One of the most profitable things you can do for your business, is to understand exploiting the actual value of your customer. It’s been called the Marginal Net Worth and the Lifetime Value.

What is the current worth of one of your customers or prospects? It’s the total profit of an average customer over the lifetime that they do business with you. That includes all subsequent sales minus advertising/marketing and your fulfillment expenses.

Let’s say the average customer brings you $75 per sale. They re-purchase 3 more times in a year. Their average order amount is $300. On each $300 reorder, you make $150 gross profit. The average life lasts 2 years. Every new customer is worth $975.

You reach the $975 by adding the $75 initial profit to the 3 other purchases each year of $300. Only $150 is profit, so $150 times 3 equals $450. If they do that for 2 straight years, that’s $900 plus the original $75.

If this is our average customer and they’re worth $975 in profit and it only costs you $30 through your advertising/marketing expenses to get them, every time you spend $30 you receive $975 back.

You would be foolish not to Read the rest of this entry »

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I’ve asked that question to many people over the years.  And it usually stumps them.  I’ve been involved in direct sales in financial services for a long time.  And when I asked other agents, why should someone get their insurance, or investments, they couldn’t verbalize it.  It’s amazing to me, that someone can spend years in a business or in sales and not be able to clearly explain why should someone do business with them.

When you’re able to explain that, what you’re doing is providing your prospect with how much value you bring to the table.  Because if you don’t provide value, then why should they do business with you.

That value can be the price, although it’s not the only thing that creates value.  It can also be quality, good advice, better customer service, ongoing education, additional bonuses, large selection, individual one on one service, convenience, etc…

You get the point.  It can be any one of those or several.  And what that is, it’s your Read the rest of this entry »

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There’s no situation that doesn’t have possibilities.  The key is to think creatively or think big as some describe it.

One on of our family vacations we met a man at an airport while we stuck with a 3 hour delay due to weather conditions.  It just so happened that his family stayed in the same resort as we did in the Caribbean.  During that time we got plenty of time to talk and find out quiet a bit about this person.

This gentleman was in his 60’s and immigrated to Canada from Europe in his 20’s.  He didn’t speak English at the time and literally had no money.  Not having a career, he ended up in sales, in real estate.  Back in those days, there weren’t any Do Not Call Lists and so the way real estate agents were prospecting is mainly by phone.

He spoke little English at the time and looking from the outside he had a disadvantage compared to other agents in his office.  But he decided he will simply Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s one day before Christmas.  People are rushing to get their last minute shopping done.  The malls are packed with cars.  As I look at this huge number of people that are going out and spending money, I can’t help but to think of the abundance that’s all around us.

Just think of how much money is being spend out there.  And I can’t believe that some people complain that the economy is bad, or that business is slow.

I live in Michigan, where the economy is the worst in United States.  Real estate is down 30% to 40%.  The automotive companies have been laying off tens of thousands of people.  Foreclosure rate is at it’s highest.  At least, that’s what we hear.  But the parking lots of malls are packed with cars.  I went to a restaurant last Saturday night, and Read the rest of this entry »

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The most important part of getting customers and clients to want to do business with you or continue to do business with you, is to get them to like you and trust you.

Would you do business with someone you don’t like or trust?  Even if they had all the knowledge and what you needed, you probably wouldn’t give your money to someone you don’t trust.

So our goal needs to be to create rapport and get people to trust us. 

How do we do that?  By Read the rest of this entry »

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The most important part of getting customers and clients to want to do business with you or continue to do business with you, is to get them to like you and trust you.

Would you do business with someone you don’t like or trust?  Even if they had all the knowledge and what you needed, you probably wouldn’t give your money to someone you don’t trust.

So our goal needs to be to create rapport and get people to trust us. 

How do we do that?  By Read the rest of this entry »

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For a long time I was told, that if you prospect, all your sales problems will be solved.  The one who sees the most people, makes the most money.

Well, I think it’s true, but to a degree.  My experience says that if you see a lot of people but don’t feel good about what you do or about your ability to attract more business, then you will not do that great. 

The same is true for direct marketing.  You can send out a bunch of letters, but people can sense the energy from your marketing pieces.

The numbers will produce results, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to Read the rest of this entry »

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When I started in direct sales at 19 years of age, selling financial services was a bit of a challenge, as you can imagine.

I mean who would trust a 19 year old with their money?  At that time I understood the importance of training both in the field I was getting in, as well as sales in general.  And one of the trainings that I’ve attended, was Tom Hopkins sales training bootcamp.  Since then I studied a lot his materials.

One of the most important things that I’ve learned from Tom is Read the rest of this entry »

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One very important thing to keep in mind when dealing with people is that they will only make a decision to do business with someone when they feel comfortable.

To get people to feel comfortable, one thing you can do is mirror them.  If they speak slowly try to do the same, and if they speak fast then pick up your pace as well.

It’s about being in the same Read the rest of this entry »

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You reap what you sow.  But you don’t always reap in the same season that you sow.  I’ve had many times when clients called me and wanted to do business with me, but often after some follow up, and the timing was right at that moment. Or it was a referral from an old client, but again the time was perfect now.

If you’re marketing with direct mail or an email campaign, it’s important to Read the rest of this entry »

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