Marketing tips for a beginner?

Question

I just joined a marketing business. I am 21 years old and have had no experience in this business. I recently went to a "business after hours" meeting held by the Chamber of Commerce to promote, but realized I may have been talking too much as people started to look around and seem to want me to stop. How can I peak their interest and not say too much to bore them??? Thank you!!

Answer 1

Congratulations in your new business! Before you can do a presentation of your business you need to establish a relationship with the prospects. Before they can hear you, they need to know, like and trust you.

You might want to get ready before you market yourself and your business. In order to sell your product or service you need to sell you!

Before you go to a networking meeting, make sure you craft your short message (elevator speach) to introduce yourself. Formula should be My name is....I help (your ideal client) who struggle with (state the problem you can solve with your product or service) and are looking for (your product or service). My company is ...........I/we offer...........(keep it brief and clear)

Another good starting practice is to define your ideal client. Even though direct selling companies train their reps by the "everyone is your client" you need to select at least 5 main caracteristics of your ideal client. What problem they have that your product/service will solve? How much money they make? Age, gender, location.

Once you make your list, you are increasing the chances to find the people that are going to want to know more about your business.

Important! Have a set of qualifying questions to ask people you know. When you ask questions, people tend to listen because you are caring about them. When you talk all you know about your business, people don't pay attention. The conversation is all about you, why would they care?

In a networking event your goal should be to know certain amount of people to be able for follow up with them later on.

Recommended reading: Get Clients Now, Guerrilla Marketing. Beach Money.

Answer 2

When I have to speak to a group I usually give them a little history of my company and how long we have been serving the public and then I fallow up with an outline of what I have to offer. Frankly you should have some prior knowledge of the folks that you are pitching to. You really aren't going to sell very much if you are trying to sell lock and lock containers to a bunch of guys interested in going fishing. On the other hand you aren't going to sell a lot of fishing rods to a bunch of folks that work in the kitchen and that is their passion.

As you are new to sales I am going to tell you something that many sales people do not know and because they don't their sales show it. When you pitch a product to people and you give them a firm price. SHUT UP don't say another word for the next person that speaks is the buyer of the product. I don't care if it takes them  full five minutes to speak let them be the ones to speak first and not you.