Dazzle This Diva – April 29th Edition
Once again, here’s your opportunity to not only send a sales and marketing related question to me BUT TO ALSO leave your opinion or suggestion, helpful hint or resource for other people who have posted a question!
This week’s question is from Erica Widdup. She asks:
“How can you quickly establish credibility with clients who are unfamiliar
with your company when you have a line of products that are more personal
(like skin care and cosmetics)?“
Have your say! How can Erica connect with clients?
Share your thoughts and advice in the comment section.
Help us Help You!
We’re running low on questions, so send your own Dazzle This Diva question to:
info@salesdivas.com and don’t forget to include a link to your website! A website will allow people to find out more about your company and better answer your question. And, hey, it’s free advertising!
Hi Erica;
Great question. I too am in the rockin’ hot spa & beauty industry. Skin care and cosmetics is a businessfraught with exagerated claims, hype’ confusion and just plain BS. It is no wonder consumers are skeptical and somewhat reluctant to try yet another “wonderful product”. Are you familiar with Paula Begoun? Paula wrote a book called Don’t Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me. She is a great educational resource for our business. Paula’s large research facility rips products apart to find out if the claims made by the manufacturer or marketing firms have any basis in reality. You get the scoop on competitor info and an arsenal of insider education related to our industry. You must be perceived as a professional to be credible in this business. Learn, learn, learn learn and learn. Most consumers don’t really care about the company as long as they are not testing on animals or employing small children in sweat shops. They will care about whether or not there are parabens in your products and… by the way what’s a paraben? Once you’ve put to rest their safety concerns… how will your products improve their lives? If you carry an anti-aging line what is the emotion that is prompting your potential customer to want such a product? You will establish credibility and develop client loyalty when you learn to meet their emotional needs. There are different degrees of quality amongst product lines for sure but your product is no better than another company’s products of the same calibre. You must give them a reason to purchase from you rather than someone else and don’t worry about trying to convince your customer you have the best product on the market. With today’s technology you can get terrific beauty products from many sources. Don’t sell your customer a product. Position yourself as a professional and satisfy their emotional needs and you will have the credibility you seek.
p.s. Have you branded yourself yet? Susan Metcalfe
Skin Deep Spa
Comment by Susan Metcalfe — April 29, 2009 @ 2:37 pm
TESTIMONIALS!!!!!
And references, referral programs, anything that is coming from people doing (and LOVING doing) business with you. Priceless!
Comment by Kathryn — April 30, 2009 @ 11:32 am
Erica,
This is exactly what I teach my clients (in fact, I come from a skin care background)!
My first suggestion is to focus on your expertise, rather than the product line. Your potential clients dont want ’skin care’ – they want what ’skin care’ can give them – a healthy, glowing appearance, freedom from public ridicule (depending on the type of skin care), that kind of thing.
Establish yourself as the person that can help them achieve their desired result – THEN share hw your products/services actually work for them.
Always focus on benefits – particularly in skin care. So often they won’t know why/how it works – and they won’t care, as long as it does work.
You said “quickly”, and deending on your definition, here are some suggestions:
If you’ve absolutely never met before – have a solid elevator pitch that includes a testimonial/story with a focus on achieving the desired benefit. the testimonial will provide a higher level of credibility in a stranger’s eyes.
If they’ve heard of you, but you’ve never met before, your website and/or special “skin care report” should be working overtime to connect your expertise to their desired outcome. And it goes without saying that you need to have a newsletter/ezine that continues to touch your potential customers on autopilot. But make sure there’s solid content – not just coupons or product reviews. Content should be focused (I feel like a broken record here) on the desired results of your clients – with a mention of how YOU (and your products) can help them make it happen.
I hope that helps!
-Lisa
Home Party Solution
The Online Marketing System for Direct Sales Super Stars
http://www.homepartysolution.com
Comment by Lisa Robbin Young — May 2, 2009 @ 8:45 pm