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Messy Business Cards Are Not How to Increase Sales
| Guest post by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith |
Article Overview: Messy business cards still turn up at many business to business networking events. Passing out these cards demonstrate how not to increase sales and maybe even speaks to even a larger issue.
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Free Download - How to Craft an Engaging Message That Highlights What You Do to Increase Sales By Leanne Hoagland-Smith |
Messy Business Cards Are Not How to Increase Sales
Attend several business to business networking events and you will
invariably receive one messy business card. The email has been changed, new cell phone number added or worse yet the
name has been scratched out because the person is waiting for his or her new
business cards. Yikes!
Thinking from a leadership and management role, why would you allow your
sales representative to go out to a business to business networking event, a
sales call looking messy if your organization truly wants to increase sales?
A while ago, Jonathan Farrington mentioned in one of his blog postings about
the number of business professionals who have messy business cards. In six
months, he wrote if I remember correctly that 90% of all business cards had
cross outs, hand written new numbers, emails or addresses.
If the goal is how to increase sales, then all marketing efforts from
websites to blogs to business cards to even handwritten notes must be clear,
sharp, professional to achieve your predetermined results. These actions
should always be aligned to your marketing action plan and embracing an
education based marketing approach would not hurt either. Sales Training
Coaching Tip: Education based marketing focuses on educating your potential
client not spewing price, product or proposal which happens when adopting product or sale based marketing
approach.
One of my good friends and colleagues Bill Napolitano has said: “There
are a lot of Captain Wing Its.” The adoption of this role creates what I
call “spraying and praying” behaviors with the hope
of something sticks. Messy business cards suggest a Captain Wing It problem.
Business people including professional sales persons sometimes fail to make
the necessary outreach and then end up with less than the desired results. Even
though I am not a marketing expert, my clients do ask my opinion about
marketing copy and websites. Knowing some basics about writing copy and search
engine optimization, I can educate (share my knowledge) and continue to build
that relationship with my client.
Invest the time to make sure your business cards are professionally produced
without any cross outs or handwritten numbers or email addresses. Revisit your
website and blog (if you have one and you really should one if I may add) to ensure it
is clean and not messy. Review all your marketing materials.
Finally, return to
your written strategic business plan and specially to your marketing action
plan (think goal driven), your marketing executive summary and your core
positioning statement to verify your marketing actions are all in alignment. By
taking these actions, you should increase sales because you are working smarter
not harder because you have dropped the messy from your business practices.
Be Alert About Wasting Time
No Business Card Simply Means No Business
Business card tips
The Power of Gift Cards
How Sales Training Forgets This Essential Sales Tool
How to Increase Sales and Reduce Costs by Using These Simple Sales Coaching Tips
Credit cards: how do we use them?
How to Increase Sales and Reduce Costs Using These Simple Sales Coaching Tips
Custom Gift Card Programs for Businesses
Sales Coaching Tip: Lose the Business Development Title If You Want to Increase Sales
What Is In Your Wallet?
Enclose 2 Business Cards
Are You Suffering From Sales Rage?
What can a burger teach you about business?
Increase Sales by Demonstrating Appreciation through High Business Ethics
Expansion of The Indian Payment Card Market in the Recent Years
Two Must Have Tools To Dramatically Increase Sales
It's Time for a Balanced Budget Amendment
To Franchisees: Be Wary of Using Company Credit Cards
CRM for a Small Business
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About the Author: Leanne Hoagland-Smith RSS for Leanne's articles - Visit Leanne's website Her book, Be the Red Jacket is a no-nonsense and quick read to help discover potential gaps that may be keeping you from your goal to increase sales. The forward is by Evan Carmichael of EvanCarmichael.com Remember if you think you cannot or you think you can either way you are right. (Henry Ford). Sales Coaching Tip: Change your thoughts; improve your results. Click here to visit Leanne's website   Leadership Audit For Business Business Building Check List Leadership Assessment |
Related Forum Posts
New Small Business Topic
- Hello everyone,
I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section?
Here's a list of what we currently have:
Angel Investors
Branding
Bank Loans
Business Coaching
Business Plan
Franchises (New)
Insurance
Legal
Marketing
Public Relations
Sales
Small Biz Loans
Venture Capital
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
- Hi Evan,
I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
- [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan,
I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz]
I second the request...
My entry
- 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read
- this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody.
2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto.
3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book
Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Top 19 Copywriting books
- 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley.
2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner.
3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill.
4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall.
5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall.
6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin.
7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall.
8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books.
9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall.
10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association.
11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books.
12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books.
13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books.
14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books.
15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books.
16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books.
17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall.
18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop.
19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley.
This should keep you busy for at least a year.
Enjoy!
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