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the product. It may not be a better concept at all.
The only way you can really verify or validate is to then do the test again in another, more expanded, test site.
This time, take three salespeople to try it one way, and have three salespeople try it the other way. See if the
results are still the same, or at least comparable.
14. Would it be a mistake to start a business when the market is
so competitive?
Not particularly. Starting a business might be the best approach, particularly if you market it using the
strategies outlined in this report. A competitive marketplace means there are multiple opportunities, whether that
be in establishing joint ventures, taking over customer lists, etc. I've worked with several businesses that initially
opened in very competitive industries. They are still in operation and doing well today. I think when a you begin
a business, you make it work, and it ll become very lucrative and profitable.
15. When is it right to add a sales department?
It s right to add a sales department when it pays off. It s that simple. All you have to do is test it. Put a
salesperson on, or a telemarketer on, or a field salesperson on, or a manufacturer s representative on, and give him
or her a designated territory. And then revere your new sales department. Spend time nurturously working on it,
and watch. It will basically perform or not perform.
If your salespeople perform, then see how many more you can add. The market will tell you the answer. Hire
people on a conditional basis. Tell them you ve never had the position before and it s a ground floor opportunity.
Also let them know it s probationary.
If it doesn t work out, your salesperson will be out of a job. But you'll have tested whether adding a sales
force was a wise decision. No harm done, and you will have gained valuable experience.
If it does work out, though, your salesperson will make a lot of money. Reward your salespeople generously;
remember the marginal net worth theory. It s incremental, and the back-end is very profitable. Don t be afraid to
give out more money, as stated earlier, for initial customers, if you have a residual-based product, and sometimes
salespeople are great to use to sell other people s products for ancillary purposes.
Another way to add a sales force is through direct mail. As I often preach, direct-mail advertising is probably
the most underused effective way to generate profits around today. Each letter is its own salesperson, relaying the
perfect pitch. It is also much cheaper: Say 40¢ a letter compared to $40 a day, plus commission. (A letter is
willing to work unlimited hours, too!)
16. Can you philosophize on the concept of providing people with incentive?
The more you pay people based on their performance (if you can gauge performance so it is superior to
normality), the more you re going to benefit. Don t be afraid to generously reward people if you can quantify
their performance. Don t cut them off.
Let me illustrate this point. A client of mine sold industrial products to a specialized field. They had never
analyzed their marginal net worth. They found that their marginal net worth for a customer was, at minimum,
$1,000 of profit, per year. They were giving 5% of that profit to the salesman, so the salesman made $50, and the
company made $950. It was a terribly inequitable program. The average customer bought three times a year. I
suggested that my client make a deal with his salesmen where, as long as they kept their sales level up to their
current level, he would give them 100% of profit on the first sale for every new customer they brought in. Why
should the boss care if, on the first sale of only about $300 in profit, he gives the salesperson all the profit?
Because every time you give $300 to the salesperson, you ll be making about $700.
When people try to cut their overhead, they cut costs, benefits to customers and commissions: All three are
the opposite of what I think you should do.
17. Now that people s needs and desires are changing, how can I adapt my marketing plan to
reflect these changes?
Maybe you have heard of Gary Halbert. He writes an extremely eclectic direct-marketing newsletter. Gary is
crazy and brilliant. One issue of Gary s newsletter really impressed me. I d like to share its essence and my
comments with you.
Without taking too much time, the newsletter dealt with how to market to people s comfort zones. Basically,
Gary s premise is that before you can effectively sell to someone, you first have to drop down (or move up) to
their comfort zone. Gary uses new, very graphic analogies to illustrate his point. A tugboat, for instance, that s
attempting to pull a huge freighter out to sea doesn t hand over a huge heavy cable to the freighter to connect.
Rather, they first shoot a thin, fine, light string-type rope over the bow of the boat for the crew to catch and start
pulling up. Attached to that rope is a slightly heavier rope that s attached to a slightly heavier rope that s
ultimately attached to the massive cable that s fastened to the ship for the tugboat to pull.
The point of Gary s analogy is that you can t always pole-vault your way to marketing objectives. It s often
far more practical to stair-step your way to your sales or marketing goals, much like a canal uses a series of
sequentially and progressively raised locks that float a ship through it.
Gary introduces a fresher twist to two-stepping. He basically says you should experiment more often with [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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