Copyright 2005 Michael Lever In these days of rampant
commercialism everybody is selling something. So what makes
someone stand out from the rest as a super salesperson? The best
salespeople, of course, are those that sell themselves and I
don't mean prostitution! They sell themselves on three main
principles. These being knowledge, credibility, and trust.
However capable salespeople may be at selling themselves, to
complete a profitable transaction they still require a customer
willing to purchase their offering. That's pretty obvious isn't
it? Yes my friend, whether we like it or not, customers are what
make the world we live in spin around! Whether we care to admit
it or not, we're all customers just waiting to be sold.
Disagree? Read on.. We avoid thinking about whether we've paid
too much for, or even needed, what was sold to us. This is
because we're constantly justifying our purchase decisions to
ourselves with positive thoughts like: 1) I bought it on sale
and got a discount so I saved money. 2) I am building my reward
points towards my bonus of free flights, etc.. 3) I got the
latest release or technology making me a trendsetter. Customers
mean different things to different sellers. Or more concisely,
they represent different natures and values to different
sellers. By different customer natures I'm referring to whether
they are trusting, naive, gullible, impulsive, intelligent,
streetwise, or cynical to name just a few. Yes, we humans are a
diverse bunch! Probably more significant and measurable is the
value a customer represents to a seller. Is the customer
spending a little or a lot on a particular transaction? Are they
buying once or are they likely to make repeat purchases? Would
they refer other customers to the seller? Could the seller
value-add to the customer with other offerings and up-selling
possibilities? Is an MLM customer potentially more valuable than
an ordinary shopper? It is this relationship of matching the
right customer to the right seller based on both parties natures
and values that crucially defines the success we achieve in
life. It's important to understand and use this knowledge to
determine how to effectively market to a prospective customer.
All these factors determine both the effort needed and the
successful likelihood of customer acquisition. This makes it
easy to appreciate why it's far more cost effective both in time
and money to retain existing customers that to acquire new ones.
Online sellers have an easier time of customer acquisition than
offline sellers. This is due mainly to processes such as online
auctions, affiliate marketing, and more recently customer
acquisition exchanges. Additionally, internet marketing is
generally far more cost effective than it's offline counterpart.
Is the missing link apparent yet? Understanding that we're all
both sellers and customers at the same time, will lead us to
realise the motivations of others and have compassion toward
them. Thus reducing skepticism and bridging the gap between
sellers and customers. This is the link overlooked by
unsuccessful sales people.
About the author:
Michael Lever is a co-founder and CEO of SpinningTornado.com, an
independent company offering unbiased tools and services to help
affiliate and network marketers build profitable online
businesses. http://www.SpinningTornado.com Partnering affiliates
the world over.
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