Quality, timely, relevant, and important information helps prospects and customers make intelligent decisions. The right information makes it a whole lot easier to choose with confidence. Providing additional ideas, advice, insights and resources is a great way to distinguish your product – and your company -- from competitors.

What inside information of value can you provide to help your customers and prospects?

Helpful tips, inside secrets, and other creative ideas help to establish your expertise in the marketplace. When you give away this kind of inside information, you create tremendous value that's appreciated by customers. These people feel compelled to show their gratitude by continuing to buy from you, time and time again.

Offering valuable inside information is easier than you may think. Simply look at each product you supply and figure out what collateral information prospects would like to know.

In other words, if you were a salesperson standing in front of your prospect, what additional information of interest could you offer her?

To sell a solid cherry dining room suite from a showroom floor, you'd want to explain the exquisite finish and how to preserve that “new” look. You would point out the quality joinery used to secure the frame to the table legs. You might even open a china cabinet drawer to demonstrate the built-in quality, smooth-running hardware and fine craftsmanship that went into it. It's all inside information.

These are precious details that help educate potential buyers. It's information that might otherwise go unnoticed… yet it could be the kind of detail that just might clinch the sale.

Pointing out all this inside information helps buyers feel good about the true value of their purchase. It's something they could have easily missed, had it not been brought to their attention.

This kind of detailed inside information is of interest to potential customers and it's something that could easily be incorporated into a free brochure, booklet, report or videotape. It also adds perceived value to the product itself by establishing an exclusive “story” behind it. Don't just give them sales talk of hard-sell sales copy. Give them the facts – good, solid, inside information about what it is makes your product a better buy.

Here are some additional examples of using inside information to inform and educate prospects – and increase sales as a result.

A hardware store could offer a free booklet called “How To Refinish Old Furniture Like A Restoration Pro” to all buyers of furniture repair and refinishing items. This added value item -- offered exclusively -- should help boost sales of refinishing supplies. It's inside information that could only be provided by someone who has done it before.

A travel agent could offer personalized commentary on popular destinations in article format. “The 10 Must-See Spots In Las Vegas”…. “The Top 7 Hottest Clubs In Nassau That Only The Locals Know About”… or, “11 Spectacular Sites Of Costa Rica You've Just Got To See At Least Once In Your Lifetime” might be great topics for niche market vacationers. If you fit the market profile and were planning a trip, wouldn't you at least be curious about this promising inside information?

If you plan to give your information away freely, prepare it as you would a salable product. Don't scrimp on quality in terms of both content and appearance. When an information product “looks” like something of value – it is. When you offer your report or booklet free with purchase, it's much more likely to act as an incentive to the sale.

Share it.... and profit.

Copyright 2001-2005 Robert D. Boduch