Marketing ideas for small business.

Has your phone been quiet lately?

Here are 3 tips to fix it (down below)

You've spent years of blood sweat & tears building your business to be what it is today.

It's cost you and your family a lot, to have the business you have.

What if you knew, your business was giong to go through a tough time, in the next two months?

What would you do if you knew April and May (every year) were going to be 'low months' for enquires? .

That inside information would be important to you, wouldn't it?

Here's the drum.

Your phone will be very quiet at times during April and May.

You may even be tempted to call your advertised number to check that it is still connected!

Sorry to sound like a wet blanket but, haven't you had enough 'down days'?

How many days have you spent playing cards with your staff instead of working?

How many times did you run out of 'inside work' in the last 3 months?

"But how do you know the next two months will be quiet , Paul?"

As I mentioned in a recent report,

I used to pay for hundreds of tradies and small businesses phone calls, in a system of 'accountable advertising'. I tracked every call each business received all year.

Trends emerged:
There was the usual boost from September to December when everyone wanted stuff done for Christmas - You could have told me about 'Silly Season' yourself, couldn't you.

But nearly every business sector across Sydney, had their lowest months for phone calls during April and May - Every Year.

"Why did that happen Paul?" you say.

I have no idea!

To this day I don't know why people sit on their wallets during those months - but they do.

And every business I talk to, say how quiet things have got.

[All those except the 'Hot Water' companies!]

Now you know. What can you do?

Here are 3 tips on what to do:

1. Don't cut out your advertising

("But, Paul I don't have as much money to pay for it!")

Yes, I know cash flow will be tight.

Get this - there are big franchises (like Jim's etc, and the other larger competitors of yours) who WAIT for the down times, to increase their advertising spend!

Yep, the big boys - they spend more, during the down times.

"Why would they do that?" you may ask.

Well, they know the rest of you, are going to let go of 'market share', by backing down on your marketing. So they grab a bigger slice of the pie, when you let it go.

That's mean and nasty. Yep - but that's business.

The big franchises then go to all those guys who started their businesses during the busy Summer months and offer to buy them out - I know I listened to the CEO's of those companies. I watched them rub their hands together with glee, as the little guys struggle with the seasonal fluctuations.

2. Begin now, to mine the goldmine of the sticky beaks near those jobs you and your staff are working on now. The 3X3 System works. Click below to watch a You Tube video of Dave. Dave got all his new business from this system

p.s. If you want to talk about me coming to train you and your staff in all the finer points of this method - click here.

3. Because there will be fewer phone calls, there will be fewer quotes to do;
less quotes = less work, right?

WRONG!

It just means you need to WIN more quotes during the down time.

You need 'The Secrets of Winning More Quotes', don't you?

I know you already do OK with your quoting. You get 6 jobs out of every 10 quotes you do (except if they are brand new prospects - then it drops to 3, doesn't it?) .

Consider this:
How much extra time could you spend with your wife & family - if you could nudge that up to 7 or 8 jobs out of every 10 quotes?

[No, I don't recommend you lower your price either - I want you to charge more!]

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Don't take it from me, listen to what Alex Thomson from Thomson Plumbing had to say about 'The Secrets of Winning More Quotes':

“Of all the seminars I have attended, this workshop has given me user friendly tools to implement straight away ... I felt empowered ... Realising we used to just ‘Quote and Hope’, we decided to implement just one of Paul’s ideas and it has increased our quote close rate by 50% already .... amazing”

- Alex Thomson - Thomson Plumbing - mobile 0408 280 200

n.b. Alex has OK'd me to give out her phone number - she wants to tell you the truth about 'The Secrets of Winning More Quotes' and the difference it has made to their 'bottom line'.

"I'm happy to help - Paul" she said.

Please call her - it's OK.

'The Secrets of Winning More Quotes' is now a 6 session course. (1.5 - 2hrs each)
Yes, it's still one-on-one coaching, at your home or office (or now we can meet 'face-to-face' on Skype at a time more convenient for both of us)

Am I expensive . . . . ?

(What is it costing you, in lost quotes at the moment, when it's quiet?)

You better ask Alex about that too, when you call.

Be smart, grab market share while your competition are reducing their marketing.

Paul Johnson

Missing Piece Marketing
phone 0407 261 900 (or +61407261900 if you are calling from outside Australia - please consider the time in Sydney Australia)

p.s. It's always better to call Alex after 10am and before 3pm. Thanks. (she'll kill me if I don't tell you that)

Stay connected for the good stuff. Here's some more of that good stuff. Feel free to click on any of these reports that take your fancy.

1. Why are your clients going over to your competition?

Learn when 'under promising' stops, and 'over delivering' really begins. Why not make 'raving fans' of nearly every client?

2. Are these 2 marketing tools missing from your business?

Find out why women don't keep business cards, and why tying a piece of string round their finger won't help them remember you.

3. Why are you wasting money advertising? Part 1

Find out what 96% of businesses don't know about their advertising spend. Get a free tool that'll save you thousands of dollars.

4. Why are you wasting money advertising? Part 2

SHH! It's a secret. . . . 25% of businesses admit to shooting themselves in the foot. Why don't expensive new business phone calls get answered . . . all the time?

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If this report takes your fancy, it's OK with me, to share it with your friends, on your site, on your blog, on your autoresponder. Facebook it, Tweet it - even translate it! BUT. . .

On one condition:

You must leave it intact without making any changes. All the links must stay connected. No adjustments to the text is allowed. (Of course that excludes Twitter).

Copyright Paul Johnson 2014 paul@missingpiecemarketing.com.au

Phone: +61407261900

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P.S. Do little things bug you? Do you deserve to be recognised for your 'eagle eye'?

This report has been proofread over and over, but still mistakes slip through. If you find a grammatical error, spelling mistake or layout thing that bugs you, please click here and let me know.
* The first 2 people to call (0407 261 900) or email me with any mistakes I may have made, will get Session 1 of 'The Secrets of Winning More Quotes' course for half price.

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'17 Ways Advertising Companies Can Rip You Off!'

Just to put your mind at ease, I have never (and will never) sell, rent or lend my list of members to anyone outside of this organization. Guaranteed.

I don't mean that customers don't understand, because they can't read.

I'm asking whether they ever argue about what's included in your quote

and what's not.

Have you ever met people who are members of the 'Yabit' tribe?

You probably have, but never realised it. 

What do these strange 'Yabit' people look like? No, they don't look like these fellas.

What language do the 'Yabit' tribe speak? They probably speak just like you - except for one thing:

They have a wingy wine sound to the way they speak. It's probably heard as a complaint.

When do you recognise the 'Yabit' people?

It's usually when you are finished a job, or nearing the completion of your work that they start complaining.

"Aww, arncha gunna paint the winda you just installed?"

"Where's the handrail. Arntcha gunna finish the job proply"

"I know the leak is fixed but why haven't you tiled up the wall the way it was?"

You probably think I mean you are losing sales, because you are too expensive.

I'm not.

It's probably not the size of your price that is bugging people, but the $ number that is turning them off.

Stay with me.

I'll explain with one my stories. (I know you love my stories.)

Story one: Phone reaction to an odd price - decreases 'price shock'.

Meet David Coote:

David has an immigration business.

When working with David and his staff 4 years ago, I asked them what happened when people rang for information about migration matters.

His staff told me, that after listening to the person's story, they would suggest that the prospect make an appointment to speak with David and bring all their documentation with them.

They mentioned that the initial consultation would be $200.

At which point the prospect sucked in their breath with shock. 

Price was perceived to be an obstacle.

[Have you ever had a prospect shocked at your price?]

How to promote your business through the ups and downs of Christmas.

Are you knocking back work at the moment?

Don't you hate that!

You've spent up big on advertising

to get the phone to ring,

and then,

at Christmas time.  .  .

You have to say 'no' to work

because you're too busy.

Grrrr!

Isn't Christmas Day just one more day in the year.

Can't they wait!

What if one bag of lollies could change a customer's mind?

There's a new type of research called 'Behavioral Economics', where they study whether people do, in deed, always act logically.

How to improve communication in the first 30 seconds.

We all want to get on better with people, don't we? 

We want people to like us. Especially in new business connections.

Of course, you have heard of developing 'rapport' with someone when you meet them for the first time - how you need to make them feel comfortable with you.

The usual stuff, like looking them in the eye while talking to them; nodding; asking them about themselves and their circumstances; telling them just a little about you, to show them you are prepared to 'let your guard down'. Letting them talk about their world, so they can relax in your presence.

What if most of this could happen BEFORE you meet someone? 

How to improve communication, even before you meet someone.

---

Is that possible?

Sales Objections and

how to handle them.

The ‘Feel, Felt, Found’ Method. (Or how to win more quotes)

Most people are usually pretty good when we interact with them.

Some though, are difficult and give us excuses for why they ‘aren’t interested’ in considering our quote, because they have objections.

These objections are usually because of  only two reasons:

Follow up in business.

Or do you ‘Quote and Hope’ ? 

Do you do quotes, send them to the prospects and then sit at home praying they will call you back?

That is the ‘Quote and Hope’ system. 

You are missing out on 1 in every 5 quotes you do, because you left the customer in charge of the next step.

How do you boost your success rate with quotes by 20%?

Quoting for work - it's like playing marbles.

Have you ever played marbles?

That's that game with a circle drawn on the ground, where you attempt to knock as many of your other competitor's marbles outside the circle.

Playing for keeps.

In serious games of marbles, you get to keep all those marbles you pushed out of the circle, and the one with the most marbles, WINS !

Why is winning a quote, like playing marbles?

How to make Raving Fans for your business.

You know they go on and get several other quotes from other businesses.

 What do you do, that makes your quote, a  memorable experience for them?

Here is a guy's true story      [ I know you love my stories :-)  ]

" I bought a Kindle (That's an electronic book (eBook) reader - if you didn't 

know already, click on the link to find out), as soon as they came out, in 2007.

 I loved it immediately.

 About two weeks after I bought it, it slipped out of my hands and crashed onto the hardwood floor in my apartment, effectively scrambling its little electronic brain.

Job estimate / quoting problem.

As a small business, are you being undercut by 'shonky' traders?

Handy hint below on how to deal with them

Job estimates take a lot of time to do.

It hurts to find out someone has won it on a ridiculously low price?

You couldn't even buy the materials for that price!

These 'Fly-by-nighters' will always try to undercut everyone else's price.

They do it often by failing to meet their responsibilities as an employer.