By Steve and Cherise Cooper

This Handbook will cover * The Sales Funnel * The Pitch * The Right Price * Marketing Design * Marketing Strategy * Practice, Practice, Practice

The Sales Funnel A sales funnel is a visual representation of the steps required to sell your products or services. Marketing at the top is all about building awareness. Marketing is where people first learn about your product or service. That would consist of signs, flyers, social messaging, etc. Businesses use advertising like TV commercials to get people to know about their products or services. Sales in the middle is about getting people convinced they need what you are offering enough to buy it. Sales can be done in many ways. You can set up a store, sell directly or indirectly through others. It is all about building a persuasive presentation. At the bottom is delivery. This is where your new customer pays you money in exchange for your product or service. Just think of this as checking out at the store. Getting people aware of your product or service. Getting people interested to purchase. Exchanging money from your customer for your product or service. The reason it is called a sales funnel is because you have to market to a lot of people. After marketing to them, those people who are interested will give you a chance to present to them. After you present to them some of those people will buy from you. Not everyone you market to will be interested and not everyone you present to will buy from you. That is why it is called a funnel.

The Pitch The Elevator Pitch The Price Preface, Feature, Benefit The Close Overcoming Objections What s a pitch? A pitch is the words you will use to market and sell your product or service. This is where kids struggle the most because if you can t clearly tell people what you are selling them, how can they make the decision to buy from you? To the left are all the components of a good pitch. Over the next couple pages we are going to develop your pitch.

Write Your Elevator Pitch Intro: Hi, I m with. (First Name) (Business Name) Rapport:. (What is your connection or what is your reason for reaching out?) Position:. (What you do and why are you trying to earn money?) Benefit:. (Why would they want your product or service?) Proof:. (Who else has bought from you?) Offer/Call to Action:. (Why should they buy now?) Get your parents or guardians to help you write your pitch. In three pages I have an example pitch you can look at for help. Intro is who you are like what is your first name and business name. Rapport is how you are connected or the reason you are reaching out. Position is what you do, and why you are trying to earn money. Benefit is how your product or service will make their life better. Proof is evidence or proof of why they should care. Offer or call to action is why they should buy from you now.

The Right Price An important part of getting people to buy your product or service is knowing what price they would be willing to pay for it. Charging too much or too little can make it so you don t sell as much. That is why it is important to understand the market for your product or service so you know exactly what people will pay. Understanding Your Market You need to know the highest and the lowest price that people can buy your product or service. If you are offering a service you will need to call and ask what a company charges for their service. Get the as much details as you can. If your service is yard care then call a couple of yard care companies. I would ask how much they charge for mowing lawns, edging, weeding, snow removal, etc. Whatever services you are planning on giving you need to know what someone would pay from a professional. For a product this process is easier. Look online and see at what price companies are selling your product. Next, look for the price of used items on Craigslist. This should give you a good idea of what people are willing to pay for your product. Once you have learned what the high and low prices are, then you can make the decision for what to charge. Since you are a kid I recommend charging the low end for your product or service. The only exceptions would be if you are offering a higher quality or custom product or if you are doing more than the professionals do in their standard service. Since you have done your homework your parents or guardians should be able to help you choose the right price if you are struggling. *Note: Subtract how much your product or service will cost from how much you will charge for your product to know how much profit you will actually make to ensure your all your work is worth it. You may need to charge more or try a different idea. For a service you can see how much you are earning an hour.

Preface, Feature, Benefit In order to really convince someone to buy, you should be able to give them three good reasons why they should buy. You will need to tell them the features of what you are offering. However, features don t get people to buy, benefits do. You are going to write down at least three features and benefits about your product or service. To make it interesting and to keep your audience s attention, you will also write a preface for each feature and benefit. Example Preface, Feature, Benefit Preface: What people love about my lemonade is (The best part, the most important, what people really like) Feature: It is made from fresh lemons, real sugar and purified water. Benefit: That is why it tastes so refreshing and will really quench your thirst. Write three preface, feature and benefits for your product or service. Preface:. Feature:. Benefit:. Preface:. Feature:. Benefit:. Preface:. Feature:. Benefit:.

The Close Now that you have dazzled your customer with your pitch, it is time to help them to make a decision to buy. Most kids at this point would say, So do you want to buy it? That is the worst thing you could say. Even if they were interested, most people would say, I m okay or I m good. You need to softly ask for their business. This is called the soft close. I will teach you three of my favorite closes. Mastering these closes will make it so adults can t say no to you. The Soft Close The idea behind a soft close is to warm them up by getting them to say yes. Once they have said yes several times they will be ready to say yes to your product or service. You do this by asking them a question they will definitely say yes to. It would be great if you didn t have to worry about mowing your lawn after a long day at work, right? Of course they will say yes. After all, who really likes mowing their lawn in the hot sun anyway. After the respond positively, follow up with a hard close by saying, I ve got an opening at 10:00 and 2:00. What would work better for you? They respond, 10:00. You say, Perfect, what s your name? Start writing down their information. The Option Close You always want to give people a choice. The most popular are the red apples and the California oranges. Which one sounds better to you? Notice how both choices benefit you. If they say oranges then you say, Great how many. Sincerity Close This close works well if they bring up a question or concern. Once you ve responded to their question you would say, I m really proud of what I do (look them in the eye and put your hand over your heart). I ll tell you what, if you will give me a shot I will do one hour of babysitting for free. Then don t say anything and wait for them to answer. Another way you can do it is say, Tell you what, I really want your business. If you will get 10 oranges, I ll throw in two for free. Holy Cow, if you can do this you will sell a lot of whatever you are selling. This is the last thing someone will expect from a kid and they will happily buy from you. Write your favorite close.

Overcoming Objections As you pitch your product or service you are going to get questions, concerns and even objections. This is normal. It means they re interested but need to know more before they buy. As a kid people will generally be really nice to you so just think of this as answering their questions. Mastering Common Questions The great thing is most people will have the same questions so it is up to you to master the common questions by writing them down and coming up with good answers. I recommend having a short and a long answer for each question. Most of the time the short answer will do the job but occasionally they will want to know more. A short answer would be one sentence, Sure, It is kid and pet friendly. A long answer would more detailed, It is plant based and if your dog were to lick it she would be fine. The questions you get will be unique to your product or service so it will be up to you to master them. Question: Short Answer: Long Answer: Question: Short Answer: Long Answer: Question: Short Answer: Long Answer:

Example Pitch Intro: Hi, I m Steve with Steve s Pest Control. Rapport: I am servicing 10 homes in the neighborhood tomorrow. Position: It has mainly been the spiders and the ants. Benefit & Proof: If I can get you done with the Jones and they Meyers Offer: I m doing it half off. Price: It is normally 199 dollars to get started and then it is just 99 bucks a quarter after that but if you can get it done with everyone else I m doing the first one for just 99 bucks. Preface: What your neighbors have loved is Feature: I sweep all the spider webs out from the eaves Benefit: It looks nice but it keeps the spiders from laying their eggs up there and dropping into the home. Preface: The most important part is Feature: I m treating 3 feet up and 5 feet out, all the way around your home. Benefit: That s an 8 foot barrier so no bugs can get into the home. Preface: The best part is Feature: I am even going to spot treat your entire yard 30 feet out and get around all the trees and bushes. Benefit: That will get rid of the ant hills and keep the spiders from jumping onto the home. Close: Are you going to be here tomorrow? Morning or afternoon? Does 2:00 or 3:30 work better? Perfect so that will work for you then. Get their name, phone number, email address and address. *Note: You will use your pitch whenever you speak to people about your product or service.

Sell With Conﬁdence Smile The best thing you can do when selling is smile. When you get nervous or are uncomfortable the ﬁrst thing you lose is your smile. You will need to train yourself to smile as you give your pitch. Head Nod When people are nervous they will shake their head side to side like they are saying no. Every time you nod your head up and down it is like you are saying yes, yes, yes. Nodding your head up and down will show conﬁdence. The best part is as you nod your head people will naturally start nodding their heads with you. Try it it is fun. Talk Slow When you are nervous you will naturally start talking really fast. The best thing you can do is to just focus on talking slow. Filler Words It is important to use and memorize your pitch because when you are nervous you will naturally start using ﬁller words: um, like, uh, etc. Speak more conﬁdently by getting rid of ﬁller words.

Marketing Design Posters A poster is like a billboard. It needs to grab someone s attention and get a simple message across in just a few seconds. The key to making good posters is by using bright colors, big legible writing with less than seven words. What you don t want to do is use a white or black poster board with pencil. No one can see it. I recommend using neon colors for poster boards because they stand out. If you are good at drawing bold letters then you can draw them. If not then just print and glue message to your poster board. Use big arrows if you are directing traffic to a specific location. Kara s Bake Sale Friday 123 S 534 W 3:00 to 7:00 PM Flyers A flyer is similar to a poster except you will generally put more information on it. It still needs to grab attention and have clear direct call to action. Use your elevator pitch on your flyer. The key with a flyer is you are trying to get them to do on one thing. Whether is is call, email, or just show up, be detailed about what you want them to do. Look at magazine covers or ads you get in the mail for creating your own great flyers.

Marketing Strategy Often the hardest part of making money as a kid is figuring out how to get customers. Here are the top ways to get the word out to your customers. Depending on the idea you have chosen to do will determine what marketing idea or combination of marketing ideas will work best. Word of mouth People talk, especially when you provide a great service or product. If you do an excellent job mowing someone s yard then neighbors will ask who did their lawn or they will just tell other people about you. Facebook Facebook works great for getting the word out. It is an easy way to let people know what you are doing. You can use your own Facebook page to post something and ask your parents, siblings and friends to share your post on their walls as well. You will be able to reach hundreds of people that way. Often neighborhoods have a neighborhood Facebook page. People in your neighborhood look them at everyday. If you post that you are cutting hair for $10 bucks on your neighborhood Facebook page, then people will see it and give you a call if they are interested. It s free and easy. Use your elevator pitch for the messaging. Parent s contacts Use your parent s connections to get new customers. Whether you text, call or email them, you can contact people who would like your product or service and let them know what your are doing. Often the best place to start is through the people you or your parents already know. Flyers Flyers are a great way to get the word out. Businesses use flyers all the time. They put them in the mail, on people s doors and in the newspaper. You can put them on people s doors or hand them out depending on the product or service you are doing. If you were going to do an outdoor movie in your yard, then handing out flyers a couple days before would be a great idea. That will give people enough time to put it in there calendars. Sometimes stores and city centers will have bulletin boards you can put your flyers on as well.

Marketing Strategy Posters/Signs I used signs when I sold baby rabbits as a kid. I put them on the street directing people off busy roads to my house. I would always have people showing up to buy my baby rabbits from following my signs. Put signs up to direct people from busy roads to get customers. Door- to- door Knocking on people s doors and contacting them directly always works well. The evening time works the best to catch people home. I made a living and paid my way through college selling door- to- door. You can sell almost any product or service this way. Since you are a cute kid people will listen to you and be nice. Your pitch will work great for this. Craigslist & Local Classifieds This works great for selling products and services if you want to branch out of your neighborhood. People are always searching craigslist for the things they want. When someone gives you a call and you can pitch them on your product or service. Just like craigslist there are usually free local classifieds on local newspaper websites. Where I live there is one on ksl.com for Utah residents. Stand Setting up a stand or a booth works great. Make sure you have big, attention grabbing signs so people can easily see what you are selling. Location is key to setting up a stand. Make sure you are doing it in a high traffic area where there are a lot of people to attract. In front of stores, in parks, on street corners are usually high traffic areas. I saw kids selling otter pops at my city s splash pad during the summer where there were tons of moms and kids who could buy. Kara s Ultimate Strategy I know a young girl who does a bake sale every Friday during the summer. She is really good at getting the word out and makes a lot of money. On Thursday she will go with her older sister and put flyers on peoples doors to remind them about her Friday bake sale. She will put several posts on the neighborhood Facebook page throughout the week. She puts up posters from all the major roads around her neighborhood to direct traffic to her stand. She has big posters at her stand so people can see what goodies she is selling each week. She calls it Kara s Bake Sale Friday so people know it is going to be every Friday. Now people tell their friends about it. There is a line of cars and people buying her baked goods each Friday. Kara is good at getting the word out.

Practice, Practice, Practice Now that you have your pitch and strategy in place you need to practice, practice, practice. This is the same as learning to play an instrument. Can you just pick up a violin and start playing beautiful music if you have never played one before? No way. Just like learning an instrument, sales and marketing is a skill you will develop over time. So get out and start selling. Mirror Practice Get in front of a mirror and practice your script. Lock the bathroom so your little brother doesn t make fun of you if you have too. Memorize your pitch and look at yourself in the mirror as you say your script. This way you can critique yourself and get better. You aren t going to be good at first but the more you practice the better you will get. Practice By Doing The best way to get your pitch down is to actually go out and use it. Don t practice in front of the mirror for a year before you start selling. Get out and start using your pitch. You will mess up and forget your lines but that is okay the more you practice the quicker you will learn. Conclusion I hope you find this handbook helpful. If you follow these instructions you will be well on your way to becoming great at sales and marketing. That is really my drive for creating this book, to see you be successful at such a young age. As I have developed these skills I have been able to get any job from any company but even better I have been able to be my own boss and own my own company. Email me at steve@howtomakemoneyasakid.com to share your successes or your failures with me. I look forward to hearing from you. Happy selling!