Interviews

Create Hard-to-Resist “Packaging” for Your Product or Service

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Presentation is everything.

Do you remember the episode of the Cosby Show where Vanessa introduces her fiancé Dabnis to Cliff and Claire? (This is one of my favorite episodes on one of my favorite shows.)

In the final scene, the newly-engaged couple is sitting at the dinner table with rest of the family. Cliff tells Dabnis, in very graphic terms, that they would never like him because of the way Vanessa “presented” him. Watch the scene, starting at about the 1:00 mark.

You can have the most amazing product or service on the face of the earth, but if you “package” it wrong, if you present it to potential clients on a garbage can lid (to use Cliff’s illustration), you’ll never be as persuasive and successful as you should be.

I had the opportunity to talk with the brilliant marketing consultant Steve Gordon about this very subject. When creating irresistible offers for your product or service, packaging makes all the difference in the world.

Invest half an hour and listen to my interview with Steve at http://stevegordonmarketing.com/how-to-sell-your-product-or-service-with-an-irresistible-offer/. It could mark a real turning point for your business.

30 Minutes to More Trust: An Interview with Charlie Green

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Warren Buffet famously said “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.” But is that really true?

Earlier this week, I had the distinct privilege of speaking with one of the world’s foremost experts on building trust, best-selling author Charles Green. Boy, did I learn a lot!

During our 30-minute interview, Charles talked about

  • why trust is absolutely essential to your success in business
  • specific ways you can create more trust in your relationships
  • specific ways you might be sabotaging your efforts to gain the trust of your prospects and customers
  • popular myths about trust
  • how long it really takes to start building (or rebuilding) trust
  • and more

I was blown away by simple, yet profound truths Charles shared. I think you will be, too.

Don’t forget to visit TrustedAdvisor.com to further develop your ability be the trusted provider in your industry.

Persuasive Language: An Interview with Matt Fox

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“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” – Rudyard Kipling

Choosing the words we use in our sales presentations, marketing messages and everyday conversations can make all the difference in the world. Unfortunately, many of us do not select our words purposefully or even consciously. It’s impossible to count how many times a cautious “no” might have been turned into an enthusiastic “yes” if we had been more thoughtful communicators.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of speaking with Matt Fox, who is an expert in the use of persuasive language in sales, marketing and all sorts of personal interactions. He gave me nearly two hours of his time, explaining how to use words more persuasively. I was able to record about 75 minutes of golden material.

During our chat, we talked about

  • the 3 kinds of psychological resistance
  • why closing techniques are often very ineffective
  • how tiny words can create huge impact through presuppositions
  • why “increasing perceived value” is not necessarily the best way to increase sales
  • a simple way to make it impossible for someone to ignore what you’re saying
  • and tons more.

If you have a 100% conversion rate and you always get what you want, you may not need to listen to this interview. But if you’re not quite there yet, you can learn a lot from Matt. Take a listen.

Persuasive Language interview with Matt Fox

Note: I started recording my the conversation before the formal interview began. We attached that to the end of the MP3. Consider it bonus content!

Note #2: Don’t forget to check out Matt’s website at PersuasionTheory.com.

If Your Marketing Stinks…

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Please join the inimitable Andre’ Harrell and me for what promises to be an exciting and insight-packed conversation on sales and marketing at 7pm ET tonight.

The show is called “If your business marketing stinks, so will your sales.”

Check us out at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/aharrell2000/2012/08/28/if-your-business-marketing-stinksso-will-your-sales.

Or stream it below:

No opt ins, no sales pitches. Just marketing, sales and persuasion concepts you can put into practice right away to improve your business results.

In Case You Missed It: USPs and More

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Yesterday, I had the distinct privilege and wonderful pleasure of being interviewed by Yasmin Razaq for her Explode Biz Profits event.

We talked about:
– how recessions are good and USPs are bad
– possibly the dumbest advertising sign I’ve ever seen
– two foundational principles for writing copy that people will respond to, and
– how to keep your messages out of email jail.

I also shared how you can get my ebook Stealth Selling gratis.

Go check out the replay at http://businessmarketinggirl.com/explodebizprofitsreplays/. I’m not sure how long Yasmin will keep this page open, so if you have any interest at all, don’t wait too long.

Update: If you’re interested in hearing the recording of this hour-long interview, I’ve got it right here. If you’re interested in getting a copy of my book, send me an email and we might be able to arrange something.

A note on Unique Selling Propositions
Theodore Levitt said that selling focuses on satisfying the needs of the business, whereas marketing works to satisfy the needs of the customer.

With that in mind, the USP is inherently focused on the company, product or service itself. Even a benefit-rich USP can be off-base.

Feature-focused USP: “Our product is awesome. It’s made from the strongest steel ever produced.”
Benefit-focused USP: “Our product is awesome. It’s more durable than other products, so they don’t have to be replaced as frequently, saving time and money.”

Sounds good, right? But even the benefit-driven USP can be improved upon. These are selling points, rooted in the needs of the one who needs to make the sale. What if you moved into the realm of marketing defined by Levitt?

Unique Value Proposition: “Our customers are awesome. They save time, money and headache by using with the most durable product available. It works more reliably, for longer periods of time and with fewer replacements needed.”

The wording is purposefully corny, but you see the difference, don’t you? It may seem like a tiny distinction, but even the tiniest change in perception and approach can create a big change in results. A slight edge makes all the difference in the world.

Don’t make your audience dig for the value they’ll get from you. Sure, they might be able to figure it out by your statements about how great your product is. But why not make what’s in it for them obvious?

Are You Sabotaging Your Own Marketing?

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On Thursday, I have the privilege of participating in Yasmin Razaq’s Explode Biz Profits teleseminar event.

Every day this week, business growth and marketing experts will be sharing their best insights into attracting more customers and clients, strengthening your personal or business brand and improving your overall profitability.

I’ll be talking about “5 Ways Businesses Sabotage Their Own Marketing.” Some of the topics we’ll get into are:

  • the mistake most businesses make when creating their online and offline marketing materials — actually, I’ll probably talk about at least 3 big ones
  • how recessions can be good things if you know how to weather the storm, and
  • the truth about Unique Selling Propositions (almost everyone I work with gets this wrong)

Go over to http://www.businessmarketinggirl.com/explodebizprofits/ to find out more about this week’s sessions. Plenty of good content is on the way. If you see anything that might help make your business better, register and attend the talks that appeal to you.

Each speaker will also be giving away a special freebie after the call.

Why not take a look right now? As I mentioned,  I’ll be live at 12 noon Eastern on Thursday, March 29th.

I’d love for you to get your hands on this high-quality content.

**UPDATE**

Listen to the interview here.

My Talk with Mark Fox

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Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Mark Fox, CEO of Sly as a Fox, LLC and author of Da Vinci and the 40 Answers. He’s one of the world’s leading experts on the subject of purposeful creativity. Oh, and he is former Chief Engineer on the Space Shuttle.

He enlightened me for 35 minutes and let me record the conversation.

Here’s why it matters to you.

We’ve talked about how improving your offer will improve the response you get from your marketing and sales propositions. Mark gives two of the best examples I’ve ever heard of “better than money back” guarantees. One involves a million dollar payout.

You can definitely learn something from these ideas.

The broader context of our discussion was how to become creative on purpose instead of having to wait for your muse to show up. We’re all well-accustomed to accidental creativity. But what if you could reproduce those times of inspiration predictably, on demand?

You’d start to see problems and obstacles dissolve right before your eyes.

On top of all that, I make a total anus out of myself in the first 5 minutes of the recording. I was so embarrassed I almost canceled the rest of the talk. I’m getting over my pride, because there is some really great content that I think you’ll benefit greatly from hearing. It’s worth the shame.

Check out the audio here.

You don’t want to miss this.

P.S. While you’re at it, you should go to Mark’s site. His is one of the only newsletters I haven’t unsubscribed from. He’s also offering the full text of Da Vinci and the 40 Answers in PDF form for free. No opt-in required.