increasing business vs decreasing costs

I have noticed that some advertisements selling to businesses emphasize how much they can reduce costs and some emphasize how much they can increase business.

A VOIP company says it can reduce your long distance fees.

Coffee news for example promotes increased exposure and so more business.

I was thinking trying to convince a business owner that you (a person that does not know their business) can help them get more business is tougher than telling them that you can reduce some part of their costs.

I am selling web design as a way to get more customers but possibly I should promote it as a way to reduce costs (ie. cheaper that YP, less administrative costs answering questions, less unproductive time explaining your services etc.).

When I am trying to sell a business a way to get more customers I feel a little presumptuous. I mean I don't know if their current marketing is working great for them and they are getting a lot of customers.

But I do know they do not have a website and getting one will definitely help them control some indirect costs.

I see one problem with your presentation to your prospect: you say you don't know their business. I'll grant you that you may not know ALL ABOUT their business but, if you're approaching them as your prospective customer and you have no idea about their business, you haven't done your homework. That's a no-no in professional sales if you want to be maximally successful.

You might wish to read about them in the local newspaper morgues, become a potential customer to ferret out some facts and info. Most importantly, don't go in and just start pitching your solution until you have talked with the owner and asked questions regarding their business. It doesn't have to be a grilling type of Q & A thing...just in the course of conversation. It's okay to admit that you'd like to know a bit more about their business (most folks are glad to chat about their business if they have the time just then). In the course of their discourse, when appropriate, ask about any drawbacks or problems they've encountered. When appropriate, use this information to tailor your pitch to that person.

Only then are you ready to make your pitch using your previous methods...not before. You'll find that people are much more receptive using this technique than the 'hard sell' approach. Not only that, they're also more likely to give you referrals to other businesses.

Sandi Bowman

P.S. Don't forget the thank you note. It's done far too little in today's world but people DO notice and mention it when they see you again.

If you choose to go in cold like that, I'd suggest creating your own version of an approach advocated by Bob Burg, legendary referral marketer.

Here's the basic idea that you could twist to fit your situation:

1. Create a Free Report, something like 'How a Professional Website Can Make & Save You Money', or '10 Ways To Make & Save Money With a Professional Website'.

2. Print this report out on a flier

3. Go out and buy a bag of good candy bars or snacks

4. Target an area of business prospects to seed with your candy bars and flier

5. Select a time of day to go in when they might be getting hungry, like late in the morning but well before lunch

6. The first time that you go in simply set the candy bar and flier on the counter next to the owner and tell he or she that you know they are busy, but would like to hear about any marketing problems this free report could help them to solve.

7. Repeat the process every three or four business days until you are able to strike up a conversation that leads to an appointment to come back, or go right back into their office, to show and discuss how to solve those problems with a web site (essentially go back over your free report with them online)

I've also listed two reports by Andrew Cavanagh below (with an affiliate link) that deal directly with what you sell. I don't want to cross over the line and promote them in this post. So let me just say that one focuses on helping merchants to build an email list. The other on selling web sites to merchants and service professionals.

Good luck,

Rod