Anything that is customized or personalized suddenly becomes very much more valuable. We like our own names and our company names and our sports team names, don’t we? So when we customize a product or service for an industry or a specific business, we create massive increased value at very little cost.

Here’s How It Works

You can private label an innocuous shampoo for a good hair salon and make serious money. You can make a seminar or sales training program industry specific and sell ten times as many. I was recently talking with someone who created exercise DVD’s. How about making one for seniors, one for travelers, one for children, one for ladies, one for teens, one for busy executives… then market each one through the marketing and distribution channels reaching that particular demographic? For example, you would Joint Venture with seniors publications and clubs, AARP and seniors tours to reach seniors with your seniors exercise DVD.

Private Label Training, Seminars or Teaching

When you find excess inventory, you can re-purpose it in this way. You can also approach someone who presents training, seminars or teaching, and Joint Venture with someone who has access a particular market segment, while procuring the rights to market their products and services to that segment and receive ongoing commissions. For example, how about Training for Realtors? Get more specific with Training for Female Realtors and you’ll make more money. The more specific, the more terrific.

Let Your Access Lead the Way

Which segment of the population do you have access to, or can you get access to? Once you have access to a demographic/psychographic sector, you can go out and find products that can be customized or relabelled for that sector. Once you have strategic alliances in that sector, it’s easy to expand to the entire sector.

I once did seminars for an Executive Women’s Club and ended up serving all their clubs nationwide. Had you set that up, you could have asked for and received up to 20% of all my income from that market, and that would have put at least $20,000 in your pocket. All it took to get me into that market was a friend making one, single phone call. One phone call can be worth $20,000 to you. Do Joint Ventures work? You’d better believe it!

Sales Tip

Specialists get paid more and have more credibility. Understanding more about an industry than your prospect positions you as an expert. In order to do this, use statistics and education to differentiate yourself from the generalists who think they can cure anything from recessions and receding hair to bad knees and bad attitudes.

Management Tip

The more you understand your prospect and his business, the more likely you are to sell to him. Train your employees to ask questions, make notes, do research and create industry specific solutions. Learn the language and jargon of the industry you’re targeting. Become familiar with their hopes, dreams, challenges and unique opportunities.

“I am an innovator. This is a term of distinction, a term of honor, rather than something to hide or apologize for. Anyone who has new or valuable ideas to offer stands outside the intellectual status quo. But the status quo is not a stream, let alone a ‘mainstream’. It is a stagnant swamp. It is the innovators who carry mankind forward.”
~ Ayn Rand

Have You Been Behaving Like a Baboon?

Most businesses are like African baboons – these furry fellows race through the cornfields, picking corn and stuffing it under their arm. As fast as they stuff the corn under their arm, it falls out the back, but they keep on picking and stuffing! By the time they get to the edge of the cornfield, they are carrying one corncob and they’ve left a trail of corn on the ground. This is how many entrepreneurs handle customers. They’re so busy getting new ones that they neglect and lose their existing customers out the back door. Attrition spirals out of control and yet they continue to spend more money on finding new customers.

Invest in Your People

We know it’s far more affordable to resell existing customers than to get new ones. We know that it’s better to retain our customers and to encourage referrals through added value service than to spend a lot of money finding new customers. So why don’t we act accordingly?

Why don’t we spend 80% of our marketing budget on our EXISTING customers?

Invest in your people and they will bring you a lot of new ones. Building strong relationships with the customers you have will:

• increase loyalty
• reduce attrition
• increase transaction values
• lengthen customer lifespan.

Why not put a program together to REACTIVATE inactive customers?

It’s much easier than trying to buy new ones.

A happy customer is good – an elated customer is better.

By redirecting our marketing dollars to our loyal clients and creating unprecedented added and unexpected value, we can engender massive reciprocity in the form of referrals and goodwill. But only strategists will understand this. Tacticians, those “instant gratification” types, will never understand this. A satisfied customer might stay with you, but an inspired and enthusiastic customer will bring her friends, family and associates. You can buy a lot more new customers than advertising with:

• A surprise party
• An unexpected gift
• A personal phone call
• A complimentary dinner

Use Joint Ventures to add value at no cost to you. Partner with other businesses to increase the value to offer and to differentiate yourself from the competition. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes and take the time to find ways to make their lives easier and more comfortable. Look after what you have and they will look after you.

Sales Tip

Act in your customer’s best interest. Reward referrals generously. Don’t skimp on packaging. Create referral systems that make the customer happy. Protect your customers; they’re hard enough to get and they can be worth their weight in gold.

Management Tip

Teach your team to listen and to go the extra mile. When I go into Safeway and ask where the bathroom is, the employee will walk me to the bathroom. When I go to the competition, the employee points in the direction on the bathroom. Big difference. A nice bag with a pretty bow and a big smile, a follow-up telephone call and even a thank you note can generate a massive return on investment. Get creative and set the example.

The best part of Joint Ventures, as well as the easiest and most lucrative, is “Piggybacking”.

When I was 11 years old, my favorite game at school was similar to piggybacking. Small guys like me would ride on the backs of big, strong guys and we would try to pull our opponents over. They key to winning was strong arms and a strong “Horse”. I had strong arms and I always chose a strong horse, so I usually won.

A Strong Recommendation

In business, the book, “Horse Sense” by Al Ries and Jack Trout applies the same concept. This book was personally recommended to me by a multimillionaire client of mine, many years ago. I read the book three times.

A Lucrative Piggybacking Example

I recently talked with a man who has 1,200 people in his database. I suggested he offer them Membership in my DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum at a great discount. By sending out two e-mails and one voice broadcast and adding value, for which I would pay, and by mentioning the opportunity in his e-zine, we estimated that he would have at least 120 join (10%). That would earn him significant money, at no cost or risk to him. That’s piggybacking – and it’s that simple.

The same can be done with shared advertising, mailings, e-mails, e-zines, direct mail, seminars and business opportunities. Riding on the back of existing distribution, reputation, reach, access and exposure is very effective.

Consider the Power of Partnering

• Don’t buy a 747 to fly to LA – simply rent a seat.
• Don’t own the overhead or create a competency; borrow it.

Consider the power of partnering: everyone wins by sharing underutilized resources and Hidden Assets. And here’s the Good News – you don’t need to own the resource, be it a database, distribution route or relationship – you simply make the connection – it’s called “Triangulation”. No risk or cost, no downside, lots of fun and lots of money. You don’t need a business to set this up. Link me up with someone else and take a piece of the action. Link Bob up with Sally and get paid on all ensuing business over the next two years, why not?

The key to successful piggybacking…

is a strong horse and a strong rider – both parties should be ethical, generous, smart, professional and proactive. That’s the hard part. I know people whose databases I wouldn’t touch with a 20 foot pole. Be selective; be VERY selective.

Talk with Members of the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum and if you want to make a lot of money easily, remember that all it takes is a bit of thought. It’s not hard work and there’s no risk if you’re dealing with the right people.

The Bottom Line

Bundle a product or service with one that is already selling well or add a product or service to an existing database or distribution route – that’s piggybacking, and it can create increasing, multiple streams of passive income for you.

Which are you right now?

I worked with a real estate company to help them increase sales and saw the “tortoise and the hare” fable come to life right before my eyes. One of the salespeople (the tortoise) was slow, not highly skilled, not a great communicator and she had a long commute to work, which cut into her flexibility. But she was steady, consistent, reliable, very enthusiastic and totally focused and committed to reaching her goals. Some of the other “hare” salespeople tended to be highly skilled and polished, but they were often erratic and unfocused. They worked in fits and starts. They got side-tracked. The tortoise beat them every single month. The results I see a salesperson accomplishing are in direct proportion to his or her consistency and focus.

The “Magic” Formula

The formula for Momentum is p=mv where p is momentum, m is mass and v is velocity. If we were to translate that into sales, momentum would be branding and results, m would be the amount of effort, action and focus and v would be enthusiasm and belief or:

Your Brand’s Momentum = Your effort, action and focus + Your enthusiasm and belief

It’s the Accumulation of Great Action

Branding and momentum is not achieved overnight. It takes consistent sowing and nurturing to build a brand, whether that brand is you, your website, your product or your business. Imagine someone pushing a car up a hill. As they push, they gain momentum and it gets easier. If they stop and let go of the car, it starts rolling back down the hill! Momentum is a vector. That simply means that momentum is a quantity that has a magnitude, or size, and a direction.

Are you headed in the best direction?

Some businesses have momentum in the wrong direction, and they require a turn-around expert to deal with them. We need to be sure that our efforts are taking us in the right direction and we need to know why we want to move in that direction.

Use this Reality Check

• It’s good to stand back and take along, hard look at your business.
• Re-evaluate your goals.
• Look at your activity.  Is it building momentum and the branding you want?
• Are your sure you’re creating the right image?
• Most of all, focus and consistency should be built into all your systems.

As Michael Gerber tells us in the E Myth, work ON your business, not IN it. And continually adjust and improve upon every aspect of it. Concentrated effort and persistence is the mark of a winner. Once you gain positive momentum in the right direction, make sure you continue to feed the fire, and the sky’s the limit.

A client of mine who owned a chain of restaurants radically improved his business when we tested his employees for the personality styles and re-organized the business. We all have characteristics of all the four major personality styles, however one is normally dominant. In business, it’s important to acknowledge our strengths and leverage them, and to find others to supplement our weaknesses. There’s no right or wrong character type. Here’s a quick overview.

The High D - Dominant style

Dominant style (minority of people, hardest to find) is bottom-line andresults oriented, impatient, sometimes tactless, driven and extroverted, with weaknesses in details. Major fear: being taken advantage of / ripped off. Good closers, great pioneers. Need the numbers and systems guys.

The High I - Influencing style

Influencing style is an extrovert, “party animal”, great at meeting people and starting relationships, popular, good opener, weakness is details and time management. Major fear: being embarrassed in public. Needs closers and numbers guys.

The High C - Cautious style

Cautious style is introverted, loves details, numbers and systems more than people, excellent numbers guys and accountants, computer experts, analyzers. Weakness is over analysis; fear is criticism of their work. Needs the extravert’s and the drivers.

The High S - Steady style

Steady style (majority of people) is an introvert, loyal, team player, family type, great systems and support person, needs security and long term relationships, fears risk, conflict and change. Needs others to make things happen and to create change and to take unpopular action when necessary.

Optimizing the Strengths of the Styles

This is a simplistic approach, but understanding our strengths and weaknesses and allowing people to do what they’re good at, while avoiding tasks that they’re weak at, is simply smart business sense. For technical sales we use High C’s and S’s. Ideal salespeople are normally High D’s with secondary I’s. One wouldn’t an accountant who is a High D, or a High S to launch a new business. You don’t want a High C to be the host at a cocktail party and we don’t want two High I’s behind a reception desk because they’ll talk all day!

Using personality style analysis has helped many of my clients to be better entrepreneurs and hire the appropriate people. Self knowledge is essential to success. I use the DISC style analysis – there are many others available, including the excellent Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Sales Tip

When selling to:

• High D’s - Talk results and ROI and close early and hard.
• High I’s - Build relationship, have fun and close early.
• High C’s - Provide copious details and proof and take time to close.
• High S’s - Prove that the support and relationships will be in place long after the sale is made and close slowly.

Management Tip

When Managing:

• High D’s - Give them lots of control and clear objectives and do what you say you will do.
  High I’s - Reward them publicly, make them look good and watch their time allocation.
• High C’s - Be specific, don’t rush them, and compliment their work (catch them doing something right), set time goals.
• High S’s - Make changes slowly, provide lots of security, share long-term plans.

When you have a service or a product that is bought many times over, it makes sense to pay to get a new customer. For example:

• I showed a hair salon owner client of mine how to invite high-end potential clients for a hair free cut and blow wave. His cost was negligible; however 82% of them were so impressed with the quality of his work that they became regular customers.
• A Tree Surgeon may offer a free service in order to obtain long-term customers.
• An accountant or lawyer may offer a free initial consultation.

Try These Excellent Money Making JVs

Combine the above with a Joint Venture and you can create the opportunity to access a large base of potential customers, especially if you have a consumable product.

• If your research and experience shows that most people who try your product go on to consume it on a regular basis over a period of time, why not ask JV partners to advertise your product and keep 100% of the first sale income for their trouble?
• Or they might want to give it away to their clients as a gesture of thanks for loyal patronage.

The clients who like it can be directed to make all future purchases from you.

A Little Upfront Profits You Greatly in the Long Run

Smart coffee shop owners can target business people who work in the area with an offer of three free cups of coffee. The prospects will get used to coming in to the shop and probably buy muffins or sandwiches anyway, and if the food and service is really good they could very well become regulars. Three cups of coffee costs about 60 cents. What is your profit on a sandwich?

The Law of Reciprocity works.

When most people get something for nothing, accompanied by excellent packaging, friendly service and a good product, they feel obliged to reciprocate. What is the marginal net worth or lifetime value of a customer to you? Being generous and allowing them to taste and experience your products and services at no cost is a smart marketing strategy. People whom you would never have met will have a reason to try your products and services.

I was approached by a man who had unsuccessfully been trying to sell his franchises for four years. We looked at what the market really, really wanted and then doubled the price of the franchise and added a free trip for two to Disneyworld. I sold all the franchises in four months. When we added a free television set for anyone who bought a house from us, my wife, Rika, and I sold more houses.

People Want to Play

Why do they have conventions in Las Vegas instead of some unknown, small town? Because people want to play. They want an excuse to buy toys and have fun. Instead of thinking about what YOU want all the time, think about what your prospects want. Instead of hidden costs, try obvious perks. Trips, toys and trinkets are proven to work, especially when there’s a choice. People don’t want points or money or discounts as much as they want toys.

Justify Fun & They’ll Buy It

A man wants to buy a PDA. His wife says he should rather pay down some debt or buy a new refrigerator. He is then offered the opportunity to attend one of two seminars – one is for $800 and the other one costs $1500 but includes a “free” PDA. Guess which seminar he will attend. Some people need to justify toys and fun and when you give them the opportunity to do so, they’ll grab it.

Try This

Try adding a digital camera to your product or service and increase the cost of the product or service by the price of the camera, and see what happens. Give your customers an excuse to have fun.

• “Belinda, I know sales are down and I need to clean the garage out, but you know I have to attend that sales convention in Vegas and the river rafting “team building” will really help our sales.”
• “Bob, I know the kids are sick and you’re busy, but you’re just going to have to play Mom for a week while I take my sales team down to Hawaii for our convention. I need to train them up to increase sales and the spa treatments will help us bond.”

“Free” Gift

Free gifts also work really well. My friend buys a Mercedes from the same dealership every time because they always send his wife a huge bunch of yellow roses. Get creative and think about giving people a great excuse to buy from you.

“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
- Anthony Robbins

There are only two types of questions: Those that get negative or negligible results, and those that get great results. What questions are you asking yourself and your associates, employees and customers that can result in a better bottom line? What questions will reduce customer attrition, improve loyalty and profits and motivate the people you work with?

Design the Right Questions

• The answers to the questions we ask should result in answers that inspire, motivate and initiate innovation and positive action.
• They should encourage, cheer, challenge, energize and drive.
• The more specific the question, the more specific the answers… And the more specific the answers, the better. Specific is terrific.

By designing the right questions to ask those involved in our business, we direct the business to greater success and focus everyone on the goals and objectives for which we have taken responsibility. When you ask the right question, you create an answer that begets a success strategy.

Try Asking These for a Self Check:

1. “Which three things can we do to increase the amount of people coming into the store by 5% without any cost or risk to us?”
2. “How can I pay for results instead of promises when it comes to advertising?”
3. “Who do we need to work with in a Joint Venture to double the amount of prospects we are currently exposed to?”
4. “How can we create three new streams of increasing, passive income?”
5. “How can we benefit from someone else’s advertising and marketing activities?”
6. “What can we do to double the value we offer our clients, without increasing our cost of sales?”
7. “How can we get customers to increase the amount of times they visit our business by 30%?”
8. “How can we reactivate 40% of our inactive customers?”
9. “How can we create back end sales without increasing our overhead or the time it takes to sell the back end?”

Sales Tip

Learn to ask questions that result in a buy. “O.K., Bill, I’m going to charge you card now for the basic Widget. Now shall I add the Blue Squink for $100 as well as the Rutten for another $800, or shall I just add the Blue Squink?” The answer should be, “Sure, add both”, or, at worst, he says, “Oh, just the Blue Squink for now.” Either way, you have upsold him.

Management Tip

Management questions can help or hurt. Ask, “What could I have done to help you achieve even more sales?” “You’re really at the rock face, Candy. What do you suggest we do to improve customer service even more?” “Bobby, I want to pay you a higher commission. What can we do to ensure a higher transaction amount per sale?”