There was a cool infographic posted at Mashable today.  It offers an interesting look at the evolution of Social Media.  Evolution often makes me think what the landscape will look like in 5 to 10 years – not just in Social Media but in business in general.  In business, in many cases the first one into the market often wins but as you can see in the world of social media the late entrants are the dominant forces. 

There are 2 take–a-ways from this infographic:

1. Being first to market isn’t always the best.  But if you are, you need to strive at being the best that you can be and the best defense is a strong offense.  A strong offense is building the biggest market share you can afford to build.  And once you have market share you need to do your best at protecting it or you succumb to number 2.
2. Even if you are late to the party you can still compete.  After all, the first one to market has done the heavy lifting…they’ve established that there’s a market.  Now all you have to do is provide a better offering…and there are many ways of doing this.  By offering more, or by offering less, by charging more or by charging less, by catering to a different segment of a market…the list is endless.

Remember this, if you are standing still (i.e. doing nothing) you are actually going backwards.

Check out the infographic as seen on Mashable today.  The infographic was created by OnlineSchools.org.

So how do you respond or overcome the objection when your customer says “I can get it cheaper on the internet”?  This was a recent post topic over at the “Open Forum” marketing website by American Express.  Ann Handley, of Marketing Profs posed the objection “What’s Your response to “I can get it cheaper on the internet?”  In her article she writes about her homebuilder friend who is dealing with a homebuyer that’s price shopping the appliance package on the internet vs. the recommended Vendor.  You will see the email exchange between the shopper and the vendor is almost confrontational…YIKES – NOT GOOD!

On one hand you gotta love the power of the internet…on the other it sucks in terms of competition.  And it sucks even more when you don’t have your “A” game…also known as a solid value proposition and your ability to succinctly communicate it.

So how do you overcome the objection to: “I can get it cheaper on the internet”?

Here was the background information and the start of the email dialogue by interested customer:

Jerry complained that the vendor’s prices on a whole houseful of appliances were higher than he could find online.

For example, the pricey range he had picked out was $109 cheaper at an online retailer ($1189 vs. $1298). He found the fridge for $1440 vs. $1790, and Amazon sold the connective power cord for $8 to $22 vs. the vendor’s quoted price of $30. And on and on. “To do business with us,” Jerry concluded, “you will have to offer prices that are lower than what’s immediately available in [other] retail stores and online.”

And the Vendor, shot back with:

“Hi Jerry. In your 15 minutes of research you have found one Internet supplier that’s a little lower on the range. An Internet supplier will drop the range in the front yard on their schedule, on any particular day of the week. Meanwhile, you must have it there the exact day the builder wants it and you need it inside the house.

 

“Also in your 15 minutes of research you have managed to find a 22-cubic-foot refrigerator that is actually not 22 cubic feet… but, if you take five minutes to read, is not even stainless. It’s clean steel — a stainless lookalike. The one I quoted is 26 cubic and it’s real stainless.”

The second paragraph is a sales killer and there’s more at the original post but I can think of a few things I would do differently with overcoming this objection:

1. Try to take the communication offline.

Although the email dialogue was edited for clarity…the reality is that email communication is one of the worst forms of communicating.  You just never quite get the true flavour of the conversation.  In Armen’s (the Vendor) case, I am sure everything he wrote in the email was meant to be in a helpful sort of way.

A better response to the objection might have been:

Jerry, thank you so much for your interest.  I am wondering if we might be able to set up an appointment for you and your significant other to come in to see us.  Or make an appointment to chat over the phone.  Your appliances are a major consideration in your new home and this is why we are a strategic partner with many homebuilders in the area.  There are things that you may want to consider in your decision making process.  Having said this, if price is your NUMBER 1 deciding factor we might not be the best fit for you…and we understand.  At the very least let’s chat about it and if you still think the internet is the way to go…no problem, I just want to make sure you are well equipped to make an informed decision.  Thank you for the opportunity. – Armen

Getting face to face or on the phone should be the key objective…you just have a greater level of buyer input which increases your chances of closing the sale.

2. Work closer with your referral source

In this case – the homebuilder.  If the homebuilder is truly your partner then the deal should have in theory already have been closed.  The homebuilder would have clearly communicated why this appliance store was the preferred supplier.  He could have gone into to detail a little bit more explaining some of the pitfalls or experiences of others who have shopped elsewhere.  This way, it’s coming from a third party and not from the vendor.  Third party recommendations are always easier to close.

There are a couple of other recommendations posted by Scott Paley over at Abstract Edge worth reading.

At the end of the day, with the hyper-speed that your customers can get competitor pricing and product knowledge…you will need to up your game to be able to compete.  What makes you different?  What value do you bring?  Because with out differentiation you are lost in a sea of price.  It may be time to re-evaluate your business model and your overall marketing strategy.

I have always believed that the key to effective selling was through top notch listening skills coupled with great open ended questions.  That’s why we have two ears and one mouth.  You see the customer does not care about you or what you have to offer.  W-I-I-F-M is what the customer is thinking.  “What’s In It For Me”.  If you can explain your business and/or product in the terms of your customer…you will set yourself apart from the competition and win more often. 

I have ALWAYS followed the same model. 

• Develop rapport and trust.
• Ask the right questions to uncover motives for buying and develop the relationship.
• Help buyer uncover their reasons or WHY .

To uncover the key motive for buying you need to ask questions about experience, wisdom, past experience.  What things keep them awake at night?  What makes them uncomfortable?  What are some of their positive experiences…why?

| FEAR and GREED is what makes the world go around |

For the most part, I have relied on 2 motives: FEAR and GREED and have been successful closing deals simply by focussing on questions that helped me understand these two emotions.  There are at least 6 other reasons for why people buy.  The more you uncover the easier it will be to close.  Want to know more?  Keep reading.

Passion – sales are made with emotion and justified later by logic.  If you can uncover their passion you are on your way to a close.

Fear – probably the strongest motivator of all.  People fear loss greater than gain.  Want proof?  Take a look at any of the stock market crashes in any decade.

Greed – how much do they stand to gain by having what you have to offer can become a strong motivator.  If you can get them to mentally frame it i.e. get more profit or achieve “x” faster – it’s a homerun.

Need – determining this will determine their urgency to buy.  If you can attach how they will benefit as a result of using you or your product – move your probability of a close up a couple notches.

Want – create this or uncover this and you win.  The more they want it will equate to fewer roadblocks.  Classic example, the pet rock.  A more recent example, Nintendo Wii – I doubled my money a few years back when the Wii was released.

Win – people are competitive by nature.  Find out how intense the customer’s desire is to win.  If you can help them win you win!

Vanity – if it makes them look better…they’ll have to have it.  Can you make them look GREAT?

Pain – find out what’s causing them pain…the more uncomfortable the better.  Because if you can solve their pain…and fast…KA-CHING!

Inclusion – for the most part people want to be like one another.  They want to have what others have…it’s the “grass is always greener on the other side” mentality.  Find out who they want to be like, what they don’t have that others do have…if you can help them get it…YOUR IT!

Hopes and Dreams – find out what your buyer’s hopes and dreams are.  What does their ideal world look like?  Get them to imagine this…can you be the conduit to their hopes and dreams?  If the answer is yes…  YES = SOLD.

Now that I have given you the reasons.  Your homework is to develop your master list of open-ended, fact finding, relationship building questions that will help you close the deal.

Want to watch master sales people close deals?  Watch any kid who desires to have something.  Their key word that usually begins every question is…WHY?

Your QuikTipz of the day is start with Why?

When looking to build a business online or offline it’s important to determine if there is a market. There are some pundits out there that say “get into markets where there is no competition”. In the offline world…that would be the equivalent of starting a restaurant in a town with no other restaurants…well why why would there be no restaurants…BECAUSE you can’t make any money serving a town with only 1000 residents.

• Rule #1 – look for a big market. An Example of this is weight loss. Take a look at your neighbourhood gym just after New Years…now that’s a big market.
• Rule #2 – look for markets where there’s competition. Some people are afraid of competition…YOU should not be one of them. After all, competition usually means people are making money. Think of it this way. Which would you rather have? A big piece of pie worth nothing or a small piece of a pie that’s worth a lot. I’ll take the sliver each and every time thank you!
• Rule #3 – you’ll know if you have a great niche if people are using long tail keywords in their research to cure what ails them.  Short keywords phrases would be anything less than 2 words.   For example: “golf swing”.  An example of a long tail keyword phrase would be: “cure my golf slice” or “fix my bad golf swing”.
• Rule #4 – look for a niche that offers a lot of affiliate programs.  If you are developing a relationship with readers you want to know that you will have a good diverse product offering to sell or recommend to them.
• Rule #5- Is the niche list worthy? Similar to a offline retail store will the niche that you are looking at have customers that will continue to buy more? For example, in the weight loss category…people that are looking to lose weight…what else would they be likely to buy?  Examples: workout equipment, workout clothing, workout routines, nutritional supplements etc.

If you follow these 5 rules for picking a niche you should be on your way to a successful online career.