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Now, look, with any small business, there's usually lots of free things that you can do
that are gonna improve your profits and your bottom line.
And one of those things is to get more sales from the enquiries or the phone calls that you're already getting.
So here's four things that you can do, which won't cost anything that you can put into place
that'll mean that more of the phone calls that you get actually turn into people handing over cash
and paying for your products and paying for your services.
Ok? Number one.
Respond.
Let me tell you a story.
When we first started JDR, we needed a printer.
We needed to get business cards, we needed letterheads, all that stuff.
So, I rang, personally, something like fifteen different printers in the Derby area.
And I told them what we were looking for and they said they would come back to me with quotes.
Now, of the fifteen I called probably only seven actually answered the phone.
Of the seven that answered the phone, two of them came back with a quote within two days.
Now, I don't think that's a one off.
That happens in businesses up and down the country.
So, if you wanna get the most from the advertising and the marketing
that you're spending your hard earned money on, then you've got to do one simple thing:
Make sure that your phone always gets answered and always gets answered quickly.
I recommend within five or six rings.
Secondly, when people ask you for a quote or they ask you about doing something
get back to them as quickly as you can - do it with urgency.
Because - if you take a week getting back to someone, they're gonna assume
that you're going to be just as lethargic when it actually comes to doing the work.
So respond and respond quickly.
Number two.
Ask questions.
The first thing you should say to everyone that calls up -
I'm talking about phone calls rather than email enquiries where this is more difficult -
when people call, the first thing that most people say is
'How much does this cost?' or 'How much would this cost?'
So, the magic question is to say 'Firstly, thanks very much for the phone call,
So that I can help you best, what I need to do is ask you a couple of quick questions, is that OK?'
Now that gets you starting a conversation with them.
Get into a conversation, rather than then just going 'That's the price, that's the price, that's the price'
because it commoditises what you're doing.
So for example, if people come into your shop and you ask 'Can I help you sir?'
for example, people say 'No, we're just looking.'
Whereas, if you ask 'Hi, can I ask, have you been here before?' then it starts a conversation.
Number three.
Know what your USP is.
Unique selling point is what it stands for.
It's basically what differentiates you from anyone else.
Let me just take you back to the printers, for example.
Obviously, I was interested in asking how much it would cost to have what we did.
Now if one of those printers had said 'Look, I'm gonna give you the quote that you're asking for,
but let me just make a couple of points, OK? We're not the cheapest printer in Derby,
because what we believe in is providing quality, speed of response, we're going to give you the following guarantees.'
and they gave a good reason why I should pick their printer rather than anyone else,
they would stand a much better chance of getting the sale, rather than just going on price alone.
So understand what's different about your business and what's the reason
that me, as a customer, I should buy from you when I can go to anyone else in your competitors.
Finally, number four.
Measure.
You wanna measure out of all the phone calls and enquiries you get, how many of them do you actually convert?
And keep a tally of those percentages.
And what you'll find is, when you start measuring how many people actually phone your business
or send emails to you, and how actually many you turn into new customers
you'd be amazed, generally, how low those percentages are
and when you start measuring it, you'll become aware of it, you'll become more concious of it,
and your conversion rate will improve.
So there you go, four very simple, very easy things you can get started on straight away
that's gonna mean you don't have to spend a penny more on advertising or marketing
and you're gonna get more sales and you're gonna improve your profits as a result.