Sales from the EDGE
Back Issue #012

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Sales from the EDGE Issue #012

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Sales from the EDGE
Breaking Through the "White Noise" Of Selling on the Net
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From time to time, the EDGE publishes important updates that
you need to SELL on the Net. Most "latest and greatest" Net
marketing & sales developments simply waste our time. Today's 
"hot new technology" is tomorrow's "whatever happened to?"

Occasionally, though, something comes along that STICKS. It
might NOT even be NEW... but we need to be reminded. When
that happens, the EDGE cuts through all the "white noise" of
Web marketing.  It explains the issue and outlines clearly
how YOU can best take advantage of it.

SALES FROM THE EDGE is sent ONLY to SiteSell product owners.
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November 22, 2000
Issue #012
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

o SITESELL NEWS

  1) Site Build It!... Coming Soon to a Computer Near You!

  2) Precious Nuggets

o ARTICLES

  1) Turn Lemons into Lemonade
     Sure... But Do You Go Out LOOKING for the Lemons?

  2) Bombarded from a Million Directions?... DO ONE THING!

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>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SITESELL NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


>-News-
---1---
>-News-

Site Build It!... Coming Soon to a Computer Near You!

You most likely have NOT heard about our upcoming launch
yet, "Site Build It!." It's the biggest and most important
project that we've ever done.

It goes way beyond books -- it provides all the TOOLS
necessary to develop a strong Net-based income stream,
whether you are starting from scratch, or already have an
online store or other kind of sales site.

It's been a gigantic development... almost TOO big.  As I
recounted to our partners-in-sales, the 5 Pillar Affiliates,
just the other day...

---------------------------------------------
I was sharing the sun room with a quiet glass
of Glenmorangie this afternoon, the November
sunset weakly straining through low grey
clouds.  For some reason, I thought about a
cartoon I saw as a child...

There's this little character merrily walking
along on a ceiling. Suddenly, a big
voice-over booms...

"Hey, it's impossible to walk on ceilings!"

Whereupon the poor little character plummets
to the floor.

Good thing no one told us that a little
company like SiteSell could never pull off a
huge project like Site Build It!   :-)
---------------------------------------------

Phew!

If we had known just how huge this project was, we might
have thought twice about starting it.  It has been, to say
the least, all-consuming.

Now that its release is imminent, I can hardly believe that
"we ate the whole thing."  Has the effort been worth it? Of
course!...  We're about to release the ultimate ebusiness-
building tool.

For a sneak preview of the site...

http://buildit.sitesell.com/



>-News-
---2---
>-News-

Precious Nuggets

Barry Sheppard (info@britishweb.net) is a published
British author who recently bought both MYSS! and MYKS!.

----------------------------------------------
If I find one nugget of useful info in a book
I am happy. With MYSS! and MYKS!, though, I
think I am at the rock face chipping away at
the main gold seam. I have even learnt from
the glossary.  To say that I am happy with
them is an understatement.

I am ecstatic.
----------------------------------------------

I must say that I have a special reason for liking this
quote.  As an avid investor in junior mining stocks, his
nugget/rock face/gold analogy struck a positive "vein."
(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Have you MINED all the "Make Your _____ Sell!" series yet?

Make Your Site SELL!
http://myss.sitesell.com/

Make Your Knowledge Sell!
http://myks.sitesell.com/

Make Your Price Sell!
http://myps.sitesell.com/

Make Your Words Sell!
http://myws.sitesell.com/

P.S. Analogies like the nugget/rock face/gold one above are
a powerful, CREATIVE way to make points.  My favorite book
to help me do this in my copywriting is...

The Analogy Book of Related Words
Your Secret Shortcut to Power Writing
Author/Editor: Selma Glasser
Publisher: Communication Creativity
ISBN 0-918880-23-8

Analogies, metaphors, and similes all spark copy with
originality.  The right ones make a connection with your
reader, in the same way that "nugget/rock face/gold" clicked
with me.  In the fourth volume of Make Your Words Sell!, I
reveal my entire library of offbeat reference books that are
so vital to my copywriting.

More info about MYWS!'s four volumes...

1) The Main volume
The "master book" shows you how to write a Web site that
sells your products and services.  This 309 page book has
taken its place beside "Make Your Site SELL!" as "best of
breed."  Together, they cost under US$40!


The master volume is accompanied by three others...

2) Make Your Words Sell!... For E-mail 
Writing an ad or an article for an e-zine? Struggling to
craft a follow-up autoresponder to nail down your
prospective customer?  Do you publish your own e-zine?  Or
maybe you just want to improve the persuasiveness and
professionalism of your daily e-mails?  This 76-page volume
has all the answers to all your questions on how to write
persuasive e-mail that sells.


3) Make Your Words Sell!... For Your Online Store 
We cover unique, ground-breaking territory. The final
61-page booklet is pure gold.  If you have an online store,
or are thinking about starting one, it alone is MORE than
worth "the price of admission."


4) Words that Trigger Automatic Response
When, where, WHY and HOW to use the English language's
strongest words and phrases, grouped according to purpose
and effect.  This 27-page guide is full of vital words and
phrases that trigger automatic response to your sales message.

And surprise!...

"Free" is not at the top of the list.  All the hackneyed,
overused words are out.  This is your USER'S MANUAL to a
sales-generating vocabulary.

I even include my entire, personal copywriting reference
library... weird books that help me develop a sharp metaphor
that fits, add the "just right" zinger quote, create a
clever simile that adds punch -- I could go on and on about
just this library. These amazing, unknown books will push
your writing to yet a higher level.

For more information...

http://myws.sitesell.com/

Remember, though... as an owner of SiteSell products, you
are entitled to order at a discount through the SiteSell
Discount Directory...

http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html


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>>                THIS ISSUE'S ARTICLE

-------
---1--- 
-------
Turn Lemons into Lemonade
Sure... But Do You Go Out LOOKING for the Lemons?

Last issue (way back on a sunny day in August!), we covered
the fine art of BEING your customer...

http://www.sitesell.com/edge/backissues-011.html

Shortly after that, I received an extraordinary e-mail 
from a customer.  Before I get into that letter, let me 
back up a bit.  

It turns out that Janice (adored wife who administers
SiteSell and also tracks failed orders) had sent this e-mail
to a customer who had trouble ordering...

------------------------------------------
Hi Paul,

I noticed that you had difficulty placing
your order overnight for Make Your Words
Sell!.  It appears the server for our credit
card clearing company was down and for this
reason we could not process your order.

If you wish you may try again today as their
technical glitch appears to have been
resolved.

I invite you to use our discount page since
you have already purchased a product from
us...

>>http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html

I also noticed that you ordered Make Your
Knowledge Sell! without the discount.  I will
refund 10% from the price you paid.

I thank you for your attempts to order MYWS!
and apologize for the bother.

Best regards,
Janice
------------------------------------------

-----SIDEBAR-----
I've cut out the special sig file that everyone uses when
they e-mail customers, since we covered that in the last
issue of the EDGE.  But it was there.  :-)
-----SIDEBAR-----

So what did Janice do?  Sure, she picked up a failed order
and encouraged the customer to try again, after being sure
that the glitch was fixed.  She's supposed to do that.

But then she went way above and beyond...

She noticed that the customer had earlier incorrectly
overpaid for a different product.  She automatically
credited the difference.

Would the customer ever have noticed?  Not likely.

If he had, would he have blamed us?  No.

So why bother?  Because it's the natural thing to do, IF you
are totally consumed with your customer's well being.

And that's the "takeaway lesson" here...

You, and every one in your company (including your spouse,
if s/he's involved!), has to be infused with a passion for
customer DELIGHT, not mere SATISFACTION.

Not just your support staff, either...

Your product development team.

Sales.

Marketing. 

Everyone.

You'll know you've got it when you go out of your way to
find and fix problems.  And you know what happens when you
embrace this "DELIGHT your customers" attitude?

Good things happen.  Here's how Paul replied...


------------------------------------------
Ken; (With apologies to Janice)

For years, I was an out-of-print and rare
bookdealer.

"So what?"  You say. "What has that got to do
with me?"

Everything...

You see, a bookdealer handles hundreds of
thousands of books. He learns a little about
a lot of things. Authors, titles, and
subjects, run through his hands, making
instant impressions and telling wondrous
stories in just a brief moment. Soon, he
develops the ability to "feel" greatness in a
single glance...to know, without question, he
holds a treasure of a lifetime...

That ability has never left me.

In all that I do, I'm a seeker of excellence.
Those rare times I find it -in any field-
make up for the vast illusions and imitations
that pass before my eyes. When I find it,
suddenly, the void is filled, the world is
new, and I say: "I'm not alone."

Ken, I'm a hard buyer. I pass up buying
products just because I don't like the
service. And it doesn't take much to shut me
down. I have probably lost out on some great
items because the marketing was offensive. I
have a trunk load of free ebooks on Internet
marketing; some are good, most are bad, a few
are just plain silly. You made me realize an
important truth:

Money is not an obstacle to buying. I will
pay whatever it takes, if the product is
first-rate, the marketing exciting and
motivating, and the service beyond
expectation.

Ken, your marketing is hype. Brilliant hype I
might add. What sets it apart is the message
that rises from it when I consider its value.
You infuse your message with believability. I
trust you. You got me. Unlike that other
fellow <> who
tries to copy your style, (I never believed a
word HE said, ) there is honesty embedded in
the hype. I could tell. I fully expected you
to deliver on your promise.

BOY, DID YOU DELIVER!

Only those who experience the worst can
appreciate the best. And that makes all the
difference. Just from reading your marketing
message, I realize the many mistakes I made
in my website and email marketing. But I vow
this: I will follow your advice and commit to
it's spirit.

So now to the matter at hand. I was a bit
annoyed at not being able to download your
last book. But here is the truth:

I WOULD HAVE PUNCHED THAT DAMN SUBMIT BUTTON
AS MANY TIMES AS NECESSARY TO GET YOUR BOOK!

(So O.K., not really! But... you would have
gotten a phone call from me today to place
the order.)

Thank you, Ken, for your precious gift. No,
not for the content of your outstanding book,
nor its ridiculous price, or its devoted
attention to usefulness and service. Thank
you for your EXCELLENCE.

Paul Bynum

Paul R. Bynum-Director
Faucette School of Real Estate
Licensed by S.B.P.C.E. #003
Website: http://www.realestate-school.net
------------------------------------------

Did Janice win a customer for us?  Nope.  Seems he would have
bought the next day anyway.  (Of course, if this was a
customer who was PEEVED, she certainly would have "won one.")

Did she make us any money?  Actually, she cost us a few
dollars (plus her time) in the short term.

Did she make a customer DELIGHTED?  Absolutely.

And THAT, dear reader, results in a lifetime customer.  One
who'll tell several friends, who in turn will become
lifetime customers.

What Janice did does not show up in this quarter's P&L
statement or balance sheet.  But chalk up one more big asset
for SiteSell... a raving fan.

--

I happened to think about that incident because I'm reading
an excellent book right now.  Written by Ron Zemke and
Tom Connellan, it's called "e-service"...

----------------
e-service
by Ron Zemke
AMACOM Books
ISBN: 0-8144-0606-8
----------------

In it, they state the obvious...

"Customer loyalty measured in repeat purchases and referrals
is the key driver of profitability for online businesses."

But what's the key to "customer loyalty?"  No, it's not
customer SATISFACTION!  They show some fascinating data that
proves "satisfied customers" are "at risk" of defecting to
competitors.  In other words, mere SATISFACTION falls short.

The key is to DELIGHT customer.  Score 10 out of 10 on
customer satisfaction surveys.  Because loyalty, as measured
by the likelihood of repeat business, shoots up
exponentially among "highly satisfied" customers.

So... DELIGHT your customers. 

But here's the CRITICAL point... 

DON'T delight your customers because you'll make more money.
Yes, that *IS* the end result.  Only one problem though...

... you can't fake this.  You have to build DELIGHT from the
ground up.  The foundation must be your ATTITUDE...

Care. Be obsessed with your customer's success and happiness.

That attitude creates situations like the one above, over
and over.  Here's the twist, though...

This "GROUND UP" approach has to come from the "TOP DOWN." 
The #1 person at your company must infuse everyone with this
attitude.  Or it simply sputters.

In the article at the URL just below, Dick Lee talks about
"adopting customer-centric values"  and "instilling
customer-centric values throughout the organization"...

http://www.crmguru.com/content/features/lee01.html

The author is a CRM consultant to large companies. Some
firms literally spend hundreds of thousands on outside
consultants and specialized software to manage customers.

Yet most fail to develop customer DELIGHT (that's why you
always see the same companies (ex., DELL) used as positive
examples over and over).  For example...

High-powered, super-expensive semi-intelligent software
continues to spit back useless, off-target answers to
customer questions.  And that gets them MAD.  

Why?  Why would big companies do that?

Because the "ground up" has not been built from the "top
down."  There's no true commitment to the customer.  If
there were, someone would take the time to check what their
customers are seeing, and how they're feeling about the
responses they get.  

And why would they do that?  Why SHOULD they do that?

Because they care!

Instead, they look for quick solutions to "handle the CRM
issue.  Hey, if it costs $100,000, we must care, right?"

Nope.

Follow this simple advice... CARE.  Soon, you'll be "looking
for trouble."  When that happens, you'll be ahead of those
high-budgeted dotcoms.

You'll be building lifetime customers who LOVE what you do,
and HOW you do it.



-------
---2--- 
-------
Bombarded from a Million Directions?... DO ONE THING!

How does a little company like SiteSell complete a project
like Site Build It!?...

Total focus on a single project.

A common question that I receive is how I get so much done
in a day.  That makes me conclude that many people would
like to get more done... Or, to be more exact, they'd like
to get more IMPORTANT stuff done.

The Net can become your personal "distract-o-matic," ready
to send you off to 100 new sites, each of which could make a
huge difference in your life, right?   It's so easy to get
caught up... read every e-zine, spend hours and hours on
low-yield marketing techniques, chatting, etc.

If you find that "fun" and that's enough, then that's fine.
But if you want to build a successful, profitable business,
it's not.

If you find yourself not getting the IMPORTANT stuff done,
here's my #1 time management principle (I don't have a #2)...

Pick your most important project and sweep everything else
aside.  Break it down into a list of "to do" steps.  Each
morning, prioritize those steps.  Decide on which ones need
to be DONE or ADVANCED, by you or by others.

If the step is to be done by you, either DO IT or ADVANCE it
closer to completion.  If it is to be done by someone else,
follow-up with that person.  Set deadlines.

If other things fall by the wayside, so be it.  You can't
do it all.  It's not possible.

But you *CAN* do what's important.  If that sounds too simple,
try it.  It's the only way we could ever have delivered a
product that is as comprehensive as Site Build It!...

http://buildit.sitesell.com/

--

P.S. Just a quick reminder re: purchases...  See the Discount
Directory below?  Please remember... visit each product's
site, but buy via the Discount Directory.  Of course, if you
forget and buy it at full price, just let us know.  We'll
refund the difference.  With a smiley.   :-)

Make Your Site SELL!
http://myss.sitesell.com/

Make Your Knowledge Sell!
http://myks.sitesell.com/

Make Your Price Sell!
http://myps.sitesell.com/

Make Your Words Sell!
http://myws.sitesell.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SiteSell Discount Directory~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html

Please bookmark this page -- it's the only page that you
will EVER need to buy SiteSell products at an owners-only
discount. For owners of SiteSell products only, it provides
discounts on all products, except for the Electronic Version
of MYSS! -- if I reduced the price on it, I'd have to pay
*you* to buy it!  ;-)

SiteSell Discount Directory
http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html

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Back issues available at...
>> http://www.sitesell.com/edge/backissues.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Contact info: E-mail us at support@sitesell.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Ken Evoy, M.D., 
President, SiteSell.com
(c) copyright 2000 SiteSell.com