Mark Tewart Shares His Massive Bank Account (MBA) Secrets
Today, Indie Business Radio aired live for the first time simultaneously via audio stream, video stream and live chat. My guest, Mark Tewart author of How to Be a Sales Superstar: Break All the Rules and Succeed While Doing It, answered viewer questions immediately in the chat and viewers had fun meeting and interacting with each other. I'm so excited to elevate my shows to another level and make them more fun and useful for you. I wish I could say you could enjoy the entire show video, audio and chat at the end of this post, but I can't because I forgot to push the video record button today. Thankfully, Kevin the Editor was capturing all of the audio so you'll be able to enjoy the audio of the show in a few days. Meanwhile, here's an overview.
Mark says that a traditional MBA (Master's Degree in Business Administration) is great, but what Indies really want is the kind of MBA you can't get in college — a Massive Bank Account. Mark shared some of his best tips on the show. Here are three of them.
1. Offer Incentives
Mark says that the difference between closing or not closing a sale is often in the incentives. Don't just share all of the benefits of your product and let the customer decide. Instead, offer incentives such as free or deeply discounted shopping or a money back guarantee. These types of incentives demonstrate complete and unwavering confidence in your product, something every buyer wants to see. Mark says practice risk aversion. If you offer incentives that remove all of the risk for the buyer, you are proactively creating a win/win situation for everyone. And who can't resist a genuine no risk, win/win proposition?
2. Don't Reduce Prices
During tough economic times like these, some Indies feel like they must reduce prices in order to gain sales. Mark says this is a bad idea. According to Mark, “Price cutting is a self-inflicting wound.” If you reduce your prices, you will have to make up the thinning sales margin with increased volume. Compare how many more products you will have to sell in order to generate the same sales results and you will probably quickly see that it's not worth it. Besides, Mark says that a shaky economy may be the best time to increase prices, especially if you are really good at meeting a customer need that has been exacerbated by the slowing financial markets.
3. Tell Your Story
Mark says: “Facts tell, but stories sell.” Whether a prospective customer is face-to-face or at your website, your job is to tell the real life stories that make the benefits of your products come alive. Testimonials are an extremely powerful way to do this, and Mark suggests using the written word, audio and video to share positive customer feedback.
Questions: What do you think of Mark's advice? Do you have any of your own sales expertise to share? Provide your questions, comments and insights in the comments section below.
