How to Market to Offline Business Owners

I'm listening.

Posted above....

Those were some really good tips, I liked the point you made about going in early as well as politeness.

Patience might also be highly essential if you're dealing with older business owners that are not tech savvy as they might have questions or doubt things you're saying due to the lack of knowledge. So you'll have to show patience and friendliness when dealing with them so that they are comfortable.

The point about not treating the rest of the staff any differently than you treat the owner is a very good one. When I've been in management at various times in my life, I would never tolerate someone speaking in a way to the people that reported to me than they did when they spoke directly to me.

It shows even more disrespect for me that you'll be rude to my team and not to me than it would if you were rude directly to me - it just shows me you're trying to manipulate me!

these seem so obvious but im sure are overlooked. I have sold to some local biz.. and most didnt go for it at first meeting. Thats fine by me. Id rather be the one who wasnt pushy but helpful and confident so they remember me. I try to do something to make them remember me but by offering some sort of help even if its later on.

Kevin

I agree with many of the points you raise above and as an ex offline business owner I know how important it is that people entering your office are polite to everyone!

We used to deal with courier companies quite extensively and it always amazed me the amount of courer reps who would arrogantly walk in and treat everyone like a waste of time except me. (the business owner) That lack of respect would immediately make up my mind that I would never deal with their company. (Especially because on a day to day basis, those people they had been rude to would be the people they would deal with should they win the contract)

One really important point to remember as well is that if you are successful in gaining an appointment to give your sales pitch, dont treat this as an all or nothing event. Sure give your best shot, let them know whats in it for them and actually ask for the sale but if the business owner isnt ready to say yes right then, bear in mind that you have already jumped the first hurdle and you are beginning to build a relationship with the business owner and that company.

Time and time again I saw sales people give up and put me in the "waste of time" box because I wasnt ready to commit on that specific meeting. If they had remembered that I obviously was impressed enough to give them my time for the meeting (which like every business owner is more often than not, extremely scarce and valuable) so even if we ended on a no, there was still a strong possibility to grow the relationship from there, overcome any objections and keep in touch.

Basically, dont be pushy but dont take no for an answer.

As we all know, business is alot about relationships. If you have the chance to build them, do so!

Amazing points Andy :-)

For anyone else who looks at adding value to their offline marketing venture FREE works just as good offline as online. I have had success providing a FREE service or help to a local business owner on several occasions it has not only resulted in a future upsell (I mean sale).

The referrals came without any request on my part. Also while many people who sell offline services wish to charge 50k thousand dollars for this or that I find value in making sure I can provide value and doing so in a way that does not make me have to charge high prices just because the business owner is in need or desire with less knowledge.

$1000 bucks to set up an Aweber auto-responder is one of the reasons I do not post much when other offline marketers in this forum talk about (fleecing) helping offline clients.

I often do business with the mind from of what if this was a friend of my family?

Also if a person says no don't act like their business will die because they have no website, that is not as true as we believe. Some people actually use word of mouth quality and customer service to build their business.

Thanks for the insights hope I added some value.

There's some really great stuff in here.

So true about being polite to everyone you talk to regardless of who you are or who you think they might be.

A gatekeeper can sell you to the business owner or kill your chances with just a few words.

It pays to be nice to everyone.


My father had a pet store (as well as many other small businesses) and when a customer annoyed him just a little he'd fling open the glass sliding door at the entrance and tell them to leave and never come back.

When they got offended he'd say something pleasant like "I don't need people like you in my store. Goodbye."

Now that's really not good business but remember business owners are running their own show for a reason...they're independent minded and like the freedom to choose their own course in life.

You really need to understand and respect that.



A high percentage of business owners ARE best to talk to early in the morning but also keep in mind that some business owners are better after their business has closed or is close to closing time.

Either way most successful business owners are working way beyond opening hours...a fact that can make it far easier for you to set up a time to talk to them when you won't be interrupted.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Common sense it may be but this is the mourning period for common sense - it died with the advent of 'me too' marketers and the plethora of off line scams.

Do as you would be done by is a great maxim by which to live and know thine enemy is a great philosophy to work within. (For those of you who do not know, thine enemy is thine own self!)

How about learning about the business you are approaching before you try to sell to them? I can't begin to tell you how many sales people have promised to "increase my Google ranking" and "get me onto the first page." Not one has actually looked to see where we currently are in the search engines. If you can't be bothered to do a simple 20 second search, why should I give you time for a sales pitch?

Understand the needs of the potential clients. This is why a relationship is most important; build trust, know what they actually need (maybe you are offering google rankings and what the company needs is to manage their ppc campaign more effectively), for a business owner it's frustrating to hear a pitch for a product they have no need for.

Andy,

Thank you for making this post. This information was right on time. I find it very valuable and it is going to help me out a ton. It's always great to have a small business owner in our midst willing to give us some "inside" information ;-)

Brandon

Alot of good advice here. Its great to remember some of these points as I feel alot of people forget them whilst being so caught up in the "sale".

My own two cents would be, if you are a rep, offer to take the owner to lunch. That way, again it reduces the tension of the pitch (Assuming it is something you can pitch in public and the place suits that sort of meeting of course!)
and keeps you both on the same level.

Even busy business owners have to eat, and if you put the offer across in the right way, arrange it in advance, arrive early and keep it local, there is a good chance they will say yes. (A much bigger chance than walking in and asking if you can pitch to them!)

It is also quite a quick route to getting to know the person and building a relationship. You find alot of the guards go down because of the setting. (The same as in an interview the most important time to gain an insight into the true personality of the interviewie is when the interview has officially finished and they relax whilst you walk them through the office to the exit. Asking questions at this point usually give a great insight!)

Lastly, there is the age old rule of reciprocity at work!.. You have given them something for free (the meal) and never underestimate the power of that simple fact. If they are in the market for what you sell, and you do a good job selling it, that simple change of setting combined with the rule of reciprocity can make all the difference!

(Its worked on me!)

Great information and comments. Thanks for sharing.

Andy thats really good advice. I own an offline business and there are so many opportunities for IM'ers there, so long as they are not trying to rip people off. I've also had the experience of people offering hugely inflated prices to do very simple things online which I can do for nothing in five minutes.

Most of my colleagues have paid large sums of money to have static, boring 5 page websites built that don't even rank, as they aren't optimised for local searches. Mine cost me $10 hosting and is the first or second site for every one of my local business keywords and has resulted in a lot of good business.

I think there is an absolute fortune to be made setting up business websites for offline businesses with maintenance and also setting newletters with autoresponders, already filled with content. I've thought of doing this myself but just don't have the time.

You point out about how they talk to, and treat other staff which is really important! You can be sure that my receptionist is going to comment on how you presented and interacted with staff so it matters.

The idea of a presentation folder showing some well presented brochures and samples is also important so they can see what they are getting. And also asking the client what they are trying to achieve, most people know they want more business, or sales, but exactly who is their customer, how does that customer shop or search and what action do they want them to take?

Until those questions are answered it's hard to design the project. So start with the end in mind if you want to do a good job, don't assume you know the clients needs till you've listened to them.

But yes, there really is a fortune to made here!

Andy,

Thanks for sharing! Some truly helpful pointers here.

Hi John,

The only way to work with a SBO is to really take a step back and look that what they need to grow their business. Not from the point of view as a product or service, but as a partner.

An SBO don't have the deep pockets or heavy resources as a multi-national, so they need to partner with people who can help them increase their business. Not only fast, but consistently.

That is one of the secrets to working this niche.

Thanks,

Andy

Darrel,

Thanks, I hope this provides some insight into the mind of SBO's

Thanks,

Andy

Hi Andy

Thanks for sharing your advice and offering your help. I too operate an offline business but it's to do with Direct Mail Order and information publishing, so any other advice you have is most appreciative.

Hey Waterways2K8

It sounds like you are in an excellent position to market into the online marketplace. With the direct mail business you already has, you should be offering your direct marketing business to internet marketers working in the offline business world.

I would recommend your reposition a part of your direct mail business to JV with IM offering offline services.

In addition, you can use your information publishing division to offer PLR material for IM's in this niche.

I'm sure you can find a lot of IM's here at WF that would be interested.

Hope this helps,

Thanks,

Andy

You are sitting on a goal mine IMO :-)

Offer your services to IM working in the offline market to create this same information for offline business owners.

Thanks,

Andy