know what that means…grass needs mowed.  When you parked the riding mower last fall, you knew that it would be a miracle if you could get it through another summer.  You're going to need to replace old “Betsy” sooner or later, and start thinking about the features you want the next mower to have.

Well, you haven't tried starting the old mower, but hey, it's raining cats and dogs outside.  With nothing better to do, you head for the nashville dui attorneys and find yourself among a line of shiny lawn mowers with a wide variety of prices and features.  What are the advantages of each one compared to the difference in costs?

Yep, not every customer that walks through your door is ready to make a purchase.  Maybe they're still in the “thinking about it” stage.  Yeah, when you think long enough, you usually talk yourself into doing it.  That's why it's important to treat every customer's question with respect.  You never know when a properly answered question will lead to a sale.

Here are some tips to keep in mind for effectively answering customer questions:

1. A Question is the Sign of a Potential Sale.

Yeah, if a customer is taking the time to look you up and ask questions, you're dealing with a high level of interest.  Don't take it lightly.  A prompt and quick response laced with the added benefits of the product will go a long way toward closing a sale.

2. Make it Easy to Ask A Question.

There's nothing more frustration than having a simple question and having to move heaven and earth to get an answer.  Make it easy for your customers to ask questions. Make your website question friendly and include a phone number with all of your sales material.

3. Organize – Set up a Frequently Asked Question File

What questions have you emailed answers to sixteen times this week?  Keep a file with those repeat questions.  You'll be able to copy and paste the answers into responses. Hey, your customer will be happy and you can spend time doing something else. Everyone wins!

4. Get Back – Quickly

How many times have you shopped around while waiting for someone to get back to you?  Yeah, it's easier than ever on the web.  Customer attention spans are ever shortening with the vast global competition at their fingertips.  Don't dilly dally – get back to them pronto!

5. Make Every Question a Sales Opportunity

When someone asks you a question, you've got their attention!  They're waiting for an answer that is important to them.  Yeah, it's the perfect opportunity to expand your response to include benefits of the purchase.

Questioning customers wear a badge that says, “Buyer on Board!”  Read it and pay attention.  Often a little nudge will mean a sale to tally at the day's end.  Think of it like this…learning to effectively answer customer questions is a low-cost and effective way to boost your profits this year!

The Cutts Group, is a marketing company located in the Lehigh Valley, PA. We have been serving local, regional, and national companies for more than 12 years, we have a vast knowledge of *What's Working & What's Not*. There is a tremendous opportunity for businesses today… Since only 26% of businesses have invested any time or effort in online marketing, the market is wide open for those businesses that take the time to discover what the Cutts Group can do for them. These days, since 97% of consumer's research local companies online before making a buying decision, it is critical that businesses have an outstanding online presence and reputation, and are prepared when their prospects reach the zero moment of truth.

Contact Information:
Cutts Group, llc
www.CuttsGroup.com

(800) 250-9510 | phone
(610) 441-7390 | fax

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube!

Postcards: The Best-Kept Secret of Modern Marketing

Life today is extremely fast paced.  The days when we sat on the front porch and chatted with neighbors as they passed are long gone.  Yeah, it seems that we're caught up in a wave that just carries us through life.  When's the last time you came home and didn't have a list of things that you had to do before the night was out?  Yeah, we're all caught up in it together.  That's why it's important to deliver information to potential customers so they can get it fast and with little or no effort.  Postcards are perfect!

Hey, what can be more effective than a brief, captivating message printed on a postcard?  It's quick and easy to read at a glance.  Yeah, it has a friendly feel that appeals to the emotional side of your potential customer as well.  Sure they'll realize it's an advertisement right away, but it has the appearance of a personalized friendly correspondence that is pleasant and low pressure.

No, you won't close any deals with a postcard, but you can quickly and effectively state the offer and its advantages and give them a compelling reason to get in contact with you.  Yep, it'll be just enough to whet their appetite for more!

People Can't Resist Reading Postcards

How often do you get the mail, look at the name of the addressee and pitch the envelope and its contents directly into the trash?  I do it every day.  Yeah, who needs more mail to sort through with all of the junk mail that fills our mailboxes and inboxes?  What about postcards? …no envelope to hide the contents…just the flip of a small piece of paper…and yep, you've read it!

It just makes good horse sense that the advertisements that get read are going to bring more response than those that don't.  Yeah, no rocket science involved here!  Postcards are much more likely to get read than other mail or email…the curiosity factor combined with the ease of reading, work together to make these extremely effective marketing tools.

Postcards Save You Money

Add  4 to 9 cents in printing costs, and 29 cent postage… and yeah, postcards are extremely inexpensive advertisements!  Think friendly…which provides a more personal feeling…the little bars and lines of prepaid postage, or the colorful design of a stamp.  Yeah, you can invest a little extra time in placing stamps on each card and create a personalized affect that won't go unnoticed!

Watch out for cheap imitations!  Modern postcards are high impact creations.  We're not talking about old-fashioned… home printed… uneven edged catastrophes here.  The postcards of today have tones so vivid they jump off the paper at you, and pictures so realistic you could pick the flower of the page and put on your kitchen table.  For the miniscule amount of money you MIGHT save… if you don't make too many mistakes along the way…heck, I say just order them!  Yeah, let the printer do all the hard work while you rake in the profits they'll bring in.

The Cutts Group, is a marketing company located in the Lehigh Valley, PA. We have been serving local, regional, and national companies for more than 12 years, we have a vast knowledge of *What's Working & What's Not*. There is a tremendous opportunity for businesses today… Since only 26% of businesses have invested any time or effort in online marketing, the market is wide open for those businesses that take the time to discover what the Cutts Group can do for them. These days, since 97% of consumer's research local companies online before making a buying decision, it is critical that businesses have an outstanding online presence and reputation, and are prepared when their prospects reach the zero moment of truth.

Contact Information:
Cutts Group, llc
www.CuttsGroup.com

(800) 250-9510 | phone
(610) 441-7390 | fax

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube!

11 Proven Ways to Skyrocket Sales and Put Money in Your Pocket

1. Advertise Smart

Nothing risked nothing gained… Wise marketers understand the good sense in trying new advertising methods, but don't go out on a limb to experiment.  Are the advertising campaigns you've been using working, but not setting off the explosive response rates that you are looking for?  Try this… experiment with about 20 percent of your advertising budget, and let the remaining 80 percent continue to do its job of keeping a steady stream of customers coming in.

2. Reduce and Multiply

Big isn't always better, sometimes quantity is more effective.  Try reducing the size of your current advertisements and run more.  Surprisingly, short ads often generate more response than long ads.  Yep, keep it short and sweet, and watch the results.

3. Liven up Your Ads

Take a look at your current advertisements.  Are they full of active, lively, colorfully stimulating phrases?  Yeah, get rid of all those boring words and replace them with phrases like…it's as easy as 1, 2, 3… hurry! Don't miss out…Save, save, save!…Act now!…  That's right, keep things hopping and full of action for effective advertising results.

4. Give 'em the Warm Fuzzies

People buy products for the feeling they get from the purchase.  How do you feel when you get a new car?  Yeah, excited, proud and anxious to show it off a little bit.  Keep in mind these feelings, and draw word pictures with your advertisements that will stimulate them.  Yeah, you'll be surprised at the results you'll get from encouraging and dramatizing the desires of your readers.

5. Send Them a Postcard

It only takes a minute to read the back of a postcard.  Most people are just like you – busy, busy, busy.  Regardless of how busy we are, all of us automatically read postcards that are short, clear and concise.  Send postcards with short ads to your target audience, and watch the flood of response sweep in.

6. Pay Your Customers to Advertise

Nothing is more effective than word-of-mouth advertising.  That's right!  Your customers can say it better than you could ever say it, so why not let them?  Yeah, implement a reward program for referrals and watch your sales climb.

7. Say Thank You

It only takes a minute to put a thank you card in the mail to a customer, but the effects of your thoughtful act can create a loyalty that will last a lifetime.  Yep, we all like to be appreciated…your customers do too.

8. Sell to Your Current Customers

The idea that sales growth comes from new customers isn't always true.  Yeah, you can increase sales with the customers you already have!  Have you tried offering them a product that will complement the item they are buying?  What about follow ups?  It's a lot easier to sell more to your current customers than to get new customers through the door.  Don't overlook the potential that's in your store today!

9. Combine Items for Special Sales

Buying in bulk is ALWAYS cheaper…or is it?  Consumers tend to feel that buyer in larger quantities is saving them money.  Take advantage of that feeling.  Group a few products together and advertise a special sale.  Yeah, customers will feel pressured to shell out the dinero before the deal expires!

10. Surprise, Surprise!

Who doesn't like a pleasant surprise?  Yeah we all do, especially after we've made a purchase that our conscience is telling us we shouldn't have.  Do you want to get rid of those after purchase guilt trips for your customers?  Give them a surprise at the register!  They'll leave feeling like it was their lucky day, rather than struggling with the after-the-sale blues.

11. Count the Losses

When we look at sales, we often focus on what will be gained by the purchase.  What about the loss that results from failing to purchase?  Most of us are more affected by losses than by savings.  Let your customers know what they'll be losing by failing to take advantage of your offer.

How many of these techniques are you using?  Try implementing some new strategies and watch for new results!  Yeah, nothing ventured… nothing gained.  Sometimes it pays to take another look at what we're doing, and take it up a notch.  Give these 11 tips a try, and watch your sales skyrocket!

Testimonials: The Key to Boosting Sales!

Hey, we all know that business owners think their product or services are the best thing going, but it's what the customers think about it that really matters to you and me.  Yep, they're the ones who see things from our point of view… what they have to say about the business has an impact on us.

Testimonials play an important part in advertising – especially for small businesses.  Yeah, big businesses with well-known names don't have to worry about it, but small companies can use testimonials as marketing tools to build credibility.

Think about it…how else can we gain credibility than by creating a group of satisfied customers and shouting what they have to say?  Let's look at some ways we can make testimonials an effective part of our marketing campaigns.

Collect Them
It would be nice if customers just wrote out wonderful testimonials on their own, walked into your business and slapped them on the counter.  Yep, that would be too easy…it just doesn't happen that way.  So what you need to do is pay attention to your everyday conversations with customers.  Set up a file of the positive comments you hear – both in person and on the phone.

Why not fish for compliments?  Send your customers and email or postcard that asks them what they think about your product or service.  You'll be pleased at the positive comments that are out there just waiting to be netted!

Mix it Up
Different things appeal to different people.  Yep, it's different strokes for different folks.  If you want to catch the attention of a varied audience, use a variety of testimonials.  You'll be showcasing a spectrum of benefits that your business generates while putting different “flavors” out to attract a wide range of customer tastes.

Get Specific.
I liked this product a lot…is a nice thank you, but tells absolutely nothing to the readers you're trying to capture.  Yep, you want to be a little picky about the testimonials you use.  Choose testimonials that are specific…I used your product for 2 weeks and now I'm acne free…or I used your weight loss product for 30 days and I'm 14 pounds lighter and feel sexy again…Yeah you want to pick testimonials that will motivate the readers to pick up the phone or get in the car!

Identify Customers Giving the Testimonial
How do you feel when you see your name blazened across a newspaper advertisement or across a web page?  Yeah, most of us puff up a little bit…you know, the ego thing.  Your customers will be happy to let you use their name and comments as part of your advertising campaign and will be only too happy to show it off to friends and family.

Don't forget that when you are gathering permission that the city, state, and occupation of the customer adds interest.

Hey, businesses like to find themselves in print just as much as an individual…a bit of free advertisement, right?  If you sell to a business don't be afraid to include their testimonial in your advertisements along with the type of industry and location or anything else that might be of interest to your readers.

Testimonials Should Stand Out
Once you've gone through all of the effort to gather up interesting testimonials, you might as well make them shine.  Yeah, highlight, use bold text or italics, quotation marks …whatever it takes to make them outstanding.

Web pages are great for highlighting testimonials.  It's easy put them in attention getting colored boxes, or accent with clip art.  You might want to even spread them out in groups to add interest to your page.

Think about this…testimonials are like pure gold for marketers.  Yeah, the time you spend digging them up definitely pays off.  Marketing research has shown that testimonials can increase sales by as much as 250%!  Yep…testimonials really are worth their weight in gold!

Four Marketing Myths That Steal Sales

How many times has bad advice gotten you into trouble?  Yeah, everybody's saying and doing it, so you jump on the band wagon… and guess what… you get the same results as they get.  Maybe it's a comfort to know that you're not the only one who played the part of the fool, but when it comes to marketing…you may not have enough leeway to count the loss and go on.

Yeah, there sure are a LOT of ideas out there about what will and what won't skyrocket sales numbers and profit margins!  And to be truthful, a lot of those ideas are just a bunch of bunk.  Yep, you've got to be on your toes and know the truth about marketing tales.  Here are a few of the lines of misinformation that you've probably heard before…

You've Got To Have The Cheapest Prices In Town To Be Competitive

Let me ask you this…Do you always buy the cheapest product on the shelf, or always shop at the store that has the lowest prices?  No, I don't either.  What you and I know that these people don't is, that value counts for a lot.  Oh yeah, sure… there are a few people out there who only buy the cheapest things in town, but most of us understand that the cheapest isn't always the best buy for our buck.

How does this apply to you?   Here's something you can try…make it a little test to see just how true this myth is.  Find a low-cost way to enhance the perceived value of your product or service, then raise the cost a little.  See what happens!  Don't be surprised if your sales and profits shoot up!

Advertisements Need To Be Changed To Keep The Public From Becoming Bored 

This one reminds me of one of my cousins.  He's famous for breaking things that are fixed.  Yeah, he'll go out and buy a perfectly good running car, but every time you see him, he's under the hood tinkering with something.  Before long…you guessed it…the car won't run and has to go to the garage for repairs.

It makes no sense to run a business like Cousin Jim and his cars.  Hey, if it's working why try to fix it?  Think about it…what's the goal for advertising?  Yeah, to attract new customers.  Once the new customer comes through the door, the advertisement has effectively done its job.  Does that customer need to be affected by the same ad? No, so let the ad do its job for the rest of the people out there who haven't seen it yet.

Now, I'm not saying that you should never change your advertisement… just never abandon a winner midstream.  A good rule of thumb is to spend 80 percent of your advertising money on proven methods, and to risk 20 percent on experimental advertisements.  Keep the tried and proven working for you, while you test the waters for new ideas that might work even better.

The More Choices A Customer Has, The More Likely He Is To Buy 

Yeah, yeah…they say variety is the spice of life and all that, but too many choices can lead to procrastination.  We all know what happens when we procrastinate.  Yep, we never get back to it!

Do you know what happens when a customer can't decide?… you lose a sale that you already had in your pocket.  Yep he came in to get it, saw more options, stopped to make up his mind, then walked out still thinking about it…maybe to never return.

A tip for the wise marketer – limit your customer's decisions to either yes or no.  Let them decide either yes I'll buy or no, I won't buy.  Don't risk confusing them and losing the sale.

Everybody Needs My Product/Service So I Don't Need To Advertise 

Hey, building a business is a lot of hard work!  There aren't many free rides along the way.  Chances are, your potential customers need to be convinced that they NEED to choose your service/product.  Yep, finding the customer, convincing him to use your service/product, then closing the deal is a process that can't be easily bypassed.  Don't be fooled into thinking you're any different!  It could be hazardous to your profits.

A friend of mine owned the only dog grooming shop in her town.  Hey, no competition means you don't need to advertise…right?  After an initial anouncement of her grand opening, this lady did no advertising.  Business slowly trickled in and barely covered the overhead.  Finally in a desperate attempt to get business off the ground she began putting flyers in all of the local veterinarian clinics and ads in the local newspaper.  Bingo!  Business began pouring in… and most of the people said, “I didn't even know you were here!” or “Fifi's been needing groomed for quite some time.  When I saw your ad, I decided to go ahead and get it done.”

Let's face it, people are often….well, lazy.  They don't always go out of their way to find the phone number to contact you, even when in the back of their mind they know they need to do something.  Yeah, advertisements are often the little prod they need to get motivated.  Don't shortchange yourself by neglecting to advertise.

How about you?  Have you ever driven by a business for a long time without even noticing it?  Yep, we all get too busy to pay attention sometimes.

Hey, you've learned a few of the misguided marketing myths that many people are fooled by…now you can apply the REAL marketing concepts to your own advertising campaign and watch the results!

Cutting Edge Selling Today Means Understanding the ZMOT Revolution

Right at this moment, yet another revolution is taking place in the world of shopping, buying, selling and marketing. Since the explosion of the Internet into our lives not so many years ago, it seems a “new revolution” happens every few years.

But one of the latest and most exciting shifts in the way we do business is something no one can afford to ignore. It's a critical factor smart marketers need to understand now. It’s called ZMOT, (pronounce it Zee-Mot), and it stands for Zero Moment of Truth.

To understand what ZMOT is, let’s provide a bit of background and some info about beste anti-spyware software. The term has its origins from a similar term called FMOT, which stands for First Moment of Truth. The term was coined by the marketing gurus of Proctor & Gamble. Here is what FMOT describes:

A customer is shopping in a grocery store, say, and they are standing in front of the frozen food section looking at a wide selection of frozen pizza brands. There is a lot to choose from. The customer has a decision to make. This is the First Moment of Truth, or FMOT.

Marketers realized that FMOT is a critical moment in the buying decision. What will make the customer choose one pizza brand over another? The label? The brand name? The overall attractiveness of the product? Well, the pizza brand that wins this decision game in the mind of the consumer is the one that prevails in the First Moment of Truth. It was clear then, then if sellers could successfully manipulate the FMOT, they would beat their competition more often, and sell a lot more products.

Now enter an all-new level of the game: The ZMOT!

This all new, even more critical level of marketing was enabled by the advent of Internet search engines, and also by smart phones. That’s because consumers now have an incredible new way to make a decision about what they want to buy. No doubt, most people reading this article are already doing this.

Here's how it works: You see a product you might want to buy – but first you jump on Google and do a quick review to get more information about the product, and to see what other people are saying about it. You instantly find scads of information, including what dozens or hundreds of other people are saying about their experience with that product. If a lot of other people loved it, you’re probably going to buy it.

And now that people can bring their Internet-enabled smart phones right into the store with them, they can look up information about product at the very moment they are in front of them as they decide to make a purchase. That is the ZMOT, the Zero Point of Truth!

Just as sellers were eager to “win” the mind of the consumer in the First Moment of Truth, they now realize that they must prevail in the ZMOT, the Zero Moment of Truth. This means that what consumers find out about your product when they search for information about it online – with a computer or a smart phone – must be positive information.

So the question for sellers of any and all kinds of products today is – what is my ZMOT factor? What are people finding out about my product when they go online to gather the information they need to make a buying decision.

Understanding ZMOT Rob's guide, and knowing how your product can prevail in the incredible new ZMOT revolution, is now perhaps the most critical factor in selling and marketing today.

The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

This is a great video presentation that explains what motivates us in our personal and work lives. It’s an excerpt by Daniel Pink, the author of “Drive” and various other books that I consider worth reading.

What are your thoughts?

Ten Google+ Tricks

10 Things You Never Knew Were Possible On Google+
By now, it's obvious that Google+ is growing like crazy. It may even reach 10 million users soon. And those users are pretty dedicated… (read the full story)

Why You Can No Longer Afford to Ignore LinkedIn
Discover how to harness the secrets of LinkedIn to attract high quality clients, drive targeted traffic to your site or land the career opportunity of your dreams… (see the full story)

Make sure you take the time to go through both of these… We have is our business, and it's been worth it.

Use Google Places to Skyrocket Your Local Business

Do you know what Google Places is?

It's a prominent, front page business listing complete with your address, web site URL, on Google's Map!

And it's FREE! 😉

For example, when people Search for a corgi registered plumber in Eastbourne, a business like yours appears #1 on the page. Imagine how much FREE traffic that could bring to your site!

One out of five searches on Google is related to location. Make sure your business is set up with your free listing so you can be found and are putting your best foot forward.

GP lets you claim a business listing on Google Maps so when someone types a search on Google your business shows on the map.

The benefit to your customers is they quickly find you — visually.

It can also quickly vault your business to the coveted #1 position on Google when someone searches locally. Let's face it: Everyone searches online today.

A recent survey said 43% of searches on Google are related to local services or business.

Make it a point this week to get your GP listing set up, or if we can help further, feel free to reach out to me.

Remember, 20% of ALL search on Google is for a local business. And that trend is growing… fast!

Many businesses sound a bit obscure to prospects. Make sure you add a keyword or phrase to give them a crystal clear idea of what you do. This will induce greater click thru, and traffic to your listing.

For example:
Bad Listing  — Chicago Plumber
Good Listing — Chicago Plumber | Drain & Clog Repair | Fix Broken Toilets

And make SURE you are using your LOCAL phone number with area code. Google prefers this over some vanity or 800# listing!

Remember “GP” is a prominent, front page business listing complete with your address, web site URL, on Google's Map! It's also FREE! 😉

My tip is simple, but CRITICAL: Always, always, always update your page whenever you have a change.

What kind of change? A change of address… or web site domain… or e-mail addresses, or telephone number… anything!

Google rewards you and your business for staying fresh, up-to-date and timely! And chances are your competitors are NOT doing this.

Also, don't forget what I told you before: Add a keyword or phrase to give potential customers a good idea of what you do.

This can help you skyrocket your local business to the top of the search pages… which means more potential business and money for you!