Marketing in a Financial Meltdown

Closing a sale today is harder than ever.

People have no money to buy, no need to buy except for the basics, and no urgency to buy. In fact, the present financial climate creates fear about buying.

When it comes to you and your product, people's fear and doubt trump your credibility. How can you tip the scales in your favor? Here is a plan that will do just that.

Prospect. Go where buyers hang out and identify qualified prospects who can buy. This is true in everything from real estate to ebooks. Identify the buyers, not the lookers. The lookers will waste your time, but the buyers will make your day.

Establish credibility. Raise the bar for your customers by proving your trustworthiness. Make them feel safe. Give them guarantees and testimonials. It is even better to be trusted than it is to be liked.

Identify the need. Put aside the debate over wants and needs for the moment, for everything the heart craves is a need. The heart is the decision maker and the head provides the reason for the purchase. What is the need your customers have that can be sensationally satisfied by your product?

Inform and reassure. Present the information in a truthful and compelling way and prepare yourself for objections. Be proactive and deflate objections with facts, testimonials and examples.

Close the sale. Present a call to action, tell customers what to do next, where to go to get it, and how to access the purchase. If you have made a compelling case, you can ask for the compensation!

Prepare for resales. Many products are not a one-time purchase, even if the customers go years between buying times, as in the purchase of a house or car. Maintain contact with customers in a low-key, friendly, helpful way so they will retrace his steps and buy from you again.

Ask for referrals. Referrals are warm sales, easier to heat up than cold sales are. A level of trust has been transferred to the new prospect from the old. The new ones know something positive about you from the first, and they are inclined to purchase through you. This customer is perhaps the easiest to close with.

There is the plan for even the most dire of times. Work it and win success.