Rule #38 The problem a prospect talks about is never the real problem Have you ever accepted a “diagnosis” a prospect gave you at face value? Don't build your work on the wrong foundations. Be

Who is a guru? As mentioned earlier, in any field there are people who are considered to be experts No. 1. They earn inadequately large (by the standards of their colleagues) money. They are famous and popular. They get the best clients without any effort. And they charge such prices

Who is an expert? ExpertIn this book, the word expert will be used as a synonym for guru. But still, let's delve into this concept a little deeper. This is necessary so that you have the right inner attitude. Who is an expert? A person who knows how

A potential client is a company or individual who is able to purchase a specific product or service. In almost all cases, he is ready to buy and invest money, but for some reason this does not happen. How to find out what this is connected with and how to transfer your company’s client from the category of potential to real?

From a marketing perspective potential clients is the target audience for whom a particular product is intended. Every businessman, before launching a product, tries to form an image of someone who can choose it. In this regard, research is carried out on potential customers, which allows us to find out where and how to offer them a product.

In fact, qualifying marketing leads is based on four basic questions:

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• What product characteristics does the client require?? Here it is important to understand what problems a potential buyer faces and how the features of your offer will help solve them.
• What are the gender, age and financial status of potential clients??
• When and where the product is purchased? That is, where the target audience is located geographically.
• What guides the client when choosing a product: price, quality, prestige, novelty or comfort?

The more information you have, the cheaper it will cost you to attract potential clients. After all, no matter how attractive the product may be, its sales should be carried out precisely in the circle of possible buyers based on their requirements.

• How to interest a potential client and double your sales

How to identify a potential client

Requirement 1. Client need for the proposed product

Your potential consumer must meet this condition if you want him to move into the category of actual customers. There is no point in putting in the effort, wasting your nerves and precious time on a person who will never feel the need for your product. Think for yourself, why offer a stand with cigarettes to a children's cafe? Or the freshest pork for a vegetarian?

But it also happens differently. It happens that a potential client does not think about a service until the seller himself points out his need. Thus, a bank director may not realize how much the productivity and efficiency of loan managers will increase if they are taught touch typing using the ten-finger typing method. And how does the sight of a bank employee methodically typing a contract with two fingers (which always takes quite a long time) affect clients’ irritation?

But if we are trying to sell a product that a person is not initially interested in, this action has one definition - imposition. And the seller should be persistent, but not intrusive.

Requirement 2: The buyer must want to purchase your product

If we're talking about about a personal conversation with a potential client, then who should initiate interest? You come to a person and are going to sell him something. Should the desire to receive your product be present in it, or is it still your duty to awaken it? Of course, only yours. The so-called almost potential client has never heard of you before, so he cannot be interested in you. But you made a call to a potential consumer, which allowed you to attract this attention. It is important now to properly prepare for the presentation and convince him that he dreams of having what you offer. In case of retail sales everything is much simpler - since a potential buyer somehow ended up in your department, then he definitely has a little interest. All that remains is to take the bull by the horns and sell it to someone who comes to you.

Requirement 3: The consumer must have the financial ability to purchase your product

It’s easy to believe that the latest model of Apple laptops, which can do, perhaps, everything (except for cooking an omelette), would fit perfectly into the interior of any office. But if you come to the reception of a small regional newspaper and offer this option, you are unlikely to have a constructive dialogue. And not at all because Chief Editor doesn’t want to have laptops, and journalists don’t need them. The reason is much more banal - there are no funds for such things here.

When meeting with new potential clients who meet the above two requirements, check whether they are able to pay for your services or goods. However, in this case there is a small, more than once proven exception to the rule, which is akin to science fiction: if a person’s desire is strong enough, in almost all cases he manages to find the means to fulfill it.

Requirement 4. The buyer must have decision-making authority

It is very easy to get into an ambiguous situation if you work with your potential client for a considerable period of time, and then accidentally find out that he does not have the right to make a decision on this issue. In the modern world, when even the deputy head of the security service has several assistants and a couple of deputies, this is possible. In most cases, a similar situation arises when interacting with corporate clients. You communicate with people, organize extravagant events colorful presentations, and in response they constantly promise to call you back, think, and consult. It's very simple: this means that these people do not have the necessary authority to decide to buy your product. But they don’t want to openly admit this to a simple sales manager.

• Cold calling: a mistake that repels target clients

Why do you need to create a portrait of a potential client?

A buyer persona is a generalized image of your potential client. It usually consists of the following indicators:

• age;
• Family status;
• income level;
• geography of residence;
• employment sector;
• position level;
• typical problems associated with our specific work;
• needs, fears, desires and so on.

The main task of such full description is to create marketing campaigns, that is, advertising, commercial offers, content, etc., that are maximally tailored to the needs of a selected circle of people.

The more detailed information found about a potential client and large quantity characteristics are taken into account, the higher the likelihood of creating an offer that ideally meets the needs of the target audience.

Where and how to look for potential clients

1. Free business information directories. This includes all-Russian informational resources, such as “Yellow Pages”, “Business Address”, Allinform, as well as regional “Yellow Pages of Russia”, Adresat.com, “DublGIS”.
2. Electronic trading platforms, which are universal (multi-industry), industry and product.
3. Exhibition catalogues. To receive data from exhibitions, you don’t have to go to them. In most cases, exhibition catalogs are sufficient. They can be purchased from event organizers.
4. Advertising. It is most pleasant to deal with a variety of price catalogs, such as “Products and Prices”, advertising and industry periodicals. It is also worth adopting other sources of information: radio, television and outdoor advertising. To use them effectively, it is recommended to create a list of advertising media on which potential clients of the company prefer to publish their advertisements.
5. Telephone help services. This resource also contains the necessary information about organizations by type of activity.
6. Client databases of other companies. They can be obtained not only dishonestly, by bribing selfish workers. A more pleasant way is “affiliate marketing” and “list exchange”, that is, shuffling databases of potential clients between non-competing organizations.
7. Recommendations from existing clients. Regular customers can recommend new customers to you. True, this only works if they are not competitors in the market.
8. Social contacts. Friends and acquaintances are sometimes able to provide information about possible consumers. Rumors also work well here, you just need to follow them.
9. "Field" collection of information. The so-called sense of territory. For example, companies offering office supplies even have so-called “sleuths,” that is, people who walk around business centers and invisibly search for potential clients. For the gasoline business, the most interesting gas stations are those located along highways. Building materials suppliers are attracted to newly available fenced-in sites and new construction projects.
10. Competitors' websites. The easiest way to find a list of large and medium-sized clients is on the competitor’s corporate website.

• Unfair competition: forms of manifestation and methods of combating

10 Ways to Attract Potential Clients in Internet Marketing

Method 1. Referrals

Everyone has long known that a dog is man's best friend, and diamonds best friends girls. Referrals are the best friends of any business. However, for some unknown reason, few people pay due attention to this fact. Understand that there is nothing better when new consumers come to you on the advice of friends who are satisfied with your work. After all, they are already configured to perform a targeted action: to purchase, order, subscribe to the newsletter, etc. So let's offer them something really attractive, so that they too will want to tell their friends about you?

Method 2. SEO

According to statistics, 93% of people search for something via the Internet. For this reason, it is incredibly important to make your site noticeable, that is, to raise it to the top of the Yandex and Google lists. The higher you are, the more often potential clients and buyers will appear on your territory. In the opposite situation, you are unlikely to see a large incoming flow on your site. Smart SEO promotion can improve your rankings. Website pages need to be optimized and distributed using specified keywords.

According to recent studies, companies that devote their time to social networks and media content daily (up to 6 hours) have 60% more leads and 78% more incoming website traffic. What does this indicate? The fact that it is extremely important to promote the constant presence of the company in in social networks. For what? So that buyers can contact companies without intermediaries.

But first, determine which social network your potential clients choose. Since it makes no sense to spend money on distribution to all existing ones. Obviously, it is preferable and more profitable for one business to have an account on Facebook, another communicates with potential clients on the VKontakte network, the next one is Twitter, and the last one successfully sells offers on Odnoklassniki.

Method 4. Useful content

With the Internet taking an important place in our lives, consumers can choose where to look for information and who to trust. And they almost don’t need an outside opinion or a manager’s recommendation to buy a product. For this reason, the most important thing is to create high-quality, high-quality content (educational, informative) that meets the needs of site visitors.

Content is more than blogging, publishing news, and developing a block of articles. There are many varieties of it, for example: infographics, videos, audio podcasts, memes, e-books etc. So, spare no effort in creating high-quality content, use a variety of types, track what your potential clients specifically prefer and what they like to share with friends. Don't give up on promoting it on social networks. But you need to keep in mind that the information you have collected may become outdated, so periodically return to it, update it, and add something fresh.

Way5. Landing pages(landing pages, LP)

Landing pages, especially subscription and data collection pages, are recognized as the simplest method of obtaining contacts to build an email database of potential clients. To create a landing page, you only need a couple of clicks. A variety of lead generation services and platforms have already been developed, equipped ready-made templates, easily customizable to suit any needs.

Please note that a poorly designed landing page can cause harm - it will provoke a decrease in visits to your resource. Be sure to apply analytical systems, they will allow you to be aware of the quality of traffic and the effectiveness of operating channels for attracting. Check all parameters - from headings to CTA button color.

Once you've decided to create an LP to obtain contact information, consider the best questions to ask when negotiating with potential clients. Right choice will increase resource conversion. Also work with volume: Some landing pages should be optimized for SEO.

Method 6. Marketing automation

How are you going to use the database collected using the incoming stream? Maybe send out useful information, lucrative offers to convert cold potential clients into hot ones? If you do it yourself, the process will be difficult. Better automate your email marketing. According to 85% of marketers, mailing is the best working method for transforming leads into real consumers, that is, launching them into the sales funnel.

Method 7. Feedback from current clients

Full, well-established feedback with customers is worth a lot. Ask them:

• how they found you;
• what words could they use to describe your company, business, product?

The resulting information will be of great benefit if you strive to establish a constant flow of new people and then work with them based on trust. If you know exactly where people came from and why they agreed to work with you, you will have all the tools to develop a strategy for gaining new clients, while wisely using existing resources. This will give you ideas to improve your service levels.

But try to look not only for ways to update existing categories, but also for additional opportunities to increase your contribution to certain sectors. This move gives you a chance to constantly remain in the field of view of potential clients. In other words, you will be able to create not only a large incoming flow, but also good traffic with which your specialists can effectively interact. Since buyers are already committed to a constructive conversation, consideration of an offer and completion of a transaction, you significantly reduce the period of time from attracting them to selling them a product or service.

Method 8. Usability and attractiveness

Your store, office, website, landing page, and sent out information must attract attention. Very often, people come back again only because they are pleased to be with you, they are comfortable, they are satisfied that you give unusual bonuses, even if not directly related to your basic products. When a potential customer evaluates you as a likely partner to buy from, they look at everything.

Method 9. Networking

Forming connections is essential. Appear in public: participate in exhibitions, master classes, hand out business cards, in a word, communicate. This is a very difficult task that requires time and financial investment. Always remember that this investment will pay off. If you feel uncomfortable when you have to introduce a business or start a conversation with strangers, relax. Many people feel the same way. You have two options: bury yourself in your complexes and cherish them, or order beautiful business cards, booklets, go out into the world and start identifying potential clients.

Method 10. Contact information

Give away your contacts. Of course, your own website page is a good place for them, but there are many others. Check if your data is in Google, Yandex, various online directories, social networks and other media. Remember: when information about you is hard to find, potential clients are less likely to find you.

Expert opinion

Three principles for attracting potential clients on social networks

Dmitry Perunov,

Marketing Director at CoralTravel

According to PwC statistics for 2015, 45% of online users increase the number of purchases after contacting a brand on social networks. Based on our experience, I can say that with the help of a competent SMM strategy, you can collect 8.5 thousand subscribers on Instagram in two years and increase sales by 15% monthly. To achieve good results, we developed our social network account in accordance with three principles:

Principle 1. Involving users in communication with the brand

The activities of a large number of SMM managers are aimed at ensuring that company posts and news appear on the site, but not at contacting subscribers. This is a false strategy: if users react to publications on social networks (like them, share with friends, leave comments, etc.), then they will easily respond to the company’s offer to purchase a product or service. Therefore, the main task of such work is to involve subscribers in communication with the brand. The most convenient network for this is Instagram.

Principle 2. Analysis of user activity

In social media, it is not enough to focus your efforts only on attracting new subscribers. It is important to regularly analyze: what attracts potential customers, at what time and days of the week they are most active, etc. The tools available on every social network will help with this. Do not refuse paid advertising, which makes it possible to quickly understand the initiative of visitors, divide the audience into groups and create a separate message for each of them.

Principle 3. Application of a new format

A company that intends to attract and retain subscribers on a social network must constantly experiment with new formats for publishing and communicating with the audience. Otherwise, consumers will unfollow the account and go to a more creative competitor. This is how we came up with a video quote on Instagram. Sayings famous personalities is a popular type of content on social media. We superimposed a quote from a great man onto a short video of the beach or southern nature, providing the whole thing with the company logo. Compared to posts containing photos, video content receives four times more engagement from followers.

Why is a database of potential clients compiled?

A database of potential clients begins to develop from the first day of operation of any company, regardless of the planned turnover. This tool is the main source of information when developing a promotion strategy. Be sure to establish responsibility for non-disclosure of potential client data. local act company, record it as a separate clause in the employment contract.

This database must meet the following parameters:

1. Information allows you to offer a product to people who are actually interested in purchasing a specific category of products.
2. The information corresponds to reality, thereby eliminating pointless investments in the production of advertising materials and the organization of presentations.

Remember that even the slightest discrepancy between your database and the listed points interferes with your progress.

The potential customer base can be used for planning. To do this, it must contain the following information:

• Company name;
• legal and postal address;
• telephones;
• email addresses;
• information about the specifics of the activity.

All employees of the company should be interested in periodically updating the information available in the database. The reasons for making changes are:

• presentation of innovative products or services;
• changes in demand for certain product categories.

How to Create a List of Leads

It usually happens that you already know some of the consumers of your products. You even know some of them by name. These could be those with whom you worked before, your colleagues from other companies, acquaintances who remained after joint participation at professional events and clubs. They are all obvious clients.

The remaining potential clients can be identified. Create a list of parameters that your intended consumer should meet. This may include position, professional responsibilities, place of work and residence, hobbies, etc. Everyone who gets here are prospective clients.

Enter the data of all potential clients, do not think about which of them is really capable of buying the product, and whose candidacy seems controversial. Start by expanding your list, then start evaluating. It is very likely that while replenishing your database, you will have ideas and options for developing your business.

A worksheet will give you the ability to organize them more easily. Use the left column for the names of potential buyers. Medium - for comments: here briefly describe why you decided to add the person to this list. Leave the right one for generalization. If this particular person or firm can become a client, who will be next? Who has similarities with this buyer that will make it easy to work with him?

Let's imagine that you sell phones with automatic dialing, which make it possible to promptly remind the client about a scheduled meeting, an appointment in the medical field. Then your potential clients, first of all, will be doctors, since it is extremely unprofitable for them to have empty spaces in their work schedule just because of the patients’ poor memory. Such forgetful patients may require reminders to return for a follow-up visit. Your product will easily solve this problem. But when you enter information in the third column, you will understand that not only doctors can become consumers. Go back to the second column and think: why does the buyer need your product? Representatives of which areas feel a similar need to remind partners and clients about themselves? Lawyers, cosmetologists, airlines, hotels, auto repair shops and similar businessmen will immediately come to mind. All of them, like you, do not want to waste their working time, constantly calling potential clients to tell them what they are diligently trying to forget.

• How to write an outgoing call script that no client can resist

Expert opinion

4 steps to turn a potential client into a real one

Andrey Kulagin,

CEO Pacific Stroy company, Moscow

In 80 percent of situations, our potential clients try to achieve more favorable conditions and to do this they feign dissatisfaction and disagreement with our proposals. This happens even if they are 100% ready for working together. To convince them, we follow a clear algorithm consisting of four stages:

Stage 1. First contact with the client: leave a strong impression

Everything that catches the client’s eye or is in his hands ( business card, booklet, website, advertising poster, product itself), must be of high quality and beautiful. For ourselves, we chose mailing as one of the options for establishing initial contact. We send a nicely decorated registered parcel with an elegant booklet and a gift. This parcel is delivered personally important client: architect, contractor, etc. Such a sign of respect does not go unnoticed, since it is not every day that postal employees in company uniform deliver registered parcels to any of us. If the content was able to arouse a person’s interest, he will definitely contact you. In this case, all the hope is for a pleasant experience.

Step 2: Identify customer problems

At this stage, it is necessary to ask clarifying questions, determine the procedure for further cooperation with a potential client - everything to understand what the problem of the person who has come to you is. When identifying needs, we follow a template. We have a list of questions that must be asked to a person. Based on the responses, we divide everyone into three groups: “ours”, “spam”, “sent from competitors”.

Stage 3. Dealing with client doubts

At this step, it is important not to be shy about asking the consumer questions and answering them honestly. IN difficult situations It is possible to take a break or involve more experienced colleagues in the dialogue. So, I try to meet in person with doubting potential clients, the income from transactions with which may exceed the planned volume for the month.

Stage 4. Conclusion of an agreement

If you have chosen the right strategy and worked competently with the client in the first three stages, the transition to a commercial proposal and signing an agreement is usually predetermined. In this case, this step is mainly of a technical nature: discussion of details, bonuses, etc., since the client has already become “yours” from the very beginning. However, this does not mean that further work is not required - under no circumstances should you relax.

• Examples of effective lead magnets that will warm up cold customers

Tip 1. Create the basic prerequisite for a potential buyer to want to visit you for the first time. List the product at cost or at a reduced price. Your task: to make a person appear in your office for the first time.

Tip 2. Find out from existing clients the names of potential buyers. This method has been used by insurers for many years. The most convenient resource for finding consumers is an existing buyer. Label it " network method", "work according to recommendations", as you prefer. Psychologists have noticed: a person likes to convince others of the correctness of his own choice. Remember how your friends told you: “This movie is absolutely unmissable!”, “How? Have you tried this restaurant yet?” It’s the same with your company: you need to do everything possible to make it “worth visiting.”

Tip 3. Involve the organizations that your potential buyers belong to. Often large grocery stores give a small corporate discount to employees of individual companies. This is very convenient: from now on these companies will turn into yours.” advertising agents”, and their clients will contact you more often.

Tip 4: Try contacting potential buyers directly by mail. Most consumers live permanently in a specific location. If you're promoting a grocery store, they could be scattered within a two-mile radius of you. If the dry cleaner is no more than two blocks away. If it’s a bank, then near the branch closest to your home. Select an area where your existing customers are concentrated. There are very high chances that potential clients live here, and even have similar social characteristics. Send emails to every potential client with an offer they can't help but agree to. It worked? Now increase your mailing area.

Tip 5. Get involved in social life. Many small businessmen are successful because they take an active part in the public life of their area. Neighbors remember them from their work in various organizations, kindergartens, community cleanups and other events. However, it is dangerous to think: “Everyone knows what I do and where my office is.” This is the wrong approach. Such a phrase is a clear sign of the “assumption syndrome”, in other words, you only assume that the whole world is aware. Whereas in reality, many do not even suspect your existence. And since 20% of residents in your area move every year, it's a good idea to immerse yourself in community service while introducing yourself and your line of work to potential clients.

Tip 6: Know your product. People prefer to work with competent salespeople. That is, with those who know everything about the product and are able to easily answer any question even before it is voiced. Remember the main rule: the ability to sell lies in knowing the offer. The best insurance managers are just listening to you, but they already have in their heads a dialogue option that will suit you. More data means more sales. You can obtain any information on the product from the supplier. If he comes to the store new collection clothes, we will not rest until we are sure that everything is up to last employees read the information on the labels. Of course, not everyone does this, but these tiny tags contain a wealth of data that is great for productive trading.

Tip 7. Don’t waste time on vocational training and self-education. Organize meetings with employees on a weekly basis about new products and upcoming arrivals. Let people speak by asking everyone. Most workers do not express their position only because they were not asked such questions. It doesn’t matter who puts forward a certain idea. Often the most inconspicuous and least active employee can become the creator. You just need to hear him when he decides to speak.

Tip 8. Professional exchanges. Wherever you go, go to the office of a company that deals with a similar business to yours. How is their work going, is there anything we can learn from? Feargal Quinn, the owner of Superquinn, the largest supermarket in Ireland, created a system of professional exchanges, sending workers from his supermarket for a short period of time to another store in the chain. A person who has chosen a new place collects the features of the functioning of someone else’s establishment that he likes and is then able to make positive changes in the life of his own. This system proved its effectiveness so well that Quinn began to take his people even to North America.

Tip 9. Attend meetings and meetings of professional associations. Their organizers are always looking for new, unusual and often successfully working ideas. Attend a three-day industry workshop, watch thirty talks, and you're guaranteed to come away with at least one new idea. What could be better? You will outpace your competitors in converting potential customers into actual visitors.

Tip 10. Read. Take a closer look. Listen. Keep lectures on your field of work handy. Or the art of trading. Watch educational films. Read professional publications. Any group of people in the same sphere is a fairly close circle where everyone knows each other.

What should be the interaction with potential clients?

An effective letter to a client aimed at promotion should consist of five blocks:

1. To attract attention

In this section, let potential customers know how exceptional your offer is. No product left a large number of, sales will close in a few days, etc. The point of all this is to encourage potential customers to act now.

It is important to accurately formulate the reason why a potential buyer should hurry. Let's look at tactics that can be useful when applied to your business:

• limitation by a specific period;
• the product will be on sale for only five days;
• price valid until March 7;
• there is a discount for a certain period;
• only 40 units available;
• The offer is valid until Sunday.

Try to independently create methods that are convenient for you and can make a person buy immediately. However, it is important to remember two things:

1. You will have to fulfill what you promised, that is, all the restrictions used will definitely come into force. If they promised a price increase from March 7, thus forcing you to buy, but you yourself kept the same price, your reputation in the market will be greatly damaged. This will directly affect the number of consumers.
2. It is important to give the visitor a strict choice: only buy or lose, a short period of time is given for the decision - the effect of fear of loss is used here. “You may not get this chance again...”, etc.

As research results demonstrate, these methods work more effectively when a specific date is mentioned. However, the downside is that all the specified conditions will have to be strictly followed.

If commercial proposals sent to potential clients by mail do not provide feedback within two weeks, this is too long. Monitor response times and make improvements to sent materials on time, based on this indicator. In this case, the implementation of “scarcity tactics” will be most successful.

2. Incitement to action

We all want potential clients to take action. Therefore, the purchase stages need to be brought to maximum simplicity and explained to everyone who comes: what and how. Most often, orders are made through a special form on the website. With this option, it is better to describe in detail each block to be filled out and indicate the sequence of steps for the client. There is no need to think that the principle of operation on the site will already be known to people. Remember that customers expect step-by-step instructions. They don’t like to wait, simplify all stages as much as possible.

3. Warnings

Once you have managed to tell the person about the stages of the purchase, it is time to let him know how bleak his existence is without what you offer. Everyone values ​​comfort, but is afraid of change. And since this product in some sense interferes with life, it would be good to show what is happening not as a change, but as an increase in comfort.

Here you can outline existence without this product. Tell people what they face with this option. What was life like five years ago? What awaits a potential client if he misses your offer and what unpleasant consequences might take him by surprise?

Direct all questions to yourself first and answer them. Now all that remains is to make small changes to the received statements and bring them to the ears of potential clients. You told them why they should think about your product, showed the purchase process, now indicate what they are giving up by not buying. Play on desire and curiosity, put pressure on fears so that the potential client understands: the current situation in his life is wrong and he has no other way but to buy the product.

Remember, no one buys objects, people buy solutions to problems. Therefore, be sure to tell them what difficulties without this product will hang like a burden on the customers’ necks, what they will lose. Tell us about all this in as much detail as possible.

4. Urge to take immediate action

In this block, it’s time to summarize in two or three phrases how a potential client can order the product now and that he will lose his only chance if he does not. Say directly: luck is on his side and he will then regret his inaction all his life. And there will never be another chance like this. Be sure to briefly state all the benefits of a positive decision and the incredibly sad result of procrastination.

Complete this entire passage with your wishes and personal signature. There are many phrases to end such letters: “With respect,” “Sincerely yours.” These words should be followed by your signature.

5. P.S

An excellent option is to create two postscripts: one duplicates the offer and consequences, and the other (denoted P.P.S.) lists the gifts and bonuses that the potential client will receive when making a purchase. In fact, they make three or even more such additions. Then the first outlines the advantages discussed earlier and the warnings from point 3, then briefly reminds you of the ordering procedure, and finally describes the pleasant bonuses.

The main rule (for any chosen option) is that there must be a postscript. If there is not enough space, trim the base text.

• 4 rules for writing a commercial proposal text

Expert opinion

How to make a commercial proposal that will interest a potential client

Alexey Batylin,

General Director of the company "ActivityGroup", Moscow

I, like any top manager, receive a large number of letters with commercial proposals (CP). Which ones have a chance of being considered? The key parameter when forming a CP for a top manager is understanding how valuable his time is. This is the best you can do in a sales proposal to a potential client. The rest of the rules follow from this:

Rule 1. No water. The message does not allow for demagoguery. Long texts are read by those who have nothing better to do. Such team members rarely have a casting vote, meaning they are of no use to you. Place the key idea in the very first lines. Maintain integrity of thought, write correctly.

Rule 2. No “problems”. Imagine the difficulties your client actually faces. Name them at the very beginning and offer a solution on your own or on behalf of the company. Now imagine how you are going to implement it, avoiding unnecessary details. In fact, no more is needed. But don’t call the problem by a specific name; it’s better to imagine it as a growth area. Because if you come across a visual person (a person who perceives and remembers information well), because of this word, his attitude towards the sentence will be as if it carries complexity.

Rule 3. Less is more. The more data you can collect about the company and the manager before making an offer, the better for you. It is more effective to spend several days collecting and analyzing information about a potential client in order to make a short and succinct proposal based on it, than to give a lot of arguments in favor of working together.

Rule 4. Numbers instead of words. Let's imagine that you are proposing to increase sales. Then write specifically how much they will grow and what percentage of this growth the client will transfer to you. Try to list all the added value options that the customer will receive: increased turnover, increased brand, product recognition, etc. When the benefit is obvious, the chances of receiving a positive response increase several times. But if you cannot calculate more or less accurately, it is better not to guess, because making a mistake in the calculations is worse than doing without them completely.

Rule 5. Simple infographics. Today people spend 60% of their time on gadgets and computers. He looks through email and social networks in passing and reads only the most important messages in full. This contributes to the formation of a special perception of information among potential clients. One of the most effective methods for submitting proposals is an infographic presentation. We considered this option suitable. Moreover, they came to the following conclusion: the less text and the more simple and schematic images, the more transparent the general idea is for a person.

Rule 6. Professional work. Be honest with yourself. You can’t do everything: if you don’t have the skill of writing texts, delegate this function to another professional. When creating a commercial proposal, a potential client should use the services of an experienced philologist-copywriter and designer, or freelance.

3 stages of calling potential clients

Calling potential clients- This is the main tool in working with telephone marketing. Advertising, news, promotional, survey - any of the types marketing communications can be carried out using telephone technology. In this case, calling is necessary, as it is a path to the basic principle of marketing - mass participation.

Cold calling is when an employee calls for the first time to present and sell a product. The employee conducting such calls to potential clients is considered an active telephone sales specialist. Its goals include establishing primary connections with a potential buyer and introducing the company and product. Often people get nervous about such treatment and refuse it, therefore, it is important to hook them with the help of developed technologies.

Three main stages of calling potential clients:

1. The preparatory stage is compiling a client base. The company decides to create a list of potential clients. This will include people who made a one-time purchase and frequent consumers. Or data obtained from publicly available sources will be included.
2. The stage of compiling an informational text - a script. When the list of people is ready, start writing a script to subsequently transmit their information over the phone. It should include everything you want to tell the person when you call. The content is re-read many times, which allows you to find all the errors and shortcomings. Here it is necessary to emphasize the pleasant aspects, mention new products, their advantages over the products of other companies.
3. Start of work stage. will definitely start on time. It's great when it goes through daytime- the best part of the day to remember.

The caller needs to remain calm and have a stable emotional background, regardless of the answers. Such stability (stress resistance) - key feature telephone sales professional.

• How to bypass the secretary during a cold call, reach the decision maker and make a deal

How to determine if a potential client will never become a real one

This becomes clear when a potential buyer:

• proposes to replace payment with controversial barter;
• requires VIP conditions when conducting a regular transaction;
• clarifies a lot when planning to buy a product at a low price;
• does not pay on time, citing delays in accounting;
• leaves contact information where he cannot be found.

Then you need to answer yourself these questions:

• Are you using questionable tactics to sell your product?
• Is the client's self-esteem inflated?
• Does he understand what he needs?
• For what reason is he holding out?

Offer him the product characteristics, existing discounts and make it clear that nothing else is provided. If after reading his tactics do not change, then such a person most likely does not know what he came for and is unlikely to become your client.

Information about the experts

Dmitry Perunov, Marketing Director of CoralTravel, Moscow. "CoralTravel" - international tourist agency, founded in 1995. Engaged in organizing group and individual tours in 30 countries. The list of regular partners includes more than 22 thousand Russian agencies, 40 air carriers and 5 thousand hotels.

Andrey Kulagin, General Director of Pacific Stroy, Moscow. He graduated from the Kazan branch of the St. Petersburg Military Artillery University (now the Mikhailovsk Military Artillery Academy) with a degree in Electrical Mechanical Engineer. Completed a training course at the KME roofing academy (Osnabrück, Germany), as well as at IBM. Expert in the field of roofing and facade systems. Member of the editorial board and author of articles for the magazine "Roofs", published in the publication Copper Architecture Forum.

Alexey Batylin, General Director of Activity Group, Moscow. Activity Group specializes in BTL and trade marketing. The company's portfolio includes more than 200 completed projects. Main clients: Mosenergo, O'Key, Yandex, Media Markt, Whirlpool.

Potential buyer

Introduction to the concept of “potential buyer”

A potential buyer is someone who wants to buy something from you.

Potential buyers are people who may know about your company or you, but have never bought anything from you before. How to include them in the orbit of your business?

It's not easy at all. Many small businesses fail to truly expand precisely because they fail to attract the attention of potential buyers and convert them into visitors.

For many years, businessmen believed that main way withstand competition - increase the range and keep more low prices than competitors. With some irony, we can say that too much variety and low prices are the two main reasons for the collapse of companies!

Let's clarify this idea.

Too much assortment can lead to large inventories, which will affect profitability. Think about where the niche market is for you and what you will actually be selling.

Too low prices for many small and even large firms can be a harbinger of collapse. If you can't compete with Wal-Mart on efficiency, you can't compete on price. Emphasize your positive sides: specialization, customer service, staff competence, warranty service, home delivery, repair services, gift wrapping, etc. Emphasize your differences from any Wal-Mart if you are not able to compete with them in prices.

Let's talk more about the range.

The average person encounters hundreds of commercial offers: on television, radio, from newspapers, sees them on advertising stands, in taxis and even, as for example, in Sydney, Australia, in the shower stalls of hotel rooms.

Every year more than 15,000 new products appear on the market, and attempts to sell 90% of them end in failure!

Consider this: PC owners can choose from more than 30,000 programs on offer;

Car buyers can choose from 572 types and models;

If you have a credit card, you receive over 300 catalogs between September and Christmas;

There are 13 8 varieties of toothpaste (this is not trade marks, namely varieties: in tubes, in single packages, in various colors, for smokers, non-smokers, for people with bad teeth, for tea or coffee lovers, for people with yellowing teeth...).

In Consumer Reports, David Pittle writes: “Time and time again we hear about people having difficulty deciding what to buy.”

Still, in some areas of business, a wide range works. Charles Lazarus, founder of the famous toy company Toys I Us, says: “When parents have no idea what to buy for their child, they go to the department store where the widest selection is available.” This is, of course, good for a company like Toys I Us, but not so much for a small corner store. Naturally, it will lose out to large companies in terms of assortment.

What should you do in this case to lure a potential buyer?

For a small entrepreneur, a large assortment can rarely be profitable due to the high cost of inventory.

Let's take a look at another reason why small businesses fail. They are trying to compete with large firms on prices.

Large enterprises will certainly offer better prices. They have greater purchasing power and lower overhead costs relative to sales volume, and can therefore achieve success with very low trading margins. They have already siphoned billions of dollars from the American consumer, saying: “No one can compare with our prices!” or something like that. In 1993, for the first time, these price-gougers sold more ready-to-wear clothing than specialty stores. Budweiser has reduced beer prices for the first time in its 116-year history. To maintain its place in the tobacco market, the Philip Morris company reduced the price of Marlboro cigarettes by 40%.

Could this work? Maybe - but for large companies! Even for such giants as Philip Morris, the result can be very different. The short-term effect will be an increase in sales, but a decrease in profits. On the day when the price cut for Marlboro cigarettes was announced, the company's stock price fell on the stock exchange. Investors did not consider that an increase in the number of potential buyers of Marlboro would lead to an increase in the lower limit of the stock price. Even more than a year later, financial analysts are trying to find an explanation for what is now being called Marlboro Black Friday. The market share owned by this company has increased, but competitors do not retreat, in turn reducing cigarette prices. As a result, smokers enjoy lower prices, but the overall cigarette industry becomes less profitable.

Let's take American Airlines as an example. Year after year, the airline has been ranked top in airline passenger surveys. At some point, she decided to increase traffic volumes by reducing ticket prices. This idea seemed quite timely. After all, different airlines have very different fares depending on the time of year (and sometimes even depending on the time of day). Why not replace the “at what price should I fly?” conundrum. introducing easy-to-understand rules? The problem was that other airlines followed American Airlines' lead. Some small companies like Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines were able to operate successfully because they did not have the problems with federal taxes and markups that American Airlines had to account for. Soon she had to return to the well-mastered old methods and tariffs.

Today's consumers are well aware of who does what. They will place your company in their mental “scale”, on which they “mark” where to buy what. Renowned authors Jack Trout and All Reis call this “positioning,” the process by which consumers envision a “place” in their minds for your product.

As renowned forecaster Laurel Cutler says, “The 1990s consumer is the smartest, savviest consumer. We taught people how to think.”

The problem with lowering prices is that it can lead to a “price war.” You will soon find yourself in the position of the owners of the Kroger supermarkets in Cincinnati, who increased their discounts on new food products to the point that pig farmers came to them to buy milk for their piglets for five cents a quart, so it was cheaper, than regular piglet feed.

Therefore, the desire to lower prices and increase the range may not be the best way attracting a potential buyer.

What to do?

Below we will give some examples of using specific techniques to attract the attention of a potential buyer to your business. To help you understand what to do, we'll tell you the story of how we first got into business.

We were quite competitive in terms of prices and assortment, but in our store we limited this competition to a certain category of goods,

When we started, our small baby supply store had an annual turnover of about $25,000. What would make a potential buyer come to us after passing by a huge department store and a number of large specialty stores? My father-in-law came up with the idea: “Let you have inexpensive goods, but in the widest range in the city!”

It was autumn, and we began to think about what a person might need for the winter, and not very expensive?

What if you try to sell small things that keep children warm - mittens, scarves, muffs? It turned out that we had what we needed - inexpensively, and we could offer the widest range of these products in the city!

We decorated the windows ourselves:

“THE BEST ASSORTMENT OF CHILDREN’S GLOVES, MUFFTS AND SCARFS IN OUR CITY!”

Soon people started coming in and asking what the best range of muffs and gloves were. While they were in the store, we managed to offer them overalls (we had, perhaps, the poorest assortment) - after all, the sale of one overalls was equal in money to the cost of three dozen pairs of gloves.

We sometimes managed to sell either a jumpsuit, or a suit, or a girl’s dress - all this because we had what a specific buyer wanted, and in the widest range.

So, although we didn't have the most wide range of all products, we managed to achieve it in something that our customers required.

What have we achieved? We have transferred our Potential Buyer to the rank of Visitor.

You need to make a favorable first impression on the Visitor, and this is achieved by a calm, warm, caring atmosphere. If you succeed, then you thereby win future buyers. If you ignore or, worse, annoy these Visitors, then you lose them forever. And sometimes, the worst thing is, they will tell their story of an unsuccessful visit to your store to a dozen or more of their friends and acquaintances.

Not long ago, a supermarket lost our family in this way... perhaps forever. And since we spent about $10,000 each week in their grocery department (that's about $5,000 a year, or about $100,000 over the next twenty years), that's a pretty significant loss even for a large business.

Here is how it was. We went to the counter to buy some small things. The seller looked and said:

Take the number!

What? - we asked again.

Take the number! - the seller repeated, directing us to a cash register-type machine that issued tear-off paper numbers. - So I will know whose turn it is.

But excuse me, there’s no one in the hall but us!

If you want to be served, you must have a number! These are our rules! - the seller repeated once again, in an irritated tone.

We went to the machine and tore off the number - sixty-one,

The salesman looked at the wall display and shouted, “Next! Sixty-first!"

“It’s us,” we had to respond, and only then were we served.

What happened? People who were trying to take care of us, trying to create an impression of professionalism and competence, forgot about human factor. They only remembered that everyone had to “pay off the numbers.” This is how robots act, not people. In any case, people should not act this way if they want their potential buyer to rise to the next step and become a Visitor,

How much do you harvest per hectare?

Stan Golomb develops marketing programs for dry cleaners, restaurants, dentists, medical services, pizzerias and many other businesses. When he takes on new clients, he always asks them to seriously think about and answer one key question for the business, namely, “how much do you harvest per hectare?”

“Farmers always calculate yield per hectare,” explains Stan. If the average yield is, say, 50 quintals per hectare, then a yield of 30 quintals immediately tells him something is wrong.”

Therefore, why shouldn’t an entrepreneur compare the results of his activities with “yield per hectare”? In business, this “yield” is calculated in comparison with the rest of the market. “Area in hectares” in this case can be the number of transactions in a given area of ​​the market that are concluded and carried out by one enterprise. Do you want to know how you're doing? Pay attention to your “yield”.

Start by defining your market. Your primary market is where eighty percent of your Prospects live. Find out the addresses of 300 of your current clients. Using this data, you can estimate where the vast majority of your customers live. If you are a typical small business, over 80% of your customers live within three to five miles of your business.

Then calculate how many families live in your market area. Go to the post office - there is data on the number of postmen and how many houses each of them serves. Let's say there are 5,000 houses on your property. You do business with 1000 clients. This gives a “yield” of 20%, that is, you serve 20% of your potential market. Your task: find a way to increase the “yield”!

There are two ways to increase it:

1. Increase the number of families served by your business.

2. Convince those families who are already doing business with you to spend with you more money.

Once you have an idea of ​​your market share, you can begin to systematically increase it. Even if you've reached every customer in your market, you still have the opportunity to dramatically increase sales by applying incentives so that each customer spends 50% more.

Your sales volume will depend on a number of factors:

1. Geographical location of your part of the market,

2. Population density.

3. The level of income of the population in this part of the market.

4. The type of activity in which the population is engaged.

5. The image and lifestyle accepted here.

6. Ethnic characteristics of the population.

7. Average age of the population.

8. Typical weather conditions in the area,

9. Number of competitors in this market.

10. Type of competition.

11. The nature of your activities to improve your competitiveness.

The combination of these factors determines why one business has a turnover of $5,000 a week, while another, similar one, barely manages to reach two thousand. No matter what factors you have to deal with, you can always increase your “yield”.

Think about how farmers increase yield per hectare? Some people increase watering, some add fertilizers, some start using pesticides to control pests, some develop hybrid varieties. They sow, cultivate, fertilize their fields, and try to do everything so that the yield per hectare recoups their costs as much as possible. What can you do within your business?

Life forces you to reckon with certain unchangeable factors. Let's take them for granted. You cannot change the economics of your market area, its population density, its geographical boundaries. You cannot significantly change the location of the enterprise or influence the methods of operation of a competitor in the area of ​​prices and discounts on goods or services.

However, a lot can be done to run your business more successfully, and only you can do it through your own actions. You can do nothing, and then you will reap the fruits of doing nothing - nothing will change, except perhaps external factors affecting your business.

Let's take the vending machine dry cleaning industry as an example. Their annual turnover can be very different - from 50,000 to 1,000,000 dollars (most dry cleaners operate within these limits).

But whatever this turnover is, it can be increased by 20, 50 or even more percent. And this is done by analyzing the local services market and taking appropriate actions.

For example, there is a highway to your north. You don’t have any clients on one side of it. Located in the south Railway, because of her there are few clients from the south. In the west there is a golf course, there are not a lot of customers there either. To the east, it looks like your market border is Fairview Avenue. If your business is located in the center of this Ogden Avenue site, you are forced to respect these boundaries. The only way to attract buyers is by sending them advertising leaflets, as well as telephone calls. In doing so, pay special attention appearance your store: display windows, signs, interior spaces, the rumor about which will be passed from visitor to visitor. A recent survey showed that four out of ten potential buyers decide to do business with you based on the appearance of your business.

Once you have an understanding of your market area, similar to a farmer's understanding of the yield in his field, you can begin to think about how to cultivate your field to increase yields and therefore profits.

Interview with Sid Friedman

If something doesn’t want to change, change that “something”!

Sid is one of the world's leading insurance agents. When we want to understand how to find Prospects, we call Sid. He manages thirty insurance agents, but still personally distributes insurance policies. In his lectures and seminars, the most frequently repeated phrase is “if something doesn’t want to change, change that “something”!”

What does Sid mean by this?

Nothing more than this: “It’s not enough to just do what everyone else is doing. And, more importantly, it’s not enough to just repeat what worked before.” Peter Draker writes that “every business must be prepared to change... in everything!”

The fact that some idea, concept, theory has worked for many years in business does not mean that it will continue to be suitable. This is sort of part of the philosophy expressed in the words “the only constant is change!”

Sid Friedman's passion for change extends to his vision for the future. We spoke with him, trying to understand how he became one of the leading insurance agents.

Question: How do you determine the population of people who may need your services?

Answer: I do targeted marketing. I find people who are somewhat similar to each other. I can't say that my market is everyone around me. I live in the Philadelphia area, but that's not my market. Just like neither New York nor Atlantic City is.

My market is people who have something in common. So if I want to attract funeral directors, I go where they are. I go to their meetings and speak there. I write articles for their special magazine. When I manage to understand their life and work, and they understand me, then a certain relationship is established between us.

As soon as I manage to get one funeral director as a client, I can already move on to the next one. I go to my only client so far with a list of funeral directors and say, “Joe, do you know anyone else on this list that I could talk to and offer my services to?” I go to those people who trust each other and use their connections with each other.

I am very careful about who I work with and who I offer my services to.

My market is not all people. You can, of course, act at random and achieve some success, but in this case you can be compared to that one sperm out of a billion of its kind that fertilizes an egg, and this happens purely by probability. I don't want to be like that. It is pointless. I prefer to know in advance which sperm will work and use only that one.

Question: What can you say about those who have already used your services once? Are you doing anything special to encourage them to come back to you?

Answer: Of course, we mutually sell services to each other. I'm not just a stranger, you become an important person to me. Now I’m trying to keep you - this is task number one. How exactly am I trying to keep you? I send birthday greetings, letters, using phrases like: “I saw an article here and, in my opinion, it may be of interest to you.” By informing you about any events that may be of interest to you,

Since you bought A, and, in my opinion, B, C, D or E may also be useful to you, then I am trying to see you and tell you about it. For example, if you bought group insurance from me, then I can talk to you about additional pension contribution, annuity insurance, monthly contributions to the pension fund - you will know that I do this too. I don't expect you to buy my services every time I call, but my point is that when you decide to buy something, you may well contact me.

Question: Do you exclude some segments of the potential market from consideration in order to find those who really need your services?

Answer: It all starts with planning, doesn't it? Can I pull the trigger without knowing what I'm aiming at? Everything happens not according to the principle: “Attention! Fire! Hit! If I know what I want to achieve, then I must consider whether the client can afford my services, does he have enough income, is his business profitable? If profitable, is the client the type of person who cares about the future? Will they buy my services when I come to them? There's no way in hell I'll deal with engineers - I just don't know how to work with them.

Personal characteristics, biographical features, place of residence, environment- everything has to do with the process of identifying the part of the market that I would like to work with.

Question: Many people are not at all eager to disclose the details of their financial situation. How do you overcome this barrier to assess whether a potential client can use your services?

Answer: I don’t think that the reason for their reluctance to share this kind of information with me lies in the presence or absence of some kind of desire, it’s just the way the public is. I know that dry cleaning business owners all over America, as well as all over the world, make a lot of money. Owners of several dry cleaners make even more money. If I wanted to get these Prospects as clients, I would target the dry cleaning industry as a whole. I would find where they gather for their meetings, I would find an opportunity to attend there as an invitee, in general, I would somehow infiltrate their environment. I would tell them that I would like to be involved in their business, find out what they like and what they don't. I would start writing articles for them professional magazine, would perform for free at their events. I would strive to become necessary for them, then they could become necessary for me.

I always have a surgery plan. I don't know how you can win battles without such a plan. Although this is not a war, strategic planning is necessary before committing to a specific plan of action.

Question: How do you behave with dissatisfied clients, who got into trouble because of you?

Answer: Whoever has problems, I give my home phone number. This is the responsibility of the president of the company. He is the main person when complaints and claims arise. Two things must be brought to the attention of the president: one is when someone on the staff acts in a questionable manner, and the manager should know about it, and the second is when a client has a serious problem, and the only person The one who can do something is the president of the company.

Question: Do your employees do the same marketing as you?

Answer: Not all. I would like them to do it, as it could make their life much easier and help them earn more. It seems to me that you can earn much more from services than directly from sales. At the stations Maintenance sells more cars than car dealerships.

Question: What special efforts what steps are you taking to close the deal?

Answer: One client told me that he would not be able to meet with me because he was flying to Chicago. I asked him:

What time are you leaving tomorrow morning?

By plane at 7 a.m., flight 1260 Philadelphia-Chicago.

I then asked if I could fly with him, to which the answer was yes, of course. I called the airline, booked a ticket, and found myself in a seat next to the person I wanted. So we got two hours for business meeting. I left the plane with a concluded contract and the client’s gratitude for his willingness to meet his circumstances. I took the next flight home.

I did this many times. I even had to fly to Los Angeles. This way I got a client for myself - two hours from Chicago and six hours from Los Angeles. After all, this is my client. He belongs to me. He has nowhere to hide, he cannot get rid of me, he cannot evaporate. He has no choice but to sit in the chair next to him.

As we wrap up our conversation with Sid Friedman, here are fifteen of his secrets for winning a client's trust.

1. Underpromise, overdeliver. Otherwise the following may happen:

The average consumer purchases five insurance policies over the course of his or her lifetime, from four different insurance agents. This happens because:

3 percent move to another place of residence;

For 5 percent, marital status changes:

9 percent refuse your services because someone else offered a better price:

14 percent were disappointed in the product or service they purchased:

68 percent refuse your services due to inattention and indifference to the client’s needs,

2. Always provide a 100% guarantee. If we had to live with a 99.9% guarantee, we'd be drinking unsafe water for an hour every month, there would be two risky plane landings at Chicago airport every day, 16,000 emails would be lost every hour, and 50 0 incorrect surgical procedures.

3. Always be a professional in everything. Professionalism is visible in actions and knowledge of

how to achieve your goal. A professional always tries to achieve the best results

As a result, a professional is always dissatisfied with himself.

4. Always have a notebook with you. If you hear or read something and like it, write down that idea or phrase.

5. View your life as an exciting journey. Monitor your business growth. Become who you want to be. First, determine your destination. What is your goal? Secondly, are you aware of your strengths and weak sides? Third, plan your trip.

6. Have the courage to dream big. See colorful dreams. Imagine what you are trying to achieve. Consider it in detail. Draw, And the most ordinary people are capable of extraordinary actions.

7. Above all, be yourself. You should not strive to “become me.” In this case, you will be a second-rate copy of me. You are the original. Borrow some traits from those you admire. Mentally play back events like a tape. What doesn't suit you, simply erase it from this tape. 8. Control your time - this way you can manage your life. This is done as follows:

Draw three columns on a piece of paper. In the header of the first column write “URGENT”, in the second header - “IMPORTANT”, and in the third - “OTHER”. Always carry this sheet with you.

9. Remember the four rules for controlling your time (the VOPU* principle). Place all the documents on your desk in one pile. Now take the top one - you will not put it aside until you

Execute it, or

Set it aside for a future date (but set a date for when you'll complete it), or

Give it to someone else to do, or

Destroy it.

10. Find out what everyone else is doing and don't do it. Stop competing. Start creating.

11. Form your image so that others associate it with the best. So work on yourself so that people start following your example. Work on eliminating negative traits in your character and behavior.

12. Know how to recognize the behavior of losers. Below are some well-known behavioral characteristics of losers:

They are too busy with themselves, they have no time for anyone else;

They cannot bear any responsibility;

They are characterized by inflexible behavior:

They do not perceive the whole picture, they do not dare to invade an unknown area;

They refuse to obey and would rather lose than follow instructions and win;

They are lazy, will not spend a drop of their talent and time without demanding an increase;

They only criticize and shame others, constantly looking for excuses for themselves and saying that these problems are insoluble.

13. In contrast, here are the characteristics of winners: they have a sense of humor; they don't give up until their job is done: they do whatever it takes to achieve success; their life is well balanced. There are many other things in life besides work;

They are goal oriented;

They understand perfectly how you feel and sincerely give you their full attention;

They have a correct idea of ​​themselves and a good psychological state.

14. Don't take yourself too seriously, but take your business seriously.

15. Whatever happens, I can do it. Just eight words that will provide you with guidance for life.

Facilities mass media: newspapers

Attracting potential buyers through newspaper advertisements

Throughout this book, we'll give you tips on how to use a variety of media to gradually convert Prospects into Customers for your business. Let's start with newspapers, since they are a fairly simple way to attract the attention of Potential Buyers.

FACT: More than 1.13 million adults reach newspapers in the United States every day. On average, six out of every ten people say they read them cover to cover. Nine out of ten read only the most important news. If your business is looking for customers based on their gender, then remember - nine out of ten men read sports pages, and eight out of ten women read leisure, gossip and entertainment pages.

Most newspaper readers are newspaper subscribers (seven out of ten), which means guaranteed delivery of newspapers to your Potential Buyers' homes, unlike radio or television, which only reaches their ears and eyes if the viewer or listener turns on the TV or radio .

Newspapers are very important tool information about your business because more money is spent on newspaper advertising than on any other media - approximately $34 billion a year.

Because so many people read newspapers every day, newspaper advertising can be an excellent way to introduce Potential Buyers to your product or service.

Nationally, newspapers consume about a quarter of all advertising dollars, but if we talk about local advertising, then newspapers account for about half of all advertising money (followed by television and the so-called “yellow pages” - a special type of telephone directories, each of which accounts for 13%).

Below we will provide some recommendations on how to compose headlines, text and illustrations for advertisements, that is, we will share the experience that we have acquired over many years in attracting the attention of Potential buyers to your business.

Heading

Before turning a newspaper page, the reader's attention lingers on it for an average of four seconds. During these four seconds, he first looks at the headlines of the articles. Therefore, it is best to write the title in such a way that the reader will want to read it to the end,

The average woman reads only four advertisements in the newspaper, so you need to put the essence in the headline - what is new, the freshest, the only, the priority, using keywords that can force a potential buyer to read your advertisement.

1. Promise benefits or arouse curiosity. Remember that people only buy two things in the world: solutions to their problems and good feelings. Think about these two criteria the next time you sit down to write advertisements for your products and services. Emphasize the benefit that a person will receive by purchasing your product, rather than the properties of the product itself. If the shoes you are selling have a cushioned insole (a product feature), say it is “shock absorbent” (a benefit). If the suits you sell are made from a synthetic/wool blend (feature), say they are “year-round” (benefit). Ads with headlines that promise benefits are read by four times as many people as those with headlines that do not promise benefits. Charles Mills, vice president of O. M. Scott, the world's largest turfgrass company, says, "People are interested in their lawns, not our seeds."

2. If possible, include the name of the product in the title. It is the name of the product, not the name of the company. Include your name elsewhere in the ad, but not in the title, unless it has some special meaning. “ONLY AT (store name). YOU WILL FIND (product name).” Most people like to see their company name in the header advertisement, although the lower part is no worse for this. Be sure to include your address, telephone number, and the name of the person you can contact for more information.

3. A long headline is perceived well (and often better than a short one). Headlines of more than ten words are much better read than short ones.

4. Don't try to sound smarter just for show. One recent advertisement for cars with catalytic converters had the headline "ARE YOU ALLERGY TO CATS?*" A reader with such an allergy will certainly notice this advertisement, but it has nothing to do with cats.

5. Be guided by some kind of “main idea.” The great advertising expert, David Ogilvy, said: “Unless your advertising campaign is built around a core idea, it will wander in the dark, like a ship in the night.” You must find what is special about the product you are advertising. The more such “highlights” you place in the ad text, the easier it will be to sell the product.

6. Sell only one idea at a time. Otherwise, you will only confuse the reader.

7. Value the word “new.” The product is “new”. New solution. Advertising with the words “new” or “new” in the headline performs 20% better,

8. Use special words in your ad headline because they work. These words include (but are not limited to): new, free, amazing, just arrived, guaranteed, you, now. If your advertisement is addressed to a specific audience, then indicate its name in the title (asthmatics, rheumatism patients). Here is an example of a “working” headline: “TWO MONTHS AGO, THEY CALLED ME BALDE.” You can be sure that bald men will pay attention to such a headline,

9. Include a statement about the local origin of your product. Supermarkets promoting the sale of local products are reporting a surge in turnover. People like to identify themselves with a local product. They are proud to buy “their own”. It is for this reason that Senator Mondale won the elections in Minnesota, and Dukakis - in Massachusetts, although they lost them in almost all other states.

10. “Don’t show off.” Double entendres, puns, and headlines designed to grab attention but lack substance don't work. There were advertisements on cable television in which famous people stated something like “Murphy Brown is on for 60 minutes.” Each of these advertisements began with the template, “Okay, although this is not true, but if it were real...” Most people immediately stop paying attention to such advertisements. We once put the headline on an advertisement for winter overalls that were purchased in Finland as follows: “WE WENT TO HELSINKI AND BACK TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THESE ONE-SUITS.” You can’t say anything, it’s funny, but it didn’t contribute to the sale of overalls.

A week later, we ran the same advertisement again, but the headline was changed: “IN THIRTY YEARS OF OUR COMPANY’S EXISTENCE, WE HAVE NEVER SOLD SO MANY JUMPSUITS IN SUCH A SHORT TIME.” This headline helped us sell sixty-three overalls. People read this headline and said, “Those jumpsuits must be something amazing!”

11. Place the title below the illustration. Why? Because that's how people read it. Take a look at any newspaper or magazine. If your advertisement looks like an editorial, then your readership will immediately increase.

12. Don't make titles in capital letters. If you type the title of your ad in lowercase letters INSTEAD OF TYPING IT LIKE THIS, you will also increase your readership. This happens because a person is accustomed to reading exactly the lowercase letters in which this sentence is typed. Yes, of course, the title will be typed in larger typography, but still in lowercase letters.

13. The title should be clear. John Caples, a headline writer and former vice president of advertising agency BBD&0, said, “When people see your ad, they think about completely different things.” Don't make them think. Make them take action.

14. The headline must be believed. I will believe the headline “HOW TO LOSE 5 KILO IN TWO WEEKS” and not believe “HOW TO LOSE 5 KILO IN 24 HOURS”. That makes all the difference.

15. The title should have been designed for your audience. Advertising headlines should be different for young mothers and sixty-year-old grandmothers.

16. Tell a story. People like to read different stories, and if your story is interesting, then the headline can make them read the whole text. Here's the headline we used for the men's ad. work clothes: “WE SAW THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME AT THE CRIILLON HOTEL ON THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE IN PARIS.” This was indeed the case. The first time we saw these thick, rough overalls was on a rack in the hotel toilet. When we got home we ordered them for our store and our headline helped us sell them!

17. Solving the problem. It dawned on us that children's raincoats could be monogrammed with the child's initials. Most children's raincoats are predominantly yellow, and in the school locker room it is impossible to distinguish them from each other. That's why your child often comes home wearing someone else's coat. Our headline read: "THIS CAPE CAN'T BE CONFUSED WITH ANYONE ELSE BECAUSE IT HAS YOUR NAME ON IT." They sold out in three days!

18. Dream come true. John Caples wrote the classic: "THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT AT THE PIANO." This advertisement helped sell a mail-order piano course.

20. Last but most important, don't forget the headlines! If you think that this is just funny and it doesn’t happen, take a look at car advertisements and food products in your local newspaper. They either have no headings (only the company name at the top), or are full of meaningless phrases like “MIDWINTER CLEARANCE”, which means absolutely nothing.

In conclusion. Try different headings for the same product. John Caples said that when he tested different options, one of them could be twenty times more effective than the others.

For years, sets of four notepads sold successfully with the ad "BUY THESE FOUR NOTES FOR JUST 99 CENTS," until someone offered the same product but with an ad that worked much better: "BUY THREE NOTES FOR 99 CENTS - THEN ONE, EXTRA YOU WILL GET FOR FREE!”

Only one in ten readers will read your ad copy. The whole art lies in using a headline to attract attention and keep it while reading the first few paragraphs. If you succeed, while he reads the first 50 words you wrote, then most likely he will read the next 250. The power of words, even just one, cannot be underestimated. Here are some examples.

Shampoo sales doubled with one single word. The instructions said: “Wet your hair, apply shampoo and rinse thoroughly.” A smart compiler advertising texts added one word: “Repeat.”

Famous businessman Elmer Wheeler was famous for coining various phrases that increased turnover. One diner wanted to increase its milkshake sales. In those days, some customers wanted to add an egg to a milkshake, which naturally increased its price and, accordingly, the profit of the enterprise. Wheeler came up with something that tripled sales: When a customer ordered a milkshake, the cashier would ask, “Do you want one egg or two?” - to which almost everyone answered: “with one” (and some - “with two”),

The cosmetics company Helene Rubinstein could not understand why large department stores refused free applications to the purchases that she offered them this company. We analyzed the problem and gave the answer:

You used two incorrect expressions. First, the headline read: “A GIFT FROM HELEN RUBINSTEIN.” This is not how it should be. The gift must come from the specific department store where it was offered.

Secondly, if your store is high-end, don't offer customers " free coupons" Such coupons are given in supermarkets. You give “gift certificates”. Same product, but different words. By making these simple changes, Helene Rubinstein made sure that almost every department store took part in advertising campaign products of this company.

When you visit Disneyland, you are not a buyer or a client - you are a guest. One simple word dramatically changes the level of treatment - after all, people are much more kind to guests than to customers.

I love that our British cousins ​​refer to life insurance companies as "life insurance companies." In this sense, it seems to me that I am paying money to “insure myself” and stay alive, while the name of American similar companies suggests that I will only win if I die.

Thus, when starting to write the text of your advertisement, remember the importance of every word.

Here are twenty tips to help you create great advertising.

1. Get to the important stuff... ASAP! Most advertising professors can teach you this. It is necessary to “load” the first three paragraphs as much as possible. The beginning of your text should highlight the benefits communicated in the headline.

2. Write in short sentences. No more than twelve to fifteen words. Paragraphs should not be very long, consisting of two or three sentences. This will allow you to have enough free space on the area of ​​your advertisement and make it more accessible to perception. Remember that the reader does not “read”, but rather “skims.”

3. Do not type text wider than three inches (about 10 cm). This is due to the fact that one glance covers just such a space. This is especially true for regular newspaper font (11.5 point size).

4. Don't exaggerate. Don't try to prove that your product is “sweeter than sugar.” Promise less, but deliver more.

5. Be specific. Kipling's "six faithful servants" are still at work - What, Where, When, Who, How and Why*:

I have six servants

Agile, daring

And everything I see around

I know everything from them.

They are at my sign

Are in need.

Their names are: How and Why,

Who, What, When and Where.

6. Speak as if you were talking to someone at home, simply, freely, understandably.

7. Type your text in a serif font. This is exactly how this text is typed. It has a special “serif” at the end of each letter, making the text more convenient for visual perception. AND THIS TEXT is typed in a sans serif font (sans serif). You can see for yourself how difficult it is to perceive.

9. Write in the present tense. Never use the past tense. The present tense implies that everything is happening right now, while the past symbolizes something outdated, no one needs.

10. Use clear words and famous names. I once wrote an advertisement new song, which said: "...this is the best music I've heard since Glenn Miller* died." I showed this text to various people, and almost everyone who was under thirty asked: “Who is this Glenn Miller?”

11. Use recommendations from those who actually buy your product. Using clients who live in your neighborhood in advertising is much cheaper than mentioning the names of celebrities, and is almost as effective as them. (“Look, there’s a photograph of Mary Simpson! Because I know her...”)

12. Indicate the price. Once we prepared an advertisement for children's mouton fur coats. They were very expensive, and the advertising customer did not advise us to indicate the price. We convinced her: “Why did you buy them then if you’re not sure that you can sell these fur coats?” Nine out of ten newspaper readers say that price influences their purchasing decision and choice of product. If you don't indicate the price, you won't be able to influence Potential Buyers.