Years back when as a greenhorn I entered into business I could never understand how sometimes a business partner get advertising at 40-50% off the normal rates. I thought then, that the profits roll in when you sell high enough. But the problem with selling high enough is that unless you successfully create an air of hype and exclusivity around your products or services your competitors might give the same quality at a bit lower price.

Sensibly, the best thing was to get down on knowing the best way to buy cheapest without compromising quality. There are 3 key areas where everyone ought to apply the principle of brilliant buying;

a) Advertisement: These days advertising is about the costliest means of marketing. When I wasn’t conversant with the idea of brilliant buying I always paid advertising media the full advert rates as stated in their rate cards. I thought they were non-negotiable. I must have been seriously naive. To push a product permanently into the minds of TV viewers and radio listeners we spent awfully so much that we later couldn’t afford to use advertising. Good enough that got us into thinking of more effective and low cost ways of getting people to do business with us.

Still if you are a business owner who would love to put your products/services on air it will pay to insist stubbornly on paying not more than 50-60% of stated rates. One way is to contact the advert section stating that you are willing to pay a certain percentage of stated rates ( 50% or 60% ) AND request that if their organization has a vacant ad space unsold they could put yours at the rate you specified.. Better still discuss with the media bodies in your area. Everything is negotiable in business.

b) Raw Materials: If you are in the manufacturing business or hospitality / food business where you’ll have to buy raw materials for conversion into products I daresay it is very important that you buy smartly. Buying smartly will entail hard negotiating to get the best prices available. Enquire if bulk buying comes with a sizeable discount. Enter into special private labeling deals or distributorships where you can get the products or raw materials at 30-60-% off. Most times you’d be surprised at how much you can reduce the cost of buying things needed in business.

c) Variable expenses: When Young and growing most companies keep a tight rein on their expenses but something happens when they grow fat and big. Money is then spent without justification. Money should not be spent to wasteful projects to assuage the feelings of any one person in the organization.

Brilliant spending and smart buying decisions will give your business a leg-up and ensure that your business becomes even more profitable.

If you have comments, questions or enquiries based on this article don’t hesitate to use the comment box below. We’ll try to answer or reply all questions.

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1. 3 Keys To Brilliant Selling in Business

In Business, selling is the single most important thing to keep the company alive. Whether it’s products you are selling or services you’ll only remain in business if you exchange enough of them for money.

There is something about selling that costs many businesses profits they otherwise should have made. That is failing to sell brilliantly. Brilliant selling is a combination of selling strategies aimed at reducing the cost incurred when you sell your products and services thus maximizing profits accrued from the selling process.

The selling process of any competitive business firm should be such that only a reasonable cost is incurred in order to sell. Here are three keys to selling brilliantly and profitably;

a) Focus It: In an earlier business article I stressed the importance of Focus Marketing. In trying to get consumers for your goods and services it is important that you do not make the mistake of trying to spread out too far and try to reach everybody. The cost you incur in doing that will make whatever sales you get insignificant. Unless you have a marketing budget in the billions you’d be digging a hole for your business trying to reach everybody.

Focusing your selling is one brilliant way of reducing your costs and maximizing your profits. If you are selling baby wears and products for example, maybe it’s time to get your team to come up with a cost effective way of targeting the real market for your goods-mothers. Focusing your marketing and selling on the target audience would pay you better both in the short and long term run. That is why most mail order businesses prefer to rent or buy mailing lists containing exactly the kind of people their products are meant for rather than send out mails randomly.

b) Attract Bees To the Honey: Attraction is a powerful force in business. Brilliant businessmen know how to attract prospective customers to their business. To attract people you’ll have to come up with an irresistible offer or give some valuable offer away for free. The free thing still works if you know how to come up with a unique offer. When I launched one of my information products on the net, teaching job seekers how to get the jobs they want I also packaged an entirely free version of the e-book for interested visitors. Thousands of that free e-book was requested and downloaded and quite a reasonable number followed up to buy the main thing. Though that was on a small scale, you’ll do your business a lot of good if you come up with a low cost way of attracting thousands of prospective customers or clients to your business. Your next headache will then be how to convert and hold them as loyal customers after that.

c) Build exclusivity: When you sell brilliantly you’ll need to learn that one magical way of getting thrice the profit of your products through exclusivity. Creating mega-hyped sense of exclusivity around their products and services is what makes companies sell a product or service at more than 1000% of what it ordinarily can be sold for. Take the example of the coveted 36 Ferrari GTOs, the only ones that were ever built between 1962 and 1964. There is a once-in-every five years Moet & Chandon Tour to celebrate these rare breed of cars. That is not message. The message is that these cars became so much hyped and famed that according to Men’s Vogue magazine each was worth up to $20 million. That is the power of hype and exclusivity. The degrees of exclusivity varies and no matter what business you are in you can come up with some form of an attractive crowd pulling exclusive offer.

A brilliant selling or marketing strategy for your company will be better off with a mix of the 3 keys .And don’t forget, to sell brilliantly is to minimize costs attached to selling and marketing and maximizing profits from sales.

If you have comments, questions or enquiries based on this article don’t hesitate to use the comment box below. We’ll try to answer or reply all questions.

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