Sales Promotion: Do this and be seen as a rookie

Tired of not having enough sales?

When it comes to sales promotion, tell me…. How great would you feel if you could see an immediate result i.e. an increase in sales by applying 1 simple tweak to your business?

I know it's a silly question but humour me.

It'd feel great, wouldn't it?

Well If you want to see an increase in sales from your sales promotion you've got to get an edge on your competition. And, to create a truly competitive advantage you've got to understand 3 things inside out, namely:

Your market
Your competition
Your offerings

But, there's 1 more thing you need in addition to these 3 things AND it's vital. This is what I'm going to be going through today.

Story time

Now just to warn you, this is a video I was going to use for the How to Succeed in Business blog. However, I decided against it as I knew that there was too much to say and that's why it refers to business as usual. 😉

Moving on to the next stage

So you've watched the video and now you're shaping up quite well. You're saying, “We‘ve got a great service portfolio, fair prices, flexible lead times, superb customer service, and an informative website with up-to-date research and thought leadership.”

Right?

And, you're wondering whether you're now going to be inundated with calls or emails from ready buyers.

Yes?

The answer, in a word, is….

No!

Why? Sadly they won’t believe you.

Without proof, you're only going to sound like a lame marketer or rookie sales person.

Being the best isn’t enough. Being perceived as being the best isn't enough. Your buyers need to believe you’re the best option for them.

If you don’t prove your claims, your buyers are unlikely to really believe them. And, as a consequence your value proposition, which is essential for your sales promotion becomes about as useful as a chocolate fire guard.

So what's to be done?

Several things. For starters, you can use social proof. This will go a long way to substantiate your claims.

Basecamp uses social proof to validate their main claim of being the “World’s #1 Project Management App.” They use an image (as we all think and remember in pictures), plus 2 specific numbers to make the claim believable (“285,000 companies” and “2,000 projects”).

Now I'm sure you'll admit that this looks good, but if you want to see an increase in sales I've got to tell you that impressive numbers don’t always work.

Numbers can prove how popular you are, but when you’re positioning yourself as a “trusted advisor and expert,” saying, “1,000 people consider me an expert” won’t work.

You need something else.

And, this is where testimonials and case studies (or success stories) come in. A few well placed testimonials and case studies (on your website and social platforms) from those with influence in your market make the claim credible. They can even take away the need for you to make any claims yourself.

For example, instead of me telling you how wonderful my company is, I get others (my clients) to do this for me.

Here's an example of what I did for my last company. I used one of our clients – a sought after FTSE 100, William Hill, to make the claim alongside mine. The claim had added weight as testimonials in this particular sector were almost as rare for obtaining as finding a needle in a haystack.

Finally, there's one more thing you can do with testimonials.

You can craft them so that they take away the last doubt people might feel about your promises. Just include a statement that answers the doubt. I teach you how to do all of this in the courses and consulting I offer.

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me what your thoughts are on sales promotion. Do you have any great tips? Please share your stories and experience here, and if you've got a question, just pop it down here.

Thanks for being a sport and participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

P.S.

Finally, if you know someone who'd LOVE the insight from this sales promotion post, please send them a link. You’ll find solo entrepreneurs, consultants and yes, even sales and marketing managers who manage people who'll be interested to hear about this.