Churchill Method

The rules are changing… please take a look at this valuable tool for getting ahead of the change…

(Mark has some great insights for re-tooling your sales process..my favorite is on page 77)

Complex Sales–I Want My Cookie Now! Using Delayed Gratification Online In an Instant Gratification World (By Mark Tewart)

Email marketing can be one of the best ROI’s that you can experience in your marketing plan. However, most people don’t… pursue the best opportunity in email marketing which is a complex sales cycle.

Being a student of marketing, I keep several swipe files. A swipe file is a file of good marketing examples you can reference for your own campaigns. One of my marketing swipe files contains the best examples email marketing that I find. To keep abreast of the marketplace, I subscribe to many online newsletters, blogs and get on the lists of many different marketers. You can learn while experiencing the marketing other people use. Examine the copy writing techniques, testing, offers, types of products or services offered and their sales cycle or sequence.

Many of the online marketers that I observe seem to have a different offer everyday. The marketers use multiple strategies to build large lists and then it seems as if they try to beat you into submission with another greatest thing since slice bread offer almost everyday. I notice that when these techniques are used, I begin to delete the emails from these marketers. I become somewhat numb to even the sight of an email from them. They have effectively moved me to tune them out. The marketing approach seems to be more of a “hey buddy, do want to buy a watch approach.” The online marketers seem to run in the same circle and use joint ventures or affiliation marketing to market each others latest and greatest products. The over saturation of these offers without a well thought out, more complex sales cycle can be damaging to these marketers.

The online marketers who seem to do the best for the longest period of time are the ones who emulate smart offline techniques to use online. The best online marketers practice delayed gratification. Instead of starting everyday thinking of how they can sell something, they think of how they can build more trust and cement the bond with their followers. I am always disturbed by the over usage of the word list by online marketers. Your list is comprised of living, breathing people who have thoughts and emotions. They are not push button targets…

There are several ways to grow not only the size of your online followers and customers, but the relationship as well. First of all, give value first. Give, give, and give. Give value without asking for anything. Wow people with your ability to make their lives easier by providing them with answers to their questions and solutions to their problems for FREE. Your followers and customers should view you as an amazing resource that provides them with solutions and resources that allow them to get what they want without your hand being held out.

Next, I would invite you to consider one long sales cycle per product rather than a one stage sales process. Whenever you email someone and ask them to buy, no matter how valuable the product or how great your sales letter, you create extreme buying tension in the people who receive your offer. Continued high tensions in the people on your email list will create high unsubscribe numbers.

Instead of the one stage process, I would invite you to consider a long cycle that uses multiple different strategies and even media. In your sales cycle, you may create a series of ten to thirty videos sharing small snippets of valuable and instantly usable solutions and information. Try using the elephant in the room technique where you tell people right up front that you plan on sharing a series of incredibly valuable information messages. By doing this you will become a valuable resource to them and in hopes that they will make a purchase in the future.

In your sales cycle, you may refer them to the videos in the email, links to articles, posting, downloads from your site or blog. You can also send a mail piece that contains additional information for the sales cycle but enhances the presentation because of the use of different marketing media.

Overall, you will be creating anticipation with the sales cycle that builds enthusiasm and desire for your offering. In essence, you are using an online example of the presentation, demonstration steps of a normal sales process. You are simply lengthening the process and using more complex strategies. Ultimately the results will be higher because you have utilized delayed gratification.

The world has become more of an “I want it now society.” Many of our economic problems have been caused by our lack of thought, due diligence and delayed gratification. For many, the lack of delayed gratification in their marketing plans has created the same type of problems.  There is a lot of wisdom in eating your cookie later. You often have your choice of cookies.

Mark Tewart’s websites include: www.marktewartlive.com, www.marktewart.com and www.howtobeasalessuperstar.info

To read the first chapter of How to be a Sales Superstar and to receive several FREE bonuses from Mark Tewart, visit www.marktewartlive.com.

Full tour details are posted at http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-be-sales-superstar-by-mark.html