5. PROVIDE FAST ANSWERS

Answer inquiries and questions from prospective customers quickly ...while their level of interest is high.

If you find yourself personally answering a lot of questions, post answers to your most frequently asked questions on a Questions and Answers page at your web site.

A Q&A page enables your customers to get fast answers to their questions while reducing number of questions you have to answer individually. But it deprives you of an opportunity to impress your prospects with personal attention that usually leads to an immediate sale.

6. WELCOME COMPLAINTS FROM UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS

Don't avoid complaining customers. Give them priority attention. Unhappy customers or clients who complain help you grow your business.

Complaining customers are giving you an opportunity to resolve their problem and keep them as a customer. They're also alerting you to a problem you need to correct before it causes you to lose business from other prospects and customers.

7. MAKE TESTING A HABIT

Continually measure and compare results of your advertising and promotional efforts. Continual testing enables you to make adjustments to improve your total performance. It pays off in higher profits and reduced financial risk.

Many successful businesses use an 80/20 formula for testing. They invest 80 percent of their advertising budget in proven promotions and 20 percent in testing new variations. This formula generates a constant stream of profitable business from proven promotions while it forces business to continually test and find ways to produce better results.

These 7 simple selling tactics are easy to use and highly effective. They will quickly increase your sales volume and profit -- without increasing your expenses.

Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience in generating low-cost leads. He recently wrote a manual for small business owners, "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards", and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. For more info: mailto:BobLeduc@aol.com?subject=Postcards Phone: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

"No" gets you closer to "Yes." It is a numbers game. Make getting "No" a game. Challenge yourself to get as many "No's" as you can. The more "No's" that you get better. Why, because each "No" gets you closer to "Yes." You might even want to count how many "No's" it takes to get a "Yes." This is a great marketing tool because you will know how many prospects it takes to get a "Yes."