Lost Leaders Create a Lost Sales Belief For Service Professionals, Small Business Owners & SOHO

Many service professionals, small business owners and SOHO especially consultants and executive coaches engage in the marketing practice of lost leaders. This marketing strategy is to attract people to them with the belief that give them something free and they will buy. Unfortunately, the reality is unless the person receiving this "freebie" is a qualified potential customer (a.k.a. prospect) the likelihood of a sale is almost as far away as without the free offer. Sales Coaching Tip: Build it and they will come is not a viable strategy to increase sales.

Lost leaders can be seen in many retail stores from grocery to clothing to even restaurants. There are even some specific days such as Black Friday where the premise is all about giving something away at below cost.

The essential problem with this marketing strategy is that is creates a lost sale belief. If, I as a sales professional believe my service is a lost leader, then why should I be surprised when I do not earn the sale. Sales Coaching Tip: You receive what you believe.

For those who engage in this practice, a better way to think internally which is always reflected consciously or subconsciously externally is delayed billing. Yes you will give this individual something free that is value added laden. However, upon completion of whatever the free offering is, this person will become a client and thus you are only delaying the billing for your services.

Let me share with you one example in case you are confused. Many executive coaches and even some consultants provide a free coaching or consulting session. Some of these folks may actually throw in an assessment to sweeten the offer. This assessment may actually cost them some hard cash usually under $25. The conscious belief is so what it is just $20 bucks and I spend that on lunch while the unconscious belief is No big deal if I do not get the sale. This unconscious belief I believe is the sales killer because you as the salesperson are broadcasting this without even knowing it.

When you adopt the delayed billing belief, you are now broadcasting subconsciously to the other person that you believe he or she is a potential client. Your body language is now in congruency with that belief as is your verbal communications.

Within the education based marketing approach, lost leaders are one proven strategy provided the free offering has incredible value and is being offered to a potentially qualified customer. If you are engaged in this strategy, then stop thinking lost leaders and begin to think delayed billing and realize your goal to increase sales.

Are the sales behaviors of your team or even yourself where you want them to be? If not, then you may discover an easy read on how to increase sales in this book, Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, the Keys to Unlocking Sales Success including looking at your individual behaviors.

Free sales skills assessment by Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith who helps with sales coaching, leadership to sales management development.

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Electronic Newsletter Best Practices - 23 Ways to Create a Phenomenal E-Zine

1. Send your newsletter at regular intervals. For example, the second Tuesday each month or the first and third Friday each month. Your readers will appreciate that it is predictable.

2. Studies show that your heading should be less than 50 characters. Make it engaging so you can prompt readers to open the message.

3. Many e-mail users now read messages with preview panes. That means that the first few paragraphs of your newsletter should be engaging in order to convince the recipient to keep reading.

4. Use a table of contents to entice readers. Better yet, make the subjects clickable so it's easy to navigate the newsletter.

5. Include a good balance of useful content and sales copy. Ideally your newsletter should contain at least 70% content (articles, tips, how-to advice, etc.) and minimal sales copy.

6. Include an irresistible special offer, discount or promotion. These give readers a reason to open your messages and make a purchase.

7. Keep it simple. Computer users have short attention spans. Your newsletter should be easy to scan and read.

8. Engage readers. Ask readers to submit feedback, respond to a survey question, or enter a contest.

9. Give your newsletter personality. The tone of your newsletter should match that of your business.

10. Make sure you are compliant with the CAN-SPAM act by including a link to unsubscribe with every email you send. Visit the FTC website for the latest compliance laws: http://www.ftc.gov/spam/.

11. Include all of your contact information, including a physical address, website and phone number.

12. Don't ever use your home address. Invest in a post office box to give your business the level of professionalism it deserves.

13. Invite subscribers to forward to a friend.

14. Include regular columns. Make your newsletter predictable by including the same type of information in each edition.

15. Include a note from the company President. This adds a personal element that readers will appreciate.

16. Minimize the use of photos and images. Not everyone has high speed Internet access and images can make a newsletter difficult to download.

17. Have your newsletter edited for grammar and punctuation. One or two typos are forgivable, but too many and you will begin to lose credibility.

18. Use high-contrast colors that are easy to read. Dark letters on light backgrounds (black or blue on white) are the easiest to read.

19. Choose a font size that is also easy to read. There's nothing worse than straining to read a newsletter. Most people won't bother.

20. Ask recipients for feedback. Your newsletter can only get better if you listen to your readers.

21. Keep it simple. Long newsletters are tempting to write, but hard to read. If you have that much to say, consider breaking it up into multiple newsletters or publishing the extra information on a blog or other online venue.

22. Respect your mailing list. Don't send too many messages in between newsletters or you will risk exhausting your list and will end up with an avalanche of unsubscribe requests.

23. Give readers a reason to look forward to your newsletter. Think about it carefully. Why do they want to read it? How can you make it better? What newsletters do you love receiving and why? These answers will help you develop a phenomenal publication.

Stephanie Chandler is an author of several business and marketing books including "LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business" and "From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products." She is also founder and CEO of http://AuthorityPublishing.com, which provides custom book publishing and author marketing services for business, self-help and other non-fiction books. For author and speaker details, visit http://StephanieChandler.com.

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