Education Based Marketing

"If you become known for what you know instead of what you sell, buyers will come to you for help and advice instead of your lowest price," says sales trainer Chris Lytle. So how do you do that? Read on for Lytle's advice.

"To become known for what you know, you have to market your knowledge instead of your product," says Lytle. "This is why white papers and webinars are key lead generation tools for businesses today. As a salesperson, you can put together your own "knowledge products." There is a successful salesperson for Paychex who puts out a monthly newsletter of short articles for small businesses. A radio ad rep in Charlottesville, VA does the same thing."

"No time to write a newsletter? Put together a checklist detailing, "7 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a _____." (Put your product or service in the blank). Or write a one page "case study" of a business problem you solved for a customer. Document the return on investment and quote your happy customer."

"Or simply share a key idea from a book you've just read and turn it into a tip. See example below."

"You will attract more buyers if you are offering to teach them something of value to them than you will ever attract by simply trying to sell them your product or service," writes Chet Holmes in The Ultimate Sales Machine.

What do you know that your prospects and customers don't know? How can you teach them something of value?

Chris Lytle is a sales trainer, speaker, and creator of "Max," a web-based, interactive training platform for salespeople at any stage in their careers. This revolutionary creation is a unique combination of tools and real-world behaviors that align with the way customers say they want to be approached and sold to. Learn more at www.max-atm.com

Too Much Certainty Kills Curiosity - and Costs You Money!

I was reading Bill Caskey's blog and came across this intriguing post. We often encourage you to research and educate yourself to become an expert in your field, and while this is very important, there is a point when too much confidence can become a deal-breaker. This story from Caskey will definitely make you think about how you position yourself:

Last month I was giving a sales training seminar, and one of the participants voiced his opinion on how he does something in the sales process. He was actually saying all the right things, but the "way" he said it turned other people in the room off a little.

I got to thinking about what he said and was curious about why that had such an effect on people; I determined that certainty kills curiosity. Whenever I hear someone say, "This is how I do it and it's always worked," they almost certainly have killed themselves off from being curious about other ways to do it better. You've heard the saying, "only fools are positive." To me, that is exactly what happens when you are so sure of yourself that you are not open to other ways to improve your results.

As you think about your sales approach to prospects and clients, be careful that you don't "have all the answers and don't need more input," because you may be cutting yourself off from one easy tactic that can monumentally affect your business.

Bill Caskey is a sales development leader and experimenter. His ideas about selling are convictions about life, money and meaning. He has coached sales professionals and executives for over 19 years, and his philosophies and strategies have fueled explosive growth in sales and profits for clients. Visit his website at www.caskeytraining.com