Pushing Prospects Off the Fence "The walkthrough went really well, the prospect sounded very interested, but now I can't get him/her to move forward in the sales process. What happened?!" We hear this almost every day from frustrated WebCenter owners who have prospects that are "stuck on the fence", and are unwilling or unable to make a decision. This is a difficult situation to be in because you feel like you are close to selling the Web site, and you don't want to risk irritating or offending the prospect on a follow up call. Follow ups are a very important part of the sales cycle, but your time is too valuable, and you are (or should be) too busy finding new prospects and conducting walkthroughs to keep calling back day after day after day. As a general rule, the longer it takes to close a deal, the less likely it will result in a sale. After a few days, the prospect will start to forget many of the tools and features you covered in the walkthrough, his/her enthusiasm and excitement begins to fade away, and your prospect becomes less and less motivated to buy. So how do you deal with those prospects that are stuck on the fence? You need to be proactive, take control of the situation, and give the prospect a little "push" to let him or her know that the time has come to make a decision. Start with a direct, positive push to encourage your prospect to give you a firm commitment: "Look, [Joe], we both know that this Web site is going to do great things for your business. Why don't we go ahead and get your site activated today? Does that sound good to you?" If your prospect still refuses to move forward in the sales process, you may need to employ a "fear of loss" push to make the prospect realize that he/she will miss out on a great opportunity if he/she doesn't make a decision: "Y'know, [Joe], I'm starting to get the impression that you aren't ready for a Web site. Would you like me to take down your site and close your file?" These are both good, non-confrontational ways to let your prospect know that you are not desperate for the sale, and that it is time for him or her to make a decision. (You can also use this approach with prospects that are never available for follow ups or never return your calls.) Follow ups are important, but you must be careful not to spend too much time doing follow ups with prospects that are just trying to postpone making a decision.         Start Thinking About Tax Time Still have a few prospects that are waiting to close? Want some help convincing them to make a decision before the year is over? In Sales Support, one of our favorite year-end closing techniques is to leverage the possible tax benefits that come with owning and operating a Web site. There are so many tax deductions and write-offs available to small businesses, but most business owners only think to write off expenses like office supplies, equipment, and car mileage. One commonly overlooked deduction is advertising expenses, which may include costs associated with building, maintaining, and promoting a Web site. If your prospects purchase a Web site before the end of the fiscal year, they may be able to reduce their tax liability by deducting the money they have spent setting up and hosting their site. Every business has to pay taxes, but the ones that pay less in taxes usually make better use of all their qualified business expenses. Encourage your prospects to activate their Web site before the end of the year so that they can take full advantage of any tax deductions they may be eligible for. PLEASE NOTE: Unless you are a licensed, certified accountant or tax professional, you should refrain from offering tax advice to your prospects and customers. You are free to suggest the possibility of deducting the expenses associated with developing and maintaining a Web site, but actual deductions and tax liability will vary from business to business. Failure to comply with IRS rules and regulations can result in serious penalties and/or fines; please have your prospects and customers consult with a licensed tax professional.         Advice from the Field "Hi everybody! I just had two walkthroughs back-to-back today, and I finally sold my first Web site! (And the other one will definitely result in a purchase within the next few weeks.) I wanted to share my success with you, and give you a few tips that I hope will help make your business successful, too. I have been using this approach with all of the prospects I speak with, and not one of them has batted an eyelash at the $2499 price. The first thing I do is explain all the tools and features in our software to my prospects, and I put extra emphasis on the benefits that meet the unique needs of their company. (There are so many tools in our Web sites…it really is a marketing department's dream!) After I tell them all of the benefits of the Web site I say, 'And you get all that for under $2500 dollars…yeah, that's right...only $2499.00.' I have found that being upfront and honest about price with my prospects gains instant trust points. If you can sharpen your active listening skills, you will be able to easily identify prospecting and sales opportunities whenever they present themselves. People will always tell you what they need if you're willing to listen, and only the serious ones will even take the time to hear all the benefits. (At least in my humble opinion!) So far it's working really well for me. I hope that it works for you, too." Wishing you all success, Peter Hilborne

Kala Christouyenna If you run in to any of your prospects or customers who speak languages other than English, here's how you say "Merry Christmas" in… Spanish - Feliz Navidad French - Joyeux Noel Italian - Buon Natale German - Frohliche Weihnachten Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest Greek - Kala Christouyenna Portuguese - Boas Festas Japanese - Merii Kurisumasu Korean - Sungtan Chukah Chinese (Mandarin) - sheng tan kuai le Chinese (Cantonese) - sing dan fae loh Russian - Hristos Razdajetsja Arabic - I'd miilad said oua sana saida Swedish - God Jul Sudanese - Wilujeng Natal Sareng Warsa Enggal Aramaic - Edo bri'cho o rish d'shato brich'to       Christmas Traditions Abroad o Italian children look forward to the arrival of La Befana, a benevolent witch who flies around on a broom delivering treats to good children and coal to bad ones. o In India, people celebrating Christmas often decorate mango or banana trees for the holiday. o Syrian children receive gifts on Christmas Eve from the Three Wise Men's smallest camel. o In Finland, it is customary to sit in a sauna on Christmas Eve before Santa arrives. o In Switzerland, children wait for the Christ child, called Christkindli, to bring presents for everyone on his reindeer-drawn sleigh. o Venezuelan children tie a string to their toe and hang the other end out of the window before going to bed so that on Christmas morning, people roller skating to church can pull on the string and wake them up. o In Denmark, everyone hopes to be the lucky one in their family to find an almond in the special rice pudding they eat on Christmas Eve. o In Russia, a grandmotherly woman called Babushka leaves presents for all of the good children. o Iraqi families that observe Christmas light a bonfire and wait for it to completely burn out before jumping over the ashes three times and making a wish for the coming year. o In Japan, Christmas is thought of as more of a romantic holiday when couples exchange gifts and have dinner at an expensive restaurant. o In Sweden, a gnome emerges from underneath the family's home to deliver gifts to everyone on Christmas Eve.               Did you know that during the 29 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, U.S. consumers are expected to charge $2.9 million per minute on their credit cards? SOURCE: CardWeb.com                   Do you have any questions about selling Web sites? Online marketing? Tools or features in the software? Do you have any tips or tricks you'd like to share with other WebCenter owners? If there is anything we can do to help make your business more successful, please e-mail us at newsletter@mawebcenters.com.