Aren’t we all fascinated by the latest tools, blinking lights, shiny objects and tiny tactics?
Ever since we were kids, the toys that made the most noise or had the most blinking lights was the toy we were attracted to…yet those toys were the ones that ended up giving us the least amount of pleasure for the shortest amount of time once we finally got them.
The same analogy works in business.
Over at InfoMarketer’sZone we constantly have people that are looking for the latest script, plugin, opt-in squeeze page builder, sales funnel builder, social marketing technique or tactic…
While there’s nothing wrong with trying to tweak your presence and process introducing new techniques, the PROBLEM is that most of these people do not yet have their business basics down.
So this blog post is a challenge to you…can you honestly say you have these 3 business basics in place and aligned with what you really want them to be?
3 Business Basics You MUST Master
Who You Are Selling To
Do you have a crystal clear view of exactly who it is that you are targeting with your value proposition, your offer and your products?
Not only must you segment the market and know exactly who you are targeting (because trying to be all things to all people in a given market is a surefire way to fail), but you need to know what makes them tick, what their frustrations are, what their biggest challenges are and why they are such a challenge for them.
Here’s an example.
Let’s say you have a sales training package that goes through the various stages of getting a sale from prospecting through lead generation onto relationship management and closing through getting referrals and building your brand.
Now, if you go to the general sales population with that message you will get lost in the crowd of a Gazillion ways sales people can get 101 information.
But, if you target specific segments of sales people: real estate, automotive, insurance, financial services, technology, etc… and you pick one or more of these off in sequence you can really hone in on the exact prospect you will help with your sales training, focus on their specific needs, use examples that mean more to them and build your own credibility to a much higher degree than the thousands of sales generalists that offer training products or programs.
Make sure you have properly identified who you sell to, what their particular frustrations and desires are, and how you can help them more than past products or services have.
What Your Best Messaging Is
With this next step, you will now realize why Step 1 was so important.
The second basic fundamental you must master is laying out the message that you will use to reach your target audience.
Messaging typically involves 4 steps:
- How you will reach your target audience and capture their attention (content, affiliates/jv partners, publicity, advertising, etc…)
- How you will capture the interest of your prospect through techniques such as empathy, reciprocity, authority, etc… as you build the front-end of your sales sequence
- How you will deal with objections and your offer toward the target market. This includes your price, payment plan, product/service offerings, etc…
- How you continue to drive value for your market and derive income from your market post-sale
Included in this process is a deep understanding of the emotional triggers that will allow you to influence your target market as well as a very strong understanding of the value you bring to the market assuming your customer uses your product or solution to improve their lives…in other words, making sure you fully value the experience you bring to their lives and not just arbitrarily price your product or service.
What Your Are Selling
Knowing exactly what you are selling and making sure you have a handle on the value of what you are selling to your target prospect seems rather obvious but in our experience is often not as well defined as it needs to be for massive market success.
The biggest mistake here is that entrepreneurs like to sell the features, system, techniques they have but do a very poor job at selling the end experience that these technologies will provide for the end user.
If you are a fitness coach who has designed an optimal, 30-day fitness plan targeting new Mom’s then you should not be selling the specific techniques, but rather the vision of what the new Mom’s life will be like as they work through your program and experience the benefits following your program.
In other words, they will feel energized, regain that glow, be able to fit into their old jeans, and get their social life back through your system – paint a picture around how these things will happen for them.
No matter how great your system, techniques or program is, the real benefit is the outcome of what it will do for your prospect. That’s what they care about.
Get The Business Basics Right First
As I said off the top, there is nothing wrong with improving your marketing, adding a new tool or technique, learning new ways to reach your market more effectively, etc…but DO NOT focus on these things until you have your business basics down first.
You MUST have a very clear view of who you are selling to, what the key messages and sequences are and what the value is of what you are selling.
When you have this, your entire business and marketing will thrive, opportunities for reaching your market will open and you will be on your way to building a 6 to 7-figure business of your dreams.
