As a freelance writer, blogging has been my only source of leads for the past 3 years and not only has it been a sufficient source of leads but I often have to turn clients away. I’ve learned quite a lot in the process; one thing I’ve noticed is that having a blog doesn’t automatically guarantee you’ll get leads. You need to have a clear understanding of what you’re doing as well as what your approach is.

In this article, I’ll be sharing 6 tactics that’ll guarantee leads from your blog if you aren’t already getting them or that will double leads from your blog if you’re already experiencing success with it.

6 Tactics To Generate Leads from Your Blog

# 1. Make it Clear that You Don’t Want Everybody

The number one mistake you can make when trying to generate leads from your blog is trying to attract everybody; unfortunately, this will only have a negative effect.

You don’t need everybody as your client; in fact, making it clear that you don’t want to work with everybody will result in better leads. It automatically positions you as someone who wants to get results for your clients while also repelling people you don’t want to work with.

It’s not always about the number of leads but about the quality; for example, as a freelance writer, I’ll prefer 3 clients that spend at least $10,000 each with me in a year than 15 clients that spend $1,000 each with me in a year.

After getting a lot of low quality offers from my blog, I decided to include a small note on my service page that says I’m not interested in working with everybody but only with people who want results and that have the budget to afford my services.

After putting up this note, the number of client requests I get monthly reduced but the quality of each request improved significantly; not only did I close significantly more deals but each client spent a lot more money with me and I didn’t have to spend more time than necessary on leads I wouldn’t have closed or that wouldn’t have benefited me on the long run.

# 2. Make Sure It’s Impossible to Visit Your Blog without Knowing What You’re Offering

If you want to get more leads from your blog, the number one rule you should follow is to ensure that nobody visits your blog without knowing what you have to offer.

Very early in my blogging career, the leads from my blog were nonexistent. However, after updating key pages on my blog and my most popular posts to reflect that I offer my services as a freelance writer, the number of leads I got from my blog increased significantly and my revenue more than doubled.

On my writing blog, I get a lot of emails from freelance writers who can’t seem to generate clients from their blog; more often than not, after taking a look at their blogs, I’ve noticed that the number one mistake they make is not letting their readers know what they’re offering.

Here are a few tips:

• Create a page that features your service/product and ensure it’s displayed prominently in your blog navigation menu or sidebar; make sure it’s located in a section where people can see it no matter what page of your blog they are on
• Include a short note and call to action below your most popular posts that encourages people to check out your offer
• If you offer different services, vary how you advertise them on key posts/pages on your blog; the more relevant an offer is to the post you advertise it on, the more your chances of getting leads
• To ensure that it’s impossible to visit your blog without knowing about your services, besides having a link to your services in your navigation bar or side bar, make sure at least 50% of all posts/pages on your blog reference what you have to offer

# 3. Make Sure Your Website is Very Fast

The faster, the better.

While speed alone won’t solve all your lead generation problems, it’s probably one of the easiest tips to implement in this article.

According to data from Tagman, just one second delay in your website speed can result in a 7% decrease in conversions; if this happens for each second delay, you can only imagine how much of your other lead generation efforts would be wasted due to having a slow blog.

Here are some tips to make your blog faster:

• Limit the number of plugins you install; unless a plugin is really necessary, don’t install it. If you can achieve a certain functionality by tweaking your blog design, then tweak your design instead of installing a plugin
• Install caching plugin like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache to make your blog faster if you use WordPress
• Use a CDN to optimize your blog for better speed across different locations; a good start is MaxCDN
• Minimize the use of images on your blog and install plugins like WP Smush.it to compress images for your blog.

# 4. Publish Resource Posts Instead of Tips

If nobody visits your blog, you won’t get any leads.

One of the first steps you should take to generate more leads from your blog is to drive a lot of traffic; you could do this using various tactics – such as guest blogging, social media, video marketing etc. – but the best way to actually generate traffic that your blog can retain is by publishing resource posts instead of tips.

Tips post will eventually expire but resource posts won’t.

To give you an idea of what I mean, here are two example resource posts on my blog:

• 30 Websites that Will Pay You to Write
• 45 More Websites that Will Pay You to Write

The first post listed above has been viewed around 80,000 times and it was published around 2 years ago; it constantly gets thousands of views monthly even though it was published years ago and as a result has been a source of consistent traffic to my blog.

The second post, that was published very recently, was viewed around 5,000 times the month it was published; it still drives consistent traffic to my blog.

You need traffic first to get leads and a resource post that is well-positioned to address your audience needs will not only result in more traffic but also leads from your blog. Every resource post I’ve published have significantly outperformed other types of posts on my blog.

# 5. Write an “Ultimate Guide”

Just like resource posts, writing an ultimate guide to a topic your readers would love to know more about can be very powerful for generating traffic and leads.

An ultimate guide is usually a comprehensive article that addresses a major problem your readers have; the idea is to answer every question they have about a certain topic. Ultimate guides are not only longer articles but they’ll also contain visuals, examples and multimedia content, if necessary, to effectively pass across your message.

An example of a very successful “ultimate guide” for me is the ultimate guide to guest blogging; this is an article that has been viewed tens of thousands of times, has gotten hundreds of links and comments and, most importantly, has resulted in several deals worth five-figures.

In other words, just one article can be that powerful; besides effectively marketing your blog, writing the right articles can also be very powerful for generating leads for you.

# 6. Publish a Case Study

Another approach that has been very effective for generating leads on my blog is publishing case studies; while case studies won’t necessarily result in a lot of traffic, they show your readers how you approach a certain problem and how the approach you advocate solves this problem.

This proves that what you teach works, makes you credible and ensure you’re more likely to be hired.

Conclusion

You’ll notice that 3 of the “tactics” in this article are about publishing a certain type of post. The reason for this is simple; how successful you are at generating leads from your blog will depend largely on the type of posts you publish.

Let me know what other methods you use to generate leads from your blog in the comments!

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Make sure you get the ‘OK’ from the boss before making the financial commitment.

Buying a business is a very exciting time

You may be genuinely interested in buying a business, but are asking yourself how to buy a business and since common sense will tell you that this should never be a hasty decision, you still may feel that you really don’t know where to begin.

If you find yourself in this situation, taking the time to answer the following questions may help you to connect the dots.

What are some factors I should consider?

If you decide to buy a business, you may be assuming a sizable risk, and making the wrong decision could have a devastating affect on your personal and financial life. At this point, try to to determine:

* if buying a business is something you really want to do,
* if your expectations of profit from the business are realistic
* if you have the skill and experience needed to run the business successfully.

How can I find the business I want?

There are many sources where you can search for a business for sale, including the internet, but the price range and location you have in mind will probably limit your options. Some well-established business brokers provide a “buyer service,” and you can hire one of them to do the hunting for you.

In this case, you will pay a commission, rather than the current owner, but having a reputable professional working on your behalf is always a wise investment.

Previous experience and knowledge?

Although you certainly want to succeed financially when you buy a business, it is absolutely essential that that the business is something you know you will like. Having previous experience and knowledge within the industry is certainly an advantage compared to investing in a business you have little to no experience in. Also, to avoid any hidden risks, you should also find out why the current owner is planning to sell.

What should I find out about the financial status of a business?

If the seller’s claims seem spectacular, you should be aware that they may be 100% fiction, and you should also perform an in-depth review of the financial records.

How can I calculate a fair purchase price?

This should be based on the enterprise value of the business, including company stock, and the working capital needed to keep it running. The latter depends on the payment terms that have been established with suppliers and customers, and those seasonal factors that may have an effect on your cash flow. It’s always advised to get an independent business valuation.

What are some points to consider when I establish the terms for buying a business?

You need to determine that the owner is a reputable entrepreneur, and avoid closing the deal until each of your concerns has been discussed and all of your questions have been answered.

Consult with a solicitor in regards to the business sale who is experienced in dealing with clients when they a buy business. Also have your accountant perform a “due diligence” analysis of the finances before you sign on the dotted line.

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Personalized services are a great way to connect with your customers and increase the chances that they will use your product, recommend your services to others, and maintain a loyal relationship with you. Tailoring your services to fit a customer’s wants and needs puts you ahead of other businesses that lack personalization.

The personalization spectrum

There are two types of businesses: businesses that offer personalized service and ones that don’t. Companies that don’t customize their services lack the appeal of individualization, which can often turn customers away before even trying a product. Imagine placing an order for a veggie pizza and finding out that there is no option to leave off the olives. If you dislike eating olives, you will not order that pizza, and that store will miss out on your business.

There is a spectrum of personalization for companies. As a business owner and professional, know the difference between mass customization and individualized customization.

For example, a shoe company like Nike that allows customers to pick the color of their shoe sole, laces, and embellishments is at one end of the spectrum, as they allow some personalization on top of a base model. Chipotle and Subway both offer a variety of ingredients, but you have a pre-determined set of options (e.g., bread, meat, cheese, vegetables, and sauce) for each product. A diamond that is cut specifically for a wedding ring, a suit tailored to fit only you, and a custom-built website are at the other end of the spectrum.

It’s tailor-made

Almost any company can find a way to customize its services to some degree. Cold Stone Creamery and Marble Slab let customers add “mixings” to their favorite flavor of ice cream. Two other companies that value personalized services are Amazon and Netflix.

• On Amazon, you can see products related to your search that other customers have viewed, which helps narrow down your purchasing decision. Based on your purchase history, your Amazon homepage offers deals, promotions, and suggestions that are suited to what you’ve bought before.
• Netflix offers customized services produced by algorithms and movie ratings. When you are browsing for movies to watch on a Friday night, Netflix tries to answer the question for you with personalized suggestions based on your viewing history. Amazon and Netflix operate in industries heavily influenced by customer interaction and usage. Other industries can follow their successful paths by implementing similar customized services.
• At my own private tutoring business, I understand the importance of individualizing each customer’s experience. By matching students to tutors by need and subject, we make sure a student is learning to the best of his or her ability. Tutors adapt their teaching styles to each student, which is another level of personalization. Learning is similar to many products other businesses offer — it isn’t “one size fits all.”

Go ahead, get personal

Look for opportunities to implement personalized services in your company. Even small and gradual touches in your daily interactions with customers can help change your service in the long run. Restaurant owners could accommodate a person’s dietary needs by adjusting items on the menu, such as serving dishes with less salt or sugar. This does not require drastic changes to a business operation and can significantly improve your customer’s experience.

By paying careful attention to detail and offering what the customer wants, within reason, you don’t have to compromise your business values for sales or better consumer experience. Who knows? You might be the only restaurant in town that customizes dishes to fit dietary needs, and now you have gained a repeat customer.

# 1. Customer rewards

A very simple thing you can do to increase your small business sales is to start a customer rewards program. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – even a discount or free gift on a customer’s birthday can help build customer loyalty.

If you want to get the most out of this method, try starting a points system or another program that encourages repeat business. This lets your customers know you value them, and gives them a great incentive to keep coming back – and to bring their friends.

# 2. Follow up

It’s far cheaper to keep an existing customer than it is to gain a new one. One great way to keep your existing client base happy is to follow up with them after they’ve bought a product or service from you. This lets them know that their satisfaction is important to you, and will lead to happier, more loyal customers.

Following up after a sales call is also an important step. Some prospective clients need a little time to think things over, but may not get back in touch with you on their own. By giving them a friendly call a week later, you increase your chances of making that sale.

# 3. The personal touch

If you use the same sales pitch for every customer, regardless of that customer’s background and experiences, your pitch is not going to resonate. Instead, work with your sales staff to come up with a personalized message for your customers.

You know from dealing with your clients on a regular basis what their needs are, so build your sales message around meeting those needs. If you can show your customer why your product is the best one to solve her problem, she’s much more likely to buy from you – and continue buying from you.

# 4. Benefits, not features

Which of the following product descriptions sounds better:

• The BlenderMatic has an all-steel construction, a three-speed motor, and titanium blades.
• The BlenderMatic’s three-speed motor conveniently handles all of your chopping, mincing, and blending tasks – so you can cut down on meal prep and spend more time enjoying dinner with your family. This machine gives you more value for your money, with an all-steel construction that will last a lifetime. Its rugged titanium blades let you blend anything you like – even ice – all in one machine.

By focusing on benefits — what your product will do for your customer – you make the sales pitch more personal for her. Tell your client how your business can make his or her life easier, and you’re one step closer to making a sale.

# 5. Referrals

Ask your satisfied customers for referrals. Happy customers should have no problem with recommending your product or service to their friends and family. You can encourage this with referral rewards such as a discount for each person who hears about you through your customer.

Increasing your sales doesn’t have to be a complicated, expensive process. By tweaking your current sales methods and getting your customers working for you, you can boost your bottom line without a dramatic increase in your marketing budget.

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# 1. Record yourself delivering your sales pitch.

Have you ever listened to yourself speak during a sales call? Sometimes the best way to get better at sales is to pay attention to what you say and how you say it. Analyze your delivery and pacing, or ask a friend or colleague to offer feedback on what you’re doing right and what could be improved.

# 2. Set a fixed schedule to do your sales calls and sales development work.

Make your sales activity automatic and consistent, and you’ll be more likely to do it well and do it every day. Schedule a set time each day to call customers or do research for future sales calls.

# 3. Think in terms of solutions, not features.

Too many businesses market their products by talking about “features” and technical details that no one is interested in hearing about. Instead, keep a laser focus on “what’s in it for me” for your customer. How does your product save time, save money, or make your customer’s life better in some way? Answer that question, and you’ll be making more sales than ever before.

# 4. Scrutinize your value proposition.

What makes your company or your product unique? Are you talking about your value proposition in a way that resonates with your customers, or is your sales pitch too cluttered with jargon?

# 5. Be a problem-solver.

Sales is ultimately about solving people’s problems. Show your customers that you care, and that you are here to help them. Show a sincere interest in improving the customer’s condition.

# 6. Remember: it is a numbers game.

Not everyone wants to hear from you, and you will have to break through a lot of rejection or incompatible discussions before you get to someone who says “Yes.” If you’re not getting enough “Yes” answers, try contacting more people. Sometimes the sheer quantity of contacts wins out over “quality” of sales leads.

# 7. Don’t force it.

You should never have to “force,” trick or cajole someone into buying from you. If a customer doesn’t feel good about the decision to buy from you, they’re not going to be happy and the sale is going to be more trouble than it’s worth. Instead, look for ways to align what you sell with the customer’s authentic needs and problems.

Please let me know your suggestions for getting better at selling.

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LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking and a social platform to manage your professional identity and brand. Are you making these silly mistakes that may damage your reputation and prevent you from taking advantage of the professional opportunities that exist on LinkedIn?  

# 1. You still haven’t completed your LinkedIn profile

”Only 50.5% of people have a 100% completed LinkedIn profile“ LinkedIn.

The main reason that you should complete your LinkedIn Profile is to appear in the search results:

1. LinkedIn’s internal search
2. And Google

The Linkedin search algorithm displays results in order of:

• Profile completeness
• Connections in common
• Connections by degree
• Groups in common

LinkedIn ranks higher on Google than other profiles including other social media. If you are not appearing and getting found via Linkedin search, your profile remains dormant and creates a knock on problem when it comes to getting indexed and being found on Google.

Are you an ‘All-Star’?

There are 4 levels to attain 100% Profile completion or ‘All-Star’ status:

1. Beginner
2. Intermediate
3. Expert
4. All-Star

What does it take to become an ‘All-Star’?

The profile sections you need to complete to get to ‘All-Star’ status (100%) are:

• Your Industry and Location
• Current Position with description
• 2 Past Positions
• Your Education
• Your Skills (minimum of 3)
• A Photo (200 by 200)
• At least 50 Connections

# 2. You haven’t customised your LinkedIn profile’s URL

Custom public profile URLs are available on a first come, first served basis and significantly increase the SEO value of your Profile.

• When you create a LinkedIn profile, you are given an automatically generated URL for your profile including an eight digit number. You can customize this URL (edit your public profile from the Settings page) so that your public profile can include your name: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nialldevitt.
• Then use your Public Profile URL on the web to improve your ranking.

# 3. You send your LinkedIn connection requests without personalising them

LinkedIn is the largest professional networking opportunity there is and sending a connection request is the first (and perhaps only) opportunity you get to make an impression.  The standard LinkedIn connection request reads likes this:

“I’d like to add you to my professional network.

- Niall Devitt”

What many people don’t realise is that it’s shouldn’t be used for an actual connection request. It is merely a templated starting point towards you writing the request.

Or putting it another way, sending the standard request without first personalising is the same as attending a real world networking event and:

• Approaching someone to network with and
• Forgetting to say hi and introduce yourself and
• Forgetting to find out their name or anything about them and
• Forgetting to give any reason for why you approached them and
• Expecting them to exchange business cards.

It would leave a pretty awful impression, don’t you think?

Most professionals would never dream of networking like this at an event, yet many do it every day on LinkedIn.

# 4. You spam your network

The above request came from someone in my network. Let me be clear, I am sure that this person meant no malice in sending out this request; in fact I’d say the person was entirely sincere in their objective to “put LinkedIn to the test”. The first comment “Hello to everyone I am connected with on linkedin” tells me that this person is using LinkedIn to send out a blast e-mail to his connections with the purpose of “seeking part – time employment”.

Now some people might compliment this person for the endeavour and they may even respond to the e-mail, but let’s investigate if this is in fact putting “LinkedIn to the test”?

• If I was looking for work, I would not send out the same introduction to each and every company without finding out what they do, where I can bring value and who I would need to talk to.
• It’s just common sense and I’m sure that this person would not do this if seeking employment using more traditional means. However because they are using LinkedIn, they apparently believe the same common sense rules no longer apply.
• The reality is of course they do and what LinkedIn allows you to do is to apply them very efficiently. Spamming people and companies we already know would not work with traditional job search, so it will work even worse on LinkedIn.

Take what you already know and use LinkedIn to drive efficiency of effort.  That’s really how to “put LinkedIn to the test”!

# 5. You never update your network or you bombard them with updates

Your status message allows you to share professional updates with your network:

• Remember out of sight, out of mind. It’s important to update your connections regularly.
• Your network will appreciate information but not excessive updates. LinkedIn users can choose to mute connections so excessive updating runs the risk of having your updates turned off.

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Here are four trends shaping the world of sales today:

# 1. Mobile technology

This includes the use of smartphones, PDAs, laptops and tablets. The overwhelming popularity of these devices continues to play a significant role in office environments. Smartphones and tablets provide sales teams an on-the-go access to communication platforms such as email, internet scheduling and calendars.

Many mobile business applications allow salespeople to make presentations, streamline social collaboration between team members and prepare invoices. In addition, mobile technologies also allow salespeople to work from anywhere and have become an extension of the office environment.

The technology enhances how salespeople interact with clients. Because most interactions between salespeople and their clients are based on visual presentations, mobile devices such smartphones and tablets allow salespeople to create multi-dimensional presentations to drive home a selling point.

# 2. Big data analysis

Many big companies conduct data analysis in order to respond and adapt to changing market conditions more quickly and make highly data driven decisions. This analysis involves identifying each step in their business processes and client attitudes towards the processes. Big data analysis allows companies to track changes in the market, serve their customers better and more efficiently and bring to the surface sales process inefficiencies so that suitable changes can be made proactively instead of retroactively.

Access to actionable data is at the forefront of business intelligence and when we are adding 2.5 quintillion bytes of data to the information age database every day, it should come as no surprise that innovators in the software industry are rushing to provide small businesses with cloud-based tools that provide access to same analytical insights and reporting as big companies have.

# 3. Cloud technology

With the invention of Cloud technology, sales teams can now access various software packages without having to install them in their desktops, laptops or tablets. The types of business applications that can be accessed through the cloud include accounting software for business, business intelligence tools and project management applications, just to name a few.

Not only has the cloud proven to be a flexible format for securely creating, managing, and sharing information across multiple platforms and devices, the technology is also proving to be a lot less carbon intensive for businesses than maintaining the same types of data services they provide in-house.

# 4. Social media

Social media has made it easier for sales teams to communicate more effectively with consumers. A company Facebook page can help your team maintain constant communication, respond to client and reader comments, assess feedback on company brand and spread awareness of new products or services as well as build trust and relationships.

Social networking has also provided an easy means of advertising and marketing. Many social networking sites provide tools that salespeople can use to keep track of the number of visitors and their demographic area allowing you and your team to easily assess the popularity of their products and services and the demographic characteristics of the consumers who use your products or services.

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Buying a business privately is a booming trend and continues to be very popular among the small business community.

Due Diligence

Statistics indicate approximately 97% people looking to buy a business are now conducted on the internet, and the volume of available businesses is enormous. However, regardless of the road you take, you should be able to locate what you are looking for in about six months. The trick in narrowing down the search is concentrating on the industry that is right for you, based on your personal choices, your skills and your weaknesses.

Determine how much you can afford to invest in a business and be realistic in your search. In some cases more than 90% of business sales include funding by the owner, which is around about 40% to 50% of the sale price. Also, at some point during the buying process, you will be asked to prove your financial status. It should include your assets and liabilities, along with an outline of your net worth and verification of your credit rating.

Once you have decided to purchase a business, you will want to weigh the pros and cons before you sign on the dotted line. The process includes analyzing the business, evaluating it and negotiating to buy it.

Assessment

At the very least, this includes analyzing the company’s audited balance sheets, profit-and-loss statements and income tax returns for the past three years. It should include reconciling the taxable income with the profits for every year, and you will also want to assess their resources such as product, land, equipment and staff.

What is the businesses current status, does it have potential for future growth, the competition, and the method and expense of delivering merchandise and services to your customers? Above all, base you decision on whether the business is part of a growing industry or one that is is declining. Also, as an important safeguard, you will want to have your accountant and lawyer assist you in these areas.

Evaluation

In this phase, you should focus on the potential of the business, which will help you to make cash-flow, sales and profit projections for at least the following year, before you go forward with the acquisition.

Negotiation

As a rule, a business isn’t sold for the asking price. Instead, negotiation between the buyer and seller is needed to determine the sale price (and the associated terms) to ensure that the buyer and seller will feel they have been dealt with in the right manner. Customer goodwill is important factor in buying a business, and make sure that you are presented with data to support the seller’s claim of their asking price.

Selling your business privately

Whether you are selling your business privately or with a broker, it can be for several reasons, such as planning to retire, and you will want to proceed carefully and take the following steps:

• Be sure that your financial records are correct and updated, and be ready to provide pertinent information to your potential buyers. At the very least, they will want proof your company’s audited balance sheets and profit-and-loss statements for the past three years. Providing your lease statements and tax returns will also be helpful, along with current balance and payment schedule if you are paying off a business loan.
• Once you have assembled the documents mentioned above, this will give you some idea of what your businesses value is. In addition, you will probably want to consult with a financial analyst to determine its fair market value.
• If you want to sell your business within a relatively short amount of time, make sure that the deposit you ask for is very affordable. You might also want to provide seller financing in this situation to facilitate the sale, and if you do, the buyer will agree to pay an agreed amount over an agreed-upon time period.
• While your business is on the market, try to grow your accounts with special promotions and discounts, and be ready to provide potential buyers with required paperwork related to your employees and suppliers. Avoid any significant interruption in your day to day business operations as well.
• Resolve to treat the acquisition of your business as a confidential matter. If they discover your plans, your customers and suppliers might think that you are in serious financial difficulty, which could reduce your sales volume. In addition, your employees may begin looking for another job and leave without waiting to see if the new owner is willing to hire them.
• Develop a good report with all potential purchasers, but remember to screen each one as well to minimize issues and complications. A competitor might even assume the role of a potential buyer to try and find out useful or private information about your business. In anticipation of this, ask your legal team to create a confidentiality agreement that you can use with interested parties who inquire about the sale.

Remember that selling a business privately can save you quite a large amount in agent commissions, it really isn’t hard to do and potential buyers usually prefer this method. To sell a business privately, advertise on commercial websites and in your local newspaper.

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I have pulled together some basic common sense sales tips from past research and event professionals in the field, to compile this list of behavioural Do’s and Dont’s for your sales teams at the next event. Even if  you have ticked all the pre-event marketing checklists and social media-ed your imminent arrival to the hilt, never forget people are the real interface with potential customers.

I am talking about the body language and the lack of rapport that inevitably results when sales teams just do not realize the full potential of face-to-face marketing opportunities at events. It’s all about being more approachable and there are some definite cues. Ensure your sales team behaviour doesn’t jeopardise the opportunity and flush away that investment.

Behavioural do’s and dont’s for event sales teams

Why is body language, establishing rapport and Micro Expression important? 70-90% of our communication takes place visually before the first word is spoken. So gesture, tone and overall demeanour is something you need to take seriously at trade events and conventions.

What NOT TO DO at your next event

Events are all about Face to Face connections and rapport and if that weren’t the deciding factor in a successful event, then surely we would all just work online and have robots on our stands instead?

DO NOT:-

1. Appear bored, stand-offish and look like you’d rather be somewhere else instead of networking and business building – says Suzana Ahmad | Clarion Events Asia. This means avoiding defensive posturing, e.g. arms folded, standing behind an obstacle, reading something else when you should be making eye contact, wearing a frown, etc..
2. Act like your stand is some exclusive club, huddle in groups with other team members and engage in exclusive banter with your back to the passing trade. It is intimidating and unprofessional.
3. Exude uneasiness and show your back to the audience or hide behind your Laptop / Mobile Device. Genuinely try to enjoy what you do and pay attention to passing trade not to your Facebook account.
4. Come across all smarmy and overly slick either. People can get intimidated. Prospects can tell by the pre-rehearsed overly clever and culturally awkward one-liners you may have been spewing. They can also tell if you have an over trained sales team with pre-rehearsed scripts that involve no listening whatsoever.
5. Come across too relaxed either; lying in state on garden chairs whilst not making an effort to approach visitors – says Maggie Teeling | Multilingual & Independent professional for Trade shows & Conferences. Likewise, do not lean on your stand or fiddle with your phone whilst manning the stand – Sandra Chau | Media Sales at Mash Media.
6. Be lethargic. Being energetic shows enthusiasm and creates the right ambience at your stand and encourages positivity about your brand – says Fatima R. | @Nexus54. lethargy makes us all look ever so slightly stupid.
7. Rely on flyers alone and the act of pushing them into the hands of passing trade. In fact flyers can be a turn off to some people who do not want more junk mail in their carrier bags – says Sandra Chau | Media Sales at Mash Media
8. Take your eyes off the aisle if you are at an exhibition space. This means staff need to be focused outward and not looking down or into the stand. They should be establishing eye contact with potential passing trade within 6 feet of the stand. If senior management or colleagues insist on talking in big clumps in the aisle outside your stand, make sure you move them so they don’t become an obstacle to passing trade or their line of sight, vis a vis key promotional displays.
9. Be obvious when reading name badges of visitors you are talking to and repeat back their whole name as though you know them. It’s intimidating, crass and makes people feel like a number in a factory. If you are trying to filter prospects do it the social and intelligent way; ask friendly open ended questions whilst genuinely trying to learn about the person – something sales people should be focusing 90% of the conversation on.
10. Invade your prospective client’s personal & thinking space by getting too close and leaving them insufficient time to experience the product, sample it or watch a demonstration before actually giving them your “spiel”.

Positive Sales Tips to Remember When Selling at Events

Now for the antidote.

It’s not about body counts – it’s about getting valuable leads and establishing rapport. It is about engaging, understanding and most of all connecting on a human level.

SO DO:-

1. Ask for training tips from the an event organiser. Be sure to provide key guidelines, tips and relevant staff training for your stakeholders or your own staff. – says Leigh Kealton | Exhibition & Promotions Pte ltd. Australia.
2. Be inviting and stand along your stand perimeter or in front of your booth. This means using open gestures that encourage your passer by into your private space for one-to-one attention. i.e. your stand. – says Adam Blakney | Diversified Exhibitions Australia.
3. Understand that visitors are at different stages of their buying cycle. As an exhibitor, it is an art to immediately gauge where a visitor is in the cycle, and then adequately address their issues. Your body language is important in both situations because you don’t want to close off if the visitor isn’t ready to sign up, and you don’t want to be seen as pushy for someone who is ready to buy – says Adam Blakney | Diversified Exhibitions Australia. This also means asking nice friendly open questions at the start.
4. Be energetic. Even if there is absolutely nothing to do, find ways to look active, awake and move around with a clear open expression. Show interest in your customers , visitors and products.
5. Engage with eye-contact. Eye contact establishes trust, exudes confidence & approachability plus it can exude charisma and also confirms that the client has your attention.
6. Appear at ease with what you are doing and the people you are talking to.
7. Engage with fellow-exhibitors instead of avoiding eye contact and pointlessly marking territories – says Maggie Teeling | Multilingual & Independent professional for Trade shows & Conferences. It might come in handy in the long term especially if they are not direct competitors. If you aren’t at the stand and otherwise disposed, they may pitch in and direct people to you.
8. Ask open questions and be genuine when learning about the customer. If you are a sales manager, then make sure you let your team spend sufficient time listening and learning. Don’t put them under pressure to get through a large body count of contacts at the risk of losing valuable learning opportunities. Potential customers are people not numbers and they know when they are being treated like one.
9. Provide your sales team with tools to engage people with as drawing people to a stand can be like cold calling. So help your team to interact and attract during an event. Give them a demonstration, feature display, prize draw, sampling platform, or some kind of interactive in-booth activity that will help them break the ice. Flyers are useful only if they aren’t handed out indiscriminately and are used as an ice breaker.
10. Let your personality shine through: be enthusiastic and smile. Bring a sense of humour and don’t be afraid. Think of it as a way to turn strangers into new friends and discover more about the business. After all, people visiting trade events and conferences have paid to get there so at least half are there to learn. Isn’t that half the battle won?

Additional resources

• John Twohig of the Ahain Group suggests taking a look at this video if you are not convinced of the power of micro expressions: The Role of Microexpressions Lie Detection

• The 27 Rules of Engagement For Booth Staffers  by Skyline exhibits is an excellent round up of some very good sales prospecting tips at events, some of which we have also mentioned in this post.
• I stumbled upon this really comprehensive list of body language tips the other day by selfgrowth.com focused on Sales professionals: Reading Body Language for Sales Professionals
• If you spend most of your time at presentations and speaking at seminars then maybe take a look at this from one of my favourite sites Lifehacker.com: Avoid These Body Language Postures and Gestures When Giving a Presentation by Melanie Pinola. The “think, turn, talk” method for presenters they mention is a super presentation tool.

Key sales takeaway

I hope these sales tips help. Yes, they do sound like plain old common sense but the big lesson I have learnt  as a manager – you need to be ticking these off your checklist on the big day and don’t take them for granted when briefing your team. You may be be a master at these but does the rest of your team know what is expected? Especially true if your trade event utilizes team members from other parts of your organisation not just the Sales Department.

If you are paying money to be there or are organizing an event, don’t waste it all by appearing unapproachable in the flesh on the day itself. Remember, it is not enough to just turn up.

Have you more insights, sales tips or real life examples on how to possess the right body language at an event? Do share your thoughts.

Marketers use emails that contain links, and recipients are encouraged to click through these links so traffic is brought to the sender’s business. Marketing emails are usually sent in bulk. On the other hand, sales emails are more personal and contextual. You already have a lead interested in what you offer, what’s left to do is to interact and bring that person to pay for your product or service. This is why sales emails are better handled one-on-one, pointing to the importance of sales representatives in a business.

Below is a step-by-step list of how sales reps can optimize their sales delivery through emails:

# 1. Use email templates to send versions of your messaging to different segments

By experimenting on different messaging, you are bringing science into your sales emails. The scientific method always involves a hypothesis that needs to be tested. A set of hypotheses is analogous to a set of different messaging that you can test for your leads. For your first iteration, divide the number of your leads equal to the number of versions you have, then assign one message per segment. For example, if you have 50 leads and 5 versions of your sales email, send one version to every 10 people.

# 2. Use analytics to measure click-through rates and response rates

Instead of just relying on gut feeling to proceed improving your existing messaging, measure and gather data about your emails. What’s usually measured from sales emails are click-through rates and most especially response rates. By measuring these two aspects of your sales emails, you are given an objective take on how to further proceed in your optimization. Tools such as Yesware and ToutApp to provide some of the best email analytics out there. These services also offer email templates features.

# 3. Find the winning version, and iterate (back to step 1)

After using analytics to find which version of your current set of messages give the most number of click-through rates and response rates, keep that version and use it as the control for your next iteration. This means you edit some parts of the winning version and use the edits for the other versions. Once this is done, it’s up to you whether to send the winning version to all or a majority of your leads. If you’re called upon to drive more sales, then it’s best to send the winning version to a majority of your leads. But always leave out room for experimenting with other messages. The aim is to always be iterating.

Do you have any suggestions for optimizing sales through emails?

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