Are You Marketing Too Aggressively?

Have you ever had a slow sales month and were worried about the livelihood of your business? Is marketing aggressively by pushy sales tactics the only way you could think of “boosting” your sales (even though it might be just temporary)?

Aggressive marketing might seem like the best answer but if you are too pushy in your selling, your customers will more often than not run away from you and your company. Not only that, they will tell the people around them about their bad experience with your company and those people too will avoid having anything to do with you. Bad news? You bet.

My personal experience - the pushy beautician

I’m sure some of you might have your own fair share of experience with marketers or companies who are just too pushy with their selling tactics. Let me share with you with mine. Last week, I accompanied my 23 year old daughter to a nearby salon for her facial. She went under the first trial promotion in which the cost for treatment was cut by more than half so she was paying much less than original. So she was happy with the deal and went inside to get her facial. While I went ahead to get my much needed hair cut in another salon (Instead of just waiting at the front desk of the reception). My daughter informed me later that before the treatment was started she was pressed (by the beautician) to buy a pair of sponges at $10. A ridiculous amount indeed as you can get the same sponges for only a few cents. She was okay with that of course as she had no other choice.

Later, the beautician whizzed out an equipment which she says can even out her skin color. Price of treatment using the special equipment was over $100. This is when the beautician became “pushy” and started to market the treatment more aggressively. Even after my daughter said “no” to this treatment, the beautician still insisted that she go for the treatment and called out her colleague (who spoke better English) to further explain the benefits. They cornered my daughter until she said to call me to ask for my permission since I was the one paying. Of course I said no. Needless to say, my daughter was very uncomfortable with the pushy sales tactics and resolved never to go there again to get her facial. Was my daughter happy with her facial? Yes. She praised them with their advance equipment, good skill and use of products. In fact, if it wasn’t for the sales tactics she told me she will definitely go there monthly to get her facial. They have inadvertently lost a good loyal and long term customer because of their short term goal of making extra money (with the additional treatments). What a waste!

How to not be a pushy sales marketer?

If you have developed the bad habit of pushy selling or have trained your employees to be one it is time for you to revamp your whole selling method. There is no doubt that people want products and services. Forget about making the sale first (or money). Just think of your customer’s needs, wants and desires.  If you want to have a successful marketing don’t just pretend interest in your customer genuinely be interested. Develop a good marketing strategy that will build good loyal customers and benefit your company in the long run. The following are some marketing tips to get you started in becoming more effective in marketing:

1. Ask questions and listen

Always put yourself in the shoes of the customers! Ask questions and probe your customers for answers. The product or service that you are offering might not be the ones that they are looking for. Listen intently and don’t be too quick on selling your products without getting all the facts from your customers first. If you keep rambling on about a product that your customer doesn’t even want or need your customer would not be seeing you in a good light. On the other hand, the product may be right for the customer but he just doesn’t know it (yet…). Your role is then to ask key questions so that he will think of the product or service in a new light and come to the realization that “yes this is the product that I want”.

Some key probing questions that you can ask your customer for successful marketing:

• What do you hope this product can do for you?
• What do you want or desire?
• Do you have a problem that you think this product can address or solve?

If your customer is already using a product or service by another company that addresses his or her problem then the following questions would be appropriate:

• What do you like about your existing product?
• What is lacking in the product that you are using now?
• What do you hope to achieve by using an alternative product?

2. Build credibility

Sometimes you don’t have to push your products or services at all. By slowly building trust and credibility, your customers would look to you for expert advise. How do you build credibility? If you have been around for a few years or a long time proudly announce the year of your company’s conception in your office, website or newsletter. Writing “we have been around since 1988 and know how to serve you (our customers) the best” is pretty convincing to the customers. The longer you have been around the more credible you become in the eyes of the customers.

What if you are a new company how do you establish credibility then? Some tips that you can follow:

• Provide free service in the area of your expertise. Examples include: free consultation, free public speaking or even a product to try for free
• Write useful articles for your industry either in the form of newsletters, newspaper articles or other publishing materials
• Build a website with the intention to build more credibility to your company. Let your customers know what your company’s vision is and how you can contribute to your customers
• Apply for awards and proudly display them where your walk-in customers can see them

3. Follow up

Be careful to follow up on a sale and gather feedback. Don’t push for another sale or badger your customer with enticing offers especially after only a few days of buying from you. Your customer won’t appreciate it. Instead, gather useful feedback that you could use to further improve on your service or better still invite them to write a testimonial for your company which you can publish on your newsletter or website. It is direly important as well to ask them if they need help with anything even after you have made the sale. Always offer advice within your capacity.

Conclusion

The truth isn’t the truth until people believe you, and they can’t believe you if they don’t know what you’re saying, and they can’t know what you’re saying  if they don’t listen to you, and they won’t listen to you if you’re not interesting, and you won’t be interesting unless you say things imaginatively, originally, freshly. - Bill Bernbach

Don’t fall into the trap of pushy selling as it will not benefit you or your company in the long run. Follow the above marketing ideas and strategies and you will be well on your way of becoming a more effective sales marketer (and that means more sales!).

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