Many sellers have to sell services rather than goods. This area is in demand. Such services are provided in medical, educational institutions, in beauty salons, taxis. They are provided not only by companies, but also by individuals performing certain work. But not everyone knows how to properly organize a business so that it brings a stable and high income. How to sell services will be discussed in the article.
Why is this necessary?
Entrepreneurs are often called upon to sell services with goods. Many companies pay more for this. But not all sellers understand why this is necessary. Is it possible to sell services if the business has just opened? This must be done. You just need to use proven methods.
It all comes down to the fact that the service is considered, that is, the profit from it is higher than from goods. For example, the markup on an air conditioner may not be noticeable; during the season, the sale of this equipment often brings a small profit. But if the installation of equipment is ordered, the company will receive a high income, which will pay for everything.
Principles of selling goods
All people have different methods of receiving information: a person can be visual, auditory or kinesthetic. Some remember everything visually, others by hearing, and still others by touching the object. For a full-fledged person, all 3 methods work, but there is always a more comfortable one.
Selling something to visual and kinesthetic learners is difficult. The seller can talk a lot about the product, but if the buyer does not see or touch it, then it will not be easy to sell it. Many customers search for products on their own, so they focus on their senses. So it is important to use sales methods that suit the majority of people.
Features of service delivery
The service is considered a more delicate thing. For the client to like it, you need to learn how to present it correctly. How to sell services? You should rely on proven principles:
- services must be of high quality, otherwise they will not be popular with clients;
- training of sellers plays an important role, since the success of trade largely depends on them;
- it is important to create visualization of services: brochures, leaflets, posters, folders, presentations - this is how buyers perceive information better;
- clients must be assured of safety and receiving an individual approach.
If you take these rules into account, you can correctly sell goods and services. This will help attract customers who may become regular ones. At the same time, it is necessary to improve the work of your company, improve the quality of service and find new methods of attracting customers.
Step-by-step instruction
What services can you sell? Any, the main thing is to use proven methods:
- it is necessary to choose an implementation method taking into account the needs of clients;
- it is necessary to introduce unique features into the activity that are unlike competitive ones;
- it is important to clearly position the company;
- it is necessary to use flexible pricing;
- you need to create a convenient purchasing process;
- it is necessary to advertise services;
- An individual approach is important for each client.
With such principles, you can promote any services, making them in demand. It is important to choose an appropriate distribution method, for example, by telephone, via the Internet or other media.
Visualization
Consumers need to see the work, so they need to be shown a video or photo. You can provide consultations and conduct trainings. If this information work, then you can submit reports on electronic media, for example, screenshots, presentations.
Consumers need to evaluate performance results, so they should be shown. Facts about the work done are of great importance. If the consumer is satisfied with everything, he will definitely seek help.
Selling services by phone
This type of sales is considered one of the most difficult. Nowadays, various companies work this way: banking services, Forex. Investments, installation of meters, Internet connection. How to sell a service over the phone? You must adhere to the following rules:
- due to high competition, good sales scripts are needed to help with clients;
- sellers must use sales techniques and also know everything about the services they offer;
- it is important to be able to work with objections and close transactions correctly;
- telephone sales should be carried out using paraverbal communication - intonation, voice;
- It is important to make the required number of calls in a specific period of time.
It should be borne in mind that whatever service is offered, if it is in demand, it is necessary to find a client. This is often done with the help of It is necessary to monitor the work of competitors.
Internet using
How to sell legal services, as well as medical, transport? You need to have your own website designed according to modern requirements. What services can you sell using it? Perfect for booking tickets, making translations, and consulting in various areas of life.
The site should contain informative, optimized articles. There must be Feedback, payment acceptance function, reviews section. It is necessary to take advantage of opportunities social networks, which can be used to create a community. This will allow you to come into contact with customers. You can create advertising on the Internet in other ways.
How to lure clients?
Business requires strong people. And if there are a lot of clients, you should not relax. Competitors can lure them to their side at any time. How to sell services so that there are always people willing to buy them? Poaching methods must be used. Now this is practically the only option to increase sales.
Competitors have pros and cons. Marketing policy should be based on shortcomings. It is important to offer more profitable terms than in other companies. For example, Internet providers offer free connection and setup. Such techniques will help you find many new customers.
Dumping
How to sell services so that it brings high profits? You can use dumping - reducing the cost (below the market price). This tactic is needed to force small firms out of the market. Dumping is great for promoting a company.
Just keep in mind that those customers who came for the price can quickly disappear. They will not be permanent, because they are attracted more profitable options, which may appear in other companies.
Competitors' mistakes
How to properly sell services in other ways? You can take advantage of your competitors' mistakes. We need to take advantage of this. For example, if a provider has a communication outage, competitors whip up panic using the media. At this time, it is important to offer more favorable conditions.
Secrets of successful selling
You need to focus on the client, not the service. This is the key to success in business. For a client, you need to become a friend who is attentive to his interests. Every little detail is important to service users. You should quickly respond to requests, phone calls, and greet politely. The first impression is important.
The company must be honest with consumers. Therefore, promises must be kept. Only quality services will be sought. If discounts and promotions are offered, then all this should be realistic for the client.
Correct positioning of services is necessary. Consumers rate this based on personal experience. This is how people’s opinion about the work of the company develops. If one consumer likes the company’s activities, he will offer to use its services to other people. Each person is unique, therefore, with the help of an individual approach, you can form a positive attitude towards the work of the company.
Services in demand
Currently the best selling services are:
- household;
- informational;
- advertising;
- transport;
- specialized.
Home services will always be in demand as people constantly need help in their daily lives. This could be home renovation, cosmetology work, or a hairdresser. Ateliers, clothing repairs, and dry cleaning are in demand. It’s no wonder that many such companies are opening now.
Household services include caring for the sick and children. Some use such help due to lack of time, others - due to lack of skills. Opening a company providing household services does not require large investments compared to other types of business.
Sell domestic services You can use advertising, publications on the Internet, distributing brochures and booklets. It is necessary to regularly arrange discounts and promotions for customers, and then they will become permanent.
Information services are in demand. They allow you to receive advice from specialists in various fields: recruiting, searching for clients, auditing, consulting on special issues, collecting information, training courses.
Information services can be advertised through radio, television, newspapers, and the Internet. Each client should be provided with a business card and a brochure with types of activities. An individual approach to each person helps to attract buyers of services.
Popular advertising services that every company needs. You can create banners, organize events, place advertisements. The services of animators and promoters are in demand. Companies need help creating websites and promoting them.
Popular in Russia This can be the transportation of goods, passengers, Express delivery. All types are in demand for this activity. effective advertising. Specialized services include medical, legal, technical, and construction. Each of these areas is promoted through proper sales management.
As you know, smart people learn from the mistakes of others, and fools learn from their own. So let's learn. Let's start by looking at several typical situations of how things work with booklets in companies. While we are analyzing the situations, dear reader, I ask you to try them on for yourself.Situation 1. The company does not have a brochure. And the client, having contacted the company, will not receive anything. At best, he will take with him good advice from the seller. But this will only happen under the following conditions:
the seller will be really well prepared;
he will have good mood and well-being;
the client will have a lot of free time.
And only if the stars come together in such a “correct” combination will the deal happen. What if they don't get along?
What is the probability of success? Are all your sellers and clients ideal? Well, now imagine a REAL SITUATION when the seller is rather weak. What impression will be left about the company? And if there was a booklet, then there would be more tools to establish contact with the client. And this unsuccessful contact could have been corrected.
Situation 2. The company does not have its own booklet, but there are manufacturers' booklets. And the client, having contacted the company, receives these materials instead of a “contact”. Such materials are very burdensome, since usually a good half of the text in them is written in a specialized language. What do you do with this waste paper? Right! At best, it then lies around your house. At worst - already at the exit from the office or trading floor goes into the trash bin. Everyone has observed this picture a thousand times and at least once personally been in such a situation. Now put yourself in the client's shoes. How will you feel when you are “loaded” with all this information? People with normal mentality try to avoid repeated “loading” contact. No one wants to be put in a situation again that makes them feel incompetent. Nobody wants to look stupid. Is this your goal when distributing manufacturers' catalogs to your clients? Are these efforts actually moving your company toward sales growth? What is more in such marketing interaction with the client: benefit or harm?
Situation 3. The company has a booklet, but it is made clumsily, somewhat similar to a bad homemade product. The booklet contains non-professional, low quality images, not directly related to the topic. With a quick glance, it is difficult to understand not only the uniqueness of the company’s offer, but simply anything. A booklet executed in this way is distracting. The absurdity of the images is annoying. Remember the image of a blonde, which usually accompanies booklets of car washes, bathhouses, and chain stores selling cars. What company do you see behind the facade of such printing? What do they usually say about such companies? Do you think such a company has an image of being reliable and professional or young, inexperienced and “speculating”, trying to please the client in any way? Does such a booklet help the company create a positive background for sales? In this case, the marketing impact will be positive for the public who appreciate blondes, but at the same time it will discourage the audience who prefer to deal with partners who inspire confidence. This means that such a booklet is also not a very “working” marketing tool.
Situation 4. The company has a booklet, but what is written there is boring, and in general, somehow not very connected with ME, THE CLIENT. Reading this booklet, you feel like you are at a “plenum of the CPSU Central Committee,” or at a reporting meeting. The booklet says everything the same as in other booklets. The company is “renowned, famous, customer-oriented.” The product offer is “optimal in terms of price and quality ratio.” And a lot of other “important” information. But only for me, the Client, so what? How can all this help me? Why should I, the Client, choose this company over another? Why should you bring your money to this company? Will such a booklet help the seller? Is it worth spending resources (money and work time employees) for such a tool? Will such a booklet be a brick in the foundation of the deal or will it simply not leave any trace of itself?
Situation 5. The company has a booklet and, reading this booklet, you are surprised and think: “Well, it’s as if they wrote about me. How exactly did they notice that this is exactly the problem I am facing, and this is what is very important for me to get from the company offering these products. "I'll go to this company and talk with the seller. Maybe we'll make a deal." This is the kind of sales support tool every salesperson dreams of having! But to create such a booklet you need to know a lot of subtleties or details and apply a systematic approach. They used to call it talent
Technology for creating a company booklet
1 step. Determine the role that the booklet plays in the process of guiding the client from indifference to the product to interest in purchasing. What do you want: to stir up the client’s interest? bring the client up to date? tell the client something special or new? The main thing is not to solve more than 2-3 problems in one booklet. The average person has 3 (give or take 2) attention units. That is, from 1 to 5. On average 2-3. This means that a person, studying one material, is able to absorb no more than 2-3 key ideas. And there is no need to try to cram everything into one advertising material. Because as a result, the client will not remember anything.
Step 2. Decide on the structure of the material in the booklet.
Must be included in the booklet next blocks information:
Home page (first cover)
A picture reflecting the semantic idea of the business for clients included in your target segment
Slogan (advertising slogan) of the company
Company `s logo
Brand-building elements (colors, special fonts, shapes)
Back cover
company details: name, addresses of sales offices, website, logo
Step 3. Research your customers, and then rewrite the previously stated “benefits of your offering and business to the customer” in the customer's language. This means that in the booklet you need to use the same words that your client uses. Believe me, this is delicate work. But she's worth it. The client will answer you with gratitude - verified!
Step 4. Study your clients' lifestyles to find an image that clients recognize as "themselves." ATTENTION! There is also a subtle point here. People receive 90% of information non-verbally (images, general impression, paper quality, etc.) and only 10% verbally (text itself). A good image can “say” more about a company and its offer than a few sheets of text! And here is one more point: the main thing is not to “get creative” and not to “be clever.” Keep it simple and people will follow. In the case of an image for advertising, this is no joke.
Step 5 Research competitors to introduce the company's personality and reflect this in texts and pictures. This is an even more subtle nuance - “detuning from competitors”. The important thing here is to talk about the benefits in the customer's language - in a way that is different from the competition.
Step 6 Show a prototype of your brochure to clients and observe the reaction. If the reaction is positive, publish a booklet and use it to increase sales. If the reaction is not very good, go back, go through the steps again, eliminate mistakes or fill in the gaps.
Now you see that behind a simple booklet there is painstaking work and a whole system! Since a booklet is one of the basic tools of the marketing and sales system, you understand that a carefully designed booklet greatly supports and strengthens sales. And how systematically the company approaches the execution of the booklet determines whether it will become a tool that helps or hinders sales. But the situation in the middle (neutral booklet) is not. If your brochure has a “neutral impact,” then the company simply wasted time and money, which means it still lost.
Some statistics:
a good brochure increases the likelihood of contacting the company by 50%
a good booklet can reduce sales force training efforts by 70-80%
a good booklet allows you to avoid ineffective advertising and marketing costs by 100%
And that's just one simple tool!
http://korovainfo.ru
Rybakov Mikhail
On this site we talked about how to make money from book reviews. In this we'll talk about how to make money selling books online.
And we will sell books, electronic and paper, new and old, antique and not very old, second-hand and well-known... In general, all sorts. For simplicity and better understanding, we will divide all books into two groups: your books And other people's books.
By “ours,” I mean not those written with my own hand, but those that belong to us. IN to a greater extent We are talking about paper books. But we’ll also talk about “our” electronic books.
I consider as “strangers” those books that we do not own. We'll look at this point in more detail later.
So, let's start with “our” books.
Selling your books
Each of us has book library. Big or small, collected independently or inherited from parents, but each of us has it. And it happens that we decide to sell it. Or sell some of the books included in it.
In our library, books can be very different. Most likely, most of them are ordinary fiction. Modern and past years. Plus a certain amount of non-fiction: various encyclopedias, tips, recipes, etc.
It happens that in the library, among old books and new books (“old” and “new” relative to the date of their writing, not printing), one comes across old or antique books, or second-hand book rarities.
In both cases, if you are going to sell only this finite list of books (limited by your library), then there is little point in building some kind of special sales channel for this. It is much easier to take all valuable books (antique or second-hand books) to an antique store and offer them there, and sell the rest at the nearest flea market.
It's another matter if:
- A) . You have the library really big and there are a lot of books in it or it is constantly replenished;
- b) . With book sales you're not in a hurry and are you ready to sell out the library gradually or are you just too lazy to go shopping and flea markets;
- V) . Price for your books in an antique store or flea market seems understated.
Then it makes sense to create a permanent and well-functioning sales channel.
With the most simple ways To create such a sales channel there will be the following two:
- 1) . Word of mouth(tell your friends about your intentions, they will tell theirs, etc., in general, we are looking for buyers with the help of word of mouth);
- 2) . Internet.
With the first method everything is clear. But we’ll talk about the second one in more detail.
There are two ways to sell your books online:
- 1) . Use sites already available on the Internet;
- 2) . Create your own(their).
In the first case, we use message boards, specialized forums, etc. In general, we look for sites on the Internet where there are people who want to buy books, and we post our offer there.
The first way to increase sales on the Internet is E-mail marketing. Every year it is gaining more and more popularity and not only in online commerce. Advertising by e-mail allows you to deliver high-quality information to target audience offers from companies and effectively increase sales at low cost. But to achieve the required results, you need to familiarize yourself with how to correctly implement E-mail marketing technology.
Analyzes by the Direct Marketing Association show that, according to statistics, firms receive $40 for every $1 invested in E-mail marketing (according to 2012 data). This is by far the most cost-effective form of online advertising.
Promoting goods and services through E-mail marketing is the first step to declare your brand on the Internet and a short path to big sales. After completing and uploading a product catalog to the company’s website, the question arises: “How to communicate with potential clients who left their data in the registration form?” Very often, enterprises do not use 100% of the data received from registration forms on the site. For such companies, unfortunately, not all registration data is part of the strategy to increase sales on the Internet. And they collect contact information on the recommendation of the webmaster who was developing the corporate website.
Reasons for increasing online sales created by E-mail marketing
There are several reasons why you can easily increase your online sales using email marketing:
- High readability of advertising materials by email recipients. If letters arrive personally addressed and by agreement of the recipient (not as spam), then, according to statistics, 71% of users will read them.
- Popularity of the contact form. 43.8% of Internet users consider E-mail the most convenient and popular form of communication with any company. For comparison, 17.8% of users prefer communication via Facebook, and mobile phone– only 10.5% (due to paid calls).
- High activity of recipients. More than 35% of Internet users check email several times a day. This significantly increases the activity of customer response. Their active response to the company’s offer is instantly reflected in an increase in sales volumes on the Internet.
In E-mail marketing, the result depends a lot on the quality of the mailing to high-quality contact databases of potential clients. If you are still new to this field, then first pay attention to how other businesses operate and where they make their mistakes. Be responsible when presenting your company via email, otherwise in worst cases you will get the opposite effect (spam should not be allowed).
4 steps to increase sales volumes using E-mail marketing
The undoubted advantage of E-mail marketing carried out to increase sales on the Internet is its low entry threshold when starting an advertising campaign. And also the absence of technical difficulties in making the right choice a suitable platform for it. In order to properly send out electronic advertising messages, you need to use:
- Professional software platform for sending letters by email. Its cost will be about $15 per month.
- A high-quality contact database of potential clients of the company. It is better to create the database yourself through the site’s registration form. Paid databases do not even provide 50% of the effect.
- Designer template for composing letters. It must be designed for mass distribution, so the graphic designer must consider the style and kilobyte weight of the graphics. Also, the template should be easy to edit for the firm to create new proposals. Its cost will be approximately $100.
- The text of the company's proposal written by a copywriter. The price of the service will cost $10 per 1000 characters on average.
The ratio of costs and effectiveness of the result is most optimal in advertising carried out through mass mailing of booklets to the email addresses of potential clients. It’s not for nothing that Bill Gates once said: Anyone who masters email perfectly will be a millionaire in the twenty-first century! .
Reports increase the efficiency of sales management E-mail marketing
The analysis of E-mail marketing is compared with the analysis of increasing sales on the Internet. The mailing efficiency report is the main advantage of software platforms for mass mailing of electronic booklets. Thanks to it, you can even find out how many recipients have opened advertising brochures with the company’s offer that interests them. Reports, analyzes and statistics make it easy to manage sales and accurately forecast them in the short term.
An important question for every Internet entrepreneur: “When to start E-mail marketing?” Most respond when the contact base grows to a decent size. But as practice shows, you can start E-mail marketing with a budget of $35 monthly. It may not be strange, but after an advertising campaign there are bursts of activity in the growth of new contacts and clients. Therefore, you should not delay for long, because an early start helps to increase the base of contacts of potential clients. And you need to gain experience as early as possible.
Avoid the pitfalls of ineffective email marketing.
3 Most common mistakes to avoid when writing proposal emails to clients:- Graphic materials in the attached letter file. When sending mass emails over the Internet, the load on the server increases. Also, this method of designing an advertising booklet significantly increases the likelihood of ending up in the recipient’s spam section.
- The personal address is not indicated in the text of the message. Be sure to address the recipient by name. This increases the effect on the client's positive reaction. This confirms the fact that the user has agreed to receive letters from the store and reduces the likelihood of the letter ending up in the spam section. The letter must also contain a link to unsubscribe from the mailing list. If a customer does not want to receive store news, he ceases to be a potential customer. Mailings to such clients are not effective and only lead to unnecessary expenses and disorientation of the strategy of advertising companies. Therefore, you need to give the client the opportunity to filter himself.
- The subject line of the email contains promotional materials. Each letter sent to a client should be presented as an important event. You cannot use the words sale, advertising, booklet, flyer, etc. directly in the subject line. 53% of recipients do not even open such messages, but immediately send them to the trash.
It is also important to follow the design contact information for client feedback to the company. All methods of communication should be described there:
Software platform for mass mailings of letters
For most Internet entrepreneurs, the first steps in increasing sales using mass email campaigns are immediately associated with the email clients Microsoft Outlook, The Bat or Mozilla Thunderbird. And this is the first mistake. These programs work great for email correspondence between two or ten recipients. But these programs are absolutely not suitable for mass effective mailings. emails the following reasons:
- Large expenditure of time and effort. Traditional email clients do not allow you to effectively manage your contact database. A lot of time is spent on routine work when designing a booklet. Programs will not send one letter to all recipients in the database at once. Each time you need to compose a new letter and add several dozen recipient addresses to it. There is also no possibility to conveniently work with groups of recipients. After all, in effective E-mail marketing, not always every offer will be addressed to the entire base. Sometimes you need to allocate separate groups of contacts of target buyers for certain offers.
- Low efficiency. In practice, there is no clear guarantee that all letters after mass mailing reach their recipients. There may be different reasons for a connection failure: overload of the sender's mail server; there is no connection with recipients' email mailboxes (due to scheduled work on their servers); problems in the sender's server configuration; loss of connection to the Internet. Therefore, mailing programs must formulate actual reports after a mass mailing has been carried out to ensure that the letter is delivered to every recipient. The percentage of recipients to whom promotional brochures did not reach can be resent later.
- Lack of scholarship. Special programs for mass mailings of letters also formulate reports on the distribution of the budget allocated for a particular advertising campaign carried out for each company offer. How much is invested, how much is spent, how much is left. This data can be conveniently compared with sales data. Thus, you can fully control the effectiveness of funds spent on advertising.
In the absence of reports, it is impossible to manage the effectiveness of mailings. It is not known where and how to change the parameters of an advertising campaign to increase its effectiveness. You cannot save money on software that is not suitable for its intended use.
Back in the 90s Email surpassed faxes and regular mail in popularity. And in 1991, the first enamel was sent from space.
E-books are currently rapidly gaining popularity. Indeed, traveling in public transport with a “reader” is much more convenient than with a paper book. Not to mention that for actively reading people e-books this is a real find that does not require shelf space and, of course, significant expenses.
In turn, for writers, an e-book is an alternative to printed publication, their own creation in the event that all publishing houses unanimously said “”, but you don’t want to publish and organize implementation. By the way, many popular authors manage to make good money from selling e-books even before concluding an agreement with a publishing house. The only thing they sell is drafts - and .
How to sell an e-book? There are several ways.
1. Selling from your website.
Of course, if you have friends who will help with creating, filling and processing data. E-books are sold from websites in two ways:
- mailing: an introductory part of the text is posted on the website, and the full version is sent by email after payment has been received;
- “reading room” system: a book can be read only in a certain format, and only on a website with constant Internet access.
The mailing method is good for novice authors who are not afraid of theft. And currently they work according to the following system. In the Internet section (LJ, etc.) they begin to display the book and immediately open a subscription. If the book is liked and in demand, then, having finished writing it to the middle, the author says: that’s it, the rest is for money. And provides a list of possible payment systems. And he sends the book himself, upon payment.
Among popular writers, the second method is most in demand. The “reading room” system guarantees better protection of books from theft, although, of course, it is not convenient for everyone. In addition, the “reading room” programs are quite expensive, and authors sometimes set significant prices for their books.
2. Cooperation with online stores and online libraries.
The most famous of the online stores - liters.ru - sells not only e-books from popular authors, but also little-known ones, and is open for cooperation. In addition to this, there are many similar resources on the Internet. The main thing is to choose the right partner. And don’t forget that the service is not free; part of the money from the sale of the book will go to partners.
Paid online libraries are less common than online stores, but they do exist. They work according to the “reading room” system: you pay, download the necessary software and read. Not very convenient, but reliable. And, again, part of the proceeds from your book goes “to help the hall.”
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