Booklets - Challenge Your Prospect's Perspectives

This article from Jill Konrath screamed out at me to share with you. Take it to heart the next time you're talking with your large-quantity prospect and see what different results you experience.

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Challenge Your Prospect's Perspectives

Excerpted from Jill Konrath's new book, SNAP Selling

When was the last time you made your crazy-busy prospects really stop and think? If you're just spouting self-serving sales talk, the answer is probably never. But if you've developed at least some level of expertise in your field and aren't using it, you're letting opportunities slip by.

I'm not talking about doing this like a know-it-all who one-ups everyone. Nor am I talking about being a boorish churl who drones on endlessly.

When you have expertise and want to provoke your prospects' thinking, do so carefully. You have to approach them as if you were already in their service and 100% committed to helping them achieve their goals. Otherwise, you'll just come across as being a smart aleck or jerk.

Using provocation is especially important when their perspective is limited to their own experiences or their stuck in only one way of seeing the situation.

For example, recently Nina Millhouse, who sells into the hospital industry, made a gutsy move. She challenged her prospects' thinking with a study done by a big accounting firm:

In today's ailing economy, when every dollar counts, hospitals are looking for ways to improve their bottom line. One option is to add $11.7 million in revenue. The other option is to reduce operating costs by $100,000.

According to Deloitte and Touche, these two options have the same impact, but clearly one is more achievable. That's what I want to talk with you about today.

Now that's a jolt! She knew her prospects might consider her offering "trivial" in light of all the other crises facing hospitals today. So she shared a new way of looking at what she could do for them by comparing the top line revenue growth needed to match the $100,000 savings she could deliver.

Don't be afraid to let your prospects know when you think they're making a mistake either.

Sometimes when my prospects tell me what they're doing to achieve their objectives, a little indicator light goes off in my head that says, "Huh? That doesn't seem quite right."

In the past I'd let it go, thinking perhaps I'd missed something or didn't understand. Now I always speak up-but often very gently, even if I know they're wrong. I don't ever want a prospect to feel stupid or embarrassed.

Nor do I want to come barreling at them like a bull in a China shop. That only makes people more defensive of what they're doing. So, I might say something like:

Eric, I know that your primary strategy to drive new customer acquisition this year is to get your salespeople to make more calls. I'd like to challenge your thinking on that a bit.

My experience in working with sales teams across the country shows me that the quality of the call has far more affect on success than the quantity.

In fact, if you really want to have a significant impact, your salespeople need to have easy access to sales intelligence tools. Can you tell me what you're doing in this area?

More often than not, these gentle provocations open the door to interesting dialogue that enables me to make suggestions, offer advice, and provide guidance-nicely, and as a potential partner who cares about their success.

Provocation is particularly important to use when your prospects currently don't have money in their budget for your product or service.

Whether you offer a contrarian perspective, fresh insights, new visions of the future, or missing information, it helps crazy-busy buyers see beyond the status quo to what is possible.

You'll be amazed at how often money or funding for what you're selling emerges out of thin air.

Is it a miracle? Perhaps. But I'd wager that it's because your provocation got your prospects thinking in new ways.

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Jill Konrath, author of SNAP SELLING and Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into new accounts, speed up sales cycles and win big contracts. She is a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings and conferences.

Want to learn more about the new rules of selling to crazy-busy buyers? To get four FREE sales-accelerating tools and download two chapters of SNAP Selling, visit www.SnapSelling.com

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Until next time,

Paulette - who knows some of the best results come from shaking it up!

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Ideas for Selling to Corporate Buyers

The following idea, which I just love, was in Brian Jud's ezine this week, contributed by Brian's business partner, Guy Achtzehn. You can subscribe to the twice-monthly Book Marketing Matters newsletter that's full of great ideas at http://www.bookmarketingworks.com

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A small chain of children's shoe stores implemented a punch-card program where every $25 spent was worth 1 punch on the card. Every time a card was punched 4 times, the child or parent was able to select 2 books from the books available on display. The theme was "We'll take care of your child... From their head to their feet!" Moms loved this promotion!

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While the reference in this idea is to books, it certainly can easily apply to booklets. Think about what other ideas you can bring to your large-quantity buyers to help them sell more of their products by using your booklets and other forms of your content as valuable marketing tools.

Until next time,

Paulette - realizing great ideas are all around us

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - What Did You Say?

Every so often, a booklet author "hits a wall" in their sales efforts. Of course this is not reserved for only booklet authors. That happens in many industries with many products that seem like they would be the ideal solution for the buyer.

There are any number of reasons why this happens, some of which can be remedied by you and others are part of the age-old reality that sales is often a "numbers game." Some of the best bulk booklet sales I've made have come from among the least likely sources.

Here are a few thoughts to ponder, in no particular order:

1. Look at who is already spending money on marketing and advertising. They have the budget and the mindset, whether they seem to be a logical buyer for you or not.

2. Be sure to lead with how your booklets can benefit the business or association you are approaching. The benefit frequently deals with increasing profit, saving money, or distinguishing them from among others in their industry.

3. Give options so the conversation is "which is our starting place" rather than "do you want to buy this booklet or not." The option may be a different format of your content or a lower out-of-pocket expenditure to test the results of using your product, or many other possibilities.

4. Talk to the decision maker rather than an intermediary as early in the process as possible. This minimizes the details getting lost in the translation from an intermediary who is charged with gathering facts.

5. Ask what their reluctance or hesitance is when they are not immediately buying. You may or may not be able to resolve this with a modified approach.

6. Realize that every prospect is not your client. Move on to find those who are.

Until next time,

Paulette - who has had lots and lots of "no's" mixed in with the "yes's" over the years, a million copies later.

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Ask, and Ask Again

Last week (July) a long-time client emailed to ask for information I offered her back in January when we were discussing a project she was starting. She wasn't ready for the information until now.

After giving her what she requested, I seized the opportunity to once again invite her to participate in one of two Collection of Experts booklets currently filling. Past ones just hadn't been a match for whatever reason. However I was unwilling to stop mentioning this since I believe it can be beneficial to her.

She asked me questions and agreed to come back to me with a decision the next day. Not only did she come back with a decision in the positive, she asked if she could be in BOTH booklets I'd mentioned. Well, uh, yeah!

In the section on the website shopping cart form that says "How did you hear of us," she entered "Paulette's persistent nudging." Guilty as charged.

This was the second of such events last week, with long-time clients who came on board because I went back around to them and asked again.

Everyone benefits.

By the way, at this moment, there are 3 remaining spots in Mindset Mastery for Women Entrepreneurs, and 1 remaining spot in How to Use Social Media to Increase Your Business. Grab it for yourself at www.CollectionOfExperts.com

or phone me to register before the fence-sitters who are floating around finally make their decision!

Until next time,

Paulette - who is reminding herself as much as you about these things

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Copyright Registration

Have you formally registered the copyright for your booklet and any of your other information products? While the copyright protection has expanded and become easier to be protected, the odds are dramatically increased for you to successfully defend a case against copyright infringement when you've made a formal registration. You can do this online at:

http://www.copyright.gov/register/

And that is everything I know about copyright protection. However, there's probably more than you ever thought you wanted to know when you go to the copyright website. By the way, one of our booklet authors learned this lesson the hard way last year and recouped much less than was possible had the copyright been registered.

Until next time,

Paulette - who is reminded about those all-important details

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Books, Booklets, Bulk Sales

In Brian Jud's recent ezine about selling more books, there was an article representing the type of sale he and I have each experienced. Directly from his ezine:

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A local bank used a personal finance book as a business gift to new clients opening saving accounts. The promotion was geared towards high school and college graduates. The book featured information on loans, investing and saving techniques as well as information on stocks, bonds and other investment vehicles. The bank realized that an educated customer is a long term customer... and focusing on young clients insured years of good relationships. Over 7500 books were sold on short discount.

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Imagine how much more helpful the bank would be to those high school and college graduates if the bank first provided a tips booklet on personal finance when they open an account, and then rewarded those same new customers with a more in-depth book on the topic when a certain financial or time benchmark was reached.

This is a way for the bank to stay in touch with those customers, further educate them, and stand above the crowd in banking. It's also a way for the company who sells books and booklets to make more sales to the same large-quantity client.

Until next time,

Paulette - helping you spot more opportunities, many of which are right there for noticing

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Writing and Editing Hats

You may be familiar with Barbara McNichol and her work. She is our recommend editor for non-fiction publications that are bigger than booklets. She works magic on manuscripts, as some of our authors can tell you. If you are one of those people, please feel free to jump in with your comments responding to this post.

Whether you've met Barbara yet or not, you're sure to find useful the following article that was in her recent newsletter. While some of the suggestions in the article apply to larger works than tips booklets, I want you to have the information anyway. Subscribe to her newsletter and explore her services at www.BarbaraMcNichol.com

You'll thank me.

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Writing and Editing: Wear Two Different Hats by Barbara McNichol
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Just as you’d wear a straw-brimmed hat in the sunshine and a rain cap
in the pouring rain, remember the importance of wearing two different
hats when you’re writing versus editing your nonfiction book.

One hat represents the creative process; the other deals with the critical
process. Attempting to edit as you write can dampen your creativity, as I
learned when working with an author recently. Because she was on a fast
track to get her book printed, she had me editing the beginning chapters
while she was still writing the middle and final chapters. She interrupted
her writing flow to give me feedback on the chapters I’d sent back. It
affected her ability to move forward smoothly with her final chapters, plus
we had trouble keeping track of our progress. What frustration!

In retrospect, we needed to put on the brakes and say, “Each task—writing
and editing— demands a separate and specific focus.” Here are three reasons
why:

• When editing your own work, your mind can fill in, correct, or overlook
  errors. It’s easy to miss things that should be corrected—like missing
  words and inconsistencies.
• When you put a week or two between completing a draft and reviewing
  it, you break the link between what you thought you wrote and what
  you actually wrote.
• Once a first draft is finished, if you rush in to evaluate it too quickly,
  you haven’t allowed your brain to “hang out in the shade and cool.”
  That’s when you mentally step back and “see” gaps in information,
  research, and logic. Taking a “big picture” look also enables you to see
  what fits and what doesn’t.

What can you do to separate writing from editing even more?

• When you reread your work, reformat it by changing the font, margins,
  line spacing, and other elements so it tricks the mind and looks like a
  new document.
• Keep wearing your creativity hat and go through each chapter asking
  these important questions:
  
  1. Is it complete from a content point of view? What’s missing?
  2. Have I included all the facts and stories I want to meet my objectives
  for this chapter?
  3. Can I take out any content that doesn’t fit?

Once you have answered these satisfactorily, you’re ready for the critical
process to take over. While wearing your editing hat, leave behind your
content questions and look for the elements of good writing—style, grammar,
spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and so on. And when you’re ready for
feedback, call in an objective editor who can apply both the creative and
critical process to perfecting your manuscript.

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Until next time,

Paulette - who is eternally grateful for Barbara McNichol

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - How Much Should I Charge?

It depends.

Yup, that's the answer, much as you'd like to have some concrete numbers for printed booklets. It really does depend on a bunch of variables. Here are just a few to get you thinking:

• Cost of production - how much your vendors charge you to print or customize
• Quantity of the order - more booklets cost less per copy
• Customization - customized covers or content, additional ink colors, photography, etc. prompting graphic design and print costs
• Profit margin - how much profit you want to make after your costs
• Proprietary content - is your topic the cure to a disease or for a narrow deep-pocketed market?
• Purpose of the booklet - do you intend for it to be a prompt for higher priced products/services?
• Your Market - some markets are more price-sensitive than others

Find a starting point on your pricing. Test it. Increase it to see what happens. Decrease it to see what happens. Your buyers will tell you what the right price is.

Until next time,

Paulette - bringing you this short lesson on a big topic that is a combination of science and art

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Be Clear

Start with a simple, straight-forward, say-it-like-it-is title for you booklet. Choose every single thing that you write inside so that you tell the reader exactly what you mean, in words they understand.

There has been a rash of incomplete communication coming at me lately from various places in my life. The end result has been one misunderstanding after another, taking time to correct and, in some cases, patch up.

It can create a disconnect for a buyer who doesn't understand what your title means, or thinks it means something other than you intended. Your tips, while short and concise, can and must be complete. Use words that are generally mainstream unless you are specifically writing for an audience that requires and benefits from industry specific language.

Have someone outside your area of expertise read your booklet. Ask them to tell you about any obvious stumbling blocks they experienced in fully understanding anything in your booklet. They still may not catch everything. Make changes as necessary so you can best serve your audience and your checkbook. Be clear.

Until next time,

Paulette - wondering what planetary alignments are prompting the communication missteps

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com