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Do You Make These Dumb Marketing Mistakes? (I Have Made Some of Them Myself!)
Copyright 2004, Dan Lok
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
Most businesses have what I called a "sales prevention
department."
It's not part of anyone's business plan and no one starts their
SP department intentionally, but we all have one. It’s the
"department" that sends out the messages that prevent people
from spending their money with you.
My personal favorite is a classic and one that you see all the
time in front of grocery stores at bus stops...
“No Change Here”
Imagine you're walking down the street in a new neighborhood
and you see a sign that says:
“No Change Here”
The message is clear: we're not very friendly here. And your
reaction to that message will be just as clear: “I don’t want
to go in there.”
If you see that sign every day while you're waiting at the
stop, the impression it leaves -- that the shop is one that is
uninviting and unhelpful -- will linger. If you need to purchase
a pack of gum or a magazine, you'll take your business elsewhere.
Over the past two years, I've collected the following 24
sales-killing messages from lots of Sales Prevention Departments.
Do you recognize any of them from YOUR business:
The "Just Say No" Sales Prevention Department
* We don’t allow ads like yours to placed in that section.
* We don't accept VISA, MasterCard and American Express.
* We don’t sell to Canada/USA.
The "Catch Us If You Can" Sales Prevention Department
* We don't have 800 numbers that work for both the U.S. and
Canada
* Our telephone prospect/customer put on hold “forever”.
* Our telephone prospect/customer gets busy signal.
* The person who handles that is not here. Can you call back?
* We don't accept orders by fax or e-mail.
* We don't orders in person.
* We can’t accept your order unless you have an account with
us.
The "Pony Express" Sales Prevention Department
* We can’t ship over the border.
* I’m sorry, we only ship UPS – we don’t ship FedEx.
* We only order/ship on Wednesdays!
The "Don't Quote Me" Sales Prevention Department
* Our price quotes arrive late... or not at all -- please call
again
* We don't guarantee our quote
* We don't guarantee our work, product, or service
* We don't give demos to our customers/prospects.
The "We're Not Listening" Sales Prevention Department
* We don't have the product in stock
* We don't offer a money-back guarantee
* We're not offering a payment plan
* We're not matching our competitor's price, even though you
want us to
* We're not answering your concerns with our "irresistible
offer"
The message from each of these departments is loud, clear and
unmistakable:
No Change Here!
The bad news is that the SP Department can never be completely
shut down. But don't despair. With a little bit of attention,
you can make your sales prevention departments as small and
“ineffective” as possible.
It’s bizarre what people do in business to stop taking money.
They find ways to prevent people from giving them money, yet
they’re trying like crazy to get new customers. Just cleaning
up the sales prevention department alone will mean almost an
overnight profits for a lot of businesses.
The lesson: Fire your sales prevention department... or make
sure you're operating with a "bare bones" staff. The fewer SP
workers, the better!
Until next time...
Dan Lok
Dan Lok is the World’s First Quick-Turn Marketer, with a
proven track record of selling over $17.3 million dollars of
merchandise and services. He’s the rebel copywriter who’s
created hundreds of money-making ads and sales letter for over
39 different industries. And now you can get inside the head
of one of the world’s top copywriters without paying a dime at
http://www.QuickTurnMarketing.com
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Stand out from the crowds. Educate your prospects and they will turn to you for more knowledge. When they turn to you for more, they will visit your website. It is up to your website copy to sell your products, NOT your article. Provide great information and at your website, address how the prospect will benefit from what you are offering. Using these things in conjuction will help your cash register to ring.
