Yes, everyone’s focused on education-based marketing – and we should be. But let’s add a new spin to it — one that will lead to RESULTS NOW (the key ingredient to creating CEO Freedom). Instead of pitching your product or service, try offering prospects actionable information. Something that shows them that you value their TIME and what THEY need – even before you have a one-on-one relationship with them. Try this and you’ll see your sales climb, improve your company’s value overall and increase the possibility of receiving financing – not to mention generating good will with your client base. In a recent conversation with one of my sales guru pals we agonized over why so many small businesses have such a tough time ramping up sales. It’s because they’re pitching, not educating. Seems obvious, right? Wrong.

Let’s say you sell telephone systems, like Company X does. Before discovering this concept, Company X would cold call prospective companies and ask if they were interested in talking about a new telephone system (yuck—this is a standard product pitch). They had four salespeople making hundreds of calls per day. The result? A whopping three appointments per week. No surprises here. First of all, every company that has a phone system that is five or more years old can probably benefit from a new phone system. Heck, more than 15 major providers of phone systems just 10 years ago are now out of the phone system business. But inertia is a powerful force. If the phone system isn’t broke—why fix it? Ready to double sales? Consider taking the following steps.

Step 1. The first thing Company X did after discovering the education-based marketing concept was target bigger companies. The bigger the company, the bigger the phone system. The bigger the phone system, the bigger the sales potential — and the more likelihood of finding results NOW (remember, that’s the key to CEO freedom — results LATER just mean more long hours and not enough revenue). Step 2. The salespeople called the 2,000 largest companies in their market with two simple questions: “Hi, we’re doing our annual telephone system survey. I just need to know two things: What is the model of your phone system and how old is it?” In two days, the salespeople had a list of 508 companies with old, and often obsolete phone systems. Step 3. Now for the real hook: Education-based marketing. The sales reps called on these larger companies with one offer: “We have a new educational program entitled The Nine Ways You’re Wasting Money on Your Voice and Data Spending.” They’d continue, saying: “We’ve been in the telephone business for 10 years now and we’ve found that every company wastes money on their voice and data spending in at least nine areas. We’ve put together a white paper to teach companies how to stop wasting—and start saving–money. If you ever need any help at all with your voice, data or telephone system needs, we want you to know about us. So we’re sending you our white paper.”

This approach increased their appointments ten fold, from three per week to 30 per week. This company’s revenue was $3 million the year prior to using the education-based marketing approach. After six months, Company X’s sales pipeline was $9 million strong.

Christine Comaford, CEO Freedom Fighter
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.

PS: My BAI weekend is the fastest way to ramp revenue and your company’s growth because it’s so intimate (I only take 20 participants) http://www.mightyventures.com/bai – I still have two spots left, and I would love to have you guys there to learn from me, firsthand, how to create MASSIVE growth and avoid HUGE mistakes.

PSS: And the one thing you should ALL do today is get my no cost CD on the “6 SECRETS to Creating More Time, Money, Freedom & FUN In Your Business” http://www.bit.ly/iBmuI