What would entice you to buy

We are constantly being bombarded with products left, right and center. It's hard for us to choose, and everyone has different priorities, but here are some things I believe will help you become 'the chosen one'.
- A good website! Visually stimulating, professional looking, and remember to check spelling! There's nothing more amateur than typos on websites.
- User reviews. I know I always am more inclined to choose the hotel or the restaurant or the company with reviews, as you know whar you're in for.
- Good word of mouth! This is the oldest and STILL the most effective way of gaining clientele. Basically, if your product or service is top notch, the rest will follow!

Assuming prospective customers have made the first contact by email or 'phone, what works best for me is trying to find out more about the customers' needs and perceptions of their issues, then suggesting how these problems might best be solved. It's a collaborative process between us and by the end of it, the customer and I know quite a bit about each other's style of working.

If the prospective customers like the analysis and the suggested way forward, then they either book or ask for further information (I send case studies) along with my formal email offer to them.

I deliberately avoid making a sales pitch as such (that's only partly because I'm rotten sales person!) and I never put any callers under any pressure to sign up (it's counter-productive).