Posts Tagged sales
Trade Show Exhibition Stand Checklist
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Business on November 14th, 2010
For a business looking to increase its exposure and reach members of a target audience, trade shows are the perfect place to do so. A trade show is a place to display your wares and services and advertise your company brand. Trade shows, however, take time and money, so you will want to make your trade show exhibition stand successful and get the most out of your time there.
The set up of a successful trade show stand begins even before you put it up. It is important to find out what shows and conferences members of your target audience like so that you can place a stand at appropriate ones. Ask your current customers what shows interest them and what kinds they would likely attend. This will give you a good idea where to place a stand so that you experience the proper traffic. Erecting a stand at a show with the wrong clientele would be a waste of time and money. Check trade show directories and your local chamber of commerce for further ideas.
Prospects browsing around a trade show are definitely looking for free stuff. Every business operating a stand at a trade show knows this, so be prepared to invest in some promotional items. Little trinkets that are easily and quickly forgotten won?t do much for your company, so make the giveaways something useful. A handbag is a nice item because potential customers can carry it around to collect items from other companies. It is your company logo that adorns the front of the bag, so it is the one they will remember. Don?t forget pens and notepads because these items are used all the time and those with your banner will refresh the user?s memory about you.
One small, yet incredibly effective way to make a trade show stand worthwhile is to place a picture of your company?s highest profile product on the business cards you hand out. Simply placing you and your company?s names on the card may not be enough to remind someone of the reason they took your card in the first place. They must have been interested in taking your card for some reason, and one with a picture will remind them of what, sending business your way.
Trade shows serve as good advertisements and for increased brand recognition. A trade show stand takes time and money in order to operate successfully. The increased traffic your company will experience will be well worth the investment.
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Alternative Sales Video Templates
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Video Production on October 6th, 2010
The standard paradigm for a sales video incldues showing a problem, and demonstrating that the product being offered has the solution. However, sometimes sales videos alter this paradigm and use a different technique to sell their product. The Cool SAP CRM Marketing Video Throw the Ball, found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GchfVy6hgVA&NR=1 , is an example of a sales video that distorts the normal sales presentation template by giving exaggerated amounts of time to the presentation of the problem, and to the equally important task of holding viewer attention, at the expense of demonstration of how the product solves the problem.
The SAP video exaggerates the emphasis on one of the crucial elements of any sales video, which is to hold the attention of the viewer. SAP CRM does this by presenting a viewer participation game, on screen. Two teams of actors, the whites and the blacks, each pass around a ball and viewers are asked to determine how many times the ball is passed among the white team members. While attention is riveted on counting the passes of the ball, a black belt gorilla walks among the participants, and most viewers fail to see him until the narrator reminds them and then replays the video.
Once the video has made its point, the narrator informs the viewers to “make sure your marketing team doesn’t miss the obvious.” A solution to this challenge, they are told is to use the SAP new CRM, which will allow them to identify hidden marketing trends that lurk beneath the surface of day to day fluxuations in the market.
In a sense, this video did not change the normal sales template, it merely compresses it.The captivating intro, which spans most of the presentation, introduces the problem, i.e. the danger of missing hidden trends in the market. The short narration at the end tells us that SAP provides the solution, the ability to help the sales team find the hidden trends. What are the advantages and possible disadvantages of this template?
The very apparent positive quality of this video is its powerful ability to rivet audience attention on the screen As the actors dance around, counting the number of passes is difficult. Viewers attention is riveted on the video, as they seek to count the number of passes. Many people probably got the count wrong, and then felt sheepish. But then when viewers find out that they missed seeing the black belt gorilla walking amidst the teams, they feel really foolish. And now they felt obligated to listen to the rest of the message, The video then succeeds, albeit briefly in making one point about their product, it is designed to help sales people spot marketing trends so they know where to focus their efforts.
What are the disadvantages of this template? The expansion of one task of a sales video, namely holding the audience’s attention, has forced compression of two other major tasks of a sales video. The video presents only a brief explanation of how this complex technology will help spot trends. And additionally, it merely tells us that the software does this. It shows us what some of the graphs on the software look like, but it doesn’t show the software in action. And normally, showing a product being used by someone else is a good inclusion in any sales video. So the video compresses presentation of the product features, and compresses an explanation as to how the product will solve the problem being presented.
Additionally, the video says nothing about pricing, or contacting the company. So while the video is touted as a “sales video,” in many respects, it is more like a branding video, which gets the name of the company out to the public, but does little to actually sell the product.
What is the take away lesson from this video? While there are several well accepted components of any sales video, producers have the option to emphasize or deemphasize any component. In doing so, however, they need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of their strategy to be sure that the gain is greater than the sacrifice.
Sales Videos That Hide The Negatives Till The Sale If Over
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Video Production on October 6th, 2010
The Seasonal World Sales Video Chapter 3 Part 2 is the last part of a series of videos introducing the Seasonal World in the ground vinyl pools, to perspective clients. As a whole, the series lasts for slightly over 19 minutes.This is consistent with the finding that the greater the cost of an item being sold, the longer the sales video needs to be.
Generally, the style of a sales video selling a more expensive product is different than that of a video selling an inexpensive item. People planning to spend a lot of money for a product want to know a lot about it. Also, they want the information presented in a detailed orderly way. Sales teams try hard to give perspective clients the feeling of what it will be like to own and enjoy the product, and that makes lots of sense.
The background, real or graphic, and music contribute tremendously to the sales power of a video. This video presents an appropriate muted blue background, which is made to appear like pool water as large white bubbles continually pass upwards. Transitions and backdrops for the onscreen narrator consist of a muted blue with large whitish bubbles that continually rise to the top. The background music consists of pleasant popular zylophone background music with a nice beat.
Each segment of this video series presents different information to the potential buyer. The last segment introduces some of the most popular pool features.
Some sales videos produced by companies that are totally self confident, seek to encourage the viewer to have complete thought about their product. They know they have a great product, and when the public knows enough about it they will buy. Other companies skew their presentation a little bit towards the positive feature side and encourage potential customers to put off consideration of the negatives until they are so much in love with the product and so desirous of having the experience of buying it that they will put up with the cost and or negative features.
The Seasonal World Video is a bit skewed towards the positive feature type of presentation. However, it does it artfully and is worthy of note. The pool features which the company presents in Chapter 3 Part 2 are features recognized as the best on the market. Presentation of these features look very invitingly on the video screen. For example, the company presents the Vanquish in floor cleaning system, which is guaranteed to clean 99% of the pool floor or money back. The company also presents their heat pump, the only pump on the market with a heat sensor that automatically shuts down and thereby saves on energy costs. Video segments of each of these features present the clean underground sides and floor of the pool, and views of family members snorkeling through the water.
Additional exciting pool features, which are presented in the video include the pool’s passive solar heating capability and the superior MBX anti-entrapment drain, which is rated as the safest drain on the market. With all five levels of anti entrapment devices, this drain insures that no one can become trapped underwater.
The strength of the video is denhanced by the narrator.She is an attractive, very cheery and friendly young woman with a friendly smile, and appears both on and of screen throughout the video series.
What does this video teach about sales videos ? It teaches us that to consider the video length versus cost of the item being sold curve. It teaches that videos selling more costly items should present more precise and technical details about the product. It reminds us that the sales video should provide an inviting environment throughout which gives the potential customer the sense of owning the product. The video also suggests a dichotomy between videos that strive to intellectually convince perspective customers to buy their product versus videos which strive to make customers buy the product because they love it and must have it. Regarding this last dichotomy, a company producing a video should decide where they stand on this continuum. If they are going to leave out certain details until the end of the selling process or beyond, they should do it artfully as this video did.
Promotional Gifts That Your Customers Will Actually Use
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Marketing and Advertising on August 26th, 2010
Most companies who are looking to promote their image and brand are familiar with promotional gifts. These items are often given away for free at trade shows and other events. Usually the name of the company or the slogan is printed on these items. Everyone knows that the pen is a commonly seen type of promotional gift, but what are some other types of promotional gifts that are out there?
Desk items are great promotional gifts. After all, everyone can always use another highlighter. Your business might want to consider purchasing pen sets, pencils, rulers, writing kits or even paper tablets. Anything that you would want to use in your office is a great gift to give to your customers. Some customers especially like day planners or small address books as promotional gifts.
Other promotional items are things that are small and easy to give away, but still serve a function on the desk, such as clipboards, letter openers, pencil sharpeners and staple removers. Of course, mouse pads are always a popular type of promotional gift. Sometimes there are even more whimsical desk promotional gifts like brightly colored stress balls with the company name and logo.
Another popular type of promotional gift are the items that can be worn. This category includes, of course, hats. These are a variety of types of caps that fit into this category including baseball hats, golf hats, and ski caps. Even earmuffs and sun visors can make great promotional gifts. Other wearable promotional gifts include bracelets, lapel pins, and wristbands. T-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets also are quite common amongst promotional gifts. Sometimes businesses will chose a specific type of shirt, such as a golf polo shirt. Don’t forget that there are wearable promotional giveaways that will serve a purpose such as keeping a person warn in the winter. Consider fleece jackets, turtlenecks and sweatpants.
While not possible to give to every customer, you may want to consider a promotional giveaway. You could cheaply invest in some branded MP3 players, GPS beacons or flash drives. Whatever you choose, technological products are sure to be used and greatly appreciated.
Promotional gifts are a great way to get the word out. Remember to choose items that your customers will want to make sure that your money will actually serve a purpose. There are many options for every business and budget. With a little forethought, you can obtain great promotional gifts that your customers will love.
Retail - Is Your Store Attractive To Customers?
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Business on July 30th, 2010
How you store looks will affect how much business you do. This is the same for new businesses and businesses that have been going for a while. It will impact your potential customers and how they feel about your business and it will either keep them coming back (repeat customers) or it will make them stay away (lost business). If you feel that your sales are lagging because of the “feel” of your store, then it may be time for a store makeover.
When you have a brick and mortar business, it is essential that you can draw your customers inside from the street outside. The best way to do this (and the best advertising) is to have a well lit, professionally designed sign that displays your store name and your logo. Your sign should be large enough that people can read it easily from the other side of the street, depending on where you are located. If you sell candles, then your sign should have a large candle on it. If you sell motorcycle gear, then you should have a motorcycle jacket or helmet on it. Make your signage clear, visible and attractive so people will know who you are, what you do and where you are.
Your window display should be visually appealing and provide a glimpse into the array of items that can be found inside. Pay attention to all of the details - including the space at the sides and on top of your windows. Awnings can be an aesthetically pleasing addition to a store front that create a three dimensional outreach to those walking by your store. An awning can actually become the landmark exterior feature of your store.
Lighting is one of the vital elements to creating the perfect mood in your store. Not only does it emphasize the items of your choice, it is fundamental to setting the overall tone of the space. Store fronts are accent pieces on their own, but when coupled with functional and purposeful lighting, the items will take on a life all of their own. This is especially important to consider if your store sells small or expensive merchandise that is behind a display case - like jewelry. The customer relies on the lighting available to make an informed choice about their purchase.
The items that sell the best should be placed further on in the store so that you make your customer walk through the rest of your items before they can get to what they are looking for. To bring them in, you should always display your new items in your store window so that it draws them in. Group items together that sell well or that can be add-on purchases. An example of this would be a summer dress with strappy sandals and a scarf or hat. This means your sales will increase because you grouped an idea for your customer that they really do not have to think about putting together themselves. These add-on sales can make a huge difference in the viability of your store by making a normal sale into an extraordinary one.
Now Try - Cheshire Awnings
Corporate Video-Communicating An Important Message
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Video Production on May 1st, 2010
When your company wants to communicate an important message to members of the corporation, and you want it to say it in a way that will endure, you can communicate the message via a corporate video A video is ideal for those times when you want to motivate members of your corporation, when you are having special events, such as a meeting, or when you are celebrating important company milestones. Corporate videos also make good presentations to corporate shareholders.
At these times, you need to enlist the services of a video production company that specializes in making corporate videos. Quality professional video production companies, such as Winmax Video of California, will work with you to turn your idea into a reality. Say you are about to have a product launch. You approach the video company, with your idea. You want to create a video presentation that will introduce that product to prospective buyers. You also will use that video to help train your sales force
Rest assured that a professiional video company will work with you in a way that will allow you to have as much control of the project as you want, from start to finish. A large professional video production company will assign a manger who wil personally stay in communication with you at each step of the production. He wil work with you to make such curcial decisions as to video narration style. . Do you want continual narration, or only intermittent. Do you want more verbal narration or more captions. The manager will help you decide what type of background music you want for the video. Selection of background music sets the whole tone for the video. Do you want something upbeat, something serious, something sentimental. The project manager will help you crystallize your own thought about the background music. Most importantly, the manager will learn from you exactly what you want to accomplish with the video and he will help you create a storyline that completes that task.
During the shooting and editing process, the video company will allow you to remain in charge of the production of your video. You can choose the level of control you wish to have, at all stages of the project. . As the video production process proceeds, you will be able to participate in editing decisions to insure that the corporate video is meeting your expectations. When compilation is completed, the video productrion company will allow you to see the finished product. They will continue to work with you until you indicate that the completed business video meets your expectations. The turnaround time for large companies is only a few days. Winmax Video, for example can, upon request, turnout a special project in less than a week.
All businesses or any size should think about using a company video for facilitating intra-[spin]corporate communication|intra-company communication[/spin], for sales and product launch, for company proceedings including large holidays and celebrations of corporate milestones, for honoring company leaders, for facilitating business partnership consultation, for briefing corporate personnel about central company tasks and for making shows at meetings of the corporations shareholders, or for presentations via email.
People Vs. Products: How To Boost Your Home Business Party Sales
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Business on July 11th, 2009
Home party businesses have existed for decades. Stanley Home products, for example, began with door-to-door salesmen in the 1940s. By the 1950s this business had moved to away from front doors and took a seat on living room couches, surrounded homemade punch and cake along with a lovely hostess. While women have moved out of the home and into the corporate world since the inception of the home party business, this genre of work is still booming. Those who find success in the home party business have found a few simple methods that help them boost their home business party sales.
Attitude matters. Home business owners must learn to not just sell their product but to sell themselves. This means they should prove the product’s usefulness with their own use of the product. Imagine a Mary Kay agent who uses Cover Girl products. It just would not make sense, and it says little about the product. Those who are willing to invest their time into selling a product via a home party understand that they are selling more than the product. Their own testimony matters.
Consumer care matters. Successful business partners of the home party business will look at their customers as more than a meal ticket. They learn to engage in friendly conversation at the part and learn about their clients needs. They also learn to gear their presentations and recommendations to the client’s specific needs. Are the clients young moms? Empty nesters? Retired grandparents? A great salesman will be able to boost her home business party sales by presenting the best product for her potential clients’ needs.
Caring about the client also means spending some time on paper work after the party. Great home party business entrepreneurs know the importance of follow up. They send out notes inquiring about the customer’s needs and even thank you notes for the customer’s purchase. They take the time after hostess has wiped the last crumb to remember what made the home party successful in the first place: willing customers.
Finally, a successful home party business person will maintain rapport with her clients and hostess by paying attention to them outside of the party environment. Great business people understand the importance of a kind word when bumping into a potential client at the grocery store. Even if the individual did not place an order, the successful entrepreneur will express a warm attitude towards that person and call him or her by name. Who knows? This may even lead to an eventual sale.
Home party sales have existed for decades. Great sales people understand what they must do to successful boost their home business party sales. By following these few, simple tips, they experience success which not only keeps them in business but allows for a hefty commission at the end of each party.
Written by Ricco Richardson
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Attract More Customers Using SEO
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Business on June 14th, 2009
With the economic slowdown a reality now, businesses are examining their options for getting more customers and more sales. The internet is one very big and obvious opportunity. But how does an offline business actually use the power of the worldwide web to enhance their bottom line?
Business owners want their names and websites to show on the first or second page of search engine results and that’s where SEO comes in.
SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization, and has become popular these days… for good reason.
More hits on a web website means more traffic. More traffic means increasing the chances of getting more sales. If a site appears on the first page of any popular search engine, and the introduction sounds promising, people will click through to the site.
Many companies want to maintain their position on search engines and are thus constantly looking for SEO services to sustain the ranking. They feel that they can beat the recession by attracting more traffic to their web sites.
TWO TYPES OF SEO
Search engine optimizers basically use two approaches in optimizing web sites for customers. One method is called the ‘white hat’ approach and the other is called the ‘black hat’ approach. The white hat approach is the recommended approach. The white hat approach to SEO is legal and recognized by search engines.
Black hat tries to stuff web sites with irrelevant or hidden keywords to deceive the search engine. Web sites using the black hat approach look for short term gains, and once discovered, the search engines ban these sites. That makes blackhat a dangerous game to play for any serious minded business man or woman.
SEO has assisted businesses that have relevant products but somehow were not able to draw customers. By applying proper SEO techniques and creating relevant inbound links, the traffic to these sites has been significantly increased.
If a company is wholly dependent for its business on the internet, then using SEO techniques is a must. However, if the web site only generates a small portion of the business, then it’s not so critical — even though it can increase the traffic coming to your website.
SEO TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES
There are numerous different methods available to propel a web site up in the search engines. Regrettably many SEO professionals are charging an arm and a leg when you hire them to increase your site’s rankings in the search engines.
Two of the “simple secrets” to ranking higher on Google are… having unique, quality content along with high quality incoming links.
1. QUALITY CONTENT AT YOUR website
Nothing is more inviting to search engines than new, unique content published on your website. If you have a website which provides a unique product or service and publishes unique content time after time on its blog, you can be sure that the search engines will look at you positively.
It is here that most affiliate websites face a very steep climb. Because their product and information is copied from another source, it is problematical (but not impossible) to rank higher. Affiliate websites normally gain rankings by having to spend a sizeable amount on link building.
Unique content is very easy to publish if you tap into a new, profitable niche or if you effectively differentiate your business from your competitors. Because unique content is favored by the search engines, you can find articles, blog posts and free information ranking much higher than a typical web site homepage which provides the usual information.
If you manage to publish fine quality content, you have won half the SEO battle.
2. INBOUND LINKS
The second matter to attend to is link building. There is no question that links from high pagerank (PR) websites and pages are favored much more than links from low PR web sites. Your focus should be to get links from established websites. One method to get these backlinks is through having a link exchange but that is time consuming. Another way is to pay for them but Google frowns on this - they prefer “natural” link building that happens over time as other webmasters see your website and like it so they link to it.
High quality links go a long way in winning the SEO battle. Websites with as few as 200 links can rank higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages) than websites with thousands of links purely because they have a small number of their links coming from very trust-worthy sources.
It is a good plan to start getting high quality links as soon as your site is up. In order to further support your rankings, starting a blog on your web site and posting to it consistently is sure to help.
One final tip. By employing the services of an SEO expert, you can spectacularly speed up the process of gaining the needed backlinks. If you want to get on Google page one, it’s definitely something to think about.