Online Marketing Tip: Your Website Needs an FAQ Page

Today’s online marketing tip: No, an FAQ page is not necessary – unless you want your website to appeal to the search engines – and prospective clients!

There are a number of “must-have” items that the experts suggest for any business website: Home page, About page, Services page, Contact page, etc. You might also see many website developers suggesting you add a video to your site, as well as a blog page. One of the “may have” items among developers is an FAQ page, yet many website owners question the need for this feature, figuring they can answer questions in a video, blog post, or in person.

On the one hand, it makes sense that you don’t want your website to “look like everyone else” in your niche (or even outside it). However, the reason so many websites are structured similarly and offer similar types of content is because that is what works best.

A good website design and development team has the experience you need to help you build a website that meets your needs and business goals, is attractive to the search engines, and appeals to your target audience. Adding an FAQ page does many of these things for you in a single location!

online marketing tip

Improve Website Organic Search

Turns out, Google loves FAQ pages because they provide relevant content to help them, and the other search engines (wait, there are other search engines?), understand your business.

Remember, search engines exist to help searchers find information, which means websites that offer high-value content will be listed higher in the search results. In other words, you need to offer a lot of good content to get found and ranked well by Google. An FAQ page is a great tool for doing just that in an easy-to-find location, on a single page.

Improve Website User Navigation

It really can’t be said often enough that the internet is a very impersonal place; a difficult environment in which to do business because it is indifferent to your needs or potential for success.

With that in mind, the information you provide must have real value to your visitors, while helping to build your reputation as an expert in your niche. If you're unable to do this, your chances of finding paying clients through your website will be minimal, at best.

But, if you can prove you know what you're talking about – and that you have solutions to the pain points of potential clients – you're more than halfway home!

By providing answers to frequently asked questions in an easy to find location and format, you will show visitors that you:

  • Understand their needs

  • Have solutions that work

  • Build your reputation and increase visitor loyalty

These may be the three most important steps to overcoming the natural skepticism (and frequent cynicism) of those who shop for products and services online.

After all, nearly everyone with a website claims expertise in some area, which makes it incredibly difficult for potential clients to evaluate the value of the offers they come across.

An FAQ page reinforces to those people that you know what you're talking about and that you have the training and experience to help them. What more could you ask from a single page on your website?

There are tens of thousands of websites that offer online marketing tips, but few of them are focused on the interior design and luxury furnishings industries. That’s why we do it for you! For more insight into marketing your design or furnishings business… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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For Client Retention, Video Marketing is a Massive Asset

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In the world of online marketing, the value of client retention (or working with repeat clients) has grown exponentially. The reason for this is simple: retaining existing clients offer the potential for a much better  ROI than focusing on getting new clients. With this in mind, we would like to explain how video marketing can help you re-engage with old clients more effectively than other methods.

Why do we say this?

According to the latest research, it can be up to seven times more expensive to acquire a new client than it is to keep or re-engage with an existing or past client. As we’ve said before (and will probably say many times again), 80% of your future profits will most likely come from 20% of your existing customers. These are just a couple of the reasons that creating customer loyalty is critical to the ongoing growth of your design or furnishings business.

Considering those stats, doesn’t it makes sense for you to make the effort to keep the loyalty fires stoked? And, by incorporating videos into your messaging, it’s not as hard as you might think.

client retention

Re-engage with Past Clients Using the Power of Video

When you think of past clients or old prospects as business assets that have become dormant, their potential value becomes clear. The reason you should think of them as assets is that they’ve already proven their value:

  • They know who you are and they already like you.

  • They understand what you have to offer and they know you provide value.

  • They have paid you before – which increases the likelihood they will pay you again!

If these aren’t enough reasons to re-engage with past clients, here are a few more:

  • More than 90% of marketers are using video content in their marketing campaigns.

  • The word “video” in an email subject line increases open rates by 19%.

  • The word “video” in an email subject line increases click-through rates by 65% and reduces the number of email unsubscribers by 26%.

When considered separately, these are very significant reasons for using video marketing to re-engage past clients. When you combine them, the idea that you should begin to use video messaging as part of your client retention strategy becomes truly compelling.

Nurturing repeat business is a vital step in the long-term success of any business yet, those of us who generate a substantial portion of our business online often struggle with retaining clients because of the inherently impersonal nature of the internet. A simple “how you doing”, “what’s new”, “here’s the latest” video campaign that is designed to nurture and reengage past clients may be the perfect tool for doing so – keeping your business growing and thriving long into the future.

Looking for more about the value of client retention, help with your online marketing strategy, or email marketing ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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Generating and Screening Leads on Social Media – Is it worth it?

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Is social media a valuable tool for generating and screening leads? Well, if you’ve read anything about online marketing over the past year (or 10, 15, 20 years), you may wonder how we could ask such a question. The idea that we could even express doubt about such a fundamental marketing principle must have you shaking your heads.

In reality, we’re not suggesting social media is a poor choice for marketing your business, generating leads, or screening them. On the contrary. What we are trying to suggest is that not every social platform is right for every business – and that likely includes yours.

But wait. Doesn’t every business coach in the world say you have to be on Facebook? Isn’t it true that if you don’t have a YouTube channel loaded with videos your business will die, die, die? And hey, what about Twitter? My sister’s husband’s cousin is in sales and he told me it’s the best way to reach my largely female target audience. (Yeah well, turns out… 70% of Twitter users are male, while only 30% are female.)

generating and screening leads

Which Platform Should You Target?

Let’s take a quick look at some of the social networks that are most popular with online marketers, shall we? (And please, excuse the hints of skepticism we display here. Again, there is no single answer to the question of which one is best for your business.)

  • Facebook – Do you have what it takes to compete for the attention of your target audience with some one-third of the world’s population? (That’s 2.6 billion of the 7.9 billion or so on the planet who are on FB.)

  • Twitter – If you want to work with clients who have the attention span of a hamster, the 240-character messages allowed in tweets is the perfect venue for finding prospects. Largely male prospects! (see above)

  • Instagram – This media-sharing platform would seem an ideal place to market a design-related business. And it is, that is if you're looking for a platform that’s dominated by Gen Z and Millennial females under age 34 (about 34% of all users).

  • YouTube – While many do not recognize the video-sharing site to be a social media platform – it is. With some 2.3 billion subscribers, it is second only to Facebook and ranks as the second most popular search engine behind its parent company, Google.

  • LinkedIn – For those who work with businesses of any size, this B2B platform offers quite a bit of potential. With 310 million active monthly users, with 196 million in the US, about 43% are female and 57% are male worldwide. More than 50% of US College Graduates use LinkedIn and there are 61 million senior-level influencers and 65 million decision-makers on LinkedIn. (Omnicore)

Now what? Where do you go from here?

Targeting Your Ideal Client Profile

We hate to say it, but must, it’s time to do some homework.

The good news is there’s a super simple way to get started on this task. To begin, remember that although your ideal client profile will be a fictional persona, it should be firmly based on reality. Take a look at your current clients and identify the ones you enjoyed working with most and the types of projects that brought you the best business.

Better yet, rank them. Who did you love working with and why? Who was OK to work with, and who caused more problems than they were worth? (Sometimes, it’s easier to profile the “Never again” persona than the “I loved working with them” client. But, both have value and can be used to build opposing profiles.)

Then, build your ideal client profile on those relationships and projects for a realistic target you’re more likely to hit moving forward. And, while it may sound counterintuitive, the more specific you make your ideal client profile, the stronger it will be. A detailed profile allows you to focus your search and screening processes to find the exact areas and client types that will grow your business.

And here’s the real gold nugget to be found by doing this… With this kind of profile in hand, it will be much easier to find and target the social media platform they use. Easy peasy, right?

Of course, there’s plenty more to say about generating and screening leads for your business, whether on social media or elsewhere. Don’t worry though, we have ways to help with that!

Of course, there are other ways to use for generating and screening leads. If you are curious about what some of these might be, Ted is available for business consulting to help. Simply Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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Business Building – Tips to Increase Profit Margins

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It’s a shame so many consumers get confused by the difference between markups and profit margins – as do not a few business owners. The difference between a 100% markup versus a 50% margin is vast. Yet, it is often impossible to explain it in ways that the average person understands that your profit margin is not really two times what you paid but merely half the selling price. Further, that bit of profit above the cost of merchandise must then be used to cover the overhead incurred by running your business: salaries and benefits, rent, utilities, insurance, training, investing in new products, the list at times seems endless!

Too often, if a potential client learns of such a markup they will scream, “That’s a 100% profit” and run as fast as they can from you, leaving you in their dust like the Road Runner does to Wile E Coyote!

On the other hand, finding ways to protect and increase profit margins whenever possible is critical to the success of your business, whether you're an interior designer or luxury furnishings dealer.

These thoughts came to us thanks to a recent article at the Business of Home website titled, “Stocking dealers get better pricing on product. Here’s how you become one.”

increase profit margins

Becoming a Stocking Dealer will Increase Profit Margins

“The discounted pricing trade brands offer designers allows them a better margin on the products they place in their projects. But many companies also offer an even deeper discount – one that comes with more strings, but that can radically transform [your] firm’s bottom line.”

Or, more simply, the more you buy the better your price. This means, by stocking the furnishings you most often place in your client’s homes in your showroom, making them available for immediate delivery, will get you deeper discounts.

While this is a fairly standard practice for furniture dealers, interior designers may find it difficult to alter their order-as-you-go business model. However, there are many perks to becoming a stocking dealer beyond potentially realizing an exponential return on investment.

Benefits of Becoming a Factory Direct Product Dealer

The benefits of building these more direct relationships with your vendors will often include much more than deeper discounts on their products. These may include improved access to “ [fabric] swatches, samples, and detailed product questions, [and] access to a vendor’s internal online product catalog so [you] can instantly check price lists, see if items are in stock, and monitor shipments.” And, as the article explains … Wait, there’s more!

  • Setting up Your Space – Before pursuing any sort of partnership with a brand, most designers must overcome one major hurdle: the retail space. Stocking dealer relationships are typically contingent upon a designer owning a physical shop or showroom where products can be displayed and sold. It makes sense: Brands are investing in their retail partners by offering better margins in exchange for sales floor exposure and a resulting increase in orders.

  • Getting A Foot in the Door – After you’ve pinned down your brick-and-mortar strategy, the next step to landing that coveted stocking dealer partnership is meeting with the vendor’s regional sales representative, who acts as a gatekeeper. Home furnishings trade shows like High Point Market are a good place to begin putting a face to the names behind promising brands.

  • Making a Deal – While setting yourself up for success and courting the right brand are key to the process of netting a brand partnership, there’s another crucial step to take before inking a deal: Doing your due diligence to make sure that the brand is a fit for you. Then, it’s time to hammer out the terms of the financial arrangement, including a minimum opening order and requirements for annual spending.

  • The Payoff for Dealers – Though each brand’s approach to signing a stocking dealer varies widely, there’s a benefit to that as well – designers have space to negotiate a partnership that best fits their business. With a basic knowledge of how the process works and a willingness to go out and hustle, you’re already on your way.

Needless to say, there are other ways for designers to increase profit margins on product sales. If you are curious about what some of these might be, Ted is available for business consulting to help. Simply Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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Why People Buy One Thing Over Another

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Have you ever taken the time to think about why people buy one thing over another? Whether a product or a service, what is it that flips the switch for them; the thing that makes them say “Yes” to one and “No” to the other?

It’s a pretty important question for anyone in sales and/or marketing. If you're unclear on why prospects purchase the things they do, you're going to find it close to impossible to entice them into doing business with you.

At the most basic level, marketing (and selling) is about educating your target audience about the features and benefits of the products or services you have to offer. Or, as stated at PsychologyToday.com, “Simply stated, a buying decision is the result of a consumer learning pathway where [they can] learn about a product or service and relate it to their specific situation to make a favorable buying decision.”

Now, there are two parts to that sentence that need our attention: the “learning pathway” bit, and the “relate it to their specific situation” section.

The reason these are so important is because, through your messaging, you can help your target audience both learn and relate to the products or services you have to offer. In fact, these are the only things your marketing message should be about.

why people buy

How Your Knowledge Base Affects Your Messaging

The point we really want to make here is that, sometimes, the more we know about something the easier it is to take for granted that others know something about it too. In other words, our familiarity does not breed contempt, but rather, the more we know the more we assume too much about our target audience.

In other words, the fact that you know your product’s features will benefit your ideal client’s life does not mean that they can see how that’s true – for them.

For example, we know a former mattress salesman who once encountered a customer who asked, “Are there really springs in that box spring?” Nonplussed, his response was, “Uhm, yes.”

You see, he thought the name alone was so basic and self-explanatory it needed no explanation. But, for his potential buyer, the name had little to no meaning. It was just the thing that goes under a mattress to keep it off the floor.

It would be easy to make fun of this naïve customer however, it’s more important to understand the impact this had on our salesman; the powerful realization that he had let his customer down. That, simply because he had intimate knowledge of his subject, he had no business assuming his client base did as well.

It struck him that the more he learned, the more expert he became, the more he forgot to talk about the basics. And that his ability to share the most fundamental facts of the products he sold would go a long way to determining his success at selling the products. At the same time, when appropriate, he had the wide base of knowledge needed to display his expertise when the situation required.

Ultimately, it was not that he knew too much, just that he needed to always be mindful that many people would know far less and it was his job to help them learn what they needed to make an informed buying decision.

Help Your Prospects Learn

Imagine for a moment that you have a degree in advanced calculus. If you happen to get hired to teach fourth graders, your knowledge base will be fairly useless since they are still learning addition and subtraction. If you forget that simple fact, you’ll make a poor teacher.

Similarly, if your marketing message ignores the basics and focuses on things that only experts tend to know, you’ll miss the mark more often than not.

This might mean a coach who talks exclusively about reaching goals will find it difficult to entice prospects who have trouble even defining and setting goals. That’s a fundamental step in business, life, and other types of coaching that can be easy to forget. Goal setting is a skill that must be learned before a client can be taught how to achieve them.

And so, taking from the example of our mattress salesman above, when you’re developing your marketing message, be careful you are not sharing knowledge your audience may not yet be ready to learn. Never assume, as he did, that they have a foundation of knowledge similar to your own.

No, they have a desire but lack the knowledge to make it happen. That is where you come in, and that is why your message, when properly constructed, will resonate with them.

Unfortunately, getting the answer to the “Why do they buy?” question only gets you so far. Once you know that, you then have to ask yourself, “How do I get them there?”

The art of selling requires thought, patience, and knowledge, as well as the willingness to educate yourself about why people buy. For anyone struggling to close more sales, Ted is available with business consulting and sales training for both interior designers and furnishing dealers. To learn more, just… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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When Social Media Marketing is a Waste of Time… And when it’s NOT!

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It should go without saying that the marketing experts who tell you that you MUST spend time and money on social media marketing are often those who sell their marketing support as a service. Then again, who else would be able to share such expertise?

(Interesting how that opening phrase is so often followed by the very thing that should go without saying, isn’t it?)

What’s the point of this? Well, as with pretty much everything, there are certain truths about human behavior that must be recognized – and there are others that are thought to be true but are not (for whatever reason).

social media marketing

Here are a few truths about social media marketing that you need to accept:

  • Social media marketing is NOT for everyone or every business

  • Facebook is a great B2C platform and just OK for business to business

  • LinkedIn is a great B2B platform and not so good for business to consumer

  • YouTube should be thought of as a social media platform

  • Instagram is a great video marketing tool (by design)

  • Pinterest is just “Meh” for marketing

  • Twitter is a pit and using it will shrink your IQ!!!

It must also be said that any platform with a billion or more subscribers means you have a ton of competition and, as a result, you should not expect overnight success with your marketing strategy.

So, now that we’ve shot down the generally accepted idea that you will never be successful without a heavy focus on social media, let’s take a look at when you should use it.

When Social Media IS Good for Marketing

As the saying goes in sports these days, the biggest ability is availability – and social media makes you available to your audience while making them accessible to you.

In other words, using social media has value because you can promote your products and/or services, inform and educate potential clients, stay in touch with current customers, and reach out to your target audience from anywhere.

According to multiple sources, the average time spent on social media is 142 minutes per day in 2018 (up from 135 in 2017), and young people from 16-24 spend 3 hours a day on various social networks.

There simply is NO other marketing strategy that allows that kind of accessibility combined with such availability, enabling you to:

  • Build brand awareness

  • Increase engagement

  • Target your audience

  • Generate leads

  • Enhance your reputation as an expert

Even your business website does not offer this kind of access to such a vast audience though, of course, one of the goals of your social media campaign should be to get folks to visit your site “To Learn More!” or “Get Your FREE Gift!”.

Choosing Your Social Media Platform

Another fantastic feature of using social media for marketing is that you have a somewhat captive audience. On average, 2.4 billion Facebook users spend nearly 40 minutes on the site every day. With 133 million users in the US, LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Twitter.

With 1.5 billion monthly active users, 5 billion YouTube videos are viewed every day. Marketing to an audience that big can have huge advantages (while always remembering that is a ton of competition). Still, videos are powerful tools for building your rep and brand, while also boosting audience engagement.

While Twitter does have some appeal for marketing due to a large audience (330 million monthly active users), audience demographics can make a massive difference in how your message is received. For example, nearly two-thirds of Twitter users are aged 35-65, with a whopping 66% male and just 34% female. Further, by its nature (and character limit), the platform appeals to those with a short attention span. Do these data fit your ideal client profile?

Finally, Instagram and Pinterest appeal to a younger demographic. Instagram users spend nearly an hour on site every day, checking out up to 25 million business profiles. And, 50% of US millennials use Pinterest every month, while 80% prefer using the mobile app over the desktop version.

So yes, marketing on social media is a waste of time for some but, for others, it can be an invaluable tool. But… it obviously goes without saying (see what we did there? That’s known as a call-back. LOL), that the makeup of your target audience will determine how you develop, and where you use, a social media marketing strategy.

Social media marketing should be just one tool you employ in your overall marketing strategy. If you'd like to learn more about it and other marketing tools, Ted is available for business consulting to the trade. So feel free to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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How to Use Bad Ideas to Build Your Online Reputation

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As participation in internet marketing continues to grow, and as more people declare themselves “experts” to their audience, bad ideas, misconceptions, and just plain stinkin’ thinkin’ proliferate. While such ill-conceived thinking can be problematic for consumers, these poorly conceived and misunderstood areas can be a great opportunity for you to build your online reputation – as long as the bad ideas are not yours!

In other words, by debunking popular misconceptions, errors in judgment, and poorly explained answers to common questions, you will build your reputation as an expert in your field. And, as your reputation grows, so will your audience, your subscriber list, your list of leads, and your conversions!

build your online reputation

In many ways, your online reputation is your greatest asset. In fact, it literally represents the unified cerebral construct everyone who “meets” you online shares about you; a mental image of who you are and what you have to offer.

Of course, the clearer that image is, the stronger their perception of you and the more valuable you become to them.

This makes building and protecting your online reputation of paramount importance for both the short- and long-term success of your business.

Build and Protect Your Reputation Online

According to an article at Entrepreneur.com, there are three areas of focus for creating a positive online presence – and keeping it intact:

  • Create great content – The paradoxical nature of content creation as it relates to online marketing is that, while you’re creating content with the hope that it will eventually help convert, the best content is rarely created with that in mind. Consumers today are pretty savvy and expect a certain level of effort to be put into any content they consume, especially if it’s designed to turn them into paying customers.

  • Social media presence – It’s hard, if not impossible, for your audience to care about your social media accounts if you’re not using them. So, if you want to turn your business into an online authority, you’ll need to be ahead of your competition when it comes to social. That means having a consistent posting schedule, using a variety of different social media platforms, and, most importantly, actually engaging with your audience (i.e., responding to their comments and questions).

  • Testimonials, reviews, and perceptions – Known as “social proof”, what others think of you will make a huge impression on your audience and potential clients. Digital word of mouth is one of the most persuasive forms of marketing to the modern consumer, and it tends to be a massive aspect of the decision-making process for the average person because people trust other people. If an unbiased third party tells someone your business is not to be trusted, then you’d better believe people are going to have some reservations. Then again, a few positive reviews can lead to increased engagement (at worst) and inspire more conversions (at best).

Ultimately, the key is understanding how to be successful in leveraging the tools and techniques of reputation management to effectively build your online reputation, enabling you to meet your goals.

If you're ready to work with a professional consultant who can help you build your online reputation, feel free to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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The Online Marketing Process – Don’t Be Intimidated by Market Research

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Marketing is and always has been something of a process. Online marketing though is about nothing but process. In other words, marketing has always involved engaging with prospects in the hope that you can nurture them toward buying. That is far easier to do in a traditional face-to-face encounter however, than in a virtual environment.

The phrase you should focus on in the above sentence is “traditional face-to-face encounter”. Why? Because even today, despite a quarter-century of internet marketing, there remains very little that can be thought of as traditional in an online encounter – and even less that’s done face-to-face. (Despite the rise in Zooming!)

online marketing

Where the Marketing Process Begins

From product development surveys to establishing your ideal client profile and getting to know your competition, the online marketing process begins with research: market research. After all, if you don’t know who your target audience is and what their pain points are, you’ll have no idea what kind of product or service they need, or how to present your targeted solutions to them.

Having said that (repeatedly), here are five critical steps in the online marketing process:

  • Messaging – Telling people who you are and what you have to offer are the keys to effective messaging. Now, while that may seem obvious, too many marketers struggle to explain the second half of that step – they forget that what they have to offer is benefits. If you can’t communicate how your prospects will benefit from doing business with you, your marketing strategy will fail. That is, ALL of your messaging must be benefits-based.

  • Bribery – Not to put too fine a point on it (and with tongue firmly planted in cheek), using optin gifts to build your email list and begin the engagement process is nothing less than bribery. However, it’s an accepted form of the practice, and asking for an email address in exchange for a high-value digital “Freebie” is a standard practice among all online marketing experts. In short, if you're not offering at least one optin at your website, you’re not actually marketing your business. Plus, it’s better to have more than one optin because first, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for your audience and second, you're going to need them as a way to nurture your list.

  • Nurturing – Despite what you may have heard, email marketing is not dead. In fact, it’s easily the best way to cultivate potential customers using a progressive series of freebies. And, according to the subscriber list-building experts at OptinMonster, “With a potential return on investment of up to 4400%, email marketing remains the best way to attract and retain customers.” Why? Well, as a quick example, the engagement rate for social media is less than 1% but for email, which reaches 85% of the people you send it to, it’s closer to 25%.

  • Engagement – The follow-up to nurturing your list is building relationships. This is particularly difficult in a virtual environment but, it can certainly be done. How can you do this when you're not in a face-to-face situation? Through your messaging, optins, and nurturing. Show empathy. Be compassionate. Display your expertise. Provide understanding. Offer solutions. Build trust. Take our word for it, once they start to trust you, you're more than halfway along the path to conversion.

  • Conversion – Want to know the Big Secret about why successful salespeople excel above the average? They ask for the sale! Yes, it’s really that simple. Once they’ve done all of the qualifying and presentation, they ask their client if they’re ready to buy. In the world of internet marketing, the equivalent step in the process is known as a Call-to-Action or CTA. With every blog post, with every email, with every product or service page on your website, you must ask your audience to act on something.

It’s important to always remember though that your CTAs do not always have to be about buying. Why? Because conversion is also a process! They can subscribe to your list; they can leave a comment; they can click “Reply”; they can “Click to Contact”; they can “Click to Register” for a webinar; they can “Click here to Buy”. You see, once they start acting as you ask them to, you begin to move them along the path toward buying from you!

We know this is a lot to absorb in a single blog post, and it can be intimidating, which is why Ted is available to help you with more information and consulting about the online marketing process. To learn more… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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The Art of Selling – How Educating Prospects Can Boost Sales

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Untold millennia ago, a clever and industrious caveman realized he could offer something that would increase the comfort of his fellows. And so, after much huffing and puffing along with wrestling of heavy objects, he managed to arrange a large flat stone before a large vertical stone and invented “Chair”. By offering to barter such an innovative furnishing to members of his tribe, he also invented “Marketing”. When an equally clever pal did much the same, offering “Discounts” of fewer things in exchange for his creation (as well as presenting it to other tribes) Competition began, Markets were created, the Entrepreneurial Spirit was born, and learning the Art of Selling became integral to human survival.

Needless to say, while new ideas for tools that could be used to gather and hunt for food were vitally important to our ancestors, creativity and style were not much in evidence. However, bartering for something that had never been seen before required educating prospects to the practicality and use of “Chair”. And so, if our clever fellow hoped to barter such a valuable item (in exchange for say, a date with his target’s only daughter in the hope of making her his wife), educating his prospect was essential.

art of selling

Selling Now Requires More Than Grunting and Hoping

In our contemporary world, grunting and hoping will not make the sale. Neither will assuming your prospects can intuit how your work will benefit them if you do not educate them to those benefits. That said, there is no single, perfect approach to selling your services and products that will work for every client in every situation.

Yet, as our grunting ancestors proved all those millennia ago, fully educating prospects about the benefits and value of working with you is probably the most effective approach to making a sale.

For example, the fact that a homeowner is willing or eager to work with an interior designer does not automatically mean they will want to work with you. And, while we all know closing the deal will take some convincing, proving your worth to them will require some education as to WHY you are their best option.

Then, of course, you must educate them about the value of your work to convince them you are worth the expense!

It’s much the same for furniture dealers who must educate customers on the value of luxury furnishings over cheaper big-box or build-your-own alternatives. In the age of internet shopping, it has never been truer that “Price is what you pay – Value is what you receive.”

Helping prospective clients understand this is the foundation of the education you must offer.

What Kind of Product Education to Offer

The way you educate clients and prospects also matters. An engineer may want to know how the furniture you are recommending is built, while an artist will be more concerned about style. An older couple may be most concerned with comfort while those with a more competitive mindset might be interested in their remodel being “better” than their neighbor’s.

These are the types of things you can learn from the sales step known as “qualifying”, the question and answer period where you get to know them and try to learn about their wants, needs, and goals. By listening closely to their responses, you’ll discover clues to the types of information you should offer to help close the sale.

This is why we say there is no One Size Fits All approach to selling anything: because the answers you receive from clients and prospects during qualifying will vary significantly, requiring different solutions from you.

The art of selling requires thought, patience, and knowledge, as well as the willingness to educate yourself and get better at educating prospects. For anyone struggling to close more sales, Ted is available with business consulting and sales training for both interior designers and furnishing dealers. To learn more, just… Get in touch with TD Fall today.