Page 253 - Duct Tape Marketing

Duct Tape Marketing

don’t mean that you are to play games. But you should be thoughtful
and selective about whom you work with. Life’s too short to do other-
wise. Your measured process will make your business more attractive
in the eyes of your prospect.

Next, I immediately reveal my marketing process to help both
of us determine if we should build a working relationship. The mere
fact that you have a structured approach sends a very good marketing
message. Again, in my instance I can usually suggest either a meeting
or the need to exchange additional materials based on the answers
they give to my first few questions.

Presentation: The Internal Seminar
The internal seminar is what some people might define as a sales

call; the difference is one of control. There are lots of sales books,
courses, and trainers that will tell you to probe for pain, ask leading
questions, and listen for opportunities to propose solutions. My belief
is that if you have properly presented your solution and value through
your marketing, you are there to reaffirm that your prospect fully
understands what you have to offer. I think that is best done through
an almost scripted presentation or seminar presented internally to one
prospect at a time. The reason this approach works so well is that it
allows you to keep control of the information that is presented.

I’m not suggesting that you simply show up and ram your mes-
sage down the prospect’s throat, but I am saying that you should have
a systematic process to make your primary points. What I have found
is that when you do this, you more accurately communicate the key
messages you need to put together to attract the kind of client you
know you can best serve.

Many salespeople fall into the trap of simply responding to ques-
tions from prospects and attempting to “sell” them by figuring out what
their hot buttons are and pushing them. The problem with this approach
is that it often leads to clients who don’t really fit what you have to offer.

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