Equip a Sales Team with iPads and Close New Clients Faster

joint venture marketing

If you’re seeking a way to improve your sales team that’s servicing referrals from a joint venture marketing partner and want to increase their productivity while meeting with new clients than consider equipping them with an Apple Pad. The iPad will allow your sales team members to have access to more information as well as be able to actively input customer information and requirements into your companies database while away from their desks.

This will not only help increase their efficiency, it will allow your company to represent a business that is serious about providing customers with top level service. By embracing new technology a business is able to portray an image of being with the times and maximizing tools that can improve their business which conveys an image in the mind of the customers that you are very professional and serious about securing their business.

iPad Improves Your Sales Team

The iPad is similar to a laptop however, it is easily usable in a meeting as it does not take up a large footprint on the table or block the view of the person you’re meeting with. Yet it can access the web, email, and have materials ready to easily share with a new client prospect such as marketing collateral, videos of the product in the field or testimonials from happy clients.

Apps a Sales Team Should Have When Meeting With New Clients

Quickoffice Pro HD – This app gives you access to the Microsoft suite of office tools like word, excel, and power point including the ability to open PDF’s. It’s important to have an app like this so that the sales team can read file attachments they receive in their email. The app also has a great drag and drop feature for sending files. Rather than telling a new client that they will receive an email later with additional details to review, they can send a copy right then in a meeting. If a customer is intent on moving forward right now, the sales representative can make a few adjustments to a purchase order and have the contract in the new customers email inbox before they leave the premises.

Penultimate - A note taking app that allows a sales representative to take handwritten notes using a stylus on the iPad to then save and send if needed to other team members to stay up to speed regarding the meeting with a new client. These notes can also be attached to a customer relationship management database for keeping a very current file on the new client.

Dropbox - The Dropbox solution allows your team members to have files easily available. This is great for companies that have many products and accompanying product spec sheets and marketing collateral. It may be difficult to know exactly which products and solutions a new client from a joint venture partner is actually seeking so by having all of the marketing files at a swipe of a finger, can be impressive and deliver what the customer needs to make a buy decision. This is great for product demo videos and other marketing information.

ListMonger - Is an easy to use task management app that can be shared amongst sales team when a new client comes on board everyone on the team can be up to date with the status of the project. This can help manage traveling sales member’s daily schedule and make sure that they do not forget to also update the business tracking system after a meeting and to send emails and whatever else is required post meeting.

Office Time – This app is a simple and effective time tracker app. The sales member can record the time on the road and time in meetings for the day with new clients. While your pay structure may not require a sales member to report the exact time worked each day this data can be very helpful to determine the overall ROI of a joint venture partner by tracking the amount of time that is spent on each referred customer. This is valuable information that can be shared with a partner if required to show the customer care and time that is being devoted to the partnership.

There are dozens more apps that will help your sales team close new clients faster if they are carrying an iPad when they are out on the road meeting business leads. Of course the staples like Maps, email, and Facetime which allows for a video conference with another iPhone or iPad owner is worth it for increasing productivity, it’s the full package of business apps that can make a sales team drastically more efficient. If you have been looking for something to motivate as well as reward your sales team to increase performance consider getting them iPads, it will not only make their daily routine more efficient and allow them to close deals faster, but they can also enjoy the iPad during non-business hours and is a great way to show appreciation for your team.

joint venture marketing

5 Ways Joint Ventures Speed Up Sales

If you are looking for a way to boost your profit margin in a hurry, there is no better way to do so than joint venture marketing. This approach offers exponential returns by opening the door to a plethora of marketing options. When you pool your time, talent and resources with another company, you build on one another’s reputation, customer lists and Internet savvy for bigger, faster sales.

We will show you five ways joint ventures can speed up your sales and explode your profits.

Reputation

Building an online reputation with potential customers can be much more challenging than promoting confidence in a face-to-face transaction. JVs allow you to build a reputation quickly and efficiently by riding the coattails of a larger, more established business.

If you want to increase sales in a hurry, there is no more effective way to establish an immediate reputation with your target base than through a JV relationship with another business in your industry.

Endorsements

By the same token, endorsements help online customers make faster decisions about whether to throw their business your way. If they already work with an online company they like, they will be more likely to buy from other businesses that company recommends. A simple recommendation from your JV partner provides you with immediate sales from their customer list, while you are offering similar benefits to your partner from your own lists.

Shared Customer List

Business owners know all too well the time and energy that goes into building customer lists. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just wave a magic wand and make the names on that list multiply by themselves? With a joint venture, that is very nearly what happens.

Once you and your partner have established a relationship of trust, sharing customer lists allows you to increase your target base nearly automatically.

Better Internet Marketing

There are many avenues of Internet marketing today – so many, in fact, they can effectively muddle the intentions of even the savviest business owner. When you join forces with another business, you also combine time, talent and resources to exponentially broaden your Internet marketing opportunities. You can take advantage of many more advertising avenues without waiting weeks or months to research your marketing approach and create a strategy that incorporates new marketing methods.

More Traffic

If one business owner can generate a certain amount of website traffic in a single marketing effort, it stands to reason that combining efforts with a JV partner will drive even more traffic to your website in a relatively short period of time. In addition, the strategic alliance you form with a partner within your industry ensures that the traffic you do drive to your site is more likely to buy from you the first time they find you. Targeted traffic in a relatively short period of time is one of the greatest advantages of joint ventures today.

JVs are an excellent resource for boosting sales in a relatively short period of time. When you combine resources, talent and customer lists with another business in your industry, you can see higher sales and bigger profits quickly and effectively.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

The Customer Connection: How to Get It

The primary purpose of a joint venture is to build your customer base by exposing your company to a wider range of targeted potential customers. However, the bulk of a company’s profits come from repeat business, which means connecting with your customers in a way that keeps them coming back for more. We have a few ideas on how to make and keep a customer connection that keeps on giving to your bottom line.

Communication is Key

If you truly want to connect with your current customers, the first step is to talk to them regularly. Greet them by name when they walk into your business and ask how they are doing. Learn the names of their children, pets or favorite sports teams. Ask what they think about your business and what they would change if they could. These regular exchanges don’t have to take a lot of time and effort, but they can make the world of difference in how often a customer chooses your company for his business.

Listen to Them

Customers will provide plenty of feedback about the quality of your business, and all you have to do is listen to what they have to say. However, active listening is a skill that is cultivated through use and practice. Active listening involves tuning into your customer’s words and repeating their meaning back to ensure there are no misunderstandings.

During the active listening process, you should be able to identify any potential needs your customer might have and provide effective solutions to those needs to enhance your customer’s satisfaction with your business.

Provide Incentives

Everyone likes to be appreciated, and your customers are no exception. Show them what their business means to you by scheduling periodic customer appreciation events. It might be coffee and donuts or a complete meal. You might also do a frequent customer mailing that includes special discounts only available to current clients or provide a special sale open only to those special people. If your cash is limited, get creative in your appreciation offerings, such as a special express line for current customers or a customer card that offers a discount after so many visits to your establishment.

Solicit Feedback

Some companies use customer surveys, while others take a less formal approach and simply ask customers what they like and don’t like about your business. You can have staff do follow-up calls after working with customers or send a mailing asking for customer feedback. To ensure you get a good response from your request, provide a small incentive with the survey, such as a discount on the next visit after the survey is returned. You might be surprised at how much you can learn about your company by simply asking the people who patronize it most.

Customer connections are the most effective way to build a loyal customer base and a healthy bottom line. By taking the time to forge professional relationships with the people who patronize your business most, you are more likely to keep those customers satisfied and coming back for more.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

4 Ways to Use Consumer Psychology to Boost Sales

Once you have solidified your JV partnerships, you’ve only won half the battle. While attracting new customers is a key component to a successful business, another important attribute is the ability to close the sale once the customer visits your website.

To increase your odds of accomplishing this feat, you must get into the head of your potential customer to find out what motivates them to open their wallet and actually make a purchase. We have four ways to use consumer psychology to boost sales.

Pricing

A customer must determine that the price is right before they are willing to buy. However, pricing is one part math and nine parts psychology. Why do you think you see so many prices set at $9.99, $99.99 or 1,999.99? This is a psychological move to keep the customer from moving to the next price threshold. Yes, your product may be just a penny under the $100 mark, but to your customer, there is a major chasm between $99 and $100.

Bulk pricing follows a similar formula, encouraging customers to buy more of your product when they perceive a savings in doing so.

Value

It’s a fact of life: most people spend plenty of time and money trying to keep up with the Jones. They want top quality merchandise and they want it at a ridiculously low price. When you perfect the art of selling luxury at a bargain, you will increase your sales. In some cases, this may amount to educating your customer about the materials you use to build your product, or the manufacturing process it must undergo to be deemed “fit” to put on your store shelves.

Testimonials

Customers are often afraid to try out a new company or product because they fear failure. They worry that the products they purchase will not stack up to the value test listed above. Your JV partnership has already overcome part of that concern by linking your relatively unknown business with one that is more established. However, you can take the process a step further by providing potential customers with testimonials of previous buyers. Free samples are another good way to boost consumer confidence so they are more likely to take a chance on your business.

Benefits

This is old school marketing, but it still holds true. To make a sale, you must first create a need for your customer. In many instances, this is about telling your customer the many benefits she will enjoy by purchasing your product. Your customer may not realize they can clean their bathroom in half the time or save significant time and effort in the kitchen by purchasing your product. Pitchmen are experts at this technique, and if you learn to do it properly, you can also enjoy a significant increase in sales.

JV marketing is an excellent way to attract new customers, but once you have increased traffic, you must be prepared to close the sale. With these techniques, you can transform lookers to buyers to boost sales and your bottom line.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

The Psychological Impact of Pricing

Once you have your joint venture established, your thoughts must turn to the most effective ways to market your product or service within your JV partnership. A key component to successful marketing is the way in which you price your goods or services. Sometimes the smallest tweak to your pricing structure will make a big difference in your bottom line. We have four tips to help you motivate buyers by simply setting your price just right.

Price for “Savings”

Customers like savings, even if the savings are merely psychological. For example, you will see many more items on the market priced at $9.99 than an even $10.00. Why? Customers will see the product priced below the $10 threshold. In a customer’s subconscious, there is a big difference between those two numbers.

On larger ticket items, the psychological savings perception might even be greater. Try pricing a $400 product at $395 and see if your sales increase. If you use the perception of savings effectively in your JV marketing venture, you are sure to get much more value from your agreement.

Price for Affordability

Many companies find that when they have a large ticket item or service to sell, customers are much more likely to pull out their wallets if they break the full price down into affordable increments. You might see companies advertise the goods for “just $1 a day,” so customers don’t get overwhelmed with a yearly bill of more than $350. The customer will be more likely to bite because they won’t feel like they are getting more than they can chew all at once.

Price for Value

Another good marketing strategy is to bundle products into a single purchase so customers perceive they are getting more value for the money. A popular approach is to throw a freebie or two in with the regular purchase. You might advertise your special as a “buy one, get two free” deal. Customers love the idea of getting more for less, and they may be more likely to snatch up your offer if you toss a few extras in for good measure. You can even add free sample of complementary products that may boost your sales the next time that customer heads to your website.

Price for Bulk

Package deals also work well in the JV marketing realm if you price your products in groups or sets for a single low price. While one product may sell well at $20 a pop, you may find that three items selling for $50 a set sells even better. In this case, your customers believe they are getting the bargains they want, and you are boosting your sales by encouraging customers to purchase more than one product at a time.

Once you have your JV agreement in place, it’s time to make the most of your marketing approach by throwing in a few pricing strategies that have been proven to boost sales. These simple pricing tips are not hard to implement, and they may reap big rewards in terms of higher customer retention and larger sales overall.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Crush Your Competition with a Joint Venture

Have you experienced frustration trying to capture a small percentage of the market share, but find your efforts thwarted by your competition time and time again? Perhaps you should try a new strategy. Create a strategic alliance in the form of a joint venture with a carefully chosen partner who can boost your momentum and increase your market share.

Joint ventures are a great way for individual businesses to share information, pool resources, and combine marketing efforts to sell products and/or services. With a solid strategy and marketing effort, you can effectively increase your market share in your industry, whether it is local, regional, or even national.

Main Types of JVs

Though the forms and formats of JVs are wide and varied, there are two main types that in which most JV partners engage.

• Marketing JV – A marketing JV is one where the JV partners form agreements to jointly sell, promote, or distribute products or services. With joint promotional efforts, you can effectively reduce your advertising budget since the marketing costs are shared between the partners. This gives you an advantage over the competition to advertise and sell more products.

• Production JV – Another popular form of JV is the alliance where two businesses come together to design and produce a product. By combining technology, production equipment, and intellectual property, the JV could produce a better product more efficiently than the partners could do alone.

Broaden Your Customer Base

How will you beat your competition? To win, you must sell more products or services -which means you need to find more customers. By forming a JV to either cross promote or produce a joint product, you also have access to a valuable database of customer contacts and a wider customer base. If you choose a JV partner wisely, you will consider the customer base that will accompany your choice.

Utilize the contacts from your JV partner to offer special deals to his customers. If you jointly produce a product, combine your mailing lists to engage both sets of previous customers. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that your customer base grows considerably just from exposure of your products to your JV partners typical customer base.

Other JV Benefits

Other benefits of a JV that can help you increase your market share could be any or all of the following:

• No new investment in infrastructure (resources are shared)
• Instant access to new markets
• Risk reduction
• Learn new skills
• Access to new technology
• Economies of scale

Your efforts to maintain and grow your market share don’t need to be wasted. If you have hit a plateau of sales increases, try a new strategy. Form a joint venture and leverage the power of combined resources and ideas. The risks for such an endeavor are generally few, and the benefits far outweigh the risks. Start your journey to capture more market share with a JV today.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Give Your Joint Venture Customers A Reason To Buy

Have you formed a joint venture and experienced less-than-stellar sales compared to your expectations? Usually two or more entrepreneurs or business owners partner up to form a JV with the full intention of making more profit. However, the problem may be in the marketing of your JV product or service. Simply putting a product on the market doesn’t necessarily convince a potential buyer to make a purchase. That’s why you need to use marketing psychology to give your potential customers a reason to choose your product.

Triggering Psychology for Sales

Picture this situation: I recently was at the grocery store standing before an aisle full of different brands of green beans. There must have been 10 or more options, all with different price and packaging. As I stood there scratching my head trying to determine which can would have the best tasting green beans, I found one brand with a simple marketing line: “Picked fresh from local farmers and canned the same day for freshness”.  I remember picking greens beans fresh from my grandma’s garden when I was a kid and enjoying a tasty meal that same evening. I chose that brand because I wanted the same kind of freshness, despite the fact it cost 20% more than the basic generic brand.

This example illustrates why your JV product must differentiate itself from the competition. Consumers are indecisive. Help guide their choice by giving them a reason to buy your JV product. It doesn’t even have to be a proverbial grocery list of reasons. But simply highlighting a few simple benefits can help solidify a consumer’s decision.

Reasons Your Customers Buy

Here is a small list that is by no means complete regarding why your customers buy.

• Price – Some people will always base a decision on price. However, that doesn’t mean your product has to be the cheapest. You could promote that your product costs less than the leading competitor. Or you could charge a premium, but give a good reason why your JV product is worth it.

• Quality – Consumers like quality. Be sure that your product is manufactured or produced using quality and durable materials. Or if you offer a service, make it the best quality service and be sure to explain why it’s better than the other company.

• Innovation – Something new always attracts customers. Highlight how your JV product is innovative and can solve their problems better than standard products seen on the market today.

• Warranty/Guaranty – People also like to know that you will stand behind what you sell. Offering a warranty on a product or guarantying satisfaction can provide them with the impetus needed to buy your product.

Make sure your JV product or service stands out from the crowd. If you want to see your profits expand, then take the time to provide the reasons why customers should buy your product.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Give Bulk Bonuses for Bigger Joint Venture Profits

If your joint venture sells a range of products or services, then most likely you have a pricing list. This is a simple marketing printout that displays or lists your products for sale from the cheapest to the most expensive. The question is, are you cutting prices or giving bonuses to customers at the most expensive level? If you find that the sales of your higher end product offerings are lean, then read on to find out how you can give customers a boost when buying bulk.

Are Discounts Enough?

Many businesses cut prices. For instance you might sell an apple for $2, and you may promote a bulk discount by offering 3 for $5. That saves the customer money by purchasing in bulk and cuts the price of each apple by about $0.33. It also gives your JV cash register a bigger single sale.

This type of bulk pricing is seen all over the spectrum of business, and not just at the retail level. Wholesalers offer big discounts for buying in large quantities. Costco members can get a case of candy bars for cents on the dollar found at retail checkout lines.

However, price slashing for bulk, or for the bigger and more expensive items your JV offers, may not be tapping into the full potential of sales. Why not give something extra for customers who pay more?

Give the Extra Bonus

The fact is many customers will not buy bulk because they simply don’t need it at the time. If I needed only one apple, I would just buy one apple from you, even though I know I could save a few cents if I bought a few more. But what if your JV business offered me a free caramel dip for buying 3 apples at full price? That’s even more value to me! I then realize that I’m getting something for free and not just saving money. That’s a big psychological difference in the consumers’ mind.

Case Study: How Bonuses in Joint Ventures Work

It’s that something extra that gives customers incentive to put out more money. Here’s an example. John and Bill formed a JV wedding video business. John was a freelance video editor and Bill was a video producer the camera equipment. Together they offered various wedding video packages ranging from $500 to $5,000. They made more $5,000 sales than their cheapest package and saw their bottom line explode with profit. Why?

At the highest end of their package deals, they offered the bride and groom a free romantic stay at a local posh hotel, a free new DVD player, and a free short documentary featuring a love story about the couple. These few extras made the highest end package the best deal for customers, and John and Bill profited from their clever marketing.

Don’t just cut prices for your highest end products. Give something extra. The extra value that the customer gets from buying bulk will help them open their checkbooks and help drive your JV profits.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.