Turning over around $30M a month in Australia at the moment the group buying phenomenon is showing little signs of abating. The main players (in order of market share and with approx deals sold figures in brackets) are – Living Social / Jump on it – 25% (168,000) Scoopon – 17% (102,000) Spreets – 14% (82,000) [...]
Does the thought of standing up and speaking in public send shivers down your spine? An American survey last year found that over 70% of respondents would rather die than speak in public (no, it doesn’t seem logical to us either). But what’s the worst that can happen ? Spontaneous combustion, loss of bowel control, [...]
Happy New Year ! No, we’re not late we’re just preaching to the procrastinators. You know the other people in business that constantly put things off or make excuses about why everything can’t be done or won’t work. But that’s not you of course. You have already … – developed your annual sales plan [...]
This week a short but sweet tale about the lure of the unnecessary (at the expense of the worthy) … Need media exposure ? Perform a stunt ! Want sales ? Provide an offer. It never ceases to amaze us how many businesses believe media exposure equals sales – it doesn’t, it’s just exposure and [...]
Why is it that a steak in a 5-star restaurant costs more than a steak in a 3-star restaurant, even though the steak may be of similar quality? It’s about what goes on around the steak. It’s about things like the ambience, decor and service. In essence it’s about the difference in the experience. And [...]
Business owners and managers often ask us “what’s the most powerful thing we can do to improve our bottom line?”. The answer is very simple - simplify. Steve Jobs did it with Apple (cashier-less stores, one colour products, simple packaging and even with his branding). Coco Channel did it with the Little Black Dress (a dress [...]
Happy Halloween (or so it could be for your business) This week’s tip is unashamedly aimed at retail but could (with a twist ) work for service as well – The Halloween spend in the UK is expected to top A$481M on November 1 this year. In the US that figure is a staggering A$6.54B. [...]
Why then do so many salespeople sound like lecturers rather than conversationalists? Ignorance perhaps. They don’t know that the best communication is two-way. Or perhaps they think that conversational means unstructured and/or aimless. Good selling is about creating a structured business conversation. Structured in the sense that there is a beginning, a middle and a [...]
Video content is set to take over the internet by 2014. Net analysis firm Cisco VNI Forecast predicts that by 2014 the various forms of video the internet now carries will account for 91 per cent of consumer traffic. Cisco VNI Forecast findings. Print and TV advertising may never totally disappear but in recent times [...]
This is one of the great sales truths. Any sale exists first in the unsatisfied/dissatisfied needs, wants, preferences and/or prejudices of our customer. The only way we can identify these is by asking questions and listening to the answers. If we do this we have the opportunity to really ‘get’ our customer. There are two [...]