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WANT TO REACH YOUR FINANCIAL DREAMS? LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SALES AND MARKETING!What's the difference between sales and marketing? Do you know? Believe it or not, most people don't. Even many the folks in the business have no idea of the difference between these two functions. Not knowing this difference can literally 'KILL' your business.
WHAT IS SALES...? Simply put, selling is the willing exchange of goods or services for an agreed upon price or fee. Selling occurs when you hand someone money (or they hand it to you), and you give them something of value in return. In it's most elementary form, that's all sales is. Even though there are many fascinating books on the 'art of selling', there really is no art to selling. You have something someone wants. You put a price on it. They let you know if the price is in line with the value they've placed on the good or service by electing to purchase or not. That's it!
...AND WHAT IS MARKETING? Now, we're getting to the fun stuff. Marketing is where the true 'art' of the whole sales and marketing process comes into play. Even though sales and marketing have seperate and distinct meanings within the lexicon of business language, they really are just different sides of the same coin. You see, you can't really be effective at one without being effective at the other. Sales and marketing. Different, but invariably joined together. You can be a great marketer, but if you can't deliver the goods in the form of a quality product or service that people need and want, then your marketing skills will be for not. Likewise, you can have a great product to sell, but if no one knows about it, or thinks they need it or want it, you'll soon find yourself in the poor house. And that's the essense of marketing in a nutshell. Informing potential customers of the availability of a product or service that will meet their need, solve their problem, or fulfill their desire. When you become a proficient marketer, selling becomes an almost automatic event. I'ts usually called 'sales AND marketing', but really, proper marketing MUST come before the sales ever occur. Good marketing requires mastering the ability to position your product in front of the prospective customer. HOW DO THEY DO THAT? Has a commercial ever made you hungry? Think about it a moment. A large, hot, steamy, juicy-looking burger, with the cheese dripping off, the fresh, crisp-looking lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions, set just right. When your hungry, you can almost smell a burger like that through your television set. Or maybe it's a piping-hot pizza fresh out of the oven, with loads of pepperoni and sausage, and so much cheese it's sure to clog an artery. Now you may have just eaten supper when you see a commercial like this. Or you may be in the midst of preparing your own dinner of plain baked chicken and brussle sprouts (for those of us watching our wastelines). But either way, you make a mental note that says, 'Boy, I'm gonna get me one of those burgers, or a slice of that pizza...one day.' And that's all the commercial - the marketing campaign - was supposed to do. Inform you that the product is there to meet your need WHEN YOU NEED THAT NEED MET. The company knows that when you make that silent 'I gotta have it' declaration to yourself, they got cha! They know that when you decide to have a burger, or get a pizza, your mind will automatically go back to those images you saw hours, days, or even weeks ago on television. And THEN you'll go out, and make the purchase. That's the power of effective marketing. It will cause the customer to go in search of the product...but only when they want to. And that's precisely what MLM and network marketing companies DON'T teach you. They tell you that you have to be in hot pursuit of every person you THINK wants what you have to sell. WRONG!!! Think about most successful commercials for a moment. None of them actually attempt to SELL you anything - at least not right away. They just want you to know about what they have to offer so that WHEN you have a need, their product can fill it. In professional marketing, there's no high-pressure salesman knocking on your door. No one telling you that you just 'have' to buy one of their products now. A good marketing campaign doesn't talk about the product as much as it talks about the benefits to you, the consumer. It's just the opposite. "Want to get rid of the 'feminine' itch?" "Hemmoroids got you down?" "Bad breath cramping your style?" We've all heard ad campaigns build around these, or similar, themes. And all of them have one thing in common. They address the customer's problem...and only after the problem is identified, will the product be introduced. You see, good marketing makes the product secondary to the needs of the customer. Take alcohol and cigarettes for example. PLEASE...TAKE THEM! Really though. What do all cigarette and alcohol marketing campaigns seek to convey with their marketing strategy? That you - the consumer - can only be 'COOL' if your puffing on a smoke or holding an alcoholic beverage in your hand. That's why, dispite a recent flood of legislation and legal attacks, alcohol and tabacco companies continue marketing their products to young, impressionable teenagers and young adults. These companies know that young people are the population segment most likely to be at the stage of life where 'appearing cool' matters most. A young person is as likely to be all over anything that they think will raise their 'cool quotient' as quickly as a fly is all over (YOU KNOW WHAT). And whatever the product is, a successful marketing campaign is one that is able to convey the message that your need, want, desire, or problem can be solved, addressed, or fulfilled with the purchase of their product. But actual selling is 'NEVER' mentioned. And if it is mentioned, it's always mentioned at the end of the pitch - never at the beginning. A good marketing campaign is one that primes the consumer so that when they're READY TO BUY, they'll think of you and your product.
WHO'S MY MARKET? The first point of any successful marketing campaign is identifying exactly who your market is. Without a clear understanding of this principle, you will likely waste enormous amounts of money on advertising to people who have absolutely no interest in whatever it is you sell. If you've ever had the occasion to stay home during the day for whatever reason, you know there are myriad commercials with law firms targeting the injured and the worker's compensation consumer. You know there's also the educational commercials targeting the 'just out of high-school person' who has no idea of what they're going to do with their life. Why do these types of commercials come on at this time of day, and not during the evening when many more people will be watching? Because it's not cost effective. Expert marketing must not only know the target audience, it must also know how to get the most advertising bang out of every buck. You and I (and the marketers) know accident victims and young adults transitioning from high school are highly likely to be home during the day. And daytime television ad rates are a lot cheaper because most people are at work. Therefore, daytime is the absolute best and most cost effective time to reach out to the injured and employed. While it's true they may be home at night too (especially the injured folks), the advertising costs skyrocket because all of the working class people are home as well. That's why it's called 'Prime Time'. It's prime because, as an advertiser, you're going to be able to reach the largest amount of viewers/potential customers. But 'prime time' comes with a prime cost, and if the majority of people watching prime time television have no need for your product, why would you pay three times as much to run the same ad? It's the same with the 'get rich quick' gurus. You see them only late at night. Cheap advertising rates, and their target audience - people who are out of work or looking for a quick, easy way to fulfill their dream of financial freedom - are likely to be up late at night. After all, people without jobs don't usually need as much sleep because they're not doing much all day. The bottom line is the top companies got that way because they know how to find their target audience. They knew the best, most cost effective way to reach the prospect most likely to buy their product or service. But this type of sales and marketing strategy is not just for the large corporations. It's even more vital that you as a small businessperson understand and employ these sales and marketing stratigies as well. In fact, it may be more important for you and me because as a small business people, we simply don't have a ton of money to waste on advertising and marketing campaigns that don't hit a 'bullseye' with the market we're trying to reach.
MLM JUST DOESN'T GET IT These are the proper sales and marketing processes that MLM just doesn't understand - or care to teach to its memebers - which is why most people who get into MLM never make more than a few bucks (at best). The fact is that you will probably never have a successful sales and marketing business, or become an MLM Success without understanding how to employ sound marketing techniques. And it really doesn't matter what product or service it is that you're selling. When you develop sound sales and marketing pratices, you'll literally be able to sell anything to anyone. But how do you know you're on the right track with your sales and marketing game plan? You'll know you have a good marketing system in place when customers and prospects start finding you, instead of you having to chase after them (like the MLM companies tell you to do). Proper marketing is one of the keys to success that The MLM Network Marketing Success System teaches you how to do. The MLM Network Marketing Success System will unlock the secrets of wealth and business building through the use of marketing campaigns that drive customers to you. You'll see the awsome benefits of only talking to prospects and customers who've already identified themselves as people interested in your product or service. You'll learn why leading with your product or business opportunity (like the MLM companies tell you to do) is the 'kiss of death' for your business. If you've ever experienced the stuggle that comes with trying to convince uninterested people to look at your product or service, you'll flip when you experience the ease and pleasure that comes with dealing ONLY WITH PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU. Imagine the time you'll save when you never have to buy another dead lead, make another cold call, or 3-way call, or one-on-one presentation, or sales pitch to an uninterested friend, relative, or stranger again. The principles of good marketing and sales success are right here...right before you now! It's not a secret, or something that only a chosen few are privey to. Not for you it's not. You can have the success you want in your business, and you will when you learn and employ the principles and tools contained in the MLM Network Marketing Success System.
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