Sales

Implementing A Successful Sales Program

2007-07-10T04:43:00.002-07:00

Implementing a sales program to bring in more business takes planning that the average company normally does not provide to the activity. Too many companies are just sending people into the market with a basic understanding of the products or services to be sold, a few techniques on how to find and approach the prospect and hope that this energy will snag a new customer. It is a waste of time!

The approach to selling has gone through a number of iterations in the past ten to fifteen years. First it was product sales through introduction. Gosh, every one needs soap, so why not buy some. We then saw competition come into the market so we started to brand our bar of soap and define some benefits you can have by using our soap. When everyone started to show the same benefits we decided to have soap as part of a consulting initiative where there was a technique for using our soap that made it that much more effective as soap and the results to you were clearly visible. At this point we have evolved to consultative sales techniques. As competition started to also be consultative we put more sophistication into our selling and called it “strategic selling”. Our soap became part of a broader strategy that if used in combination with other products such as perfumes, and special water treatments, our soap now made a longer term fit in the customer’s requirements. So strategically our soap has developed a sophistication value and became part of the whole portfolio theme. This is where the twentieth century ended for our soap guys. Not all products have the characteristic simplicity of soap, however.

With most products and services, selling at the business to business level, selling into the global marketplace requires different definitions for where the market really is and different standards for measuring our success in getting into this market. We have to realize that no company can afford to be all things to all people. This means that our marketer must focus. To focus we must define who and where the top tier customer is and how do we get there as our first step. The top tier customer is that person who is willing to pay for the value added we can produce (i.e. give us the margins we want) and will normally repeat that sale if this is important to us. Once we know who we want, we need to fine tune the message we provide and set standards for ourselves around how many steps it will take to secure each sale. This message confirms the “customer promise” (what the customer expects) and defines the value proposition that our business must deliver (we set up centers of excellence behind the value proposition). The standards define the resources we need to get the results we must have. The next article in this series will describe how to hook that customer.

How To Get Your Customer Hot

2007-07-10T04:43:00.001-07:00

Customer “Hot Button” is a term that describes the important information we must find and retain during the questioning or discovery process. Without these hot buttons we cannot even begin to offer a product or service. Why? Because we don’t know what they need. We may think we know – but we really don’t. Not yet. This important information we are looking for can be separated into two categories: Absolutes and Primary Motivating Factors.

Absolutes are the specifics the customer wants from your product or service. It may be timely delivery, competitive value, or quality. This can be determined simply by asking a great open question like…

“What is important to you when selecting product x?”

Primary Motivating Factors are the real reasons the customer needs your product or service. These are the emotions behind the logic or the reason why they want your product now. We learn and understand primary motivating factors by asking another good open question like…

“Why is that important to you?”

After we completely understand the customer’s situation through good questioning and careful listening, it is important for us to summarize back to the customer what we think we have just heard. The final step during the discovery phase of a sale is to confirm with the customer that we truly understand their situation. We do this by repeating back to them what we have learned and asking the customer whether or not we are correct. The discovery summary shows the customer that we are listening and paying attention and concerned about his/her needs. It also commits the customer to an unspoken contract.

“If you meet these needs, I’ll give you my business.” The Discovery Summary

If you follow this simple format, your discovery summary will flow nicely and sound very organized to the customer. Keep in mind, up to this point in the conversation you have been listening at least 60% of the time...so this should be no problem – right?

1. Introduce the summary: "Let’s review what we talked about to make sure I understand your situation…"
2. Bridge into summary: "Your current situation is…"
3. Bridge into desired situation: "The right product would allow you to…"
4. Confirm your summary: "Does that accurately sum up your situation? Did I miss anything?"

Finding the true needs through simple open ended questions combined with the power of a discovery summary can really turn up the heat for your customer. If you have done a good job digging for the real needs and summarizing then you are ready to ask for action.

How To Stand Out From Your Competition - Say Thank You

2007-07-10T04:41:00.000-07:00

Hectic schedules and busy workdays eat away at our time. They eat away at your prospect's time, too. When you land a meeting or a phone call, the most important thing you can do is say “thank you for your time.” Here are a few tried and true methods for saying “thank you” that will keep you fresh in your prospect's mind:

1. Send a quick “thank you” email. The secret is in the system. Save the text of your “thank you” email as a draft so you can quickly copy and paste it into a new email composition. This way, you can quickly send out emails to prospects after phone calls or face to face meetings. You want to sound polite and grateful, and you also want to remind your client about why you're qualified to do the job. Here's the email I send out after phone meetings:

Hi {{NAME}},

Pleasure talking with you today; thanks for your time. Keep me in mind if you need informative copy written in an engaging, accessible style. Experience working in the marketing and creative departments of a software promotions firm, as well as my years of experience as a copywriter means I understand audience and have a strong command of language. Please view some samples of my work at: www.wonderworkingwords.com.

I look forward to working with you down the line. Best of continued success.

2. Follow your email with a “thank you” card. Pick a card that's eye-catching and artistic. A lovely card is more likely to hang around your prospect's desk space or be displayed on a tack board; learn to think of a card that's not immediately thrown away as free advertising. Handwritten cards are best, as are hand addressed and stamped envelopes. Details like this tell your prospect you care.

3. Follow your “thank you” card with a phone call. Remember, anytime you send your prospects something in the mail, you have a ready made excuse to make yet one more touch and keep you and your product or services fresh in their minds. Did they receive what you sent them? Do they have any questions you can answer? You communicate your availability while creating a positive experience for them to associate with you.

Employing these few tips, you'll be leaps ahead of your competition...and that much closer to making the sale.

13 Ways To Get Your Customers To Buy More From You

2007-07-05T04:46:00.002-07:00

1. Create an irresistible offer. You have to give McDonalds credit for the “supersize me” offer. It may only generate another 40p or 50p per sale, but because it's such an irresistible offer, more than 30% of customers will say yes. And that 40p or 50p is almost all profit, as the company's fixed costs have already been absorbed in the price of the smaller item. The scale of the offer must be relative to the purchase, but once you have acquired the customer you can start to create lifetime value.

2. Add point of sale purchases. Those associated purchases or impulse buys that the supermarkets put by the checkouts aren’t an accident. Small low-price items that are perfectly positioned will face the least resistance from a buyer who’s already decided to make a purchase from you.

3. Get them hooked with a free sample. Prospects that test your product or service risk-free will hopefully recognize its value and continue purchasing what you offer. Or even better, your prospect will get "hooked" on your product or service and won't be able to live without it. And the fact that it was given away free will compel them to return the favour by continuing to purchase from you. This principle is called the "Law of Reciprocity". Simply stated, people naturally feel an obligation to return favours as a way of expressing their thanks.

4. Educate them if they could use the product differently; benefit more from using associated products in conjunction; buy this much, get this one free, etc. Remember the famous story of the shampoo company who doubled their sales with the simple phrase “rinse and repeat”.

5. “Other customers who bought XYZ also bought…” This clever approach is used by many online retailers to position more of their product lines in front of customers who might be interested. Where key components like batteries aren’t included, make sure you offer them.

6. Communicate with customers more often about your full offering as part of your sales process. This could take the form of newsletters, emails, mailshots, letters, advertising and PR, events, brochures and literature.

7. Consider what else your customers buy that you could sell. The more you know about your customers, the more back-end products and services you can provide. This means that their main purchase simply becomes a foot-in-the-door, and now you can increase the frequency of purchase and average spend

8. Offer incentives and discounts. By understanding the lifetime value of customers, i.e. the total value of their spend during their time as a customer, you can decide how much you are prepared to discount to get them back through the door

9. Position yourself as an expert to gain their trust and confidence. Through your PR, direct communications and website, you can provide information, reviews, reports, and details on your specialist area. Customers often don’t know the right questions to ask, so help them out

10. Review your ordering process to see if you are making it difficult for people to buy from you. Look at your website cart abandonment rate or try a mystery shopper service

11. Are you focusing on the benefits? Customers only care what you can do for them. Benefits build rapport by demonstrating that you understand their point of view. If you don’t know what they are, ask your customers. You can never know too much about why people buy from you.

12. Are your staff selling? By testing, measuring and analysing all your marketing and sales processes, you can see where the majority of initial sales and back-end sales take place. Are your best people in place to exploit those opportunities?

13. Do you have enough stages in your sales process? Constantly chasing prospects after they've shown an interest can be soul-destroying and border on pushy salesmanship. But by having a longer sales process, prospects are moved from one stage to the next over a period of time, constantly informed and educated, and reminded of your services. Just because they didn’t buy doesn’t mean they’re not interested in what you sell, so ensure you have at least seven stages in your sales process, including emails, mailshots, brochures, PR, web downloads, and phone calls.

Stop Selling & Watch Your Revenues Soar

2007-07-05T04:46:00.001-07:00

You’re probably wondering, is this some new technique or gimmick? The answer is an emphatic, no. Techniques and gimmicks are part of the problem not part of a process that leads to increased sales, and long-lasting relationships that bring additional sales plus new sales from referrals. After all, wouldn’t you rather talk to a referral than place a cold call any day? You can develop a referral based business and it begins when you make a commitment to stop selling and start helping people to buy.

When you hear the words “sales person” what comes to mind? The car salesperson who asks, “What will it take to sell you a car today?” The real estate agent that tries to convince you that this property is perfect for you even though it doesn’t meet your essential criteria. Perhaps you think of the insurance agent that tells you that you can’t afford not to buy this insurance if you care about your family, even though they haven’t asked you a single question about your perception of the value of this insurance to your family. You know that you do not want to be this “sales” person. You know that while these sales tactics may work, they will never help you to grow a base of loyal customers that come back to you for repeat sales and freely send referrals to you.

Many of you have had extensive “sales” training. The truth is that most of that training was related to product/service knowledge and prepared you to present a scripted presentation intended to have them eating out of your hands. So, how’s that working for you? That’s what I thought. If that alone worked so well you would have stopped reading long before this point.

So how do you stop selling and increase your revenues? The answer comes from learning how to help people to buy rather than selling to them. The most significant difference between selling and helping someone buy is the mental mind set that comes from being an “assistant buyer” versus a “sales person”. An “assistant buyer” doesn’t sell anyone anything ever! An “assistant buyer” is an expert listener and focuses the conversation on the buyer, on their needs and wants. The “assistant buyer” helps the customer to buy exactly what they want in the exact manner that they have told the “assistant buyer” that they like to buy! That sounds remarkably easy doesn’t it? It is, once you’ve learned how to readjust your thinking and interaction with the customer in a manner that helps them to both like and trust you.

Start developing your assistant buyer skills today. As an assistant buyer you will want to: become a net-weaver helping others and making connections, learn that questions are the key to sales, place the needs of others ahead of your own, seek first to understand and then to help, be trustworthy and respected by everyone around you, and realize that you are making lifetime relationships. As you make changes and improvements in your skills you will begin to achieve remarkable sales while building strong relationships that lead to your long-term success with far less work.

A Simple Structure For Persuasive Presentations

2007-07-05T04:45:00.002-07:00

Have you ever witnessed a terrible sales presentation? I remember one which was so bad I couldn't look, it was so embarrassing.

James had gone to a lot of expense to travel to another city with his team and rent a meeting room. It was critical that the presentation was a success, because he was looking for half a million dollars of financing from investors.

At 10:00 am the room was full and James walked up to the front. 'Thanks for making it here today, everybody. We've got something exciting to show you.'

Then he clicked on his laptop and . . . nothing. Clicked again . . . still nothing.

'Just a second folks, we've got a little technical hitch'.

Five minutes later, when neither James nor his technician could get anything showing on the projector screen, he decided to try and just describe with words what his concept was about and why the investors should put their money into it.

But he hadn't got a script, it was all in the laptop and ½ an hour later, the room cleared. It was over, an utter failure.

That might be an extreme example, but here is a simple and effective structure you can always use to make a strong presentation. It's easy to remember, PPP and Call to Action.

Problem - Describe a problem that the customer has that you can supply a good solution to. Choose something relevant to the customer and the industry he or she is in, as the problem, of course. Ideally an issue which is expensive / time-consuming / frustrating or a combination of all of these.

Promise - Make a Promise. 'Our product (or service) can fix that problem'.

Proof - Don't just make an unsupported claim, supply some convincing evidence. 'Look at the results that customers are getting using the product'.

Call to Action - 'This is what you have to do now to get things moving ' - and invite the prospect to have a demonstration, book a test drive, place an order, as appropriate for your situation. The call to action must achieve a degree of commitment by the customer, so that he or she is moving closer to purchasing.

Memorize this simple formula and you will find that having a structure makes any sales presentation easier and more effective.

What's Luck Got To Do With It?

2007-07-05T04:45:00.001-07:00

Hey salesman, how much are you going to earn this week? You think it all depends on your luck?

So did I, once.

Then at the Monday morning sales meeting we had to attend, my Sales Manager put me wise to this.

'Robert, how much do you want to earn next week?'

Not having a clue about what he was about to tell me and with a certain amount of bravado, I said, 'One thousand pounds'. This was 1980, so it was about 5 times an average wage.

Ian, the manager said, 'Ok, let's make sure that you do'.

Here is the process he took me through: 'What's the value of your average sale?' 'I replied, 'About 2,500 pounds'.

'And how much commission do you make on that?' I told him, 'My commission rate is 10%, so I'm paid 250 pounds on that order value'.

'Ok, so you need 4 sales this week to make 1,000 pounds commission. But let's say it's five, just in case some of your deals are smaller'.

'What is your usual closing rate?'

I answered, 'I can usually get an order, one out of every three presentations'.

'So that means you need to do 15 presentations this week. In order to get an appointment, how much prospecting do you need to do? How many people do you have to talk to?'

Looking at my reporting sheets, I was able to work out that on average I had to talk to 12 people to get an appointment.

'So if we multiply 15 by 12, you need to talk to 180 people this week to make your big pay day happen. How many days are you going to work?'

I told him, 'Six'.

'Then you need to speak with 30 people every day. Get started'.

So I did. That week I knocked on 180 doors - literally, talked to the people, made the appointments, went back and did my presentations and, with a bit of hustling on Sunday, to bring in the last reluctant order, I made the necessary total.

Next Thursday, my pay of just over one thousand pounds was deposited to my bank account.

You can apply the same formula, too. What's luck got to do with it?

Be The World's Salesman

2007-07-05T04:44:00.000-07:00

"I am the world's worst salesman, therefore, I must make it easy for people to buy." -F.W. Woolworth

The above quote just goes to show that success in sales lies not just on the buyer - or the product that is being sold - but mostly on the attitude of the salesperson. If for example, there are two salesmen. Salesman A has a great product but he does not possess good sales techniques; while salesman B has a product which is not really that marketable but he has enough people skills to make people buy the product that he is marketing. Which one do you think will emerge more successful in the industry?

As you may have heard a million times before, successful selling relies on the techniques used by a salesperson to create a “need” and make people believe that they really need to purchase the product or service which is being sold to them that is why they are left with no other choice but to buy.

Now, in order to learn more about what makes for a successful salesperson, take a look first at the five laws of successful selling”

1. Use a direct approach.
If you call a hotline for a Customer Service department of any company, you would often hear complaints about the customers being given the ‘runaround’. Most people do not want to hear excuses, and they certainly do not want to be bounced around from one department to another just so that their concerns can be aired and their problems resolved. Customers want to hear facts straight out. The same principle can be applied to sales. Using a direct and honest approach in selling is the best way to go, rather than covering up facts which customers will eventually find out about anyway. Thus, if you are selling a product or service which will benefit them – this is the exact point that you need to make, rather than beating around the bush with flowery words, unnecessary information and irrelevant statistics.

2. Know what it is that you exactly want.
Before starting out on a successful career in sales, you need to set your own personal goals. Do you want to keep on selling the same thing for the rest of your life, or do you want something more? Are you just using selling as a stepping stone to advance your career, or do you see yourself making a living out of it. Just like in any other field, setting definite career goals would give direction to your chosen endeavor.

3. Use the power of concentration in your sales pitch.
As your experience in sales increase, you would learn which sales pitch bombed and which ones did the trick for a particular customer. By concentrating on the ones that worked, you can work on your strengths and sharpen your selling skills. Once you have sold a product to a particularly finicky customer, your confidence in your sales pitch would increase.

4. Harness your energies.
Learning the in’s and out’s of sales is not an easy feat. As you start out, you may feel a bit frustrated if all your efforts are not bearing fruit. But remember that as you learn to choose between the sales techniques which worked and those that did not, then you can channel all the negative results that you have had in the past and use them towards a more positive thing – by making sure that you do not commit the same sales blunder twice.

5. Acknowledge inevitable consequences.
You will certainly make mistakes along the way. A seemingly positive client may turn dour once you seemingly say something wrong, or if you do not make the quick follow up that they want. Should you commit mistakes and errors of any kind, do not dwell over them. Instead, learn from the mistake and make sure that the same thing will not happen in the future to ensure that you will have a longer, and mistake-free selling career.

‘Steps towards Becoming a Successful Salesperson’

To become a successful salesperson, first you need to set a specific goal and ask yourself what it is exactly that you are aiming for. If you already have a prospective client, you need to zero in on your target and make certain that you capture enough of their attention. Do not let your focus wander to outside factors which may distract you from achieving your goal. Next, you need to harness all the power that you have to achieve the desired results. This is where successful sales techniques come in. Finally, you can hit the target and close the sale.

To emerge triumphant in the sales industry, you need to learn and value your and other people’s time, energy and money. The basic business ethics and personal courtesy would contribute a lot towards honing your ‘people skills’ so that you can become a better salesperson. Additionally, it is your decision to be or not be powerful in the sales industry. As mentioned previously, your attitude towards your work and the clients that you deal with on a regular basis would count a lot if you want to become a successful salesperson. By presenting a prospective customer with a real, honest and basic need for the product that you are selling, then they will acknowledge that fact and this will lead to a successful sale.

‘Make Success a Part of your Daily Habit’
Now that you know how to zero in on a target, make your sales pitch and close the sale – the next thing that you need to learn is how to make success a part of your daily habit. You need to set short-term, medium-term and long-term goals for yourself. This way, you would have a definite career path and be on your way towards becoming a truly successful salesperson.

As they say, “It’s all in the mind.” Think success and you will reap success. By applying the aforementioned principles, tips and steps towards becoming a successful salesperson, there is no doubt that you will be able to achieve the level that you want to reach when it comes to your professional career as a salesperson.

Which Part Of 'Close' Don't You Understand?

2007-06-23T03:43:00.002-07:00

How much time and effort does it take to locate a prospect, get past the secretary barrier, catch the guy at his desk, arrange an appointment, travel to see him / her, fact-find, draw up a proposal, present it, deal with objections. . . ?

A week, a month, a year?

Whichever, it's a lot. And if you don't close the sale, what do you get out of it apart from a deep desire to drink all the beer on the planet and throw the telly off the balcony?

Let's face it, the ability to close is right up there in importance with having your own reserved parking spot and an eye-candy personal assistant, who's single.

Here are the top 5 factors for powerful closing:

1) Make sure that there is nothing you have to apologize for to the client. (Don't turn up late, do what you said you were going to, make sure the demo actually works or the store looks busy and successful if you invite them to come in and take a look).

2) Don't do too much talking, ask the client for his opinions, listen to them and supply relevant information. Be a detective and discover what the single most important deciding factor is for him / her - that is what you now have to prove that you can deliver.

3) Build the client's confidence in the product, your organization and you. What gives confidence best of all is personal experience, so if the product / service is as good as you say it is, let the client try it before buying it. Another way is to take the client to another customer who is happy with what you do and leave the two of them to talk together.

4) If this is a big ticket item, for most personality types (the exception is the big-shot, power personality who needs ego-pumping by buying the best there is, irrespective of price), position yourself as the low-risk choice. "Mr customer, you might pay a bit less elsewhere, but if you do, allow some extra money for the risk'.

5) You must love your product, genuinely. If you are sincerely enthusiastic about it, your client will sense that you mean what you say. Fake this with acting and the impression you make will be 'cheesy'.

Once you have answered your prospects' questions to his satisfaction, ask, 'Are you happy with everything?' If you get a 'Yes', then CLOSE with, 'Then can we proceed?'

An Alternative, Inexpensive Way to Penetrate the Market For a New Product

2007-06-23T03:43:00.001-07:00

My consulting firm receives an average of 2 new product submissions from entrepreneur’s each day. Last year we viewed almost 700 such offerings. They ranged from the silly to the spectacular. The majority of these concepts actually possess some commercial merit. Nevertheless, fewer than a dozen of these will ever make it to market.

There are many reasons for the paucity of successful product launches. The process is challenging and many people are not up for the fight. Many people dream that their idea or concept can succeed, but at no risk or expense to themselves. Still others have recklessly expanded valuations on their product and thus, expectations that are not realistic.

From this deluge of creativity there are always a handful of gems that have all of the essential elements necessary for success. The one constant, however, is almost always capital; or the lack thereof. A certain base level of working capital is always necessary to market launch, license or create a strategic alliance for a new offering.

We have been successfully using a guerilla strategy for years that mitigates the level of investment to expose a product to the marketplace and secure a positive “Proof of Life”. This strategy has proven successful over and over and minimizes the costs of a full-scale inventory build before the chances for success has been fully vetted. Our goal is always to minimize risk until we have a clear positive green light from buyers and professional decision- makers in the product’s category.

We just returned from a Home and Garden Show in Orlando where we employed this strategy to successfully launch a garden tool. We secured a 10 foot display stand from show management (the smallest and least expensive in the show). For about $200 we had very professional vinyl signs created at a local franchise shop.

Our client had a friend with some creative photography talent and we utilized him to shoot stills of the product in action in a nice garden. The client’s wife did the voice over and we edited the photos into a video loop that we ran continuously for the duration of the show. That brings us the most vexing question: How do you display product when you haven’t built inventory? We regularly have to address this issue. We have our graphic artist create art for the product based on creative direction that we provide. This art is the basis for the package that contains the product, a counter display and sales collateral.

We have one or two pieces of the actual product made. IMPORTANT! This must be a production quality prototype. It must have all of the features and benefits that factory production pieces will offer. Do not take shortcuts here. These few pieces are the demonstration models that we use to dazzle the buyers.

The next step is to look bigger, a whole lot bigger, than we really are. We do this by using a boutique display presentation. We use the graphic art to create two, three or four counter displays. These are done at local printers, hand die cut and assembled. The front facing of the display contents are dressed with the graphics but are actually empty of product. Behind the front tier of graphically dressed, but empty product boxes, we have blanks to make the display appear full. Usually all dummy display contents are glued down.

The sales collateral is printed based on the creative we utilize on the display and unit carton. The brochure has embellished copy points and expands more fully on the unique features and benefits the product offers. Also included are pricing, terms, conditions and contact numbers.

The process I described saves our clients tens of thousands of dollars, shortens the process to market entry and confirms market potential, or very occasionally the possibility of failure. During these shows we also pre-sell based on a future delivery date that we have verified with our factories. These orders are often the basis for a funding round, or factoring of the purchase orders.

The essence of this strategy is simple: Our client’s may be the smallest entity at a trade show, but they have positioned themselves to be introduced among the big boys at a fraction of the cost most new products incur during market introduction. Executed properly, these strategies result in unleashing new excitement and energy to support and propel the invention into stores.

How To Have A Great Sales Career

2007-06-23T03:42:00.002-07:00

Selling isn’t just a game of words but it is also an art of the higher path of communication. A single word spoken can either make or break a deal when it comes to the art of selling products. So are you ready to uncover the secrets of hardcore salesmanship?

To a salesman, selling is the art of living that is conducted with a whole lot of confidence. Without confidence, all the sensational vocabulary goes down the drain in front of a prospective customer. So the real challenge is to simplify the objective goal of becoming an A-grade salesman who delivers a quality sales career.

There is a very thin line between blowing & closing a sale. A real salesman truly knows the difference between these fine lines and juggles his way around to have a successful sales career. Just by having a higher intellectual knowledge also doesn’t guarantee success in a sales career. What really make a difference are the most common rules of salesmanship- desire, commitment & patience.

A study conducted on selling indicates that it usually takes around 10 years to master the art of salesmanship. The bottom-line in any business is closing sales and that’s exactly what it takes to impress the bosses. Educational qualification has never been highlighted too much when it comes to hiring a good sales person. So for those who have not studied too hard, still got a very good chance of landing a sales job!

The following are guidelines to grow an awesome sales career. Personally I consider them the 10 commandments of quantum salesmanship!

1. Sell a product that you believe and interested with. Selling a product that you are not interested in personally will not do you any good. So try to pick a product or industry that captures your thoughts & imagination throughout your career. This will help you sell the product without much hassle in terms of the knowledge base.

2. Be an expert. Being an expert means that you grasp the subject from all angles & dimensions. Don’t wait for your boss to educate your brain instead take some pro-active measures to stay ahead of your competition. This is the reason being for choosing the subject of your interest and choice. Start reading results driven books by experts in order to master your skills before you go out to sell. Your non-interest in a particular product will hamper your ability to close a cold call.

3. It is very critical that you wrap up your apprenticeship before taking a deep dive into the ocean of high paying jobs. It is apparent that a lot of young guns in sales take the short cut to start earning a high chunk of salary. But what they don’t realize is the long term picture of a successful career. Switching jobs frequently doesn’t look good on your resume as the employers will be scared to hire you with a long term perspective. It’s perfectly fine to switch jobs for an opportunity to accelerate your growing curb.

4. Learning from experience is the best way to cut down on your mistakes. Find a mentor in your industry to get a helping hand in growing your career ahead. A mentor should be someone who has been there and done that! You don’t necessarily need a coach, who will drill you every time you make a mistake. A mentor will guide you and help in not only the good times but also the bad times too. A good student will always credit his success to his teacher along with the education.

5. You should always be willing to learn under any circumstances. As per the Guru’s “Learning is the true essence of a Life time.” Your enthusiasm should rub off on everyone working around you as this will create a positive environment wherever you work. Customers will appreciate your positive energy while you are promoting a product. It’s ironic but you should realize that the most you will ever learn from is the person that you might not like at all! Hence, you should always keep an open eye and be transparent towards all.

6. You must acquire trust from your customer before you begin your presentation. This means that customers should always feel comfortable around you and you must dress to impress every time you step out to sell. Having a good wardrobe always helps to instill new confidence in a superficial world. Even if you don’t like it, you must accept the fact that dressing nice is a vital part of your sales presentation.

7. Managing contacts is an acquired skill that you must develop in order to capitalize on them. You must keep track of how many people you meet along with their contact details. Networking contacts is a great resource that will increase your market penetration. If you maintain enough contacts, you will rarely have to rely on cold calling in order to sell your product.

8. You must set your goals and timelines to achieve them. This is a very good habit that will reward you until you retire from the sales industry. By keeping a plan of development, you will be focused towards your career with a systematic approach. Many a times, a salesman without a strategy, finds himself in career crisis as a result. Developing career should also take in account your hunger for attaining the higher side of the corporate ladder.

9. Keep a helping attitude towards others, as it will increase your reliability in the network of sales people. Giving and getting assistance is part of being a professional and it pays off when you are facing difficult times.

10. “Roll with the punches”- You must increase your adaptability as a sales person. Technology is rapidly changing the way a business is managed, so along with it your ability to evolve should also increase.

If the above commandments are too boring for you to handle then believe me it will be difficult to survive in the sales industry. The toppers in sales have the unique ability to convince their customers and to a certain extent it is a gifted ability. But ones without this gift can definitely learn the art of selling through experience and perseverance. So before you go out there to make a sales call, ensure to read through this article to come out on top of the world!!!

Stop Scaring Your Customers - The Credit Transition

2007-06-23T03:42:00.001-07:00

Many of you are in businesses where a customer’s credit history is an important piece in the qualifying process. The social security number is just as essential as the name on the application. But what do you say to increase the likelihood of receiving that increasingly important “444-55-7777”?

After building a bridge of rapport with your customer, asking questions to dig for the true needs and hot buttons, and summarizing your understanding - you are ready to receive permission to look at their credit. Don’t even bother unless you have earned the right by completing the previous steps mentioned.

Before we can go the next step in the sales process and propose any real solutions we have to see a credit history. This can be difficult because it often resembles a close situation. You may have to sell the customer on trusting you with their personal information. As always, look at this as an opportunity - a great way to measure how hot your customer really is. If they are just jerking your chain, you will definitely find out when you ask this scary, sales question:

“Can I have permission to pull your credit?”

Like most things in sales, if you make a big deal of it; so will the customer. Don’t use words like “pull your credit” or “check your credit”. These sound painful and invasive. I can’t tell you how many times I have listened to sales people prepare their customers for the absolute worst and set the table for a big, fat “NO!”.

“Well…umm…the next thing I have to do is pull your credit history. But don’t worry it won’t hurt your score that bad. I mean nobody really knows how bad your score drops when you run a customer’s credit but we have to do it if you want to see if you’re approved. I’m really sorry…but can I have your social security number? ”

What a loser. Imagine if you were trying to take a splinter out of your child’s hand. This is a fairly simple procedure that has little to no pain involved. However, if you were to tell your son or daughter “Brace yourself! This is going to really hurt!” You certainly wouldn’t expect for little Johnny to stand idly by and wait for the tweezers.

It’s no different when we go on and on about how a customer’s FICO will drop, their information is sensitive, etc. To increase your success try more innocent phrases like “take a quick look at your credit” or “take a peek at your credit history” to ease your prospect’s fears. Both of these sound much less invasive and threatening. You know it’s necessary and essential to see that credit report. Use a summary statement, mention their hot button, and make it a logical next move to see the credit.

“To summarize our conversation so far, you said your payments are making it really uncomfortable every month and you are starting to feel the pressure. Is that right?"

“The next step to getting this payment under control is to take a quick look at your credit. Then we can determine which program is best for you and get rid of all that worry. What’s your social security number?”

Make it seem perfectly natural. No pauses, no stopping, just straight through to what you need to meet their need. You’ll find that when a customer does allow you to take a look at their credit it is a tremendous buying signal and lets you know that the customer is serious about doing business with you. So next time you get ready to RUN or PULL someone’s credit, set yourself up for a sale instead of a scare.

With Auto Sales Leads, Gettting the Data is Everything

2007-06-23T03:36:00.000-07:00

With Auto Sales Leads, Gettting the Data is Everything

Once upon a time, it used to be that people lived in pretty much one place for their entire lives. Transportation involved using one's feet, more than anything. Far away places really were far away, in terms of the convenience of getting to and fro.

It wasn't until the Post-WWII era that it became normal for every-day, average families to even have a car. A car, much like a television set, was considered strictly a luxury item, for the middle class on up. It wasn't uncommon for people to go their whole lives, or nearly their whole lives, without ever owning a car. Cities were smaller, and the most-often frequented places were much more readily accessible.

In modern times, cars are no longer a luxury item for most people, they are an absolute necessity. With the exception of some few public-transit friendly metro areas with central transit stations, it is pretty much impossible to survive anywhere in the United States these days without a car.

Today, there are 1.9 cars for each household in the U.S., or about 200,000,000 cars! In 1970, that's as many cars as there were in the whole world! Clearly, auto sales leads cover a broad range of consumers. In 2004, 16.3 million new vehicles were sold. Targeted auto sales leads can be a great way to get a piece of the market.

There is one a company called Allmedia, that specializes in gathering customized contact lists in order to find the best auto sales leads for your specific offer. They have list research specialists who will work together with your existing marketing team, or can act as your marketing consultants, learning your campaign goals, tailoring a customer profile for you, and compiling a list of leads. Allmedia can be very useful to manufacturers, dealers, and related industries for finding their best prospects when launching a new vehicle, increasing services at a particular dealership, launching a new marketing campaign, selling auto accessories and related items, and selling extended warranties.

Not only does Allmedia help identify your target market, they help locate this market. The company knows which lists of auto sales leads are recent and reliable, and which may pan out the best based on demographic information such as: income, age, gender, owners of competitive makes, the year the car was made, make, model, number of cylinders, number of doors, body style (such as coupe, pickup, hatchback, etc.), type of fuel (gas, diesel, etc.), presence of children in household, homeowners, home value, and more.

Why Won't My Customers Call Me Back?

2007-06-19T03:24:00.001-07:00

A common lament from many sales people these days is the difficulty that they have in getting their customers to call them back or answer emails. This applies to prospects and even regular customers. Sales people worry that if they call too much they will be perceived as a pest or as unprofessional or, even worse, as a stalker.

This is a real dilemma and it seems to have gotten worse over the last few years. I think that there are many contributing factors, most of which you have already heard about. The factors include technology, the increased sophistication of buyers, and the re-engineering of the work day in the new millennium.

One more factor to consider: it is not their job to call you back. It is your job to call them. Let’s address this first. Selling is a dance and it is the sales person’s job to lead. Don’t expect them to call you back….ever. It is your job to call them, to inform them, and to serve them. Remember, it is all about them and not about you.

Let’s return to the other factors that have made things harder for sales people. Obviously technology has made the sales person’s job tougher; this includes voice mail, the use of cell phones, BlackBerries, laptops, and caller ID. Busy customers have figured out how to screen their calls and hide from sales people thanks to technology. Caller ID may be biggest culprit since your buyer can hide from you if they want to and many do. One way to handle this issue is use your cell phone’s “block caller ID feature”, which will keep them guessing who is calling.

With increased information available to buyers in the form of wikis, forums, and websites, buyers are relying less on sales people to keep them updated about products and services. Candidly, this works against the buyer since they are not benefiting from the sales person’s superior knowledge. Think about it. You sell the same product day in and day out; when it comes to your product and how it works, you are one of the world’s top experts. Meanwhile, the buyer buys your products occasionally (at best) and by definition knows far less than you do. What is wrong with this picture? To quote Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does”. You have what the buyer needs; be sure to remember that.

I think the solution to this quandary is to position your self as a “knowledge broker” rather than as a sales person. Help your customer get as much information as possible about their problems and issues, along with the possible solutions (I.E. your offering). Keep them updated on other information resources such wikis and forums; become a source of knowledge and insight about their issues. This information will give you power.

The change in the workday and workplace has been huge. Because of technology, people are working longer days and spend less time in the office. Nowadays the new 24/7 work schedule allows people to work from home on their laptops away from the office phones. Many people prefer cell phones over land lines; in this case, take their cue and don’t call them at the office and instead call them on their cell. If this is problem, they will tell you.

How often should you call a customer while praying for a returned call? If I had to give you a ratio of your calls to theirs, a 5 to 1 ratio is a good; I had a sales trainer tell me that once and it made sense at the time. After all, we don’t want to overstep our boundaries. Or, do we?

Maybe a smarter answer is don’t keep score at all. Remember customers get dozens and sometimes hundreds of emails a day; your email can easily get lost in the milieu. The same applies to the voice messages that you have left. You can’t expect them to leap for the phone when you call or even remember your last call with them. They don’t keep score, so why should you?

A good strategy might be to mix up your approach. Try a blend of land line calls with cell phone calls, along with a few email messages. Text messaging works too. See what works best. When you are desperate to connect, try unconventional means such as sending a FedEx envelope; everyone opens the FedEx package. Call the operator at their work and have them paged; this one is surprising effective. Send a a fax; people respond to faxes since so few faxes are now sent compared to ten years ago. Or, send flowers or a gift if budget allows; this will get their attention.

Remember, it is your job to call them.

Do You Have What It Takes To Be a Top Seller?

2007-06-19T03:23:00.002-07:00

The group of personality traits and behaviors that makes a successful salesperson has been a topic of discussion amongst business owners and marketing experts for decades. It seems that almost everyone who has published a book or journal article on this topic seems to have the "recipe" for what makes the perfect salesperson. We've all even heard the phrase, "He (or she) is a born salesperson," indicating that we tend to believe that being a good salesperson is a gift one holds inherently, not a skill that can be learned over time.

A Harvard Business School study states that 20% of all salespeople make 80% of all sales. That leaves 80% of a salesforce fighting over the remaining 20% of business. Assuming these statistics are accurate today, it is very important to be in that top 20% of sellers in your company. Clearly, there must be many determining factors that separate superior sellers from the inferior sellers. Here we present a compilation of what business leaders consider to be the makings of successful salespeople. We explore what key factors appear in multiple studies examining the attributes of successful salespeople.

One study examined its findings by concluding that highly successful salespeople do not take the word "no" personally when they are attempting to make a sale; they take full responsibility for all results, both positive and negative; have above average determination and ambition; are intensely goal-oriented; possess empathy; and are comfortable interacting with strangers. Empathy here is defined as the ability to relate to customers effectively and especially understand the customer's financial situation.

Another group of factors identified in successful salespeople included the following:

· A sense of humor
· An ability to establish rapport
· Creativity to differentiate yourself from the competition
· An unyielding belief in your company, the product/service, and yourself
· Ability to promote yourself convincingly
· Reliability and dependability
· A passion to excel
· A perpetual positive attitude and enthusiasm

A third study contends that top sellers are self-confident, persistent, good listeners, open to challenges, motivated, and energetic.

Sales is a challenging and demanding occupation and becoming a top salesperson is no easy task. However, having an idea of the many attributes experts have identified in their most successful salespeople will certainly help you on your journey to the top. The sales profession provides many rewards, both tangible and intangible. When those rewards do not come, it is most likely because you have lacked something along the way: energy? Product knowledge? Clear goals? Tenacity? Perhaps a combination of all of these?

Whether you are a novice or a seasoned veteran, careful examination of the traits listed above may help you answer the question, "Do I have what it takes to be the best?"

Dare to Dream by Day

2007-06-19T03:23:00.001-07:00

Cruising along the highway in his white Taurus, our young salesman finds himself deep in thought. Although he is heading to his next sales presentation, he is not thinking of sales at all. His mind is filled with thoughts of his family.

Flipping down the visor above his head, he looks at the picture he taped there almost two years ago. It is a picture of his dream house – a three-bedroom paradise in a wonderful neighborhood for his family. Looking at the worn picture, he imagines the day this house will be theirs. He can see the excitement on his two daughters’ faces and the smile in his wife’s eyes.

Suddenly, the salesman’s daydream is interrupted as he pulls into the parking lot of his next client. He grabs the padfolio from the passenger’s seat, straightens his tie, and practices his smile in the rearview mirror. Completely relaxed from the morning’s drive, he confidently struts into the familiar lobby, signs the guest log and takes a seat.

From down the hall, he sees his competitor leaving the conference room. He looks somewhat beaten and disheveled. “Good luck,” the competitor says with a cocky, sarcastic tone as he passes.

Our young salesman smiles, “Thanks.” His thoughts are already back to the picture taped to the visor in his car. Thinking of his dream home and the opportunities it will bring his family always bring a smile to his face.

Within moments, the receptionist leads our salesman to the conference room. He is uncharacteristically calm as he shakes hands with each of the five suits seated around the large, mahogany table. Wasting no time, he leans forward, beginning his presentation. His excitement level rises as his enthusiasm and confidence drop from every pore of his body.

Our young superstar glides through the material like a well-choreographed figure skater, clearly outlining what doing business with him and his company would be like. On the opposite end of the table, the chief suit leans back in his leather chair, smiling. He is listening intently to every word our salesman uses.

Then, near the end of the performance, our salesman is interrupted with a single word. “Yes,” says the chief suit. Stopping his verbal melody, our salesman smiles and says, “Thank you, you’ve made a good choice.”

How could this salesman possibly win such a large account with so much ease? Was it his flawless performance? Was it his point-by-point presentation?

No. The truth is that our young salesman belongs to an exclusive club. It is a club made up of those who have a definite purpose in life; those who are not afraid to dream by day. Our salesman’s definite purpose is to make money to provide his family with a better life. His dream is so vividly etched in his mind that it lives in every part of his being and is evident in his life. He knows that a dream is not just a secret wish; it is a lifestyle and a purpose.

When you dare to dream by day, you place your dream face-to-face with the everyday opportunities you have to help you achieve it. You realize that dreams are not meant to hide in the safety of an ephemeral sleep. You give yourself the strength and determination to transform dreaming into doing, and to make your dreams live in the unfolding of your life.

Have the strength to believe in your dreams – completely and continually. As your dreams become internalized and mentally digested, your passion, determination and competence will be unmistakable to everyone you encounter. You will find that every word you speak, every step you take, and every hand you shake will sparkle with the magic of confidence. When you dare to dream by day, you will awake to a world of unlimited possibilities.

Positive Thinking: How Positive Thinking Can Destroy Your Sales Career

2007-06-19T03:22:00.002-07:00

Google Adwords expert Perry Marshall shared the following story in a recent e-mail:

"Do you remember Admiral James Stockdale, the guy who was Ross Perot's Vice Presidential candidate in 'the 1992 election?

He didn't fare so well as a VP candidate, but he was quite an impressive military man. He was former president of the Naval War College and was the highest ranking officer in the "Hanoi Hilton" in Viet Nam. He spent eight years in Hanoi and was tortured numerous times by his captors.

Mr. Thomas Barnett relates:

"Stockdale tells the story of the optimists who never survived their time in Hanoi, simply because they clung far too much to their dreams of release and in doing so couldn't handle the brutal realities of what it took to survive the day to day.

"So instead of dealing with the here and now realistically, they tended to cling to the hope that they'd be home by whatever the next holiday was, and when that day came and went, their spirit would be diminished by that measure.

"Over time, they died because their spirit was extinguished by reality."

Stockdale's explains his "paradox" this way:

"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end (which you can never afford to lose) with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

What Stockdale was really describing is the flagrant abuse of "positive thinking."

Why am I sharing this story with you? Because many salespeople damage their chances for success by being too darned optimistic.

I'm not saying that salespeople shouldn't be optimistic

A certain amount of optimism is required to survive the rigors of our profession. Where we run into trouble is when we look at our sales opportunities through "rose colored glasses". This can cause us to waste enormous amounts of time and effort on opportunities that, when viewed realistically, have little chance of ever closing.

How many opportunities do you have listed in your sales opportunity pipeline? For how many of those opportunities do you have a scheduled appointment at a specific date and time that is on your prospect's calendar for which you have a specific, previously agreed-upon agenda for advancing the sales cycle?

This can be a scary question. When viewed from this perspective, many (if not most) of our opportunities can look pretty weak.

It is easy to gain a false sense of confidence

We can be very busy and have lots of "opportunities" listed in our pipelines. Yet, if prospects won't commit to valid next steps.if they won't return our phone calls.if the endless lunches and other "relationship building" activities don't actually advance sales cycles.then how "real" are these opportunities?

There is an old sales adage that I repeat frequently: "Time is our only inventory." The only way to achieve consistent success in sales is to carefully scrutinize where and how we spend our time. Successful salespeople laser-focus their time and energy on opportunities they have an excellent chance of closing. Unsuccessful salespeople waste much of their time on activities that make them feel busy, but don't produce sales.

The #1 thing you can do to improve your chances of sales success is to take OFF the rose-colored glasses when you examine your sales opportunity pipeline

Be brutally honest with yourself - how many of your opportunities REALLY pass "the realism test"? In other words, for how many opportunities:

1. Do you have a scheduled appointment

2. At a specific date and time

3. That is on your prospect's calendar

4. For which you have a specific, agreed-upon agenda for advancing the sales cycle?

When you look at your sales opportunities through this critical lens, don't feel bad if you discover you don't have anywhere near as many "real" opportunities as you thought you did. Isn't it better to find out now rather than later (such as after you were fired for not achieving your sales goals)?

The sooner you identify the deficiencies in your sales opportunity pipeline, the sooner you can take meaningful action to find more prospects that will pass "the realism test"!

Coaching Promotes Business Success For Self Employed

2007-06-19T03:22:00.001-07:00

I am happy to share these comments from a small business owner who achieved success through coaching, setting SMART goals and staying in constant action to meet his goals

For those of you who work from home your day largely involves hours of work at the computer and a quick trip to your own kitchen for lunch, it's easy to feel a bit isolated.

When you get up and go to a job every day, you're interacting with people, but you don't get that working at home,'' a common complaint I hear from many of my clients who run home based business. Yet after spending a few sessions in Coaching this client’s entire perspective changed

Here is a true and terrific success story about an individual who turned to Coaching to find the business and personal success he was looking for.

His aloneness and lack of direction and support left him stuck, especially when it came to assessing how to grow and diversify his business and increase profits. Then he saw my flier that read, "Go the distance to reach your dreams ...'' while shopping at a local bookstore. He called me and we had a terrific trial session. The light bulb went on. He was filled with energy and excitement. The black cloud of doom and despair lifted from above him. “He immediately signed up for 12 sessions of Life and Business Coaching.

The motto “Go The Distance To Reach Your Dreams really resonated with my new client. He said "I knew didn't need therapy. ... I had been in therapy and that was very helpful. Now I needed direction and motivation in certain areas. I need someone to guide and inspire me to set goals to achieve the Success I was looking for. Coaching was my answer. “Here is his success story:

“After 12 Coaching telephone sessions my life and thinking were transformed. I am better organized and more things done. I know how to focus and take control of my time and my life. I am happy and confident.”

“Now I successfully juggle several accounts and focus more strategically on promoting and growing my business. My phone is ringing off the hook with new work. My business has grown over 30% in 12 short weeks. I closed 4 new accounts PLUS I am involved in 3 entrepreneurial business ventures that will increase my overall income over 50%.- not to mention the exposure it has given to my business. “

I have developed a brand for myself which is so important in business. Coaching brought me to the insight of developing my own online business in addition growing my Marketing and Media business. I am developing websites for clients that are AWESOME. My efforts are increasing their business. I am in demand. It’s a great feeling.

In addition coaching helped me manage my time better, reduce my stress and improve my health. You can view my website at http://www.schneidercreative.com/start.html

It’s wonderful hearing these comments from a client who has experienced the life transforming benefits of coaching. By using a Coaching method based on a seven step process to change that focuses on principles of neuroscience, clients quickly close the gap from where they are now to where they want to be in life. This method is successful, powerful and works!

It enables the client to get the results they are looking for in the least amount of time. It leads to the clients to insights a very powerful form of learning that allows them to develop life long positive habits that transforms their life.

Setting meaningful, measurable and inspiring goals are the foundation of Coaching. But, it does not stop there. The key to a client’s success 1. Setting the clearly defined goals and creating a vision for each 2. Developing strategies and actions to meet their goals 3. Staying in constant action to meet the goals 4. Engaging in weekly coaching session and completing assigned action steps.

The process is structured yet flexible to meet the growth and learning of the client. It keeps the client on track-constantly moving forward.

Coaching is a wonderful tool that helps clients reach their full potential, improve their performance and enhance their overall quality of life. To further assist clients, I make myself available at all times via email and “coach on call:”-where the client can reach me to have a quick 15 minute chat to get them back on track and deal with their issue at hand.

The purpose of the article is to share the benefits of coaching with everyone who may feel stuck, or be at a crossroads in their life and ready for a change. Coaching can help. As a Coach I am my client’s biggest fan. I am dedicated to supporting them reach their goals and have a life they want and love! Visit my website at www.carolgcoach.com and allow me to help you achieve the success you are looking for.

Doing An Einstein

2007-06-19T03:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a little information about one of the greatest thinkers in the 20th century. He was born March 14, 1879 and died April 18, 1955. He was a German born theoretical physicist who is best known for his theory of relativity. In 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. He authored more than 50 scientific papers and in 1999 Time Magazine honored him by naming him "Person Of The Century." I guess you can say the name "Einstein" is synonymous with "Genius." You're probably wondering how I'm going to connect Einstein with the subject of sales.

One of the most memorable quotes in my collection of quotations belongs to Einstein. I'll bet you recognize it immediately. It was Albert Einstein who defined insanity this way. He said, "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity." He also said, "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction." Where are you now relative to where you want to be? Where are you headed? If you don't like where you've been, you have to think about making some changes in your life! This is a huge sales tip for you.

Here are 13 steppingstones you have to weave into your sales mindset:

=>> Changing your attitude

=>> Being self-confident

=>> Being enthusiastic

=>> Achieving goals

=>> Managing time

=>> Communicating effectively

=>> Identifying opportunities

=>> Assessing opportunities

=>> Analyzing behavioral styles

=>> Presenting solutions

=>> Overcoming obstacles

=>> Securing commitment

=>> Measuring results

Do you know what it takes to become a gifted, successful, and extraordinary sales representative? It takes mastery and continuous improvement with these 13 steppingstones. Here's a fact. You will become what you think about most. That's another huge sales tip. Hello - you should fill your mind with positive thoughts, positive expectations, new ideas, and sharpened skills in these 13 steppingstones of the Surefire Selling Results Pyramid. Here's an example of a mindset adjustment. Dr. Wayne Dwyer was talking to a woman about her work. He asked her if she liked the work she was doing? She said she did but knew she would never get rich doing it. He asked her if she wanted to become rich? She said, "Of course, who doesn't." He said, "Let me see if I got this right, you want to become rich but you think it will never happen." Guess what? She's right, it will never happen. Not until and unless she changes her mindset - changes how she thinks!

Okay - I've just given you 13 steppingstones you can use to build a very successful sales career.

Take them!

Use them!

Think about them!

You can do it all by yourself, and in time, master each one of the steppingstones. On the other hand, if you want to speed up the process - maybe I can help you. You see, I've done a lifetime of study on what it takes to be successful in sales. Never forget what Krishna said, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." If you're sick and tired of where you are and what you've got and ready to make some serious changes - and would like some help - go visit my website and browse around. When you think about it, anyone can do an Einstein - his definition of insanity. You can't do the same things over and over and expect different results.

It's time for a change - isn't it?

Another sales tip for you. You can do this alone or work with a sales coach!

I'm ready when you are!

The Magic of Persuasion - Jedi Mind Tricks

2007-06-19T03:05:00.000-07:00

Magic and Mentalism. For the past few months I've been teaching my son new Jedi Mind Tricks.

Creative minds in the field of magic and mentalism are constantly coming up with better ways to fool the senses.

When everything is boiled down to the basics in magic, you have just a few principles that makes Sylvia Browne and James van Pragh so effective in front of an audience. They are the same things that makes David Copperfield and Lance Burton appear to be able to make things vanish and reappear before your very eyes.

One principle is that of misdirection.

For example- I perform one card "trick" (it's an illusion) where a selected card disappears from the deck and appears underneath a plate, surrounded by strangers and no friends to help.

I'm not sleight of hand expert.

I simply practiced the elements of this effect over and over, hundreds of times. The entire success or failure of the illusion rests in a one second moment where everyone's eyes must be away from the plate.

Someday I'm sure I'll be found out on this illusion (it truly is magical to have not only mind reading but telekinesis going down all at the same time!). I'm just not that good.

Misdirection is the critical factor in many magic "tricks" and "illusions."

The ability to know how their human brain will react and respond to your instructions....every time...or close enough to every time that you'll never be seen as anything other than astonishing.

There are a few other factors in magic that can be drawn upon to make something appear from nowhere. Concealment for example.

Concealment comes into play in many illusions and magic tricks.

The better one can conceal the more astonishing the illusion.

Like these elements that give you the pieces to create and design a magic trick, you can also use generalizations about how people will react in certain environments, given certain stimuli.

Magic IS Persuasion.

Persuasion can be magical.

In both magic and persuading others, you *must* know what people will do in specific scenarios and be able to predict those behaviors or actions.

You have to be operating at a high level of certainty as an expert persuader and as a magician. (I'll spare the argument they are one and the same...they are close enough.) I know very few people who are extremely persuasive who do not have a strong interest in magic.

I know of no one in magic who doesn't have a scientific mind...the ability to predict outcomes given a certain set of controlled variables...and do it almost flawlessly...and the ability to reverse engineer RESULTS and BEHAVIORS and ACTIONS back into causes for the effects....for THAT is what a magician is.

The psychic does this as well. They simply are disingenuous about the story they present.

Research is at the core of success for all magicians and all those who persuade.

Those who have the best information inevitably become the better magicians.

Those who understand what the audience will look at, look for and pay attention to will become masters.

Those who create their illusions in a way that creates a natural flow of occurrences so the audience always feels that everything that is happening...is happening naturally...they are the masters...here the audience suspends criticism and lowers their defenses. They now want to be a part of the experience.

And so it is with the master persuader.

A natural flow of occurrences however demands that the performer and the master persuader work within the construct of how his audience thinks and feels. He has to know what they will look at and think and why. Only then can he create magic.

Successful Persuasion is Magic and Magic starts with understanding your audience

It's absolutely necessary that the Master assume nothing and set aside all instincts and intuitions.

Like the magician, if the salesperson or manager, "goes with their gut," they will fail.

Intuitively we know that as parents we have the most influence in how our children will "turn out." Yes?

And obviously a happy employee is a good and productive employee. Yes?

Certainly if customers are satisfied more with the company than the employees of the same company you're going to make more money...right?

Obviously it requires 367 people in a room before you can GUARANTEE that two people will have the same birthday. But how many people does it take in the same room before there is a 50/50 chance that some two people will have a birthday in common in the room. 183?

And when you place two quarters heads up, side by side, touching each other so that Washington is looking straight left on both coins...now you rotate one coin while it remains in contact with the other quarter. You rotate 180 degrees. (Going from 9:00 to 3:00.) Washington is now head down (so to speak) and facing your right on one coin and facing left on the unmoved coin. Right?

The answer is of course that gut instinct is not very helpful. In fact, people who follow their gut turn out to be the failures of life.

It doesn't require 183 people in a room for there to be a 50/50 chance of two people having the same birthday. How many does it require? 23.

That's it. Mentalists and magicians are all aware of this and when they find themselves in a room of 40 people the odds are overwhelming that two of the 40 will share the same birthday...thus able to create the illusion of coincidence, synchronicity...when it's nothing of the sort.

People are very predictable because they do think with their gut...which is why they are 50 pounds overweight and as long as people espouse, "go with your gut," or "go with your instincts," they will easily be fooled, manipulated and make for a great audience for magic.

The two quarters? It would seem just logical that if you carefully rotate the coin 180 degrees all the while touching the other coin, without slipping, that the rotated coin would now be upside down.

But no, intuition is dead wrong again.

Both coins are once again heads up facing left. The rotating coin is actually head down when it's in the 12 o' clock position (rotated from the 9' o clock position.

As parents you have a very modest input into your children's destiny. Not including genetics, the most significant factor is their friends. Then their school teachers...oh, and then there is you finishing dead last.

If your customers are happier with your company more than your employees are, you're probably losing money or not making what you could be.

Ah, and happy employee's are better and more productive employees? Nope. On average the opposite is true.

Common sense and instinct might be great for some things...but it is pretty useless for thinking.

People "think" in "rules of thumb." They make wild assumptions that in the moment "feel right" based on their gut and little else.

Understanding how people think, and what they will think is crucial to being a master persuader.

If you ignore how people truly process information, how they behave, what they think in various settings and circumstances, and go with your gut, you don't stand a chance at effective persuasion.

You must know how people think and what they feel. Everything else rises or falls on this first hidden principle.

Next week, we'll look at more hidden principles of persuasion.

Persistence in Sales

2007-06-19T03:04:00.002-07:00

Persistence is the key that will unlock doors to great riches in sales and in all areas of life. Without persistence you will never reach your true potential, attain the goals you so greatly desire or experience true success. Making the decision to have persistence in sales is not enough; you have to take action to bring such decision to fruition.

As a sales professional you do not want to bother or be a pest to your prospects or clients. How can you exercise persistence without so doing? The answer lies in your reason for being persistent. If you are being persistent only to make a quick buck then the prospect will perceive this and most likely you will be seen as a pest. On the flip side if you are being persistent with a sincere desire to help and be of value, ten this will come across on the nature of your presentation. A touch of human element makes a profound deference and when the prospect sees value in your products and services your persistent will be accepted and commend

Hard work will always be rewarded and normally your results will mirror your input. If you work persistently giving your best endeavor then your persistence will payoff in spades. The problem most sales professionals have when using persistence in sales is being impatient. As a result they give up too quickly and never rise to levels of greatness. If only they tried asking for the order one more time or remained persistent just a little while longer then things would have worked out. For those who exercise patience the results always come and can be quite dramatic.

For persistence to work, it must be done consistently. I you normally follow-up with your prospects every month then do not put of following up for three months or put the account aside for a sustained period. This will result in inconsistency which can be counterproductive. I you adhere to your follow-up schedule then you will consistently see better results.

First Impressions - Are They Really That Important?

2007-06-19T03:04:00.001-07:00

You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. This fact is even more evident when placing your client in a cold direct sales situation.

When you consider that the average person when placed in new or unfamiliar surroundings will take in up to 70% of his initial information visually, the remaining 30% being divided between the auditory and kinetic senses, and a first impression will be made in a matter of seconds, you’d better make sure that they like the look of you or your presentations going to be all up hill!

Let’s look at a simple example to demonstrate this fact:

Think back to the last time you were on holiday in a strange country. Remember the first night when you went down to the sea front looking for a nice bar to have a drink in. As you walk along the promenade you’re visually scanning all the bars until one catches your eye correct? When one does catch your eye you’ll cross the road and go in, once inside you visually scan the décor and decide in a split second whether or not you like the look of the other customers sitting at the bar and more importantly, the bar staff.

Now all that information you’ve just taken in visually. Assuming you like everything you see, your next sense the auditory sense kicks in and you start to analyze the sounds, i.e. do you like the music that’s playing?, does the conversation at the bar sound friendly?, have you been greeted with a big smile and a welcoming opening line from the bar staff?. This is when your kinetic sense kicks in and tells you if you feel comfortable or not. If you feel comfortable you order a drink and stay. If you don’t feel comfortable you turn around, walk out and start the process all over again at the next bar.

That is exactly the same process we use to gather our information when we meet someone for the first time and that is exactly the process your clients will use when they meet you for the first time. If you don’t make a good visual impression and greet your clients in an open and friendly way their kinetic sense will tell them they don’t feel comfortable with you and if they don’t feel comfortable with you they certainly wont trust you enough to buy your product at the end of your presentation no matter how good it is!

So how do you make a good first impression every time?

Here are five tips that might help you:

Make sure your sales material is clean, complete, and presentable and you have at least two pens on your person in case one runs out. That way you can concentrate on making a good impression without worrying about your sales material.

Go to the toilet. Nothing saps your concentration like a full bladder! Besides once you are with your clients you don’t want to leave them again till the deal is done.

While you’re in the toilet check yourself in the mirror and make sure you are clean and presentable. If you smoke, clean your teeth and wash your hands. Nothing is more off putting to a non-smoker or even worse an ex-smoker than shaking hands with someone who stinks of stale tobacco.

Now spend at least five minutes on your own away from any other reps filling your mind with positive thoughts. If you’re giving off loads of positive vibrations when you meet your clients they will also feel positive about you and are far more likely to feel comfortable during your sales presentation.

Lastly put yourself in their shoes. Try to imagine how you would feel meeting yourself for the first time? What impression would you make on yourself? Is there anything you would change? And remember, always Treat your clients exactly the way you would like to be treated whether they buy or not. The person they talk to after their presentation with you, might be your clients tomorrow!

How To Double Your Qualified Leads Without Taxing Your Budget

2007-06-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

It's standard practice to generate leads by requiring web site visitors to exchange personal information for quality content and/or collateral. Walking the fine line between asking for too much information (and scaring prospects off) and asking for too little takes finesse. Here's a simple way to glean more information from prospects, qualify leads, and keep those visitors returning to your site.

1. Identify themes based on why visitors come to your site. This will usually be broken down by the kinds of information and/or product you sell or the services you provide. For example, a Network Services company might identify these themes: Disaster Recovery, IP Address Management, Network Access Control, DNS/DHCP Infrastructure, and Voice Over IP.

2. For each theme, develop five pieces of collateral or content you want site visitors to acquire. This can be whitepapers, data sheets, a webinar, you name it. Your goal is to walk each user through acquiring all five of these pieces.

3. Develop unique registration forms for each interaction. The trick is to keep the forms short with no more than five or six questions each so that users don't stop mid-form. And, instead of asking the same questions over and over, ask a different set of questions with each form. Use cookies to identify the unique visitor, and if the visitor doesn't have cookies enabled, you can also track identical users by asking them to register with their email address. The goal is to get more qualifying information with each round of registration.

4. Score the leads and give them to your sales people. Score the leads based on both the kind and quality of information provided. For example, even if you got quality information from the prospect, they wouldn't score well if they answered that they have no current projects and no budget. A typical scoring system might be:

A - high quality, inside sales follow up
B - good quality, inside sales follow up
C - moderate quality, inside sales follow up as time allows
D - marketable opt-in lead, no follow up required
E - purchased/acquired list, non-opted in
F - junk lead

Believe it or not, implementing this system will allow you to not only generate higher quality leads, but also double the number of leads you receive because you're using shorter, more user-friendly forms.

How To Differentiate Anything - Including Your Products

2007-04-17T05:42:00.001-07:00

You will always command a higher price if your product is better than your competitor's product.

The first step to becoming better is being different. This is easy to say and hard to do.

If you believe any of your products are commodities you probably don't understand the last sentence.

Products don't turn themselves into commodities - salespeople do it.

If you truly believe in the concept of differentiation - there are simply no commodities on this planet.

You have it all wrong if you believe your customers buy your products because they believe your products are unique in some ways.

What really happens is your customers and prospects are attracted to your products because you (The seller) believe your products are unique.

It starts and ends with you. Never forget that.

During my corporate sales training programs and the annual Boot Camps I do - I always make a point of saying this, "If I were selling single ply toilet tissue, I could differentiate mine from the competition."

Well glory be, I'm in Park City Utah last year doing a sales training assignment at a combo ski/golf resort. And what do I see sitting on a shelf in the bathroom - a roll of toilet tissue.

Not an ordinary roll mind you, a differentiated roll of single ply toilet tissue. It was wrapped in dark brown paper and had the words "Emergency Backup" prominently displayed.

All tissue paper is wrapped, but the paper in my room was wrapped in differentiation and no doubt presented to the buyer as a better alternative to his current product.

Your product just needs to be a little different to be considered better.

The list of what can be differentiated is endless. Since we both have time for what's endless - here's a short list to get you headed in the right direction:

You can differentiate . . . how you make appointments.

You can differentiate . . . how you confirm appointments.

You can differentiate . . . how you begin a sales call.

You can differentiate . . . how you end a sales call.

You can differentiate . . . how you ask sales questions.

You can differentiate . . . how you present your products.

You can differentiate . . . how you package your proposals.

You can differentiate . . . how you show your appreciation to your customers.

You can differentiate . . . how you acquire and apply new sales skills.

You can differentiate . . . everything about you, your products, and your company.

And if you don't get this concept - you're doomed to sell on price.

Logically, when someone is comparing your price, it's usually a good indication they don't see any other comparisons. Everything looks similar - so we may as well talk about price.

And by now you realize - the more you talk about price the lower it gets.

Offer your prospects and customers more and they'll gladly pay more. It's been said and I don't recall who said it, "Profitability is the applause of a happy customer."

If profitability is the applause of a happy customer you should be raising your prices, especially if your customers are happy.

If profitability is the applause of a happy customer you should be raising your prices, especially if you're making your customers happy.

Dreaded Returns

2007-04-17T05:41:00.002-07:00

There is nothing a retailer wants less than for products that have already been sold to be returned and refunded. Those precious dollars that were once on the books are no longer. Some returns may not be significant in price, but they sure do add up, so it is important for any retail store to have protocol and policy for handling these returns so that employees or managers can deal with the problem. This way the customer is satisfied while the store retains its sales. Some simple tips on how to flip those returns into exchanges can save your business a bundle of cash.

The first thing a customer service associate should do in the case of an unsatisfied customer is: truly listen to the customer's complaint. Not only do customers want to be heard, but the employee will have a difficult time producing a solution to the problem if they do not listen carefully to the customers statements. The associate should wait until the customer is completely finished speaking before asking any still unanswered questions about the return. Some questions the employee should be considering in their mind are: What is wrong with the item? Why are they returning this product? What does the customer want? Quite possibly, the customer has already answered all of these questions and there is need for the employee to belabor those points. The associate may then proceed in asking the necessary questions to understand the nature of the return.

Now that the customer service associate fully grasps the reason for the return and what the customer wants, they can offer any suggestions that might make a simple solution for both parties. For instance, the customer might want a different size or color, or perhaps another product would fulfill the customer's want where the other product fell short. Consider whether a better product is offered or if there are any alternatives that the customer would find useful. Now this return has transformed into a sale. The associate should realize this is an actual sales pitch they are performing so that both the store and the shopper come out on top.

The best way to deal with returns is to offer in-store credit for those items brought back. This will keep those sales within the store. If that is not possible, then telling the customer about current specials or discounts might sway them to do more shopping, or even come back and shop some more. Remember, the most important thing is always to satisfy the customer. The store may take a hit by loosing one sale, but odds are, if the customer is satisfied with the result of this return, they will most like come back to this establishment. Consider some of these returns as good faith that more sales will come. Make sure you offer cash refund alternatives, but be aware of the customers attitude so that you continue to have valued customer service standards in this competitive retail world.

Space Solutions

2007-04-17T05:41:00.001-07:00

No matter the size of a retail operation, space is always a critical issue, but for small retailers, space may become a huge problem preventing them from growth or display of adequate inventory. Simply buying new property or remodeling your floor plan is not the only way to make more room in your retail store. Slatwall displays are a cheaper, inventive solution to the long time problem of space.

Slatwalls are described as flat wall fixtures with grooves that allow holders, hooks, and shelves to be fitted into those grooves and provide a wall display space for a variety of products. The goal of a slatwall is to get products off of the floor and onto the walls, creating more walk space and room for more products on the existing sales floor. With slatwalls, that wasted wall space becomes an effective product display area.

Possibly the greatest advantage of slatwall displays over gridwall panels is the abundance of slatwall accessories. As I said before, there are hooks, holders, and shelving unites, but accessories also include basket unites, brackets of all kinds, and customized product displays for things such as inline skates to literature racks to basketballs. Whatever your display needs, there are probably slatwall accessories to accommodate you. Some products that are commonly found on slatwall displays are magazines, books, CDs and DVDs, clothing (from jackets to entire outfits), hats (from ball caps to cowboy hats), sporting equipment, shoes, electronics, and more.

A major misconception about slatwalls is that they little the walls with ugly paneling, and thought that may have been the case in the past, the slatwall designs of today come in every variety to blend and work with any retail store environment. Slatwalls can be wood paneled like any wood type, nude for painting, textured, laminate, or pre-painted in any color. Once your products are in place, no customer will even notice the wall system. By browsing the mall or most any department store, anyone will see that slatwalls are extremely popular, while the public hardly recognizes their presence at all. That is the beauty of slatwalls. They tidy up the sales floor while creating great, elevated displays that really feature the products and not the store fixtures.

To really take full advantage of slatwall panels, it is important to order all of the necessary slatwall accessories. If you find yourself short on slatwall hardware or wishing you had another display piece, chances are, you will never get around to getting the right pieces. Plan ahead and get all of the slatwall accessories you may need, for now and the future. This will allow you to create the display that really shows off your products and gives you the ability to change up your display wall from time to time, easily. Also, the more types of products displayed on a slatwall, the better. When a slatwall only has one product, it may look bare or uninteresting. So consider the needs of your retail environment and how your new slatwall displays can help. Are some of the sections of your store looking cluttered? Do you have a pile of products in the back that are not even seen? Use slatwall displays to solve these problems.

Adding slatwalls to a retail environment can really be the solution to space problems. Free up the floors, and raise the bar by installing slatwall displays throughout your store.

Store Fixtures

2007-04-17T05:40:00.001-07:00

As the retail store industry has developed, visual merchandising and product display has become a major concern of business owners. As a result, store fixtures of every variety have been produced to maximize the exposure of products on the sales floor. Today, retail stores carry everything from clothes, to toys, electronics, to kitchen accessories. It is important for a sales manager to have the tools necessary for displaying these varieties of items in the most effective way.

Some of the many store fixtures commonly used today are gridwall fixtures, clothing store fixtures (such as hangers, racks, and mannequins), display cases, shopping bags, jewelry displays, slatwall fixtures, and good old fashioned shelves. Gridwall and slatwall fixtures serve a similar purpose by providing display space along the walls of a retail store. Slatwalls use grooves and pieces of hardware, while gridwalls have a grid system that can be interlocked with different display hardware. Hooks, shelves, baskets, and literature holders are just a few of the many accessories that can be added to these displays to produce a more vertical and less space consuming display.

Hangers are a major part of clothing display. There are so many types of hangers and hanger accessories that can accommodate any retail clothing environment. It is important to not only match the store environment with clothing hangers, but also to choose the right hangers for the style and preservation of the clothes for sale. Some of the materials hangers are produced from today are wood, metal, plastic, and fiberglass. Mannequins are also a very important player in clothing display. Ranging from full-length life-size portrayals to torsos and hanging forms, they bring the clothes to life by giving them a human shape and helping the customer imagine their true appearance.

Display cases are important for both display and security of precious products. They can be framed with several different metals or wood and can be full vision, half vision, open cases, register stands, countertop, oaken, pedestal, portable, or custom. Within these varieties of displays are also a variety of display options for bracelets, rings, chains, watches, or necklaces, and these come in materials such as metal, wood, velvet, or acrylic.

Though many do not think of shopping bags as store fixtures, they are possibly one of the most important. Craft bags, tinted bags, shopping baskets, carts, and holiday bags are all used to make the shopping experience a little easier. Think of what shopping would be like without bags.

Store fixtures give retail stores shape and personality organizing and displaying products in the most effective and enjoyable way possible. It is important to consider store fixtures of every product in a store. Although this may seem to get expensive, the profits they will produce and help they will bring to managers and employees will far outweigh the cost.

Back to School Retail

2007-04-17T05:39:00.000-07:00

"Back to school" shopping is possibly the most important time of year for children's retailers in the United States. Understanding the timing for this annual event is essential for making the back to school time a boost in sales. Recent statistics show that nearly 70% of shoppers will begin their back to school shopping in the month of August, but the most important demographic for children's retail is the group that plans to spend $1,000 or more for their children, and strangely enough, almost 50% of these shoppers fall in the remaining 30% of shoppers that will begin their shopping earlier than August. Though this is a much smaller group, it spends just as much, if not more, than the other 70% of consumers doing their shopping in August. So what does that tell retailers is important for the next season?

Retailers cannot afford to miss this huge spending demographic. The latest time for "back to school" shelving must be July first, though putting out supplies and clothes in mid June is not a bad idea either. By forcing the "back to school" displays up for this extra month, retailers will see almost double in sales, well worth the extra effort in early planning. It is true that "back to school" sales do not necessarily make or break annual sales for all children's retail stores, but it can greatly make up for any loses in the previous spring if timed right for the public.

Target advertising is also important for the for "back to school" sales revenues. Promotional sales are likely to bring in customers looking to get their shopping done as cheaply as possible. Even if the bargain sales are small savings, the "sale" sign will bring customers into the store, ready to buy. Half of the consuming market is vastly more likely to buy during a sales promotion, regardless of the actual savings, and more than half of mothers in this country plan to scout out all the "back to school" sales. Consider this when organizing advertising campaigns in July and August, and target the mothers of the world trying to get their children all the things they need to be a successful student.

It is imperative spend the extra time and planning for the "back to school" season to truly reap the benefits of the this annual American expenditure. Without the right length and timing "back to school" displays many possible customers and sales will be missed, and without the right simple sales promotions, half of those may be lost to competitors. Listening to the public and knowing when and what the need has always been important for retail stores, but it is even more acute when everyone is going back to school.

Retail in a Second Baby Boom

2007-04-16T04:11:00.002-07:00

The children of the baby boomers are now having babies of their own. Naturally, those children are often having more than one, and so mathematically it makes sense that the baby boomers are now longer the largest portion of the United States population. Instead, it is their children. This notable shift in population has created a massive trend toward clothing for infants and children. Celebrity mothers dress their kids in all of the latest styles, and so it filters down to the public with Baby Gap and more toddler stores in malls than ever. Children's clothing is in a major growth category for many retailers, and more of them are coming on board the kid's clothes train.

The Gerber clothing line has been added to the list by the major department store, Sears. It brings a "mix-and-match" collection of clothing that is both cute and practical. Sears hopes to increase their market share by pushing this new line of children's clothes. Both Sears and JCPenney use gift sets to move their products. It is commonly known that baby showers are responsible for much of the kid's clothing that is purchased, and so these major departments are focusing on gift giving to sell their new children's clothing lines.

Babies "R" Us is also a massive retailer of kid and infant wear. It has become the one stop solution for parents in a rush. Get toys, diapers, clothes, anything else you could possibly imagine an infant might want or desire, and it is thriving in this second generation of Baby Boomers. Taking its cue from Babies "R" Us, Wal-Mart released the "Child of Mine" label as well as many other department stores picking up premium national infantwear labels. These powerhouses are finding ways to provide extremely cheap solutions for kid's clothes.

However, the expensive, high-end, baby boutique market is also flourishing. As a result of the wealth produced by the baby boomers, their children have more money to spend on their kids. Upper crust boutiques for children are opening all over the United States. Celebrities and other cultural elite are spending an obscene amount of money to keep their kids in style, and retailers are taking advantage of the opportunity.

Now is a great time to get into child and infant sales. There has never been such a market of people with such vast resources to support this kind of sales. If your store or department has not already investigated children's clothes, consider this venture, as it has proved an incredible source of sales revenue for many small shops and major companies.

Mortgage Leads-View Before You Buy

2007-04-16T04:11:00.001-07:00

Mortgage Leads, View Before You Buy

If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker looking to purchase internet mortgage leads, you may want to start out with the lead companies that allow for you to view the leads before you make the decision to buy them.

Otherwise known as cherry picking leads, you have the option of looking at all of the details of the lead before you make the purchase. I don’t think it gets any more fair than that.

At least this way you know exactly what you will be getting.

The next step would be finding the right mortgage lead company to invest with.

At the very least, you want to ensure that the leads you are spending your hard earned money on are fresh and of good quality.

Avoid lead companies that recycle their leads or purchase them from 3rd party vendors and sell them to loan officers like yourself at a profit.

Look for the lead companies that generate their own leads through web sites they own and operate on their own.

In order to find lead companies such as theses it is important to take your time and do your homework.

Once you find a mortgage lead company you believe to be a fit, call and speak with someone in their customer service or sales department. Ask many questions on the subject of how they obtain their leads.

If you are not happy with the answers you receive or the service provided than move on. More than likely if you are not happy after your phone call, you will not be happy with any of the leads they provide you with.

Also, be sure to check out their return policy. Make sure that it is fair and reasonable.

Remember, you work hard for your money, so make sure that you will be getting what you paid for.

The Four Essential Component Parts Of Successful Selling Part Three - And Finally, Knowledge

2007-04-16T04:10:00.001-07:00

It is fairly common knowledge that even today, in most industries, a very high percentage of training budgets are spent on “product knowledge” workshops and training sessions. This is understandable to a degree particularly in the more technical sectors, but what about all the other types of “knowledge”?

The task of selling never becomes any easier and as competition continues to intensify, sales people will face issues that can be extremely difficult to deal with - i.e. decreased product uniqueness, increased competition within ‘safe’ markets, longer sales cycles and shorter product life spans. Every organisation that intends to survive in the re-engineered environment that arrived with the new millennium must, in my view, respond to those realities.

Today’s clients/customers are looking for vendors who can be business partners, who are willing and able to share risks and who are able to properly manage the entire sales process not just simply demonstrate products.

Ongoing research demonstrates that to-day’s ‘average’ salesperson is just as effective as the high performer in explaining features and benefits effectively, relating a service or product to customer needs and closing a sale. But, above this Level 1 plateau of competence, the exceptional salesperson is busy defining the “basic skills of tomorrow”. This includes broad based business knowledge, industry knowledge, sector knowledge, knowledge of one’s own company and of course knowledge of oneself.

It is suggested that 84% of buying decisions are based on emotion – if that really is the case buyers will not buy because they like us but rather that they trust us. Logically, we are far more likely to trust someone if we sense synergy, if the seller talks our language and if they are “knowledgeable”!

Summary:

So what did my “new breed” of salesperson look like? For a start he or she progressed from the more traditional, ‘lone ranger’ approach of selling to a more team-based consultative style. I determined that a consultative salesperson needed to fulfil three basic roles, that of Business Consultant, Long Term Ally and Strategic Orchestrator. By combining all three roles salespeople are more able to develop and maintain long-term relationships with clients.

However, all of this was built on a simple platform – a simple formula:

Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success.

The Four Essential Component Parts Of Successful Selling Part Two - Skills And Process

2007-04-16T04:09:00.000-07:00

Continued From Part One:

I then turned my attention to Skills: I discovered that to begin with, the one off programme was supplying a short term motivational buzz and provided my team with a number of thought provoking ideas. However, in reality, once they were back at the “front-line” the day to day pressures of hitting quota etc took over again and the reactive mindset returned.

Then and it is probably still true today, most - I would estimate at least 80% - training organisations, were making the assumption that all delegates were at the same level in terms of experience, expertise and had the same “commercial bandwidth”. This was of course, totally unrealistic.

Whilst it is never possible to equate age and experience with success, the reality is that although some professional salespeople do have ten years experience, most have one year’s experience ten times!

The very best salespeople – the ones that consistently exceed expectation - have usually received ongoing skills development from the “emerging” stage all the way through “advanced” right up to “consultative” level if appropriate, but the keyword is “ongoing”

Finally, and this is the most significant and blatant error of judgment most Sales Directors make, I know I did, is that every member of the team receives the same training, i.e. they are all dispatched off to the same course regardless of whether or not they already have those skills or if indeed they need to have them in their current role.

The point here is that there is far too little planning, assessing and objective setting; as I said earlier, it is much easier to delegate that responsibility to the training company. The downside to this approach is of course, so much money is wasted.

I quickly realised that the first step for any company deciding to make a change in their sales approach was to accept that training must be based on what the salespeople need and should be tailored to address diagnosed performance gaps. Using a diagnostic approach – a formal sales team skills audit, saves an organisation money and time because there is nothing to be gained from teaching people something that they are already doing well or, conversely, that they don’t need to do in the first place.

So what did I do? I wrote my own programmes and they eventually became the basis of the Vanguard Suite, but more significantly I designed an attitude/skills/process audit tool which has now evolved into the ASP Profile and is being used by organisations all around the world to regularly benchmark both the development needs and ongoing performance levels of their sales teams. And the most common feedback I receive? “I cannot believe how much money you are saving us”!

Process:

In his book “Fundamentals of Selling”, Charles Futrell identifies careful use of selling time as perhaps the distinguishing characteristic of the successful salesperson. Frequently there are two main pitfalls that even experienced salespeople can fall into in terms of activities. First, they simply aren’t doing enough. What’s enough? Enough telephone calls to make appointments, enough face-to-face calls, enough calls that involve or influence the decision-makers. In general, the more focused sales activity salespeople generate, the greater the number of sales opportunities they can create.

Second, but equally important, salespeople often aren’t clear about how to identify the prospects most likely to have a genuine need for their product or service. Without an objective way to prioritise which prospects to contact first and/or an efficient strategy for contacting them, salespeople are doomed to waste a large percentage of their time. Another huge dilemma for many salespeople is how to divide their time between servicing existing clients and generating new business from new prospects. A common approach among salespeople can be summarised in the saying “If you throw enough mud against the wall, some of it is bound to stick”. This approach is exhausting, demoralising, extremely unproductive and very expensive in the long term.

In the book Emerson’s Essays, there is a section on “Law of Compensation”, which can be summarised simply as “give more, get more” This is what most salespeople try to do, so they end up working harder when they should be working smarter. This begs the question, are your sales activities deciding your strategy or is your strategy deciding your sales activities?

From the Sales Director’s perspective, developing a consultative sales process means developing a comprehensive, formal, realistic and step-by-step outline of what salespeople are expected to do. This is just as appropriate for internal and totally reactive sales teams as it is for external pro-active ones. This outline includes the activity and calls they must make, the relationships they should establish with prospects, the documentation they should use in sales calls, the issues they must discuss and resolve with prospects and the tangible goals they must achieve in sequence along the path to each sale, in order to achieve maximum effectiveness.

It’s only when such an outline is in place that sales management can be in a position to:

• Monitor the sales force’s activity, progress and results,

• Assess issues as they arise and take appropriate action,

• Redirect individual sales representatives’ efforts efficiently.

Although many organisations appreciate the importance of being customer-focused and talk in vague terms about their “consultative sales process”, surprisingly few sales leaders invest the time and energy required to develop a formal sales process – a process that is at once detailed and resilient enough to guide their salespeople and permit effective management of their efforts.

But I was determined to design a process tool kit which addressed every need my team had from opportunity analysis to personal organisation, from pipeline development to revenue forecasting etc. I developed innovative strategies that enabled me to achieve the Holy Grail: Sustained sales growth achieved efficiently, reliably and by design.

Part Three:The Four Essential Component Parts Of Successful Selling -And Finally, Knowledge follows.

The Four Essential Component Parts Of Successful Selling Part One - Attitude

2007-04-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

I first began to recognise the need to be able to benchmark sales performance more objectively and more rigorously over twenty five years ago: The motivation to do this was strong because I knew I was wasting thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds on sales skills training programmes which were not providing me with a proper return on my considerable investment. But I needed to prove my theory because without an accurate analysis of my requirements, I would continue to abdicate that responsibility to the training providers, most of whom had only their own interests at heart.

So with this quote from Drucker, “The most effective way to manage change is to create it” firmly in my mind, I set about my task, a task that became a journey, which began in 1981 and is still ongoing.

By taking an analytical approach, I arrived at the following equation:

Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success.

My initial reasoning was this: Attitude is fundamental to any achievement because individuals with the right Attitude are far more likely to embrace the essential Skills, recognise the control that Process brings and have the desire to continually expand their Knowledge.

Skills are the ‘tools of the trade’ and have to be developed on an ongoing basis. They also need to be specific, because too much time can be wasted over-burdening employees with inappropriate and irrelevant skills without any identifiable plan for their future requirements.

Process brings organisation, efficiency and control, both for the individual and for management. Effective process provides objective analysis and indicators which can be benchmarked and accurately measured.

Then there is of course a need to build in Knowledge and that must include knowledge of products, industry, market sectors, competitors, business, own company and last but not least, self!

Attitude:

Let’s then begin by looking at Attitude: I was fortunate enough to have discovered the “Hertzberg Theory “- Professor Frederick Hertzberg has promoted a theory of motivation which goes a long way forward from the original theory of “Carrot and Stick”, or indeed its extension ‘The Reward Theory’, still used by many managers and companies to try and exhort greater efforts from their staff.

It stems from two-statements:-

- What makes people happy and motivated at work, is what they do.

- What makes people unhappy and de-motivated at work, is the situation in which they do it.

Hertzberg suggested that managers needed become familiar with three new letters that would become increasingly important in the management of people in the future. The three letters are:- Q.W.L. - standing for ‘The Quality of Work Life’

Managers, who want to motivate their staff, he said, are going to have to improve their Q.W.L

The first set of needs defined by Hertzberg is called Hygiene Needs and deal with a person’s relationship with the environment. They consist of how people are treated at work.

- Do you pay them well?

- Good working conditions?

- Human relations - the nature and quality of their supervision

- Status.

- The nature of the Company’s policies and administration.

They are called Hygiene Factors, because if the factors are right, they prevent people from being dissatisfied in their working environment, so they keep people from being unhappy and that is their function - but they do not motivate.

The other set of needs of people is caused by the fact that they are human beings and therefore, not only do they not want to hurt, so treat them well (Hygiene), but they want to do something. They want to grow and show what they can do. They want to be able to say at the end of the work experience not that they vegetated, but that they are more than they were (know more, can do more and therefore are more) and the only way to measure this is by what they have achieved in that experience.

They are therefore asking these questions:-

- Do I achieve? Am I contributing?

- Am I given increased responsibility?

- Am I advancing and growing?

- Is what I do meaningful and significant? Is its interesting?

- Is my ability recognised?

These are The Motivators. These are the variables that managers can use to motivate people, because people, who want to do something, want to do it - that’s motivation.

So if we want to talk about motivated performance, we have got to talk about -

• Achievement

• Recognition for achievement

• Meaningful and interesting work

• Increased responsibility

• Growth and development

Take The Power Back

2007-04-10T02:23:00.001-07:00

Far too often these days I run into people that are allowing technology to control their lives when it doesn't have to be that way.

Put bluntly, a blackberry, a laptop, a cell phone or a PDA shouldn't be controlling your life. If they are, it may be time to take the power back.

In fact, I'm only in my early 30's and I can remember a time when we didn't have automated voice-mail or call waiting. And a cell phone was a luxury. But guess what, even back when people didn't have cell phones if the car broke down on that road so far from home, they still survived.

Of course I'm not saying that we should leave our cell phones home or go back to a time when we didn't have cell phones because they (cell phones) have certainly saved some lives and they have certainly made our lives more convenient and easy in many ways.

But unfortunately, far to many people are reacting to these technologies rather than being proactive, and I feel that this can not only hurt our potential for balance but in some cases it can hinder our productivity rather then help.

For example, when I purchased my first handheld device I was so impressed by how much easier it made the process of checking emails, I didn't realize that I was letting it control me and that it was turning me into a reactive business professional.

How was it turning me into a reactive professional you ask?

Well, for starters, as soon as an email would arrive, I would start working on the task associated with that email and soon as I was spending countless hours working on tasks that had no true benefit or effect on my sales career and also tasks that had nothing to do with the plans I'd set for the day the previous evening or week.

Secondly, I didn't realize the power that little device had until I started jumping up to check the email the second the little rig started buzzing.

So yeah, I've been there, but I quickly discovered that rather than adding hours to my day the device was in some ways taking time away from it. And it wasn't the device's fault, it was my own. Now that I use the device in the manner that works for me the device has truly become a time saver and a great device for increasing my productivity, but for me I had to take the power back for the full benefit to be realized.

And here's how I did it.

1) I decided to turn the buzzing off and simply set the device to silence so that I wouldn't know when an email was arriving.

2) I stopped bringing the device with me during non-business hours.

3) Because I didn't no the exact second every email came in I started setting aside time to check and reply to emails (proactive) rather than replying to every email the second it came through (reactive).

I stress that these little modifications may not work for you but for me they made all the difference in the world.

The main thing is that you figure how to put these devices to work for you rather than the other way around.

Just remember this: there were top performing sales professionals long before these technologies existed and so even though these devices may increase your efficiency, just make sure they are not taking from it.

And so, Until Next Time, Yours in Success

So You Think You Can Sell

2007-04-10T02:22:00.002-07:00

I once heard a quote by a Scottish ex-World Champion Formula 1 motor racing driver called Jackie Stewart. It went something like ‘you can criticize a man about anything other than his driving and his love making ability’ Well I would like to add to that, because you can’t criticize somebody about their selling ability either. I got to wondering the other day, why is that? Why do men and women who take orders yet have never had any reasonable amount of sales training think they are sales people and hate to be told otherwise? It would be like a technical assistant in an operating theater calling him or herself a surgeon and bristling at anybody that questioned their logic. This may seem harsh but I really do think there is that much blue water between good sales people that understand and can implement the sales process and people that are in a sales role and just happen to be around to pick up an order from time to time.

I have had 2 examples of this within the last week or so. I have been thinking about setting up an office closer to downtown Orlando and as such have been looking at property and furniture.

Case Number 1: I went into a well-known store that sells reclining chairs (enough said there I think). I asked whether they had a love seat in leather the same design as a chair I had previously bought and even gave the guy the code and the color specification. Immediately he told me that they didn’t do that design in a love seat and that they didn’t do THAT color anyway. I explained that I had taken it from underneath the chair and as it was only 6 months old thought they may be able to at least match it. The man wondered off to find more information, or at least that is what I thought, but he never came back. I saw him talking to another customer 5 minutes later and just shook my head in disbelief. That man probably thinks he is a sales person and probably tells himself that when somebody buys something, he SOLD it whereas the reality is completely different.

Case Number 2: I sent an e-mail enquiry about some property that was available in an area that would have suited my needs. I got a phone call back within half an hour from a very pleasant lady that said she managed that building. She then asked me how much I was looking to spend per month! No questions on what I needed it for, no questions about what was important to me, not even a question about my business or long term plans, just a simple request for my budget. Is that selling? I don’t think so.

There are so many people that work in sales and so many companies that offer no initial or ongoing training that when occasionally you meet a good sales person they stand out from the crowd. They will truly look like a professional and not somebody that is completely out of their depth and probably not even going to be there next time you visit.

I have a theory that because there are no formal recognized qualifications for selling and that as it is seen as a job that people slip into rather than aim for, then people think it must be easy. Therefore, to be criticized for not being good at a job that is ‘easy’ is something that most people can simply not accept.

So, are you in sales? Are you a good sales person? Could you be better? Could you benefit from training? Would a 5% improvement help your earning potential immeasurably? If the answer to those questions is yes, then I urge you to get some training as soon as you can and I am confident that you will look back on it as being a very sensible investment in your future success.

Top 10 Reasons Sales Managers Fail-And What To Do About It

2007-04-10T02:22:00.001-07:00

The primary reasons that sales managers fail is that they don’t know how to manage their people, and they don’t manage a highly effective selling processes. Just as an engineering manager needs to be a pretty competent engineer, so does a sales manager need to be a pretty competent salesperson. However, in both cases, their primary responsibility is to manage the performance of their staff. And, both must have a good understanding of modern management principles beyond a few readings of “The One Minute Manger.”

By contrast, most engineering managers know that technology is evolving so quickly that their managerial functions prevent them from keeping up with the technology at the level of a functioning engineer. However, they know enough about the latest technology to manage it.

Conversely, most sales managers believe that very little has changed in the ways that top salespeople interact with their prospects and customers since they became a manager. Therefore, they tend to manage their people in the way they used to sell. However, the markets for every product and service have changed dramatically in the last twenty years. Top salespeople have developed new sales process to take advantage of those changes. That is what most sales managers don’t know.

1. They don’t know how to use highly effective tools to recruit, recognize and train salespeople that will perform well in their organization. Therefore, they often hire salespeople that are not compatible with their company’s culture and don’t have the appropriate sales aptitudes for their industry.

There are a few excellent service agencies that will recruit salespeople to match your requirements - at a reasonable price. Furthermore, they will benchmark you and your best salesperson to be sure that the candidates’ aptitudes are similar to your best, and that they are compatible with your management style.

2. They don’t have a uniform, highly-effective sales process for their company’s products and services. They believe that the fundamentals of selling have changed very little since they were selling. Therefore, they typically advocate obsolete sales strategies and tactics, and focus on the wrong metrics. Their efforts at determining the “best selling practices” for their company are almost always flawed.

Look for a sales process that is very different from the one that you are now using. Talk to sales training companies to determine whether they really are different, and whether they use their own proprietary sales process when dealing with you.

3. They don’t know how to train, supervise, track and coach their salespeople to optimize their sales effectiveness.

This is also a sales process problem. If you don’t have a uniform process you have not way of knowing exactly what your salespeople are doing, or whether they are actually doing what they say they are.

4. They lack skills in target marketing and prospecting. Therefore, their salespeople waste most of their time with prospects who will not buy.

One of the most important activities of top salespeople is finding and making appointments with highly qualified prospects. Even if most of the prospecting activity is done by your marketing department, or an outside vendor, the salesperson should be the one that decides if and when to visit a prospect.

5. They believe that “you can’t close if you don’t get in front of prospects.” Therefore, their salespeople go on as many appointments as possible, and they track that metric. In order to fulfill that requirement salespeople spend far more time with prospects who will not buy than with those that will.

Set demographic, situational and attitude standards for the type of prospects that are most likely to buy. Make you most important metric a function of booked business.

6. They believe that salespeople should be able to convince prospects to buy when the prospects are merely “interested.” Therefore, they have their salespeople out trying to persuade prospects to buy who are merely “interested.” It doesn’t seem to occur to them that hardly any of their salespeople can convince their sales manager to do anything he/she does not already want to do..

Sales managers need to utilize a highly effective sales process that works now. They must learn why mutual trust and respect and mutual commitments are far more effective than persuasion, convincing, closing techniques and overcoming objections.

7. They don’t know the difference between qualification and disqualification. Therefore, their salespeople create sales resistance by selling to prospects when they are not ready to buy. That lengthens the sales cycle and decreases their closing rates.

Most sales managers don’t realize that visiting with prospects before they are ready to make buying decisions will increase selling cycles and is detrimental to closing rates. What they call “sales persistence” usually loses business.

8. They don’t understand how the human mind works and how it accepts or rejects information. Therefore, their salespeople typically spew features and benefits in terms of industry jargon. However, they don’t communicate what they are selling in terms that their prospects can understand, will retain and will motivate them.

There have been many studies about how to communicate most effectively. Those studies have been done by myriad educators, communications specialists, speech writers, psychologists, broadcasters, sales consultants, etc. We used much of that research, and our own studies, to develop the High Probability Prospecting Offer Design Template. You can have a copy by sending an email request to Main@HighProbSell.com with the words “Offer Design Template” in the subject line.

9. They believe that most prospects make logical buying decisions. Therefore, their salespeople don’t satisfy prospects’ emotional motivations for selecting a vendor. However, if that were true, almost every salesperson would be highly successful by enrolling in logic courses.

Recent studies in Brain Science have revealed that most important decisions are made in the part of the brain that deals with emotions. Those emotions that deal with important buying decisions are among Maslow’s Hierarchy. Until High Probability Selling, no one figured out how to utilize that knowledge for major increases in closing rates.

10. They don’t know how to get salespeople past their fears. Therefore, most of their salespeople stay in their comfort zones and under-perform. That causes most of them to perform below their potential, or to fail. Pushing them to perform and trying to thicken their skins seldom works well. The cost of this problem is enormous.

Almost all salespeople, whether beginners or veterans, can learn how get past their fears and avoid slumps and/or burnout. It just takes a specialize set of psychological principles. Getting your sales forces to operate at optimum effectiveness is an entirely reachable goal.

You Snooze, You Lose

2007-04-10T02:21:00.001-07:00

I recently attended at leads group that I have been a part of for several weeks. As I went into the room, I found that most people sit in the exact same spot each week. I began to wonder if they really liked that particular seat or where just uncomfortable moving around the room. The psychology behind it (and from years of training people), is that people like routine and will sit in the same seat unless forced to do otherwise. Now how many people do you think they will get to know in this group? Probably the ones on either side and just across the table. A very small network.

Now let's take this one step further. I made a choice to sit at the opposite end of the table with a new group. I was privileged to talk to 5 new people. They knew who I was but were not too sure about how I could help their business as they only heard snippets from the other end of the table. Nothing could be better said. In sales, networking is crucial and getting to know more than just a couple of people in a group is essential.

It so happened that a person in my new circle discovered that someone at the other end of the table had an incident where her expertise would solve the problem. Because she had not made the effort to get to know the other person, she thought that if they needed her, they would call. Hmmm, something is definitely wrong with that scenario.

A few keys to getting business from a networking group include:

* Sit in a new place with new people each meeting.
* Get to know each person around you (set outside meetings to learn even more).

* Don't wait for the business, call when you know you can help.
* Make sure everyone really understands what you do.

Do You Have a Thirty Second Selling Proposition (Commercial) About Yourself?

2007-04-10T02:20:00.000-07:00

As a self employed business owner or sales person you really need a quick 30 second proposition statement. This statement should tell the person you are speaking too, enough about yourself or your business to make them curious and want to ask you more questions about what you do.

As an example if you ask me what I do for a living which of the following replies would you react more favorably too.

1- I sell life insurance.

2- I help people achieve financial independence by showing them how to earn $500 to $1,000 a week on a part time basis with the opportunity to move into a full time career, by helping families protect their most valuable asset their home.

I’m pretty sure you will respond you like number 2 better. Most people think of life insurance sales people in the same category as lawyers and used car salesmen. Heck no one likes a salesman. But number 2 doesn’t even say the word sales in it. In fact I am not a salesman, nor do I sell Life Insurance. I happen to be a Mortgage Protection Specialist. Now most people that meet with me do in fact give me a deposit check for a first month premium and they do buy Mortgage Term Life Insurance but I don’t actually sell it to them I simply help them get approved.

It’s not what you say but how you say it. People don’t like to be sold but they do like to be approved. When I speak with people on the phone (to set an appointment) and then again right at the start of the in home presentation I tell people I can't sell you anything. All I can do is help you find a program that meets your needs and budget, then help you fill out a simple form and see if we can get you approved with the company.

Your Business Card Sucks

2007-04-06T05:21:00.002-07:00

Before you get mad at me for what I just said, please look now at one of your business cards and check the following:

- Do you use the back side to generate more sales through a shocking offer or guarantee, loyalty or referral program, or any of the 11 best marketing strategies to attract new customers and retain your current customers?
- Do you add a call-to-action on the back side to clearly tell your prospects what you want them to do so you can generate more leads and, therefore, close more sales?
- Do you use a full-color artwork to add impact and differentiate from other business cards in your prospect's Rolodex?
- Do you show your photo to remind your prospects who you are?
- Do you have your slogan on the front, close to your business name or logo, to communicate what your business and positioning are?
- Do you have a slogan at all?

If your answer to two or more of my questions is NO, then sorry but… your business card sucks.

Don't get mad at yourself now. It's not your fault. Business cards have been used for the last 100 hundred years not as a sales tool but, on the contrary, just as a formality and a way to give out your phone and e-mail.

Still, a well-thought-out business card is one of the most powerful - yet inexpensive - sales tools you could use to boost your sales and profits almost overnight.

To transform your business cards into a sales tool all you need to know is: How to Create and How to Use business cards that sell.

HOW TO CREATE BIZ CARDS THAT SELL:

You create the best Shocking Offer to promote your business and you print it on the back of your business cards.

Do you know what a shocking offer is and how to create the one that's right for you?

A shocking offer is so outrageously beneficial for your prospect that it's almost impossible to say NO.

The following are the 11 best marketing strategies to develop the Shocking Offer that best suits your business:

1. Free e-book or report (the one I use)
2. Free subscription to e-newsletter
3. Invitation to free seminar
4. Free consultation
5. Free trial
6. Trade-in offer
7. Shocking guarantee
8. Membership Club
9. Referral Program
10. Loyalty Program
11. Reminder for Appointment

The first seven are the best marketing strategies to attract new customers. Almost everything is free because your goal is to make their first step toward becoming your customer extremely smooth and easy to take. You make your profit from their recurring business. Now…

HOW TO USE BIZ CARDS THAT SELL:

The way you use biz cards that sell is exactly the opposite of how you've been using business cards for your whole life!

You put your biz cards that sell to work for you bringing new and recurring customers while you are doing something else. Even while you are sleeping!

It's all about leverage. Once you have a powerful marketing message on the back side, your business cards work as a flyer or a postcard. Even better. Because business cards are saved for future reference while considered a personal communication, instead of just another piece of advertising.

Isn't it amazing? You will not need to be on one side of the business card, handing it to someone on the other side, in order to get their business.

The following are the 6 Most Powerful Ways to Use Biz Cards that Sell to Boost Your Sales:

1. Create joint ventures with other business owners who share your customers while not competing with you. Hand out and mail each other's business cards to your contact database along with a personal letter and an endorsement.
2. Give a prize to your employees when they bring a new customer because of handing out their biz cards that sell.
3. Add four or five cards to all follow-up collaterals and outgoing mail.
4. Create a Referral program on the back side with prizes for the referrer and the referral and mail some among with a personal letter to your contact base.
5. Create a Loyalty program - buy X number of my products and get ONE free. Print X circles on the back side and hand out these cards to every customer with the first circle already perforated.
6. Display them in your store/office along with a sign promoting your marketing strategy. Use them profusely while networking and every time you meet anyone.

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Sales Tips From Man's Best Friend

2007-04-06T05:21:00.001-07:00

In this year’s January edition of Reader’s Digest, there are five similarities noted between a dog and the owner. There is a most intriguing correlation between these and the sales process that as people who sell, we can parlay into learning in action.

- Both take up too much space on the bed.

Remember when you were a kid, or maybe now as a young parent, and kids and all end up in bed with mom and dad? How often has your prospect been talking with so many suppliers or partners that you found it difficult to differentiate yourself? And yet, this is key.

- Both have irrational fears about vacuuming.

In selling and buying the vacuum is like the decision point to buy. This is one noisy household too. It’s normal for the buyer to be fearful (noise); they likely have met some unscrupulous salespeople along the way (more noise). However, coming from a place of peacefulness, will ground a salespeople in unswerving confidence.

- Neither tells you what’s bothering him.

It’s likely the potential customer doesn’t know what’s bothering him. If the salesperson lacks the skill of questions and listening, then that bother stays with the prospect to the degree of no decision at all.

- Neither of them notices when you get your hair cut.

Recent research shows that less than 5% of salespeople invest in their own development. If this is true it explains why some people who sell keep making the same mistake over and over again. The prospect does actually notice the level of sales ability.

- Neither understands what you see in cats.

Until the need for a solution or the pain from lack of it is strong enough, your prospect may not be ready to make a decision. It’s elusive; like many cats. If you pay attention to details, stay in touch and remember to sell the way the customer buys, you’ll have more success.

Remember: No one admires you as unconditionally as your dog; prospects included.

Stay In Touch With Customers For One Key Reason and 12 Appreciative Ways

2007-04-06T05:19:00.000-07:00

There is one key way you that can differentiate yourself. If you systematize follow up with prospects, you will reach 80% of people who make their decision not on the first call, not even on the third contact, but somewhere between the fifth and twelfth.

With a follow-up system you want authentic business reasons to keep staying in touch with your prospect. Here are twelve ideas get you started:

- Send something you know of personal interest. Maybe during early contact, your prospect talked about an interest in tennis. You find out about a tennis match or you come across an article. Copy this and mail it to your prospect.

- Within 30 days of their purchase or working with you, ask them for a testimonial.

- Offer an idea, valuable information, that you know will help. Telephone, email or send a card with this idea.

- Are you able to ask for your customer’s birthday? Everyone likes to be remembered on their birthday!

- Invite them to an event. It could be a workshop, a telelclass, a networking event or a client appreciation.

- Pick holidays that get under served and send a card.

- Make up your own holiday. How about an anniversary card around the date you first met them?

- With gift cards being so available, send a small gift of something they can use either for themselves or someone important to them. A gift card to Starbucks, or Barnes and Noble or many other choices.

- Ask them to complete a survey. Most people love giving their opinion!

- Be a web-weaver. Did they mention to you a need they were trying to fill – a new barber or hairdresser, great restaurant recommendation? Whatever it is, show them you listened and let them know your suggestion.

- If you learn of something they are recognized for, send them a note of Congratulations.

- Be sure they get a newsletter or ezine from you.

The key in differentiation, no matter what you sell, is to build and maintain your relationship with prospects and clients. Be sure and help them remember you throughout the year so that when they are ready to buy your product or service they think of you.

Valuable information: Greeting card research shows that real paper cards as a marketing tool can generate a response rate of more than 50%, while a typical direct mail response from a flyer or the like gets around 2%.

Closing Sales Tips To Use Because You Owe Yourself

2007-04-06T05:17:00.002-07:00

George Burns is quoted as saying, “ The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.” Helping the customer to buy is like having that attention getting sermon. Then the congregation leaves, they actually act on the word of the sermon.

Why are sales so often lost?

Is it because of the product or service? Not from the research.

Does it have anything to do with the buyers fears? Often it does.

The number one reason sales get lost is because the salesperson doesn’t ask the customer to buy!

In the workshops I do, I often ask participants, “what are some words you can use to describe a salesperson?” Words captured on a flip chart might be, “pushy, dishonest, unethical, out for himself,” and the list goes on.

Maybe some people who sell harbor this belief about themselves. If so it can hinder your fulfilling your role which is after all to get the sale.

The buyer likely has a similar perception. It’s normal for the buyer to be fearful; they likely have some experiences with unscrupulous salespeople along the way.

When a salesperson comes from a place of confidence and congruency, the only next logical question from them to the prospect is something like, “And when would you want to start?”

Have you earned the right? If you have determined the client needs your offer, if you have listened to their wants, if you are talking with the decision maker and if your presentation is in a way that matches their decision making style, let your confidence carry you in the rest of the way. Close the gap between the beginning and the end. Ask the client for their business.

Ending tip: Regardless of how long your typical sales cycle is, you want to always be asking for some sort of decision along the way. In earlier sales training this might be called a trial close.

It's a Sad Dog That Can't Wag It's Own Tail

2007-04-06T05:17:00.001-07:00

As a small business owner or Salesperson you need to remain positive and up beat at all times. You need to be able to remain happy and outgoing. When someone says to you how’s it going or how’s business you need to be able to say great, fantastic, couldn’t be any better.

Just like no one wants to pet a sad dog, no one wants to do business with a sad or unenthusiastic business person or salesmen. You need to find something to be positive and upbeat about every day. If that first sales appointment doesn’t work out you need to see if you can learn from it and move on. I actually make the first sale of every day I run appointments. The sales I don’t make were like practice, pre tests or experiments. If I go a whole day without a sale well I had a great day at school because I learn something with every missed opportunity.

You need to get the right mindset. If you don’t think every day is great day try missing one. Do positive things and you will be positive. Surround yourself with the right people and you will be positive. Instead of watching the news read a book by Zig Ziggler, Or Anthony Robbins. Listen to a tape by Wayne Dyer or Brian Tracy. Fill your mind with positive self talk.

I start every day reading pages 36 and 37 from Think and Grow Rich. If you want to be enthusiastic act enthusiastic. If you want to be happy smile and clap and laugh and act happy. Always look for the positive in every situation. Its up to you, you can get bitter or you can get better. I choose to get better.

The Internet as a Place to Buy Prescription Drugs

2007-04-06T05:16:00.001-07:00

It is now possible to buy prescription drugs on the Internet and a lot of people have taken advantage of it. However, a lot of people use this convenience in order to get high. We are not allowed to buy a prescription drug without having a prescription for it. However, many people order these dugs from foreign pharmacies online to get around this restriction.

Some people believe that online prescription drugs are one of the leading sources of illegal drugs entering this country because they are so popular. In my opinion, this belief is possible because I know several people who have been buying prescription drugs on the web for years.

Purchasing prescription drugs on cyberspace is easy and safe so it became prevalent. It is unlikely that you will be caught when you buy prescription drugs. This is because the government is not firm on going after individuals who purchase prescription drugs illegally. They are more focused on capturing the companies that sell them without requiring a prescription.

Most of the folks who buy prescription drugs have a legitimate medical reason for doing it. The government would look bad in the mainstream press if it ended up busting people who are legitimately sick. This would lead people to withdraw support on the government’s anti-drug campaign which would hurt the efforts to fight against illegal drugs. This means that folks who buy prescription drugs are largely overlooked.

The high cost of prescriptions in this country is also a significant factor that drives many people to buy prescription drugs online. You might not be able to afford the drugs that you need, unless you have prescription medical coverage in your health care insurance. This is because the major drug companies have so much power. You can save a lot of cash if you are willing to buy prescription drugs from other countries like Canada or India.

Pharmacies that sell prescription drugs to Americans are often legitimate. You need to provide a prescription before you can purchase the medication. They also double check everything rigorously. You can do it legally and save a lot of money if you buy prescription drugs from these legitimate companies. This option makes sense for elderly or for people who have chronic medical conditions.

The Silent Sales Man

2007-04-06T05:15:00.001-07:00

This is the story of James, the Restaurant Waiter.

As a restaurant waiter, I make £5.00 an hour and work 30 hours a week. That’s £150 a week. Once I pay my rent, buy my travel card, make my food shopping for the week, charge my electricity key and pay for gas, I am flat out for the rest of the week.

However, this is my social life; I have been to every club in town, eaten at every posh restaurant in the country, attended horse races every weekend, played golf with the country’s wealthiest men and flown round the world in less than 3 years. I hardly pay for things and most of all, I have nothing less than £4000 extra cash at the end of every week.

No! I am not a male prostitute and no! I am not a drug dealer. Neither am I an arms dealer. What do I do? I work at this posh restaurant in the west end and earn £5.50 an hour, working 30 hours a week. My secret is what I do during working hours .

Interested? Then read on...

In my first month of working as a restaurant waiter for Petrus, one of Gordon Ramsey’s restaurants, I made a decision to study every single customers that came through the door. This was my territory and I felt it was important that I was aware of every single person that came in and out. The first thing I noticed was that there were different categories of people that came in to the restaurant. We had the regulars, the first timers, and the once in a blue moon customers. I also learnt that you could never judge how wealthy a customers was just by what they were wearing. The extremely wealthy could not be bothered to make an effort and the middle class would do anything to show off. A gentleman trying to impress his new found girlfriend is another story entirely. You could also never tell the generous from the down right stingy.

As a result, I took it upon myself to treat everyone like they were worth a billion dollars. I knew all customers by name within the first 20 seconds of meeting them and remembered their names. This created familiarity and trust. The next thing I did was to concentrate on building instant rapport by finding something of a common interest between us. I used John Maxwell’s triple A treatment; Acknowledge, Affirm and Appreciate. Acknowledging their presence and understanding their reasons for being in our restaurant was critical to a keeping the rapport going. Affirming their status and my loyalty to serving them was also critical to gaining and maintaining trust. Lastly, appreciating them in every way, allowed them to open up to me. I became their friend.

My next strategy was to put myself in their shoes and be them for that day. This enabled me to act before they asked. For example, if I noticed that a couple needed a next round of drinks, it would be on their table even before they asked for it. I was able to master this by studying their body language. My last strategy was to make sure that when ever I acted in such a manner, I made sure to let them them know that it was on the house. I gave something free. Not the drink, because they could afford it but caring, understanding and a friendly hand. At this point, I deliberately positioned myself out of sight and waited for them to request my presence. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and as a result, I ended up with generous tips, business cards, free invitations, membership and access to prestigious places, resorts, clubs, hotels, courses, games and much more.

Key Lessons to learn:

Step 1:
Evaluate your territory and the potential clients in it.

Step 2:
Treat everyone like a they are worth a billion dollars. Give each person an experience worth remembering.

Step 3:
Empathise with your each person by putting yourself in their shoes and seeing things from their point of view.

Step 4:
Take action. Do for them what they are thinking of doing for themselves and ask for nothing in return.

Step 5:
Do nothing, be silent, still and patient. The business is about to roll in.

How to Find a Successful Business for Sale

2007-04-06T05:14:00.002-07:00

If you are a businessman or you think about becoming one, then you should look for reliable information about business for sale. What are your choices? You can choose from several sources of information, judging about their reliability: friends, partners, business news and Internet. Let’s analyze your possibilities.

In an era of speed and Internet, specialized websites seem to be a reliable source of all types of information, including business for sale information. You can find online information about business for sale listings, reviews and specialized articles. You can start by clarifying what type of business for sale you would like to buy. Websites that present business for sale listings listed by industry, by state and other listing options are considered the most efficient and professional ones. There is the possibility of browsing businesses for sale by sector: agriculture, engineering, services, retail, leisure, manufacturing, wholesale and distribution. If you are not afraid of borders and cultural limits, you may search for a business for sale in other countries. The most popular countries for developing businesses are: Australia, Canada, China, France and some other European countries, New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand.

You can find a successful business for sale listed by industry, be it the case of restaurants, fast foods, convenience stores, detailing and car wash. If you have experience in one of these industry domains, then you can go for it and find the most suitable business for sale for you. If you lack ideas concerning the suitable business for sale, then you can find out online what the most popular searches are: restaurants, hotels, shops, auto repairs, bars and nightclubs, and internet businesses. You can also show some interest in franchises, successful businesses that have predictable results, expenses and other facts. From this point of view, this type of business for sale is the most successful one and is able of transforming anyone into a successful businessman, as long as the main conditions of a franchise are respected. Some websites that have business for sale listings present a franchise directory with brief description of this type of businesses for sale.

Websites that present business for sale listings offer the possibility of choosing a business for sale by region or by price. In this way, you can narrow your searches for finding a business for sale that is convenient from the financial point of view and from the regional point of view. You can start your searches for a suitable business for sale in the category of most recent businesses for sale. Besides, these websites offer the possibility of being informed with the help of resource centers. In case the entire search seems too complicated or you don’t have enough time for competing with other potential buyers of a business for sale, then you could find a professional business broker or agent to help you with this matter.

In case you want to sell a business, you can include it on the business for sale listing, with the necessary information required by the managers of the website. You can find potential buyers for your business in this way. Basically, you can do anything as long as you know where to look and what to select. Good luck!

Are You A Self Promoter?

2007-04-06T05:14:00.001-07:00

Have you ever heard of any of these people:

· Dale Earnhardt

· Dr. Phil

· Martha Stewart

· Donald Trump

· Madonna

· Billy Graham

Regardless of their chosen profession, business or discipline, each of them is successful for a variety of reasons; but one thing they all have in common is that they are or were relentless self-promoters.

Being a self-promoter can conjure up many different images in the minds of many, some negative, some arrogant, some self-serving and some envy; but, in the end, this ability separates the also-rans from the supper successful. If you think of Herb Kelleher, (the founder of Southwest Airlines), you might think he was a lunatic. If you mention Bill Clinton, you’ll get two very opposing reactions; and if you bring up the name Michael Jordan, you might get very consistent reactions. But one thing they all did was self-promote in one way or another.

As I was thinking about writing this book, I was wondering: Has anyone ever been super-successful who did not have self-promotion as their companion as they brought their ideas, products, or talent to the rest of the world? I couldn’t think of anyone. Maybe you can, but I’ll bet that if anyone has achieved enduring and satisfying success, self-promotion was high on their list of traits.

What exactly is self-promotion? Is it self-confidence? No. There are a lot of people with strong self-confidence who are not comfortable in self-promotion. Is it talent? No. Many very talented people have never been successful or publicly heard of.

I could also mention numerous people in specific professions, who are super-successful, but because they are not relentless self-promoters, you don’t hear about them; their success is not measured by fame.

Now don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying that fame or fortune equal success. I am only saying that self-promotion is one of the most evident traits of successful people. Let me illustrate this with familiar examples.

Is Donald Trump smarter than other corporate executives? Is Oprah Winfrey better looking than other media people? Was Bill Waldron (the founder of Wal-Mart) better educated than you or me?

I am telling you, education is important. Talent is important. Effort is important. Timing is important. The right contacts are important. But even if you have all of these, you can still never achieve greatness or sustained success without the willingness and ability to be a relentless self-promoter.

Selling More at the Point of Sale

2007-04-06T05:13:00.002-07:00

Point of sale generally means the point at which the customer pays for their products or services. Point of sale (also known as POS) includes but is not limited to: the cash register, the cash drawer and the receipt printer. If you are a merchant that uses POS, you can also use POS items as marketing materials. For example, you could display products that you have a surplus of near the cash register to allow customers to impulse buy. This is quite effective when the point of sale merchandise has been marked down in price or is on clearance so the customer knows that they are getting a great price on the items.

You could also use POS marketing merchandise such as toppers for the cash register. Regardless of what the price is for the merchandise, it’s placement on top of the cash register or other part of the POS system will make customers look at it and consider buying it.

Other options that you have for using your POS system to sell more merchandise include using your thermal printer of receipt printer to print return coupons for your visitors. You could even print the coupons on the back of their cash receipt. This will help to encourage customers to come back soon in a shorter amount of time.

As a business owner your goal should be to sell as much as you can to your customer. This can be enhanced by the point of sale products that you use. Whether you use POS marketing merchandise, other marketing materials, or even electronic options, take advantage of the dollar at the point of sale. Whether your POS is on the web at an ecommerce website or if it is in a retail location, the final look at what you have to offer is quite important to the customer. Point of sale products are, in fact, likely to help you to sell whatever it is that you need to if they are used correctly as marketing medium.

When Does A Sales Become A Sale?

2007-04-06T05:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a question for all you sales pros. And don't cheat and peek down at the answer before you at least give it some thought and try to come up with an answer on your own. "When does a sale become a sale?"

I was still fairly new in the sales industry, working at a new car dealership when I first heard this question in a sales meeting. Everyday, before our store opened for business, the entire sales staff would gather in the "War Room" to kick off the day with a sales meeting. I always looked forward to those meetings, not because I was into the rah-rah stuff, but because as a young salesman just learning how to sell, I was surrounded by older veterans and I always learned something from the daily exchange of ideas that came from those early morning meetings. The meeting usually were centered around sales challenges that might have come up in the previous day and then as a group, we'd all chip in and try to come up with good responses to the objections. It was a great learning environment and a great way to start off the sales day. Anyway, one day my manager asked the question, "when does a sales become a sale?" Now on the surface, this seems like a pretty simple question. In fact at first, you might think that it's somehow a trick question. But it's not. There was about 15 or so salesmen in that room that day, many of them were grizzled veterans with lots of sales experience, so I was anxious to see if anyone could answer this question. Many hands shot up with an air of confidence, certain that they could solve this riddle. First, all of the obvious answers were called out in rapid succession, "when they sign the contract" someone called out. No, that's not it. "When they give you the down payment", no. "When they drive away with the vehicle." Nope. "When their loan gets approved". Still not the right answer. After a while, the hands stopped going up. Here was a room full of prideful, experienced, smart veteran salesmen and not a one of them could answer such a basic question about the sales process. We finally gave up as a group and waited for the voice of wisdom to enlighten us. And enlighten me it did. For the answer to the question, "When does a sales become a sale?" opened up a whole new way of thinking for me as a salesman. The correct answer was "A sales becomes a sales when the customer takes possession of the merchandise IN HIS HEAD." Think about that for a second. That is absolutely brilliant! A sales becomes a sales when the customer takes possession of the merchandise in his head. Wow! If that's not that's Zen selling, what is? That answer crystallized in my head the process of selling.

You see, once the customer decides mentally in his head that he is going to buy your product, you are over the hump. Now all you have to do is get him to admit it to you, but that's not necesarily that easy either. Remember, the customer will always think that it is in his best interest to not let on that he really wants your product, otherwise he loses all of his negotiating leverage. So he has to keep you guessing as to what he is really thinking. But that's OK. Your job as a salesman is to try to find out how you can discover his true intentions. That's the hard part. That's where the "Trial Close" come into play. A "trial close" is a question that is designed to solicit a answer from the customer that will help the salesman determine if the selling process has been successful enough to proceed to the next step of the sale, which is closing the sale. Since this is one of the most crutial steps in the sales process you need to have a great trail closing question that will help you determine if and when your customer has taken possession of your product in his mind. The trial close that we were taught to ask at this particular dealership was "If I can work our the right price for you, are you ready to buy this car today?" As a trial closing question, this question was OK but in my humble opinion, I could come up with better.

Oh sure, the answer the customer gave you would determine whether or not the customer was willing to buy this car at the right price, but I didn't like it as a trial closing question because you were already telling the customer right off of the bat that you were going to be discounting the price of the car. Since I didn't like giving away my commisions, after some thought and consideration I came up with this as my closing question "Where are you planning to take your first trip in your new car?" Now this might not seem like any great closing question, but it is and I'll tell you why. If you are buying a new car, or a new boat or a new house, or some other big ticket item, the first thing that you are going to want do is to show it off. Can you imagine buying a new boat and not calling your best friend and inviting him to go boating with you as soon as possible? Anyway, the point is that when you buy a big item like a car or a boat, you are already planning your first outing in it. So remember what we said about the customer taking possession in his head. When you ask him where is he taking his first trip in his new car, watch what happens to his eyes. He sort of looks up, his eyes roll back just a little as he pictures himself behind the wheel of his new car, driving down the road. He just bought that car in his head. He can see himself in that car. Now it's only a matter of a little negotiating, but for all practical purposes he owns that car. He might not come right out and say it because that would weaken his negotiating leverage, but his eyes just told you what his mouth won't. On the other hand, if he really didn't like the car for some reason or other, his answer to that trial closing quesiton would have been "wait a minute, hold on, I didn't tell you that I wanted to buy this car." Now you know that you need to do some more selling on that vehicle or perhaps maybe even show him another car. The entire point of the trial closing question is to help you make a determination if and when the customer has taken possession of the merchandise in his head.

Good luck and good selling.

Making Successful Appointments

2007-04-06T05:12:00.001-07:00

A Successful Appointment Is About Reaching A Mutually Beneficial Agreement Between The Parties Involved.

Would you ever make an appointment with someone you knew would waste your time, money and resources? If you are smart, I am sure you wouldn’t.

Let us change the question. Would you ever make an appointment with someone you knew would deliver value and increase your worth in relation to your time, money and resources? The most obvious answer is yes. If your answer is ‘YES’, then why on earth do you think people still go to appointments thinking of what they want out of it rather than what’s in it for their clientele (this could be a buying customer, an employer, investors or anyone you are trying to gain a commitment from). When your focus is about getting what you want rather that giving them what they want, you will most likely walk out of the meeting empty handed.

Why?

Another question for you to consider answering: Would you ever make an appointment with someone who was not willing to give you want you wanted and needed but was seeking to get something from you? Probably not. It does not benefit you in anyway. That’s why!

No wonder most appointments never result in a total success. Everyone is thinking in terms of what’s in it for them. I wonder what would happen if we did the following:

See things from our prospective clients point of view and put ourselves in their shoes instead of ours.

Establishing what their immediate and long term needs are.

Focus on how what we have to offer can meet their immediate and long term needs, with a keen interest to see their business grow.

This Step By Step Guide Guide Should Also Help:

1. Target clients who can afford to pay Would you take a job with an employer who couldn’t afford to pay you or give you what wanted in relation to your career? probably not.

2. Do your homework Who are they? What do they stand for? What do they do? Where do they want to be? How do they plan to get there? What do they need to get there and how does what you have to offer meet this need? You don’t go for an exam without preparing for it. Preparation is about knowing what is required and giving 110% more than is required.

3. Walk in their shoes Just because you feel the answer to the questions should be answered in a certain way that is different from what is required, will not get you an ‘A*’. This is a definite ‘F’. By walking in their shoes, you understand what they want.

4. Invite them to try your shoes Once you can see things from other people’s point of view, they will most likely see things from your point of view. This is where you show that you have what they want.

5. Help them to see it working for them Imagination is a gift for all. Use it to help them see the end results, then they will see the added value.

6. Give them what they want At this stage, make the offer and ask for the order at your price. Remember, they can now see the added value.

Generating Highly Targeted Sales Leads… With No Cold Calling

2007-04-06T05:11:00.000-07:00

Sales leads are a funny thing. Some are just better than others.

One of the main reasons that some are better than others is that some are targeted to the right group of people. The right group of people is the type of person who would normally benefit from your product or service.

So the first step to generating great sales leads is to identify your target market. You need to find out what specific group of people you are selling to and then find out how to market to them.

For example, if I’m selling software to track a business’s payroll and expenses I can find out who my target market is by analyzing my product. Let’s see, the software works best with small companies who don’t have the time to track all their payroll and expenses themselves. So now I can analyze who my target market is.

Based upon my analysis I’ll probably want to market to small businesses of 1-15 employees who are fairly new and don’t have any software like it yet. They also might be less than tech savvy and just want a time saving solution.

So knowing that I can find my target market by advertising to brand new small businesses and I will market with less than technical information and more benefit driven sales copy (always a good idea).

I can easily contact a list broker with prospects just like this one and I can either mail them something by snail mail or by email. I’ll write a great headline and sales copy driving these people to my website for more information and also give them all of my contact info (email, physical address, toll free number, fax number) so they can contact me if they are interested. And if I want I can even follow up with them with another email or phone call.

If I’ve done everything halfway decent I should have enough sales leads to last me for the rest of the quarter and I should make quota working 4 hours a day while everyone else works themselves silly working 10 hours a day.

Improve Your Sales by Going Outside Your Comfort Zone

2007-04-02T03:04:00.001-07:00

Most people rather be dead than move out of their comfort zone. While there is nothing wrong with comfort zones in order to expand our cold calling skills and succeed in sales we sometimes have to move out of our comfort zone and into unfamiliar territory. The first step is to break away from old and rusty sales habits that we have build up over time Make a list of everything that you want to do or improve on in your sales career what you’d like to accomplish, the results you want to achieve and how you will go about accomplishing that. When you have determined your goals and objectives you can then take the next step in making them reality.

"The reality is we need to understand that coming out of our comfort zone and feeling uncomfortable is part of the process of the first step to achieving sales success" says Claudine Waskowycz. Some sales people use the discomfort as a reason not break away from old habits. What this means is that they don’t achieve their true potential. We must learn to tolerate discomfort in order to grow in the sales industry. Don’t avoid success because you think the responsibility might be too much.

She goes on to say, "change is always frightening when we first step out into the unknown, but we can only improve upon ourselves and our lives by meeting and greeting our fears head on and passing through the fear, once we have met it head on we find it isn’t so frightening after all. So do something that scares you every week."

Overcoming obstacles and beating the odds. Here are some tips from Claudine in which you can step outside your comfort zone.

•Don't let someone steal your dream. Dreaming about success is great, but there are millions of poor dreamers. Taking action on just one thought or dream can lead to an avalanche of sales. You MUST act on your actions.

•Every sales champion has learned to not only operate out of their comfort zone, but to thrive on continually pushing their sales in directions that take them outside of their comfort zone.

•Expecting no resistance. Many new sales people give up at the first sign of resistance. Sales champions expect resistance - even drive to create it. Success is achieved by breaking through pockets of resistance.

•Create a mindset of a sales champion. Why? Because Ordinary wouldn’t be enough for someone who has the mindset of a champion. Champions think like champions. Champions think big. Champions work toward big goals. Champions are focused. Champions are disciplined and oozes great attitude.

Think like true sales Champions and tell yourself day and night that you can and will reach your goals.

Retail Store Hiring

2007-04-02T03:03:00.000-07:00

So many retail business owners and managers have little expertise in hiring employees, and many owners find themselves plummeting in debt due to bad hiring decisions. It is very important for a business to consider what kind of help is really needed and define job descriptions before opening the door to hiring more employees. Employers should know what a new employee would accomplish from store fixtures to mannequins to slatwall displays to customer service and sales.

The first step to hiring staff is making sure that the store is already as organized as possible. From reading mail to paying bills, to assisting customers, time management must be accurately defined. Many owners and managers find that they really do not any more staff at all once the store is finally organized properly according to time. Also, tasks such as marketing, bookkeeping, taxes, and technology can all be sent to professionals. These tasks are not important for the owner to spend time doing. If anything, the owner is better off talking with customers than sitting in the back punching numbers. Customers love to talk with the owner of the establishment. It gives them a great connection to the retail environment.

If after reorganizing and managing time it still seems that there is too much work to do, it is more than reasonable to begin the hiring process, but store operators should realize that it will take much more time at the beginning to hire, train, and do payroll. Yes, even hiring help takes more time. The organization done previously should help during this period, and make the added work more bearable.

Another thing to realize in the hiring new staff is that it will cost money as well as make money. There is the obvious expense of an employee's payroll, and the time and energy it takes to train and hire them, but they will also begin to save time, energy, and money. Workers compensation and payroll taxes are other added expenses to extra workers, so it is important to consider the current budget of store operation to make sure there is enough to cover all of these expenses. Remember that this employee may generate plenty of new sales to cover their salary. In fact, this is the objective. They need to be able to bring in enough extra sales to make it worth keeping as an employee. If this is not the case, there are other options to consider such as part-time employment, temporary employment, and independent contractors. These can be great alternatives to immediate full time employment and can take a little of the responsibility away. However, if an employee can definitely create a profit from their work, full time employees can be the best addition to a business as long as the owner/operator has an accurate grasp of the responsibilities that come along with it.

Better Products Make Better Sales?

2007-04-02T03:02:00.002-07:00

It is an age-old concept that better goods attract more customers, but what most people do not understand is what makes a better product the better product. In the American commercial environment, the actual quality of a product often comes in last when considering what really affects the sales numbers. Rather, the most important thing is to help people believe that you have a better product. This is accomplished several ways, but the first, and possibly most important step to creating a better image of your products, is to be different.

The first person you need to convince that your product is different and unique is yourself, the owner. Products do not make themselves unique, salespeople do. Those retailers blinded by the idea that customers buy products because they believe in their unique quality all on their own are seriously mistaken. The reality of product image is that customers are attracted because the seller believes in the unique quality of their products. It all depends on the seller and their ability to differentiate their product.

There are so many areas in retail sales that can be different from other competitors. The way you and your sales team handle customers is sure to make a difference. Consider how you make appointments and how you confirm them. Are there any ways to make this easier or organized? Think about how you begin and end sales calls and how you ask sales questions. Do you and your sales staff do anything to set you apart from the rest? It is time to get creative and operate in a way that makes you completely unique. Possibly the most important thing to consider is how you present your products. Do customers believe your sales personnel that this product is truly unique? The only way for this to happen is to truly create this belief among salespeople. Customers will believe it if you believe it. However, the physical presentation of the product is also of very great importance. Retail store display fixtures such as mannequins, gridwall displays, slatwall accessories, clothing hangers, and showcases can make all the difference when designing the presentation of your products. Think of ways you can use store fixtures in different ways such as colors or positions. There needs to be something different about your sales floor.

Differentiating your products through unique customer service and product image is proven to create sales. Consider the iPod from Apple. There are thousands of mp3 players on the market that sell for fractions of the cost of iPods, but the iPod is unique. Why?? Because apple says so. Customers need to believe they are getting something different from your retail store, and if they do, they will pay more for it. Don't let prices sell your products, let people sell your products, because when price is involved in sales, it always goes down. Customers will gladly p

The Art of Upselling

2007-04-02T03:02:00.001-07:00

Why stop with the initial sale when you can make great profits from upselling? Millions of people do not realize how much money they are turning away with every sale they make. There is a huge profit potential that is perfectly honest and legitimate. Upselling is no scam. In fact many people appreciate the suggestions and are thankful to purchase the products when they can. It requires a very small additional effort from sales associates, but brings in enormous results. The classic upsell is to offer a larger discount with the purchase of an additional item. You have seen this tactic exhausted on television ads.

Sometimes they will include a free gift if you upgrade your purchase to something else. One less assuming tactic that adds very little work on an employee is to offer other items as the original order is being processed. The classic example of this is the "supersize." The extra little comment, "Would you like to supersize that," brought them almost a 25% increase in profits in the first campaign. People are very likely to say yes in this scenario because they think about the extra product they will receive rather than the minimal cost. The reality of the situation is that McDonalds makes a profit on every supersize. Regardless if your store has an equivalent to supersizing, pick something that can be offered easily to the customer as they are checking out. Also consider items that might go well together.

In retail clothing stores, these items are often things like cashmere socks that are "on sale" or perhaps mentioning one of the sales in the store. Many customers will balk at a sale and want to check it out while they are still in the store. These are known as "back end" sales and though it may seem that their profits are minimal, over the course of hundreds or even thousands of customers, it makes an incredible difference.

Possibly one of the most effective forms of upsales is using a secret weapon product or service. This commodity is one that you have developed or researched and use as a general upsale item for every customer. The more general and appealing this item is, the more profits you will make. By simply asking the customer if they would also like to pick up one of these items, is guaranteed to produce results and is a very small amount work for sales employees.

The profits to be had in organizing an upsell strategy are fantastic. There is no reason why every company should not have an upsale protocol. Consider the products you already sell and get started on the cheapest and most profitable sales strategy there is.

Mannequin Head

2007-04-02T03:01:00.002-07:00

Most consumers do not realize the number of mannequins used for display in today's retail stores. That is because it is the job of the mannequin to draw interest to the clothes, not themselves. It seems like quite a thankless position for mannequins, but there is one particular type of mannequin who goes even more unnoticed regardless of their important contribution to fashion, the Mannequin head, that is, a life size reproduction of the human head and all of its features. Mannequin heads don the hats, wigs, sunglasses, jewelry and make-up everyone needs, yet many retailers still do not realize their importance. They can be made to resemble many people types and are almost always built completely to scale. Made from foam, plastic, and vinyl, mannequin heads are most often used to model hats. Rather than waste the funds and space to display hats with full size mannequins, mannequin heads are obviously more efficient and they can be grouped together to display several hats on a small table space. Any sort of mannequin head will do this job better than a full size mannequin. If a retailer would really like to show shoppers a lifelike display, they can even order mannequin heads with color and hair.

Wigs are another primary use for mannequin heads due to the fact that a wig is an especially difficult thing to choose. The shape of a face drastically affects the look of any particular wig, so it is simpler to match mannequin heads that look good with particular wigs. Not only will a customer be able to sort out what will look right on their face quickly, but this technique will also improve an employees ability to quickly assist a browsing customer. It is interesting to note that mannequin heads with hair are used in beauty colleges for training around the world. Because of the wide variety of mannequin head sizes and shapes, it is a helpful practice to consider the ways that different hair cuts flatter certain features. For this reason, mannequin heads are especially helpful to the wig industry as well.

Head accessories are the other part of the mannequin head resume. They have proven to be very affective displays for sunglasses, earrings, make-up and the like. There is something much more appealing about these objects when actually adorning a human head, rather than on a shelf or in a case. Human beings like to imagine the way these accessories will look on themselves, and because many shoppers may not take the time to try things on, mannequin heads give them a quick idea. The sooner they see how the object will look, the more likely they are to purchase it. So keep mannequin heads in mind for retail store displays. They will always keep you "a head" in the game.

The Retail Store Display Nuts and Bolts

2007-04-02T03:01:00.001-07:00

A retail store display will increase customer traffic and sales dramatically. If this were not the case, why would multi-billion dollar companies spend so much money on visual displays? Learning to develop a retail environment into an appealing and stimulating platform for shopping is vital to any business in today's visually stimulated world.

Store windows are one of the most fortunate things to possess as a retail location. If a store is blessed with more than one window, then it has the most verified form cheap of advertisement already. Creating beautiful and attractive displays in store windows is guaranteed to increase traffic. Although some stores in strip malls may lack windows, there is still hope for creating beautiful displays within the store that will capture an equal audience. Considering the flow of traffic, position retail store displays so that they are in the center of customer focal points within the store. This is similar to optimizing a website to create more clicks to the website in that more clicks increases sales. In the physical retail world, more glances or looks create more sales. The more people that see an item placed in front of them, the more likely a higher number will buy. It is simple statistics. This is so important that it is recommended to hire a visual display design team or company to create affective displays if the managers or owners are not well versed in interior design and advertising. It is definitely worth every penny spent.

Regardless of who designs and implements the retail display, the retailer should have some things on hand for their employees and managers to use to prepare and maintain retail store displays. A simple retail store display kit will save time and energy for the staff by locating all of the necessary equipment in one easy to find location. Some important supplies to keep in this kit are tape measures, hot glue supplies, scissors, staplers, pins, hammer, nails, screwdriver and spare screws, sign materials and holders, utility blades, glass cleaner and paper towels, fishing line for hanging, and drawing materials. Keeping these tools in the same kit will save an abundance of time for everyone involved.

Brainstorming the display necessities well help make the set up phase less difficult. During this planning stage the budget, themes, and outlines should be developed so that all of the materials, props, and designs are gathered ahead of time. Be sure to clean the display area thoroughly and plan a time during the week that is low traffic time to put together retail store displays. Other things to consider during the brainstorming period are asymmetrical balance, object sizes, colors, lighting, and focus. Possibly one of the most important things to remember is simplicity. Less is always more in both interior design and retail store displays.

As time goes by, continue to change and update retail store displays. Keep records of all of the past displays by photograph to recall what you have already done, what worked well, and what did not work at all. Store displays take some creativity and practice. Just keep working and learning everything you can about retail store displays. It will pay off ten fold in the end.

Sales Presentations With Love

2007-04-02T02:59:00.002-07:00

It was the sixth house Mark and Andrea had looked at in just one day, and they hoped it would be better than the previous five. The house was slightly out of their price range, but the real estate agent had insisted they at least look at it.

Pulling into the driveway, they couldn’t help but gaze at the house, perched so peacefully beside the Maumee River and illuminated by orange tint of the sunset. At first they tried to hide their faint smiles from the real estate agent, but as soon as they walked through the front door their stoic resistance melted.

Their eyes followed the spread of the natural wood floors, and climbed up the arched passageways towards the detailed, historic ceiling. Through each passageway and opened door, the house revealed its beautiful features and distinct personality.

Mark and Andrea couldn’t help but smile at each other. In the living room, they envisioned their children laughing and playing on the soft, beige carpet. In the kitchen, they saw their family making meals together around the large center island.

Andrea gasped in sheer delight at the sight of the roomy master bathroom, where she would finally have space to get ready every morning. Mark nodded in proud approval of the spacious garage, where he could store his tools and new fishing gear.

With just one walk-through of the house, Mark and Andrea felt they were at home. The inevitable details of the sale came only after they became emotionally invested into making the house theirs.

What was it that captivated Mark and Andrea? It wasn’t the age of the house, price of the house, or even its new roof. It was the pictures they had in their minds as they walked through the house and saw it as their own.

It’s hard to find a more emotional purchase than that of buying a house, yet that powerful element can be implemented into any sales presentation, regardless of how ordinary or routine the product may be.

When you create an emotional and visual experience in your sales presentations, you completely change how a customer’s decision is made. You make your customers fall in love with your product simply by envisioning themselves using it. If they can see how your product will make them happier, they will want to buy it. The rest of the sale (even the price and contract terms) is just a detail, and as long as the details are in the ballpark of what the customer can do, the sale is made.

Before a customer can see themselves using your product, they must have the interest to do so. A unique sales presentation is the best way to spark curiosity and engage customers. Don’t resort to brochures, comparison charts or the dreaded power point presentation. Be bold. Be different.

If you’re not sure how to do this, ask yourself two questions: “What are my competitors doing?” and “What is the customer expecting me to do?” Your sales presentation should not be a part of either answer. Blow them out of the water with something exceptional, and your customers will want to know more.

Feed their interest by choosing a sales method that will inspire them visually. Paint a picture that demonstrates how your product leads to success and happiness. Not just anyone’s success and happiness – theirs. If they can see themselves enjoying your product, it will feel right to them. This is what will determine the sale.

Getting your customers emotionally involved with your product will change how they make the decision of buying it. The details of the sale will be just details, rather than decisive factors. The strength in the sale will be in the emotional investment the customer makes with the product the very moment they can happily see it as theirs.

A Sale So Simple-A Child Could Do It

2007-04-02T02:59:00.001-07:00

Last summer our neighborhood had a community garage sale. As we gathered our once loved trinkets in the driveway, our four-year-old son, Robbie, became intrigued. He wanted to sell some of his items, too. So we made a little pact with him: If he sold some of his old toys, he could use the money towards the new “big-boy” car seat he had wanted for quite some time.

As the potential customers walked along the sidewalk, my son walked along with them. “Do you have kids? Would you like to look at my toys?” Robbie asked the passersby. His eagerness and enthusiasm made many trade show salespeople look like amateurs.

After trying his charm with three passersby, one kind lady took the bait. Robbie escorted her to his toy table. With his arms behind his back, he proudly watched her look over his toys. Finally, the woman picked up his plastic piggy bank, priced at 50¢. After looking it over, she calmly placed it back on the table. “You have very nice toys,” she told Robbie as she began to walk away.

Without hesitation, Robbie asked, “Do you like my piggy bank?” “It’s very nice,” the woman said as she continued to move on. Robbie followed her. “Would you like to buy it?” he asked. She looked down and smiled at the short little man. “No, thank you,” she replied.

“Do you already have a piggy bank?” Robbie asked curiously. The lady cocked her head, “Well, no.” “Well then, you should buy mine,” Robbie said, confidently handing her the 50¢ bank.

With the bank in her hand and a smile on her face, the lady reached into her purse and handed the four-year-old salesman two quarters. Robbie happily put the coins in the cash box, thanked the nice lady, and returned to the sidewalk to talk to the next stranger.

From where I was sitting, I had seen the entire transaction. Robbie’s fearlessness and relentless determination of making such a simple sale smacked me in the face. How could a four-year-old child with literally no sales experience perform, with perfection, what we in the business world spend thousands of dollars trying to learn and teach our employees?

Robbie was no where near as fazed by his monumental success as I was. He looked completely natural and at ease; and why shouldn’t he have been? He wasn’t afraid to approach people naturally, he was proud of his products, and he wanted to make money so he could buy his “big boy” car seat. The sale was as simple as that.

A professional salesperson would have complicated things. They would have tried lowering the price, using some sort of closing trick, or methodically outlining all of the benefits and features of the product in hand. The polite lady would have left empty-handed and the salesperson would have felt defeated.

Sure my son is cute, but it was his persistence that won the lady over after she was intent on walking away. He had the courage to be relentless because he didn’t know any different. Unlike adults, Robbie wasn’t burdened with the fear of being told “no.” A lost sale would have had no reflection on his self-worth or his success.

Because of this, he didn’t try to hide behind a system, verbiage or technique like professional salespeople often do. He was just himself. He talked to complete strangers and was politely persistent because had no reason not to. The sale was as comfortable and natural as Robbie himself.

Closing a sale isn’t as complicated as many professionals make it seem. Let the innocence and sincerity of a four-year old inspire you to simplify your sales approach. Don’t be afraid of your potential customers or what they may say. Be fearlessly persistent, and one day you’ll be sitting in the “big boy” seat.

Are Your Communication Skills Sickening?

2007-04-02T02:58:00.000-07:00

All over the country salespeople are suffering from a verbal virus. It strikes at any time and often without warning. Those who are afflicted say it happens most when talking with prospective customers.

How do you know if you’ve been infected with Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome?

Symptoms include premature articulation of saying the worst thing at the worst time, depression of thinking of the perfect thing to say long after your customer has gone, or nausea from the embarrassment of being at an absolute loss for words.

While there is no cure for Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome, there are certainly remedies to make the symptoms less catastrophic. You can have a nearly complete remission from the verbal virus just by practicing your ability to speak your best.

Get on Your Feet

Frequent attacks of Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome while on the phone can sometimes be calmed just by getting out of your seat. Instead of sitting in your plush office chair and staring at your computer while talking on the phone, stand up. The sound of your voice will naturally follow your body language and the way you feel. If you’re too comfortable in your chair, your voice will sound sleepy and nonchalant, and you’ll find yourself boring or offending your customer.

The simple act of standing promotes healthy breathing, and ensures you are speaking with your best sales voice. By standing, you are changing your tone of voice from lackadaisical to energetic and attentive. You’ll be saying the right thing the right way.

Wear a Smile

Studies have shown that your facial expressions are literally heard in your voice by the person on the other end of the phone. No matter how hard you try to sound upbeat, if your face doesn’t look cheerful, your attitude will sound forced and insincere. Try smiling when on the phone with customers. Your smile will brighten your tone, making your customer as excited about your product as you are.

Monitor Your Progress The warning signs of Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome can be hard to spot if you don’t make the effort to watch out for them – literally. The next time you are on the phone with a customer, place a large mirror on your desk and watch yourself in action.

Your telephone demeanor will completely change as you look yourself in the eye while you are talking with your customers. Having a face-to-face connection (even with yourself) will help you imagine that the person is sitting right in front of you. It will also give you ongoing feedback of your facial expressions and body language. This self-regulating phone training tool gives you the control over the foot-in-mouth tendencies which may keep you from making the sale.

Get it on Tape

If you’re not careful, Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome can spread, severally affecting your ability to communicate even in person. In these cases, monitoring yourself by mirror can be replaced with a simple digital voice recorder. Record all of your customer interactions and prepare for a painful experience as you listen to them in privacy.

Regardless of how many sales you’ve made, how long you’ve been in sales, or how good you think you are at it, you will be horrified to hear how you interact with prospective customers. Hearing yourself in a live sales situation will help you examine your symptoms of the verbal virus and find ways to eliminate them. Make notes of everything from the effectiveness of your tone to your ability to ask intriguing and useful questions.

After a few weeks of watching and listening to yourself in action, you will notice your sales conversations improving. The simple act of monitoring what comes out of your mouth will significantly change the effectiveness of what you say, and how you say it.

It's My Business!

2007-04-02T02:57:00.000-07:00

There are so many get-rich schemes. Beware and hold on to your wallet! There are many home-based businesses selling all types of products. How do you know which one to choose? How do you know what to look for? How do you know if the products are really good without spending a fortune to find out? These are all legitimate concerns.

I have been an Avon District Sales Manager for almost 9 years and before that, I sold Avon for over 10 years. I speak from experience — if you have a vision and are determined to reach your goals, Avon can be the vehicle to get you there. Here are some reasons:

Avon is probably the lowest-cost business to start. “The cost of lunch could change your life!” is my motto. Only $10 to start! No inventory! No sales quotas! No stress!

Avon can give you financial freedom — in the Avon world there are hundreds of woman and some husband/wife teams earning a six-figure income. They have taken the career path … not only selling the products but sharing the opportunity through networking Avon to people everywhere.

Avon offers on-line training to all representatives. These courses are absolutely FREE and teach money management, the Beauty of Knowledge, the Power of 3, how to market your products, how to build your business and find new customers everywhere you go.

Avon representatives can have their own website and sell to family and friends all over the U.S.

Avon’s products are guaranteed 100%. If the customer is not happy, the representative can ask for credit and return the product to Avon.

Avon gives every new representative a credit line of at least $100 — (s)he orders the product, it is shipped directly to his/her door and (s)he pays the bill before submitting the next order.

Avon has products for every member of the family. The representative has giftable items, DVD’s, clothing, licensed products like Dora and Bob the Builder and many more items to entice the customers.

Avon’s SKINCARE is the BEST! The Research & Development Department is always finding new technology to combat the signs of aging. Our Clinical line takes the needle / pain / high cost / doctor’s visit out of having botox treatments, laser treatments, collagen injections, and thermal face lifts.

And best of all, the representative can earn anywhere from 20% to 50%, depending on how much time and effort (s)he puts into the business.

I was an Avon representative from 1978 to 1988. My sales put me in the top 10 of my district and made it possible to remodel my kitchen with brand new cupboards and appliances. Our Christmas presents were always Avon products … family and friends loved getting the holiday decorations and jewelry. My sons learned the benefits of hard work and enjoyed helping me tag my brochures and make deliveries. We made long lasting friendships with so many wonderful people.

If you are looking for a way to earn more money … if you just need $300-$500 dollars a month … if you want to be rich … Avon may be for you. Check out my website.

There is Gold in Them There Hills

2007-03-29T05:06:00.002-07:00

As a sales person how do you know when to give up on a lead. The short answer is never. People’s situation’s and circumstances change. You never really know when you can catch the client at the right moment for them.

I sell life insurance and the Majority of my clients come from a lead program with National Agents Alliance. In my Opinion they have the best lead program I have ever seen. I typically take 10 to 20 leads each week. I place the date I receive the lead and type of lead in the upper right hand corner. I typically will call a lead for about a month after I receive it then I place the lead in a separate pile.

My Goal is to schedule 15 to 20 Appointments each week off of these leads. My Prime calling times for appointment setting is Tuesday and Wednesday morning from 8am to about 9:30am and Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 6pm to 9pm.

Last week I only had about 9 or 10 appointments set with my most recent leads. I went back to my piles of leads and started calling on my leads from September, October and November. I was able to make 7 more appointments which have resulted in 3 sales and 2 follow-up appointments.

This week when I set my appointments I concentrated on the newer leads first and I did manage to set 12 appointments by Early Wednesday morning with leads no more then a month old. I also have 6 additional appointments with leads from September through November.

As a commission only salesperson my activity determines my paycheck. The more appointments I set, the more people I sit in front of. The More people I sit in front of the More Sales I make. The more sales the bigger my paycheck. There really is Gold in them there old leads all you need to do is mine it.

Customer Service Starts in Selling

2007-03-29T05:06:00.001-07:00

After some initial how-are-you, rapport building conversation, your prospect brings up what they called you about: “I called you because I don’t like the results we’re currently getting. I’ve heard you have something you can help us with.” What an opener for someone who provides a product or service to improve whatever the problem is! Maybe; if the provider or seller listens and understands first.

At this conversational juncture the meaning of the adage “Selling ain’t telling, asking is” takes on life form with buyer and seller face to face. It’s time to get to know the specifics of what’s said and not to respond with a sales presentation because you are eager talk just about what you can do!

One of the most difficult tasks a consultant, a salesperson, a manager or anyone tasked with the role of solution provider is to effectively influence a person to clarify their expectations.

Most customers, clients or buyers need help in clarifying what the issues are! Most may even need help in clarifying their objections. Sometimes they know and can’t express it. Sometimes they just don’t know.

An early task for a salesperson with a customer service spirit is to assess if a solution you have is the appropriate resolution to a potential customer’s situation. This requires that we ask questions and as a listener, help the client turn their statements and objections into specific information we can work with. It’s sort of like taking a lump of clay and then molding it into recognizable art.

Getting the specifics of a personal experience as opposed to our assessed or judgmental interpretation gives us information from the clients point of view. It helps them clarify their language when appropriate. If you want to travel from where you live to San Francisco, California, you would use a map which goes to San Francisco, not to Atlanta, Georgia. Use your client’s map of experiences. Leverage your personal experiences to explain things in your clients' way of understanding.

How will this knowledge about listening and clarifying of information cause power? It might not. To be effective at influencing our clients and to clarify what it is they want to achieve requires us to put in action skills such as listening and questions. This requires more than good intentions. It requires commitment. Commitment to understand first, and then to be understood.

The Selling Process is a Sales Map to Success

2007-03-28T06:05:00.001-07:00

If you have a GPS, Global Positioning System in your car, you already appreciate the value of knowing where you are at all times. We don't have one of these GPS systems and I'm thinking about investing in one for our next vehicle. Although, I have a wonderful sense of direction, really, I prefer to rent a vehicle with a GPS system when traveling. A GPS system is invaluable on the road with the system alerts that notify you when you get off track or as you approach an important off ramp. The satellite system is a great tool for people on the move. If you think driving is the only way to use a GPS system, think again. A GPS sales system saves a business time and lost customers. The built in prospect and customer tracking system reduces the loss of opportunities and customers. It is almost like tracking a FEDEX package across the country in that you will know where the sales opportunity is all the time.

The Sales GPS System

One of the reasons salespeople get lost in sales is they don't have a map. Having a map is critical to ending any journey with success. Unfortunately, many business owners and salespeople don't have a sales or marketing map.

I have to confess, there was a time when I didn't have a sales map. Naturally, I got lost many times. It was a challenge of not knowing where I was or where the prospect was in the sales process. Remember, I mentioned earlier, my sense of direction is good. Well, it wasn't working during the early stages of my selling career. The routine of making sales calls and doing the sales activities just didn't get the results I was looking for. It would be years later that I would fine tune my sales process and develop the GPS and mapping system of selling. The evolution of this system is what we offer today.

If the words, sales process and sales map are foreign to you or you can't tell where you are with each prospect, there are ways to calculate your position. NO, the answer isn't in the stars. Let's make it simple and position you in a two step selling process.

* If you have more questions than you have answers about a prospect, you are in the discovery phase. This is the first phase of selling and you should ask more questions than speaking.
* If you have more answers than you have questions for the prospect, you are in the development phase. This is the second phase of selling and you must have a few answers to the problems the prospect has. You have this because you asked good questions in the first phase.

This simple test will tell you where you are in each step of a selling process with prospects. If you want a better description of how to know where you are in sales, we encourage you to join our webinar on "the game of sales." We regularly share our success secrets about the selling process and the game of sales.

Once you understand the selling process and your sales map, selling gets easier. You will also discover that there isn't much difference between a GPS and our Selling Magic sales acceleration program. Both systems will help you stay on track with reminders and guides. Both systems are automated and will save you time while helping you reach a successful destination. Each of these systems is simple to operate.

Barcodes Readers and Scanners

2007-03-28T06:04:00.002-07:00

Two products that some may say independently epitomise America and Britain are chewing gum and tea. These two items have played a role in dramatically changing our lives.

Not because the Americans are known for chewing gum and the Britain's are known for drinking tea, but those two products have represented their countries in being the very first to wear a barcode.

When Andrew Melrose chose to sell tea for a living, did he know what landmarks he would bequeath? In 1833 Melrose's became the first company to legally land tea independently of the East Indies Trading Co. William Wrigley only went into the chewing gum business after discovering that the gum he gave away as an incentive to buy his father's soap was more popular with customers than the soap itself.

Was it choice or circumstance that chewing gum pieces in the USA and tea in the UK would be the first to start the Epos industry rolling?

In the UK we have nothing left to celebrate this great achievement. The keymarkets supermarket in Spalding, Lincolnshire was absorbed by another giant in the 80's, the identity of the would-be famous shopper who bought those teabags is unknown as is the fate of that first bar-coded box of tea bags. The person who used the barcode scanner is also unknown.

However, the packet of Wrigley's chewing gum that was the first American product to be barcoded and scanned in June 26, 1974, at Marsh's supermarket in Troy, Ohio - now proudly sits in the Smithsonian Museum alongside other objects of distinction such as the Hope diamond. The customer is known as Clyde Dawson and Sharon Buchanan (now retired) was the cashier who made the first UPC scan.

We don't know why the Keymarkets store in Spalding (UK) was chosen or whether it was a blanket operation and it just happened to be the branch that used the scanner first. Surely they would have used the Boston branch for their tea party?

We do know that the Troy store was specifically chosen because of its close proximity to the Dayton based NCR Corporation, the designers of checkout counter.

Three decades later, let's look at some comparisons. The actual scanner used was from PSC Inc., and at the time cost $4,000 (the entire check-out counter cost $10,000). These days, scanners cost a fraction of that, we can buy a CCD reader for £55.00 ...a far cry from $4,000.

The box of tea bags at the time didn't have a factory-applied barcode, Keymarkets shop workers stuck the barcode labels on products before they were put on the shop shelves ready for customers to buy. Because Keymarkets no longer exist, we can look at the other giants; J. Sainsbury, for example, operated 201 stores in 1975. Today it has 735 and the vast majority of those have at least double the floor space of those mid-70s stores. At that time grocers only stocked a couple of thousand or so product lines at the most. Simply because of the logistics in putting price stickers on all those products allbeit boxes, packets, bags, bottles or cans, the intellectual load on staff who had to know how much each individual product cost and also because of margins for error made this an impossible and expensive task.

Despite the fact that the price of barcode scanners and barcode reading equipment has plummeted, the 1970s UK inflation peaked at 28%, now it hovers around the 2% mark. Prices are bound to go down when almost every shop and store in the modern world uses them. Bulk buying and mass production aside, technology has enhanced reliability.

CCD readers are the most popular type of bar code reader for low to medium use. No moving parts means a high level of reliability and robustness. Unlike the bar code wand/pen reader which has to be 'swiped' across the code, the CCD remains still during scanning - the scanner normally being activated by depressing the button/trigger.

The limiting factor to the type of code you may scan with this sort of reader is the physical width of the read head - either 65mm or 90mm. If you need to scan a code wider than 90mm, you need to specify either a Linear Imager or a Laser Scanner.

How is it used....?

The read head is placed on the bar code and the trigger depressed. The reader connects to your computer via either PS2 keyboard wedge, RS232 serial interface or via USB

Was the barcode invented just to assist the retail industry? Are bar code systems strictly for big business or can a small or medium sized business or service centre adopt bar code systems to streamline operations, increase profit and save money? Are the Mac or Windows suitable platforms for bar code based data collection and control?

In 1959 David J. Collins earned his master's degree and went to work for the Syvania Corporation, whilst they were researching military applications for computers, Collins had his mind on a new venture. He had previously worked for The Pennsyvania Railroad and knew that there was an urgent need to create a system that could identify, track and handle the gathered information relating to the movement of freight cars. A coded label seemed to be the cheapest solution. Instead of being black and white, labels were orange and blue.

The system worked and it pushed Collins to look at other applications. In 1967 he approached his bosses at Synania and said that he wanted to develop a black and white version for conveyor control and just about everything that moves. The bosses refused to invest in the idea because they felt they had a massive market already. Collins was adamant that the future was in the black and white bar codes and resigned, he co-founded Computer Identics Corporation.

Whilst Sylvania never made any money from their system and suffered during the recession, Computer Identics Corporation truly prospered. It used laser ( Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation ) as opposed to a milliwatt helium-neon beam used by others. The fine red stripe was absorbed by the black bars and reflected by the white. The great advantage was that lasers could read the codes several feet away from many different angles and still read damaged labels, useful for warehouse, point of sale and many other applications. .

Modern cost effective hand held barcode laser scanners

Older types of laser scanner had spinning mirrors and prisms and were rather prone to damage if handled roughly. Modern devices have cut down on the amount of moving parts and so are much more reliable. Many such scanners now carry 2, 3 and 5 year warranties.

There are a number of substances which 'Lase'. Modern laser devices such as these, are based on a semiconductor which is excited by a current which then emits light of a single wavelength (normally red) which is then focused. Many household appliances such as computer printers, CD and DVD players, now utilise the unique properties of Lasers.

Back in the spring of 1969 Collins was installing what were probably the first true bar code sytems anywhere in the world. One into General Motors and the other into General Trading Company. Today just about everything has a barcode.

We often think of barcodes being a retail application but they are used as much for security purposes and asset tracking.

Citizen Watches

2007-03-28T06:04:00.001-07:00

Citizen Watch Company is a watch brand that was established in 1924. The men who established the company chose Citizen as the name so that it would be easily recognizable to people everywhere. Citizen has become a world wide company in the last seventy-five years and is now recognized as a global brand. Every year since the year 1986 Citizen has been recognized as the largest watchmaker in the world. Citizen is also recognized for the innovative technology that they use to make Citizen watches. Citizen has been first for many types of watches. They were the first to create the world’s slimmest LCD. They had the first voice recognition watch. The Citizen dive watches were the first to have an electronic depth sensor. New to Citizen watches is the Eco-Drive collection, which is ecologically friendly. Eco-Drive watches are powered by light rather than a battery.

Citizen Watch Company is accessible a few different ways. You can access their website. Their website has a section that tells about the company. It also allows you to shop for watches. When you shop on the website for watches you can do specific searches. For example, you can search for ladies Citizen watches in $201 to $300 range. You can also do a search for Citizen watches by keyword. The website also includes links for press releases, a store locator, my favorites, corporate gifts and technical support. The store locator link will help you find the nearest Citizen Watch Company store. The My Favorites link lets you keep a list of your favorite watches so that you can easily find them again. The corporate gifts link shows you a watch to give as a gift from your corporation to an employee. The technical support link gives you information regarding setting your Citizen watch, recharging guides, FAQs, and Service information. You can also go into one of their stores. A third way you can access Citizen Watch Company is to call them.

Citizen Watch Company makes watches for men and women. They make every kind of watch you can think of. There are Citizen dress watches. There are Citizen diving watches. You can find Citizen sport watches. There is a wide range in the price of Citizen watches online. They start at about $135 and go up to $700. If you are interested in purchasing a Citizen watch you should shop around. Citizen retailers are all over the world. If you prefer to shop on the internet, then you can find discounted Citizen watches if you do an internet search, rather than paying full price through the Citizen website. If you purchase a Citizen watch online make sure you are doing so through a reputable dealer. Also make sure that the payment gateways are safe. You will want to be sure that you check into the price and guarantee to make sure they are not hiding anything from you. It might be helpful to ask around and order from a site that people you know have ordered from and had success with previously.

Sub Prime Internet Mortgage Leads

2007-03-28T06:03:00.001-07:00

If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker looking for sub prime internet mortgage leads. Look for a lead provider that allows for you to view the lead before you buy it.

Also, look for lead providers that gather information that is important to loan officers looking for sub prime leads. For example, when working with sub prime customers, you want to have leads that offer a comment section so that you can get a good idea of what the customers needs are and you can than base your decision to buy the lead based on this information.

Lets say you call a prospect and they tell you that the bank has already begun the foreclosure process. Chances are, this is a dead lead for you.

Now, if you have the opportunity to view the lead before you purchase it and you can see what comments the prospect has made on the lead and they stated that they were heading into foreclosure, you probably never would have bought the lead to begin with if you did not specialize in foreclosures.

Take the time to research the internet lead providers that are out there. There are many, so take your time.

Here are a few things you can look for.

Where does the internet provider obtain their leads from?

Make sure the lead company that you are considering obtain their own leads. By this I mean, make sure they obtain them through lead generation web sites they own and operate on their own.

Steer clear of the mortgage lead companies that are recycling their leads or are purchasing their leads from third party vendors than selling them to loan officers at a profit.

You don’t want to call a customer and have them tell you that you are the tenth person to call them this week.

Also, make sure you speak with someone in customer service. It is always good to know that there is someone to speak with in the event you need some assistance or you are looking for a refund on a bad lead.

And remember, the type of customer service you are provided with should be a clear-cut indication of the quality of the leads you receive.

If the customer service stinks, than most likely the leads will also.

A Tiger's Motivation

2007-03-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Work. Bust my butt. That's how you do it. I just need to do a little work here around the greens and get my stroke organized, " said Tiger Woods. Woods was the defending champion, had just shot a 4-under-par 68 and was three strokes behind the leader at the Dubai Classic. Woods flew halfway around the world just days after cruising to win the Buick Invitational on Sunday for his seventh straight victory on the PGA Tour. How does Tiger Woods stay motivated? He is the most successful golfer in history, working on an incomparable winning streak and is on the verge of becoming golf's first $1 billion player, and perhaps the first billionaire to accumulate his wealth as an athlete.

Tiger Woods stays motivated to win because he HATES TO LOSE! So now you know why he does it, want to know how he does it? Four simple words. "Work. Bust my butt". There are no shortcuts. Tiger Woods was born with a talent to hit a golf ball like no one else before him. Yet even with all that talent, he knows that if he wants to remain the best in the world, he has to continue to work and bust his butt. How bad do you hate to lose? What are you doing to make sure that you succeed like a tiger?

There are so many attributes that are required in order to succeed, but motivation has to be near the top of the list. Without it, it doesn't matter how many of the other attributes that you have. So often, I hear people say that they could be great saleman, simple because they have wonderful people skills. Well, I'm here to tell you that people skills are a dime a dozen. If you are not motivated enough to hone your people skills by hard work and by busting your butt, there will always be someone else out there that will. No one can motivate you but yourself. Your boss can threaten you, your spouse can cajole you, your parents can nag you, your kids can plead with you, your banker can scare you, but no one can light that fire inside of you except for yourself. So what is one of the best ways to become motivated and stay motivated? Have a passion for what you do. If you truly love what you do for a living, you will happily work your butt off everyday looking for ways to improve yourself. In fact, if you really have a passion for your chosen career, your spouse might have to cajole you into taking some time off.

The Ten Dumbest Things Salespeople Do

2007-03-27T04:36:00.002-07:00

The truth is, knowing what NOT to do in sales is just as powerful as knowing what TO do. Make sense? So I’ve assembled a list of ten of the dumbest things that we’ve seen salespeople do – things that are virtually guaranteed to totally and completely de-rail your selling career.

1. They don’t become students of their craft.

They begin strong selling careers, and they really get into it – but then they go to sleep at the switch and forget to do things like read industry publications or new books by sales masters. They don’t go to sales seminars. They don’t listen to audios or view videos on sales-related topics. In short, they don’t constantly re-invigorate themselves.

Did you know that the golfer Tiger Woods spends a million dollars a year on his Swing Coach? A million dollars working on his swing, every year! He is always looking to get better – and look where he is!

I am amazed by salespeople who don’t spend more than five or ten dollars a year on their own professional growth. We’re in a profession that’s changing by leaps and bounds, and we’re into the twenty-first century. If you’re still selling the way you sold in the last century – you’re in trouble!

2. They don’t “narrowcast” their offering.

Now, what do I mean by that? I mean that they don’t become specialists at a segment, or a particular type of market, or at delivering a specific type of product. They stay generalists.

Think about it. People get paid more to be medical specialists than they do to be medical generalists. The specialist has narrowcasted his or her offering.

The most successful salespeople master the art of narrowcasting their offerings. They become well known specialists in selling one thing, and people come to them for that one thing, every time they need it.

3. They fail to position themselves correctly.

The way people position themselves determines how they’re seen by their prospects and customers. In short, people pay attention to people whom they perceive as having something important to say to them.

The best way to sell is not position yourself as a salesperson, but to position yourself as an expert. One of the best ways we’ve seen to position yourself is to host an information session or how-to clinic on a topic related to what you sell. For example, a realtor might offer a seminar on “How to Get Financed for the Home You Want.” Or an industrial equipment distributor might host a workshop on how to install a particular piece of new equipment.

See? The goal of these sessions isn’t to sell something, per se. Instead, it’s to show people that you know a lot about everything to do with your business, and you’re willing to share your knowledge. (Other great ways to do this are through trade journals or articles, or speeches or seminars, or advocacy within an association or organization.)

4. They fail to prospect.

This is huge. The biggest cause of failure in sales is having an inadequate supply of qualified prospects. How do you get prospects? Like I said above – host informative sessions for prospective clients. Or send mailings targeted lists. Or speak at association meetings. Or host user’s groups. Or offer a webinar.

You always should have multiple methods of prospecting, because you want to be sure you’ve got a variety of types of prospects constantly filling your pipeline. And I have to say, take advantage of all the latest digital technologies that really can make it seamless and simple to deploy an effective prospecting strategies into the marketplace.

5. They get in front of the wrong people.

There’s an old statement that goes like this: “You can’t get rich selling to the wrong people.” You had better be in front of people who: - Can make a decision. - Have a need. - Have a perceived problem, or a “pain.” - Are willing to listen to you.

It can be easy to confuse activity with results because you are worried most about reports and numbers you give to your sales manager. You want to be able to go back and say, “Well, I was in front of these (number) of people.” But, my question to you is, “Are they the right people?”

Your own self-image, your sense of self-worth, and how well you’ve positioned yourself – they’re all going to affect whether you’re in front of the right people. And the problem is, if you enter at the wrong level, it’s very hard to work yourself up! You may alienate the people you first interfaced with, and the people who are at the top won’t see you as having something valuable to say, because you didn’t get to them in the first place.

6. They listen to their peers.

Listening to your peers often means you get too much negative input. You hear things like, “This isn’t the way you sell. Don’t listen to these guys, don’t follow their process. Don’t use this…it’s too theoretical. You can’t make more than ‘X’ amount of dollars in this business. This company is really bad, they’re always out to get us. We’ve got an inferior product. Our delivery is bad. Our prices are out of line. The commission structure on prices is unfair. The future’s bleak, the economy is bad. My boss is a jerk.”

It goes on and on and on. You’ve got to understand something: 80% of your peers are only delivering 20% of the results. And you know what? They’ve got nothing better to do than hope YOU’RE not successful, either. So do you really want to listen to 80% of salespeople? Get it?

Instead, listen to positive, upbeat stuff that really does make you feel good and think clearly. Whether it’s music, or motivational content, or something else that’s upbeat, or uplifting: Listen to it…and remember, most of your peers are not doing well in sales!

7. They don’t understand the economics of their product or service.

Here’s what I mean: Would you sell something for a buck and a half that cost you a buck? No you wouldn’t… But unfortunately, lots of salespeople don’t understand ‘value costing,” and that’s EXACTLY what they end up doing!

They don’t truly understand what it costs to deploy their solutions in the field. They don’t understand what telephone costs are, what manufacturing costs are, what advertising, marketing, promotion, and all other costs are – so they end up giving the product or service away.

And here’s a review of Economics 101 – if you’re losing money on every deal, you can’t EVER make it up in volume! But what so many salespeople think is “Look, it comes out of the company’s side – it doesn’t come out of my side.” To them, the company’s got a boundless supply of money and resources. But the truth is, the company’s money comes out of selling product at a profit. Period.

What salespeople are for is to sell, and to sell at a profit. If you don’t understand the economies of your product and your company – how can you ever sell it for the right price?

8. They mentally spend their income – before they earn it.

If your pay plan is somehow designed to reward you for production or performance – not just a base salary for being around – listen to me! The sale is not made until you have received your commission check and it’s gone into the bank, and it’s cleared – only then is the sale consummated.

Why not? Think about all the things that can happen. You can have delivery problems, you can have delays. You can have cancellations, you can get knocked out of the box. Just because you receive a Purchase Order, doesn’t mean anybody has to exercise it!

9. They fail to ask the right questions.

In fact, not only would I say that they failed to ask the right questions – but maybe they failed to ask questions at all. Or worse, they did ask questions, but didn’t listen to the answers. So there are lots of important things to think about:

* Are they the right questions?
* Do you listen to the answer?
* Do you ask questions in the right way?
* Do you right them down?
* Do you ask them the right sequence?
* Can you extrapolate one question to the next?
* Are you really listening to what they say?
* Are you anticipating more about what you’re going to say next?

10. They are either digitally compulsive or digitally impaired.

In other words, they are so compulsive about digital technology, that they spend all of their time on the Internet, or in Sales Force Automation products, or on their Blackberry phones, or whatever. Or, they’re so impaired that they’re absolutely frozen about utilizing it.

But as simple as it sounds, as basic and fundamental as it sounds – the truth is, the most successful person is going to be the one who’s going to be in the middle. Bottom line: You should not be sitting in front of your computer screen all day long. You need to be eyeball to eyeball with prospects and customers.

Computers are tools. When somebody is out building a house, they don’t use a hammer for everything. They use a hammer for specific things that they’ve got to do. This is your hammer. When you’ve got a tool like a contact management software program – it’s a hammer. Pull it out, use it when you need it, and then put it back in your belt. Go on and do what you do…don’t live in front of this thing. But, also, don’t go out and try to build a house without a hammer in your tool belt. Use it, when it’s appropriate.”

This is the best that I can give you of the ten reasons why we’ve seen salespeople fail. So what does that mean? It’s pretty simple: Don’t do these things! You’ll keep your selling career on the right path.

First Impressions Mean Everything, Especially If You're In Sales

2007-03-27T04:36:00.001-07:00

How do you get your prospects and customers to see you as a credible, trustworthy, and professional sales representative during your first sales call?

First, a quick story to help make the point.

Have you ever seen an ice sculptor at work?

Imagine this scene and setting.

You're going to a breakfast buffet on a cruise ship. As you stand in line you notice a man with a white beret and chef's apron hovering over two huge blocks of ice. As you move forward through the mountains of food on the buffet line you see the sculptor chipping away at the ice.

You and your spouse find a table not too far away from the ice sculpture.

When he's finished, you're amazed to see what has been sculpted from the two large blocks of ice.

It was a hippopotamus.

You couldn't help but hear what someone asked as he approached the ice sculptor.

"That's beautiful - how did you ever do that?"

The sculptor responded, "It was easy, I simply chipped away everything that didn't look like a hippopotamus."

Now back to the original question. The answer is for you to chip away at everything that doesn't make you credible, trustworthy, and professional.

For example:

Don't begin your sales call the way your competitors do.

Don't talk too much.

Don't ask closed-ended sales questions.

Don't say you can save them time and money.

Don't show up without written sales call objectives.

Don't lower your price without asking for something in return.

Don't ask, "How soon do you need it?"

Don't keep blabbering until your prospect gets fidgety and says, "Your time is up."

Don't forget to send a handwritten thank you note.

To sum it up to you should avoid doing what your competition is doing.

First impressions are precious!

You can make your first impression, with all new sales prospects and customers, count by being better and different.

If you want to project that you're credible, trustworthy, and professional you have to act the part and play the role.

You gotta look good and sound good - and that's a simple truth!

Salespeople: Build Your Sales by Eliminating Their Risks!

2007-03-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

We were stuck in a recession that some folks thought teetered on a depression.

Enrollments in my public seminars were shrinking. My sponsors canceled one program after the next.

Where would my revenues and profits come from?

Absolutely nothing about the QUALITY of what I do or the value clients get from it had changed. I wasn’t the problem.

The national refrain became, “It’s the economy, stupid!”

But I wouldn’t surrender to that sort of excuse making.

I needed a solution, and fast.

Suddenly, it hit me. I had to absolutely, unequivocally GUARANTEE the success of my programs, whether they were public seminars or extensive on site development programs.

And this is exactly what I did, and it made a night and day difference, well, practically overnight.

My prospects needed to be assured my consulting and training remedies would work. They and their companies were so worried about sustaining losses that they had to be told, emphatically, “With me, you cannot lose!”

What’s interesting about this move is I waited until times were tough to make it. Without a poor economy I would have muddled through the same way I always had done.

But bad times forced me onto a very good thing. As long as I did GUARANTEED selling, and featured this “can’t lose” message, I couldn’t lose, either.

Plus, it forced me to rethink my deliverables and to focus more on achieving specific, measurable results. I monitored my progress more carefully. Greater accountability made for a better all-around business.

If you can figure out ways to dramatically reduce or to altogether eliminate your buyers’ risks, you will get more sales, larger individual orders, and close business faster than ever before.

Is there a downside?

Yes, if clients are ONLY buying your guarantee, and not the underlying benefits of your products and services, you’ll be giving them an opportunity to undo deals, and a fraction of them will do just that.

Also, this appeal may resonate better in poor versus robust economies, but I believe it achieves better results in both, and still, the pluses outweigh the minuses.

When it comes to selling, at least from the client’s viewpoint, the thinking is:

No risks bring BIG rewards!

Guaranteed Selling: I'm Sure You’re Going To Love It!

2007-03-27T04:34:00.002-07:00

Recently, I wrote an article about the awesome value of using guarantees in selling.

When properly crafted and communicated, they lower buyers’ perceived risks, making them inclined to agree faster, more often, and to purchase in larger quantities.

Very few people, statistically, will undo deals, so the advantages of guarantees tend to outweigh the disadvantages.

But there is a warning I should issue.

You have to make sure that your MESSAGE doesn’t backfire; that you don’t oversell the “out-clause” so much that you train your buyers to do the wrong thing, in droves.

Specifically, you never want to design your presentation so your CLOSE-LINE, the very last thing you say to induce an “OK” hinges on undoing the deal.

EXAMPLE: “So, what we’ll do is get this video program out to you and if you don’t like it, simply pop it back into the mail and that will be that; OK?”

By the way, the phrasing of that example is GOLDEN, but-for the poor placement of its guarantee language.

Here’s a much preferred way of phrasing it:

BETTER EXAMPLE: “So, what we’ll do is get this video program out to you and if you don’t like it, simply pop it back into the mail, but we’re sure you’re going to love it and want to add it to your training library; OK?”

Take a quick second to analyze the differences. What stands out to you?

In the first example we end on a NEGATIVE, so the client is saying yes to a no, so to speak. We’re training them to return the video, to expect to not like it.

The second version ends on a POSITIVE note. It says, you’re going to love it and want to keep it.

We tested both versions at Time-Life, famous for its 10-day trials and guarantees, and we found the second version has a HUGE impact on the proportion of people who keep and pay for their products.

By all means use guarantees, but above all, make sure to avoid overselling them!

Fear of Rejection

2007-03-27T04:34:00.001-07:00

It is legend in sales that selling starts with the word “no” or starts with an objection, which is sales vernacular for a reason not to buy. Objections are really requests for information. It is the sales rep’s job to help the buyer understand the product better. Objections help the sales rep move the sales process along; thus, no can be an “enabling sales technology”. Yet, the word no can be disabling for many.

Buyers will automatically say no even when they mean yes. Ever walk into a shoe store and have a sales rep ask, “Do you need any help?” Invariably, we say, “No.” Then we turn to the shoe rack and pick out a shoe and then ask the same sales rep for help. Shoe sales people learn that this cat and mouse game is all part of the sales ritual. It all starts with no.

While not of all us are cut out for sales, fear of rejection can be overcome by a simple technique called systematic desensitization. Oddly enough, the more you do something the easier it becomes, while conversely the less you do something the harder it becomes. The single best way to confront our fear of rejection is to do what scares us the most. In the shoe sales person’s case, he or she confronts the fear by continually asking the question, “May I help you?” The sales rep becomes desensitized to the rejection through repetition.

Another example is the fear of public speaking; some studies have shown the fear of public speaking to be greater for some people than the fear of death. They avoid speaking publicly at all costs. Yet, the best way to beat the fear of public speaking may be by speaking publicly. Toastmasters International, the world renowned public speaking training organization, advocates making speeches weekly to conquer this fear. They believe that only with repetition can this fear be truly beaten.

Here are few tips on confronting the fear of rejection:

- Look for no. Keep a record of how many times you hear no in a day. Try to beat yesterday’s tally. Track weekly.

- Visualize your customer saying no, but tell yourself it means they have questions.

- Let the customer know that no is an acceptable answer, since you are interested in a long term relationship with them. Watch or hear them exhale with relief. The pressure is off. Ask them to tell you about their concerns.

- Remember that in selling it is not about you. Rather, it is all about the customer; focus your thoughts on them and their needs. The commissions will come later.

So for the sales rep with fear of rejection, the best way to beat it is to pick up the phone or knock on the door. Then, go do it again. And, again.

To Improve Your Sales - Begin At The Very Beginning

2007-03-27T04:33:00.002-07:00

Many people struggle with selling. Whether as employed and trained sales personnel, working in a professional services firm with a client fee target, or as a small business owner who needs customers to survive you need to sell. Why is it an issue? For many it starts with their own self-perception and how they, personally, relate to selling – or what they perceive as selling! Certainly, for many people the idea is that sales people have to spend their time finding potential customers (or clients!) and then convincing them to buy the product or service. This may have to mean pushing, manipulating or coercing them in some way. WRONG! Effective, professional selling is radically different

The important thing is to be very clear about what is selling. Having spent much of my working life in sales, sales management and training and developing people in the skills and attitudes to be successful in these areas I can confidently state that many people do not have a full understanding of it. Yes, they know that it is about a transaction or exchange of some sort. However, when I looked up “to sell” in a dictionary some years ago it had a great phrase within the definition – “to convince of value”. Hold this thought for a minute! When moving on to look up “salesmanship”, the interesting part, for me at least, was “to persuade purchaser to buy”.

These two parts of the definitions provide the possibility of a total rethink of what is required to be successful in selling, regardless of your market. To achieve these two effectively and consistently an organisation needs to think about its sales strategy, sales management style, sales culture and sales approach. The old style “push, push” element will not work in achieving consistent results. In the short-term there may be spasmodic success – with a turnover of customers and selling personnel too!

Let us look at the definitions and consider why they might make a difference. “To convince of value” – what does value mean to you? The beauty of the idea of value is that it is highly individual and personal – and can change according to circumstances. It is not a constant. Most people will tell you they want value for money, but what does that mean? The key challenge for anyone having to sell, is that we need to be able to find what our prospective customers consider to be value at the time. Anyone reading this who has issues about “selling” or being thought of as selling can redefine what you do! If you think about this, your role as a sales person is not to sell or impose products or services on people. It is to find what they believe is value and then show them how you can deliver it. While on this subject, remember that it is the prospect or customer who defines value! Beware of claims which claim to offer added value or value added – the supplier does not define this!

The successful sales people will still use a large number of the fundamental selling skills. A well thought through sales process will help to achieve results and help sales managers and sales people work together towards this end. Do it well and there will be much less rejection and far fewer objections. So, where do you need to start?

Begin with yourself and your own mindset! You will be helping them to buy something – if it is appropriate and they believe it is good value. As an aside, you do need to believe in your own products and services and that they are good value! If you have any problems with this, it is very difficult to put across a positive message with any conviction or integrity! While working on your mindset, remember that any meeting or contact with a prospective client is about them, their situation and what they want. They are the focus, not you, your product or your sales target!

If you have to do any form of prospecting, this is important to remember too. Why should they talk to you or agree to see you? You need to approach them with an understanding of the issues they may be facing and get them talking about these. More about this another time!

When you do get face to face with a prospect, there are a few basic steps to follow in order to get to the situation where you can find out what they consider to be value. The first stage is to gain a degree of rapport, which needs to be the right level for the prospect. During the early phase of any meeting the prospect is making a variety of judgements about you – and your organisation! These may be accurate or totally unreasonable as they will almost certainly be subjective, or based on subjective criteria! Regardless of this, we have to be able to gain some degree of trust from the prospect. Without this, it will be extremely difficult to get the real information from them.

Once there is rapport, the conversation can move to the “sales” part. Hold it – do not start telling them all about your company, product or service! The key element to establish is what they are really looking for – and why! There is a great quote from “The One-Minute Sales Person”, “When I want to sell, I remember how I, and others, like to buy.” Stop and think. How do you like to buy? When you last bought something which was a significant purchasing decision, what was important to you? Why did you choose the product and supplier?

Whatever your reasons for this – their combination will have matched what “convinced you of value”. The challenge in a sales situation is to find out these criteria from your prospect. I call this their “shopping list”. Do this before talking about what you can offer, because the things the prospect is interested in will be related to what is on this list and not the other aspects you think are important for them.

So, once you have a sense that you are moving into the “sales” phase of the process, it is really useful to ask a question to get the prospect’s shopping list. Something along the lines of, “When you are choosing a supplier, what is important to you?” or “When you last chose a new provider, what made you choose them?” This can cause the prospect to stop and think!! They do not get asked this very often – too many people are too keen to tell rather than sell! Listen, write down what they tell you, and keep asking, “…and what else? until you have their list!

This is the key starting point, because this list is their set of value criteria right now! (It might change when you visit them again next month, so you need to check it again.) If you show them how your product or service can deliver against this list you will be able to “convince them of value”. As you keep the focus of your conversation and presentation around what is on their list and they can see you are doing so, the will want to buy from you. In doing this, you have a much smoother and simpler conversation and by dealing with the elements the prospect wants you will have fewer objections to deal with and will feel more confident in asking for commitment.

Whatever your business, you need to find clients or customers. They will choose to use you to supply them provided you can offer them “value”. For me, one of the enjoyable aspects of selling is meeting different people and finding out more about each person’s challenges or issues and what is on their “shopping list” at the time. This really makes each sales meeting unique and fun! Once I have this, I am not selling to them. I can help them to achieve what they need to in a way which matches the factors on their list – and if I do this effectively, they will buy from me. Selling does not have to be a battle or a challenge, it is about working together giving the prospect what they want and need to get value.

You Don't Have to Be Pushy and Aggressive to Achieve Sales Success

2007-03-27T04:33:00.001-07:00

This is one of the most common misconceptions about business today. The reason that people think of salespeople as being pushy and aggressive is because for the last 60 years, they have been pushy and aggressive. Most sales people today still are.

The problem lies in the way they've been trained for the last 60 years. Unknowledgeable sales trainers have taught them to use tricks and techniques to persuade prospects into buying our products and joining our companies regardless of whether it was the right thing for them or not. But this is not the way at all. It is unethical.

Professional selling (business) today is about presenting the products, services and business, in an organised fashion, without using trickery or manipulation. It's about having a casual conversation coupled with good questions about what's important to our prospects.

A sales conversation with your prospect should sound as natural as speaking with a good friend in your home, with a cup of coffee, sitting in your favourite easy chair.

Being Aggressive Won’t Get You Sales

When people think of salespeople, one of the unpleasant characteristics that springs to mind is them being pushy or aggressive.

We have all had experiences when the salesman hasn’t stopped talking and you sense yourself being forced to say "yes". Only to feel "sore" that you made a wrong decision.

Many business owners, when presenting their sales pitch, don’t think about whether their style could be perceived as "pushy", and don’t realise what they could be losing.

Definition of Pushy-How it Relates to You and Your Customer

Being pushy, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can be the ruin of a salesperson. But what defines "pushy"?

In a sales context, it means forcing your will onto the buyer, countering resistance with excessive force, using effort to get a result. This is not how to make a sale or encourage someone to buy from you again. Always remember that a customer is with you because he wants to be there and he/she can quickly change his/her mind.

Here are some of the possible outcomes if you are too "pushy" :

You may be lucky to get a customer who is too meek to fight back. You may make a sale from those customers but chances are, they will never buy from you again. Missing out on repeat business means you lose real profits!

If the customer is just as aggressive as you are, an argument quickly develops. You can never close a sale under such circumstances. Worse still, if you are in the retail trade, potential customers wandering around your shop may sense the tense atmosphere and be out of your shop fast!

Double or Triple Your Sales. Follow These Steps:

1. Early in the sales presentation, ask if you can address them by their first name.

2. Actively listen to what the customer is saying. Ask the right questions to find out what the customer is really thinking.

3. Watch their body language. Do they appear happy? If not, step back and use questions to check their mood. Slow the pace down and clarify any concerns.

4. If, at the end of the sales presentation, you still get a "no", don’t argue. Leave the door open for another day.

And whatever you do, don’t follow up a few days later with a telephone call!

Leave the customer alone and he/she may come back of his/her own free will. That is the last resort.

Profit, Stay Away! Give Me Tips to Stop Making Any!

2007-03-27T04:32:00.001-07:00

In the business world there are so many products that can complement your product if you look for them. You don’t want to do that because by finding a strategic business partner you will increase your sales ratio. You don’t want profits, and aligning with someone will increase the chances their customers will spill over to your products and result in too many sales.

Perhaps one day a partner will come knocking at your door; you want to look for ones that don’t have the same objective. An example of this is when you sell computer parts and the other partner sells perfume. This method is a sure win-win solution to decreasing profits. Normally when you form a partnership with a business owner, you will trade leads, share marketing info and sell package deals that benefit both sides. However, you don’t want any profit, so you want to make sure any deal resulting from the partnership will fail to incite customer’s interest.

Whatever you do, don’t brand your name and business. One of the best ways to gather traffic to your site is by writing articles and submitting them to e-zines or web sites for republishing. You don’t want to do this because it is free advertising that too many people will see. Once people start to recognize you are indeed knowledgeable about your topic, they will flock to your website for more information. Never do this as it will increase your sales too much. And god forbid, once people see your article and love it so much that they will post it on their own sites. Imagine the horror of your link on dozens of website without you even doing anything other than submitting an article. What an awful mess, you might actually make some profits, noooooooooo!

Do you know eBay regularly pull in millions of customers in a day? Imagine the traffic if you decide to go and list (post) your product on the eBay website. Stop right there, you don’t want this. It is a good thing I warned you ahead of time because otherwise you will might make a mistake and market to the eBay market.

Another option I have seen people do is starting an auction on their web site. The types of auction they start are usually related to the theme of their site. Don’t go and start any auction on your site, you might draw traffic from auctioneers and bidders. Remember I gave you a warning, if you didn’t listen to me and went and do exactly the opposite of what I told you to do, you will generate some sales.

Everybody talks about time management. Who cares? We don’t want to make any profits. Spend all your time playing games and procrastinating. Remember don’t take a little time out of your day or week to brainstorm. New ideas are usually the difference between success and failure. You don’t want any profits, so don’t spend any time on your business.

There are so many people who are successful. Isn’t it disgusting? Who want to make so much money? However, we can use it to our benefit. Make sure you model the exact opposite of other successful business or people. What you can do in this case is notice some of the habits that have made them successful and do the exact opposite of what they do. You see, successful people are useful in some way.

It has been proven over and over again. There is no use denying it, hype words works brilliantly in converting sales. In advertisement, using emotional words such as love, security, relief, freedom, happy, satisfaction, fun, unbelievable, shocking, fantastic… etc. have the ability to make your customers act with their hearts rather then their mind. Unfortunately for you, the majority of people buy with their hearts rather than their mind and sales people play up to it. Well guess what you don’t have to put up with this. Why is that? It’s because you are not looking for sales.

Trust me, if you do everything I written, you have my guarantee that you won’t make any profits.

Good luck, because we all hate profits here!!

Sales Lead Solutions

2007-03-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

FACT: Lead Generation Solutions high on the wish-list of just about every business owner in australia.

But for most people, getting those targeted sales leads in the first place can be as easy as doing handstands on a tightrope.

What difference would it make if you knew a 'scientifically proven' ethical, affordable, 'results-focused' approach that consistently generates a steady flow of targeted, 'ready-to-buy' leads for your business whenever you felt like it?

Perhaps you have tried some of the following methods to get more leads for your business:

• Newspaper Advertising
• Yellow Pages Advertising
• Trade and Industry Magazines
• Cold Calling
• Direct Mail
• Leaflet Drops
• Door to Door Canvassing
• TV & Radio Advertising
• National Community Newspaper Advertising
• 1800 Message Advertising
• Press Releases
• Telemarketing
• Trade Shows
• Sponsorship
• Novelty Items
• Posters

Each of the above lead generation ideas has its place but they each have specific drawbacks. Several (like TV, Radio, Sponsorship and Yellow Pages Advertising) are particularly expensive. Others (like cold calling, press releases and leaflet drops) whilst easier on your bank account are both time consuming and way too 'hit and miss' in their approach.

Thankfully there is an affordable lead generation alternative that can work for just about any type of business...

A simple method that can consistently generate a constant and ongoing supply of hot, willing-to-buy, leads for your business virtually whenever YOU feel like it.

I am talking about using the Internet to reach your target market.

Wait! I can almost hear your mind saying "But we already have a website and it's about as useful as a screen door on a submarine..."

Can I make a suggestion?

Why not hire someone to create a simple 2 page website for your business lead generation needs.

The first page should be a simple Name-Squeeze page.

The idea is that you will use it to offer some interesting information relating to your products and services in return for the prospect joining your opt-in email newsletter.

This allows you to follow up on them without getting in trouble for spamming.

The second page should be enough information to:

• Make the prospect want to pick up the phone and call you
• Let them know you have received their information request and will be in touch with them
• Present your sales offer

Want to see this method in action?

Visit http://www.GetMoreSalesLeads.com

NOTE: You don’t need to have a 90 page website to generate leads.

Using a simple two page site coupled with Google Adwords or some other pay-per-click advertising technique you can start getting a constant supply of fresh sales leads today!

You might want to consider using video or audio on your NameSqueeze page as both have been proven to increase response rates.

Ninja Sales Lead Solutions

2007-03-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

Does even the thought of lead generation make you feel like banging your head against a wall?

Experts say generating a constant supply of new sales leads is one of the hardest and most frustrating tasks most business owners face.

Effective sales lead solutions are easy to find if you follow a few simple rules.

Follow them close enough and you'll enjoy a Ninja-like ability to sneak up on virtually any market and generate leads seemingly out of thin air. At least that is what your competitors will think.

Business owners use a variety of different methods to generate leads.

Some you may be aware of are:

* TV and Radio Ads
* Telemarketing
* Direct Mail
* Postcards
* Display & Classified Ads
* Fliers
* Billboard Ads
* Trade Shows
* Press Releases
* Yellow Pages Ads

Each of the above lead generation tactics have their place but there is a lead generation solution that, in my opinion, presents the average business owner with the opportunity of getting a steady flow of laser-targeted leads virtually whenever they feel like it.

Lead Generation Websites

Few people realize that a lead generation website can be as small as just one page.

A good lead capture page offers something of value such as an informative report in return for someone giving you their name and email address and in some cases, their physical address and telephone number.

This page can also include a simple form that gathers information that the business seeking the leads wants to know.

Use a professional autoresponder service such as Aweber.com to immediately send your prospects a bit more information relating to the products and services being offered as well as the download url of your report and remember to always include a few simple words of thanks.

You can see an example of such a page here: http://www.GetMoreSalesLeads.com

Nine Things That Encourage People to Respond to Your Lead Generation Page

* 1. The Headline. Experts tell us that a staggering 80% of people don't get past your headline. It is well worth the effort to take the time to learn the basics of copywriting.

* 2. Graphics (Or a Lack of them!) You should always split-test the use of graphics on your lead generation name capture page. Some products and services really benefit from the use of graphics (before and after pics for instance) whilst others may find graphics distract people's attention from the goal of the page - getting people to respond and fill in your lead generation form. NOTE: Beware of using humor in lead generation. Something that you might find hilarious might leave another person cold or worse even offend them.

* 3. Colors. Believe it or not colors can have a dramatic effect on your response rates. Never ever use a black background. Think in terms of Google and Yahoo (Clean white backgrounds) and rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, just copy their lead.

* 4. Fonts. It constantly amazes me how so many websites use fonts so small that even if you wanted to respond - you would need bionic eyesight to do so. Use fonts such as Ariel, Verdana or Times New Roman.

* 5. Audio. Adding a simple streaming audio message can dramatically boost your opt-in response rates.

* 6. Video. Video can make all the difference in the world. You can see an example at http://ReprintRightsOffer.com

* 7. Testimonials. People love to see 'social proof' that what you say about your products and services is true. NOTE: There is an adage in marketing that says: Facts TELL But Testimonials SELL. Use this to your advantage.

* 8. The Offer. Your prospects will basically be thinking 'What is in this for me?' make sure you give them a valid reason to want to give you their details.

* 9. Reassurance. Always tell people that their contact details will never, under any circumstances, be rented, traded, shared or sold and let them know they can unsubscribe whenever they want to.

If you try these things and use the right keywords to get traffic to your website and in your pay-per-click ads, you will find that a simple direct response website can be a powerful solution to your lead generation needs.

Leverage the Ultimate Lead Generation Solution

2007-03-27T04:29:00.003-07:00

There are three vital factors that will determine the way your approach lead generation. There is one VITAL word that can spell the difference between success and failure.

First, lets have no doubts on this one thing:

Your business needs a fresh supply of new, targeted, sales leads like a fish needs water.

Without water the fish will die.

Without a constant supply of sales leads so will your business. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Lead generation is not an optional extra on the business buggy. Without it you will go broke.

Three Sobering Truths About Lead Generation

1. MONEY is required

2. TIME is needed

3. ENERGY will be spent

Anytime you are short of one of the above you need to increase the other two.

- - A lack of money requires more time and energy
- - A lack of energy requires more money and time
- - A lack of time requires more money and energy

FACT: Many small business owners find themselves in the terrible trap of needing sales leads to make money but not having the money to get the leads.

They get stuck like a mouse on a wheel, going round and round but never getting anywhere.

The ULTIMATE Lead Generation Solution: Leverage Everything!

Leverage can dramatically increase the effectiveness of your money, time and energy.

Try This For 30 Days:

For the next month try looking at everything you are doing in relation to your business in terms of money, time and energy.

Ask yourself: "What can I do to leverage this situation?"

Make a list of all the things that you can outsource and start hiring other people to do anything that saves you time and energy.

Note: You can use websites like RentACoder.com and Elance.com to outsource dozens of tasks that take up your money, time and energy.

It sounds silly but if you do, you will find that your business will start making more money which in turn means you will be in the powerful position of using LESS money, time and energy working IN your business and be able to start spending more effective money, quality time and focused energy working ON it.

When you do that, you will begin to see lead generating solutions that most likely have been staring you in the face all along - you have just been too busy to notice them.

Tenacity the One Secret to Increase Sales

2007-03-27T04:29:00.001-07:00

Increase sales is the mantra from Fortune 100 companies to the smallest of the small businesses. The U.S. economy is growing with the Dow over 12,000 point and everyone is looking for more business results. So what is keeping you from achieving more business success? Even though we know that there is no magic pill to increase sales, there may be one secret or key that may help you to achieve more in 2007.

How many times in our search to improve our businesses, do we seek solutions from the outside and fail to look within ourselves? Have you considered assessing your own tenacity and looking within the word tenacity? Did you see the word ten – 10 - within tenacity?

Tenacity has many definitions, but I like the simple ones such as Chuck Norris who states tenacity is the ability "to stick to it when things get tough. " So, how many times will you stick to it? Are you discouraged after a couple of times and give up? If you had a minimum benchmark before stopping and this thresh hold would keep you going forward, would those difficult times be less challenging?

From our childhood experiences, we are told to "Count to 10" before allowing our temper to guide our behaviors or taking other types of action before we think. This paradigm is a great way to reinforce our own tenacity as we overcome those obstacles that are keeping us from securing personal success to business success.

To increase sales begins by finding prospects. Thousands of voice mails are left every day and not returned. Do you give up after a couple of tries when your calls are not returned? How much would your sales increase if you made a decision to call this person at least 10 times before you even called her or him the first time? Would your phone voice be consistently positive?

Another way to find prospects is by speaking at local meetings such as civic organizations, associations or chambers of commerce. If you made a conscious decision to give at least 10 speeches every 3 months, how would that affect the results from your marketing plan?

Referrals are one of the best ways to increase sales. If you would contact 10 current or past clients and then contact 10 centers of influence and asked each for at least 2 referrals, how would that affect your business success?

Just imagine all of the results if you consistently applied the Tenacity Power of 10 to all of your business activities?

* How much more would your business grow if you made 10 more calls each days?
* How many more clients would you have if you meet with 10 more prospects each week?
* How much more marketing results would you receive if you mailed 10 more introductory letters each month?

The Tenacity Power of 10 automatically creates a self-fulfilling prophecy by strengthening your own personal resolve because now you are in control of your own destiny. Years ago, Henry Ford penned these words: "Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right."

Business success or personal success is a matter of choice. Being tenacious is also a matter of choice. You can choose to be tenacious towards success or to be tenacious towards failure. For me, there is only one choice and failure is not an option.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. is a business coach and executive coach with offices in Indianapolis and near Chicago. She writes, speaks and coaches people in businesses to quickly double or triple results through the creation of an executable strategic plan along with the necessary leadership skills "to pull it off."

One quick question,if you could secure one new client or breakthrough that one roadbloack holding you back from success, what would that mean to you? Then, take a risk and give me, Leanne, a call at 219.759.5601 to experience incredible results.

The Art of Making Prospects vs. Selling

2007-03-27T04:28:00.001-07:00

Communication for business development purposes is a very specialized area. When I was a bank consultant establishing private banks around the nation, one of the first things I did after signing a contract with a bank was to sit down and review all of the written communications pieces sent to clients, prospects, and to strangers.

The purpose of a business development letter is to create prospects. The purpose of a sales letter is to sell your company and its products to prospects. Most marketers confuse the two. They are two separate letters. Marketers think a business development letter sells products. It does not... at least, the effective ones do not. Instead, business development letters sell credibility and reputation. Business development letters make people want to hear about your products (sales are then achieved via sales letters).

Most bank marketers I worked with did not understand that simple fact. I have come to realize that most marketers do not understand the purpose of sales versus business development letters. Even the most sophisticated bank marketers in New York, San Francisco, Dallas and Chicago did not understand. They thought business development and sales letters to be the same thing. They are not.

The first and most basic rule of business development communication is this: The recipient of a letter is not a prospect to whom something can be sold. He or she is a stranger. To become a prospect, a response to a business development effort -- letter or sales call -- must be received. If you are mass marketing, you can make sales to strangers rather than prospects (developed via business development calls and/or correspondence)... but it is a very expensive effort.

The second rule is that business development letters talk about the recipient and that person’s needs. You establish your credibility and get a positive reaction from them by proving you know about their needs.

A sales letter talks about your company and your products and how they fill client needs. Sales letters are sent to prospects, not strangers. The biggest mistake marketers make is to try and turn business development letters into sales letters.

The best private banks in the country specialize by client occupation. Physicians, accountants, lawyers, corporate executives, small business owners, entrepreneurs were all targeted for business development. We narrowed our definition of segments served. We had one private banker who served the needs of surgeons only. Another served non-surgeons. The same was true of CPAs and lawyers… small, independent firms were handled by one banker.

Those employed by larger firms were handled by another private banker. Each group’s problems are different. Our message to them was designed to deal with their needs, not our products. Thus, the more specialized we could be, the more specific we could get about their needs. That means we could more effectively sell people on becoming clients.

A lot of marketers write business development letters from the perspective of high quality service clients can expect from their company. Big shock... people, especially affluent people, expect quality service. It is not a sales or business development point. And, it is very easy for a competitor to write a letter that makes yours look pretty bad by referring to client needs (which hints at expertise... for which people are willing to pay). If you write a business development letter that speaks in general about your high quality of service and I write a business development letter that accurately points out some of the problems you deal with in your every day business life, which do you think has the best chance of getting read? Such are the advantages of market segmentation.

Viewing market segmentation, business development and sales as three distinctly different parts of a process is as effective for companies selling office furniture or computer equipment as it is for private banks. Know your market segments. Find out what motivates them. With most successful business people, “time is money” is almost always a motivator because most successful people are very busy.

It is an art to write an effective business development letter. It is difficult to explain the business advantages you have to offer while talking about the letter’s recipient… someone you’ve never met. The temptation is to talk about you and your products -- a guaranteed way to get the letter thrown away. Talk about them and what they need and your letter gets read.

Business development letters need to drip with credibility. For example, you do not on the one hand say “Your time is money,” and on the other hand say, “…and I’d like to stop by your office during business hours to waste some of your time.” Instead, you tell a time is money person you will be glad to meet them early in the morning, before the business day starts.

Back in the 1980s, one of the major New York banks -- one whose name you would easily recognize -- did a huge advertising campaign for private banking. The lead line was, “Now that you’ve made it, maybe you’re ready for (Bank Name) private banking.”

What better way to say, “We, the big, important bank think little old you may be important enough to bank with us.” Not exactly a theme designed to stroke the ego of the customer (and successful people have strong egos). I’m sure it made the bank feel important.

The final rule of a good business development letter: Be sure it strokes the recipient’s ego, not your own. How can you do that? Count the number of times “you” rather than “I” is the subject of all sentences. The ratio should be 60-40 or 70-30 -- in favor of the recipient.

Telling Isn't Selling!

2007-03-27T04:27:00.002-07:00

Where do we go to find the “four cornerstones” of sales success? I believe the Bible has all the answers we need because selling is a battle for the hearts and minds of individuals, and the Bible is full of models for winning battles. For example, conventional wisdom believes that “selling is about telling,” but I believe the sale is made based on what the customer has to say, not on what the sales rep has to say. Therefore, it’s important to develop the skill set of asking strategic, purposeful questions. You can learn from Pharaoh (the world’s system), or you can learn from Moses, who outmaneuvered Pharaoh and his army without drawing a sword by simply listening to and obeying God.

Upon arriving at the border of the Promised Land, Moses sent out a reconnaissance team to spy out the land. He knew Israel would be met with resistance and risk, but if they were successful, there would be reward. Resistance, risk, and reward sounds a lot like business. So what are the seven questions Moses asked and how do they help us succeed in the marketplace? The Moses Questioning Strategy is an important skill set we’ll address in the next issue, but first you must be convinced of the importance of a good questioning strategy.

Did you know sales reps asking five or more questions in a selling situation close 72 percent more business than sales reps asking only two questions? That’s because selling is less about telling and more about listening. It’s a process of discovery you walk through with someone to help him arrive at the outcome that’s in his best interest. In the process, the seller discovers the needs of the buyer while simultaneously helping the buyer clarify and crystallize his or her own understanding of those same needs. Only then can the seller truly help the buyer. Here are seven reasons to ask questions before planning your presentation.

Seven Reasons to Question

1. Questions develop rapport. People generally feel more comfortable when they’re talking. Asking questions gives them that opportunity. Rapport-building questions focus more on their interests than their specific business needs.

2. Questions build trust. Asking questions before presenting solutions demonstrates your interest in finding out what they want or need. When customers feel you are looking out for their best interests, they are more likely to trust you. Trust-building questions are more focused on their needs relative to your product or service.

3. Questions demonstrate that you care. When someone discloses a need or a problem to you, asking him how that problem impacts him is a good way to demonstrate that you care. You probably know the answer, but give the prospect the opportunity to vent her feelings. It demonstrates a caring attitude and strengthens your bond with that person.

4. Questions reveal need. God asked Adam, “Where are you?” which quickly prompted Adam to reveal need: “I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10). Adam, however, only revealed what was obvious, his outer need for clothing or covering.

5. Questions develop need. God pressed Adam, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Adam revealed deeper need when he said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” Adam’s answer now reveals his inner treasonous condition. In a single response, he leveled blame on God and on Eve. It was not just about having no clothes to wear; Adam’s need went much deeper to his sinful soul. When someone reveals a superficial need and you suspect a greater need, ask need-development questions to bring that need out in the open.

6. Questions reveal heart. God turns his focus on Eve and asks, “What is this you have done?” Please note that God knew the answer to all His questions, but asked them anyway. You should know the answer to most questions you ask, but ask them anyway to give the other person the opportunity to clarify the problem. Eve reveals her own heart by blaming the serpent instead of acknowledging any wrongdoing. It’s hard to fix a problem that isn’t out in the open yet.

7. Questions reveal motivation. When God had no respect for Cain’s offering, He asked Cain, “Why are you angry? . . . If you do well, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:7). Cain’s motivation was at issue here as he offered what was convenient and at hand—produce. At best it was a faithless offering given out of duty instead of heartfelt worship. Abel offered the best, the firstborn of his flock, in faith, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous (Hebrews 11:4). Motivation questions usually begin with “Why?”

Asking the Best Questions

Having established the importance of asking questions, we now turn our attention to what makes a question a good question. Using the acronym SALT will help you remember four important components of good questions.

Simple. Good questions are clear, concise, and easy to understand. After the resurrection, Jesus was walking along the shore, saw the disciples fishing, and asked them, “Have you any food?” (John 21:5). In other words, have you caught anything yet? It was a simple question that went straight to the bottom line: “Is what you’re doing working?” Jesus asked a question to which He already knew the answer, but the answer gave Him the opportunity to reveal His solution: “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find.” When they saw the great number of fish caught in the net, they knew it was the Lord. Simple questions are bottom-line oriented and reveal need.

Aimed. Good questions have purpose. Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me [perfectly] more than these [other disciples do]?” (John 21:15). Just a few days earlier, after claiming that he loved Jesus more than the others, Peter three times denied even knowing Christ. Jesus had purpose in His question and Peter admitted that he didn’t have a perfect love for Christ when he answered, “Yes Lord; You know that I [imperfectly] love You.” Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” Peter knew where the question was aimed and quickly admitted his love for Jesus was imperfect at best and in no way superior to the others. When a prospect feels the point or aim of your question, it implies you know the answer and the customer is more likely to be forthright with you.

Leading. Good questions give the prospect the sense that all of your questions are leading to a grand point. They make him feel like you’re taking him by the hand and leading him down a path you’ve been down before. Jesus asked Peter a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me [with a perfect love]?” Peter undoubtedly knew that Jesus was going somewhere with this question. In sales, leading questions are a series of questions working together to uncover need, reveal motivation, or expose the heart of the issue at hand. Jesus was leading Peter to acknowledge the limitations of his love, while giving him opportunity to look Him in the eye and expose the true state of his heart for the Lord.

Timely. Good questions meet the prospect where she’s at in her present situation with words she can relate and respond to. Jesus asked Peter a third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Jesus met Peter where he was by asking if his love was the phileo or brotherly kind of love. Later in his life, as he grew in his walk with the Lord, Peter would use the word agape, or perfect kind of love, in his writings. Once the need is on the table and the heart is open, meet your prospect where she is and bring her along incrementally to the desired destination.

Selling is less about telling and more about listening. You will be better prepared for listening now that you know the importance of a good questioning strategy and the four components of good questions.

Make Yourself Immune To The Word No

2007-03-27T04:27:00.001-07:00

I have been very fortunate in my travels as a national sales educator to have some pretty brilliant students who achieve millions of dollars per year in high end sales results. One of the most common themes that run through these special over achievers is their immunity to the word "NO."

When I ask them if there is one thing responsible for the success they have, they have all told me that it was their determination, skill and comfort level to keep asking for the sale way past the first time they hear the word no.

The truth is that many you are only one more question or sentence away from turning a no into a yes. If you can only develop the guts and willpower to hang in there and respond after you hear that ugly word, you would then have success. You will be amazed at your success if you are determined to think of a response and use it during critical situations. Here are some tips for what you should do when you hear the word no.

First, when you hear the word NO you should think... They didn't really mean that, they only said it because they aren't thinking. That's right. Many times a customer does not have a real reason to even say the word no. They just say it as a knee jerk, subconscious reaction to whatever you offer. Kind of like when a clerk in a department store asks you, "May I help you?" Most of us always respond, "No just looking" whether we want help or not. We just react without even thinking. Your customer many times is doing the same thing with you.

Secondly you should correctly assume that the buyer is trying to negotiate with you. After all, they did call you for your help and to get the problem fixed or replaced. You should think, "That's an interesting first negotiating position." The first no you hear, is only the customer testing you, to see if you have the passion and expertise to hang in there until you get a yes. The rule being that the person with the most passion and enthusiasm will get the sale. How do you show this passion? You show it by not quitting. That's right, the top sales people have at least 6 responses to a no and will not leave because they truly believe they are the best. To them, it doesn't make sense to leave until you get the work.

Here are some skills and techniques to work on when you are faced with a no from your buyer:

First, agree with their point of view for now. The path to persuasion is not a confrontational one. You cannot persuade anyone if you immediately show you have a contrary position to theirs. They will just dig in deeper if you start with a disagreement. Go with the flow, not against it. First agree that their point is valid and that you can understand their position. This creates obligation with the buyer as you have given in at this point. You are giving the buyer a level of comfort. We all know that when we give somebody something they are obligated to return the favor. For instance, if they say your price is high you might return with something like, "I understand, it IS a substantial investment.

Secondly, get permission to ask them a question. This is the set up for your handling of the objection and the eventual persuasion that is about to take place. After getting permission to ask them a question, think of the most powerful question you can that will change the outcome.

Here is how the whole sequence would sound after a buyer tells you your price is higher than the competition. "I understand it IS a substantial investment. Hey, can I ask you something? When was the last time that you bought something where the least expensive thing was the best quality? How about when you bought a car, was it the cheapest? Your last vacation? How about when you took your wife out for dinner on her birthday, was it the least expensive? Why not?

Another technique is to use the exact reason they are saying no as the reason they SHOULD be saying yes. For example: You're moving? Great, that's exactly why you should get this done now. My greatest fear is that the person who buys the home will have a home inspector look at this and then he and his attorney will ask for a concession on the price of the home after you have already made a deal. Do you really want to hold up the closing of the house when the buyer throws this repair at you?

Remember to be prepared to ask for the sale 6 different ways with 6 different responses. Be determined like the top professionals in your industry are to hang in there and get the job. Don't be afraid of coming off too pushy. If your buyer says that you are pushing too hard, just ask your client this. "Would you rather buy this from someone like me who has a passion to do this job for you like me? Or would you rather buy from somebody who doesn't even care enough to keep asking for your business?

Ultimately the person with the most passion wins.

5 Ways to be a Top Salesperson

2007-03-27T04:26:00.002-07:00

There are seminars, workshops, sales training books as well as other medium to learn about sales. Marketing and sales training books, the Internet and employers are constantly presenting and using sales strategies to further increase profits.

One of the key ways to a great sales career is credibility. How credible are you? If you have a character defect and your integrity is deficient you will miss a lot of sales. You need to be honest and straight with your clients else will lose them. Credibility is crucial.

Another key factor which you may have seen in sales training books or workshops is having the right mental attitude. You have to believe that you can make more sales. Of note, is that studies have been done that shows that optimistic salespeople are in general more successful than pessimistic people. Positive thinking combined with training and direction will produce results.

You also need to learn and use professional techniques to excel at selling. If you can find yourself a mentor, that would be an added bonus. In selling all your encounters are not gong to be positive. Understanding human nature and using good old fashioned commonsense is vital. Learning the psychology of selling and how people react in situations is also recommended. This will enable you to react to your prospects more appropriately and get more sales.

Do you have an imagination? Of course you do; use it to your advantage. If you have questions that will let your prospects see the benefits of your products or services in his /her mind you can paint a picture. This picture will cause the prospect to say yes. Always paint a good profitable picture and you will see good results. Use word pictured to sell .You can find these words in many sales training books or even using the Internet.

Finally, really listen to what your prospects has to say. This will help you to determine exactly what it is they want and the true cause of them saying no. In so dong you can help prospects to buy and even sell themselves. Find out the problems that your prospects want to solve using relevant questions and then provide the products, goods or services that will solve their problems.

If you are a sales professional or aspiring to be one, I believe using these techniques will definitely help you to become an excellent sales person.

If you deliver the right products to the right people you are certain to make sales.

Getting Referrals: Finding the Right Customer To Sell To

2007-03-27T04:26:00.001-07:00

I want to talk to you about one of the most important things you can do to increase your sales results. And that is to find the right customer to sell to. Many people doubt the validity of getting referrals as an actual mix of their marketing. By accident, many people get referred by customers that love them.

So let's face it, referrals start by doing great service that people notice. In my thinking, if you can make something happen on accident, then you can make it happen on purpose.

As usual, the reason something doesn't work is usually screwed up in the beginning not at the point the problem is apparent. Let me go over the most effective way to get referrals. The key to getting a hot referral is to let the customer know you need their help. We all want to help someone. Think about it, if your landscaper told you he needed help getting more business, wouldn't you tell everyone you knew?

This is the key principle: YOU NEED THEIR HELP. Let's go over a common moment of truth scenario where someone asks you, "How's business?"

AT ONE OF THE MOMENTS OF TRUTH... "How's business been over at (YOUR COMPANY)?"

WHAT YOU NORMALLY SAY: "We are swamped. It's so busy I had to put in 12 hours overtime."

WHAT YOU SHOULD SAY IF YOU NEED HELP: "Well, it's funny you should mention that. We were all just talking back at the shop about one our greatest challenges being finding and keeping great customers like you Fred. Hey Fred maybe you could help me. You're a smart guy Fred. If you were me, what would you do to find great customers like yourself to work for?"

THEM: "Well I'll bet my cousin Ernie could use your help."

YOU: (Here's a big question) "Really? How do you think he could benefit from our services?"

THEM: "Well, He told me that he was shopping for a new heating system last week."

The key thing is that you need to find out WHY the person referring you thinks that you would be a fit. If you go in KNOWING why they might benefit, then it is really a hot referral. If not, then it becomes very difficult to probe for reasons why they might benefit.

When you DO probe, send out a reverse question and do not DIRECTLY ask for the business on cold or semi-warm calling leads. Here's how that would sound...

"Hey Ernie, this is Joe over at Custom Comfort. I'm a good friend of Fred Johnson. Well, Fred was telling me that you might need our assistance with either doing maintenance or fixing a problem with your heating or air but I thought he was probably just exaggerating. You don't want to get any maintenance on your HVAC system done do you?"

OR

"Ernie if I had to guess, I would say you're heating and cooling system works just perfect correct?"

OR

"Ernie, Fred tells me that your home is absolutely dust free and that allergies are NOT a problem for you is he correct?"

Always frame you question with a negative outcome to reverse the selling process. Remember in our system you are NEVER selling anything. The customer must sell you. Ask a question with an answer that is opposite of what you want to hear and you will have either an agreement on something (Which keeps you on the phone a bit longer) or a disagreement such as this... "No, I have a huge problem with dust. My daughter has severe allergies!"

YOU: "What would you like me to do then?"

THEM: "Get over here and solve this problem."

The referral IQ test is simple. When someone asks you how's business?" How do you position yourself and what do you say? Do you ask for help? Or do you brag about how great you are supposedly doing? No one wants to help somebody who is already doing just fine. But if someone is struggling we can't wait to help. Tell your customer that you need their help today. You might just get what you ask for.

Top 7 Secrets to Becoming an Irresistible Sales Communicator With Integrity and Power

2007-03-27T04:25:00.000-07:00

Would you like to learn the secrets of the most influential, powerful people of all time? Attract more sales and negotiate more win/win outcomes? Become a masterful communicator and a magnet for endless referrals?

Despite what most books and seminars teach, successful selling is not a set of strategies, techniques or tactics to get the prospect to buy. Rather it is a state of mind – yours and your customer’s – and set of behaviors that creates compelling win/win outcomes for everyone.

This special state of mind – that few books or seminars address -- requires you to know how to:

• Change your state (and therefore your results) in any selling situation … with volition;
• Get “inside” your prospect’s head and gain instant credibility, rapport and trust;
• Communicate directly to your prospect’s deepest, most significant desires;
• Ask the right questions that will uncover what prospects REALLY value and want.

Regardless of title or job, every person is in the business of selling, whether it be products, services, projects, ideas or negotiations. These same top 7 principles apply for achieving your Magnetic Edge and becoming an irresistible sales communicator with integrity, influence and power.

ACHIEVING “INNER” SALES EXCELLENCE

1. The Power of Emotional State Mastery

The biggest difference between a marginal vs. top achiever is their state of mind. Marginal performers let outside circumstances dictate their state; top performers know how to take charge of their emotional state … with volition. State mastery is critical in sales, leadership, customer service and every other aspect of business.

• What drives your state (and therefore your results) right now -- you or the world around you?

• What state are you conveying to your prospects now – fear, insecurity, aggression? Or confidence, enthusiasm, service-oriented?

• How do you need to change your physiology and/or thinking to adopt a high performance state?

2. The Power of Personal Congruence & Integrity

Personal congruence is not a technique; rather the place “from which you come.” It’s that place where you have such deep rapport with yourself, that what you say comes powerfully from within and attracts others, even before a word is spoken. True authentic power comes from personal congruency. It’s magnetic and you know when you are with someone who comes from that place.

• What incongruent “parts” of yourself get in your way of owning your true personal power?

• What are you saying or doing in marketing activities that is out of integrity with yourself and the values that are important to you?

3. The Power of Competence

Signing up a client or customer is not the end of the selling process, rather the beginning. Truly serving clients requires that we “deliver the goods” and create real value. The more competence you have, the more value you can deliver.

• In what ways can you increase your competence to deliver more value to your clients or customers?

• What hidden skills, capabilities or core competencies can you capitalize on for additional value and revenues?

ACHIEVING “OUTER” SALES EXCELLENCE

4. The Power of Instant Rapport & Trust

In NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming), there is a saying, “Anything is possible in the presence of rapport; nothing is possible without it.” Rapport is not about getting people to like you. Rather it is the ability to “step inside their shoes” and see the world through their eyes. When you see the world through your prospect’s eyes, you build trust. Then, and only then, will a prospect buy from you.

• If you were to “see the word through your prospect’s eyes,” how would you interact with them differently?

• Do you know what it will take for your prospects and clients to trust you?

• How do you know when you trust someone to buy from them? How can you use that information to build trust with your prospect?

5. The Power of Values & Motivation Criteria

People buy emotionally, not logically. The secret is knowing how to uncover a prospect’s deepest desires, buying motivations and emotional criteria, and using that information to best serve them.

• Do you know how to consistently uncover your prospect’s deepest buying motivations?

• What is it costing you in lost sales not to?

• How might your product or services help them realize their deepest desires, overcome their greatest fears or fix their greatest pain?

6. The Power of Imagination & Story-Telling

Magnetic marketing is about leading the prospect’s imagination to a place where they are inspired to use your services. Anita Roddick, CEO, The Body Shop, has grown her company to a multi-billion dollar level, as she puts it, “not by marketing, but by telling stories.” Bill Caskey -- CEO, Caskey Achievement Strategies – suggests reducing your stories, examples and value to pictures. To do so, sinks your value in at the deepest levels of your prospect's mind. Use the power of pictures and story-telling to help your prospect imagine how their lives or businesses will be different from your products or services.

• To what extent are you using the power of imagination to inspire your prospects to use your services?

• What stories about your company or product/services can you tell that will ignite sales?

• What pictures, graphs or other visuals powerfully convey your value?

7. The Power of Synergistic Communications & Creating Win-Win Outcomes

Synergistic communications takes the sales process beyond building relationships to building partnerships. The goal is to create a “we” space -- where differences are valued and used as stepping stones to create true win-win outcomes.

• How can embracing the differences between you and your prospect win more clients and sales?

• What new ways must you communicate with prospects to shift from getting the sale to building partnership and win/win outcomes?

You don’t need another closing technique. What you need are the right tools, mindset and principles to develop the magnetic edge … to explode sales, win negotiations and create impact with persuasion, influence and power.

Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time – So What To Do Now?

2007-03-27T04:24:00.002-07:00

Cold calling is a waste of time and you just realized it?! Well it’s about time. How many people yelled at you before you realized that? For me it was way too many.

So cold calling is a waste of time but what do you do now? Well you need an effective way to market your product or service to your target audience. Sound easy enough? Well honestly it is pretty easy…as long as you know how to do it.

So you need to do a couple of things. You need to find out who is your target market, you need to find out how to reach them, you need to find out the best possible way to get your message to them, you need to find a way to have them contact you, and you need a way to find out how to do this without spending a lot of money and also have it take as little time as possible. Simple.

What you really need is a nice marketing system that give you all of this information in a nice package. So once you find this order it as soon as possible. But also one of the most important steps is once you find the marketing system is to put it into place. Because cold calling is a waste of time but if you don’t do something different then you won’t get anywhere.

So here’s what you do. Find a marketing system, put it into place one technique at a time, slowly test and improve your marketing, and start making real money while everyone else on your sales team continues to cold call because they haven’t yet realized that cold calling is a waste of time!

Help! I Can't Get Any Sales!

2007-03-27T04:24:00.001-07:00

Don’t pay for more advertising just because you’re not getting sales. More ads or more traffic to your website is not always the answer to more sales. There are some simple steps that you can use to evaluate your situation before you make any definite decisions on why your online sales are sagging.

1. Survey your last 10 customers who never bought from you again. Many seasoned business owners already know that it is wise to keep addresses of all their customers. They can send out future promotions on sales, new items available or other current news about their business. Yet, how many use their customer base to help evaluate why their customers bought from them or didn’t buy from them again? If you’re having problems getting sales, ask some of your past customers to help you make your business better. Offer them a small gift certificate or some other small gift for their time. Simply make a fairly easy survey asking how they would rate your customer service, your website and your products or services. Include a special line for comments or suggestions. If you do your survey in a professional manner, making your customers feel that you value their opinion, they will usually be very happy to oblige.

2. Check out your competition. What on earth are your competitors doing? Visit their website and find out. What do they offer that you don’t? Find a way to make your product or service better or find some way to make it more unique.

3. Analyze your marketing ads. If your headline doesn’t catch their attention, your ad isn’t going to get read either. Your first few lines also have to draw the reader in. People are looking for answers to their needs or problems. If you can get people to realize you’ve got a solution to make their life easier, you’ll get better sales. If writing ads just isn’t your thing, take a copywriting course or hire a professional to help you with your ads.

4. Check out the demand for your products or services. Although this should be one of your first steps before you even set up a new business, the fact is trends are ever changing. New technology, new products and new trends change our world constantly. Keep up with the trends, make sure your products or services offer what people really want.

5. Analyze your targeted market. Perhaps you’re aiming the wrong direction. If you’re trying to sell doors to people looking for windows you’re definitely going to have a hard time making sales. You will have to evaluate what type of ads you are writing, what keywords you are using for your pay-per-click ads, what sites you are advertising on, etc. It may be time consuming to do a thorough analysis, but it’s very important to getting more sales. This process will also help eliminate money wasted on advertising that clearly isn’t geared toward your targeted market.

6. Analyze your website. The first impression still matters. Are you stuck in time with bright, flashing banners and animated graphics stuck all over your site? Today’s trendy websites aren’t looking to entertain with website “ornaments”. They’re geared to serve the visitors with information. Yes, a professional look definitely impresses your visitors, but does your website serve its real purpose? You need to analyze your website’s appearance, the checkout process, your navigation, your web copy and every tiny detail. Make sure it’s all user friendly, easy to navigate and understand. Make sure your checkout is super easy and in no way confusing. The way to do this is to ask several people to test out your website and get their opinion. People often navigate through a site much differently than we do, so you cannot trust your own opinion alone.

7. Make sure your products or sevices are living up to your claims. Analyze your products and services for their quality. Are your products overpriced or underpriced? How about your labels and packing are they impressive? Your website may be the first impression they get, but your products that they receive will make a lasting impression that can determine your chance of future sales. Spend just a few more dollars for better product labels if needed. It’s much cheaper keeping current customers happy than it is spending more advertising dollars to gain new customers.

Doing a thorough evaluation of your business, taking the proper steps toward finding a solution and making necessary adjustments should help you get your sales kicking. Furthermore, taking time to educate yourself all that you can about sales and marketing is one of the best investments you can make for your business. You can bet your next sale on that one!

Selling with Non-Verbal Communication

2007-03-27T04:23:00.001-07:00

Non-Verbal Communication can be mightier than your words; this is especially true in-person. Your words are important, but your body language and “para-language” may transmit a louder message.

Studies have shown that people can “size up” another person in as little as three to four seconds. This judgment is a basic mammalian response that uses all our senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. In addition, we call upon our past experiences with others to help us sort out friend from foe. If we had a bad experience with a tall, bald man once before, we might be wary of others who fit that description.

Body language may make up to 55% of communication. This includes posture, facial expressions such as smiling or frowning, hand and arm movements, and the tilt of your head. A hand moved in front of your mouth can indicate that you uncomfortable or don’t agree with the other party. Arms crossed can be sign of aggression or disagreement.

Akin to body language is the amount of space you maintain between yourself and others; while this space can be cultural and learned, it can also be an indicator of someone who is aggressive or unskilled socially. Standing too close to another person can make others very uncomfortable in western cultures, while in Middle Eastern cultures standing nose to nose is considered polite and a sign of friendship or trust.

Para-language is the use of intonation, sighs, and pauses in your speech; studies have shown that para-language accounts for 38% of communication. Once again culture may play a big role in use of para-language. For example, Japanese business people will use long pauses in meetings to reflect upon important points. These pauses show respect and wisdom; these pauses also allow for time to think and help you avoid saying something stupid. Para-language can be heard on the phone such as a sigh or an inflection of voice; our listening for these signals is more acute when on the phone. In-person you can actually see a sigh which involves a deep breath and its release.

Our words may say one thing while our body language and para-language may say another. For example, on a job interview you may try to say the right things while your nervous hands and sweaty brow may communicate another. The interviewer will know that you are nervous despite your confident words.

Another example is the behavior of a liar. Typically someone who is lying is stiff and uses few arm and hand movements. They avoid eye contact and they will turn away or turn sideways. Sometimes they unconsciously put things between you and them such as a stack of magazines or some other object to hide behind.

For business people the best advice may be to “be yourself”, since you cannot hide behind words.

John Bradley Jackson brings street-savvy sales and marketing experience from Silicon Valley and Wall Street. His resume also includes entrepreneur, angel investor, corporate trainer, philanthropist, and consultant. His book is called “First, Best, or Different: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Niche Marketing”.

Selling The Right Product Will Make You A Top Producing Salesperson - No Gimmicks Or Sales Tricks

2007-03-27T04:22:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of sales experts and sales trainers that teach sales skills, tips, and tricks – how to cold call, how to generate leads, how to close sales, where to find prospects, how to upsell, how to ask for referrals, and the like.

You can do a search on Google and find thousands of results from people teaching you how to sell. Most, if not all of these, are just tricks or gimmicks. If there's a problem with your sales results, they'll normally tell you that your techniques are wrong. But not many will tell you that perhaps there might be something wrong with the product that you’re selling. Perhaps it’s not you – the product might be bad. And, no sales gimmicks will help you sell a product that nobody needs or wants, no matter what the so-called sales trainers tell you.

Of course, some of these sales techniques do have merit but what is not right is when somebody tells you that you can sell anything as long as you apply the proper sales methods; that is not true – You cannot sell ice to an Eskimo no matter what the so-called experts tell you.

What does this mean to you and your sales career? It means that if the sales numbers are not up to par, it may not be that your sales skills are lacking or that you are not doing a good job. It might just mean that your product sucks. Don't be afraid to sell a product that sells itself!

Five Proven Ways to Get More Appointments

2007-03-27T04:21:00.002-07:00

This time of year you see a lot of surveys about sales, views of sales leaders and their goals for the year ahead. One consistent theme is the need for more prospecting both within existing accounts and for new clients. This can not be accomplished without getting appointments, probably the least liked activity for all sales people, veteran or new. It’s not rocket science: Sales come Prospects, Prospects are a result of meeting with people: Appointments.

Our Appointment-Making Program deals extensively with the art and science of getting appointments with decision makers on a consistent basis. Here are some proven methods to help improve your appointment setting skills and numbers.

Shift your calling hours: Many trainers suggest that you do your calling first thing in the morning. Theory being that you “get it out of the way” first thing, and then go on about your day doing what you do best and like to do: sell. The reality is that you need to shift your prospecting calls to when your target audience is more likely to be available. For some services like ours first thing in the morning is best, first thing being 7:00 to 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. However if your target is a plant manager, service manager, traffic manager, VP ops, you are not likely to find them in their office in the morning, mid-day is probably a better time.

With a bit of research and keeping track, you can typically learn when is a likely time not only to find your target by their phone but also in a position to listen to your approach, and respond in a way that serves your mutual needs. A little preparation, segmentation and planning goes a long way.

Please be clear, we are not excusing you from making calls at all times, just encouraging you to call targets at a time that will yield best results for you.

Voice Mail: ALWAYS LEAVE A VOICE MAIL MESSAGE! A lot of people don’t believe in leaving voice mail, and that’s alright, because if you do, you’ll get more appointments.

There are a couple of dynamics at play. A lot of reps say “I never get a call back”; “No one ever returns voice mails”. Not true, I get return calls from 5 out of 10 messages I leave. (Our Appointment-Making Program instructs participants on how to leave effective voice mails.)

But you can also benefit from the ones that do not call back. Studies have shown that it may take anywhere from 4 to 7 approaches for someone to respond or deal with a new matter. Other studies have shown that most sales people give up after three attempts at reaching someone (usually with a manager saying move on in the background).

Now if you do not leave a message, then you may have tried 3 times, and let’s say you’re one of the keeners who tries 4 times, as far as the prospect goes you’re at zero, because they have no way of knowing that you called, because you didn’t leave a message or “calling card” telling her you want to talk to her. You also don’t want to be at the other end of the spectrum, wasting your time dialing someone dozens of times, not leaving a message, then finally connecting and letting built up frustration out on the prospect, as though it was their fault that you called and called and called, instead of leaving a message and having them call you, like every other person I leave a message for does.

Another thing to consider is that a vast majority of reps, who do not leave messages, still listen to the entire outbound message on the voice mail, so why not take a few more seconds and leave a message.

It’s a no brainer, on the one hand, even if they don’t call back (within 72 hours), you are on the prospects radar (yes initially at the fringe) but still better than the superstars who don’t leave messages; on the other hand a 50-50 shot of getting a call back, good odds, and certainly many more conversation leading to more appointments.

If by chance you do miss a return call from someone you left a message for, not the time of their call to you, and aim to call them back in the same time frame, another way to shift your calling hours, in addition to those detailed above.

Segment Preparation: Since most sales people do not like to prospect to begin with, they like preparing for it even less. But at the end, anything worth doing is worth doing right, and in sales and prospecting that means taking the time to prepare.

With prospecting preparation is just as vital as at any point in the cycle. This goes from a simple thing like having a complete calling list ready, including name, title, number, potential value statements, references, potential voicemail message, and the ability to anticipate and deal with objections.

While these may seem obvious, many sales people do not take the time to be ready, and as a result get distracted, rejected and dejected. Having the above and an understanding of how to relate to the person you are calling can dramatically increase the resulting appointments. As with any of the things discussed in this piece, the better you are at getting the right number of appointments to drive your business, the less calls you have to make.

I would caution that you have to be realistic not confuse “preparation” with “deep research” for each appointment setting call, that would be a waste of time at this stage. If your numbers are 12-6-1, (12 dials to reach 6 decision makers resulting in one appointment), and you spend 5 minutes researching each call, that’s 2 hours of research for 1 appointment, not a good use of time.

Leverage: As you are working with clients, or calling prospects, you are in a position to glean a lot of useful information that is current and relevant to a given sector or type of buyer. Why not use that information right away to generate more appointments.

You can call people in the same sector that you have tried in the past, and demonstrate the interest you have in their sector, how you are keeping up with developments and why they should rethink meeting with you. This especially works if you present it to them in the context “I was thinking about you and the impact ………would have on you company” (project, initiative, what-have-you). People really respond when you tell them you were thinking about their issues and how you can help rather than just as an order.

You can also call new prospects and lead with something current and relevant, distinguishing you from the horde of reps whose initial prospecting call is generic with questionable relevance for the prospect.

The more folks you engage with based on their points of interest, the more you increase your probabilities and resulting appointments.

DO IT! We’re not being cheeky; the number one reason for lack of appointments is lack of action taken, lack of effort. It’s something most reps don’t like to do, so they find any number of reasons not to do it. A sales manager at wireless company captured it very well when he said “there is always a battery that needs to be driven across town just when its time to prospect”. Sometime the greatest creativity shown by sales people is demonstrated in the way in which they avoid making the appointment setting calls.

But as with any professional endeavor, there will be necessary aspect of the drill that are not fun, yet those who excel understand that they have to incorporate it into their game. The way to minimize the grief is to improve your skills, master it and thereby have to spend less time at it while still achieving the levels required to be consistently successful.

What's in Your Pipeline? If you are sad to admit, contact Tibor Shanto, Principal with Renbor Sales Solutions Inc., and find out how he has helped dozens of organization to fill their pipeline with real prospects - - driving real revenue.

Tibor Shanto, is a Principal with Renbor Sales Solutions Inc., Renbor Sales Solutions Inc. enables companies achieve sustained growth, by focusing on critical aspects of revenue growth. By recognizing that an outstanding sales force is THE differentiator in today’s environment, our clients with our help, focus on the development of both strategic and tactical initiatives to foster a winning team that will out think, out sell and out perform competitors while consistently gaining market share.

Renbor’s Objective Based Selling (OBS) is a structured approach to delivering ongoing results and improvement by focusing the entire sales organization on a key set of objectives. The overarching objective for any sales organization is to achieve exceptional and sustainable revenue growth. This is accomplished by creating a culture of sales excellence built around the principles and processes adopted by world-class sales organizations.

How Can The Words You Use Generate More Sales?

2007-03-27T04:21:00.001-07:00

Being able to communicate effectively with a prospect is vital for obtaining a sale and is a very useful sales technique.

In communicating with a prospect try to avoid technical terms (unless of course the prospect understands them). Using these terms to a non-technical person will only lead to confusion which in turn may cause you to lose the sale. It is important to say exactly what you mean. By listening to yourself, you will be able to determine if your voice inflexion is correct.

How convincing are you? Words that provide a solution to a prospect’s problem will work remarkably well. Instead of pushing the product onto the customer you will make the prospect want to buy. Make it very clear how buying the product will solve their particular problem.

Words combined with agreeable body language is a great sales technique that you can utilize to your best advantage. Try to get your customer’s immediate and favorable attention using the fewest words you possibly can. This way you mitigate the risk of overselling and time is not waste on non-relevant issues.

If you can frame your words to give a choice rather than pose an open question to which the prospect can say no then the result will be a dramatic increase in your sales. At some point in your presentation the prospect will want to know how they can benefit from your product or service. If you present something of value then you will more likely close the sale.

Finally, you may want to ask why to any objection that the prospect may have. By doing this you can better see things from their point of vies. For instance, if the prospect says that your product is not needed then by asking why you may find out that it costs too much. You may be able to offer a more affordable product or service.

Words are the medium through which all selling takes place and used with skill and insight you will have used a sale technique that’s persuasive and effective.

Common Business Myth- You Must Sell Features And Benefits Immediately

2007-03-27T04:20:00.002-07:00

How many times have you met with a customer and started telling them about the wonderful things about your products, services and your business programme only to get one objection after another?

By the time you finished, they said NO and you left the sales call feeling low and down.

There is a place for offering features and benefits in a presentation but it is NOT in the beginning.That will cause objections.

Before you can offer solutions (benefits) you must know what your customer/prospect’s motivations are.

Who Cares About Your Product? Customers Want Solutions.

Usually your customers will remain proud. They don't appreciate the glories of your product's reputation, the sheer practicality of its design or the cleverness of its title.On the contrary, they're focused on their personal needs and motivation.

Maybe it's a jacket that needs mending. Or a Hi-Fi system gone haywire.They want a solution to their problem, not a product.

They want something to keep themselves warm and they want to enjoy interrupted music. So you've got to present your product as the satisfaction to the need.These motivations are usually “problems” that the prospect will not talk about without asking them some well thought out questions.

Here’s how you do that:

Ask “exploratory/bridging” questions focusing on their "problems":

Examples:

1. “Are you satisfied with your old TV set,is it giving you screen discolouration problems?”
2. “How do you feel about the noisy fan at the corner of your room?”
3. “Do you ever worry about payment,delivery?”

Study your product or service with this in mind, and then train your entire organisation to appreciate the differences in perception.

For example,a car engineer will boast of how many much horsepower the engine outputs or how fancy the car looks, but family types will only focus on self-serving factors like bigger leg space, less fuel consumption,larger boot for groceries.Whenever you list a product's benefits, you're answering an age-old question: "What's in it for me?"

Not All Customers Are Equal

All too often,business owners have trouble understanding that the same product has different appeals, depending on the type of customer.

Some ad companies often get instructions when creating a brochure to make it speak to two audiences, such as to both men and women, when promoting a unique credit card.(there's the men's credit card and the ladies' credit card)

Though both men and women are looking for the same final result, their perspectives are unique. You must appeal to them differently, using different language.

Once you master this distinction, you are halfway to becoming a marketing guru.

In closing,get your customers talking about their emotional concerns BEFORE you give your sales presentation. They will then be far more receptive to your proposal when you do bring out features and benefits.

The "You Treat Me Nine, I Treat You Nice" Mentality For Covert Sales Persuasion

2007-03-27T04:20:00.001-07:00

The geographic area in which I live celebrate Chinese New Year annually. Being a Chinese, my family and I celebrated this festive season as well.

During this Chinese New Year, it is a custom for people who have wedded to give "angpao" to their children as well as to their relatives' and friends' children. "Angpao" is money enclosed in a red envelope. The amount of money enclosed differs from person to person.

I remembered when I was still a young kid, whenever someone gave me an angpao, my mom would ask me how much money was inside the angpao. I didn't bother asking my mom why she wanted to know. I just told her.

Every year when the Chinese New Year came along, she would ask the same question. Up until one year when I got really curious, I asked her "Why do you always want to know how much money was inside the angpao?"

To which she replied "Because I want to know how much your uncle Sam is giving you so I can give the same amount or more back to his son (uncle Sam's son").

This illustrates one thing - when humans are being treated nice, they want to repay or give back. This is the principle of reciprocity. This does not apply only to Chinese or asians in general. This applies to people from all races and all walks of life. This is human psychology and behavior.

Think about it for a second. Is it true when someone gave you something nice, you almost always feel the need to give something back to them? If you don't you'd probably feel guilty.

How can this "you treat me nice, I treat you nice" principle be used in business in improving your sales?

Tip: Every month, you could give your customers and prospects small gifts such as your company pen with your company's logo on it. Or you could give them free vouchers just to show you appreciate having them. Or if you're on a tight budget, you could always just maintain constant contact with them to build good relationships. Of course on their birthdays you want to send them something special as well. This is covert persuasion at work.

There are 2 things that can happen after this. They can turn you off completely, or they'll order from you the next time you ask for a purchase. Chances are, they'll buy from you instead of from your competitors.

Why? Because your competitors didn't give these folks anything. All they did was just follow up by phone. You, on the other hand, present small gifts to these people on a consistent basis. And being humans, they'll feel guilty if they don't buy from you (provided your product is good and it's priced reasonably). You've successfully persuaded them to buy from you by using covert persuasion.

Let me give you another example of this principle in action. In one of Robert Cialdini's books, he illustrated this point by saying that sometime in the 80's when you walked into an airport, they would give you a flower. Then at the gate they would ask for your donation. The result: almost everyone who received the flower made a donation.

Discover how you can constantly use covert persuasion selling tactics to get people to do what you want without them knowing you're actually mind controlling them.

How do You Pull Out of a Sales Slump?

2007-03-27T04:19:00.000-07:00

Slumps can happen to anyone, at any time, in any market. In most cases, they usually have little to do with the auction economy. Slumps are usually the result of loss of focus, self discipline, self doubt and negative talk. Regardless of the reasons for your slump, it is important to realize that slumps are expected and that they need only be temporary if handled properly.

1. Begin with an admission that you are in a slump. Stay away from negative people. View yourself as an appreciating asset, Invest in yourself and take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way on the grounds that every such investment makes you that much more valuable to yourself and to others. Visualize positive results often, always assume the auction contract prior to negotiations etc. See yourself enjoying the benefits that your success brings you. Conceive, believe, achieve!

2. Review your goals. They should be clear, specific, written down and measurable overtime. They should be attainable. Be sure you include action steps so that the goals can be reached, not pie in the sky dreams. Goals give you energy and focus. They make repetitive tasks have more meaning and value.

3. Dramatically step up your prospecting. Ninety-Five percent of all of your problems can be solved by developing consistent prospecting habits. You need to look for business everyday. The first thing that suffers when a slump is developing is consistent prospecting. It should be a part of your “To Do” list every working day. Fear of rejection is the culprit for not doing so. Normal human tendencies will have you avoiding things that cause anxiety. Prospecting activity makes you feel happy with yourself. It’s like exercise. The more we do the better we get at it. We develop endurance.

4. Listen to tapes and read motivational material. Stop in and spend some time in Mankato during an auction school session. Include a couple recent best selling books in your “diet” as well. Refuse to “ingest” negative talk. Focus on that which you can control, your attitude, and things will quickly turn around . 5. Review your time calendar. Are your days too cramped with non- productive activities. Change your daily pattern. Focus on talking to four people a day about an auction, two in the morning, two in the afternoon. Show, me an auctioneer that will go out and tell his story to four people everyday and I will show you an auctioneer who simply cannot fail. Do not get caught up doing $5/hr tasks if you’re planning to earn a six figure income in this business. Control your time; do not let it control you. Hire a person to work with you. If he/she is not an auctioneer send him/her to school in Mankato and expand your efforts through the arms and legs of other people. Association is life, isolation is death. Take time off to keep a balanced Lifestyle. You’ll end up being more productive. Some suggest taking a day off a weak and a month off a year. At the end of each day for the next 180 days, ask yourself, “WOULD I HIRE MYSELF, BASED ON WHAT I DID TODAY?” Success to you and have a bunch of great auctions.

Proven Techniques in Direct Sales

2007-03-27T04:18:00.002-07:00

Direct sales are used by companies, entrepreneurs and anyone interested in the area of selling. There are many ways to implement direct sales programs and the techniques are quite endless.

The first technique that will be considered is learning to use questions to help close more prospects. In order to gather the right information you have to ask the right questions. Of course the questions you ask have to be directly relevant to products and services. People in general will not volunteer to give you information, which means you have to ask for such information. Write down the answers and use them to your advantage.

Another technique that applies direct sales is the fact that people love to correct u. How can you use this fact of human nature to your advantage? One of the best ways to do this is to make a particular statement and let the prospect correct you... This could unleash a torrent of information from the prospect that you can use to effectively close the sale. You may get answers to questions that you may not even of thought of or details about the prospect that you didn’t know before.

Of note, is that not all prospects are going to close right away. When you are faced with a situation in which the prospect doesn’t agree with the sale. Express genuine surprise to their response. You can then proceed to focus on the main reasons for this by asking if you did something wrong? This will cause the prospect to tell you exactly what the major concerns are.

These are just a few of the many techniques that you can apply in direct sales and by utilizing these techniques you can make a dramatic difference in your sales.

Continued training and development is critical to a successful career.

Three Way Mirror Dresses up Retail Dressing Room Space

2007-03-27T04:18:00.001-07:00

As far as customers are concerned, there is one part of the store that all retailers should focus more attention on: the dressing room. Recent customer feedback surveys, conducted by several major retailers, found that customers list dressing rooms among the parts of the store that they would like to see improved.

In the past, the dressing room was just a place customers went to try on clothes and make sure they fit. Retailers are now beginning to understand that the time customers spend in the dressing room is one of the most critical points of their sales process, and they’re making changes to reflect that understanding.

Competition is stiff in the retail apparel industry and being successful today does not always guarantee that you will be tomorrow. Retailers who want to preserve their brand for longevity are looking at dressing rooms as a small extra that can give them the edge over their closest competitors.

One of the ways retailers are making changes in the dressing room is by adding a three way mirror in each room. Before they lay down the charge card, customers want to see the outfit from all angles and understand how they’ll look both coming and going in it.

A good three way mirror is an important sales tool. Consumers are much savvier now than they’ve ever been and they’re a lot more suspicious of that sales associate who tells them everything they try on looks good. They know what they’re looking for when they see it, and a three way mirror gives them a means to see it from all angles.

Retailers are taking other steps as well to provide more appealing dressing rooms. There is a new focus on cleanliness and creating an environment that’s comfortable and not cluttered with discarded hangers and shirts from the last customer who used it. Retailers are making dressing rooms larger and adding more natural light, more hooks to hang clothes, chairs, lighter and brighter colors, and even artwork to make them more appealing.

Retail Space Issues Solved by Wrapping Paper Storage

2007-03-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

With the winter holidays behind them, many retailers are left gearing up for spring and summer with rolls upon rolls of wrapping paper, and no place to put it. In-store wrapping is big business during the Christmas and Valentine’s Day shopping seasons, but retailers must find a way to store gift wrapping paper through the other three seasons of the year. Wrapping paper storage dispensers are one way to restore order and preserve paper for future use. They also help retailers organize and store paper for easy location and recovery.

Wrapping paper dispensers are a great storage solution both in and out of the peak holiday season. They give retailers an efficient way to manage, sort and access wrapping paper supply, and keep it out of the way when it’s not in use.

Gift wrap dispensers really began to become popular as stores started adding specialty services, like gift wrapping, as a competitive advantage in recent years. Of course it’s more cost effective to buy wrapping paper in large rolls, so retailers needed a way to keep the rolls out of the way and prevent them from being torn or soiled. Enter wrapping paper storage dispensers.

Depending on the specific retailer’s available space, there are a variety of dispensers to choose from. Dispensers come in both vertical and horizontal storage designs, and most can hold between three and five rolls at a time. Display and storage solutions also exist for tissue paper and ribbons.

Wrapping paper dispensers are also a great way to address a problem facing most independent retailers- a lack of usable space. Dispensers give them a way to successfully store and dispense wrapping paper when it’s needed, and conserve space when it’s not.

How To Write An Uplifting Elevator Speech

2007-03-06T20:41:00.000-08:00

What can be done in the time it takes to ride an elevator with a stranger? Stare at your shoes? Find a captivating mark on the wall and examine it? Twiddle your thumbs as you avoid eye contact? Or give a speech that can open the doors to success!

In the time it takes to ride an elevator, you should be able to introduce yourself and briefly tell what you do in an intriguing way. Your listeners should be able to understand how you can help them and how you stand out from the crowd. All this can be done in the time it takes an elevator to go up (or down) – about 30 to 60 seconds.

An elevator speech is a short and sweet opening to your professional side. Add a bit of personality and you will be set to capture the attention of potential clients and business accounts. This miniature speech should be a prepared presentation that sounds “off the cuff.”

Memorizing the key points is essential, but leaving room for additions and alterations will add genuineness to your words. A good elevator speech should grab your listener’s attention by saying a lot in a few memorable sentences. It should be concise, between 100 and 200 words. You never want to run the risk of boring anyone by saying too much.

A person who cannot clearly state what they do and why anyone should care, in a minute or less, will miss great opportunities. First impressions can make or break you. In today’s competitive business world, an elevator speech is a great way to make your mark and demand attention. It can give you the edge you need to succeed.

Just because it is called an ‘elevator speech’ doesn’t mean you are only supposed to deliver it inside an elevator. Elevator speeches can be used whenever someone shows interest in you. Elevator speeches work well at social gatherings, conferences, conventions or other meetings with networking opportunities. Take advantage of any situation where someone is willing to listen and may benefit from your message.

A good start is to develop a ‘hook’ to capture your listener’s attention. Make them want to know more. Briefly describe, without excruciating details or boring harangue, what it is you want your listener to know about you and your business.

Be sure to include some sort of request at the end of your speech. If you ask for something, you ensure a response and thus almost guarantee to continue the conversation further. If you are looking for a business card, say so. If you’d like a referral, make that your specific request. Don’t assume that people will automatically offer what you want. In life you have to make the first move toward obtaining what you want.

Energy and dedication should shine from your mini-speech. Through your words, your listener should be able to embrace the passion you feel about who you are and what you do. A bland, monotonous speaker can say the same words as an enthusiastic, passionate speaker and receive an entirely different (usually negative) reaction. The way you present your elevator speech can greatly impact how you will be received.

With a friendly smile, good eye contact, conversational English, and an overall personable presentation, you can almost guarantee your listeners will be captivated.

Looking For An International MLM Lead Source?

2007-03-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

One of the big advantages of having a MLM leads business is that you are able to help get their own MLM leads business started as well. The more you promote your MLM home based business to a wide audience the better chance you have of attracting more interested prospects. MLM home based business will involve you contacting people more than once in order for them to think about signing up for the product or becoming a sales member. Most of these list that MLM lead businesses generate their business from is not supposed to be used twice or passed on for others to use.

Most of these people will not be interested in becoming a member or supplier if you can not answer all of their questions. The advantages that a person will receive by becoming apart of mlm leads may be beneficial for them throughout their business career. Most of these MLM leads business will not supply you with all the information that it has promised you; if this occurs you should get out of the business. The more you generate MLM leads you can begin to see some sort of profit from all of your hard work and dedication. All you have to do is a little research on which mlm company is right for you, and then by leads to get you started in the right direction.

MLM home based business may involve more than telling people about your business and product and them signing up; you will need to know a whole lot more information than that. You can get paid by your prospects even if they never join your business or buy a single mlm product or service. MLM lead sale members will generate their own strategies; it might seem like it will take a lot of work to get a listing of your own, but you will find it was worth it in the end.

MLM lead generation that is generated by you will be fresh and one hundred percent exclusive; you should not have to worry about anyone else contacting them behind your back. Not knowing the right answers to give when a particular question has been asked will make a person feel that you are not sure of what you are talking about. MLM lead generation companies might sell you leads that are of poor quality; you may know if the quality is good or bad by the way the person responds to your call. MLM lead generation is a good way to grow your own network; if you get your leads yourself you will not have to worry about getting any of poor quality.