If a client company’s decision maker demands gratification, as a condition for awarding YOU business, what would YOU do? In this article, I destroy the myth some – misguided – “experts” perpetuate, that, to succeed, one must give in improper demands from crooked client company representatives!
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Preamble: Don’t Waste Time Waiting To Find a Speaking School!
Many people I have spoken with out here about learning public speaking have demonstrated this bias. Whenever I explained to them that there are many self-study learning resources they can adopt to learn public speaking, they expressed reservations about adopting a similar method.
I am not saying it is wrong to attend public speaking classes or school, if you can find – and afford – them. However, my studies have revealed to me that some of the best speakers the world has known actually learnt via self-study.
Here’s how they achieved that feat:
They read extensively about master speakers still alive and those who had passed on. They studied their biographies to identify what made those speakers successful.
Then they used what they learnt as a guide in developing their own unique skills and styles as public speakers. You do NOT need to be in a formal learning environment or class, to read books and learn from them. It is usually done better when you are alone!
To succeed as a speaker, you must have a message you want to pass to anyone who will listen. To do really well, you have to be VERY passionate about your subject – feel deeply and strongly about it.
It is this passion for the subject that will make you think deeply about it, so that you generate powerful messages destined to impact your audience and make them appreciate you. Thinking deeply about issues does NOT require being in a formal learning environment. AGAIN, it is usually done better when you are alone!
And they did not wait until they had an audience to do it. Abraham Lincoln reportedly practiced as he walked to and from his home, office etc. He gathered people around him to listen to his talks. When possible, he took part in debates.
He sat alone in his room and read aloud speeches crafted in line with what he had read, and thought up, revising it till it sounded right. Sometimes he silently imagined himself delivering his talk – visualising the event the way he wanted it to take place.
Today, with availability of audio and video recorders built into various devices such as phones and computers, you have more options for practicing in the absence of an audience!
Dale Carnegie recommends recording your planned talk or speech and playing it back to hear yourself. It provides excellent avenue to improve your delivery. Practicing does NOT necessarily require being in a formal learning environment. You can use the above strategies, and also gather family members or close friends together to critique your talk.
In an article I read, Les Brown recommended that one Speak for FREE until you are sure you’ve got the hang of it. Burt Dubin agrees, having passed the same route to success himself. In the introduction video on his website, he says “If I, a high school drop out can do it, then so can YOU! ” I would add that IF Abraham Lincoln, with all the odds stacked against him could have done it, via self-study (and in spite of myriad failures), then so CAN YOU!
I followed Burt’s advice from his many articles and newsletters, back in 2002, and before the end of that same year, I successfully negotiated and got paid for my first speaking outing here in Lagos.
Not every one will have access to formal institutions providing public speaking training or coaching. If that applies to you, know that you will NOT be the first person with that seeming limitation. Abraham Lincoln’s example is especially compelling. He walked miles to borrow books and read under candle light late into the night, and as dawn broke, woke up to continue.
He had only a few months of schooling, and so lacked access to formal learning institutions to pursue his passion for speaking. But this did not deter him. He adopted self-study methods, and practiced endlessly. Today he is remembered as one of the greatest speakers the world has known. So, sometimes it could actually be a blessing in disguise that you have to self-study.
That outcome depends mainly on your INTEREST, DESIRE, and PASSION – demonstrated in the energy you will pour into doing all the studying, thinking and practicing that will make you develop into a good speaker. You alone ultimately determine how good you will become – and NOT necessarily your attendance of a public speaking school.
I honestly believe that if available, the quality of INSTRUCTION your receive in the art of public speaking can make a difference in how you turn out as a speaker. A competent mentor will know how to help you discover and develop your FULL potential. S/he will guide you, drawing from his/her past personal speaking experiences and also from studying other speakers.
But you know what? S/he, i.e. your mentor, does NOT need to meet with you physically, to play this important role. Indeed, today’s technology makes it much easier to receive instruction on almost any subject, regardless of distance or geographical location – public speaking being a good example.
In case you’re looking to get started with a mentor, one that I strongly recommend (and who I represent as Sole Agent) is Burt Dubin – who mentors experts who want to be speakers, and speakers who want to be masters. Click here to visit his Speaker Mentoring Products and Services website.
They LOVED it. However, I’ll write later on about the intriguing events preceding the talk I delivered yesterday, at Sherryville Arcade-Lagos, to a group of CEOs and Network Marketing Professionals. (Hint: I came in right from Cotonou border, but arrived over 1 hour late, despite hiring a taxi, due to crazy Lagos traffic)!
To make it up to attendees who waited (those who had to leave get the DVD), I gave an EXTRA hour of information, education, tips and insights based on multiple true stories!
The DVD’s contents include…
1. Two FULL Hours (4 MP3 Audio Recordings) of my Talk delivered yesterday – on the subject:
“Spend Less Money & Time to Make Customers Find & Contact You, Even While You Sleep.”
1. How much money do you spend using the web monthly?
2. How much money do you MAKE from using the web monthly?
None of them could say he was making MORE than he SPENT on the web!
[Note to reader: If YOU also spend MORE, this DVD recording of the talk can help you!]
Would you not challenge the CEO to do better, or possibly even demand that s/he be replaced for reckless spending?
That’s why YOU need to LEARN what to do to attract buyers at zero cost, by listening to these DVD audio recordings!
Key talking points I discussed using multiple true stories about myself/my clients were:
a. What to do to MAKE more money than you spend using the web for your business
b. What you should be selling that you are not (NO MATTER what business you do).
c. How to continue selling even during holidays, when offices and banks are closed.
d. How to make smart use of technology to cut your marketing costs by 25 to 50%.
e. How to find the right kinds of buyers for your products/services.
f. Why you need to educate your prospects and clients if you want to sell MORE profitably.
g. Why website traffic is NOT what you need to monitor, if you want web marketing success.
h. How a Web Marketing System can make ALL the above happen even while you sleep.
In addition, there is screen shot video presentation which explains the 9 key components of a Web Marketing System (WMS).
Plus, you also get my 3 part educational MP3 audio series:
“Why You Need a Web Marketing System”(see “Audio 1”, “Audio 2” & “Audio 3” on DVD menu.
All buyers of the DVD get FREE 30 minutes Consultation Session with me, on what to do & how to get started, to achieve zero cost marketing successes.
Price = N5,000 (Five Thousand Naira)
Email tayo at tksola dot com for details or fill/submit this contact form.
Yesterday (Tuesday 3rd March 2015) p.m, I arrived Cotonou-Benin Republic for a meeting with the CEO (Barr. Arnold NANA) of Global Konsult Group, a multidisciplinary client company. That meeting held today (Wednesday) for approx. 5 hours, on how to use potential promotional materials from their ground breaking events, (which already have corporate sponsors eagerly teaming up with them – see www.globalkonsultgroup.com/fbk) to take their Web Marketing to the next level, so they can better create client attracting awareness.
Tomorrow, Thursday 5th March 2015 by 4p.m, I will be back in Nigeria (at Sherryvile Arcade, Berger bus stop- Lagos (opposit First Bank Plc, speaking to Small Business CEOs and Network Marketing professionals on THIS same theme.
1. How much money do you spend using the web monthly?
2. How much money do you MAKE from using the web monthly?
NB: If – for you – 2 is LESS than 1, you REALLY NEED to attend my talk, or get the DVD recording.
a. What to do to MAKE more money than you spend using the web for your business
b. What you should be selling that you are not (NO MATTER what business you do).
c. How to continue selling even during holidays, when offices and banks are closed.
d. How to make smart use of technology to cut your marketing costs by 25 to 50%.
e. How to find the right kinds of buyers for your products/services.
f. Why you need to educate your prospects and clients if you want to sell MORE profitably.
g. Why website traffic is NOT what you need to monitor, if you want web marketing success.
h. How a Web Marketing System can make ALL the above happen even while you sleep.
Over 95% of my clients have NEVER met me in the flesh, and yet some have been buyers of my products/services for over 7 years from locations across the length and breadth of Nigeria (Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Niger, Oyo, Ekiti, Plateau, Delta, Enugu, Rivers etc)… as well as within and outside Africa (Canada, Abu Dhabi [UAE), Tanzania, Benin Republic, USA, Holland etc).
Download the Speaker One Sheet at: http://tinyurl.com/sherryvillePDF
On 25th November 2014, Nelson Senatin (@fishbonedotcom) tweeted to me saying:
“@tksola may I know how you describe yourself? An agriculturist or businessman?”
“I am a MARKETER first, and an agriculturist second” (where “marketer” = “businessman”)
[NB: By way of interest, my above stated response paraphrases Burt Dubin’s wise quote reproduced which reads thus:
“You are a marketer first, and an expert second.” – Burt Dubin]
My version of Burt’s quote means I AM not just engaged in agriculture because I enjoy it (and I do!). Instead I also intend to get amply rewarded for the value I add…AND as long as I ADD value others consider worthwhile, I will ensure I get AMPLY remunerated for it.
Like I have continually said in my articles, I get lots of enquiries via multiple web marketing channels that I use, from across the world. It’s simply amazing the seemingly unlimited power that the web puts at one’s disposal, if one knows how.
Indeed, this is why I keep harping on the need for small business owners and solo entrepreneurs especially, to adopt my approach to finding buyers for their products/services.
I use what I call a custom Web Marketing System, and it helps me attract high paying buyers for the solutions I offer, at zero cost.
Yet, compared to those who use more conventional marketing methods, I spend MUCH MUCH MUCH (!) less time, effort and money promoting my offers, to get profitable results I record.
Every now and then, I get people who come asking that I give my software or book to them for FREE.
Quite often, they would claim to be students, and that they needed it for their studies. Or that they were researchers aiming to use it for their work.
In a few cases, I have had business owners (or persons claiming they were about to start their own businesses) writing in saying they simply had no money.
Most times, I would respond that such persons let me know what date/time to call and speak with them, AT MY OWN expense. Did you get that? At MY OWN EXPENSE!
Believe it or not, till this very day, NOT ONE of them has ever responded.
As the Americans would say: Figures…
My motive for writing that article was based on a trend I noticed with so many farm business owners I met in the course of my work as a Farm Business Support Specialist.
Majority of them simply did NOT understand that they had to be BUSINESS PERSONS, if they wished to be profitable.
They would spend hundreds of hours planning production details, sparing little or no thought for creating PROFITABLE/SUSTAINABLE DEMAND for products they were planning to churn out.
As a result, time and time again, when I have reached out to such farm business owners months and years later on, I have NOT been surprised to learn they were struggling or had quit.
For instance, just last month, I had phone conversations with 5 Farm CEOs who had previously contacted me about solutions I offered (especially my Feed Formulation Handbook and Software), and 3 of them let on that they had “suspended” operations or close down entirely.
Specifically, they complained that their regular buyers (the “market women”) had proved to be very exploitative, demanding unfair price reductions to make bulk purchases of products.
The women made those demands knowing the farm CEOs did not have alternative means of selling off their produce profitably.
One told me he’d stopped production and taken day job to think up a better way to sell.
Instead they failed because they did NOT know how to find the RIGHT kinds of buyers to take their products off them!
Which brings me back to Senatin’s Tweet, and my response…
You see, what I do actually falls under “Extension Services” delivery. However, my approach is VERY unconventional, and VERY unlike what universities or research bodies readily refer to.
But it is instructive to note that I am a graduate of Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan – so I do have formal training to function in this role.
That was why writing an international agribusiness research paper, that I got paid for (by a European Union funded NGO based in Holland), came easily to me. (see links at the end).
In that paper, I basically challenged other Extension Service providers across the world, to adopt my approach of going beyond conventional practice to help farmer entrench BEST PRACTICE systems.
This includes development of low cost customizable automated spreadsheet apps to facilitate prompt farm data recording, trending/analysis for timely and more accurate decision making.
You see, if we want agriculture to become more attractive to people, especially the youth, it is crucial that we take the practice of agriculture BEYOND the level of drudgery it is currently associated with.
Interestingly, this does NOT mean spending lots of money.
Indeed, as my method has shown, the exact opposite with regard to spending, is what happens using my adopted approach.
Yet at the same time, the practice of agriculture in the way I advocate will enable farm business owners operate at a much efficient level, using cost-effective technology and indigenous creativity to boost profits.
A key component of that is the use of “Enterprise Information Systems” (like my Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator and my Poultry Farm Manager, as well as my Payslip Generator).
Most importantly, I strongly recommend that they adopt the use of a custom Web Marketing System, to ensure they establish lasting relationships with BULK buyers for their products.
Indeed, this is badly needed today, in a place like Nigeria for instance, where quacks are taking advantage of newly retired persons who indicate interest in venturing into agriculture!
A person who is already running the kind of business YOU intend to start, will (often though NOT always) be better equipped to SHOW YOU how to get started successfully.
That’s my argument, and it is the perspective from which I offer my support to farm CEOs. But many do not immediately see THAT big picture, and I understand why.
Over time, this strategy has worked. For instance I have farm CEOs who have been my clients for years, who recently paid to have me develop Web Marketing Systems for them.
Some have joined my Inner Circle to gain FREE access to my Poultry Farm Manager.
Long lasting benefits will accrue to these farm businesses, if the CEOs take diligent action along the lines I recommend, adding their own creativity along the way.
Ultimately, they will become agro-entrepreneurs or “business minded” agriculturists (to paraphrase Senatin – who has since purchased my Feed Formulation Handbook)!
If that happens, they will record more reproducible financial success, with less effort/at less cost.
You will agree with me that if farm businesses can succeed with more consistency and predictability, they will become more appealing to others – especially young people.
Since the future of our economies depends on more of our people, especially youths, embracing agriculture, it becomes obvious that this approach CAN boost our ability to attract this target group INTO agribusiness!
Click the links below, to read articles I wrote in which I mentioned commencing (and progressing) work on the international research paper I referred to in the above article. I also noted how farm CEOs can function, to generate passive income streams outside sales of their farm produce.
http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/no-119-how-to-achieve-success-in-any-field-true-story/ [Written after I completed the project and just got paid]
http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/dont-just-tell-kids-to-do-be-an-exemplary-role-model/ [Written after the article above]
http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/no-111-farm-business-owners-can-speak-to-influence-research/ [Written when I was still working on the project]
[This 58 page e-book is available for purchase at www.lulu.com/sdaproducts today]
It’s a compilation of 10 of my top performing Cost-Saving Farm Business Ideas articles on the Farm Business Marketing. See Table of Contents here.
As a paid owner of this eBook, in line with the offer made of the sales page in my online store, you can freely reproduce – without making alterations – ANY of the articles contained in this e-book for use on your website, or in any other medium or publication, as long as my byline and copyright information are printed along with every article.
I’ve written articles about many heart breaking struggles I passed through, to achieve the growing success I now enjoy as a Location Independent Multipreneur. However, rather than moan about the “suffering” I endured, I want to point out that I NOW succeed MAINLY because I NEVER quit, during those hard times!
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Coming up…FREE One (1) Hour talk!
Topic: Spend Less Money & Time to Make Customers Find & Contact You, Even While You Sleep (True Stories About How)!
Speaker: Tayo K. Solagbade [Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist & Multipreneur]
Date: Thursday 5th March 2015
Time: 4 to 5 p.m
Venue: Sherryville Arcade, Ojodu Berger Bus stop (opposite First Bank Plc), Lagos, Nigeria
Key Target Audience: Business owners, Sales/Marketing Professionals, Independent Self-Marketing Professionals
1. This event is FREE for 2 reasons…
a. It’s being held as a FREE educational service for self-marketing professionals and business owner members of my Inner Circle (e.g farm CEOs, Network Marketing Professionals and others)
b. The second reason is that I use Public Speaking for Business Marketing (PSBM) to boost my name recognition and credibility – hence this “public offer” to non-members of my Inner Circle.
2. Intended attendees have ALREADY been pre-notified and confirmed their interest. Some are members of my Inner Circle.
3. This online broadcast is for ANY other interested persons who can find their way to the venue on the stated date/time.
4. ALL attendees will be eligible to obtain duplicated copies of a FREE autorun DVD that will contain an MP3 recording of the talk, a 3 part audio presentation on the same theme, a zero cost marketing ebook and other useful information products.
For details or inquiries, email tayo at tksola dot com…or use the contact details below.
Tayo K. Solagbade*
Performance Improvement Specialist & Multipreneur
*Sole Agent For Burt Dubin’s Speaker Mentoring Service (www.speakingsuccess.com) In Africa
Mobile: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic)
“The average man does not use above ten percent of his actual inherited capacity for memory. He wastes the ninety per cent by violating the natural laws of remembering.” – Carl Seashore
Nothing can be more devastating than finding out in the middle of your delivery that you cannot recall one or more key points you wish to make to pass your message across successfully.
Now, there is probably no ability more crucial to your success as a speaker, than your capacity for remembering i.e. your memory. Among other things, your memory helps you to remember the order of the points in your talk or speech i.e. your speech outline.
It therefore goes without saying that in today’s world, with the seemingly increased pressures of modern day living, developing a RELIABLE system for improving and making optimal use of your memory, can greatly influence the outcome of every single speaking outing you have.
One area where this has become glaring is our ability to remember things. Because we have so much to do in the same 24 hours of each day, many people now struggle to remember stuff.
The result is that many people now depend on various tools and devices to enhance their ability to cope with the heightened demands of meeting the daily challenges of modern day living.
You know them… BlackBerries, iPads, computers of all kinds and the Internet itself (e.g. web based birthday/anniversary reminder services).
But if truth be told, human beings, MAN, still has in him the capacity to achieve much higher levels of productivity than he currently does. Unfortunately, most of us do not know. Indeed, some think it’s impossible to do more than they currently do, without getting help from others. They do not know what they are truly capable of.
The foregoing quote by Carl Seashore is very instructive – for many people in today’s world – especially if they aspire to become successful speakers. After thinking up and getting your thoughts down on paper, you will have blended them with ideas and insights from research reading you have done, to produce a speech outline that enables you do justice to the subject or topic.
But since it would be in bad taste to read out your speech from paper, the next task after completing your outline, will be for you to develop a formula or system for remembering your speech outline.
It has been established that IMPRESSION, REPETITION and ASSOCIATION are the THREE natural laws of remembering, upon which the “memory system” is founded. So, to understand how to improve one’s memory, it becomes imperative that one understand how to avoid violating each of these laws.
You need to form the habit of concentrating your attention intensely on what you wish to remember, so as to achieve a clear, and long lasting impression of it in your mind. Note the use of the word “habit” here. Historical accounts tell us that Theodore Roosevelt’s trained himself to be able to concentrate on the task at hand even when in adverse environments e.g. where noise/distractions existed.
Your ability to focus in this manner on what you want to remember will help you imprint it in your memory. One example drawn from Dale Carnegie’s writing: Test your mastery of this law by seeing how well you are able to recall the names of people you are introduced to, a while afterwards.
We use repetition a lot because most of what we have to learn is via rote – blind memorisation. We recite poems, until we know them by heart. It should be noted here that the repetition referred to is NOT that which turns the learner or user into what Robert Kiyosaki has called “mindless parrots.” It is advised that reasonable intervals are allowed between the repetitions.
In relation to your speech outline, you can use repetition to improve your ability to remember it. Reading it out loud – the way Abraham Lincoln did, and the way students of Islam studying the Koran did – is a good way to achieve this. After you have done it a while, you’ll notice a marked improvement in your ability to recall the relevant points in your outline, making it easier to strong together the various parts of your speech in the right order, so that your outing goes as planned.
The famed psychologist, Prof. William James, described this third law as “the indispensable element in remembering”. Our minds work better when given “cues”. Pictures are perfect vehicles for communicating such cues, and that’s why they can be successfully used to improve our ability to recall anything from memory.
Mark Twain, reportedly revealed – in a magazine interview – that he used pictures – which he formed by himself – to remember the order of occurrence of items he wished to remember. The pictures you use, for this concept to work, must have some association with the thing you wish to recall. One example: To remember a person’s name e.g. Mr. Tangahar who sells fruits, you could think up the picture of “Tangerine”.
There’s one that was widely used when I was in school many years ago, to remember the letters of the alphabet: “The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog”. It’s not totally nonsensical, but it is a bit trivial. For those who used it however, it offered a quick way to quickly recall all the 24 letters of the alphabet – especially under tense situations.
Here’s a humorous twist to this concept:
In Nigeria, when our power company was still called National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), people chose to call it “Never Expect Power Always” to reflect our perception of its ability to deliver reliable power supply. When it changed name to “Power Holding Company of Nigeria”(PHCN), people responded by breaking down the NEW acronym to mean “Please Hold Candle in Nigeria”!
To use this technique, a speaker would put words in a nonsense sentence, in the order in which the idea or point each word represents, occurs in the speech itself.
To paraphrase Dale Carnegie, any group of ideas can be linked together using words in a nonsense sentence that may tend to be even easier to recall, because it sounds ridiculous. So, please use it.
Here it is – in form of advice given by a competent authority on the subject:
“We are visual minded. Eye impressions stick. We can often remember a man’s face, even though we cannot recall his name. The nerves that lead from the eye to the brain are twenty-five (25) times as large ad those leading from the ear to the brain. The Chinese have a proverb that says “one time seeing is worth a thousand times hearing”. Write down the name, the telephone number, the speech outline you want to remember. Look at it. Close your eyes. Visualise it in flaming letters of fire.” – Dale Carnegie
And that’s the secret. You will notice that it effectively captures the requirements of the three natural laws of remembering, which is why it provides a fool proof formula that you can readily put to use for yourself – with some study and effort of course.
The ideas provided here are based on a review of Dale Carnegie’s notes on “The Improvement of Memory” in his book titled “How To Wind Friends & Influence People By Public Speaking”.
Get yourself a copy of the book and study these concepts in more detail, then put them to use, to improve your memory and become a more effective speaker today!
NB: This article was first published online on 7th December 2011 via www.spontaneousdevelopment.com and Ezinearticles.com
One of my strategic objectives as a Performance Improvement Specialist is helping business owners develop and implement low cost web marketing systems and strategies that will increase their marketing mileage, while lowering their expenses.
But in doing this, I have noticed the following trend amongst many Nigerian business owners and decision makers. Please note that those I refer to here are people whose businesses lend themselves naturally to marketing via the web right here in Nigeria.
Many are rather defensive when approached about using a website or adopting web marketing adapted for the Nigerian environment. They often say they don’t need either, or that “Nigerians’ don’t use the Internet” to the extent that makes it worth investing in marketing to them through that medium.
I say, even if that were true (which it is NOT), you would be better off being one of the first to use web marketing to promote your products/services to Nigerians, since that would make you stand out, and get you noticed. Isn’t marketing ultimately about “creating awareness” about what you offer, at least in the initial stages?
It’s a pity some Nigerians feel they must be able to physically “touch” what they invest in for business!
Some do not understand, and refuse to be bothered. They can afford to be like this, because their competitors are either the same or like those in 1. above.
But here’s the danger: One day, one or more of those not bothered today, will suddenly “discover” the power of marketing intelligently to Nigerians via the web, right here in Nigeria, and begin to use it – gaining a competitive edge, and possibly driving the rest under.
What I find most amusing is that many of these decision makers usually readily say they have websites, and that it is working for them.
But you never see their web addresses displayed anywhere on their company premises, or even signs. In many cases, they even place adverts on radio/TV and even newspapers without including the URL of the website they spend money to keep online annually!
In essence, I am saying “Your Website Needs To JUSTIFY The Money You Spend” on it.
Basically there are two ways to confirm if it does.
You will check to see if it either
(a). Saves you money/time or
(b). Helps you make more sales or – even better – if it does both.
Now, to get your site to do the above, you need to adopt an intelligent Web Marketing System like the one I use, and which I customize for clients.
Below I provide two examples of businesses that would benefit greatly from active use of intelligent website marketing systems:
————————————–
These are perfect candidates not just for website ownership, but more importantly for intelligent web marketing.
If you own or run one and do not use web marketing to complement your offline marketing, here in Nigeria, YOU ARE LOSING GREAT potential customers, and SPENDING MORE THAT you need to.
Think about it for a minute: All those books, videos, tapes by great authors, with wonderful messages on various powerful subjects of interest.
If you were to do a publication that reviewed different book titles periodically to a list of opt-in subscribers, you would over time build interest in some of them, to call in and place orders.
Call me and I will tell you how you can go about it
Any decision maker in a company engaged in sale and management of properties, especially where so many companies compete, NEEDS to look for NEW, and unique ways to separate hers from the crowd.
Think about it. These days, most of these companies use similar looking flyers, banners, bill boards, cars, and even (for those who bother) websites!
Yet EACH one wants busy potential customers (with little time to “explore” every “good” offer in making up their minds) to see it as offering better value than the others.
However, if they had the opportunity to get MORE detail about what each company is about, what it offers etc, over a period of time, they could end up choosing a different company!
Such details could be obtained via subscription for instance, to a website newsletter; and/or a PDF report on “Choosing the Right Home or Property”; and/or an electronic course on “How To Value Property” etc.
Any company that offers the above, and actively uses intelligent web marketing to promote them to win new customers, greatly increases its chances of getting found by new customers who will ultimately take action to do business with it.
There is a WAY to make this happen. It’s not just about writing something and sending it out. And it’s not about getting a super graphic web designer to put all the flash designs and animations in the world on your website!
You NEED the know-how to do it right, and make it work.
Like I tell a lot of people, Google.com, in my opinion is the ugliest (or “blandest”) site on the net. Yet, it makes billions of dollars through people who keep going back to it – and it’s not because they get to see fancy graphics on the site! Get it?
Let me begin by stating that the ideas I offer here were obtained from studying Jeffery Meyer’s Succeeding In Business Newsletter issues. Adapting them to my purposes has actually helped me repeatedly convince prospects to buy from (or hire) me.
If you are an entrepreneur, understanding the ideas I offer here, if you apply them correctly, CAN help you close more sales. I say this from experience. Simply use the questions enumerated below to help them realise they NEED YOUR products/services.
In the course of my work, I have learnt that some buyers only want one thing: The lowest price (s). To them, the lowest price means they’ve gotten the best value for every Naira spent.
However, even in the Nigerian market, it could prove severely wasteful to base your purchase decisions solely on price. There ARE other things to look for.
Well, there is something you can do, to ensure you minimise chances of making that mistake.
To spend “wiser”, simply make it a habit to think up YOUR answers to the following questions, before making your purchase decision.
I call them the “Prospective Buyers’ Decision Making Questions”.
Another way to ask this question is “What do you want to use the product/service for?”
If you cannot think of a good reason to justify purchasing it, then it would be obvious that doing so, would be likely to be a bad decision – money wasted or poorly spent.
Okay, so you have convinced yourself you NEED the product/service.
But just before you go out and get it, why not question yourself further about HOW you arrived at your choice of product/service.
For instance, a person could decide s/he needs a new vehicle for the company’s sales department.
However buying a luxury car (e.g. BMW) to meet that need might not be the way to go.
If you already have something that addresses that need, why is it that you feel a need to purchase this other product/service.
Is it that you feel what you have does not fully meet the existing need?
Or is it that you anticipate future needs may outstrip the capacity of the existing resource?
Take time to carefully reflect on this, as it would go a long way to enable you accurately determine whether or not to go ahead.
This is related to the preceding question.
By implication, you will find reflecting on this question useful in further deciding on how relevant the product/service you are contemplating buying is to your real needs.
So, if you are able to identify and enumerate specific/tangible ways that the existing product/service is negatively affecting your company’s performance, it would provide further justification to purchase the new one.
Note however that one possibility you could equally consider is CHECKING to see if there is a way you can get the current product/service to IMPROVE, so that you do NOT have to purchase a replacement or addition, which would require more spending.
Of course, if the existing product/service is not addressing the important needs of your company, the company will continue to suffer for it.
Failing to correct that situation will likely result in more negative impact.
So, ask yourself what will happen if this trend continues.
If the answer you get is NOT what you want for your company, then you’ll have to seriously consider purchasing the identified alternative(s).
And this is the most sensitive one of them. Money!
Everyone these days is thinking of how to use less of it, to get more of what they want.
But who can blame them? It’s plain common sense!
The only problem is that some people tend to take it a bit too far. They begin to think of getting EVERYTHING for little or nothing.
Having gone through the process of reviewing the questions before this one, you should have come to terms with the reality that the product/service you wish to purchase is capable of FILLING the need you have identified, or SOLVING the problem you have discovered.
Either way, you will have accepted that it is worth paying for, and since it will be IMPROVING on what you currently have in place, there is a good chance it will not be “cheap”.
But it could be affordable. So, I suggest you aim to NEGOTIATE a good bargain, to get it.
But we must NOT be academic about this. No one is perfect, and no process is fool proof.
This implies that following the above outlined steps may not ALWAYS result in making the right purchase.
This could happen for so many reasons. One example is your understanding of the situation that created the need you identified.
If you are not well informed about the dynamics of that situation, you could draw the wrong conclusions about what the need is!
The moral here is that you MUST strive to be conversant with whatever aspects of your operations you are evaluating.
Be honest with yourself in this regard, and if you are unsure about your ability to do this, consult one or more persons that have the competence (your staff, colleagues etc) to help you make the right assessments.
To end, I now share some details of additional information I provide to my prospects or clients, to further “educate” them about why buying from (or hiring) me would be the right thing to do.
“A customer who is only interested in doing business with the supplier with the lowest price has no interest in developing long term relationships.” – Anon
For the person contemplating making a purchase, this has already been addressed in the preceding discussion.
If you focus only on getting what you want at the lowest possible price, you are likely to end up getting what you don’t want i.e. lower quality.
Or the supplier could walk away. If s/he decides to sell to you on that unfair basis, s/he may not be forthcoming when you need after sales support etc.
So, be careful!
Jeffery Meyer recommended politely informing the prospect or client that you “are not just a vendor selling products/services”.
You will tell him/her that “your vision is become a valued advisor whose knowledge, training, education, and experience will enable him/her get better results”.
You should carefully study the “provider” of the service/product you are contemplating, to see if s/he shows signs of abiding by a code of ethics that makes him/her willing to be a “Valued Advisor” to those s/he serves.
If YES, that gives you more confidence to do business with him/her. If NO, the logical line of action is obvious!
I believe if you as a prospect buyer of product/service adopt the above steps in your decision making thought process, you are likely to make more accurate purchase decisions that you used to.
Good luck!
PS: This article was first published online on 9th August 2010 via www.spontaneousdevelopment.com and Ezinearticles.com.
