Have you seen one of those odd little “Droid Does” commercials lately?  If you haven’t, or don’t remember let me bring you up to speed on the concept.

Apples iPhone has been the 800 pound gorilla among cell phones.  There’s almost a cult-like following among buyers.  In other words, Apple has achieved retail sales heaven with the iPhone.  Plus they have a locked in agreement with AT&T so it’s the gift that keeps on giving long after buyers purchase the phone.

So far the competition hasn’t been able to serve up anything that doesn’t come off looking like a cheap knock-off.  And that’s where Droid comes in.

Mac v. PC War

If you ever watch TV I’m pretty confident you’ve seen the Mac v. PC ads where poor PC always falls short when held up against Mac.  Why Apple has never really adapted for the business buyers desperate for a “it isn’t powered by Microsoft” alternate is beyond me… BUT that’s an entirely different discussion.

Droid v. iPhone

 
photo credit: Ed Yourdon

Now here comes the Droid takes on iPhone challenge.  The smart marketers behind this campaign took on the things that iPhone lacks, does poorly, or simply annoys iPhone users and came up with a better alternative.  Is it a better alternative?  I have no idea nor do I really care.

What I care about is the fantastic example and reminder of how anyone of any size can take on Goliath by simply doing it better, faster, easier, etc.

You can use this approach with a service just as easily.  This proven time tested concept isn’t knew by any means.  It plays off a concept known as SCAMPER attributed to Frank Daniels.

All that’s required to use this to help you increase your sales is your thinking cap and a willingness to make some changes that better serve your buyers.

SCAMPER stands for:

• substitute
• combine
• adapt
• modify
• put to other uses
• eliminate
• reduce

Compare the way you offer your services to the way those around you offer there’s.  Then apply SCAMPER to each thing you do from the perspective of your buyer.  You might ask yourself, “What could I substitute for this particular way I work with people because it would work better for my clients?

Research the way other businesses promote and deliver their services.  Find out what their clients like about the way they do things.  Find out if they could change one thing about the way they work with the other service provider what that one thing is and how they would change it.  Ask your existing clients too.

Don’t get locked into one way of working with people, and don’t think just because the competition is bigger than you that you can’t gain a significant share of that market demonstrating how you do it better.

In “How to Get More New Clients in 9 Days” you’ll discover ways to pinpoint what you could do and how you could set yourself apart.

Coach Cheryl

Do it Yourself

Do it with a Little Help

Do it with Guidance

Today is an important day.  A really important day.  Do you know what today is?

Today is the last day of the third quarter.  Today is the last day you have to plan what will happen in your business in the fourth and final quarter of the year.  Today is your last chance to make or break this year for your business.

Today is a Big Hairy Important Day

Right now you have 3 choices before you:

1. You can choose to keep doing what you are doing now and HOPE for the best.
2. You can choose do more of what you are doing now counting on better results because of your increased activity.
3. You can choose to stop doing the things that aren’t working for you and focus on the things that are working for you.

This is what sets you apart from the people who pick up a paycheck from their J-O-B.  You take responsibility.  You hold yourself accountable.  You understand you choose the results you get like them or not.

So… if you want to end this year with a big sales bang YOU have to choose how YOU will make that happen for you and your business.  Here are the steps to making that happen for you:

1. Evaluate your current situation by gathering all your sales data and scrutinizing it for patterns and opportunities.
2. Identify your high payoff activities.
3. Identify and eliminate your low payoff activities.
4. Narrow and focus your message to hit dead center with your best potential buyers.
5. Increase your response rate with each point of connection by improving both your message and your offer.
6. Increase your engagement with all your potential buyers by increasing their opportunities to experience you in a no pressure environment.  I don’t mean a cocktail party here.  I mean something like a learning experience where you help them solve a problem.
7. Clarify your sales funnel so you have clearly defined next steps and the means to make those next steps happen.

Which steps could you improve?  Which steps do you feel like you have down?  What do you need to adapt to end with a strong 4th quarter?

Recently I made a video so I could talk to you about what people just starting out, those with an established business, and those with declining revenues need and have in common.  You can listen in here.  Sales Marketing Video

Don’t allow excuses to keep you from selling more.

Coach Cheryl

Do it Yourself

Do it with a Little Help

Do it with Guidance

photo credit: adria.richards

So you’ve got this service business where you provide services just like hundreds of other service businesses in your industry.  What makes someone who needs your services choose you over any other service provider?

Probably nothing.  It really doesn’t matter what business you’re in the challenge is the same.  In fact, Jonathan Morrow recently addressed this same issue among blogs.

Do you just accept this as the way things are, or do you take steps to make your business the business of choice?

If you want a successful business you take steps to make your business the business of choice.  There is always a way to do it.  It just takes some creative thinking and listening.

Let’s see how this worked for a product you’re probably familiar with.  What would you do if you made tomato juice to get people to buy your juice?  How would you get people to buy your juice to the point that your juice is the juice of choice among tomato juice drinkers?

photo credit: strangelv

There’s a lot of competition among tomato juice.  You have the big names in canned vegetables along with the low cost house brands.  Plus it’s not exactly an exciting product.  I mean how many times have you woke up in a sweat in the middle of the night thinking, “The first thing I have to do in the morning is get some tomato juice”?  Can’t say I have ever had that experience.

Earlier I mentioned anyone can do this it just takes some creative “listening”.  Did you catch that?  Here’s why I say listening.

You are too close to your business and what you sell to know how the people most likely to buy your stuff actually talk about it.  So you have to interact with, engage, and seek out resources where you can capture your ideal prospects engaged in real conversation about what you sell.  The internet has made this eazy-peazy.

Back to our tomato juice company.  Well, they did there homework and here’s what they found:

• credible sources proclaimed people do not eat enough vegetables to maintain a healthy diet
• many people don’t like vegetables and don’t buy them
• a good number of people are already looking for ways to get more vegetables in their diet without eating bowls full of vegetables

Because there is a market of people who already believe they don’t eat enough vegetables there is a market for a vegetable juice.  Tomato juice is a vegetable juice but there are already lots of competitors in the tomato juice market.

So, why not re-position tomato juice as “vegetable” juice?  Why not add other vegetables to your tomato juice so it’s not just tomato juice?  Why not create a new category for tomato juice and call it vegetable juice (V8)?

And that, of course, is exactly how V8 boosted their sales and set themselves apart as the vegetable juice of choice.  Okay, go ahead… slap the heel of your hand against your forehead and say, “I could have had a V8″.

Obviously the creative thinking was used to develop a position for their product that set it apart as it’s own category.

So how do you use this concept in your business?

• Start listening to discover the exact language your potential buyers use
• Start listening for what your best potential buyers are already looking for
• Start listening for what they already believe
• Tie that belief to your service
• Position your service in it’s own category

Now get to work your V8 moment is waiting…

Do it Yourself

Do it with a Little Help

Do it with Guidance