Business Growth Insights

There is one thing that every visitor of your website has in common: they have objections. They have a very good reason — real or fictitious — not to buy your product. And, it doesn’t really matter if the reasons are good or not; as long as you don’t handle their objections, they won’t buy.

In order to get a product sold, you need to sell it to the right and left sides of the brain (people make emotional decisions and they justify them with logic). What this means to you is that you have to overcome the logical and emotional reasons that people have not to buy your stuff.

** What Are the Two Most Common Objections and What Do They Really Mean? **

It’s too expensive.

With this objection they are saying one of these things:

I don’t have enough money to pay for your stuff (this is a valid reason but it doesn’t happen often. Can you offer monthly installments or bill them later?

Your stuff costs more than I’m willing to pay for it. If this is the case, you need to understand that people aren’t objecting to your price, they’re objecting to your value. They feel like what they’re getting is not worth the price you’re selling it for. In this case you need to do a better job at showing the value of your product. Remember, if you can convince people that your product is worth 10 times more than its price, selling it will be really easy.

Your stuff costs more than what your competition sells similar items for. You shouldn’t allow people to compare your stuff with your competitors’. Make it unique so comparisons simply aren’t possible. Make sure that what makes your product unique is something of value; having a red box instead of a blue one won’t do the trick.

I don’t trust you.

They might use different words, but this is what they really mean:

What are you doing to show how credible you are? Use testimonials, media mentions of your company, trust logos (BBB, HackerSafe, 2008 Business of the year, etc.) If you can show people that others just like them trusted you… took the leap of faith… and everything worked out great, your chances of getting the sale will be much greater.

What if it doesn’t work? This is the main concern people have. And it’s completely genuine. After all, how many times have you bought something to discover later that it didn’t deliver as promised? What you need to do in this case is to have a risk-reversal tactic (or several) so people come out on top even if your product doesn’t work.

Offering a 100% money back guarantee is not enough. If your product doesn’t work, they face a major hassle in their life. They know they will have to go to the post office to ship your product back to you, and then it will take them at least 10 days to get their refund, if then. In this case, people feel that they have lost their precious time and possibly their precious money.

Go beyond the standard 100% money back guarantee. If you have total and complete confidence in your product or service, then offer 200% of their money back to compensate them for their time and trouble… or offer them 100% but let them keep your product (or part of it if it’s a set of some kind). You can offer same-day pick up of your product and an immediate refund of their money… or get it now and pay for it in 30 days… ONLY if you decide to keep it.

Try these… you’ll be amazed at the results you get.

** How to Overcome Objections **

Just acknowledge them. If you try to hide them, people will still have these unresolved objections on their minds. Bringing up objections doesn’t give people reasons to not buy. You need to understand that they already have those objections… you’re just being forthright, honest and ethical by admitting things happen and explaining why things are that way. This also opens the door to a major opportunity for you. It allows you to position your business as the one who not only admits the things that normally frustrates them, but to explain how you have innovated your business to overcome those frustrations so they will never again have to deal with them.

If your product is more expensive than your competitors, explain why and make it a benefit, not a disadvantage. If you don’t have testimonials, explain that your product is new and that you’re offering them a discounted price in exchange for their testimonial so you can gather some as fast as possible. Come up with a list of possible reasons why prospects won’t buy your product or services and then innovate your business to overcome them.

For the ultimate experience in overcoming objections, use testimonials from prospects that were in the same exact situation as your current prospects, and show how they took the leap and that leap changed their lives forever. This often works like a charm:

“At first I was very skeptical about this product’s claim, and the price looked really expensive as well. But I was so sick of having acne I decided that it was worth a try. I’m so glad I did! My skin is much clearer now and I don’t feel self-conscious about my appearance anymore.”

Try these suggestions for overcoming objections. You will see an immediate improvement in your sales and revenue.

We recently hosted two group business coaching calls on a topic that is often considered controversial. That topic is outsourcing. First, there are many different variations to outsourcing, including using interns from your local college or university where they intern in your business for little or no pay in exchange to learn your business.

The point of contention always comes down to outsourcing overseas. Is this really an ethical way to do business, especially in the recessionary economy we’re experiencing in the U.S.? Isn’t this unpatriotic to be sending work to the Philippines… or to India… or Singapore when so many Americans are struggling?

Our strategic partner at ReplaceMyself.com has listed all the options available to small business owners for possible outsourcing. Many of them are U.S. based, so you can use U.S. based contractors if you so choose. Naturally the biggest difference will be the pay. In the U.S. you will pay $15 to $20 per hour instead of $1 to $3 per hour, and possibly risk getting lower quality with the U.S. worker.

Please remember that it’s our job to help “small business owners.” Small business owners have two strikes against them from the start. Unlike a bigger company that has access to personnel and departments to carry forth their mission, the solo-professional is wearing 5,000 hats all at the same time.

Is it any wonder that over half of all small businesses fail within the first four years? And yet, no one denies the simple fact that it’s the small business owner that creates the most opportunity for Americans. It’s the small business owner that hires the workers once they get their business up and going.

It’s the small business owner who pays the taxes and is our only future hope for paying off our unbelievably high national debt. It’s my belief that outsourcing helps the U.S. economy… rather than hurt it.

Let me give you a few excellent reasons why outsourcing is good for our U.S. economy and why I believe every small business owner should be doing it right now.

First, as a start up entrepreneur or business owner, outsourcing allows you to focus on your highest income-producing activities while leaving the income-draining activities to others better suited to performing these functions.

This frees you up to create new products, establish new services and spend more time marketing those products and services.

Second, outsourcing allows your company to grow so that you can hire internally. When you first start out, you are practically forced to do everything yourself. How can a start up business running everything on a shoestring budget afford to pay someone $20 an hour for menial labor?

And yet, nearly 80% of everything small business owners do daily is menial labor. I call them income-draining activities, since sales and marketing are the only two areas that produce revenue for your business.

However, if a start up business could afford to outsource these menial tasks at affordable rates such as those in the Philippines, that allows the small business to grow quickly and reach a point where it can then hire qualified U.S. workers at a higher wage.

Third, outsourcing doesn’t just apply to overseas outsourcing. You will indeed outsource to Americans as well. At OneCoach, we outsource our conference call service to a U.S. provider. We use a U.S. based communication company as well as a U.S. provider for our customer service and sales automation platforms.

But here’s the key to all of this. To me what is REALLY unpatriotic is to provide work… ANY WORK… to unqualified contractors… whether they’re U.S. based or overseas.

Find the people who can do the best job, whether they are American or not. NEVER reward inferior service providers just because they are American. You can’t afford to.

Fourth, our great country was founded on the basic principles of competition and innovation. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs started out in their garages. And I guarantee you that when Bill Gates got started, IBM wasn’t there to ask him how they could help him get started.

That’s what makes America great. Outsourcing generates competition and competition causes innovation and innovation produces new “in demand” products and services and new “in demand” products and services are what fuel our economy.

And finally, outsourcing allows small business owners to compete with big business owners. It gives them an opportunity to get started… to get going… to get ahead… and do so without breaking the bank. It allows the little guy to achieve their dreams of working from home or starting a business.

So if you question your motives for outsourcing… or if someone else brings this up to you in discussion, keep these points in mind so you keep the discussion in the proper context. My job is to help all of you as small business owners build successful businesses and enjoy and extraordinary life. So I say… thank goodness for outsourcing!

It isn’t often these days that I find a parallel between business and the sports world, but shock of all shocks, it happened this week. And right in my own backyard here in Kansas City with my hometown Kansas City Chiefs football team.

For those of you unfamiliar with Kansas City, we are a huge sports town. We had a major love affair with our baseball Royals as they provided some of the most memorable playoff battles against those reviled New York Yankees back in the late 1970′s.

Now the Royals consider it an excellent season if they DON’T lose 100 games… and the Chiefs last year were 2 – 14. Being the proud sports city we are, this was rapidly becoming an intolerable situation for the loyal fans.

The Chiefs did finally wise up and fire their general manager as well as their head coach. Todd Haley (who?) was named the Chiefs new head coach. He had been the offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals and was handed the prestigious job of turning around our losing football team.

Todd started out just as we all expected… LOSING! The Chiefs in the preseason are 0-3, and have scored just 2 offensive touchdowns over the past two weeks… IN PRE-SEASON… when you play against the also-ran third stringers much of the game.

And then the unthinkable happened. After the third loss, Haley abruptly fired his offensive coordinator and assumed the position himself. WHY???

First, the firing was due to non-performance. Haley reasoned it doesn’t do much good to keep an offensive coordinator who can’t produce offense. WOW! There’s a novel idea.

Second, “the buck stops here” mentality. Todd knows HE is ultimately responsible for the Chiefs record, and by golly, he decided to do something about it. He stepped in and said “I will assume full responsibility and authority for the results this team achieves moving forward.

HOW REFRESHING! Who is this guy again?

I found it refreshing to actually see someone step up to the plate for a change… admit a mistake had been made… take full and unabashed responsibility for that mistake… and assume the accountability for all future results.

What about you? As a small business owner, you ARE the business, and yet how often do I hear small business owners tell me how the economy is bad… no one is buying anything. Oh woe is me.

Unfortunately for these business owners, the statistics don’t bear out the whining. There are more millionaires made during recessions than during the boom times. Businesses who aggressively spend more money on marketing their business during a recession enjoy a 275% growth pattern over the next 5 years compared to the 19% growth pattern for those that don’t.

Below are some businesses started during a recession. Where are these companies now?

• Burger King Corp.
• IHOP Corp.
• The Jim Henson Company (Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and Elmo)
• LexisNexis
• FedEx Corp.
• Microsoft Corp.
• CNN
• MTV Networks
• Trader Joe’s
• Wikipedia Foundation Inc.
• Sports Illustrated magazine
• GE (General Electric Co.)
• HP (Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP)

Are you “waiting out” the recession… or tackling it head on?

Are you cutting back your marketing budget… or increasing it so you can pick up unprecedented market share?

Are you seeking out professional help from experts that can assist you in growing your business?

If not… why not? Todd Haley had the guts to admit his mistake as a head coach and stand behind it. As the owner of your business, are you willing to do the same when it applies?

I have the privilege of speaking with hundreds of small business owners every month, and I keep hearing a repeating frustration they all seem to share… “innovation.”

They complain that they basically do the exact same things their competition does, and it forces them into competing with them on price. I keep emphasizing to them that for any business to be successful, and to STOP competing on price it must offer its prospects and clients “extraordinary value.”

That requires a business to “innovate,” to create a more unique client experience… one that’s based on the wants and needs of the client themselves and NOT on what the business owner wants and needs.

The problem is this. No one seems capable of thinking “outside the box” anymore. Small business owners keep saying that there is nothing they can do to innovate their business. If there were, they would have done so long ago. They’re missing the point.

Innovation doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel. It means knowing and understanding your ideal client’s wants and needs, and what they experience in the way of problems, concerns, fears and frustrations as they seek out the solution to those wants and needs.

I recently had a great conversation with one of our OneCoach clients. His name is Bill Church… aka Bow Wow Bill. Bill started out less than 2 years ago as a $10 an hour dog walker. Yes… a dog walker. He loves dogs, and he wanted to build a business around his passion for them. Under our guidance, he began to offer obedience training in his local community. He quickly grew that business to 6 figures.

Now… ask yourself this. What in the world could a dog trainer possibly do to “innovate” their business? I mean, if a dog trainer could do something to create “extraordinary value” don’t you think you could do so in your business as well?

Let me fill you in on the “innovations” Bow-Wow Bill has recently created…

• In the process of creating an internationally distributed Dog Training Magazine
• Currently has 45,000 global subscribers to-date that have already signed up for the magazine through partnerships and joint ventures (and the magazine hasn’t even launched yet)
• He is offering the magazine in a multitude of different formats… print, online, audio, video, iPhone application, and 2 others he has yet to determine.
• He has created partnerships with the International Association of Canine Professionals, American Dog Owners Association and Dogs for the Deaf
• He has been endorsed and has formed a partnership with THE top Dog Trainer in the industry… a gentleman who has worked directly with Queen Elizabeth (can’t reveal his name yet)
• He’s preparing to write a book about his road to success (which we’re proud to say will heavily endorse OneCoach)

Seriously… this guy was struggling to pay his bills and was waiting tables for a living about 22 months ago. How many thousands or millions of lives do you think he will dramatically influence for the rest of his life… all as a result of his tremendous hard work and passion?

So c’mon small business owners, if a $10 an hour dog walker from Seattle can do all of this in a matter of months, what’s your excuse. Start thinking about your ideal clients. What do they want? What do you do to give that to them? And then ask yourself this… what COULD I do to give it to them better, faster, with less hassle, with more convenience, at a lower price, at a higher price but with much more value, with less work, with less frustration, with fewer steps… whatever.

All of you want more sales… right? There’s NO magic to selling. Find out what your ideal client WANTS… and then give it to them in a way that makes them come to only one conclusion… “I would be an absolute fool if I bought this from anyone else but you!

Do this… and you create an extraordinary life for both yourself and your clients.

The other day I heard a commercial on the radio for an auto dealership that really brought home a major problem I see small business owners making every day. The car dealer was berating the governments “Cash For Clunkers” program… saying that by the time the majority of people get qualified and complete the mountain of paperwork needed to complete the transaction, the money allocated for the program would be gone.

The dealer then went on to proclaim that any customer buying from them didn’t need to worry about this situation at their dealership. Instead, they would instantly discount all of their new cars by the same amount the government was offering, so come on in and buy from us today… no hassle, no problems, simple and easy.

Yeah right… if ONLY! Is there anyone remotely alive today that actually believes this garbage. Now granted, this dealer isn’t lying… they will indeed give you the same amount the government is promising… but the way they do it is to discount the car that amount from the “sticker price,” which we all know is already over-inflated by close to that exact same amount they’re offering.

Unfortunately, most people show up expecting this wonderful discount and then realize they are more or less being exposed to a “bait and switch” routine. Ahhh, the auto industry. Is it any wonder why most people would rather go to the dentist for a root canal than visit a dealer showroom?

My point is this. Are you doing something similar in your business… perhaps without even realizing it? Do you promise your customers excellent customer service? Most businesses do, don’t they? And then when you try to call them, you get a nightmare handed to you as you try to navigate through a maze of voicemail messages that never mention the problem you’re calling in with… and never allow you the option of speaking to a live human being. Excellent customer service???

Look over your business processes carefully and see if you spot any deficiencies that may be creating a roadblock stopping your customers from buying what you sell… or interacting with your business in an enjoyable way. In today’s economy, it can mean the difference between surviving… and thriving.