"Cracking the Code: Mastering Promotions with the Asterisk!"

Did you know the term asterisk derives from "asterisks," a Greek word meaning "little star"? Here is how you beat the asterisks.

You have a meeting with your management team to go over a brand-new, exciting promotion. As you begin to hear the speaker discuss this promotion, your heart starts to pound and blood rushes through your veins. This is the one you have waited all your career for. Finally, someone opened the suggestion box. You know this promo is going to be the one that puts you at the top of the sales leaderboard. In the meeting, everyone is hyped up, and your mind starts to think about this awesome new promo and how it will attract all these new customers. You tell yourself, "These customers are going to be lining up to talk to me. Oh wait, what about all the past customers who told me no? Now I have a reason to call them back and win them over. You leave the meeting pumped up, and you walk frantically to your desk. You notice all your co-workers do the same; it's like a race. You also notice they start immediately calling their customers to tell them the good news. You then remind yourself that this happened on the last 5 promotions, and you made yourself look like a fool. Well, not this time. This time, you're going to be patient and learn before you start offering this.

At your desk, you start to review this brand new promotion with skepticism. You notice something on the presentation flyer given to you that has bitten you many times in the past. In very fine print, there is the infamous asterisk * at the bottom. The feeling of despair comes over you; frustration sets in, and you get ready for the sadness that you know is coming. As you wait for the fine print to be revealed, you learn that the offer's original appeal was not as good as it seemed. Or is it?

We all know or have learned that in marketing, the asterisk (*) is often used as a typographical symbol to draw attention to more information or specific conditions about a deal or offer. Here are a few ways the asterisk is used in marketing: Disclaimers, footnotes, additional information, special conditions, pricing details, and product specifications By putting an asterisk in marketing messages, businesses can give more information, make sure they are following the law, clarify terms and conditions, and point customers to more information. This way of doing things makes communication clear and helps manage customers' expectations, so they know exactly what the deal or offer is. This is sort of like telling someone all these good things about them and then following it up with a but or a however statement.

To be good at the fundamentals of sales, you need to beat the asterisk. Or, as I say myself, you must become one with the asterisk, and you will set yourself apart. Before you begin smiling and dialing or sending out mass emails, stop, read, and learn. Be patient and try these tips to set yourself apart.

The first thing to do is go to a place by yourself and review these new promos from every angle you can think of. Remember, these promotions are usually designed to help you, but also the company, expand their product list or push a new initiative. Next, review all sales collateral regarding these new promotions. Look at the pamphlets, flyers, and presentations made for the promotion's sales collateral. Usually, the sales marketing materials can be found on the company's website, sales portal, and other online channels.

After you have gathered all the information, go to the all-important FAQ section. Most often, when a company has a new promotion, they have a list of FAQs. Reviewing these is important, as they begin to answer a lot of questions. Familiarizing yourself with the FAQs helps you gain a thorough understanding of the promotion, its features, benefits, and any limitations. This knowledge allows you to position the promotion effectively and answer potential customer inquiries.

After you have reviewed all your company’s collateral and learned the FAQs, find out if your company’s internal websites have training on these promotions, and take it as soon as you can. Check to see if there are also answers to frequently asked questions. Make sure to really pay attention and learn from the training. Don’t take these for the sake of taking them; master them.

Now that you have all this new knowledge about this promotion, reach out to a couple of trusted co-workers to find out what they have learned. Listen to them and show them what you've learned. Do not hoard information for yourself; you will be surprised at what knowledge you can gain by sharing this valuable information. You can then begin to challenge and bounce ideas off each other. Then I would do some dreaded role-playing exercises. They are annoying, but they work if you have fun with them. Remember, you should know these promotions so well that you can explain them to a two-year-old. Try to figure out how you can approach your past and future customers.

Next, look at some of your past customers to see who would not have been eligible for this new offer and who would have been. Look closely at why and why not. Call some of the people who qualify, not to sell them anything but to find out what they really think about this. When you ask sincerely, not for the sale, both your fears and walls will fall. This will also give you real feedback for future customers, and you might close a deal in the process.

Taking your game to the next level will take some multi-dimensional thinking. The next step would be to look for stackable promotions. Sometimes you can work "the system" to your advantage when you can see through the matrix and start combining customers like no other salesperson can. By stacking promotions, you are essentially following the company’s rules to benefit you and the customer. This will also lead to sales of multiple products and increase your overall commission. Learning to stack promotions and tailoring them to your customers' needs, along with easily explaining them, will set you miles apart from your competition. You can even find stackable promotions that your company did not even consider but that you can offer.

If, after all these steps, you still have some unanswered questions, reach out to the subject matter expert. You know the person who was giving the meeting on this brand-new promotion. Remember that after you have done your homework, don’t be afraid to reach out directly to the person who delivered this new promotion. If you have thought-provoking questions and you show that you are not just asking random questions with no thought, this person should gladly help you. Also, make it a challenge to see if you can stump them. Be happy if they say that is a good question; let me get back to you.

As a bonus to take your knowledge over the top, call a trusted family member or friend who has no benefit from this service and promotion. If you can explain it to them, answer all their questions effectively, and they understand, you are ready to offer this promotion at a much more effective rate.

All these steps may seem like too much for most sales reps, but remember, we are learning the fundamentals here. Most people don’t like to do the fundamentals; they just want to dive right in with trial by fire, and that does work for some. However, when you follow these steps, you will notice a huge increase in confidence, be able to tailor your products much better, and have fewer submission issues. This will in turn gain the respect of your customers, who will now trust you.

In this week's Linkin newsletter, we explored the importance of thoroughly understanding and mastering new promotions before offering them to customers. The newsletter starts with a relatable scenario of attending a meeting where an exciting new promotion is announced, triggering a mix of anticipation and skepticism. It highlights the common use of asterisks in marketing to draw attention to additional information or conditions. The newsletter emphasizes the need to beat the asterisk by familiarizing oneself with all aspects of the promotion, including sales collateral, FAQs, and training materials. It encourages collaboration with colleagues, role-playing exercises, and seeking feedback from past and potential customers. The newsletter also suggests exploring stackable promotions and tailoring them to customer needs to stand out from the competition. Finally, it advises reaching out to subject matter experts and testing one's understanding by explaining the promotion to a non-beneficiary acquaintance. By following these steps, sales reps can gain confidence, improve product knowledge, and establish trust with customers.

All opinions are my own.

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