Category Archives: Uncategorized

Watch the short video below and learn exactly now to become a Master Networker and Communicator in your business community.

Small Business Networking is the key to generating lots more referrals and new customers!

Get your copy of this powerful, compelling and informative course by simply clicking on the link below NOW and start using this information to grow YOUR small business FASTER, and EASIER!

http://goo.gl/SvKhU4

If you have a question or need any additional information ..or you’d like to have Hal come and speak to your group…or find out more about his training/coaching… call 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com  

To subscribe to Hal’s FREE Weekly Articles and Videos, simply visit http://www.TheNetworkingNinja.com and sign up!

But FIRST…click on this link to get Hal’s amazing course.  http://goo.gl/SvKhU4

Happy Networking!

Small Business Marketing can be more effective if YOU are a great networker in your community.

FACT: Most people who think they are great networkers are actually only great socializers. There are 3 categories of networkers.  They are…

• Networking Ninjas
• Networking Normals
• Networking Nincompoops

Watch this short video and see which group YOU belong to!

PS.  Find FREE Small Business Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.HalColeman.com

To find out more about my coaching program, workshops and seminars, feel FREE call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com

SUBSCRIBE to my FREE Weekly Small Business Marketing Articles at http://www.HalColeman.com

The absolute best way to grow your small business is to get your customers to say great things about you to lots of other people in your community.

Watch the short video below and find out exactly how to make it happen!

I’d love to speak at your next company meeting, association meeting, banquet or convention!

PS.  Find FREE Small Business Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.HalColeman.com

To find out more about my coaching program, workshops and seminars, feel FREE call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com

One of my pest control coaching clients recently asked me, “Hal, what can I do about customers bailing out on me and going with another company for a cheaper price?”

I said, “Well…let me ask YOU a question…Do you have a dentist?  Would you bail out on your dentist and switch to another one if you could save a few dollars? What about your family doctor…would you bail and switch if you found a cheaper one? How about your mechanic?  Would you dump him for a cheaper mechanic?  What about your barber?”

His answer to each of those questions was emphatically “NO”.

I said, “So…why do you think people are quick to bail on their exterminator in order to save a few bucks?”

Here’s what I think:

• They have no RELATIONSHIP with the exterminator.
• They have not grown to KNOW, LOVE & TRUST the exterminator.
• They feel no sense of DEBT to the exterminator.
• They don’t see much VALUE in the exterminator.
• They don’t have much clue as to what the exterminator actually DOES FOR THEM.
• The exterminator hasn’t EDUCATED them properly.
• They view the exterminator as an EXPENDABLE ENTITY.

Most people would never think of dumping their dentist, doctor, mechanic, or hairdresser just to go with a cheaper price.   And it’s all because of the RELATIONSHIP.

We don’t normally dump people we know, love and trust…especially when they are taking care of us.

BOTTOM LINE:  If you will work harder to develop a knowing, loving and trusting relationship with your customers, you won’t get dumped for a cheaper price.  (When I owned my pest control company I was the most expensive company in Atlanta and I averaged double-digit growth for 18 years!)

Yes…I do realize there are exceptions…but for the most part…it is a FACT.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read this…and I hope you have a great day.

Hal

PS.  If you’d like to talk about having me as your personal coach and show you some dynamite ways to get more new customers, just give me a call at 770-993-0004 and let’s talk about some ways I might be able to help YOU achieve your goals this year!

Go to my website, http://www.HalColeman.com   and just scroll down the home page and read the testimonials from some of my clients.  Feel free to call any of them.  They will be happy to talk with you.

Small business marketing is a lot easier when you have your ducks in a row.  Hal Coleman shares his secret for getting YOUR ducks in a row NOW.  Watch this short video and see how.

I’d love to speak at your next company meeting, association meeting, banquet or convention!

PS.  Find FREE Small Business Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.HalColeman.com

To find out more about my coaching program, workshops and seminars, feel FREE call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com

SUBSCRIBE to my FREE Weekly Small Business Marketing Articles at http://www.HalColeman.com

Small business marketing involves selling and I spend the majority of my time teaching people how to do it more successfully.

Because many of the techniques I teach are so powerful, unorthodox, seductive, hypnotic, dynamic…and highly effective when it comes to getting someone to say YES to you…they are also somewhat controversial and often misunderstood.

Knowing how to get people to say YES to you is powerful.  This knowledge is not to be taken lightly.

And so I think the question of sales ethics and sales morality is something we should explore.

I’m going to tell you where I stand on the issue and it is up to YOU to decide where YOU stand.  And I sincerely hope we are on the same side.

I hope it goes without saying that you…

• NEVER under any circumstances lie to, deceive or mislead someone in order to make a sale.
• NEVER make a false promise you can’t back up.
• NEVER knowingly allow a customer to make a buying decision that you know is not in his/her best interest.

It is up to YOU to exercise the utmost in honesty and integrity each and every time you make a sale.

FACT:  You really can’t persuade someone to do something unless…at least to some degree…they already want to do it to begin with.  Your job as a salesperson is to help make it easy for them.

Understanding buyer behavior and using your knowledge to help the customer make an easy decision that he/she will feel good about later on is what makes a really good salesperson.

The techniques and strategies I teach (and use myself) are based on the idea that, if you give someone enough good information, they will make the right decision.  Even though you led them directly to it, they will think it is their idea and not yours.  That is the true power of persuasion.

And there is a difference in persuasion and manipulation.

Persuasion, as I see it, is attempting to get someone to do something that would benefit them, such as quitting smoking or starting an exercise program and eating a healthier diet.

Manipulation would be attempting to get someone to do something that would only benefit YOU and not them. In fact, it may even be harmful to them. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are good examples.

Manipulation is immoral and unethical.

Convincing someone to contribute to a worthwhile charitable cause that you are involved in…well…you be the judge of that one.

Really great sales people are, by necessity, powerful persuaders and they are loved and respected by their customers.

Manipulators are tricksters and charlatans who are despised by their customers.

For years I’ve studied sales psychology, neuroscience and buyer behavior. I want to know why people do things…specifically why they buy things.  And I pass this information along to my coaching clients so they can become highly effective persuaders also and end up with lots of happy customers who will stay with them for the long haul.

I don’t think there is anyone else in the pest control industry who knows what I know and teaches it the way I do. I believe I am the best at what I do.  But don’t take my word for it.  Ask my clients.

When it comes to selling YOUR product and/or service, if you truly believe YOU are the best, then it is up to you to see that people say YES and buy from YOU instead of your competitor. If you don’t feel that way, you should get out of the business and choose a different career.

Selling is the oldest and noblest of all professions. Treat it with honor and respect. If you will do that, it will serve you…and your customers…well.  I guarantee it!

Thanks for reading this, and I hope YOU have a great day.

Hal

PS.  Find FREE Small Business Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.HalColeman.com

To find out more about my coaching program, workshops and seminars, feel FREE call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com

SUBSCRIBE to my FREE Weekly Small Business Marketing Articles at http://www.HalColeman.com

When it comes to small business marketing without a doubt, your telephone is your number one most valuable tool to help you secure new customers and new business. But it can be…and often is…a very costly liability!

All of your marketing and advertising is designed for one purpose and that is to persuade someone to pick up the phone and call you.  If you blow the call, you have wasted a lot of time and effort for naught.

FACT:  When a prospect is calling around trying to find a company to do business with, they are most likely to go with the one that captures them in the FIRST conversation!

When I owned my pest control business and was in the office every day, I was quick to answer the telephone. I can’t tell you the number of times someone would say to me, “You are the first person I’ve talked with who actually took the time to answer my questions and explain to me what I need to do.  The other people I spoke with weren’t interested in helping me.  They just wanted to schedule an appointment to send someone to my home.”

And guess who got the business.  It was the person they felt was SINCERELY interested in HELPING them solve their problem.

ANOTHER FACT:   If you have the wrong person answering your phone, it is costing YOU sales and new business each and every day.

The person answering your telephone should…

• Have an outgoing personality
• Be a genuine people person
• Be very patient
• Be sympathetic
• Be empathetic
• Be compelling
• Be seductive
• Be hypnotic
• Be WELL TRAINED…and then trained some more
• Be knowledgeable about your products/service and be skilled at selling them
• Understand the Law of Reciprocity and how to use it to get people to say YES
• Understand how to schedule an appointment without pressure
• Be willing to listen for a long time
• Be able to handle major stress with a smile and a wink
• Be a take-charge person when it is necessary
• Understand that, once a prospect hangs up the phone…if there was no help given…no problem resolution…the odds of you hearing back from them again is drastically reduced.

I once hired a young girl as an office assistant.  Her main job was to answer the phone.  She was the least qualified of all the others I interviewed.  I asked her, “Why should I hire YOU when you are the least qualified?”

Her answer was exactly what I was looking for.  She said, “Because I can light up the people on the other end of that phone.  I don’t care how mad or upset they might be.  I can put a smile on their faces. I can make them believe that your company is the greatest pest control company in the world.”

And I knew that, if she could to that, it would be putting money in the bank!

Bottom line: You might need to take closer look…and a L-O-N-G listen…to who is answering your telephones.  They are either making you money…or costing you money.  If it’s the latter, you need to give them another job or replace them with someone who represents you and your company the way you want and need to be represented.

I hope this is helpful,

Hal

PS.  Find FREE Small Business Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.HalColeman.com

To find out more about my coaching program, feel FREE call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com

SUBSCRIBE to my FREE Weekly Small Business Marketing Articles at http://www.HalColeman.com

Dear Business Owner;

Do you have a website?

Would you like to know some simple tweaks and additions you can make that will automatically convince more of your website viewers to pick up the phone and call you and become your customers?

If you answered YES, please click on the arrow and watch the short video below and let me tell you about an opportunity I have arranged for you and see if you are interested.

No magic.  No crystal ball. No bull. No fluff.  Just PROVEN FACTS about how to sell more of your products/services from your website.

Click on the link below NOW to find out more and/or to register and reserve YOUR seat!

http://www.HalColeman.com/websitemarketingworkshop

PS.  Find FREE Small Business Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.HalColeman.com

To find out more about my coaching program, feel FREE call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com

SUBSCRIBE to my FREE Weekly Small Business Marketing Articles at http://www.HalColeman.com

A common trend among small businesses…especially when struggling in a slow economy… is to branch out and add more new products and services.

In the pest control industry, these can include lawn care, gutter installation & repair, insulation, carpentry & construction, nuisance wildlife control, etc.

This seems like the logical thing to do to increase your sales.

But…we are not creatures of logic!

When I’m working with a small business owner and he/she wants to discuss adding a new product or service, I caution them to think it over very carefully.

Example:  I know a guy who opened up a restaurant.  Within a year he was talking about opening another one at another location.

I told him I thought it was a bad idea. It was obvious that his current restaurant was only half full of customers every day during peak lunch hour.  His marketing was pretty much ineffective.

I told him I thought he should focus his money and efforts on getting a huge crowd into his current restaurant.  I said, “When you’ve figured out how to fill up this restaurant, then you can open another one.”

He didn’t listen and opened up not one but two more restaurants within 12 months.

And…you guessed it…neither of them was successful.   He had to close them down after about a year. He wasted a lot of time…and money…and suffered a lot of stress and anxiety by trying to grow his business the wrong way.

FACT:  Eighty percent of your business comes from twenty percent of your efforts.

You need to be able to clearly identify that productive twenty percent.  That is what really makes you money.  It is your bread & butter business.

Now…what if…instead of adding more efforts and investments into another product or service…you focused on eliminating the efforts and activities that are the least productive and focused more time and effort on the thing that actually makes you money.

Make sense?

I’m not saying that branching out is not always a good idea.  I just want you to realize that it can be a negative thing for your business in the long run if you aren’t careful.

I’ve fallen victim to this on more than one occasion myself.   What seemed like a good idea at the time turned out to be a lot of frustration and wasted effort.

And the more creative you are, the easier it is to fall into this trap.  Major distractions come along disguised as great opportunities and we find ourselves veering off course to chase another mirage.

So…ask yourself these questions:

• What one thing really makes me money?
• How can I become famous for that?

Remember:  If you try to be all things to everybody you will end up being nothing to nobody.

Find the one thing you can do better than anyone else and become famous for it.  And everyone will come to you to get it!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you have a great day,

Hal

PS.  Find FREE Small Business Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.HalColeman.com

Need a great speaker to share some dynamite marketing ideas?  Hire ME! (Hey, I’m FUNNY too!)

Or feel FREE to call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com