When poll a lacework hosting company skillful are a whole-hog covey of contrastive factors that should pursuit regard your verdict making process. One of the biggest factors should be:
1) Phone support. Email sustain is nice, but email occasionally deluge in between the virtual cracks. Getting someone on the phone when your venue goes left can share a congregation of question out of the unabbreviated process. A cartel of the preferable web hosting companies offer toll free support and weekend hours to boot. Phone support is a great benefit for any web hosting client.
2) Another aspect to perk in deciding whether to gravy train a fixed lacework hosting corporation is their history. How decided has this matter been in business? Web hosting companies that have been in patience for less than a year knack not be the best choice. A hosting company with a proven track record and a ton of happy clients is certainly a good sign and might work well for you.
3) How about the company's software? This varies widely between lacework hosting companies. I am quite familiar of Cpanel merely due to I am used to it, presume where the buttons are and what the drift do. It's indeed easier to baton with exceptional you feel certain than switching to a new User Interface. Some web hosts offer Frontpage features and others don't. Another specific area you might want to research are the statistics programs. What sort of web statistics software is included with your web hosting account? Is Awstats included? This is one area you definitely want to heavily research before signing up.
4) Fees. I'd reasonably finances a smooth supplementary to execute all the make-up than altercation it out with a sub par lacework hosting establishment who I can't get if my site goes down. I've found decent web hosting for as cheap as $4 per month but generally pay around $15 per month if I want all the bells and whistles that I'll need to host a larger site. A lot of people worry about hosting fees, but I've had the experience that I generally get what I pay for. Finally, I'd look carefully at the web hosting company's refund policy. Most offer a full refund if you aren't happy with your service. If you are paying for a full year of web hosting up front, you might want to examine the company's refund policy in detail.
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Sunday, April 4, 2010
3 Steps Towards Starting A Daycare
So, you think you’d like to start a day care but where to start? Let’s assume you know nothing about the industry except that it involves children!!! That’s pretty much the position I was in when I started my day care 10 years ago and I spent a year and a half researching and learning before I got going. Before you go running for the hills in dismay allow me to cut short the research time a little with some pointers on how best to prepare for the exciting adventure that is ‘Starting a daycare business’.
Your first port of call should be your business plan. Every successful business starts with a well thought out version thus enabling the entrepreneur (you) to get a clear, overall picture of what your business will entail. Many people get to the business plan stage and no further due to a realisation that the project is unfeasible for whatever reason. Better find out now than after you have ploughed a lot of time and money into starting a business going nowhere.
The business plan covers all vital elements of starting and operating a business - introduction / description, benefits, market research, key financials and conclusion. I found it to be a great ‘checklist’ of things to do as I worked my way methodically through each of the required steps. It forced me to consider, research and document every aspect of my potential business, propelled me to analyse in detail areas I might otherwise have glossed over (or ignored completely). Like a good teacher it provided the questions and ensured I filled in the blanks. There are many great business plan templates out there and I have listed some that I particularly like below:
www.sba.gov USA
www.bytestart.co.ukUK
www.teagasc.ie/startingyourownbusiness/template.htm Ireland
Next, talk to the experts. Arrange a meeting with your local licensing representative, have them visit your premises and find out what they will be requiring in terms of premises layout, contents, play area and general health and safety issues. Get them to give you guidelines and tips on policies and paperwork. Don’t be afraid to ask questions – remember this is the expert, the person who will be granting you a license so best to have a heads up on what they will expect from you. Prepare in advance of this meeting and come armed with a list of comprehensive questions so you don’t waste a great opportunity to absorb as much knowledge as possible.
An invaluable source of information on setting up your day care is existing daycare owners. When I was researching my business I received some of the best tips, hints and advice from other providers, in fact, I still make ‘information gathering visits’ once a year and learn something new everytime. Call up a couple of established providers (preferably not too close to your proposed venture – they might not be too enamoured of the impending competition!), explain your situation and set up a day to go visit. Most people are delighted to mentor a budding entrepreneur and proud to showcase their business. Become a sponge for that day and absorb every tidbit of information available.
Take a pen and paper for notes, ask questions, listen and observe. Notice daily routines, room layout and equipment, methods for dealing with behaviours, staff and child interaction, health and safety procedures, hygiene practices, peruse paperwork (ask for copies of the paperwork to help guide you when formulating your own). Get tips on advertising, pricing and suppliers. Try to speak with the owner or manager, the staff and the cook and get a feel for each unique role. Ask questions like ‘What do you feel could be improved?’ or ‘If you were starting out what things would you do differently?’. These open questions will provide you with an immense wealth of knowledge, all of the practical, hands on variety.
These are just three steps you can take in pursuit of your dream to start a day care business and they will provide you with a tremendous amount of information and guidance. Your confidence in yourself and your ability to achieve your vision will peak and you will be propelled into further positive action. It costs nothing but time and if you can get yourself to this point there’s no looking back. What are you waiting for?
Your first port of call should be your business plan. Every successful business starts with a well thought out version thus enabling the entrepreneur (you) to get a clear, overall picture of what your business will entail. Many people get to the business plan stage and no further due to a realisation that the project is unfeasible for whatever reason. Better find out now than after you have ploughed a lot of time and money into starting a business going nowhere.
The business plan covers all vital elements of starting and operating a business - introduction / description, benefits, market research, key financials and conclusion. I found it to be a great ‘checklist’ of things to do as I worked my way methodically through each of the required steps. It forced me to consider, research and document every aspect of my potential business, propelled me to analyse in detail areas I might otherwise have glossed over (or ignored completely). Like a good teacher it provided the questions and ensured I filled in the blanks. There are many great business plan templates out there and I have listed some that I particularly like below:
www.sba.gov USA
www.bytestart.co.ukUK
www.teagasc.ie/startingyourownbusiness/template.htm Ireland
Next, talk to the experts. Arrange a meeting with your local licensing representative, have them visit your premises and find out what they will be requiring in terms of premises layout, contents, play area and general health and safety issues. Get them to give you guidelines and tips on policies and paperwork. Don’t be afraid to ask questions – remember this is the expert, the person who will be granting you a license so best to have a heads up on what they will expect from you. Prepare in advance of this meeting and come armed with a list of comprehensive questions so you don’t waste a great opportunity to absorb as much knowledge as possible.
An invaluable source of information on setting up your day care is existing daycare owners. When I was researching my business I received some of the best tips, hints and advice from other providers, in fact, I still make ‘information gathering visits’ once a year and learn something new everytime. Call up a couple of established providers (preferably not too close to your proposed venture – they might not be too enamoured of the impending competition!), explain your situation and set up a day to go visit. Most people are delighted to mentor a budding entrepreneur and proud to showcase their business. Become a sponge for that day and absorb every tidbit of information available.
Take a pen and paper for notes, ask questions, listen and observe. Notice daily routines, room layout and equipment, methods for dealing with behaviours, staff and child interaction, health and safety procedures, hygiene practices, peruse paperwork (ask for copies of the paperwork to help guide you when formulating your own). Get tips on advertising, pricing and suppliers. Try to speak with the owner or manager, the staff and the cook and get a feel for each unique role. Ask questions like ‘What do you feel could be improved?’ or ‘If you were starting out what things would you do differently?’. These open questions will provide you with an immense wealth of knowledge, all of the practical, hands on variety.
These are just three steps you can take in pursuit of your dream to start a day care business and they will provide you with a tremendous amount of information and guidance. Your confidence in yourself and your ability to achieve your vision will peak and you will be propelled into further positive action. It costs nothing but time and if you can get yourself to this point there’s no looking back. What are you waiting for?
3 Free And Effective Methods To Generate More Site Traffic
There are countless websites in the net. Competition is tough and it can be quite difficult to drive traffic to your site. Traffic generation is crucial to your e-business marketing campaign. To survive, you need to generate more traffic and interest to your website. Here are three effective methods for doing just that.
Your traffic represents your prospective customers. The more traffic you generate, the more chance there is for people to buy your product or your service. You need to create an effective marketing plan in order to create interest among people.
There are many ways to generate traffic to your site. However, you don’t want to generate just any traffic, your aim should be to generate free targeted traffic. You should consider employing different methods for generating targeted website traffic. Do not limit yourself to just one method. The following are three free site traffic generation methods that you can try.
--- Step 1: Write and submit articles
Everyday, people would visit Google to look for information they need. By writing highly informative, unique and interesting articles and submitting these to high-traffic article directories, you will be read and your articles will become your website’s advertisement.
People who found your articles informative and helpful would go to your website for more information. If you continue along this vein – writing and submitting more articles – more people would trust you and your business over time. Your articles would generate much interest that it would be difficult for search engines to ignore them and your website.
In time, your website will appear in search engine results every time a prospective customer searches for a product or a service that you could provide. At the very least, your articles will appear in these search results and they will lead search engine users to your site.
When you submit articles to different websites, make sure that your articles are fresh and interesting. Add a link to your website as well. Remember that your purpose is to generate traffic to your website. Be mindful of keywords that most people would use when searching for a product, service or any information when you write these articles.
--- Step 2: Use viral marketing techniques
This type of marketing, if employed effectively, would generate more targeted traffic than you thought possible. Viral marketing involves using viral videos which are very effective forms of advertisement. People just love passing on videos to others. If you can just make videos that people find worthy of forwarding to their friends (maybe because they’re hilarious, or super silly or wonderfully odd), then your company can become known to a lot of people. Of course, your videos must have your company information so people will know where to find your site.
Viral marketing can also take occur through viral e-books and viral software. Viral e-books are informative guides that people find good enough to forward to their friends. Viral software refers simply to applications that people find useful enough to refer to their friends.
People generally pass on by mouth their positive reaction to any business, product or service. This is how the viral aspect of this type of marketing takes effect.
--- Step 3: Optimize your site for search engine queries
You must endeavor to make your site get recognized by prominent search engines to be relevant in your keyword category. The more relevant your site is (according to the search engine ranking algorithms), the better your search engine ranking will be and the easier you will be to find through search engine queries. Therefore, make sure to undertake search engine optimization.
Your traffic represents your prospective customers. The more traffic you generate, the more chance there is for people to buy your product or your service. You need to create an effective marketing plan in order to create interest among people.
There are many ways to generate traffic to your site. However, you don’t want to generate just any traffic, your aim should be to generate free targeted traffic. You should consider employing different methods for generating targeted website traffic. Do not limit yourself to just one method. The following are three free site traffic generation methods that you can try.
--- Step 1: Write and submit articles
Everyday, people would visit Google to look for information they need. By writing highly informative, unique and interesting articles and submitting these to high-traffic article directories, you will be read and your articles will become your website’s advertisement.
People who found your articles informative and helpful would go to your website for more information. If you continue along this vein – writing and submitting more articles – more people would trust you and your business over time. Your articles would generate much interest that it would be difficult for search engines to ignore them and your website.
In time, your website will appear in search engine results every time a prospective customer searches for a product or a service that you could provide. At the very least, your articles will appear in these search results and they will lead search engine users to your site.
When you submit articles to different websites, make sure that your articles are fresh and interesting. Add a link to your website as well. Remember that your purpose is to generate traffic to your website. Be mindful of keywords that most people would use when searching for a product, service or any information when you write these articles.
--- Step 2: Use viral marketing techniques
This type of marketing, if employed effectively, would generate more targeted traffic than you thought possible. Viral marketing involves using viral videos which are very effective forms of advertisement. People just love passing on videos to others. If you can just make videos that people find worthy of forwarding to their friends (maybe because they’re hilarious, or super silly or wonderfully odd), then your company can become known to a lot of people. Of course, your videos must have your company information so people will know where to find your site.
Viral marketing can also take occur through viral e-books and viral software. Viral e-books are informative guides that people find good enough to forward to their friends. Viral software refers simply to applications that people find useful enough to refer to their friends.
People generally pass on by mouth their positive reaction to any business, product or service. This is how the viral aspect of this type of marketing takes effect.
--- Step 3: Optimize your site for search engine queries
You must endeavor to make your site get recognized by prominent search engines to be relevant in your keyword category. The more relevant your site is (according to the search engine ranking algorithms), the better your search engine ranking will be and the easier you will be to find through search engine queries. Therefore, make sure to undertake search engine optimization.
1and1 Hosting - Raising the bar
First, I have to admit. I'm a terrible customer. I'm a demanding perfectionist who rarely feels that he is getting his money's worth. This is especially true of hosting providers. In the past four years, I've had to change providers at least six times because I felt that I was not getting what I paid for. This brief commentary is somewhat of a treat for me as I finally get to say something good about a hosting provider!
A little over two years ago I was reading up on the latest technologies in one of my favorite publications, eWeek, when I ran across a nice, full-page ad from 1and1 offering an introductory offer of free hosting for three years. Wait! What! No way! This has got to be too good to be true! Off to the trusty computer I go...
Sure enough, it was the real deal. 1and1 was indeed offering free web hosting for three years to introduce its new public sector hosting service. Well, like any good cash-strapped college student, I stepped right up and got me a piece of the pie. I've got to say, the pie was good too!
After roughly two years of hosting with 1and1, with minimal problems I should say, I started to notice that I was getting dangerously close to the bandwidth allowance my free package had to offer. No big surprise there; these things happen when you're trying to establish an online presence and you offer free downloads. It was time to upgrade my hosting.
At the time, there were no great specials going on at 1and1 so I decided to shop around. That was a tremendous mistake! What I got was a course in how *not* to run a hosting service. I will be polite, this time, and not name and companies, but let's just say stay away from cheap reseller hosting accounts! The uptime is nowhere near what they promise and every time you turn around some idiot is running a script that bogs the server down to a crawl.
After a couple months, a chunk of wasted cash, and several moves back and forth between providers, I finally conceded that 1and1 was indeed the best host I had come across thus far. As luck would have it, I had received an email from 1and1 announcing a great promotion for their free preview package holders (obvious marketing trick, but good timing in my situation). They were offering their top shared Linux package for half the price. Ok, that sounds like a good deal, and it was, but what about next year? Well, this is where it gets even better. Not only did I get the package at half price, but they guaranteed that price for three years with free upgrades!
I might not be the brightest light bulb in the box, but I know a good deal when I see one. So, as I'm sure you've already figured out, I signed up. What I got was a whole lot more than what I bargained for, and honestly, could have hoped for. Almost instantly after upgrading, I noticed that my sites were running faster. I'm assuming that paid customers are placed on less crowded servers.
Then, the first upgrade came. My space and bandwidth were doubled at no extra charge. I thought to myself, cool, I'll take it! A couple weeks later, I was browsing the 1and1 site comparing features for a potential client when I noticed that the package I have had been bumped to ridiculously high levels. Even though I was getting my money's worth at the time, I felt a little bitter that I wasn't getting the full package spec. After all, I was promised that I would get every package upgrade.
Just like any other nightmare client, I promptly dialed billing to give them a piece of my mind. Apparently, the billing agent was no stranger to difficult clients like me. Within a few minutes of talking to me, he got me defused and assured me that my package would be brought up to spec within four weeks. That was two weeks ago. He explained that it was taking more time than expected to upgrade all their current accounts to the new account specs. He really surprised me when he said that I'd actually be getting more than what was currently listed on the site. What?! Ok then! Thank you for your time! Needless to say, I was left feeling very positive about that support call.
Here's where we get into the numbers... When I logged into my account today, I was greeted by some very generous numbers for the package I have. I discovered that I now have 30,000MB of storage and 1,500 GB of transfer on a shared hosting account that normally runs $19.99/mo! Wait! That can't be right! Those are VPS specs! Yup, you read right. 30GB of storage and 1.5TB of transfer for under $20/mo. PLUS, with 1and1, I only pay $5.99 per domain, per year.
Now, let's be real here. Those numbers are great and all, but other providers offer similar specs. What sets 1and1 apart? For starters, uptime! With every other host I've used, uptime was a major issue. This is not so with 1and1. I can count on one hand how many times in the past two years my site was not available and nearly every time it was related to an ISP router, not 1and1! Also, one of the things I've really grown to appreciate is their one-of-a-kind control panel. It's a little slow, but it more than makes up for it in streamlined administration. This is especially true of the domain administration. Even complete n00bs have no problem navigating the 1and1 control panel and managing their package like a pro.
Again, I'm not the easiest person in the world to impress, especially when it comes to hosting providers. Nevertheless, 1and1 has really raised the bar of what a good hosting provider is in my mind. They are now the benchmark by which I will measure all hosting providers. If you are in the market for a good, reliable, affordable hosting provider, I cannot say enough positive about 1and1.
There is only one negative I've found with 1and1 and it's not even really a negative. They're a bit restrictive on script execution. If you think about it, in a shared hosting environment, this is a good thing, and this also explains why the only time I've noticed the server actually being down was during a scheduled hardware upgrade. Now, who's going to complain about a free upgrade in performance?
If you would like more information on 1and1 and the packages they offer, I encourage you to visit their site. Just as a point of reference, I'm running on the Developer Package. I think you'll find that it's a more than adequate package for moderate to heavy traffic sites.
A little over two years ago I was reading up on the latest technologies in one of my favorite publications, eWeek, when I ran across a nice, full-page ad from 1and1 offering an introductory offer of free hosting for three years. Wait! What! No way! This has got to be too good to be true! Off to the trusty computer I go...
Sure enough, it was the real deal. 1and1 was indeed offering free web hosting for three years to introduce its new public sector hosting service. Well, like any good cash-strapped college student, I stepped right up and got me a piece of the pie. I've got to say, the pie was good too!
After roughly two years of hosting with 1and1, with minimal problems I should say, I started to notice that I was getting dangerously close to the bandwidth allowance my free package had to offer. No big surprise there; these things happen when you're trying to establish an online presence and you offer free downloads. It was time to upgrade my hosting.
At the time, there were no great specials going on at 1and1 so I decided to shop around. That was a tremendous mistake! What I got was a course in how *not* to run a hosting service. I will be polite, this time, and not name and companies, but let's just say stay away from cheap reseller hosting accounts! The uptime is nowhere near what they promise and every time you turn around some idiot is running a script that bogs the server down to a crawl.
After a couple months, a chunk of wasted cash, and several moves back and forth between providers, I finally conceded that 1and1 was indeed the best host I had come across thus far. As luck would have it, I had received an email from 1and1 announcing a great promotion for their free preview package holders (obvious marketing trick, but good timing in my situation). They were offering their top shared Linux package for half the price. Ok, that sounds like a good deal, and it was, but what about next year? Well, this is where it gets even better. Not only did I get the package at half price, but they guaranteed that price for three years with free upgrades!
I might not be the brightest light bulb in the box, but I know a good deal when I see one. So, as I'm sure you've already figured out, I signed up. What I got was a whole lot more than what I bargained for, and honestly, could have hoped for. Almost instantly after upgrading, I noticed that my sites were running faster. I'm assuming that paid customers are placed on less crowded servers.
Then, the first upgrade came. My space and bandwidth were doubled at no extra charge. I thought to myself, cool, I'll take it! A couple weeks later, I was browsing the 1and1 site comparing features for a potential client when I noticed that the package I have had been bumped to ridiculously high levels. Even though I was getting my money's worth at the time, I felt a little bitter that I wasn't getting the full package spec. After all, I was promised that I would get every package upgrade.
Just like any other nightmare client, I promptly dialed billing to give them a piece of my mind. Apparently, the billing agent was no stranger to difficult clients like me. Within a few minutes of talking to me, he got me defused and assured me that my package would be brought up to spec within four weeks. That was two weeks ago. He explained that it was taking more time than expected to upgrade all their current accounts to the new account specs. He really surprised me when he said that I'd actually be getting more than what was currently listed on the site. What?! Ok then! Thank you for your time! Needless to say, I was left feeling very positive about that support call.
Here's where we get into the numbers... When I logged into my account today, I was greeted by some very generous numbers for the package I have. I discovered that I now have 30,000MB of storage and 1,500 GB of transfer on a shared hosting account that normally runs $19.99/mo! Wait! That can't be right! Those are VPS specs! Yup, you read right. 30GB of storage and 1.5TB of transfer for under $20/mo. PLUS, with 1and1, I only pay $5.99 per domain, per year.
Now, let's be real here. Those numbers are great and all, but other providers offer similar specs. What sets 1and1 apart? For starters, uptime! With every other host I've used, uptime was a major issue. This is not so with 1and1. I can count on one hand how many times in the past two years my site was not available and nearly every time it was related to an ISP router, not 1and1! Also, one of the things I've really grown to appreciate is their one-of-a-kind control panel. It's a little slow, but it more than makes up for it in streamlined administration. This is especially true of the domain administration. Even complete n00bs have no problem navigating the 1and1 control panel and managing their package like a pro.
Again, I'm not the easiest person in the world to impress, especially when it comes to hosting providers. Nevertheless, 1and1 has really raised the bar of what a good hosting provider is in my mind. They are now the benchmark by which I will measure all hosting providers. If you are in the market for a good, reliable, affordable hosting provider, I cannot say enough positive about 1and1.
There is only one negative I've found with 1and1 and it's not even really a negative. They're a bit restrictive on script execution. If you think about it, in a shared hosting environment, this is a good thing, and this also explains why the only time I've noticed the server actually being down was during a scheduled hardware upgrade. Now, who's going to complain about a free upgrade in performance?
If you would like more information on 1and1 and the packages they offer, I encourage you to visit their site. Just as a point of reference, I'm running on the Developer Package. I think you'll find that it's a more than adequate package for moderate to heavy traffic sites.
Pay-Per Click" Ad Campaign: Earn More by Spending Less
What is "Pay-Per Click"? "Pay-Per Click", is an easy to understand advertising strategy. There are around 300 million searches at major search engines everyday. This causes 80% of internet traffic. Placing your websites on these search engines is very important in reaching as many potential customers as possible. But in order to be seen and clicked most frequently, your website should be viewed at the top most of the search list. Most people only reach up to the third page of a search engine so the lower your rank, the lesser the chance you will be clicked. In "Pay-Per Click" advertising, you pay to be always visible on the internet. You select keywords or key phrases about your website, and the highest bidder ranks the best. There is no upfront cost. You only pay after a visitor clicks your link. This is why it is called "Pay-Per Click".
Everyday millions of people around the world click on Pay-Per Click Advertising Campaign. With the booming internet industry and the ever growing online business, an ad of virtually anybody on the planet can be seen on the internet anywhere in the world.
The "Pay-Per Click" advertising campaign is the premier growth area in online marketing. Last year, an estimated $741.2 million was spent on "Pay-Per Click" advertising. The usual search engine optimization can take weeks or even months to produce results. "Pay-Per Click" advertising can attract customers at an instant. Why? Because, this cutting edge ad campaign can be placed on any website and can be viewed by potential online customers, anywhere, anytime and all the time. The only challenge is placing the ads on proper websites that will attract possible customers for a specific product or services.
"Pay-Per Click" advertising campaign attracts the right consumers at the shortest possible time. This is the most cost effective way of marketing products or services. You can also monitor the customers who visit your site, what they are looking for and what they are buying. With the right creativity on using the right search-phrases, we can direct the right people who are willing to do business with us.
"Pay-Per Click" advertising can easily be managed 24 hours per day and 7 days a week through the internet. This allows you improve the campaign strategy by effectively responding to the activities of both customers and competitors.
So what are you waiting for? "Pay-Per Click" now and let your business take the fast route to success.
Everyday millions of people around the world click on Pay-Per Click Advertising Campaign. With the booming internet industry and the ever growing online business, an ad of virtually anybody on the planet can be seen on the internet anywhere in the world.
The "Pay-Per Click" advertising campaign is the premier growth area in online marketing. Last year, an estimated $741.2 million was spent on "Pay-Per Click" advertising. The usual search engine optimization can take weeks or even months to produce results. "Pay-Per Click" advertising can attract customers at an instant. Why? Because, this cutting edge ad campaign can be placed on any website and can be viewed by potential online customers, anywhere, anytime and all the time. The only challenge is placing the ads on proper websites that will attract possible customers for a specific product or services.
"Pay-Per Click" advertising campaign attracts the right consumers at the shortest possible time. This is the most cost effective way of marketing products or services. You can also monitor the customers who visit your site, what they are looking for and what they are buying. With the right creativity on using the right search-phrases, we can direct the right people who are willing to do business with us.
"Pay-Per Click" advertising can easily be managed 24 hours per day and 7 days a week through the internet. This allows you improve the campaign strategy by effectively responding to the activities of both customers and competitors.
So what are you waiting for? "Pay-Per Click" now and let your business take the fast route to success.
what Makes You Better?
Sales people are frequently confronted by this question on sales calls, along with some others like "why should I buy from you/your company?" or "what makes you different?". In fact, as identified in my last post, they have probably spent a lot of time at "Product Knowledge U" learning exactly how to answer these questions. In reality, answering questions like these usually end up putting you on the defensive and will not give you the advantage you are hoping for.
Think about it for a minute... if you answer that question you immediately sound like all of the sales people that have come before you, as well as those who will follow you. By answering the question you create "sameness" and a belief in the mind of the prospect that you are just like everyone else. You must also consider that everything you say will be considered as "sales fodder" and is often listened to with skepticism and from an "oh sure" perspective.
Obviously, there are many different situations in which this questions can be asked. Are they currently buying this product from someone else. Is this a product they have bought in the past, or is it a product they have never bought? Knowing which situation you are in will help you determine how best to proceed. Rather than answer the question, you might want to say "I'd be happy to tell you but I'm curious, is this a product that you have used in the past or are currently buying?". Their answer will be a valuable piece of information from which we can plan our next question.
If they are currently using or have had past experience, it would make a lot more sense to find out what they have used in the past. If they are looking to make a change "what would they like to see different?" This is a questions that would get us information that would begin to form our offer, or identify that we don't have what they want. Remember too, if they are not buying or have not used before, giving away your information can now become a shopping list that will allow them to compare you to the competition and "commoditize" your offer.
Not always, but often times the best answer to a question is another question. By not answering the question but rather asking:
"Was there something that you were hoping would be better?", or
"if we could offer something different or better what were you hoping for?"
With these questions you end up with the chance of finding out exactly what they are looking for and can craft your response based on the feedback you get.
It takes some courage and emotional control to respond this way but you'll find it will put you in an entirely different light with your prospect. Stop answering "what makes you better" and you'll get better information that will help you make more sales!
Think about it for a minute... if you answer that question you immediately sound like all of the sales people that have come before you, as well as those who will follow you. By answering the question you create "sameness" and a belief in the mind of the prospect that you are just like everyone else. You must also consider that everything you say will be considered as "sales fodder" and is often listened to with skepticism and from an "oh sure" perspective.
Obviously, there are many different situations in which this questions can be asked. Are they currently buying this product from someone else. Is this a product they have bought in the past, or is it a product they have never bought? Knowing which situation you are in will help you determine how best to proceed. Rather than answer the question, you might want to say "I'd be happy to tell you but I'm curious, is this a product that you have used in the past or are currently buying?". Their answer will be a valuable piece of information from which we can plan our next question.
If they are currently using or have had past experience, it would make a lot more sense to find out what they have used in the past. If they are looking to make a change "what would they like to see different?" This is a questions that would get us information that would begin to form our offer, or identify that we don't have what they want. Remember too, if they are not buying or have not used before, giving away your information can now become a shopping list that will allow them to compare you to the competition and "commoditize" your offer.
Not always, but often times the best answer to a question is another question. By not answering the question but rather asking:
"Was there something that you were hoping would be better?", or
"if we could offer something different or better what were you hoping for?"
With these questions you end up with the chance of finding out exactly what they are looking for and can craft your response based on the feedback you get.
It takes some courage and emotional control to respond this way but you'll find it will put you in an entirely different light with your prospect. Stop answering "what makes you better" and you'll get better information that will help you make more sales!
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