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Marketing a product that customers can see, touch, and try before they buy is challenging enough. So how can you market something customers can't see or feel? How do you turn an intangible idea into something that will connect with people in a hands-on, real-world way? That is often the challenge involved with marketing a service. Here are five tips to help you get started:
<ul><li>Focus on answering the question, "What's in it for me?" Feature lists are all well and good, but for most people the bottom line (THEIR bottom line) is what really matters. If you can show a prospect how your service will benefit them (by saving time, reducing costs, providing security, or eliminating frustration, worry, or doubt), that will go far in convincing them to give you a try.</li>
<li>Make it real. Just telling someone how much your service will benefit them isn't always enough. Back up your claims with tangible, real-world proof. Use testimonials, case studies, and verified statistics whenever you can to help bolster your case. Few things sell confidence better than a success story from a satisfied customer. A testimonial or case study outlining the positive results your service has provided will go a long way toward putting a prospect's mind at ease about doing business with your firm.</li>
<li>Create a strong, positive identity. While your service may be intangible, the words and imagery you use to represent your brand can help you make a positive impression in prospective buyers' minds. Consider Prudential's Rock of Gibraltar logo or Allstate's "good hands." Each conveys a message of security and dependability -- traits important when you're talking about insurance and investing. Try to create a similar feel with the images and words you use to promote your company.</li>
<li>Avoid the temptation to under-price your services. Under-pricing undermines profitability and sends the message that you don't value your own services as highly as your competitors value theirs. Customers will see this as a sign that your service is inferior in quality or that you lack the experience necessary to help them. If you're uncomfortable pricing your service competitively, consider a tiered approach, where customers can pay higher premiums for added benefits.</li>
<li>Treat yourself -- and your company -- as the product. In many ways, you are. When customers buy a service, they're really buying into a company and its people. They're trusting your knowledge, your skill, your experience, and your integrity to do right by them. Keep that in mind. Use every interaction as an opportunity to reinforce, renew, and reward that trust...and encourage your staff to do the same.</li></ul>

A toll-free number is no longer the standard way for customers to contact you. Customers are bombarded with choices in today's technology-focused world. If your business doesn't offer a method of communication that suits your customers' preferences, they may find another company that does.

Here are 10 tips to make it easy for ALL of your customers to get (and stay) in touch with you:
<ul><li>Consider offering a live chat support service option on your website that provides real-time, text-based conversation with someone who can quickly answer questions.</li>
<li>Use social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate with customers. Post helpful information in your stream, and encourage customers to ask questions and provide product feedback.</li>
<li>Provide interactive maps that allow people to customize directions to your location, as well as a photo of your building to make your business easier to find.</li>
<li>Include any helpful information that may save customers frustration when they try visiting you. For example: "XYZ Road is currently under construction -- please use ABC Street instead."</li>
<li>Create a Google+ page to share updates, promotions, links, and photos. This will make it easy for people to recommend your business, products, or services to friends and contacts, while at the same time helping you measure your followers' interactions.</li>
<li>When posting blogs, be sure to offer an area for comments and feedback, as well as contact information, in case the reader has questions.</li>
<li>Build trust with online customers by providing your company's physical address in addition to email, phone, fax, Skype, and support line info on your website's contact page. Add links to customer forums, your Facebook page, and your Twitter feed, as well, and consider offering a contact form as a convenience for customers.</li>
<li>Include, at minimum, your website info, company email, and toll-free phone number on every marketing piece you create, including letterhead, notepads, brochures, flyers, quotes, surveys, etc. Customers who desire additional information will often seek out your website's contact page.</li>
<li>Consider a mobile website designed for smart phones that makes it easy for users to find information about you, regardless of what device they are using.</li>
<li>Provide a clear call to action in direct mail, email messages, and other marketing pieces so readers know how to get in touch with you.</li></ul>
We encourage you to contact us anytime if you have questions or comments. We look forward to hearing from you!

I'd like to share a story with you that I heard recently. It may be familiar to you, but I think it bears repeating...

Each morning, a servant would carry water to his master's house from a nearby stream using two large clay pots, hung on opposite ends of a long pole. One of the pots was in perfect condition, but the other had a crack along its side that caused it to leak water. As a result, the cracked pot was only half full by the time the servant reached the house.

This went on for two years before the cracked pot finally gathered the courage to say something to the servant. Feeling embarrassed by what it perceived to be its shortcomings, the pot said, "I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the servant, confused by the pot's sorrow.

"For two years, I've watched as my partner delivered a full pot of water to your servant's home each day. Meanwhile, I've struggled to deliver just half my load because of this crack in my side. My flaws have caused you to deliver less water than you would have been able to otherwise, and I'm sorry for that."

At this, the servant smiled. "As we're walking back to the house today," he said, "I want you to take a close look around you, particularly at the road." So the pot did as the servant instructed and was astonished to see a plethora of flowers lining the path below him as they walked.

When they reached the house, the servant asked, "Did you see those flowers?"

"Yes," the pot replied, "they're beautiful."

"Did you notice that they only appeared on your side of the road?" the servant continued. "That's not a coincidence. You see, I've known about your crack all along. Two years ago, I planted seeds along your side of the path. Each day, as we make our way back from the stream, you water those flowers for me. As a result, I've been able to create beautiful centerpieces that bring joy to my master's home. So, you see, what you consider a failure, I consider a great service to my master and his family."

Like the pot in this story, many of us feel inadequate at times because of our own cracks and flaws. But finding ways to make the most of those imperfections (in ourselves and in those around us) can make our lives far richer and more rewarding.

So where can you plant seeds in your own life to bear flowers? And what can you do to encourage others around you who may be feeling less than adequate today?

If you're feeling overwhelmed by various forms of electronic communication, you're not alone. There's something to be said for traditional forms of contact, whether the warmth of a handshake or the crunch of a newspaper.

In our attempt to feed our information-hungry prospects and customers, we run the risk of creating a system overload. If your business is looking for a way to break through the electronic communication overload, try marketing in print.

People are so used to being bombarded with emails, texts, Facebook notifications, tweets, and pop-up ads that attractive, quality postcards, self-mailers, and other marketing pieces offer a refreshing change of pace.

Sometimes you just need to disconnect to connect.

Perfect pitch is a musical term for the ability to recognize any note on the scale just by hearing it -- or to sing any note on the scale without a point of reference. Experts say only one in 10,000 people have this ability, though others <a href="http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb05/absolute.aspx" target="_blank">may possess elements of the skill</a>.

In sales, we often refer to our own sort of "perfect pitch" -- a presentation so persuasive it overcomes objections and leaves no doubt in a prospect's mind that our product or service is exactly what they need.

Like perfect pitch in music, a perfect pitch in sales can seem equally elusive. And while there is no fail-safe way to close every sale, there are things you can do to make your presentations resonate with prospects and strike a better chord.

<strong>Do your homework.</strong> Get to know as much as you can about your audience before you meet. Discover their needs, their wants...and their motivations. Tailor your pitch and approach to address those triggers, and focus on how your product can benefit the customer, rather than just the features it possesses.

<strong>Start with an analogy.</strong> Stories have a way of breaking the ice and making your product more relatable. Telling a prospect your high-speed Internet service is faster than the competitors' might impress them momentarily, but comparing your service to running on smooth pavement with the wind at your back versus running through a pool full of molasses, against the current, might make a stronger and more meaningful (long-term) impression.

<strong>Answer the whys.</strong> Wise salespeople prepare ahead of time to deal with the whys: Why do I need your product? Why should I choose you over the competition? Why should I care about all those bells and whistles? All of these are valid questions you'll need to answer. And, no, "because I said so" is not an acceptable response. If you can't make a concise, compelling case for your product, you'll have trouble making many sales.

<strong>Practice, practice, practice.</strong> Alexander Graham Bell once said, "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success." Just as a musician or singer needs to practice their craft, successful salespeople must prepare themselves for every presentation. Outline your presentation ahead of time, and practice your delivery so you know what you need to say in various situations.

<strong>Keep honing.</strong> No salesperson hits the right note on every sales call. Learn from your mistakes and miscues. Use all of your experiences -- both positive <em>and</em> negative -- to sharpen your skills, so you're always prepared to perform at your best.

If you've ever eaten at a fast-food restaurant, surely you've been asked, "Would you like fries with that?" or "Would you like to supersize your meal?" Cross-selling involves presenting customers with complementary products or services to consider above and beyond their initial purchase. Here are a few tips on how to successfully cross-sell (or up-sell) your products to increase revenue:
<ul><li>Use cross-selling as a way to help customers try to solve a problem, rather than just to sell more stuff. Educate them on products or services you have to offer that may meet their needs or new items that weren't available before.</li>
<li>Suggest relevant items that complement and make the initial purchase more valuable (such as selling a memory card, camera case, and batteries with a new camera). Also consider offering items that vary in price, such as an $8 case, a $15 case, and a $25 case. The least-expensive items will most commonly be added as impulse buys.</li>
<li>Position products in lucrative places on your website to cross-sell complementary items, or direct customers to other items they may be interested in. For example, Amazon.com offers suggestions of items that are frequently bought together, as well as "Customers who bought this item also bought XYZ."</li>
<li>Promote bundled packages that provide a price break to purchase extra items together. For example, "Save $15 when you purchase our XYZ camera, case, and memory card value bundle."</li>
<li>Reinforce cross-selling efforts with customer testimonials or expert recommendations. Popularity sells, and people are more likely to follow suit when they see what others are doing.</li>
<li>Timing is key when up-selling products. Don't try to promote an extended warranty until after the decision has been made to purchase an item.</li></ul>
Done properly, cross-selling is an effective way to boost revenues, while at the same time helping customers get more value from their purchases.

Baseball legend Babe Ruth once said, "The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime."

Ruth may have been talking about baseball, but the same is true in business. While we often celebrate visionary leaders and pioneering individuals who set themselves apart from the crowd, most successful companies are built and sustained on the effectiveness of their teams.

So what sets great teams apart, and what traits should you aspire to as part of a team? Here are five keys to get you started.

<strong>Define your role.</strong> Every show needs a supporting cast, and every team needs role players who bring their own unique skills and experiences to the table. Figure out what role you play (or should play) on the team. If you are the team leader, then lead. Otherwise, carve out a niche for yourself that allows you to bring your best qualities forward for the betterment of the group.

<strong>But be flexible.</strong> Remain open to the needs of your team and willing to adapt to fill a role outside your comfort zone. Doing this will not only help the team meet its goals but will also help you personally grow and expand your own skills and abilities. In the process, you might have fun discovering new areas of interest you enjoy tackling on the job.

<strong>Assists are important, too.</strong> In basketball and hockey, players are given assists for helping set up a scoring shot. In baseball, relief pitchers must often get their team out of a tough situation, and closers are called upon to "save" another pitcher's win. Look for ways you can contribute to victories at work, without the need for personal glory or praise. Use your strengths to complement those around you, be quick with a helping hand, and remember that when the team wins, you do, too.

<strong>Communicate effectively.</strong> Open communication is vital to any team's success. Strive to be clear, concise, honest, and direct with your team, always mindful and respectful of the other members, too. Work on creating an atmosphere where people feel encouraged to share their ideas and to discuss them freely, with the goal of bringing the best ideas forward, regardless of egos.

<strong>Play nice.</strong> In discussing solutions, listen intently to contrary views. Tackle each project with a spirit of cooperation. Keep discussions civil, and look for ways to compromise when possible without sacrificing the team's goals or integrity. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it, and offer support for others who may be struggling. Above all, remember that you're all part of the same team and are working toward the same common goal.

Few of us enjoy making cold calls, but for many salespeople cold calling is inevitable. Here are six tips to help warm your next cold call:
<ol><li><strong>Don't make the cold call your first point of contact.</strong> Instead, start with a letter or email. Introduce yourself, your company, and the products or services you provide. Explain the benefits the prospect will gain from working with you, and let them know you will be following up with a phone call to set up an appointment to talk.</li>
<li><strong>Or the last.</strong> Don't jump right into a sales pitch on your first cold call and expect to close a sale. Respect the person's time, their schedule, and the fact that your call was not on that schedule before you made it. Ask if this is a good time to talk. If it isn't, suggest times when you could call back, or offer to meet in person if that will work better for the prospect.</li>
<li><strong>Do your homework.</strong> Find out ahead of time who you should be contacting at a prospective company. Learn what you can about their business and how your solution can best fit their needs.</li>
<li><strong>Prepare an outline.</strong> Have some idea what you want to say before you make your call. Start with a script if that makes you comfortable, but try not to make it sound too mechanical or forced. Relax as best you can and try to be yourself. Your preparation and earlier contact should help.</li>
<li><strong>Ask questions.</strong> Don't do all the talking. Instead, introduce yourself, and then ask the prospect about their company and the role they play in it. Listen carefully to their responses. Work to build a rapport and connect with them one-on-one.</li>
<li><strong>Follow up.</strong> As your call wraps up, try to set a time to meet face-to-face or over the phone again. After hanging up, send another email, thanking the person for their time, and reminding them of any future appointments you made. If they had questions you were unable to answer on the spot, find those answers and pass them along as quickly as possible. And create a schedule of regular follow-up activity to help you stay front-of-mind.</li></ol>
So what other advice do you have for warming up cold calls? I'd love to hear your suggestions and success stories in the comments below.

Have you ever thought about the tremendous impact one small change can have on an outcome or meaning? Consider the words hail and fail, for example, or the words hire and fire. In both cases, just a single letter ("h" versus "f") separates their spelling, yet each is worlds apart in meaning.

Make a brilliant decision or positive impression, and you're likely to get hired and hailed. Make a lousy decision or negative impression, and you could just as easily find yourself fired and labeled as having failed.

The idea of small, seemingly insignificant events affecting much larger outcomes is hardly new. The whole notion of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect" target="_blank">butterfly effect</a> is based on just that premise. The flapping of a single butterfly's wings, the theory holds, can affect a hurricane's formation. That tiny, barely noticeable breeze, coupled with the right conditions, can build and grow, like a snowball rolling downhill in a Looney Tunes adventure. And if you aren't careful, you could end up like Daffy Duck or whichever other unfortunate character finds themselves at the bottom of that hill.

As you look back on your life, career, or business, what moments stand out to you? Oftentimes, it's something so small it goes by unnoticed when it happens. Your decision to take a certain class in college, for example, that led you to a teacher who became a mentor in your life. Or the decision to bypass your usual coffee shop one morning, which led to a chance encounter with a potential client or now dear friend. In hindsight, we can point out the significance of such moments, but at the time, they often seem small and unimportant.

So the next time you're facing a decision or looking for a change in perspective, think about the little things. And remember that even the most seemingly insignificant change you make right now can have a big impact on your life or business somewhere down the line.

If a picture's worth a thousand words, have you ever thought about what your photos are saying? We live in a visual age, where images surround us. Whether on your website, marketing materials, billboards, or ads, the photos you choose to represent your products and services are very important. Here are a few tips to ensure your photos are saying what you want:
<ul><li>Don't photograph your products on a cluttered shelf. Rather, depict them in use in an appropriate abstract environment or on a clean white background.</li>
<li>Save your originals, and don't reduce their file size. You never know when you'll need to re-purpose images, such as if you want a low-res image from your website to work in a high-resolution print brochure.</li>
<li>Take a lot of photos when you have the opportunity. You may be surprised how a new angle or different lighting can change the appeal and appearance of your products.</li>
<li>If images don't do justice for your products, don't use them. Consider posting a "photo coming soon" placeholder, rather than posting a poor-quality photo. But do so only if you fully intend to post an image later.</li>
<li>Adjust the resolution of photos on your website to ensure they won't slow the load time for the page. Nothing is worse than a great photo nobody has the patience to download and see.</li>
<li>Use intriguing photos to supplement Facebook posts and create additional interest. Organize these photos into albums for easy viewing, and use relevant album names, such as "new products," "seasonal promotions," and so on.</li></ul>