Sales Guru Brian Tracy always has great advice about effectively communicating with clients and prospects, and this week we wanted to share one of his particularly helpful tips! 

We're frequently telling you to operate from the standpoint of a consultant rather than a salesperson, but Tracy has another analogy to consider! He suggests that you think of yourself as a doctor, and your prospects-SMBs that need to market themselves on the Web-are your patients! 

"Professionals who sell in the way that doctors treat patients find that their sales activities proceed far more smoothly and result in better sales in less time," Tracy writes, explaining that medical professionals follow a simple three-step process when they! 're treating a patient: Examination, Diagnosis and Prescription. You c an also use these steps when you're speaking with prospects! Here's how: 

Examination: You know all about this part! Ask your prospect plenty of open-ended questions to find out what they need from their Web presence. You'll identify key features of your Web solution that can benefit the prospect's business, which will help you move on to the second phase... 

Diagnosis: In this phase, Tracy writes, you'll repeat what your prospect has told you and "double-check to be sure that the symptoms that you had detected were the real symptoms being experienced by the patient." Simply echo your "patient's" response by saying something like, "So it sounds like the problem is..." or "What I am hearing is that your business needs..." and always be sure to confirm by asking, "Is that correct?" Listen to your prospect's response to correct ! any miscommunications along the way. 

Prescription: Now you'll take everything you've learned during your conversation with the prospect and use that information to build value in setting an appointment. Explain to your prospect that your Web solution includes tools that allow businesses just like theirs to accomplish a goal or resolve some issue they just discussed. Next, tell them you'd like to set an appointment with one of your Product Specialists so they can interact with the technology first-hand. 

Try this approach next time you're out talking to prospective clients about your Web solution! It will be easier to understand their problems and thereby create value in what you have to offer! 
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Did you know...

According to Nielsen, online sales are expected to increase almost 200% between 2008 and 2012! Nielsen's David Wiesenfeld believes this is good news for smaller retailers, according to Mediapost! 

"From a marketing standpoint, the smaller/niche retailers can reap the benefits of an online presence. Consumers have far more control over what they are exposed to online versus offline. This offers smaller brands the opportunity to generate an online presence that is effectively larger than their big-brand counterparts are, while serving up compelling messages and undercutting leading brand prices." 

If you're an experienced WebCenter Owner, you know we've been saying this for years! A professional Web presence allows small- and medium-sized businesses everywhere to compete-and win against-larger companies. And because your Web solution is all-inclusive, businesses! will get everything they need to create the competitive Web presence that Wiesenfeld is talking about!