All posts in Sales

by Karon Thackston 2004-2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com

In Part 1 of this article series, we looked at a local home security site that had fairly good rankings but whose conversion rate was lacking. (You can see the original copy here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/topsecurity-original.pdf.) Here in the conclusion, you’ll see how several changes helped maintain this company’s good rankings while improving their site’s lead generation abilities.

The Rewrite

My first thought with the rewrite was to stop making “trust and urgency” the undertones and instead make them the obvious focal points of the copy. As usual, I started with the headline. The previous headline was:

When every second counts, turn to Top Security, Inc. who has been securing Orlando / Central Florida homes and businesses for 689,453,910 seconds.

I wanted something more direct so I changed the headline to:

Top Security, Inc. of Orlando Security Systems From a Trusted Neighbor

This included one of their keyphrases and also made it perfectly clear this company was local and trustworthy.

For the introductory paragraph, I wanted to get the visitor’s attention and hold it long enough to make a point: That security is something you need to think about now, not later. I opened with the following:

“If only I’d called you sooner.” “I never thought this could happen to me.” These are just a few of the many comments we have heard from our customers in Orlando. Security systems suddenly became a top priority for them, but not until after they’d experienced a frightening break-in or a devastating fire. After these disasters, our Orlando neighbors were convinced that burglar alarm and security issues should be a forethought, not an afterthought.

The copy does not beat the visitors over the head with the fact that they could be hurt, face losses, or experience some other frightening situation. It simply plants a seed of “what if” and moves on.

This section of the copy also lends support to the keyphrases Top Security wanted to rank highly for. Because “Orlando Security Systems” can be an awkward phrase to repeat, I split it up in several instances to help the flow of the copy stay natural.

The remainder of the page speaks to the facts that Top Security is local, has longevity in the community, is right around the corner, and offers several other benefits national security companies simply can’t (or won’t). Benefit after benefit is listed and explained in order to drive home the fact that a local company can – and will – provide exceptional service. You can see the current version here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/topsecurity-current.pdf.

All throughout these sections of the copy, keyphrases are reinforced in the copy. When applicable, keyphrases are used in bold phrases or others that include special formatting. However, I never forced keyphrases someplace they didn’t fit just for the sake of doing it. Keyphrase placement has to meld with the copy, not overpower it.

The call-to-action for the home page was simple. It asked three questions dealing with the biggest complaints about home security that users or potential users have regarding dependability, false alarms, and price.

The Results

The high rankings Top Security had prior to the SEO copywriting makeover were retained for most terms and even increased for a few others. While that’s great, what’s more important is that lead generations from the site increased, which gave Top Security, Inc. a broader customer base and the potential to make more sales they previously would not have been able to make.

It just goes to show that, even if your site has high positioning, copywriting can play an incredibly important role in bringing growth to your business. After all, what’s the point of having good rankings if you have no sales?

Karon Thackston is a veteran copywriting pro who specializes in SEO copy. If your copy isn’t getting results, let Karon teach you how to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors at http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest ebook -How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)- at http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword.

Do you run a sales team? Have you ever noticed that sales people are brilliant at coming up with excuses for why their promised sales didn’t eventuate. I use a simple strategy on my sales team that stopped the excuses and doubled the sales.

A couple of years ago I read a very interesting piece of research. The business school of a major university was conducting an international study into sales management. One of the amazing things they discovered was that sales people who reported to a sales manager, on average produced less than sales people who did not have a sales manager.

The reason for this was that the sales managers tended to be critical of the shortcomings of their team members and this made the sales people nervous. They became so preoccupied with having to face the music at the sales meeting that their focus was on failure rather than success. If your focus is on failure then failure is what you will get.

This is all very interesting but there is still the practical matter that most sales people are performing well below their potential. So how does a sales manager get his or her team performing without creating the problem of failure focus?

When I first started managing a sales team I discovered that sales people had an incredible talent for coming up with excuses. They seemed to be able to justify any lost sales by giving you a plausible reason why it was not possible to get the sale. While I admired their creativity I also realized that in most cases the sale was getable. The problem I had was how to get the sales person away from the excuse habit and onto the success habit.

I also remembered when I first entered the sales world, and how my sales manager had harassed myself and the other sales people at each sales meeting. I used to dread going to those meetings.

I ended up creating a solution that got rid of excuse behavior, avoided the harassing situation and led to a doubling of my sales team’s output. I made a rule that the only excuse that a salesperson was allowed to offer was an excuse that was so good that if they wrote it on a piece of paper and took it to the manager of the local supermarket that the manager would be happy to give them a week’s groceries in exchange for the excuse.

Here’s how I used the “grocery excuse” strategy. I first explained the rule to each of my sales people. Then if during a sales meeting a sales person started to offer any form of excuse I would interrupt and say “excuse me Bob, can I buy a week’s groceries with this excuse that you’re starting on?” They would say no, and then I would say “then let’s focus on a real way that we can get this sale across the line.”

This crazy “grocery rule” worked like a charm. Within a few meetings it totally eliminated excuse behavior and turned the whole focus of the meetings into positive, success oriented thinking. The result was that the teams sales figures improved dramatically and my sales team didn’t fear the meeting.

If you are having problems with excuse focused sales staff then why not give my crazy motto a try.

Houses, as we say are built once and lived forever. People generally refer call their houses as dream house, dream villa etc, as they tend to save a fortune for their lifetime and then invest in their one big dream. People in Chennai are no behind when it comes to buy a housing property in Chennai. The real estate developers and the real estate promoters here are suppose to keep busy throughout the year.

People in look out of individual houses or villas can contact the builders or the real estate promoters and they get to choose from a varied range of completed and upcoming projects. Manju Foundation, a building and Construction firm are one major giant when it comes to real estate developers. They have many wonderfully constructed individual Houses For sale In Chennai, and not just villas but even bungalows that are sure to catch your attraction. They even have categories of houses in the list of their projects. The famous ones being – Nano homes-, -Pink House- etc.

The houses for sale by Manju Foundation are mostly located in the heart of the city or in a commercial zone. The houses or villas are generally surrounded by a housing colony and well established society, thus making the task of real estate promoters much easier and inspiring many other builders and constructors to become one such real estate developers those not only cater the needs of a beautiful home but also takes care of a safe and secure locality.

Safety, Locality and comfort zone are few among the many constraints that become important when investing in a housing property. Manju Foundation provides all these and strikes the right cord with its customers. People of Chennai sure do have a lot of choice when comes to Property purchase.

Houses Sale in Chennai

Houses For Sales In Chennai

Houses Sales Chennai – Royal Villa Houses

Royal Splendor Houses

Royal Suite Houses

Nano Homez Houses

Pink House Houses

Hiring good sales people is one of the hardest things that a sales recruiter or employer does. Not any more! So how can prospective employers or sales recruiters tell which job applicants can sell? They can make the job applicants take a well-rounded pre-employment sales assessment test. If you are an employer or sales recruiting company, you may start with 10 Free Sales Assessment Tests from Dan Joy, Inc.

Common Sales Recruiting Mistakes:

A sales hiring mistake can cost an employer up to $100,000 or more. Many sales recruitment firms and employers are deluged with sales resumes, but have no way of knowing who can really sell. So, they often tend to hire someone with whom they “feel comfortable”, who is “like them”, who “looks good”, or who has “industry knowledge”. None of that necessarily means that the person can actually sell. A good Sales Assessment Test like The JOY Tests ™ of Total Sales Ability ™ can help reduce subjectivity and guesswork, so you can make more objective hiring decisions, and hire great sales people or regional sales managers.

Who Can Use Sales Assessment Testing?

In the past, sales assessment tools were used primarily by large companies. Now, for the first time, the fully integrated self-serve online sales assessment testing system of Dan Joy, Inc. has brought these crucial sales assessment tools within the easy reach of small to mid-sized businesses. Of course, big companies can use these sales assessment tools too.

Which Type of Sales Assessment Test is Most Effective?

An old style Sales Personality Test, Sales Aptitude Test, Behavioral Test or Sales Reluctance Test is usually not a good predictor of sales potential. There is a lot more to success in selling than just personality, aptitude or call reluctance. One can have the right personality or aptitude but if they don’t possess or learn good sales skills and techniques, they are not very likely to succeed in the sales profession. There are also people who can call incessantly, but cannot close. There is a much better way, as explained below.

Instead of testing for just sales personality or sales aptitude, the best approach is to test for Total Sales Ability ™. A good sales assessment test can reduce subjectivity and guesswork, and help sales recruitment agencies and corporate sales recruitment people make more objective hiring decisions. One good sales assessment test is The JOY Test ™ of Total Sales Ability ™.

Other Criteria for Choosing the Best Sales Assessment Test:

Sales Recruiters and employers may want to choose a sales assessment test which is:

1. Accurate: The Sales Test must go above and beyond the mundane psychological and personality tests by doing a well rounded sales assessment. This is crucial to the success of the sales recruitment campaign.

2. Robust: 2-Step Testing is better but costs less. The simple but robust 2-Step testing (Screening Test plus Final Test) helps protect employers against the possibility of a job applicant substituting someone else to take a test on their behalf. Moreover, the Screening Test is much cheaper than the Final Test. If you need to test, say, 500 applicants, you could give them all an inexpensive Screening Test, then give a Final Test to only the top 2% (the 10 highest scorers) on the day of the interview. That could save you a lot of time and money.

3. Efficient: Completely self-contained online system that you can use 24/7/365 at your convenience, without having to call the company every time you wish to test a new sales candidate. Many sales recruiters work online from home.

4. Easy to Interpret: The sales assessment test’s Report Card must be clear, easy to understand, and preferably just 1-page long (some can be unwieldy — up to 20+ pages per candidate). Sales recruiting firms are often pressed for time.

5. Scored Instantly: Candidates’ Report Cards (Sales Assessment Test scores) should be available online immediately after they complete a sales assessment test (no waiting for the Sales Test Reports to arrive by fax or snail mail).

6. Secure: The sales assessment test should contain built-in safeguards against guessing, random answering and candidate substitution. Not all sales tests are created equal. Most good sales recruiters appreciate the importance of secure sales assessment testing.

The JOY Tests ™ of Total Sales Ability ™ meet all of the criteria above. For a limited time only, sales recruiters and employers can get 10 Free Sales Assessment Tests (Screening Tests) to help them hire great sales people, at: http://www.danjoy.com/

Our Recommendation:

The JOY Tests ™ of Total Sales Ability ™ meet all of the criteria above. These well rounded sales assessments go above and beyond the mundane psychological and personality tests by testing for Total Sales Ability ™, e.g., Sales Prospecting Ability, Objection Handling Ability, Sales Closing Ability, Personality, Psychology and much more.

They can be used as pre employment sales tests to test Business Development professionals at different career levels, e.g., a Sales Person (Salesman or Saleswoman), Sales Manager, Sales Director or VP of Sales & Marketing. The JOY Sales Tests ™ may also be used to identify and quantify Sales Training needs to help you bridge certain sales training gaps or correct certain sales skills deficiencies in your current sales team. Thus, you may also use The JOY Tests ™ of Total Sales Ability ™ to test your current salespeople for promotion, retention or sales training purposes: http://www.danjoy.com/

Conclusion:

Pre-employment testing or sales assessment tests are a good way to help you hire a top sales executive or build a sales team. Many of us have wondered about the following: What makes a great salesman, salesperson, sales rep or saleswoman? What are the top qualities, attributes or characteristics of good sales people? How to hire sales professionals who can sell? What tips or advice can I find about hiring sales people, hiring a regional sales manager, hiring sales representatives or hiring sales associates? What interview questions should I ask during a sales interview? You don’t need to worry about many of these questions if you use The JOY Sales Tests ™ of Total Sales Ability ™ from Dan Joy, Inc. The JOY Sales Tests ™ will do the work for you by asking the right questions, quantifying the competencies, and presenting the results to you in a format that is easy to understand, to help you make the right sales hiring decisions.

The successful business prospect of your business depends on your approach to the sales of your products. It is very important to increase the sales from previous number if you are really serious about your business and want to be a successful businessman. It is very easy to make sales at the first time but it is too hard to sales more and more. To make more and more sales you have to give concentration on keeping the old customers of your products remain intact and with this you need to extend your market with new customers also. Here some suggestions are given to show you the exact way by following which you can get your achievements fulfilled one day.

When you are taking orders from the customers try to inform them about some new products or any related products you are going to launch recently. That can help you to get customers who are satisfied very much with your past products for the new product very easily.

After making the first sales you have to show concern about your customers and for that you can thank those sending emails or messages and with this you can also add some advertisement of your newly launched product. Remember that you need to perform in this matter very honestly and that too you have to make a good bond with your customers. Dont show off inadequately to your customers as it can hamper your impression.

Make a term like if your customers make any reference of new customers, they will get a certain rebate of the price they are paying for the products. That will definitely increase the number of customers. Tell them also that they can get commission by selling your products joining an affiliate program.

Always be concerned about the advertisement sector of your product so that people can get interested in your products or services. Until there is a strong advertisement plan, marketing of your product or service can never be successful. Advertisement can help to make your previous customers stick on your product and also to make new customers. You also can set up a package deal with other businesses products also. For that when you deliver a product, you can deliver a coupon included the items you sale in the package and thus can help people attracted to all of your products.

Try to make your customers keep in touch with your products or services every time. Keep informing the customers about the products you are launching by sending catalogues in every alternative period. The customers will find the information related to your products if you arrange some gift coupons for the customers while purchasing your products. They will buy more and more and will get to know more about the products of your business. You can also make some free products with the original product and the free samples should be printed with the advertisement of your product so that other people also can get to know.
The above are some effective tips to increase your sales strategy. If you follow up these strictly you will definitely get the fruitful result of it.