The top 5 ways to attract and keep customers in any economy

I have a friend in Florida who owns six Subway franchises.

He's rolling in dough, whole wheat and greenbacks.

He loves the recession. He's remodeling his house (stimulating one South Florida contractor to keep swinging a hammer).

Dollar stores are also doing a gang-buster business.

The healthcare industry is thriving, too, but they're in a world of their own (as long as there's no cure for sickness and aging.)

Supermarkets are packed. People are cooking, not dining out in restaurants.

In fact, anyone selling a staple of life, or offering a low-ticket product or service, they're just happier than a pig in... you know what.

For the rest of us...

This economy sucks

But only if, during the long-gone good-times, your business had been on cruise control and you got complacent, fat and lazy, and saw your customers as dollar signs and not people.

Without naming names, some marketers are clearly suffering far less than others, because they cared to look deep into their customer's eyes and not just plumb the depths of their wallets.

Call it relationship building, call it caring about your customers, or just call it staying in business, making a great income, taking vacations, and buying new cars (Japanese or German) even in a recession.

While I can't offer you, for obvious reasons, a precise 5-point strategy to achieve this type of recession insurance for your particular business...

I can give you the general blueprint.

The top 5 ways to keep your prospects loyal and their wallets open

First, a note of caution: Reducing your prices may help, of course, and may even be prudent. But that's a short-term fix, which commoditizes your service. In fact, by reducing your prices, what you're doing is training, even forcing, your customers to price shop.

Remember, price is what your customer pays, value is what you customer receives.

Accent the value, and the customer will pay your price.

And you do it this way...

1. Allay your customer fears:

Right now your customers are looking more and more like deer in the headlights. They're watching way too many doom and gloom news shows. They're hearing about once-upon-a-time giants of industry filing for bankruptcy, shutting doors and putting thousands of people out of work. They may even know a few.

And, quite frankly, they're afraid they may be next.

So they're holding on to their money; worried the good times will never return. Frugal and conservative defines them. Food and shelter are their biggest concern to the near exclusion of everything else.

Your job then is to lift their heads, open their eyes and sing, "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow."

Help them understand that change is the only constant in life—and this economic melt-down, this too shall pass.

Show them that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer—give them hope, and put your arm around their shoulders.

Then infuse them with some good ol' time religion, lift their spirits and get them dancing in the aisles—put excitement and happiness back in their lives.

2. Confirm their suspicions:

Conspiracies, real and imagined, abound in times of economic stress.

Your customers see danger everywhere they look, and they wonder who is really there to watch over and protect their best interests, and who is there to fleece them of their shrinking income.

Don’t deny the reality your customers perceive. Don't argue with or ignore their fears. Place yourself on their side. Put yourself in their shoes.

Recognize that the quickest way to bond and, most importantly, become an advocate on behalf of your customers is to first accept and validate (within reasonable limits) their viewpoint.

Then, once you've shown them you understand and agree with them, you'll find it so much easier to persuade them of your viewpoint.

Switch their allegiance from fear and suspicion to that of fearlessness and confidence and you'll immediately become their champion and protector.

After all, it's so much easier to close a deal, make a sale, even to a skittish and suspicious customer, when they trust you—and see in you a like-minded and kindred spirit.

3. Justify their failures:

Don't make your customers feel like losers.

If they've yet to reach their goals, pat them on the back and then show them why.

There's a big difference between criticizing and critiquing. Be a coach, a mentor, help them to see why they stumbled and fell, and how they can pick themselves up and still reach the finish line.

Never put the blame solely on their shoulders.

Show them that many factors, often beyond their control, contributed to their failure, just as other factors, equally beyond their control will determine the shape of their eventual success.

And yet with your expert help, show them how you can decrease the number of failures they will face, and how you will increase their odds of success, however defined.

4. Throw rocks at their enemies:

This is too easy, and a cousin of number 4, above.

Indentify the immediate threat or obstacle confronting your customer's well-being, happiness and success. Join them in a justifiable hate fest. Heap scorn, ridicule and bad intentions on the perceived roadblock.

And then quickly move on. Don't wallow in that shallow pool, but splash there just long enough to gain your customer's attention and confidence.

Then, once you have made common cause with your customer—sharing the same enemy and holding to shared goals—and working together to achieve them—you'll be accepted on their team, and into their inner sanctum—a trusted confidant.

5. Encourage their dreams:

Isn't that what it's all about? Dreams and their fulfillment.

Without dreams what are we? Our dreams define us. Our dreams are our life's work.

Some dreams are large, some are small, but all need more than just wishful thinking. They need the mechanism to make them come true.

What you market and sell are not made of metal, wood, plastic, gigabytes or an intangible service—they are dream-makers. They are magic and they are real.

And for your customers, your products or services are their best chance of reaching for the stars.

Do not deceive your customer into believing they can accomplish the impossible, or that the impossible is achievable.

But if your product or service can indeed make your customer's dreams come true, do not hide the truth—but rather proclaim it, prove it and deliver it.

And when you do all of the above, with style and grace, truth and honesty...

Your business will thrive in any economy.

Hypey copy that converts and how to write it

I love hypey copy.

Hypey copy is like a fine wine. It has great legs, a fine body and a rich nose.

Hype excites the emotions, stimulates the buying glands and ultimately converts better than dull, drab, "only the facts ma'am" marcom-style copy.

Marketers and consumers who bemoan the ugliness, the crassness, and the used-car-salesman look and feel of hypey copy are all uneducated and uninformed dolts.

All of the above, though mostly true, is a form of hypey copy... of the bad kind.

How to differentiate bad from good hype

Hype has many guises or nuances. Unfortunately, today, hype has become an indiscriminate catch-all-phrase for any type of copy that anyone objects to, for whatever reason.

Well, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so too is hype.

And so, for ease of understanding and with a bow to those who either adore or loathe hype--I will divide hype into two broad categories:

Hype that always converts and hype that rarely will

We've all been exposed to copy that exclaims in absolutely superlative fashion the benefits of an advertised product.

For example, we're constantly bombarded by hypey modifiers screaming: best, biggest, fastest, easiest, greatest, amazing, unique, revolutionary... and so forth

And then there's the army of entertaining and flamboyant similes and metaphors: "so powerful it'll suck the chrome off a trailer hitch", and "faster than a streaker running down-field at the Super Bowl".

And, finally, the ever obligatory and tired: "your income will skyrocket" or "you'll feel like a teenager again".

Of course, these examples stand out as hype--primarily because they're easily recognized as less than believable, factual or authoritative. And are, therefore, quickly discounted and ignored by most consumers.

But yet, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with employing such words and phrases to extol the virtues of a product.

If indeed they're accurate descriptions.

Where we run into problems though--and where hype gets a black eye, is when hype stands by itself--naked and exposed to ever-vigilant consumer skepticism.

How to turn bad hype into good hype

If you were to write within an ad, either in the headline, body copy or as a subhead, the following: All your wrinkles will miraculously disappear overnight!

Do you think such a claim will be believed or, more importantly, that the ad containing it will convert?

Personally, I doubt it.

Even if the remainder of the ad were written impeccably--and by impeccably, I mean, you immediately provide undeniable, authoritative proof, confirming that wrinkles will indeed disappear overnight--that claim will still be the rusty nail that blows out the ad's tires.

Of course it might gain your ad a moment's fleeting attention--but the ad itself won't convert, because the remainder of the ad, much less its call to action, probably won't be read.

But now you protest and say: I provided proof--it's true, absolutely true--so why wouldn't it be believed--why wouldn't it convert?

Well, proof and credibility are of course essential to any claim in any ad--without it you clearly have written hype of the bad kind.

But even with proof--if the proof is not "placed" wisely--it'll be ignored--as will be the ad.

The consumer is not an idiot--she's your wife

...to quote David Ogilvy.

Consumers learn quickly--they have to. By one account, the average American is deluged with over 5,000 advertisements in one form or another every single day.

And, it's probably fair to say, most of these ads are poorly presented, either in concept, design or execution.

Hence, the unavoidable consequence: skepticism and disbelief abounds in the marketplace.

So... while in the past, making a claim and immediately following it up with proof may have been a wise, prudent and necessary tack to take--times have now changed.

And marketers must adapt.

No longer do you, as a marketer, have the luxury, or more to the point--the time to prove your claim--once you make it.

Avoid the ad-killing claim

...by making it instead an unavoidable conclusion.

While the following is not an inviolate rule--it's certainly worth testing...

Before making any concise and memorable claim to unparalleled excellence—prove it first.

Assemble and present your credentialing elements, your evidence--your entire body of incontrovertible proof--in clear and linear fashion.

Allow your proof to lay the groundwork for what is to come. Create strong and overwhelming direction and momentum.

In other words...

Ambush your customer

...So that when you finally do present your hype--your claim to have the biggest, baddest, best product on the planet--it won't be mistaken for or accused of being hype (of the bad kind)...

...But rather it will be seen as a descriptive and accurate statement of the obvious and the proven (hype of the good kind).

If executed skillfully, your hype will also have the added benefit of becoming sustainable and actionable.

And that's the best hype of all--when your customer agrees with--acts upon--and even advocates on behalf of--what otherwise would have been a wild and unbelievable claim.

--Barry

Guarantees. Nobody believes them, so why use them?

Put yourself in your client's shoes. No, strike that.

Put yourself in your prospect's shoes (a prospect being someone you've never marketed, sold to or married before).

So she doesn't know you; she doesn't trust you, and she couldn't care less if you drop dead tomorrow.

But, through deft marketing—you've captured her attention! Her eyeballs belong to you.

And now she's beginning to believe, as she scans your sales copy, that you just might be selling something she wants. No, strike that.

She immediately realizes (via a great headline and lead) that you're selling exactly what she wants—or something she thinks she wants (same difference).

Let's say, it's a book, a cream, a doctor, or a pill that'll help her lose weight.

Now if you've ever tried to sell a weight loss product you know how sisyphusian a task that can be. Weight loss products are a wasteland of failed talismans, potions and quackery (despite "A"-quality copy, offers and celebrity endorsements).

Why? Because...

There's only one way to really lose weight—and keep it off

And if you think it's through exercise and diet, or both—you're half right.

The only way to lose the blubber is through the 3-D's, otherwise known as determination, dedication and downright doggedness—anything else is just low-fat salad dressing.

But, I digress.

So your prospect, let's call her Julie is hesitant to order your product because... well, there could be lots of reasons. For example:

>>You didn't provide compelling proof or credibility to back up your claims
>>Your sales copy loses steam in the middle and runs off on different tangents
>>You didn't mine and exhaust the list of deep-down benefits your product provides, or you didn't fully dimensionalize them
>>Your sales copy, from beginning to end, doesn't lead Julie inescapably to the "Order Now" button
>>Your website/brochure/sales letter looks like it was created by a designer who wants to be and artist and win awards—not make sales
>>You have no testimonials or endorsements
>>You don't clearly and unequivocally ask for the order, nor do you mention the terrible consequences of not ordering
>>There's not enough personalization and "you speak" in your copy (when Julie reads your ad/sales letter she has to feel as if you're talking to her, specifically, and not a faceless blob of cellulite)

There's more of course; the list goes on and on....

But let's say you've provided all of the above, and more. Yet, Julie is still hesitant to give you her money—even though you've absolutely persuaded her that your blubber pulverizer works.

Why is she still hesitant?

Because she's fallen for other blubber blasters before, too many in fact—and she still can't zip up her pants.

And because in these scary economic times—she can't afford the risk of losing more money on more blubbery promises—regardless of how much she pours forth and out of her swimsuit.

Allay her fears—remove all the risk

Offer Julie a guarantee!

Yes, I know, I know. Nobody believes guarantees anymore. Because of copy-cat construction they've lost their impact. Like so many newspaper ads, they're a blur of meaningless verbiage.

Others are over the top...

"Lose 50 pounds in one week! Erase all stretch marks in 3 days! And have the movie studios calling you by tomorrow night—or your money back!"

Such a guarantee, to say the least, is counter-productive.

And yet, even though Julie might not believe your guarantee—she still wants you to offer her one.

A guarantee is like a presidential election promise. Everyone wants to hear how the nominee, Democrat or Republican, is going to change things in Washington, i.e., lower taxes, grow the economy and keep America strong domestically and globally...

Yet, everyone knows, whoever becomes our next president, it'll be business as usual on Pennsylvania Avenue come January.

And so, even though Julie is distrustful, cynical and maybe even scared—she still wants to believe. She wants you to tell her that everything will be all right and she won't be taken to the cleaners, again.

So how do you craft a guarantee that combines the eloquence and hope of Obama with the honest and straight-shooting no-nonsense approach of McCain?

How indeed do you overcome that last hurdle between you and Julie's money?

Crafting an unusually effective and convincing guarantee

The fist thing you want to avoid is to make your guarantee read like everybody else's.

If your guarantee sounds obligatory, perfunctory and commonplace, e.g. "Your money back if not 100% satisfied", not only will Julie's jaded eyes ignore or miss it—she'll completely discount it. That is to say, she'll not be in the least bit persuaded by it.

So rather than write a guarantee that reads like a limp handshake—power it up. Explain it and sell it!

Explain why you're offering it, why it's worth more than the paper it's written on—and why there's no reason to doubt it.

Your guarantee is part of your offer—make it attractive and as believable as possible. Make it part of the running text and a few paragraphs long.

But remember, if it sounds too good to be true—you'll lose the sale.

And by all means--be imaginative. If your guarantee is distinctive enough—it might even become your USP (unique selling proposition).

Domino's Pizza...

...Built an empire base on their guarantee: Delivered in 30 minutes or it's free.

Do the same thing with your guarantee! Think outside the pizza box. But never make a promise you can't keep.

Instead of offering a typical and boring 30-day guarantee—make it a 6-month or 1-year guarantee.

Tests actually prove the longer the guarantee the less the returns.

Why? Because when Julie realizes she's got just 30-days to ask for her money back—she'll remember that.

But, if she's got a year—she'll fuhgedaboutit!

And while you're at it, if you've got a truly killer cannot-fail product—why not offer a double-your-money back guarantee!

Sure, you'll attract a number of low-life's trying to score some bucks off your genius—but that'll amount to mere pennies compared to the traffic and recognition you'll receive when your guarantee goes viral.

And whatever you do, at the very least—make your guarantee bigger, better and bolder than your competition's...

.And then, lo and behold... you'll have guaranteed your own success!

--Barry

How to Squeeze Blood from a Copywriter

True story:

Not too long ago I was approached by a marketer who had a product idea -- just the idea mind you.

And he wanted to hire me to develop it... market it... sell it... and everything in-between.The reason being -- he didn't have the time to do it himself.

My first thought was... now here's a man after my own heart -- lazy as the day is long, and dying to be rich and famous without lifting a finger.

Seriously, if I could take a pill to give me muscles like the Governator's (in his prime)... play tennis like Federer... and attract women like Pitt -- I'd order a life-time supply as fast as yesterday!

Anyway, I was up for the challenge... even though there are more than enough products like his already on the market (which is actually a good thing).

So... I cracked open my secret black book of sales and marketing pros and considered which "Mission Impossible Team" would be perfect to attack this beachhead.

Then, I sent the marketer my proposal... including my fee.

He was totally impressed. He told me I had brass balls (I think that was a compliment)... and then told me to get real.

He said he already had copywriters lined up to do it all for under $2,000 -- flat fee, no percentage.

Yeah, right!

But, you know what... I bet he can find a copywriter to do it all for under $2,000 -- and, boy, what a job he'll do -- he'll even throw in the Brooklyn Bridge and shares of Enron at no extra charge!

Anyway, I checked back with him a few weeks later, and asked how the project was coming along... and... heh, heh... he still hadn't hired a copywriter.

Moral of the story (sorta)... you can hire a copywriter to do practically anything for you... but if you're not willing to pay the price for delegation, abdication and sloth -- better to work together, following these simple "save money and make money" guidelines:

Ask Not What a Copywriter Can Do for You—Ask What You Can Do for Your Copywriter!

As Hemmingway said, writing is easy... all you've got to do is open a vein and bleed all over the page.

And yet, copywriters are actually more than just writers, they're... ta dah!... Super Salesmen!

Copywriters aren't hired to entertain, or dazzle the reader with unparalleled wordsmithing...

They're hired to sell the client's product (or generate a qualified lead).

And if they can't do that -- it doesn't matter if they can write a poem like Frost, a play like Shakespeare, a thriller like King or a humor column like Barry (not me, the other Barry, Dave Barry).

But... if they can sell in print -- does it matter if they employ broken English, fragmented sentences or any other type of grammatically dysfunctional construction, intentionally or not?

The only measure of a copywriter's talent... is how much and how fast he can sell his client's product!

But... since the product is not the copywriter's brainchild... he neither conceived it, nurtured it in its embryonic stages, delivered it into actuality nor surrounded it with a supportive family... that's never an easy thing to do (to sell to a stranger off the page and for maximum dollars, too!)

So he needs your help.

He needs research... background and market info, access to data and the ability to conduct interviews, etc. Indeed, there are tens of questions that need to be answered.

(For a comprehensive list of questions that always need to be answered, click here http://www.writingwithpersonality.com/questions.html)

Now, as the baby's parents, aka the marketer, you can leave the copywriter to discover all the answers on his own.

But first understand one thing -- a copywriter typically makes a living by selling time -- his time. And time equals writing, which equals money.

So if he has to spend time doing research -- he ain't writing, and therefore he ain't making money.

So in light of that, copywriters will charge for research (it's factored into your over-all cost -- that's why you'll never get a separate bill).

And, depending on the complexity of the product and the intricacies of your targeted market -- plus, the amount of research the copywriter must do on his own -- research can be quite expensive (regardless of whether the copywriter does the research himself or hires someone to do it for him).

Now a good copywriter is fairly expensive to begin with. A-level copywriters can command a $25,000 advance plus 10% of gross sales, minus fulfillment costs.

So unless you've got a bottomless bank account... well... need I say more?

The other option, of course, is for you to provide the copywriter with the research he needs to get the job done (which is to quickly make you a whole bunch of money).

Now, most marketers obviously opt for this latter approach -- but, unfortunately, in a very casual, hap-hazard fashion.

Don't Short-Change Yourself by Short-Changing Your Copywriter

Too many marketers feel they're doing a copywriter a favor by providing research.

They'll give the copywriter... oh, about five minutes of their time.

They'll send him an email with a bunch of URLs to investigate, a couple of sentences about their target market, and a couple of words about the benefits and features of the product (though most times they get the two confused).

And then they'll end by saying that they're always available to answer any further questions... just call.

Needless to say... this isn't much help to a copywriter -- and that's why typical turnaround time for the completion of a copywriting project is often quoted in weeks if not months.

Experienced and successful marketers, on the other hand, those in tune with the rigors and demands of writing a money-pulling promotion -- and who, quite frequently, wrote copy themselves -- will send a FedEx box packed with collateral and emails filled with megs and megs of info and data.

After all, you can never send too much background research to a copywriter.

In fact, I would estimate that the success of any promotion is directly proportional (times ten) to the depth of research done on the product and the targeted market.

Furthermore... you should recognize that the ability to conduct research is a talent in and of itself -- a talent which many copywriters do not possess.

So my advice is this: share the hours, if not years of information, wisdom and knowledge you acquired while growing your business and developing your product -- however much effort it may require.

And if you do this... your copywriter will not hesitate -- indeed, he'll be empowered -- to open a vein and pour his blood, sweat, and money-sucking talent on to the page for you -- just to make you rich.

--Barry

You Won't Sell Squat Without This in Your Sales Copy...

Great! You've invented a better mouse trap. You're the smartest consultant advisor, guru ever to pick up a microphone and wear shoes. You've figured out how to turn chicken feathers into gold, toilet water into oil, and the Sunday paper into a stack of $100 bills!

And now you want to offer the results of your genius to the world—and, of course, you won't object if you become stinking rich in the process.

So, you immediately hire a web designer, you hire a copywriter from Elance (ugh!), you run a Google Adwords campaign, you mail 1 million "lumpy" packages (thee dimensional mailers) to every zip code in your state, you place three TV commercials on Oprah, and you climb the tallest building in town and you bark at the moon...

And then... you wait... and wait... and then a small trickle of orders comes in... and then, they stop...

So you hire a PR firm, and then another copywriter, this time from ODesk (ugh again!)... and you Twitter and blog, and you join Facebook and MySpace and post ads on other people's websites and in glossy magazines...

And then, in desperation, you lower your price...

And again you wait... and wait... until you're out of money, you're divorced, you no longer have a bed to sleep in, a pot to piss in, and the dog won't come when you call him...

And so... you go back to whatever it was you were doing, before you were brilliant...

And the world lives on in ignorance, ugliness and poverty... all because you forgot to provide...

Proof!

What kind of proof? Social proof!

Say what...?

Do you know why Web 2.0, inter-activity, connectivity, user forums, customer reviews, customer interaction, and a ton of other old, new and reborn innovations that basically have the same purpose and benefit (transparency), works like gangbusters for marketers, sucking in the money...?

Because no one wants to believe you—because you're the marketer—because you're trying to sell them something—because you're trying to take their money—because all marketers are scammers, con-artists and liars (just don't take it personally).

Yet, they'll trust and believe absolute strangers who state in your sales copy, on your forum, in your infomercial, in a case study, and amongst themselves... that your miracle product helped them grow hair, lose weight, get rich, get healthy, and shape-shift into Angelina Jolie over night!

Third-party endorsements work, too!

But if you can't get the Surgeon General, the FDA, FAA, ASPCA, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, or Jennifer Simpson to endorse your product—get Mr. and Mrs. Consumer's virtual next door neighbor to write you a testimonial.

It's called Social Proof!

People who have used your product—and who have provided you with a glowing and publishable testimonial will help make you rich!

But not letters from your mother!

"I really liked your product. I'm very happy. Thank you so much. You're great, and you photograph really nice." – JB

If you think that's a testimonial... go walk the dog before he messes on your rug.

Specificity sells—especially in testimonials.

"In just one day your advanced formula Prostate Shrinker increased my urine flow by 86% and the size of my erection by seven inches—and now ol' Henry is so hard I can break a pile of bricks with it! And, I've also got two new girlfriends. Shawna is 27 years old and Megan is 23. Not bad for an 86 year old, huh! And it's all due to your advanced formula Prostrate Shrinker. And last week I also won the PowerBall Lottery. I won $52 Billion! Thanks Prostate Shrinker!" – Dr. John Holmstead, retired urologist, Rapid City, IA

Now that's a testimonial! (But it's gotta be true—and not written by you!)

Consumers are bombarded with sales pitches morning, noon and night. By one estimate, the average consumer sees over 30,000 advertisements, in one form or another, during the course of a day. Granted, only a handful are registered on the brain and vaguely remembered.

Nevertheless, consumers today are jaded, cynical, skeptical, and right now they’re running pretty low on money. And because there's nothing new under the sun, the only way you'll convince them to buy Brand X (especially sight unseen) from you... is to present them with glowing recommendations from regular people, just like them, who have absolutely nothing to gain by touting the success of your product or service.

So if you don't have testimonials—a bus load of them—go get 'em before you start barking at the moon.

--Barry

How to Sell to the Rich – Part 4

There are only two types of products in this world: need to have products, and want to have products.

Need to have products are the typical staples of life: food, clothing, a roof over one's head, a car, a lover on the side (no, just kidding).

Want to have products are, by definition, products you don't need to have: caviar, an Armani wardrobe, a 24-room mansion, a Lamborghini in the garage, two or more lovers on the side.

Now, for the most part, the rich really don’t need anything, but the list of what they want is nearly endless.

By the way, how you go about selling the staff of life (need to have products) versus how you go about selling the frills and adornments of the good-life (want to have products), from a tactical and strategic perspective, is distinctly different, and a subject for another post.

Nonetheless, how would you, as a marketer, go about selling to the rich... a pair of scissors made of 24kt gold?

Now scissors are, by and large, a need to have product. And your market research has already determined that there is a large and viable market for a pair of quality shears.

But you're looking to sell to the rich – and you want to sell them shears made of 24kt gold – something they clearly don't need, and probably don’t want. Yet, you've got a warehouse filled with enough gold to make Fort Knox look like a run down trailer park.

So how do you sell a pair of 24kt gold scissors to the rich?

Would your marketing efforts tout the quality of the scissor cut, the durability of the blades, its ease of use, etc. etc.?

No. Scissors are scissors. Okay, some are better than others, and some cost more than others.

But who the hell in their right mind needs a pair of scissors make of 24kt gold that cost more than a mortgage payment? The rich, who else!

But wait... do they need it? No, of course not. Do they want it... well, a lot of what the rich will buy are items that they don't need or want – at least not at first.

Sure, it's easy to sell the rich on a private Mediterranean cruise, dinner at 5-star restaurant, jewelry from Tiffany's.

But what if they never heard of your product, or it has no immediate, intrinsic or universal cache...

So, how do you sell a pair of scissors made of 24kt gold – or anything for that matter – to the rich?

The answer is in the next and final post of this series... so stay tuned.

--Barry

How to Sell to the Rich – Part 3

An excellent contribution was added to my last post by a devoted commentator (she, who thinks I'm a moron. Actually, she says my logic is moronic – not me. But since my logic defines me, I must therefore be, ipso facto, a moron. How do you like that – she's actually got me calling me a moron! Sheesh!)

Anyway, she made a good point – no, not about me being a moron, but rather about reading Dale Carnegie's seminal opus: "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

Now listen, what I'm about to say will probably generate some death threats, but the truth (my truth) must win out. Dale Carnegie's book, written in the early years of the 20th century has more benefit and uncluttered, straightforward, eternal wisdom in its few pages than any bible, holy book of any religion, past or present. (Yeah, yeah, blasphemy, I know – now get over it and continue reading.)

Everyone, not just marketers, but every human being should read it – numerous times – and commit it to memory.

And clearly, for our topical purposes – selling to the rich – it rings no less true or valuable.

Live by the words written in this book, and not only will you be able to sell to the rich, but you will succeed in any and every endeavor you set before yourself.

By living a life – and conducting business – in conformity with the principals it elucidates, 28 of which I briefly quote below, you will succeed in life and sell to the rich.

Don’t criticize, condemn or complain

Begin with praise and honest appreciation

Arouse in the other person an eager want

Become genuinely interested in other people

Smile

Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language

Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves

Talk in terms of the other person’s interests

Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it

Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”

If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically

Begin in a friendly way

Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately

Let the other person do a great deal of the talking

Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers

Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view

Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires

Appeal to the nobler motives

Dramatize your idea

Throw down a challenge

Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly

Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person

Ask questions instead of giving orders

Let the other person save face

Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to

Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct

Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest

More to follow...

--Barry