Tip: Review what you usually say in live sales presentations and what you include in your web pages and other sales messages. Look for unnecessary diversions you may have included - and get rid of them.

3. Presenting Unpleasant Surprises

Avoid including any unpleasant surprises in your selling process - especially near end.

For example: Many websites do not mention shipping charges until very last screen of shopping cart. This unpleasant surprise is one of major reasons why customers abandon online orders. You can avoid this by always including shipping charge wherever you list price.

Tip: An unpleasant surprise can kill a sale. But a pleasant surprise can help close a sale. For example, adding an unexpected bonus immediately before your prospect takes last action to complete a sale will usually eliminate any last minute hesitation.

Don't ask your prospects to make unnecessary decisions. Avoid diverting their attention away from your selling presentation. And don't alarm them with any unpleasant surprises.

It's hard enough to get a prospective customers attention once. If you distract them unnecessarily with something else you may not be able to get their attention again ...and you will lose a sale needlessly.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

====Side Bar==== This "unique slant", often called "Unique Selling Proposition (USP)", opens door for effective competition among businesses selling a simular product -- even same product.

Rosser Reeves was first to coin phrase Unique Selling Proposition in his book "Reality of Advertising", published in 1961.

Here's Reeves' 3 part diffintion of USP:

1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to consumer. 2. The proposition must be one that competition either cannot, or does not offer. It must be unique--either a uniqueness of brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising. 3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move mass millions. ====Side Bar====

Try to look at your competition with fresh eyes. Treat what they have to say as if it is first time you have seen this information, because that may be case for your target audience. Make a list of questions that come to mind, or points that you feel you would want more information on, if you were in shoes of your audience.

Even what your competition does wrong with information they do or do not provide can be instructive. It serves to get you to think of all things that you can do to sell service better. You are building structure of your business on what someone else has done before you, but improving end product by going extra distance in covering whole story in a clear manner.

Now that is smart business.