points to blonder

The main desire of any business owner, no matter how successful, is to sell more of their products or services. The usual way to achieve this is to identify errors made in the day to day running of the business, and eliminate them.

Not surprisingly, the majority of these errors occur in the marketing and promotion side which, all to often, fail to do the job of selling the product properly, or cost effectively. An expensive ad doesn't necessarily generate more business than one that costs a lot less.

If you look in any magazine, you'll see many ads, ranging from the double page spread, to the humble classified. Perhaps surprisingly, it is the bigger ad that usually fails to live up to expectations.

More often than not they are filled with unimportant and useless information, trying in vain to grab the prospect's attention. It's almost as if they believe that the extra money that the ad cost somehow compensates for the lack of an effective sales message, by trying to shout the point across, instead of attracting interest subtly and cleverly.

A business owner on a tight budget has no choice but to make every cent count by ensuring that what little space they have, is as productive and effective as possible.

So, how do you sell more products or services? Avoid making the costly marketing mistakes that can slow your progress, or even ultimately put your business, and livelihood in jeopardy.

Qualify your prospects

You will make a lot more money if you target market your products. A classic example is to place an ad in a specialist publication, if you sell car parts you would advertise in car magazines, and so on.

This may sound obvious, but how much junk mail do you get each week, completely unsolicited, un-targeted, and a total waste of money.

Concentrate on your customers

A very common mistake made in advertising literature is to put your main focus on you and your company, when it should be on the prospect, and how it benefits them.

That is what they're interested in, and tending to this feeling of desire, want, and need is an extremely important step towards selling more of your products or services.

Save the company blurb for later when your customer has decided to buy from you. Only then will they be at all interested, and only then might it be advantageous to tell them.

Learn about your prospect's problems

If you know about your customers, and what motivates them to read your sales literature, you will find it considerably easier to persuade them to buy from you. If you've targeted your prospect properly, then they will all have a similar problem that your product is designed to solve.

People don't often buy things just for the h*ll of it, they buy because they want to resolve something, or make their lives better in some way.

Like I said before, customers are only interested in the product's benefits. Tell the customer how it will improve their situation, then motivate them to act immediately, right at the point you've got their undivided attention.

You can do this by using expiration dates, special offers, and discounts. Offer to pay the shipping costs, always give a guarantee, and make the payment process as simple as possible.

By following this simple guide, you will undoubtedly experience an increase in your response rates and sales, propelling your business into a higher league.