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Secrets to Success

BY JOHN-PAUL MICEK

Marketing secrets that
can double your sales

Part four of five

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Want to watch your sales soar? Then you don't want to miss the little known, and even less applied, marketing secrets you'll learn in this fourth installment of the Maximum Profit Marketing series.

In life, people often end up making things more difficult than they need to be. This seems to be even more prevalent when it comes to marketing. Maybe it's because the so-called "experts" out there have muddied the waters so much with their self-serving idea of marketing that the average business leader has no idea what works. Whatever the reason, you're about to learn two simple secrets that can effortlessly increase your sales.

Principle 6

>> Reverse the risk Have you ever noticed how most businesses put the risk of doing business on you, the client? Just the other day I was at a garden center. While I was checking out I noticed a sign behind the counter that stated in bold red letters "Absolutely NO REFUNDS After 30 Days."

Now it's not that I disagree with the policy of the store. They need to protect themselves. But the way this policy is stated is a good way to destroy client trust. The exact same policy could have been stated positively and in fact could be used as a core part of marketing to build outstanding goodwill with clients.

What if instead the sign read, "We Will Be Happy To Refund Your Full Purchase Price Within 30 Days." See the difference? The first statement seems to put the burden of responsibility on the client. The revised statement implies that you'll take the risk and bend over backwards to help the client out.

Now this is a minor example and probably won't kill a lot of sales, but why state things so negatively when the same statement can actually be used to build business? If you have a solid product or service, and you know it will perform the way you say it will, why not go all out to let your customers know about it?

>> "Our Prices Are the Lowest In Town Or We'll Refund Double the Difference."

>> "If We Don't Have Your Size In Stock, We'll Special Order and Have It Here Within Two Days."

>> "Proven Resources Guaranteed To Turn Your Small Business Into BIG Profits"

Do you see how powerful these statements are? See how they put the risk on the business, not the client? If you can perform, you should do everything you can to shout it from the rooftops. Even if you get a few more returns or refund requests, they'll be inconsequential compared to all of the new business you'll attract.

Principle 7

>> Maximize your profits with your "back-end" No matter what business you're in, back-end offers are what separate marginal cash generators from truly outstanding profits. Working your back-end is as simple as going to the bank. If you delivered what you promised to, you've got a substantial amount of trust on "deposit" with your current clients. All you have to do in order to make "interest" on this goodwill is to provide a useful offer to your clients.

There are literally hundreds of ways to apply this. For now, I just want you to understand the principle by using an experience I'm sure you've had as an example. (Yes, you can admit it.) What happens when you pull into a fast-food drive-through and try to place an order for a lonely burger? You immediately hear, "Would you like a value meal with that?" Then, even if you ordered a value meal to start you hear, "Would you like to super size that meal?"

Now this is back-end sales in its simplest form. The fast-food restaurant has done all it's marketing and advertising to get you to their door. Now you're there, and they're going to make sure that all your needs are met, and that their profits are maximized.

There are literally dozens of ways for every business out there to apply this principle. Yes, even yours! Maybe your business doesn't lend itself to this type of quick back-end sale, but you may be surprised once you learn how to get creative. Even marketing that breaks even or sustains a loss can be profitable back-end when you're filling your pipeline with long-term clients. This is what makes CD and book club offers work so well. They use a "one-dollar offer" to hook you in, and then make all their profits on the back-end.

Attracting new leads and converting them to clients is the most expensive process for any business, but serving your existing and previous clients again and again is easier and far more profitable.

In the next installment of this series you'll learn two more fundamentals for Maximum Profit Marketing that you can immediately put to use for increased profits and a surging cash flow. This article series is based on our TeleCourse book, "Small Business, BIG Profits" - the high impact, low cost marketing course for the small business owner.

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John-Paul Micek is a small business strategist
and chief operating officer at RPM Success Group.
Reach him at JPM@RPMsuccess.com
or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.