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Thank you Tech Support

John Aberle — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:55:52 +0000

I love working with other professionals who have skills and knowledge I don't have. This post is a thank you to four talented people who pulled my blogging bacon out of the fire. I've been tied up for a few days now trying to correct the fact that my blog’s front page would not redirect to the full page article. What I thought the cause was to my problem, wasn’t the main problem. But thanks to three people in HostGator Tech Support and one in Yahoo! Tech Support I’m up and running. These people had the character traits of wonderful customer service [...]

In Emails, Should You Greet or Not Greet?

John Aberle — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:10:03 +0000

I’ve heard one of the foremost people in Internet marketing state that he doesn’t respect emails that come with a greeting. He wants to get right to the point. I find this ironic because the whole issue with social networking is to be social and to be personal. So the social networking question becomes, to greet or not to greet. In my experience, people still want to be treated like individuals. They want to count, not to be lost due to false [...]

How to Avoid Looking Stupid When Asking Questions

John Aberle — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:34:03 +0000

I’ve often wondered why salespeople have such a hard time asking questions that dig deeply enough to understand what their customers want. I’ve seen consultants do the same thing. The danger is that we make assumptions and then propose the wrong solution. Because the customer either recognizes immediately that it won’t work or maybe tries it before discovering it doesn’t work, we’ve lost credibility and trust. Among the many reasons I’ve discovered for not asking enough questions, is that people are afraid of looking stupid when asking questions. When you operate from a heart-centered, soft sell sales and marketing viewpoint, it should make sense that you want to come across sincere and trustworthy. You do this largely by taking time to ask the questions for understanding. [...]

Social Networking Tip – How to Comment on Other Sites

John Aberle — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:03:48 +0000

Have you noticed how people resist change? Change involves risks. We never know when we make a change if we're going to be better off or worse off. So what can a heart centered salesperson or marketer do to encourage prospects to change to his or her products and services? The answer is to find ways to reduce the risk. One of those ways is to use social networking to develop relationships. This social networking tip describes how to comment on other sites. With the emphasis today on attraction marketing, you need a way to draw people to your blog and website. Show people how much you know by engaging in conversations on forums, group discussions and commenting on other people's articles or blog posts. Then, it's totally acceptable to put a link to an article that you have on your blog or on your website when it actually contributes additional information and insight to the topic being discussed. [...]

Social Networking Tip: If you’re going to write me, write to me

John Aberle — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:33:00 +0000

Social networking can be a blessing or just another annoyance. Used properly, it’s a wonderful tool for heart-centered, soft sell salespeople and marketers because it shows you as a person. Prospects and customers want to come to know, like and trust you. When they discover you’re a person too, it can help you to connect with them. Done wrong it merely shows you’re a twit and will hurt your chances. Remember, social networking is about being social and interacting with people. Which brings us to today’s social networking tip: If you’re writing me to become my friend or connection, then write to me. LinkedIn and Facebook as well as most other social networking sites have marvelous tools for inviting everyone in your different mailing lists to join you on their sites. If we’ve never met, then I would appreciate knowing why you want to be friends. What do we have in common? If creating a new friendship isn’t important enough to jot a very short note as to why you would like to be friends on Facebook or connect on LinkedIn or any of the other social networking sites, then you don’t really want my friendship. You are just trying to attract numbers. That’s all right. It’s just not what I want in a friend or a [...]

Old Selling Secret Improves Sales

John Aberle — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:44:01 +0000

Are you looking for a way to really impress your prospect? Here’s one of the simplest. Send a handwritten thank you note after your meeting. In the day when technology often makes us feel isolated, a handwritten note helps make or reinforce the connection. This technique is ideally suited to heart-centered, soft sell salespeople. Few things tell your “prospectors” (prospects who are looking to buy a solution to their wants and needs) that you actually care about [...]

Increase Sales through Package Pricing

John Aberle — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:09:52 +0000

I recently encountered a vendor who could not understand one of the basic concepts in sales and marketing: people love a bargain and are inclined to buy more if there is a special. I’m sure you are familiar with this idea as many successful marketers create package prices to encourage buyers to purchase more. One of the easiest ways to increase sales is to offer bundled packages. The trick is to get the pricing right so that you both entice customers to buy more now and still make a [...]

Hard Sell Intervention Ad Disrespects Customers

John Aberle — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:06:17 +0000

There’s a marketing struggle for survival going on amongst the traditional, generally hard sell marketers. They are finding it harder to grab people’s attention and offer something new and exciting. The latest hard sell ad is a television commercial in which a discount fashion store chain shows friends conducting an intervention to save another friend from over spending on the fashions she could get for less at Marshalls / TJ Maxx. This attitude shows disrespect for customers’ judgment. You may feel that I am making a big deal out of nothing; it’s simply advertising and a humorous effort at that. In this case, I disagree. The Marshalls / TJ Maxx TV commercial shows an attitude that is prevalent in hard sell sales and marketing: I have the right to decide for you that you need to buy my product. Because I know better than you do, I can use guilt, pressure or other manipulations to control your [...]

Appeal to Prospectors Instead of Prospects

John Aberle — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:45:30 +0000

Months ago I first heard Judith & Jim, founders of the Soft Sell Marketers Association, talk about using the term “prospector” instead of “prospect.” Although I wrote last summer about heart-centered, soft sell salespeople and marketers needing to pay attention to terminology, such as using “broadcast” instead of “blast,” I still resisted changing this phrase I’ve used for decades. Then, the other day I was listening to a Soft Sell Marketers Association teleseminar I’d downloaded. It was a session late last year called “Keywords with Rick Hubbard.” Rick pointed out that “prospector” gave him one word to explain a concept he’d struggled to describe for years. Suddenly, a light came on for me too! This is a heart-centered, soft sell sales and marketing approach: attract people who already want to buy the help you offer means far less effort than trying to create demand in people who don’t need it yet. [...]

Be Enthusiastic – If You Don’t Care, Who Else Will?

John Aberle — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:57:42 +0000

One of the strongest tools I’ve had in sales is enthusiasm. Enthusiasm sells more than any other skill that I’ve seen. The point is, as the salesperson, “If you don’t care, who else will?” This doesn’t require you to be really outgoing and dynamic in expression. If it’s a natural part of your personality to be energetically expressive, then that’s how you authentically show your enthusiasm. But if you have a more restrained personality, don’t try to act expressively enthusiastic. People will recognize it as fake, which will undermine your credibility. Just be yourself. Show your belief and excitement about your products and services as you would normally and naturally. Subdued enthusiasm is still enthusiasm. When you speak with conviction and confidence, you will be believable. [...]