How To Get Beyond Your Competitors In 6 Easy Steps!

Most people believe that you MUST have a company website if you have a business. This is partially true. Why do I say ‘partially’? Because a website is a platform that speaks to your audience about your company – but does knowing that your company has been in the market for 30 years excilerate your potential clients decision making? No!! Things have changed.

Remember there are so many companies out there who offer the same services as you do. When someone chooses to work with a specific company it is not because a company has been in the market for 30 years, or because the company has printed 50,000 leaflets that were so professionally done. And this will shock you, they also don’t necessarily choose a company because they are cheaper than everyone else. Yes, price does matter but what matters most is how that company gets their attention, how that company adds value and how that company gives service. Do you get what I mean?

People get involved with companies because they need a specific solution. It all revolves around how you place yourself in the market and what your value add is or what makes you stand our more than your competitors. Who really gives a Sh1t how long you’ve been in the industry and how much you have done or whom you’ve done it with? All they want is a solution with someone who cares.

You have more chance of someone choosing you for your products or services if you have a relationship with that person. Or if they feel that you have added value to their business and care for the successful outcome of the service you are offering them, more than if you tell them that you are the most fantastic agent on this earth and have been for 30 years through your website.

What you want is someone to go to your site because you have grabbed their attention, (this makes them the person that you want to deal with – a specific client), they give you their details, you talk to them and they make a purchasing decision there and then. So how do you achieve this?

Instead of being suckered into buying google ad-words every month (and I am not saying that google ad-words don’t work but they are expensive and sometimes not effective) and not getting a single hit, why don’t you sit down and look at how you can achieve your objectives through a site or platform that works for you even whilst you are sleeping. That sells your products and services as if you were in front of this potential client 24/7.

Now that you know what you really want, decide what you really need and how you are going to get it.

Like most businesses what you need is traffic. At some stage you can pay for traffic but in most cases you can create your own traffic depending on what you are offering, where you are offering it or how you are offering it. Now I have already told you that people will be attracted to you by what your value add is – so figure this out and use it to increase your traffic. People pay a fortune for traffic and then shove those leads onto a dead website – what is the point?

In June I wrote an article called ‘why you can’t sell from a flat website’. Its on my blog take a look! If KFC figured out that they need a sales funnel because their profits lie in their up-sell then surely it’s not going to be different for you.

Here are 6 steps that you need to take to attract clients to you rather than your competitors:

1. Get a landing page where you can capture people’s details. How will you build a relationship with this client if you don’t talk to them? After all these are your future buyers of your products and services you need to tell them why they should choose you.

2. Use conversational emails and not selling emails – who wants to be sold to each time they open an email?

3. Use an autoresponder to converse with your database – who wants to sit in front of their pc writing emails all the time?

4. Add value in these emails for this potential client to see that you care and the success of their business is also important to you. This value can be done in many different ways:

• Free webinars sharing specific skills

• eBooks that share a specific skill or provide information of value

• Videos showing them how to use certain applications that can benefit their business

• Workshops that are cost effective with high returns

5. Get yourself a sales funnel. Why? Because….

• a sales funnel is going to be your very best sales person.

• let technology take control! We are too busy! Technology doesn’t need to sleep or spend time with your family.

• Keep it personal. Your potential client has to feel that it’s you who is talking directly to them and this can be done through a sales funnel and automation. Up-sell, in most cases this is where the profit is in majority of companies and this can be done through a sales funnel.

6. Stay active! What does this mean? Well this means that it’s expected of you to be on social media so link all of your social media platforms, and post once (if you enjoy doing it personally) or schedule your posts. People like working with people who are active (or look active) – no person wants to deal with a silent, quiet company. You need it to look like things are happening and you’re always doing things. All this is possible with a sales funnel and you will still have free time to do what you want to do whenever you want to do it.

Now keep in mind that the transition from what you are used to through a website (which can sometimes be a ‘sit and wait’ scenario) and what a sales funnel offers is different and can be difficult for some to get used to as it’s a new thing here in SA.

And also keep in mind that a funnel either works or it doesn’t as this depends on what you are selling and whether people want it or not. I will talk to you again soon on the 'secrets to a successful sales funnel' as well as 'how to write your own eBook in just 2 hours' in my next blog posts to follow. So watch this space and feel free to talk to me anytime, just subscribe to my mailing list.

We are on the road to making big things happen! So start getting ready now by asking yourself one simple question: “What makes me different from all the other companies in my industry?” it’s a great starting point.

Until next time – be kind to one another.

Ann Marot