Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right. -Oprah Winfrey

Differentiate yourself from the competition and sell more

Sales professional / business development / growth strategist. We go by many different titles but our goals are the same...to bring in new business.

But everywhere we turn, we face competition. Competitors vying for the same customers and our piece of the market. What can we do to stand out? 

BE DIFFERENT!
Have a clear idea of how you're different compared to your competition...and how those differences will benefit your prospects. Know your prospect's most important needs, their pain points...then and only then do you have their attention.

Set yourself apart from your competition by delivering to your prospect something they value that your competition doesn't necessarily have. Perhaps it's the skills and expertise you offer, the knowledge you have of their industry, being prepared to have a truly meaningful conversation.

So how are you different compared to your competitors? Make a list and check it twice!

Stop chasing prospects and get more business.

I know this to be true from my own experience...the more face-to-face interactions I have, the more likely I am to close the deal.

We've all set up our sales stages: Lead, Prospect, Assessment, Proposal, etc. But are they effective for closing the deal? With this plan, we have no idea who is really interested in moving forward. Who is a time waster and who is a real opportunity?

It's a scary thought, but stop chasing prospects. Schedule each meeting with your prospects at the end of the current meeting.
If your prospect doesn't want to schedule time with you, it means they probably don't want to work with you.

It's a lot easier for a prospect to say NO to someone they've had one meeting with,  received a couple of emails from and an occasional voice mail...BUT when you're engaged with your prospects they come to learn your true value face to face.

At each meeting, my prospects get to know me, they see what it would be like to work with me, they find out more about me, my personality and my genuine interest in their business. You can't do that with email and voice mail. When they schedule their next meeting with me, I know they're interested in continuing our business relationship...YES!

Don't forget, it works both ways, after a meeting or two you might discover that this prospect is not one you want to do business with. Better to find out sooner rather than later!

Using multimedia in multiple ways

In addition to providing a more engaging experience, multimedia increases your options for distributing content. 

Video is versatile, you can:

> Embed your company or “how-to” videos into a blog post

> Turn them into thumbnails on Facebook
> Link them on Twitter
> Share them on your LinkedIn profile and company page 
Don't forget to set up your YouTube Channel, you can add company info and more.

Take your Instagram photo and:
> Add it to your blog post
> Post it as a thumbnail on your Facebook page
> Put it on your LinkedIn updates
Don't forget to make it a hyperlink to your content to drive even more engagement!

Using your own creative and informative multimedia content creates value while sharing your knowledge. This will always appeal to your audience than the hard sell approach.

Even though it's Friday the 13th, remember...