Fender makes some of the most instantly recognizable guitars in the world. The Stratocaster is probably THE iconic symbol of American rock ‘n’ roll music, having been wielded by some of the most revered rock pioneers, like Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton. Even the unique shape of the Fender headstocks in trademarked!

To be fair, Fender has had its share of growing pains over the years, especially during its tenure as a CBS-owned company.

Mostly, Fender has done a fine job of building and marketing some of the best instruments ever made, and they have established several foundations to support music education and resources for schools, programs, and music therapy.

They’ve also embraced social media fairly well to help promote a community of Fender faithful.

So when they ran a Groupon to support the foundation, I am sure they meant well; but, as with most things, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

The link to the offering was posted on the Fender Facebook page and it reads, “If 70 People Donate $10, Then The Fender Music Foundation Can Equip 24 Teachers with Acoustic Guitars”.

What followed is a mostly negative string of feedback from some of their nearly 1-million strong Facebook fans:
“This shows how over priced you sell your guitars for!”
“what’s a few guitars for Fender? just give them the instruments…”
“This is sad, what’s $700 for Fender? That’s about half the price of one US strat. And WE have to donate in their name?”
“What a joke!!! This can’t be right. Fender shame on you!!! What’s the production cost of an acoustic guitar lads?? Just give away some of your overpriced guitars.. easy!”

Most of this could have been avoided with a more carefully worded headline; something to the effect of, “Join the Fender Music Foundation’s quest to keep the Spirit of Rock-n-Roll alive in schools!” might have prevented most of the negative fallout.

Be sure you think through your marketing campaigns, charitable or otherwise, before you launch them in traditional media or on social platforms.

Read or listen to the ads, then do it again. Get other people to review them.

Ask yourself, “what’s the worst thing that could happen?” If you don’t like your own answer, edit or rewrite until you do.

(Full disclosure: I have personally purchased three Fender basses in my life…so far! I still own two of them; wish I had not sold the third. They ROCK!)

© 2012 YOU ROCK!®

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK? – Call to schedule coaching sessions for yourself or your team.

Here in the Seattle area, we got pounded with snow last week. In fact, there was so much snow, ice and freezing rain that many people and businesses (including yours truly) lost power.

Thankfully, I am reconnected now and back with you.

Some businesses did everything they could to stay open. I know one restaurateur that, even though business was slow, used their van for employee pick up and drop off to make sure they could get to work safely. That’s dedication!

When your customers are snowbound and the register isn’t ringing, you may feel like calling it quits. Resist the temptation.

Instead, use that ‘slow’ time to plan your activities and promotions for the coming year.

Most small businesses (and many large ones) never give themselves the important time they need to create a strategy for building their customer base and increasing sales; the best revenue generation years my teams have ever had were the ones where we stepped away from the business for a day or two to plan the next twelve months.

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Understanding the emotional triggers that make people buy will help you become a better salesperson.

One of the strongest triggers is pride.

People generally don’t like the idea that their friends or peers own better houses, cars, or any other “stuff” than they do. Or sometimes, they want to their friends or peers to be envious of what they own.

In those cases, emphasizing how much others will notice when they buy and use your product, service, or treatment may be all it takes to help a prospect make the purchase decision.

Early adopters will be proud of owning the “newest”, and the affluent will be proud of owning the “best”, so adjust your presentation accordingly to get good results.

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK? – Call to schedule coaching sessions for yourself or your team.

Today is the anniversary of Chubby Checker’s single “The Twist” hitting #1 on the US singles chart…..again!

As incredible as it sounds, he actually hit #1 in September 1960, then again in January 1962. How did it happen?

It was a generational thing. Kids heard the song, loved it, and twisted away in ‘60, giving it the first visit to the top of the charts.

Then, a funny thing happened: parents discovered the song because their children were playing it, and it started a second wave of popularity that brought it back to the top 16 months after it’s original #1 achievement.

Putting your products in front of a new audience might be just the thing to really ramp up your sales.

I heard of a man who sold orthopedic beds to senior citizens, until a friend pointed out that anyone with aches or pains could be a customer. Suddenly, he started selling tons of beds to athletes, accidents victims, or just regular folks who wanted to get a better night’s sleep.

Who else could be your customer?

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! – Send an email with any sales problem and I’ll solve it in a future Sales Hit.

Customers want the highest quality, the lowest price, and the fastest delivery. That’s why it is important to make sure your customers understand what is actually possible.

If they need an inexpensive quick solution, that rarely comes with a high level of quality.

If they want a great solution without a high price tag, it can be done, but it probably won’t happen quickly.

If they must have the best solution available and they need it right now, there is always a premium price attached.

Sharing these insights up front helps establish realistic expectations. It also helps prospects figure out what is most important to them, and what they are willing to negotiate.

Because there is no way to give a customer highest quality AND lowest price AND fastest delivery; but, two out of three ain’t bad.

© 2012 YOU ROCK!®

WANT YOUR CONFERENCE TO ROCK? – Call to schedule a presentation for your corporation or association.

One more phone call.

One more appointment.

One more attempt to close.

One more ask for a referral.

One more event for networking.

All of those are great goals to pursue.

I encourage you to consider adding a couple of other items to your ‘one’ list.

First, spend one more hour every week studying your industry. Everything is changing at a breakneck pace and those who are experts today will be obsolete soon unless they stay up to date on the latest innovations and advancements.

Second, spend one more hour every week interacting with your customers and colleagues on social media platforms. The key is to focus on communication that delivers value instead of playing games, complaining, or reposting every one else’s material.

© 2012 YOU ROCK!®

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK? – Call to schedule coaching sessions for yourself or your team.

“I’m having a problem getting prospects to give me a straight answer. Our service is the best and our prices are really good. The proposals I send out show how we are the best value compared to our competition, but I have to keep following up with people who don’t return phone calls or emails. My manager says to just keep calling, but it seems like a big waste of time. What should I do.” F.M.

Without seeing your proposals, it’s hard to know if your offer is really as good as you think it is. Maybe it’s not, and maybe that’s why you are hearing the sounds of silence instead of return calls.

But let’s accept that everything is as good as you say it is.

I’m not a fan of chasing down prospects. Typically, I’ll share my proposal and ask them to respond.

If I don’t hear back within three days, I’ll follow up with a call and an email. If needed, I’ll repeat in another three days.

Then if I haven’t gotten any response, I’ll send one final email telling them I hope everything is okay (since I have not heard back from them) and I understand they are probably very busy.

I’ll ask them to let me know if they are still interested and when would be a good time for me to call them.

I’ll also ask them to let me know if they are not interested any more, and assure them that either answer is fine so I will know whether I should stop pestering them.

Using that technique almost guarantees a response, one way or the other, and you will either make a sale or stop wasting your time on a no-sale scenario.

(If you want to see the exact wording I use, send an email with “final sample” in the subject line and I will share it with you. P)

© 2012 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! – Send an email with any sales problem and I’ll solve it in a future Sales Hit.

I’ll bet you’ve heard it, too.

“To tell you the truth….”

Really? Does that mean there is an option to not be truthful when selling?

Selling with integrity means always telling the truth; that’s the only way to serve customers and ensure they will come back for more and bring their friends with them.

But even the most honest salesperson in the world will insert doubt into the customer’s mind by using that dumb, hackneyed phrase.

Get rid of it. Now!

And if you’ve never used it, you can take this moment to congratulate yourself.

(Okay, the moment is over….now go sell something!)

© 2012 YOU ROCK!®

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I purchased a new refrigerator a few days ago to complete my kitchen remodel.

As the transaction was finalized, the salesperson went over all the delivery details.

The next day, I got a call from the delivery service giving me a window of time when the team would arrive. They also told me to be sure I had an install kit for the water line, which was something that had not been part of the previous day’s delivery details.

Back to the store I go to dutifully get the kit, but something made me ask the (different) salesperson if I really needed it since the delivery team was also doing the installation. After all, I didn’t want to buy it, find out I don’t need it, then have to drive back to get a refund. He assured me I absolutely needed the kit and rang it up.

The next day, guess what? Delivery and installation were dutifully completed on time and without the need for the install kit I bought, or the two round trips I made to buy it and return it.

It’s important for you to be knowledgeable about what you sell.

You don’t have to memorize the answer to every possible customer question; but, when a question is asked, you need to be able to find the right answer to make sure your customer has a good experience.

And think it over before you give a customer what you hope is a good answer.

© 2012 YOU ROCK!®

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK? – Call to schedule coaching sessions for yourself or your team.

Please accept my sincere apologies; I missed you, too.

Sometimes in all our lives, we simply become overwhelmed when too many unusual events happen at the same time.

In my case, it was a case of situations medical (my family, not me), legal (one that gives me new appreciation for John Fogerty’s frustration…more on that story soon, I promise!), and the holidays, too.

Now the new year is here and I pledge to keep providing you with insights, ideas and information you can use on your journey to become a Revenue Rock Star!

So stay tuned, keep those requests coming in, and thank you for being a loyal listener, reader, subscriber….friend.

© 2012 YOU ROCK!®

WANT YOUR CONFERENCE TO ROCK? – Call to schedule a presentation for your corporation or association.