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October, 2004
 
In this Issue:
 
You Gotta Believe
The Sales Presentation - Prepare yourself Mentally
The New Home Owner - Your Best Source of New Business
 
 
 
 
You gotta believe
 
 "You must believe in yourself if you want to succeed." How many times have you heard these words?  Do you understand what they mean? And are you a believer in the power of positive thinking?
 
If you don't truly believe you can accomplish a particular task, you are doomed to failure from the start.  Just like any building project, you must have a foundation.  The foundation for making your dreams come true is holding the belief that you can accomplish what you set out to do.
 
Volumes of books and articles have been written about the need to believe in yourself. Self confidence and belief in yourself is the first requisite to great undertakings. There will be challenges to face and changes to make in your life, and it is up to you to accept them.
 
Constantly keep yourself headed in the right direction for you.It may not be easy at times, but in those times of struggle you will find a stronger sense of who you are.So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities, remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be. Because the challenges and changes will only help you to find the goals that you know are meant to come true for you.
 
In the movie "The Edge"  an airplane accident stranded Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin in the Alaskan wilderness. Their only tool for survival was Hopkins photographic memory of facts and articles he had read about survival and the Alaskan wilderness. While trying to make their way back to a base camp, Anthony Hopkins uses this knowledge to survive the ordeal and deal with living off the land.  In one scene, the two men were being stalked by a killer bear and the only way to survive was to kill the bear with whatever weapons could be fashioned from their surroundings.  Alec Baldwin succumbed to a state of despair and futility not believing the bear could be defeated. Anthony Hopkins, on the other hand, chastised Baldwin telling him he MUST BELIEVE! making him repeat over and over the phrase, " If another man can do it, so can I!" - louder " If another man can do it, so can I!" louder, - " If another man can do it, so can I!" - and louder, - " If another man can do it, so can I!" 
 
Needless to say both men were victorious and destroyed the bear and continued their trek until the objective of getting to the base camp was achieved.
 
The point of this scene was, if you believe you can, you can.
 
When things become frustrating and results appear impossible, continue to believe in yourself and you will find the answer!

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
Norman Vincent Peale

 

 

The Sales Presentation - Prepare Yourself Mentally

In the July issue of the Hangout, we discussed the use of the philosophy WIFM - What's In It For Me - and the various components of a successful sales presentation. This month we will discuss the value of preparing yourself mentally for the task of cold calling on prospective customers. With the assumption that you do believe in yourself and the course of action you have chosen, the following guidelines will help make your task a little easier and less troublesome.

Prepare yourself mentally 
 
Be Presentable
 
First impressions are extremely important.  If you are perceived as slovenly, carelessly dressed, or a visible threat to a prospect, you won't get to "first base." 
 
In today's world, it isn't necessary to wear a coat and tie when soliciting but then again cut-offs and tee shirts don't go very far to promote customer confidence either. You are a drycleaner offering to care for your customers clothes and to keep them looking their best, so wouldn't you want to look your best when promoting your services?
 
A nicely pressed pair of slacks or shirt and tie or crisp blouse or shirt will put your prospect subconsciously at ease thereby removing immediate negative impressions. After all, you want all encounters to be positive and upbeat at all times so why take the chance of creating a negative picture with your attire. 
 
Be careful, overdressing can be distracting also.  If you are overdressed for the occasion, the prospect may distracted by your appearance and fail to hear your presentation. The point here is dress respectfully without drawing negative attention to yourself creating a positive first impression.
 
Be Comfortable
 
Being comfortable is important, but don't take it to mean that you can wear your lounging pajamas!  Be comfortable means wear clothes that you are comfortable wearing.  Wear garments for the season,  If it is a hot summer's day, a pair or bermuda shorts and nice shirt may be very appropriate, light weight slacks or pants will be better, but during those hot humid summer days you may be forced to dress a little more casually.
 
It is best to wear conservative colors, but dress for your personality.  Just remember, you are trying to appeal to the largest number or prospective.  You won't please everyone all the time, but the goal is take away as many negative thoughts as possible.
 
Be Positive About Yourself
 
Self confidence is not a bad thing!  Don't be overbearing or self-centered, but be confident with your abilities and the services you are offering.  When talking to a prospect, convey your desire to service their needs, tell why YOUR service is more beneficial than that of the competition, and how you are the person capable of getting the job done.
 
Don't THINK something can be accomplished, KNOW that it can and react accordingly. Don't promise what can't be done, but come up with alternatives solutions.
 
Keep a Positive Mental Attitude -PMA - about yourself and your product at all times, and this attitude will be portrayed to your prospect.
 
Be Prepared For Rejection
 
Not everyone is going to want your service.  In fact, you will hear the word "no" so often, you may come to believe the word "yes" has been removed from the English language. It hasn't!  One "yes" will be worth a thousand "no's".
 
Believe me, it is not as bad as I am making it sound, but some days things can become very discouraging, but nothing will equal the high you experience when you begin adding customers to your delivery service. In many cases, you may have to repeatedly talk to a person to convince them to try your service, possibly the time is not just right for them, or you have not yet earned their confidence, or they just have no desire to change drycleaners at this time. There are many different reasons why a prospect won't try you today, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. THE PERSON WHO FLAT OUT REJECTED YOU TODAY, CAN BECOME YOUR CUSTOMER TOMORROW.
 
You will get customers on your first try so don't think everyone you approach will have to be approached again and again.  Sales and solicitations respond to the numbers.  Keep trying and sooner or later the laws of average will apply and you will begin getting customers when you least expect them and, in many cases, with very little effort. 
 
Be Persistent
 
Being persistent does not mean being a pain in the ... You should not accept the first or even second "no" when soliciting your services, but you should know when to quit.  Many times, you will not get past the first "no". You services may not be wanted, you picked an inopportune time to discuss drycleaning services, or the prospect may have just gotten off the phone with a telemarketer.  Whatever the reason may be, some people flat out don't want to talk to you or hear what you have to say.  When this happens, politely say thank you and leave.  The occasion may arise when another encounter with this person may be desirable and you want to be sure your last contact was favorable.
 
On the other hand, a prospect may reject your sales approach, but will be willing to listen to what you have to say and even though they have said "no" to your first attempt, ongoing conversation and benefits will cause them to change their mind.
 
If your first contact with a prospect was favorable but did not produce the desirable results, record the encounter and make a written note to return in a week to ten days and try again.  This scene can go on for several times before the prospect tells you there is positively no interest on their part for your service or, more than likely, you will receive an order and begin a relationship that will last week after week as you acquire another customer. 
 
Prepare yourself mentally and physically for the selling process and you will soon find that selling is not really as difficult as you were led to believe.  In fact, you will find that with the right attitude selling your services is really very easy and quite rewarding personally and financially. 
 
 
The New Homeowner
 
Find and solicit the new home owner or resident and your prospecting ratios will skyrocket. New residents are eager for services but rarely know where to find them.  When you become aware a new resident is in your area, contact them immediately.
Don't delay! New residents are rarely established in a community and are receptive to any offers of service or conveniences that make the transition easier. If personal contact fails, leave your sales literature containing contact information and any offers you may be promoting at the time at the residence.  Keep active records of these addresses and return regularly at different times until you find someone at home.Each time you stop, leave a business card or some other identifying literature  where the resident is apt to find it, yet without advertising to the rest of the world that there is no one at home.
 
Finding new residents is relative easy, the best method is observation: 
New resident lists organized by zip code can also be purchased from national and local marketing companies, Welcome Wagon, and other resident marketing services, but usually that  information is dated and by the time you contact the prospect one or two months may have gone by and local associations will have already been formed. 
 
I am not saying that these marketing methods are ineffective, but if you keep your eyes and ears open and are constantly aware of the goings on in your market you will achieve better results and save yourself a ton of money. Using new home owner lists are   most effective when applying mail or telemarketing programs.
 
 

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C. E. Hill

The Mobile Dry Cleaning Manual

www.themobiledrycleaner.com

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