Like most of you, I get cold calls and e-mails every day.  98% of it is spam – offers for things I have no interest in, or don’t need. Only 2% are even relevant to me or my business and unfortunately, most of those don’t get my attention either (so they inadvertently lose the sale).

Truth be told, I almost never answer or respond and I’m sure you feel the exact same way. It’s not because I have it in for salespeople – although most of us will admit we cringe at the hard sell tactics of the stereotypical salesperson. It’s because the vast majority of salespeople completely blow their initial approach and fail to capture my interest.

Now I appreciate and respect the fact that these people are just trying to do their jobs and make a living. Selling is not a crime.  In fact, we are ALL in the business of selling something – a product, a service, an idea, a lifestyle, a belief, or a cause.  So, like you, I’m not insensitive to the plight of the honest, hardworking sales professional.

The problem is this – most of their hard work (and yours) often goes to waste when they lose the sale for reasons that are preventable.  They end up turning me off their product or whatever it is they’re selling because I am either bored, confused or overwhelmed by the pitch.  And this usually shows up in one of three classic responses that I give, which I’m sure you have heard (or given) before.  These are telltale cues that they (or you) are about to lose the sale:

• This isn’t a good time for me,
• I need to think about it, or
• Leave it with me and I will go over it later.

Fortunately, the mistakes that produced these 3 classic responses are completely avoidable – mistakes that you don’t have to make (and lose the sale) once you discover how the brain of your prospect hears your message and what you need to do to help him make a decision quickly.

The first and most important step in creating a sales or marketing message that closes more business is to become an expert at capturing attention up-front. If you are successful at quickly and strongly enchanting your prospect within the first 60 seconds, you stand a much greater chance of holding his interest until you can communicate your entire message.

Regardless of the length of your sales presentation or marketing message, you must capture attention and deliver your most powerful points up-front when your audience is most alert and receptive. Never begin by introducing your brand, building your credibility, talking about your competitors, or listing features and benefits. This strategy will put your customers to sleep (cause you to lose the sale) and you risk having to deliver your most important claims and proof when your customers are least likely to remember them.

In order to capture the attention of your audience and hold it, you have to know the one thing that is MOST important to them right now. This is something that you cannot afford to guess or assume.  In order to make the greatest impact and charm the old brain of your customer, you need to do your homework up-front. You can’t afford the luxury of pitching five or six features/benefits and hope that one of them will appeal or hit the mark.

By taking the time upfront to help your prospect understand, acknowledge, and quantify his #1 source of pain, he will become clear about the true source and intensity of this problem, and you will reinforce (with his old brain) that it is safe to trust you and your proposed solution.  Failing to do so, will inevitably lead to the undesired result of causing you to lose the sale and waste your valuable time and money in the process.

Although you may like to think you are creatively captivating your consumer with your communications, allow me to drop a mind-blowing bomb…  Did you know that your current marketing messages are falling on the deaf ears of approximately 98% of your prospects?

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If there’s one difficult experience that every sales or marketing professional has been through at least once, it’s that sinking sensation that comes when a campaign you really poured your heart and soul into just doesn’t hit the mark, for reasons you don’t completely understand. Naturally, you wonder if it was something obvious that you missed – like a spelling error or a grammatical snafu? Maybe you didn’t include enough information?  Or your call to action just wasn’t compelling enough?

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Do you like it when people you don’t know call you up and try to sell you stuff? I thought not.

Cold calling is one of the most costly and difficult ways to find customers. Not only is it time consuming, but it can actually turn customers off to your business. And why would you do it when there are numerous, more effective, online options available to find customers and drive thousands of qualified leads to your business today?

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With a hotly contested election just around the corner, The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has come up with a proposal to allow small businesses to defer lodgement of their Business Activity Statement (BAS) from quarterly to annually.  He suggests GST could easily be estimated and paid in instalments throughout the year based on the previous year’s performance.

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