Demonstrate confidence in yourself

It’s not just your business idea that you’re trying to sell, it’s your ability to pull off the idea. Remember, you've had months, even years, of thinking about your business - but bank managers are only looking at what’s in front of them, in the context of a cautious lending culture. While enthusiasm for your idea is helpful, it won’t influence their decision to approve the loan, unless they are also confident that you have the means to pay the funds back.

Review your track record and identify the skills and experience you bring to your venture. This is about more than rewriting your resume. It's about demonstrating how your strengths put you in a position to be successful, and that you have a plan to minimize any weaknesses that may hold you back. Back up your skills with solid evidence you have what it takes – testimonials, industry awards or recognition from people who have worked for you. Combine a passion for your business with a real understanding of the unique skills you can bring to it, and you'll do a lot to convince a bank manager that your funding application may be worth a closer look.

Demonstrate confidence in your idea

While most experts would say we are slowly recovering from the recession, times are still tough for many businesses. You need to convince a bank manager that your business will work now, while the economy is recovering from a downturn. Think about the questions a lender might ask. How do you plan to develop your idea, who are your customers, what is your marketing plan, who are your competitors and how are they likely to respond to your plans, what is your vision for the future of your business, how are other businesses in your sector doing, what is your capacity to service a loan, and what security do you have to offer? By researching the answers to these questions before you go in, you will develop a believable, measurable, promotional pitch for your loan application. Practice your pitch in front of family, friends, or other business owners and professionals. They can help pick out points that are unclear, pinpoint gaps in information, and help you hone your presentation to give you the best chance of success.

Demonstrate confidence in your plan

A strong, clear and concise business plan is the strongest tool you have for securing funding. While every plan contains the same basic information , a smart plan will tailor details for the person reading it; in this case, making sure you show a bank manager when and how they will get their money back. The current economic situation also means that banks expect a more extensive level of detail when it comes to financial forecasts and cash flow projections. Do your financial homework and prepare these documents before you ask for your loan:

Yes, it’s harder than it used to be to secure loans for your business ventures, but understanding what is important to your bank, and being well-prepared with the answers to questions that may be asked gives you a strong advantage. Confidence in your ability to deliver your plan, the strength of your idea and the comprehensiveness of your plan will improve your chances of success.

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Use action words - an "actionable" word will usually work better than a passive one on your button. Instead of saying "Free Trial" you might try something like "Start Your Free Trial." All of these things might seem subtle, but they also might get your readers doing what you want them to do. 

Draw user attention with size - in web pages, the size of an element relative to its surrounding elements indicates its importance: the larger the element is, the more important it is. Decide how vital certain site actions are, and size your call to action buttons accordingly.

Draw user attention with prominent positioning - the placement of call to action buttons on a web page is critical to drawing the eyes of visitors. Placement in prominent locations such as the top section of a web page can lead to higher landing page conversions because users will likely notice the call to action button and take action.

Use whitespace to detach call to actions from other elements - the use of whitespace (or dead space) around a call to action button is an effective way of making it stand out in areas where there are many elements. The more whitespace there is in between a call to action button versus a surrounding element, the less connected they are. Therefore, if you have other elements that can help convince users to take action, reduce the whitespace in between those elements and the call to action.

Use highly contrasting colors - deciding what colors to use for call to action buttons is very important. Use colors that have a high contrast relative to surrounding elements and the background because it is critical to ensure that the user notices your call to action.

Offer secondary alternative actions - a web page can have multiple calls for actions. Sometimes it’s necessary to offer a secondary action in order to convince the user to later take your desired primary call for action. For example, before the user signs up for a web service, some users may need further information to be prompted to take the action of signing up; secondary actions may be calling them to take a product tour or to visit a web page with more information about the product.
Alternatively, you may wish to display the secondary action below the primary action. This may be necessary if you need to have greater visual separation of your calls for action.

Convey a sense of urgency - phrasing of the action by using bold, confident, and commanding words can alter the user’s perception in such a way as to convince them that they shouldn’t wait any longer to take action and that waiting to take action would result in a penalty or a missed opportunity. Often, suggestions to perform an action can be effective in creating a sense of urgency. Using words such as "now", "immediately" and "right now" can convey such urgency.

Tell users that taking action is easy - often, a user’s hesitation to take action stems from thinking that an action will be difficult, costly, or time consuming. By taking care of these concerns, your call to action buttons can lead to more conversions.

Tell users what to expect - most web users are hesitant to take things they see on the web at face value. Their trust has been burned before by links that promise free service only to find out that they’d have to put in their credit card numbers to get what they want. To increase click conversion and to build trust, anticipate users’ scepticism and tell them what they will gain by taking the action you’ve presented to them. When designing a call to action button, think of all the potential questions users will have, and make sure that you answer them in time.

Do some browsing on your own and notice which buttons get your attention. Which ones drive you toward taking a next step? The addition of buttons on your website should be relatively inexpensive, but may dramatically increase the actions you want your customers to take.

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Six Ways to Make Customers Like You

Become genuinely interested in them. One of Stephen Covey’s timeless principles in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” is: seek first to understand, then to be understood. Similarly, Carnegie suggests that people don’t care what you have to offer if they feel you don’t care about who they are and what they need. I’d like to underscore the word “genuinely”. If demonstrating care is simply a means to an end, a ploy to get people to buy from you, it won’t work. The better you know your potential customers, the better you’ll be at determining what they need and how you can fill that need. Ask questions before you start to sell. What do they care about? Who do they care about? What’s missing? What need are they trying to fill?

Smile. Sounds simple, but you’d be amazed at how many people forget this most basic of human courtesies. Especially sales people who are deep in “selling” mode. They tend to demonstrate an intensity that can come across as hostile and intimidating. A simple, genuine smile goes a long way to making people feel at ease and increasing their level of trust.

Remember that a person's name is the sweetest and most important sound in any language. I used to do corporate training throughout Canada and the US. Often I was in a different city every day, with rooms up to 100 people. I began the practice of trying to memorize people’s names as they came in to the training room every morning, so that by the time they were settled into their seats at 9 am, I could go around the room and recite every person’s name. I did this by shaking hands with each person, and saying their name back when they introduced themselves to me. With practice, I was able to do this with a room of up to 40 people. I still remember the surprise on people’s faces when I responded to a raised hand or comment by saying their names. “That’s a great point Susan”. If this isn’t a strength for you, find a way to make it one. Being remembered makes people feel special and important, and will make an impact on your credibility when it comes to the sales process.

Be a good listener.   Encourage customers to talk about themselves. Similar to the first point of being genuinely interested in your customers, this principle encourages questioning and active listening. Imagine if, in your first meeting with a potential customer, you didn’t try to sell them anything, but simply asked them questions and allowed them to reveal themselves to you. If your reaction is that this was a wasted meeting, you’d be revealing that you don’t understand people. By making knowing them a priority, you’ve built trust and fertilized the ground for successful sales when you meet again.

Talk in terms of your customers’ interests. By getting people to talk about their interests, you are actually creating opportunities for more effective sales. Let’s say Mr. Smith mentioned in passing that he was heading home to watch the football game. You ask him whether he watches CFL or NFL. You ask him about his favourite team. You discover he’s from Regina and football has been in his family’s blood for generations; how he and his siblings always had season tickets and attended games together until they moved away from the city. You find out he travels home at least once a year to take in a Roughriders game, and has attended four Grey Cups over the last 30 years. What have you just learned about Mr. Smith? If he’s a Roughriders fan, you know he’s tremendously loyal. You know that he travels at least once a year. You know family is important to him, and that sharing activities with them is a high value. You can probably surmise that he misses this significant part of his history. You know that he has deep roots. How might you deepen your connection with him based on what you now know? How might this knowledge help you sell to Mr. Smith more effectively ?

Make your customer feel important--and do it sincerely. As we review the last point, you will see that many of these points have the same root purpose – to sincerely deepen your relationship with your customer, resulting in their feeling important to you. In the end, this increases your capacity to identify needs and recommend solutions, which means sales for your business. Keep a database of your customers, and notes on the things you find out about them. Tickets to a game, a clipping from the paper or a magazine on a topic of interest, a bottle of their favourite wine, lunch at a favourite restaurant, are all ways you can make your customers feel important.

Carnegie has built a decades-long career out of teaching what makes people tick. Times may have changed, as have methods, from what they were 73 years ago, but fundamentally, people are still people. How can you take these time-honoured principles and increase your capacity for connection with your clients?

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