7 Ways To Persuade People To Buy From You

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article
 
Sales are the most important part of running any business; without them, you won’t make any money, and the business won’t survive. It can be hard to persuade people to part with their money, no matter what sector you are working in, but there are some ways that can help them make that all-important decision to buy from you. Once you know how to encourage people to spend their money with you, you’ll start to see immediate improvements in your profits. Here are some of the ways you can do it.

Find Common Ground

If a potential customer likes the person they are dealing with, they are much more likely to buy from them. Of course, you can’t and won’t be able to get on with everyone you meet, but if you can connect with as many as possible in any way you can, you will make many more sales. The simplest way to do this is to talk to people and discover common ground. You need to be observant as well as listen closely to what is said, as you might see a college ring, an emblem on a cap, a cup of coffee in hand and so on, which you can use to start a good conversation. The quicker you can show that you are just like your potential customer, the easier the sale will be.

Be An Expert

People buy from people they like, but they also buy from people who absolutely know what they are talking about – they buy, in other words, from experts. Therefore, it is important that you position yourself as an expert in your field and let everyone know about it. You can do with by holding talks and workshops, or by creating how-to videos. You might want to write a blog for your website which shows just how much you know, and even if you don’t feel up to writing it yourself, you can use an article writing service, giving the information you have to a hired writer who will then put it all together for you. Letting people know you are an expert will make them happier to buy from you.

Know Your USP

Your USP is your unique selling proposition, and it is vital if you want to persuade people to buy from you. Take some time to look objectively at your business and really get to know what your USP is and how it works. Once you do know, you can use this in your advertising to make you stand out from your competitors and ensure that people buy from you and no one else. The great thing about your USP is that it can be anything – your products, your customer service, your pricing, even your website or your social media feed. No matter what it is, work out how it represents your company and how it can benefit you and your customers, and use it as the main focus of your advertising campaigns.

Learn From Your Mistakes

No one is perfect, and you will make mistakes in business. This doesn’t just hold true for those just starting out; even people who have been in business for decades can make a mistake. The important thing is to learn from these mistakes, acknowledge them, apologize for them when appropriate, and move forward, taking responsibility where needed. You may not be able to fix every error that is made in your business, but if you can find out what went wrong and ensure – as far as possible – that it never happens again, you will find that your business is better off for it and you will encourage more people to buy from you.

Know Your Competition

When you have a product or service that is similar to something that other people are selling, it is important to know as much about your competition as you can. Find out their pricing strategies and how they market their goods, for example. Read their reviews and look at what they do well and not so well. Once you have this information, you can set about making yourself different to them and standing out. Ensure that where they have flaws, you have benefits. Where they are good at something, be even better.

Remember, though, to never say anything negative about your competition. This will do very little to persuade people to buy from you and could impact your reputation in a way that you won’t like. It’s far better to concentrate on your own business rather than spending all your time and energy on putting another business owner down.

Time Limits

In the past, a time limit may not have been something that particularly affected your sales, but in today’s modern world it really can make a difference. There is a big ‘fear of missing out’ (known as FOMO) culture that can play a big part in the success of your business if you use it to your advantage. By offering time-limited discounts and deals, you will encourage people to buy from you now rather than later. They say that scarcity sells, and this fear of missing out on something will push people into buying from you rather than waiting.

Avoid Jargon

Unless you are selling in a business to business capacity, it is important not to use technical jargon with your customers. This can easily put them off, especially if they feel you are trying to be clever and making them feel less intelligent in the process. It is far better to describe your items in layman’s terms, using words that people who aren’t working in your industry would know. Of course, you still need to let your potential customers know that you are an expert in this field, but you can do that by explaining the technical terms in a blog or video. When it comes to product descriptions or even talking to them over the phone, keep it simple and you’ll get far more sales.

How to Create an Impressive Office

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article
 
A potential client or employee will make their mind up within a few seconds of laying eyes on your office. If you want to prove you are a professional business with a great company culture, you should find out how to create an impressive office.

Eye-Catching Wall Wraps

Give your office the wow factor by adding striking wall wraps, which will add a little color and personality into the space, and will exude professionalism and a great company culture. Pick a design that complements both your branding and office layout, so your guests will remember a visit long after a meeting or interview is over.

Branded Sweets

Clients want to work with companies that have exceptional attention to detail – and branded sweets can prove just that. It’s a fun, welcoming and professional treat for guests to enjoy when they visit, so they’re bound to be impressed by the effort you have made to create a warm welcome, while reinforcing your brand recognition.

A Friendly Welcome

A receptionist will provide a first impression of your staff and company culture. Only hire friendly, warm and welcoming receptionists, who are willing to go above and beyond to make guests feel welcome. For instance, they should smile at every guest, offer them a seat and a drink, and keep them updated on their meeting to avoid frustration. You should also ensure the phone is not left ringing, as a client will believe your company will ignore their call, too.

Welcome Natural Lighting

Exposure to natural lighting will not only make your staff feel both happier and healthier, but it can also make a space appear more open. As a result, it can increase your employees’ morale and productivity levels, which can help your business to both flourish and grow.

24-Hour News on TV

24-hour news on TV will not only allow your team to stay up-to-date on the latest happenings from across the world, but it will also prove to your guests that you’re keeping updated with the latest trends. As a result, they’ll view your brand as a forward-thinking business that is worthy of their time and money.

Display Artwork

Artwork can add a burst of color to your office space, and it can also convey intelligence and professionalism. Choose a work of art that not only adds a pop of color into a room, but complements your company’s image.

Big & Bold Potted Plants

There are many reasons to incorporate big and bold potted plants into your office. Not only are they a beautiful addition to an interior design, but they can also reportedly increase employee happiness and reduce stress levels. It will also provide a natural contrast to your décor and can prove you can take care of multiple things across the business with ease.

Offer Branded Pens

Branded pens are an ideal stationery item for your business, as you can hand them to guests during a meeting. You should then encourage them to take the pen with them, so they’ll have a subtle reminder of your brand once they leave your office. As a result, you’ll remain firmly in their minds, and a client might be more likely to hire your services.

4 Ways to Improve Your Internet Marketing

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales ArticleFor any small business, having an effective strategy to market the business well is important. Any company that doesn’t use the internet in a productive way is going to find their peers overtaking them and getting well ahead within a few short years. It’s necessary for every company to ‘up their game’ with internet marketing.

Here are four ways to help improve how your business is being marketed online.

Video Intros to Capture Attention

Video introductions are all the rage with YouTube, Vimeo, vlogging and commercial videos. It gives a chance for the presenter or company to provide a standardized beginning to every clip. For YouTube creators, using a standard intro lets viewer know that they’re on the correct channel and primes them for what to expect next. It creates a sense of anticipation of an entertaining or informative video and extends the average viewing time which helps videos rank higher in the YouTube and Vimeo search engines, respectively.

For businesses, they can also benefit from creating an introduction using software to complete the task. Having the software to hand makes it much easier and faster to change the introduction to update it as needed. A branding change or a new sister brand are easily accommodated with video intro software designed to make that fast and uncomplicated to complete. You can read more here about the features and options available with the IntroBrand Logo maker software.

Outreach to Higher Quality Websites

When starting out with a website, it’s likely that the site didn’t have much trust or ranking and found it difficult to reach out to industry sites. Making contact directly was often more successful. Using LinkedIn, attending expos on related topics and pursing other business connections having already met tends to work well.

You’re no longer doing a cold approach via email which is how many internet marketers on behalf of small businesses attempt to make contact. Because everyone is doing this, it tends to fall flat. The SkyScraper technique is a well-worn approach, but that’s why it’s increasingly become less effective as time has gone on; everyone is copying the same idea and inboxes are flooded with email.
To interest business owners and bloggers with what you have to say, it helps if you already have something of value to offer their customers or readers. If you have a blog on your site, what’s the writing quality like? Does it capture the reader’s attention or does it fall flat? If you’re making contact to eventually get a guest post published and score that all-important backlink, then your existing content is your advertisement to what they’ll receive. Putting your best foot forward in this regard is vital if you’re to attraction high-traffic, respected websites in related niches/industries.

Answer Questions Online to Demonstrate Authority

Another effective way to improve on the marketing side is to demonstrate authority in your industry or niche by answering questions. This can be done in the frequently asked questions section on your website, but you should also be interested in reaching people who don’t know your brand yet.

Answering questions on a site like Quora.com is useful because once a question is added, multiple answers are posted by different people. Visitors of the site vote on which answer was the most helpful or factually accurate. When you’re in a position to answer relevant questions factually and in an easily digestible manner, it gives you a leg up over your competitors who may not have even thought to do so. And even if they’re not directly competing with you but are impressed with your answers, this may encourage them to ask you to write a guest post on their site.

What do you do if you don’t write well or feel that you don’t have the time to do so? Jot down some bullet-points about how you would like the answer written out and then hire a writer on a per assignment basis to provide a written answer. Then, once an account is created and verified on Quora, the reply can be posted. This gets around any quality and time constraint concerns.

Develop a Popular YouTube Channel

If you’re working with a company and they make use of video intros for their corporate training videos, that’s great. However, they can do so much more with video content. An active YouTube channel is an effective way to attract interest from viewers, demonstrate knowledge, and drive traffic from YouTube to your website. This can be for email opt-ins to your newsletter or to promote a related product line.

A larger following doesn’t grow overnight but when you post on relevant topics that have searchers’ interest on YouTube, the videos and channel will start to show up more often in search results and get more views as a result.

Looking at the YouTube Analytics provides insight into total views per month, average viewing time and other useful data points. However, other software add-ons like vidIQ Vision or TubeBuddy, and a website like SocialBlade provide greater insight into popular search terms used to reach related video channels that compete with your site. By creating similar content that answers searchers’ questions better and includes keywords that match their search query, your video marketing content can rank higher sooner as well.

Concluding Thoughts

As the competition heats up for the increasingly fleeting attention span of their target market, all companies must do what they can to maximize the effectiveness of their marketing budget. Getting a high ROI is critical here.

Smart tools that provide analytics offer clues as to what is working for competitors to avoid reinventing the wheel. Similarly, building brand reputation online (and diligently protecting it) are necessary pieces of the internet marketing puzzle for companies that wish to get ahead while protecting what they already have.

A single misstep can cause more damage than a wide-reaching plan to expand your online presence by posting to social media channels more often or publishing excellent content. Strike the right balance to ensure mistakes aren’t made while forging ahead.

How to Make the Most Out of Joint Promotions

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales ArticleWith the market being as competitive as it is today, relying on your marketing and promotions budget isn’t always enough. You may be able to reach a lot of potential customers through your marketing campaigns, but you are competing directly with other brands targeting the same market segments at the same time.

One of the ways to get around this challenge is by joining forces with retailers in promoting your products. It is not uncommon for retailers like Costco and Walmart to promote products available in their stores and offer special discounts to attract more customers. Before you do this type of joint promotion, however, here are some tips you need to know.

Clear Objectives

With retailers like Costco, the initiative to do a promotional offer comes from them rather than from you as the supplier. You get invited to certain programs that the retailers will be running and you have little to no control over those programs.

This is not a reason to do the promotional offer without clear objectives. Before you decide to join the program, it is still necessary to understand the objectives you want to reach. The objectives are goals you can set yourself.

With clear objectives in mind, you can assess whether joining the promotional program is the best move for your business. Review the offer objectively and take advantage of the opportunity to promote your products only when you can hit your objectives.

Plan Ahead

Keep in mind that the catalogues and coupons the retailers will send out are only the first half of the promotional offer. Those materials are designed to attract customers to the stores – or the online storefront – so that they can make purchases.

The other half of the equation is making sure your products are available. You need to forecast the amount of product required to meet the spike in demand, and then ship the correct amount to retailers in a timely manner.

Planning ahead for the promotional offer is a must. You need to have enough time on your hands so you can deal with product promotion logistics and the challenges that surround shipping higher volumes of products to the right stores.

Amplify

When there is a joint promotional offer running, it is tempting to just sit back and hope for the best. This isn’t the way to fully take advantage of the opportunity. What you need to do is amplify the promotional offers so that the offers also reach your target customers.

Thanks to digital marketing, reaching potential customers directly is a lot easier than before. Use social media to deliver relevant messages that direct the audience to the promotional offers. You can also rely on advertising networks to be more specific with your targeting.

Another way you can amplify joint promotional offers is by running your own marketing campaign to support the offers. Once again, giving yourself enough time and planning ahead allows you to do more things with the marketing campaign.

Stand Out

When retailers do their promotional programs, they tend to work with a lot of suppliers and products. How your products appear as part of the bigger promotional offer matters. You want to set your products apart, and the way to do that is by offering unique benefits to potential customers.

For example, you can set discounts for all of your products. The extra discounts are bargaining chips that could win your own page in the promotional material or catalogue. Customers are more likely to see your products and react to the offers this way.

Another way to stand out is by fine-tuning the kind of special offers you make available. Instead of a direct discount or a coupon, you can try bundling products and offering freebies with every purchase. Every little tweak counts, so work on the promotional offer sufficiently.

Follow Through

A spike in sales is to be expected when you are a part of a retailer’s promotional program. That said, the programs could lead to more than just a sudden spike in sales. Retention is not an impossible objective to achieve as long as you take the necessary steps to follow through on your offers.

The simplest way to retain customers is by offering additional coupons for future purchases. For instance, customers can try your products now and get a 5% discount. If they like the products, their next purchase comes with an additional 10% discount.

The way this promotional offer is structured persuades customers to make future purchases, increasing their customer lifetime value (CLV) in the process. Since the CLV is higher, you can afford to spend more on the promotional offers, which means you can make them even more appealing.

The key to successful joint promotions is careful planning. From the five tips we covered in this article, there is no challenge that you cannot solve. Running a joint promotional campaign that wins the hearts of customers will not be difficult at all with these strategies implemented properly.

Follow These 4 Tips to Increase Your Business Visibility

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How widespread is your business’s brand awareness? Is the general public familiar with your products and services? In particular, does your audience purchase or use these services? In order to ensure that your company ventures are successful, you must spread the message about them to your customers.

Having a strong online presence is the first order of business. When people want to search for something, they open up a search engine or go on social media. You will have to maintain engaging content, improve your searchability and keep your brand consistent at all times. For more detailed information, continue reading.

Strong online presence

A business without an online presence is falling behind its competitors. Everyone invests in a website nowadays as it is an important source of information for the general public. It can attract prospective employees, and it may even be the way that people purchase your goods, if you incorporate e-commerce with it. In addition to a website, you should also ensure that your company has an account made on the various social media platforms that your audience spends their time on. Instagram is a powerful application in today’s day and age, for instance, and so is Facebook, among others. You can keep everyone in the loop at all times about any news and promotions with these online sources.

Engaging content

How engaging is the content that you post? Your goal should be to have your audience share your business message and ideas, as this will further increase your visibility. Consider what the likes and dislikes of your target demographic are and use that to your advantage. You can also partner with influencers that your customers trust, as it will further boost your own credibility.

Searchability

It isn’t enough to have an online presence, it must also be search engine optimized. This ensures that people can more easily find you because you will be one of the first search results that come up on Google’s search engines. There are specific companies and individuals whose role it is to boost traffic, and you must use these resources to your advantage. One example is the SEO strategy provided by BCC Interactive (www.bccinteractive.com) as it is always customized to your specific goals.

Keep consistent

When you promote your company and establish a particular brand message, you must stay consistent with it. You will only confuse the public if you switch gears and do something different to what you normally do. For instance, if you are a fashion company that promotes clothes and jump into the pharmaceutical industry out of the blue, you will confuse everyone.

Growing business visibility should always be a goal that everyone in the company works towards. Any organization depends on its target audience to gain profit, and this affects your ability to expand. Determine what does and does not work, and do not continue with ventures that are not showing results. Once your promotion efforts start picking up, you will notice that word-of-mouth news about your company will spread as well.