Paul Avins / Igniting Business Results

How you can GUARANTEE a sale ...

Against the backdrop of negativity around the economy, credit crunch high fuel prices etc I ran a workshop for my Wealth Club members last week on building a powerful guarantee to increase sales.

The surprising thing for me was just how many of them didn't have a formal Guarantee in their business to reduce the perceived risk potential clients are faced with when buying their products or services. So if this is such a powerful tool why is it not used by businesses the world over.....especially in a time when we are all having to up our sales skills as markets tighten up?

My view is that "fear" or limiting beliefs about the worst outcome actually happening just means people find reasons (or excuses) not to implement it.

Be honest with yourself do you have one that's used in your marketing?

The reality is that people on the whole are honest and won't take advantage of your Guarantee. Research shows that only between 1% or 2% will ever claim yet the INCREASE in conversion rate can be in the 50%+ and higher! Even with the refunds you would still be far far better off.

Now….the feedback was so positive from the members that I've decided to take the recording and turn it into a CD and work book to be released later in the year so watch this space.

From that session there were a number of very interesting stories from members.

Here is one to get you thinking:

One member is following her passion and has started selling her rather excellent paintings alongside running her other business. She shared the story about a £1000 painting she was having a challenge selling. She decided to offer a 30 day hang it in your own home trial backed by a no hassle money back guarantee. In fact she decided not to invoice the client until after the 30 day period so they got to try it free. Guess what happened? After just 30 days she had her first sale from a client who had said they would never pay more than £500 for a painting before!

No what was even more interesting was that when I asked her how many painting she had offered it on since she had to admit she had not offered it since "but that changes now" she said!

So Guarantees can have a huge increase in your sales yet there are always other things you could be doing right......wrong. Please take some time to ask yourself this question:

Q - If there was one thing I could guarantee my potential customers that would have my phone ringing off the hook what would it be?

You job now is to figure out how to deliver this. Good luck. 

Good times and Down time ...

The last 2 weeks have been some of the most hectic days I've had in the last 5 years of running my coaching and speaking businesses.

Every night I found myself crawling into bed feeling like I had left everthing I had "on the field" to use a sports analogy. Some-days because so much positive action and attraction was happening - then there were those other days....the one we don't like to talk about with others when we've been battling disappointment, frustrations or challenges that just seem to take all the positive energy we had when woke up.

Do you know what I'm referring to?

Let me put it this way......for the last 2 weeks I've wanted to tell you everything going on but the thought of having compose my thoughts for my Blog was just more than I had left in me. How crazy is that?!?

Well here's the GOOD NEWS - I've had an amazing weekend "sharpening the saw" as Stephen Covey would say, taking time to connect with my wife Sue and my son JJ (Jonathan James). As I sit here wondering how to recap the recent event and shifts, and trust me there have been some huge ones I'll update you with over the next fews days, I was reminded how often people closest to us will try to warm us we may be overdoing it. Do we listen? Not often......why? Usually because in our drive to achieve a goal or deliver a sale we can sometimes forget that we are human "BEings" not just human "DOings".

I know I've fallen into that trap and it's not until we take the time to slow down, connect with people we love and re-establish our reason "WHY" we are doing this that we even realise just how out of balance we have become.

In out world of 24 hour connectivity to e-mail, blogs, mobile Internet take some time out -some real "Down time" and let go of the urgency to send that message or make that call.

Trust me......they will still be waiting for you when you next log on.

Why the FSB survey is GREAT news for small business owners...

Yes you read the headline to this posting correctly!

Yesterday the Federation of Small Business (FSB) here in the UK published a survey saying how more and more small business owners were seeing a drop in orders and expected things to get worse. In fact business confidence is at a 3 year low apparently.

The media picked up on this and ran it as a major story, so just in case you were feeling at all positive about the future they were out to make sure that didn't last. What they failed to mention was that 61% of business owners were still positive about the future, in fact 47% of owner managers said that they felt the current economic climate actually provided them with more opportunities.

These included winning more business from the competition, reducing cost and improving efficiency to name but a few. This just confirmed my view that businesses that are well run and managed understand that you need to put a little away in good times for when things swing the other way as they always do.

Business like nature has seasons so if you know what season you are in you can weather even the deepest winter. As Warren Buffet recently said "it's like the economic tide went out and now we get to see who went swimming without any trunks on!".

So where are the current opportunities in todays economic climate for you? How can you turn your business message and benefit into on that meets an even greater need for your customers?

After all Millionaires we being created even in the great depression......something to think about next time the news tries to tell you the world is coming to an end.

Tennis Lessons for all business people from two masters

If you like me sat glued to you TV set yesterday to watch the amazing Wimbledon final then you would have seen a display of passion, commitment, determination, focus, resilience and courage which are all traits every successful entrepreneur needs to succeed.

The match was won on who was able to take their chances when they came up. Isn't that so often the case as we run our businesses. We see an opportunity do we double fault and stutter at the critical moment or blast another winner right past our opponent and head off into the sun set with the title?

You can bet one thing, both Federer and Nadal had spent hours and hours training and practicing their craft to be ready for that critical moment.

So, how much time are you putting in on learning key business skills? How many books have you read in the last 3 months? (Non fiction) how many courses have you attended? How many people have you been coached by?

Remember that it's not enough to be in the right place at the right time, you have to BE the right person in the right place at the right time.

Both of these great players were - are you?

Look I attracted a Dragon!

OK, this was just so exciting I had to share it with you as soon as I had the chance…J

As you may or may not know I am a big fan of the book – Law of Attraction and the concept of creating a Wealth Network and listing people you would like to attract into it.

Well a while ago I wrote down that I wanted to meet and get to know former Dragon and boss of Red Letter Days Rachel Elnaugh after reading her first book business nightmares. My strategy was to add value to her, send her a book to say thanks and then leave it up to the Universe to figure out how and when.

Well it took the universe less than 6 weeks to figure out a way!!!

Check out what she says about our recent meeting on Friday on her blog:

http://www.racheleelnaugh.blogspot.com

So my question to you is who’s name would you like to put down on your attraction list……especially if you have no idea how to meet them?