Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Turn Off Tune Out Amp Sell More

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

It's smarter to work harder.

Let me repeat that. It's smarter to work harder.

If this clashes with the lazybones idea of selling, so be it. Being lazy has never earned a dime for me, but hard work has always paid off.

So, where did we get this counter-work ethic, this idea that we can rest-for-success? That there is an inescapable choice between working hard, and working "smart?"

I have a hunch. It's probably from the same glitz and glamour factory that narcotizes people, knocking them on their butts, on average, for 4-7 hours every day.

It's from TV and other popular media.

TV and movies show us a prettified world of ease, comfort, style, and sensuality. The overarching message of these media isn't that sex sells or violence works. Sex and violence are only the means.

The end, what media are really promoting, is passivity.

Media make us reactive, according to the recently departed observer, Dr. George Gerbner, also former Dean of The Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. He made a career of studying the impact of TV viewing.

If you want to drain your motivation, chip away at your work ethic, erode your discipline, be a consumer, and watch TV. Not only will it prevent you from doing other things, it will perpetuate the myth that everything should be easy.

If you want to be a producer, try producing better TV and better movies. We've all had decades of exposure to the formats, so why can't we at least replicate them, if not improve upon them?

(My dad, a career salesman, actually did this. He produced TV and radio talk shows. One day, he just decided to do it!)

Try turning off the TV. I think you'll find you'll recover incredible energy, and your career will soar.

It has worked for me!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman © 2005

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary's programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Your Business May Benefit From A Point Of Sale System

Writen by Morgan Hamilton

Probably the most energetic and enterprising individuals live in the United States. So many Americans nowadays invest their savings with the hope that they will start a lucrative small business. They do it with hope and passion, powerfully attracted by the world of small business. Statistics show that in 2004 in the USA there were 24.7 million small businesses. What is more important is that for the last ten years, small businesses have supplied around 60-80 percent of the new jobs in the country. Before you decide to start a retail business, rent a space, or buy inventory, you should develop a business plan. For this purpose, you may have to spend some time researching on the advantages of a point of sale system.

You will find out that on the market there are different versions of a point of sale system. However, probably the most approachable and easy point of sale system is the one that Microsoft offers. This point of sale system is based on the Windows framework. That is what makes this point of sale system approachable as most of us have grown up using Windows.

POS system is the abbreviation, which is usually used to refer to a retail point of sale system. A point of sale system helps small business, as well as large businesses, to rationalize their daily activities. A point of sale system can make even a large project easier to realize. A point of sale system will allow you to manage large databases in order to make your business more profitable. Some years ago, retailers used 10-digit registers, plug-in calculators, and carbon copy credit card receipts. This time is gone. Now, it is the age of point of sale system.

The contemporary point of sale system makes no difference with the regular personal computer. Point of sale system has every function that a desktop computer has and more. With a point of sale system, a businessperson will be able to ring up transactions, make payments, and manage inventory and print reports. Sales can be sorted and showed by day, by product, by cashier and by the hour. You can easily print labels for shelves, and price tags for products. Databases can be sorted like clients' databases, department databases, item databases, and supplier databases. Even purchases can be tracked.

The point of sale system can be networked so that everyone will be able to share ideas, send messages and so on. In addition, if you wish receipts, labels and calendars can be designed. When you need them, summary sales reports, detailed sales reports and regional sales reports can be printed. Contemporary retail business is almost impossible without a retail point of sale system. It is hard for me even to imagine what business was when point of sale system does not exist.

Any operation nowadays will be very difficult to perform without a point of sale system. A point of sale system will save you all the paper work you are obliged to do. No matter if you are managing one store, ten stores, or one hundred you cannot miss to take a point of sale system.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning sales. Get more information by visiting Point of Sale System

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

What Gets Measured Creates Accountability And Gets Done

Writen by Thomas Baskind

No sales force can truly be considered a "best practice" unless it meets the test of measurement. If the 'practice' works, you should be able to visualize, define, and measure the results. There is no easier way to prove the 'measurement' theory than with sales.

In the past 15 years, strategic management has focused more and more on measurement. Strategic management was revolutionized in the early 1990's by Drs. Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton when they created their measurement system, the 'balanced scorecard'. Other approaches adhere to the same rule of accountability by recognizing some of the weaknesses and vagueness of earlier management approaches.

Measurement provides a clear prescription as to what companies in all areas, from sales to marketing should measure in order to reach their financial goal. You often hear the expression in sales, 'what gets measured gets done', but in recent years I have expanded this statement to, 'what gets measured by the individual, creates accountability and therefore gets done'.

For instance, as a sales manager you may give your sales force a specific sales target, a measurement if you will. At the end of the month or quarter if the sales person did not reach that target, you may question them on it. Chances are you have heard every variable and excuse in the book; 'Our product or service has no name brand recognition', 'Our product was too expensive', 'I cannot get anyone to meet with me'. Giving the sales force a 'target' or a measurement, still leaves a window of accountability. In fact, what gets measured still may not get done.

Measurement alone is not enough to create accountability. You also need a commitment or buy in from the sales person. Commitment is internally motivated while compliance is external. Compliance is following a rule, commitment is something you believe in. If you empower your sales force to create their own set of measurements, they are going to be more motivated to meet them. Often when measurements or targets are instituted and monitored by someone else, the responsibility can easily be diffused to other external forces.

There are various ways to create accountability and commitment in a sales force. For example, in the weekly sales meeting, you can ask your sales person to quantify each and every prospect and opportunity in his or her sales cycle. If they are given a target of X amount, ask them to determine the number of appointments they will need to reach that goal, take it a step further by asking them to determine the amount of calls needed each day and week to make the specified number of appointments. Once they have created their own set of measurements, ask them to rate each prospect. Which ones have a greater chance of closing? Why?

Accountability and ownership is the first step in establishing legitimate return measures. With systematic assessment and ongoing evaluation, an individual can become more and more committed to reaching his or her own personal goals.

Copyright 2005 Thomas Baskind

About The Author
Thomas Baskind is a managing partner in Lexien, a sales performance improvement and management consulting company. Tom works with a wide range of companies helping them improve sales and leadership effectiveness. http://www.lexien.com.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Lead Generation Companies

Writen by Jimmy Sturo

Using leads to try and get new customers is an essential part of growing your business. And sometimes, though you have an opt-in system set up, you aren't getting the type of results you want. You need more business, but aren't sure what to do.

Lead generation companies can probably help you by taking the pressure of expanding your client base off your shoulders and placing it on the shoulders of professionals.

The job of these companies is to generate lists of quality leads so you can turn names into customers. Though some think this isn't as effective as utilizing your opt-in list, it is actually a lot better than it seems ? especially if you obtain what are known as "quality leads." Quality leads are lists of people who are interested in your type of product or service and who may have given a company permission to use their name to get information on offers that are of a certain category. A lead generation company will focus its energy on finding you this type of quality information.

So how do you find lead generation companies that can help? Try the Internet. Visit any search engine and use the words ?lead generation companies? to find a list of potentials. Then, ask other business owners which companies they prefer by going on forums, chat rooms, and newsgroups. You can also use network meetings as an opportunity to ask for referrals.

Once you make your choice, you are ready to start using your list to generate leads. You will know you found a good company when your list turns up a higher percentage of new customers or new potential customers. If your list isn't working well, try changing your sales pitch. Perhaps the problem isn?t with the list. Maybe it's your approach. After you are done going through the list of names, you will have a good idea of whether or not you made the right choice.

Lead Generation provides detailed information on Lead Generation, Sales Lead Generation, Mortgage Lead Generation, MLM Lead Generation and more. Lead Generation is affiliated with Insurance Leads.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

New And Unusual Fundraising Ideas

Writen by Steven Gillman

Need some new fundraising ideas? When your organization or group needs to raise money for a trip or project, there is nothing wrong with another bake sale. Do something a little different, though, and you may get more volunteers for the event. You might also get more media exposure, meaning more people will participate, which means more money raised. Why not try one of the following ideas.

Mobile rummage sale. Having a rummage sale is a common fundraising idea, but how about a mobile rummage sale? It requires collecting donations of things to sell, and the cooperation of someone with a pick up truck. Sort the things as neatly as possible in the back of the truck, then go door-to-door, explaining to the residents that you are raising money for your cause, and asking them to take a look at your sale. Maybe they'll also want to donate things to sell. Take the sale to the beach or other busy places too.

Dog wash. A car wash is one of the most common fundraising ideas out there, but a dog wash is less common. Find a place where many people walk their dogs. A brush, dog shampoo, and a source of water are all you need. You could also sell dog toys, dog snacks and other pet-related things for even more profit.

Business clean-up. Many businesses need to have the area around them cleaned up. Restaurants might have trash around the edges of their parking lots, some businesses may need their signs washed, and others could need their sidewalks and lots swept. A crew of young people could clean up a property in an hour for a set fee, and the business could write off the contribution on their taxes.

Online donor recognition. When you collect donations for a project or regular event, you can promise donors that they'll be recognized on your group's official website. They get a bit of internet immortality as one of the people that made your event, trip or project possible. It is common that donors get their names put on a plaque, but the website is accessible to all their friends anywhere in the world, so they can show them how they helped.

Treasure hunt. This could be a big event, even an annual one if your organization needs a regular fundraising event. The basic idea: Rope off an area of a beach, bury silver bars and coins in the sand, and let people hunt for them for an entry fee. Let's say you bury 4 quarter-ounce gold coins, 20 one-ounce silver bars, 1000 various foreign coins (some coin shops sell these for ten cents each), 500 dimes and 2000 pennies.

At today's prices it would cost you about $1,000, which you might first raise through donations. With 3524 coins, almost everyone would find something. 300 people paying $10 each would net your group $2,000, plus you could sell hotdogs and drinks during the event.

Except for the last one, these are all relatively cheap events to plan. Tell the papers about your plans, of course. The more unusual fundraising ideas are more likely to get some free press coverage.

Steve Gillman has been exploring new ideas for decades. Visit his site for invention ideas, business ideas, story ideas, political and economic theories, deep thoughts, and more. Get a free gift too: New Ideas (http://www.999ideas.com)

Dear Mr Retail Salesperson

Writen by Tom Richard

We (your customers) have been talking a lot lately. Together, we've decided to confront you about a very important matter: how to provide us with a better experience in your store.

See, it works like this – our experience in your store can either be comfortable enough to encourage our purchase, or it can turn us off and make us think twice about buying from you. As your customers, we know that within the first 30 seconds of being in your store, we often decide whether or not to buy.

There are certain factors that play into our decision of whether or not to vote for your business with the almighty ballot – our dollars. Believe it or not, that choice is yours. You have control over my experience in your store. You have the advantage of knowing your products inside and out before I even arrive. You can make our experience with you comfortable, informative, and just plain helpful.

Creating a pleasant and engaging environment for us doesn't require any special skills. It requires nothing more than an awareness of us, your customers, and the understanding of our importance to your job and company.

We don't feel like we're asking for a lot here; just that you do your part in making our experience with you a good one. We've taken the time to outline some of our official requests as your customers.

1. Meet and greet us from the moment we walk in. This sets the tone for the rest of our shopping experience. By acknowledging our presence, we will feel important and will see you as friendly and helpful.

In retail, the absolute worst thing you can do is make us wait for service or let us wander aimlessly around your store to search what we came in to find. We may have driven over 15 minutes to get to your store just to find one item. When we get there, we expect to find exactly what we are looking for and expect that you will help us find it. Without your help we may become frustrated and lost, and will probably leave empty-handed.

If, for some reason, it is necessary that we wait, don't let us feel neglected. Make us comfortable and let us know you will assist us as soon as you can, or give us an alternative resource for our questions.

2. Immediately following your initial greeting, you need to establish yourself as our resource. We need to know that you are the index of your store and that our experience will be efficient and pleasant with you as our guide.

Sometimes we may feel like you are crowding us. We will likely want a few minutes to look around before we will feel comfortable enough to allow you to help us. Regardless, establishing this contact immediately will let us know where to go when we do have a question.

3. When we are ready for your assistance, you must be ready to listen. Listening means discovering the meaning behind our words and the questions we ask. It is this type of personalized service that makes us feel understood and appreciated. When you listen to us, we will be comfortable talking with you and, ultimately, buying from you.

Too often in retail, salespeople try to find a quick solution, and dive into a speech about the first product we mention. Take the time to allow us to reveal our unique needs and desire. Then match us with a specific product that is perfect for our situation.

We hope that you'll take our requests to heart and use them to create a pleasant and welcoming environment for us. It's amazing how simple these initial steps are when you understand their importance. What's more amazing is the great impact they have on us and on our decision to buy from you.

Sincerely,
Your Customers

Tom Richard conducts seminars on sales and customer service topics nationwide. Tom is also the author of Smart Salespeople Don't Advertise: 10 Ways to Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing, and publishes a free weekly ezine on selling skills titled Sales Muscle. To subscribe to this free weekly ezine go to http://www.tomrichard.com/subscribe

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Go From Good To Great Five Ways To Boost Your Sales Career

Writen by Chip Eichelberger

Many experienced sales professionals don't see the need for continuous improvement. They often think, "I've been selling for fifteen years, so I must be great." The number of years experience is not a measure of excellence - any honest golfer knows that. Such thinking can limit sales professionals from achieving a higher level of success.

Just because you've been doing something for years doesn't mean you can't or don't need to improve. Oftentimes, people get satisfied at just being good at what they do. Then they stop doing all the little things that made them great, such as using a pre-call checklist, asking for referrals and testimonials, conducting timely follow-up, and sending thank-you notes. But these little things make the difference between good and great.

In fact, a great chasm exists between good and great performance. Realize, however, that this doesn't mean you have to work harder. Rather, you need the discipline to execute the little things in an extraordinary way every day. Consider U2 front man Bono's example of taking something good and making it great. "An early version of out first single Vertigo was massaged, hammered, tweaked, lubed, sailed through two mixes, and got U2's unanimous stamp of 'very good.' Very good is the enemy of great. You think great is right next door. It's not. It's in another country," Bono told USA Today. Instead of releasing the song at "very good," the band rearranged Vertigo with new melodies and rhythms. They soon discovered untapped reserves of ideas and fortitude, and the song went on to become a number one hit.

Has your sales performance been "good" or "great"? Have you been on cruise control in your job? When was the last time you went back into your "studio" and reevaluated what you do and how you are doing it? If your performance could use improvement, consider the five following strategies.

1. Ask "What Can I Do Better?"

When was the last time you asked a client what you could do to improve his or her experience with you? Years? Months? Never? If you want to continuously improve your sales skills, your clients and prospects will have the most valuable insight into how you can become better. So make it a priority to regularly ask them for their suggestions on how to improve and add more value. Sales managers should ask their sale people, "You have worked with me know for three months/three years. What can I do to be a better sales manager? How can I support your more?"

The same question is just as powerful with your family. When is the last time you asked your kids, "What can I do to be a better mommy or daddy?" How about asking your spouse? I guarantee they will have some feed back for you. It take courage to ask and really listen to the answers. What you often find is that is will be little things they want you to do more often that you did not know where that important.

Although asking "What can I do better?" is an excellent way to continuously improve your performance, asking is really only the first step. The key is to listen when someone offers a suggestion. When a client starts talking, don't try to defend yourself or justify your actions, just listen to what he or she has to say. Take your client's suggestions seriously and follow up with the person later to ensure you make progress.

2. Set a Goal for Each Day What activities drive performance for your business? Is it number of contacts? Referrals? Phone calls? Appointments? Determine this factor and set a measurable goal for doing a certain number of these activities each day. Many sales professionals think in terms of a sales funnel, and they need to keep a specific number of people in that funnel at all times to remain successful. How many new prospects do you need to contact to keep your funnel full?

As you do this, don't forget about past clients. Many sales professionals become so focused on acquisition that they forget about retention. Past clients are easier to sell because they already know you and love the service you provide. But your competition is constantly trying to take your past clients away, and they may succeed if you lose contact and show indifference. So, how many past clients are you going to call today?

3. Keep Track of Your Progress

A good way to track your progress and ensure continuous improvement is to keep track of what you do. Create a scorecard to record your key performance numbers for each day, number of appointments, sales, referrals, etc. For example, if you want to make ten cold calls each day, then keep a record of the number of calls you make as well as the number of days you achieve your cold calling goal. Repeat this procedure for each goal or activity and post it where you can see it easily. This is the strategy I used when I managed the road teams for Tony Robbins, you can't mange what you can't measure. The quickest way to lose momentum is to stop tracking your results.

4. Tell an Effective Story Everyone has a success story, and you may notice that businesses and products often use their story as a marketing tool. Whatever your story is, it must be unique, solve the customer problem and be compelling Real estate agents, for example, may take pictures of their clients in front of their new homes and then show these photos to their prospects. Even a bottle of wine or a consumer product can tell a story to differentiate it on the shelf. Consider how you can document your success with quotes, testimonials, case studies and pictures, and then creatively use your story to attract new business.

5. Record Yourself No one likes to admit they aren't good at what they do. Even if a person fails, he or she won't likely admit that individual performance was to blame. But people are often mediocre or just plain bad at sales, and they don't even realize it. Have you ever recorded yourself while you're meeting with a client or prospect? Most people haven't. However, recording yourself is an excellent way to identify your strengths and weaknesses.

How do you record a sales presentation? Explain to your client or prospect that you are consistently trying to improve the way you tell your story and your listening skills. Then ask if you can record the meeting for personal use. Most of the time, the prospect won't have any objections and they'll admire your professionalism. If you are speaking to a group, ask to use a video camera. If you are on the phone it is fairly easy. Many modern phone systems now have that capacity.

Once you have the recording, the moment of truth arrives. Yes, it takes guts to review the tape! On your first review, takes notes on all the good things you do and write down all the questions you ask. Then go back, ideally with a more experienced peer, and review what you need to improve. The danger is the more you know, the more you tend to talk. So you'll often find that you need to ask more questions and talk less!

Continuous Improvement in Your Future

You may think that if you want to take your sales career to the next level of success, you just need to work harder. In reality, you need to work smarter. Start by asking your clients what you can do to improve. Then use their suggestions to set goals for yourself and track your progress. Know your success story and ensure that you communicate it effectively to your clients and prospects by recording yourself in a meeting.

Most sales professionals use these strategies initially, but people tend to fall out of good habits quickly. They become satisfied with providing a mediocre experience to their clients, when they should really be trying to amaze them. Providing a superior experience means constantly improving and refreshing what you do. One of the best ways to gain momentum is to go back to these habits and start doing them again. When you do, you can achieve limitless success.

As a speaker, Chip has a magical ability to generate enthusiasm, contagious energy and results. Former Tony Robbins international point-man. Clients include IBM, ADP, Century 21 and Bank of America. 866-224-1393, Chip@GetSwitchedOn.com. Sign up for his monthly ezine at http://www.GetSwitchedOn.com

How The Right Online Ordering System Can Add An Additional 40 To Your Bottom Line

Writen by Marc Goldman

Ok, you got into business to make money right?

You may have had other, more intangible reasons, ranging from philanthropical to personal but lets be brutally honest with ourselves for a second: on the most base level, the main goal of a business is to earn income for its owners.

I think we need to run this like a 12 step meeting:

My name is Marc Goldman and I am a business owner who is out to make money with my business. (whew that felt good)

So, with that off my chest, lets begin our meeting.

Since my goal is to have my business produce substantial and lasting profits, I am constantly on the lookout for new and improved ways to add more income to the balance sheet.

We have tried and tested many different ideas, techniques and strategies to increase our cashflow and without a doubt, there is one method above all others that we have discovered to increase our sales:

Adding upsells to our order form.

That's right, regardless of all the different traffic techniques in the world, even with proven sales copy and conversion methods in place, even with years of studying and applying various direct and indirect marketing approaches, the one thing I have found that brings in the most money to our company is the ability to upsell each individual customer on an additional item they did NOT intend to originally purchase.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term "upsell", let me use an example from one of the world's most famous companies to illustrate the point:

When people walk into fast food giant McDonalds to order a simple hamburger or a Vanilla shake, without fail they are presented with the phrase that has helped this company to dominate the fast food market:

"Would you like fries with that?"

Other fast food outlets will ask you, "Would you like a drink or an apple pie with your meal?" This is another very effective example of an upsell.

These fast food giants sell millions of dollars worth of extra food and drinks worldwide every year, because they know how to effectively use an upsell.

So now you may be saying that's all well and good for McDonalds but I am in a totally different business. I don't sell fast food.

Guess what? Upselling is a sales technique that can work for any business.

And the best part is, if you are selling online, you don't have to train staff like McDonalds does in order to get them to remember to present an upsell to every single customer who walks in the doors.

Our business has been using upsells for the past 7 years to increase the revenue we make from each individual customer (and we don't sell anything close to fast food, instead we sell software and digital information).

When a potential customer comes to our site, reads our sales material and makes a decision to purchase our software or information products they are then taken to our point of sale (aka checkout or an order form etc).

At this point a customer is always presented with the opportunity to add one or more related products to their order.

That's a very important point, for an upsell to be most effective; it has to be related to the current order.

Could you imagine if McDonalds offered you a gallon of gasoline instead of a side order of fries?

Or perhaps a tennis racket?

It just wouldn't sell.

But the idea of purchasing additional related products makes sense to the customer so the overwhelming majority of them, when presented with an upsell, will take advantage of it.

The reason upsells work has to do with human psychology. You see, when we as human beings make a decision to buy, it's usually an impulse driven one fed by emotions. So, once you as the seller have pushed that button to buy, you can easily increase your revenue from each individual sale by simply asking the customer to buy more.

So does it work for us, in an industry that has nothing to do with food?

You bet it does. Upselling accounts for increased revenues of 40% a week on average.

And because we have everything set up to be automated and managed by our shopping cart system, we don't have to employ additional staff (let alone train them), nor do we have to manage this to make sure its working right.

We just set it up ONCE and then let it constantly add to our bottom line profits week after week.

So how can you do the same thing for your business?

Assuming you sell products or services online here is an easy four step formula for you to follow to immediately experience the benefits of upselling:

Step 1. Have a process in place to drive targeted traffic to your website so you bring prospects to you who are interested in what you sell.

Step 2. Have an effective sales process in place that pushes these targeted prospects emotional buttons and offers compelling product benefits and encourages them to want your product or service so bad that they can't wait to click your order now or buy now button.

Step 3. Use a shopping cart that makes the ordering process uncomplicated and easy.

For example, once they click your order now button and go to your shopping cart, don't force them to create a new account or ask them to login now before they can order.

Quick and easy is the key in todays rushed society.

Step 4. Use a shopping cart that lets you automatically present your related upsell offers to the customer at the point of sale.

The customer has now taken the leap of faith and is ready to purchase from you, they sit at their computer, credit card in hand, ready to buy something that appeals to them and then you offer them a related product or service with another, shorter compelling reason to buy.

For example, if you sell chainsaws, couldn't you also offer chainsaw lubricant? Motor oil? An extended service warranty?

A good shopping cart will offer you the ability to present your upsell offers in a clean, sensible fashion that helps your customer to simply check a box to easily add this "upgraded offer" to their purchase.

An even better shopping cart system will allow you to offer multiple upsells so you make EVEN MORE on each sale.

That's it. With that simple process in place, you could be immediately on your way to increased revenues every single week. Try it out, I am quite sure that this will become a very significant part of your business and you will continue to use upsells on a regular basis to give an instant and consistent boost to your sales.

Marc Goldman is the CEO of Goldbar Enterprises, LLC. Their flagship product GoldbarOne is the best Shopping Cart/Ecommerce/Marketing system that has ever been built. That's because it was built by marketers for marketers. Take a free 30 Day Trial today at http://www.goldbar.net

Friday, December 26, 2008

Burn Your Television

Writen by Scott Ginsberg

During my sophomore year of college, my roommate Ted decided to transfer mid-semester.

Fortunately he was he was a total jerk and a drug addict who didn't respect my personal space, so that worked out well.

Anyway, when I returned from class one day, he was gone. His clothes, his posters, everything was gone.

Even his TV.

Oh no, not the TV! I thought.

Initially, I was scared.

No TV? How will I watch Dawson's Creek? This is terrible! (Shut up. It was a great show.)

But after a while, I stopped missing it. I found other constructive ways to spend (er, invest) my time, namely, reading books.

After a few TV-less month had gone by, I realized that I was more energetic, more productive, and in general, happier than I'd been all year! Not to mention all the cool stuff I'd learned from reading.

As it turns out, I was onto something. A few weeks later one of my mass-com professors shared two sets of fascinating statistic with the class. The first set came from AC Neilson.

• The average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day. In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.
• The number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school is 8,000
• The number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000
• The number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
• The number of TV commercials seen by the average person by age 65: 2 million
• Rutgers University psychologist and TV-Free America board member Robert Kubey explained that television that heavy TV viewers exhibited five dependency symptoms - two more than necessary to arrive at a clinical diagnosis of substance abuse. These included: 1) using TV as a sedative; 2) indiscriminate viewing; 3) feeling loss of control while viewing; 4) feeling angry with oneself for watching too much; 5) inability to stop watching; and 6) feeling miserable when kept from watching.

Un-believable.

The next set of stats came from Para Publishing:

• One-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
• 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
• 42% of college graduates never read another book.
• 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
• 57% of new books are not read to completion.

Shocking.

Now, you might be skeptical when reading such statistics. (As you should be. After all, 73% of all statistics are made up on the spot.)

But whether or not the numbers are accurate, the lesson is obvious:

MORE BOOKS, LESS TV.

Me, I'm up to about three books a week. When you travel as much as I do, that's an easy task.

Just remember: open a book and you will open your mind.

Beats TV any day.

LET ME ASK YA THIS...
How many books will you read in 2006?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS...
Set a goal to read at least 12 books a year. Start your list today. If you'd like a list of 194 Great Books to Read in the Next Five Years, email me and I'll send it to ya.

© 2006 All Rights Reserved.

Scott Ginsberg, aka "The Nametag Guy," is the author of three books and a professional speaker who helps people maximize approachability, become unforgettable and make a name for themselves. To book Scott for your next association meeting, conference or corporate event, contact Front Porch Productions at 314/256-1800 or email scott@hellomynameisscott.com

Ps The Last But Certainly Not The Least Important Part Of Every Successful Sales Letter

Writen by Robert Boduch

The Power Of The P.S. Look at the conclusion of any successful sales letter and what do you see?

Webster's defines it this way...

"Postscript -- To write after; a paragraph added to a letter after it is concluded and signed by the writer; an addition made to a letter or composition after the main body of the work has been finished, containing something omitted, or something new occurring to the writer."

For marketers, it provides one final opportunity to persuade prospects into action. It's one more kick at the can... one last chance to move potential buyers off the fence of indecision, in favor of the sale.

The best way to use your concluding "addition" is to emphasize or re-state a major point of significance to the reader... or to unveil a new, previously unmentioned benefit or advantage. It's a key component of successful copywriting.

Here's a partial list of the ways to use these powerful selling tool...

* Repeat Your Biggest Benefit
* Restate Your Compelling Offer
* Emphasis A Sense Of Urgency Do To Limited Availability
* Deliver (or repeat) A Guarantee That Completely Reverses The Risk
* Add an Extra Bonus Not Previously Disclosed
* Introduce A New Benefit Or Additional Advantage or Use
* Unveil Your Unmatched Unique Competitive Advantage Or USP
* Add An External Bonus Such As Air Miles or Discount Coupons

And here are my personal favorites – approaches I like to use at the end of the sales letters I write...

* Add Logic To Your Previously Emotional Sales Pitch
* Mention What Others Say About The Exceptional Value You Offer
* Contrast The Cost Of Buying (low) With The Cost Incurred By The Continuing Problem (high)
* Shoehorn-in an extra testimonial in a "this just in" fashion

Employ these strategies -- or others. Just be sure to maximize the usage of this key piece of sales letter real estate. The P.S. is one of the most read components of any sales letter. It stands second only to your headline and sub-heads in terms of readership priority.

Keep it short and sweet. A concise summary is enough to maintain the reader's interest. If you need more space, create a secondary P.S. Adding additional P.S.'s is a particularly effective strategy with longer sales letters.

One final point: never end a letter – whether it's one page or forty pages -- without at least one postscript. The P.S. is a proven marketing tool. Use it for all it's worth.

Robert Boduch is an author of dozens of best-selling books, reports and articles on the art and science of selling. A free newsletter targeted at anyone interested in selling more of anything is available at http://www.makeyoursalessoar.com.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Bids Proposals Tenders Winning Amp Losing

Writen by A Murray

Whilst channel hopping the other night I caught a few minutes of the 1981 Oscar winning film 'Chariots of Fire'. It was during the point that Harold had just been beaten.

Harold M. Abrahams: I don't run to be beaten. If I can't win, I won't run!
Sybil Gordon: If you don't run, you can't win.

The difference between Silver and Gold in the 100m sprint is often just a few hundredths of a second. But as with Harold, silver medallists have only one thought: "if only…." In business there are no silver medals. You either win or you lose.

But Sybil makes a very good point. If you don't participate, you can't win.

As a management consultant (who specialises in the integration of bid and project methods) I'm often asked what is a good win ratio. The answer is, "it depends". And the reason lies with Sybil's point.

If you are a recognised player operating within a mature industry with relatively few (well known) competiors then your bid preparation should provide enough intelligence to assess your ability to win at a reasonable price with acceptable risks. I would expect in such scenarios a win ratio around 80% or more. In this market you want to be Harold. Don't bid to be beaten.

If, however, you are trying to break into a new market where you have little credibility or presence then you need to accept that the cost of entry will include many dissapointments. In this market you need to be like Sybil. You have to start somewhere (like training runs and low profile competitions) in order to be ready to compete in the blue-ribband events.

You can gain a lot of value from bidding.

  • better market knowledge
  • wider and deeper customer relationships
  • competior knowledge
  • better understanding of your capabilities
  • identification of new services/products
  • new relationships with partners and 3rd parties
  • In short, even if you lose, you should ensure that you gain an understanding of what you need to do next time in order to win. How well you learn your lessons will be evident in a ratio that is always improving!

    Another aspect to consider when reviewing your bid management performance is what the market average is. For example, whilst at a Government procurement conference last year, I was told by the Head of Procurement for a Government department that the average number of responses they gain from OJEC notices is 20+ at RFI stage and 6 to 8 at RFP stage. If we just take the latter, it would be reasonble to think that the market average is to win 1 in 7. However, further analysis shows that the pareto principle applies. That is that 80% of tenders are won by 20% of the players. Therefore the winners are not in the middle of a uniform bell-curve, but in a right hand skew (i.e. there is a difference between the modal and the mean).

    What does this mean?

    The headline is that if you are breaking into new markets then expect to operate well below the market average. But in the long term your competiors will out-profit you if you don't move well above market average since your cost of bidding will be much higher.

    On a final point, if your win ratio is tending towards 100% it means you're probably turning business down. It's time to take some more risks, otherwise your organisation might stop learning new lessons.....

    Andy Murray is a PRINCE2 Registered Consultant and a director of Outperform UK Ltd. Andy holds a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors (IOD) the final step to becoming a Chartered Director. Andy has been consulting in bid and project management for the last 15 years helping organisations across the globe win and then deliver profitable contracts. Andy's mission is to help organisations win deals that remain profitable beyond to point of contract!

    Outperform UK Ltd is an Accredited Consulting Organisation (ACO) licensed to consult in the OGC's best practice products. Outperform is a corporate member of the Association for Project Management (APM), a corporate member of the Best Practice User Group and is ISO9001 certified.

    How To Create A Profit Pulling Unique Selling Proposition In 4 Easy Steps

    Writen by L A Parmley

    Here's a little exercise that will help you find your unique selling proposition.

    1. First, you need to size up your competition. Who are they? What are they selling?

    2. Now, let's move on to your business. What are the features and the benefits of your product or service? List every last one you can think of. Remember, you are looking for benefits, not just features. A benefit is something your customers would find appealing about a feature of your product or service.

    Let's say you are selling a computer hard-drive with a 1 gigabyte storage capacity. That's nice, and some people will understand what that's all about. Others will not have a clue. So spell out exactly what that means to them. For example, "Our hard-drive has 1 gigabyte of storage capacity, which means you can be as productive as you want with virtually no fear of filling it up. In addition, your computer will run at a lightening fast speed."

    I'm sure you can do even better. The point is, you need to translate the features of your product or service into benefits. Now this may seem obvious to you, but the best advertising spells everything out for its prospects.

    So make sure to spell out exactly what your clients will get if they use your product or service. Will they make more money, take a step forward with their career, or lose weight?

    What is the ultimate end goal a prospect interested in your product or service would probably like to achieve? Make sure you spell out how your product or service will help them achieve that. If there is more than one end goal, list each of them out. Different benefits will appeal to different prospects. And of course, you want to appeal to as many of your prospects as possible (however, you ultimately pick one or two for the USP – the rest of will be expanded on in your sales copy).

    If you are having trouble coming up with benefits, try writing out all the features of your product or service. Then, next to each feature, write out why it is important. What does that feature mean to your prospect? These are your product's benefits.

    3. Next, let's determine what unique qualities your product or service possesses. Circle all the benefits from the table above that separate your product or service from your competition. One thing you should realize is even if your product is virtually the same as your competition; you can still come up with a USP. Simply offer a guarantee, better service, better value, or faster delivery. Dig deep to find something that makes you stand apart.

    Or create that special something right now!

    4. Somewhere within the list of your benefits and features is the beginning of your USP. Write out 5 complete USP possibilities below. Eventually, select one of them (remember, you may always test it and change it later if it isn't working).

    Copyright © 2005 by L A Parmley. All rights reserved.

    Would you like to create a profit pulling USP for your small business or professional service? Discover how by visiting Positioning Tactics and sign up for our free ecourse (Value $37).

    Wednesday, December 24, 2008

    How To Motivate People In A Sales Incentive Program

    Writen by Ken MacKenzie

    There are no rules, which dictate the number of different groups of people who can be included in any one incentive program. Each additional group requires its own special treatment.

    When the target group has been selected, you must:

    Keep participation simple

    Talk to some members of the intended group before finalising your planning and, without specifying your particular plans, seek their views, their objectives, their needs and their likely response.

    Too many assumptions should not be made without crossing checking them with the target group.

    It's essential to research the size of the group and this is quite simple if it is an internal program. However, if outside your own organisation, you will need to ensure that you have the most accurate figures possible.

    You should not proceed until you have carefully calculated the size of your participating audience.

    The options available on how to motivate people are almost limitless, and are as varied as the imagination will allow.

    Here's a list of important criteria that are equally relevant to any group you choose:

    Activities should be chosen that are of mutual advantage to both your organisation and the participant, even if that advantage is not immediately obvious. People will be more contented and receptive to other incentive schemes, if they can see tangible benefits from the previous program.

    It must be made easy for people to participate by:

    Keeping the rules simple
    Clearly explaining to them how they can participate and what they must do to enter the program
    Sending more than one message to the target audience, to aid recall of what you are going to do.
    Building up anticipation by releasing the details of incentives and the conditions in stages, if you can't get your groups together in the one place, at the same time.
    "Selling the value" of the rewards and not taking for granted that potential participants will readily agree with your enthusiasm for the rewards of the plan.

    These activities are a necessary part of the action to get people into the program enthusiastically, and they must not be short-cut.

    When should you commence the incentive program?

    There is no doubt that an incentive program must be carefully timed. Unless that occurs, incentives can work against you and 'anytime' can be extremely harmful.

    Many otherwise sound incentive schemes founder only on that one aspect of timing. Timing is the segment of the total program you have most control over.

    You need to consider the needs of all the participants before an attempt is made to submit the 'best' time.

    Also, you need to make sure that your own house is in order and be certain that you can supply your products and services at the planned time.

    Too often, an incentive period is chosen and elementary, important activities are overlooked. Public holidays, machinery maintenance periods and staff leave are all potential, but identifiable, interruptions to the flow of goods and services that are the subject of your incentive program.

    The loss of credibility, caused by these oversights, can be irretrievable, the cost in expenses high, and both your planning and ambitions frustrated.

    Ken MacKenzie's web site "The Marketing Update" is at http://www.themarketingupdate.com. He has had some 30 years experience in small business marketing and public relations and, prior to establishing Ken MacKenzie Communications in 1993, he was a Senior Consultant for over five years with International Public Relations Pty Ltd. He has also consulted to the United States Foreign Commercial Service, based in Sydney Australia. As a Consultant, Ken has managed many accounts including Monier Roofing Limited, NUS International Pty Ltd, MasterFoods of Australia, the Jakarta Promotion Board, the Australian Made Campaign, Boral Roofing, Boral Bricks, Boral Plasterboard, Frontline Business Services and Sydney Point of Sale. In his consulting capacity to the United States Department of Commerce in Sydney, Ken served as Principal Advisor to the United States Trade Centre Director on major U.S. trade event planning and implementation of numerous U.S. Government sponsored trade shows covering many different industry groups.

    How To Boost Sales

    Writen by Saleem Rana

    We are all cluttered thinkers, our minds preoccupied with numerous thoughts, feelings, and unresolved information.

    You can see that clearly as you walk down any city street.

    Faces are contorted with angst, inner dialogues, and multilayered emotions. People even walk and move in an uncoordinated way.

    Examine your own thinking, and you'll see that hidden agendas, conflicts, and internal upsets constantly interfere with the clarity of your logic.

    This is both an opportunity and an obstacle for salesmanship.

    It is an opportunity because you can offer people something that they need to improve their lives, ease their pain, and end their confusion.

    Your product may very well provide the relief that your customers need.

    It may be a way for them to make more money following a specific technology.

    It may be a way for them to develop will power and self confidence.

    It may be something that makes their lives easier to organize, maintain, and evolve.

    It may be a way for them to get rest, relief, and peace.

    Or it may be a way for them to recuperate energy, health, and well-being.

    Yet you also have an obstacle. They can't see you, hear you, or even respond to you—again, because of their preoccupation.

    As a psychologist this happens to me quite often.

    People write to me about some difficulty they are having. I write back, proposing a simple, common-sense and highly-doable solution.

    Then they write back repeating their complaint, completely ignoring the solution.

    In other words, they weren't even able to understand that they had been presented with a solution.

    The way most marketers try to break through this preoccupation is to increase their marketing signal to break through the customer's internal noise.

    They amp up their marketing message—playing on the customer's spectrum of desires with a hammer. It's called hype.

    In their desperation, customers often respond in the way that the marketer desired.

    Encouraged, the marketer then rolls out the next pitch with the same tactics.

    Eventually, however, even this does not work. The customer becomes numbed out, tone deaf, and utterly indifferent.

    In addition, everybody else is assailing the customer's sensibility, trying to attract their attention, with the same dramatic techniques.

    A better approach is to tone down the customer's inner noise, rather than raise your own marketing signal.

    How do you do this?

    You simplify and clarify your message at every point of contact.

    Rather than hype things up, you present your information in an increasingly simple and direct way.

    Whether you're into internet marketing, network marketing, mail order or sales, you will always have a better response if you simplify your marketing message.

    This is why USP's, slogans, and other techniques are popular—they give a handle to the brand or product.

    Sometimes even an unusual company, brand, or product name can awaken a whole train of familiar associations in the customer's mind.

    However, the principle is more important than the technique being used.

    And the principle is keep it short and simple.

    If your message is clear, it will be received and acted upon. Your sales will improve. And if you get really good at this, they will soar!

    Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book Never Ever Give Up tells you how. It is offered at no cost as a way to help YOU succeed. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html Copyright 2004 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article.

    Tuesday, December 23, 2008

    Up Sell You Way To A Better Turnover

    Writen by Lee Lister

    Up selling - selling a more expensive but better item than the customer first wanted.

    Simply show the customer a widget that's better, bigger, or faster than the one they was considering -- but with some special consideration such as a substantial discount, more favorable payment terms, extra options, or accessories.

    If you become known as a business that delivers incredible values, you can't lose. Remember, people can't resist a bargain. Offer to sell the higher-priced model with a larger discount than the moderately priced one. Everybody wins here. The customer gets a much better value, and you get a bigger sale.

    You're taking a smaller percentage of profit on the higher sale, but you're probably making more actual dollars. Plus, the customer is usually thrilled with the great deal. As you get a lot of business from word of mouth – this is a great way of getting even more sales.

    That's where the magic comes in. Make certain the customer is happy. Don't try to sell the customer something that's way out of their price range. They'll end up resenting you for it.

    Don't get greedy! If you get greedy and try to "bleed" your customers, you'll end up losing big in the long run. Just show them something that is slightly better that what they looked at first of all – don't pressure of hard sell. Let your offer speak for itself.

    -------------------------------------------------

    © Copyright 2006 Biz Guru LLC Lee Lister, writes as The Biz Guru, for a number of web sites including her own sites http://www.BizGuru.us and http://www.clikks.com for all our informational products.

    With over 20 year's management and business consultancy experience with businesses large and small as well as being a serial entrepreneur, she now helps others set up, develop and market their businesses.

    This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

    -------------------------------------------------

    Monday, December 22, 2008

    Sell As Though You Own The Business

    Writen by Joe Guertin

    I've always said that selling is the ultimate entrepreneurial career. In which other line of work can an individual dictate their own income adjustments, thus eliminating the need for cost-of-living raises. (I once had a sales manager who used that very line, telling us "I want every person on this team to give themselves a 20% raise this year!").

    Even when paid a salary, a salesperson can greatly enhance their value to their company, and even to other companies in their market, by demonstrating an intrinsic value above and beyond others their contemporaries. Because the sales profession generates income for the company, those who do it more efficiently and effectively make themselves valuable not only to their employer, but in an economy that craves their talents.

    I've met with sales professionals in scores of industries, from highly technical to service and retail, and one commonality applies to all of them. The salespeople who are the top 10% earners conduct themselves in a very specific manner. It can best be described as operating as though they were in business for themselves.

    A successful, independent businessperson is going to do everything they can to secure new, profitable business for their company. They'll avoid poor price decisions that could affect maintaining company overhead, including equipment costs and payroll, to profitability that provides them with cash flow to remain fiscally healthy.

    In general, these 'Top 10% Earners' live by these two rules:

    Rule #1: Operate as 'You, Incorporated' One of the greatest skills a salesperson can learn is to think, look and act like an independent business. No, this doesn't mean making your own rules! It means that you take into consideration all aspects of selling, including:

    1) Profitability
    If, in your situation, you have the latitude to negotiate pricing and terms, avoid thinking low price over profitability. Your employers profit is what keeps the company strong.

    A customer, while not always openly willing to pay more for it, will always prefer to work with a supplier that is financially strong over one that makes deals and lives day to day.

    2) Communication
    Problems happen. Even to the Top 10%. The difference appears to be that this group finds problems early, making them far easier to deal with. And that can only be done through superior communication. They have lines of communication with the customers front line people, those who are affected first by the product or service being supplied. So, if there IS a problem, they can fix it early. They almost seem to know what's happening with their customers before the customer does! Now that's communication!

    3) Cash Flow
    I was fortunate in that, in my first outside sales position, I was paid commission on revenues collected. 'Fortunate,' you say? Yes. Not because I'm a sucker for difficult tasks, but because developing skills for handing the task made me a better salesperson. Our 'paid-on-collection' was a system that worked well in that situation. It forced me to keep an eye on my customers' payment habits. If an account began to 'age,' it was my duty to put on the diplomats gloves and address the issue.

    You might not be in that position, but, to be a Top 10%'er, it's important to be passionate about your employers' cash flow. Those who can see the big picture, and step in to assist their accounting office, add incredible value to their position.

    Rule #2: Feed Your Business

    My first employer gave those of us on the sales team a expense account. Very meager, but an expense account, nonetheless. The habit we created among the staff was that, if an expense was worth it, and wouldn't tap too much of the account, we'd spend it., A small client lunch here, a tank of gasoline there. Beyond that, if it wasn't covered, it wasn't spent. And that was a huge mistake.

    Professional salespeople should create an annual Business Plan that details their goals for the year, steps necessary to achieve those goals, plus a 'reinvestment' statement, estimating revenue that will be put back into their business to feed it's growth. A percentage of your estimate income should be budgeted to be re-spent on clothing, skill-building, health and fitness and client incidentals. Have you ever known a company to grow successfully without spending on itself?

    Sales is unique in many respects. The rewards can be incredible. The professionals I've met who see themselves as business owners, vs. having a job, are either in the Top 10%, or on their way.

    One of America's hottest sales trainers, Joe Guertin has 25 years of outside sales experience, specializing in new business and customer relationship development. As a sought-after speaker, and consultant, Joe has worked with thousands of salespeople, managers and business principals, targeting specific areas of development, including internal sales systems, customer development strategies and team skill-building. His firm, The Guertin Group, conducts customized corporate sales training, both live and online.

    Visit The Guertin Group at http://www.guertingroup.com to receive his monthly ezine newsletter. Joe can be reached at 414-762-2450, or joe@guertingroup.com

    Good Professional Salesmen Start With Telling A Story

    Writen by Lance Winslow

    Most great sales professionals when they disagree with a prospect or a prospect is sadly mistaken will tell a story rather than allowing a major disagreement to erupt. They say that diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way.

    In doing so they can enlighten the prospect or potential customer into another perspective or line of thought by telling a similar scenario in a far off setting and this does not make the customer angry, as it is only a story, but it indeed does make them think and of course that is the plan.

    And in doing so the salesperson delivers yet another simple message and then listens to what the prospect has to say to see if there is interest or perhaps an underlining life principle that the prospect is passionate about. If so he or she will come out with comments of their own and so this is why at least some sales trainers say that; Good Professional Speakers Start With Telling a Story.

    Do I personally believe that this is a viable technique? Well yes and no. Yes if the story is relevant and no, if the story is not a true story. Story telling in sales is also nice as it is entertaining and will not put the prospect to sleep with endless details that he may not remember you see? Perhaps you might philosophically consider this insight and use it if you believe it fits and will work for you in your sales. Please consider all this in 2006.

    Lance Winslow

    Sunday, December 21, 2008

    Price Is A Bigger Issue Among Salespeople Than Customers

    Writen by Bill Lee

    Most salespeople are scared to death that their prices are going to be too high when they quote. But most often, price is a much larger issue among salespeople than it is among their customers.

    Of course, customers will tell salespeople that price is of primary importance to them because they are trying to get salespeople to cut their prices, but in the final analysis, price is rarely the customer's overriding concern.

    Consider pizza as an example. Domino's is rarely given credit for making the best pizza in town. And they certainly don't have the lowest price. Yet they have grown to become the second largest pizza company in the world.

    If their quality is not excellent and their prices are not the most competitive, then why are they so successful? Very simple! They deliver! Most pizza companies aren't willing to offer the service that Domino's is willing to offer their customers.

    What service advantages do you offer your customers that set your company apart from your competitors?

    If you were to go to a purchasing agent's convention and ask 100 buyers their number one criterion when making buying decisions, how many of them do you believe would say that it is price? My guess is very few.

    When buyers get chewed out, what do you believe is the most frequent cause? It's almost never for paying too much; it's for not procuring products on a timely basis or for buying products that don't perform to acceptable standards.

    Buyers say that price makes the difference primarily because salespeople are so price sensitive. Naturally, they are willing to accept a lower price if the salesperson falls for their negotiating tactics.

    Most consumers buy products that are actually of higher quality than is really necessary. Take golfers as an example. How many golfers do you know who play with the cheapest golf clubs that they can buy? If you see the latest and greatest Callaway driver in their bag, odds are you're looking at a price tag close to $400.

    How many of your customers do you believe drive the cheapest car on the market or live in the least expensive home they can find? When they tell salespeople that price is their number one criterion, they are simply not telling the truth.

    Most buyers make buying decisions based on quality and service. It's only when salespeople fail to convince a buyer that their company's quality and service is superior to the competition that price becomes an issue. When it comes to price, quality and service, you can pick any two you wish. It is almost never the case that a company can offer the highest quality and the best service at the lowest price. Companies that adopt this marketing strategy usually go broke.

    What's the purpose of a salesperson anyway? The purpose of a salesperson is to impart upon buyers the value that they and their company represent. If salespeople cannot do this, they almost always fall for their customer's negotiating tactics. It is the salesperson's job to be professional enough to make sure that the products that they sell generate enough gross margin to produce a strong enough bottom line to keep their company on the top of the heap.

    If price were the real issue, then only one supplier would get all of the business. The only supplier that would survive would be the supplier that had the most capital and, therefore, the most "staying power."

    Companies with a sales force that must have the lowest price to move products continually struggle to produce a satisfactory bottom line.

    To achieve an optimal gross margin, salespeople today must add more value to the products they sell than their competitors add.

    When you analyze your sales force, what kind of salespeople do you have? Do you have a sales team that believes that they must have the lowest price to meet their sales goals? If so, your gross margin will be always under attack.

    Invest the training dollars necessary to educate your sales force to deal with pricing objections. Your return on this training investment will be enormous.

    Bill Lee is author of Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line ($29.95) and 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot ($21.95). Both books are plus $6 S&H for the first book and $1 S&H for each additional book. Bill also is author of Master Selling Skills DVDs and CDs. To order, go to Shopping Cart at http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com Sign up for Bill's FREE electronic newsletters at http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com

    Saturday, December 20, 2008

    2 12 Steps To Sales Success

    Writen by Mark Smock

    You have just walked out of the office of a potential new major customer that you have anxiously been waiting to meet with for weeks and again, you realize you have no idea what is going to happen next as a result of your meeting. Worse yet, you again “spilled all your beans” by telling the potential client how they should solve their problems, hoping that they will LET YOU help them by throwing some business your way. You tell yourself, “I think I’ll get some business here because I know they liked me!” Sound familiar?

    Selling is Truly a DIS-qualification Process!

    Most seasoned sales professionals will tell you that effective selling is essentially a customer DISqualification process. You systematically define whether any given targeted customer justifies the time and cost of further pursuit. You must clearly define if your potential customer clearly understands and sincerely appreciates the value of your product or service offerings to a level of justification that they can, and will, make a reasonable purchase commitment to you. If they cannot or will not, they do not qualify! Don’t waste your time, move on!

    This potential customer disqualification process is best implemented via a straightforward, “2 and ½ Sales Call Selling Process”:

    The “2 and ½ Sales Call Selling Process”

    It starts with setting up an appointment to meet face-to-face with a potential customer, (the “half” call). The next step in the process, (the first call) or visit, is best described as a “fact-finding session”. The final step in the selling process concludes with a second face-to-face session, called the “Presentation Call”, (the second call), where you present solutions to the problems surfaced in the fact-finding session. Warning: Mixing these two calls or sessions together or attempting to consolidate both visits into one session can dramatically reduce your probability of selling success!

    Each of the 2 and 1/2 sales call selling sessions is based on a logical and linear information exchange process between you and the potential customer. Within each call or session you should try to get answers to the following fundamental questions:

    The “Half” Call” – Setting Up the Appointment:

    Who within the targeted organization would benefit most from your product or service offering? (Varies by company type and size) Does this person have the purchase authority to make a valid purchase commitment?(If no, call a management level “above” this position and get referred “down”) If you must get referred to the person who has this purchase authority, can you use the referring person’s name to get to the true decision maker?

    Do you have a clear understanding of exactly what you are going to say when you make your appointment request? (Try using a call script to keep you on track)

    Do you have the ability to sound confident on the telephone? (If not, why not?)

    Do you clearly understand that your sole objective on this ½ call is to secure an appointment, with the person(s) who best benefit from your product or service AND can make the purchase commitment … NOT to make a sale?

    The “First Call” – The “Fact-Finding Session:

    Preparation is critical to achieving sales success. Do you know anything about this company and it’s industry? Obtaining basic information here will go a long way for you to establish initial rapport and credibility with this potential customer (If not, do some research prior to the visit)

    Can you anticipate some likely problems a potential client of this type and size will communicate to you?

    When the potential customer communicates to you their business problem(s) can you get more information from them about the problem(s), such as:

    * Do they know exactly what the problems is?
    * How long has the problem existed?
    * What will happen if the problem continues?
    * What have they done to date to address the problem?
    * What were the results of those efforts?
    * What is the $ cost of this problem?
    * Are there budgeted funds available to “fix” the problem(s)?
    * Can and will they commit budgeted funds to fix the problem?

    Once you secured accurate answers to these eight questions, FOR EACH problem you uncover in this fact-finding session, then, and only then, can YOU truly determine whether this potential customer qualifies for the next step in your 2 and ½ Sales Call Selling Process, the “Presentation Call”.

    The “Second Call” – The “Presentation Call”:
    Start this meeting with a brief review of your findings from your first fact finding session. Immediately establish that the purpose of this meeting is to come to a decisive next step to address the problems at hand, not to conclude with a, “We’d like to think it over” meeting conclusion. Communication of your presentation call conclusion expectations to the potential customer at the beginning of the meeting is critical to maximizing the probability of achieving your desired meeting objective – to get a commitment!

    Are you prepared to only focus on and “present to” the business problems defined during your fist visit in line with their communicated importance?

    Are you savvy enough to ask for a reschedule of this meeting if once you get there all or any of the purchase decision makers do not show up?

    Can you ask for a purchase commitment? (If one cannot be given, can you ask why?)

    Do you clearly understand what you achieved and what you didn’t in this presentation call? What lessons did you learn that you can leverage in your next sales opportunity?

    Having a structured method to qualify, or should we say, disqualify potential new customers not only improves your probability of selling success, but significantly enhances your self confidence during the process.

    Selling your products or services does not have to be psychological warfare between you and your potential customer. Much of the success of selling is in your preparation of each of the 2 and ½ Sales Call Selling process steps and your continuous audit of selling process improvements, defining what specific selling tactics work best for you in any given selling situation.

    About the Author:

    Mark Smock is President of http://www.business-buyer-directory.com, the FIRST international business buyer directory of its kind. Business Buyer Directory provides a non-traditional means for proactive business buyers to locate businesses for sale worldwide that meet their exact registered purchase criteria.

    Friday, December 19, 2008

    New Business Generator Your Customers Are Lab Rats

    Writen by Jimmy Vee

    Interesting title to this article don't you think? Well, the reason behind it is powerful and life changing.

    If you do any kind of selling this post could be the most important thing you read and act upon in 2006.

    So, why are your customers lab rats?

    I'll tell you why you need to think of them in this way and how by doing so you can make your selling job easier and your profits go through the roof.

    I was listening to an old interview with Speed Selling Expert John Paul Mendocha this morning and from that interview I was reminded of this utterly simple and clear headed concept.

    Think of all the people in your universe (the entire pool of people you could possibly sell to) as lab rats. Some of them are black rats, white rats, beige rats, grey rats, spotted rats and so on.

    To be truly successful in selling and marketing and to make your success faster and easier you need to know exactly which type of rats you are going to do research on. So let's say the white rats have some propensity to buy from you more than any other color (maybe even just a little).

    Once you know this you need to stop all your selling and marketing efforts to any rat that isn't white. This makes your job not selling your services but finding the white rats. Which do you think is easier to do…sell or pick out white rats out of a group?

    In real terms these concepts are targeting, picking a niche, qualifying and disqualifying in your business, marketing and sales efforts.

    In 2006 I want you to limit the number of customers you can talk to. I want you to reduce the size of the pool you play in. I want you to not focus on a mass audience but on a very narrow one.

    That's right…I'm telling you to reduce the number of potential targets you can sell you goods and services to.

    Sounds counter intuitive doesn't it? It's not!

    With your focus on only the best prospects and a smaller number of them your marketing and selling can be much more effective. You will have more money and time to concentrate, penetrate and infiltrate that group and your results will be significantly greater then if you were to "spray and pray" your dollars, time and effort on a large pool of random people.

    Let's go back to our "lab rat" analogy.

    Think of your business as a big lab study. First you have to decide what animal you are going to perform the study on. We were talking about rats before but let's take a step back for a minute.

    The choice of what animal out of all the animals available for study is called niche targeting and there are several options to choose from. They are:

    Occupations: Lawyers, Doctors, Trash Collectors, Realtors

    Geographic: People in a five mile radius, people in a certain subdivision, people in certain towns, zip codes, voting precincts, school districts, metropolitan areas or states.

    Demographic: People that have certain characteristics in common. For example income, drive the same kind of car, gender, have kids, height, weight, ethnicity.

    Psychographics: These are the things that people are passionate about – their likes and dislikes, their passions, their love hate relationships with things. These are tougher to reach but they are generally really motivated buyers.

    Here are some examples:

    Love rap music

    Hate country music

    Loved the eighties

    Hate the Miami Dolphins

    Love George Bush

    Hate Hillary Clinton

    Hate Mercedes Benz

    Love chocolate

    Hate John Mayer

    You get the picture here.

    Now, let's say we choose Occupations and Realtors in Florida. That's who we're going to target. We just picked rats as the animal to do the study on. But we have all these rats to choose from – black, grey, beige, spotted and white.

    Through experimenting we find that the white rats are the ones with the best temperament for the experiment (the easiest to sell to) so now it is our job to find all the white rats.

    How do you do that?

    You qualify and disqualify. Here are five questions you can ask to pick out the "white rats" and make your selling process easier.

    1. Does this rat have the money to buy my product or service?

    2. Does this rat believe and buy into my big benefit or Gravitational Proposition?

    3. Does this rat have a sense of urgency to purchase?

    4. Is this rat capable of making a buying decision?

    5. Does my product or service fit into their overall plan?

    If your rat meets these five criteria or a good number of them they are "WHITE". So now that you know you are only talking to rats (realtors in Florida) we don't try to sell we try to find the "White" ones – the ones that fit these five criteria.

    Go find your white rats and make 2006 your best year ever!

    Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller are the authors of "The Ten Tall Tales Of Traditional Advertising That Cost You Tons" and their newest release, "The Small Business Owner's Guide To The Galaxy: Jim & Travis's Super-Stellar, Out Of This World, Step-By-Step Guide To Generating Leads, Attracting Customers and Making Sales." Get FREE small business marketing tips, shortcuts and secrets - RIGHT NOW - at The Small Business Marketing Resource Site!

    Thursday, December 18, 2008

    But I Hate To Sell

    Writen by Donna Davis

    Are you serious about wanting to earn extra money with network marketing, but you hate the thought of selling? You're not alone.

    For many, the thought of selling brings images of talking nervously about your product, while secretly hoping and praying that someone will help you out by buying something…anything. So you get that first sale, but the next time isn't much easier. It still feels as if you're pressuring or begging.

    Every business has products or services which someone needs or wants but most people don't like the process leading up to the sale. So what's the key to being successful?

    LISTENING!

    Instead of rattling off all the benefits of your products in the first 60 seconds, step back and focus on the other person. Start a conversation and listen for needs. Most people are unhappy with one of four things: their finances, the amount of free time they have, their jobs or their health. Listen for dissatisfaction and then you can offer to help.

    For example, if someone complains about always being tired, and you're in the nutrition industry, first learn more about them. After genuinely listening and asking questions about them, you can ask a key question. "If I could show you how to increase your energy, would you like to learn more?" You're offering to help them and then asking if they want information.

    Don't start telling them that you have the answer. Put yourself in the other person's shoes. Telling them your product is what they need feels like they're being "sold."

    But when you listen and find a problem, then you can offer something that could help. You ask permission to see if they even want information (some people prefer to stay stuck). Then proceed.

    Let's say that someone is frustrated with their job and you have a solid business where people can create a good income. Learn more about how long they've been doing that line of work, what they like about it, what they don't like about it. Listen for their "hot buttons." Then ask "If I could show you an alternative to your stressful job, would you be interested?"

    Know your product or service. Know your company's compensation plan so you can show people the possibilities. Don't glamorize your product or business. Give facts based on what you know to be true. Share your story and why you believe in that product or that business.

    Stop "selling." Start listening. If you can solve a need, you will feel completely different about what you do.

    Most people enjoy helping others. Most hate to sell. Make the shift to genuinely helping others and you'll start enjoying what you do.

    And that enjoyment can grow into a passion for your business because you know you are making a difference. When you are working from a caring, passionate perspective, you cannot help but attract customers and distributors to you.

    Donna Davis has successfully built several businesses from a local accounting service to a large online network marketing team. To learn more about Donna, her family, her current business and how she helps others achieve their dreams visit http://www.HotAZCandles.com For free reports on how to get started marketing online, request info at http://www.donnadavis.ws.

    Put A System In Place To Win Business

    Writen by Bette Daoust, Ph.D.

    We all know that when you create excitement for the customer, the customer will recommend your product or service to others. As a salesperson, that excitement needs to come from you right from the initial meeting and needs to continue throughout the years. The excitement you create needs to be constantly passed down to the customer (this means keeping in touch on a regular basis and giving updates). If you think this is too much work, think again. I have a system that has worked for companies and will never fail to give you success. Does the system work every time? I wish it did, but if you use the system everyday, you will get the numbers working for you instead of against you.

    Let me tell you about how the system works. It may take a little bit of time to set up but it will make your job a lot easier. You will need the cooperation of some of your customers (and their permission to use their names).

    The following system should be used in order to work best.

    1. Record 4 or 5 sales "pitches" on your products or services for dial in access. These pitches should be 3 to 5 minutes in length and should talk about the benefits of your product line. If you are doing direct sales, it would be a description of the opportunity. Set up a direct dial in number for each recording. This way you can dial directly to the information without going through a menu system.

    2. Phone your prospect and briefly tell them you are working with a product that might be of interest to them. Do not do your pitch! If they are interested, do a three-way call and dial in the pitch - do not give the pitch yourself even though you may be perfectly capable of doing so. The third party method works much better.

    3. After the call, ask them if they think this might work for them. If the answer is affirmative, ask them if they are near a computer and give them a specific URL for your product or service. Do not send them to a general website. You need to send them to a specific site geared toward a specific product. For example, if you are selling web services, send them to a web services page (Vervial.com) If they do not have the time to view the website right away, set a time to call back when they have had a chance to view the site. Of course it is preferable they view it right away but if not make that appointment.

    4. When you call back or when they have viewed the information, ask them if they are interested in your product or service. If the answer is yes, tell them you want to set up another appointment to further talk about the sale (unless you can close them on the spot). Set the time and date for the next call.

    5. Set up another person (third party) to join you on the call at the set time. This person may be a customer who will provide a live testimonial or it may be a product expert that knows how to use that product for the prospects industry. It does not matter either way, what does matter is that you have another person on the call to answer any questions. The call should not be too long try and make it no longer than 15 or 20 minutes at the most. At the end of the call, the prospect will either put the order in motion or state it is not for them. If they have gone through this whole process with you, your chances of making the sale are much greater. And do not forget to take the opportunity to ask for a referral!

    This process, even though fairly simple will put you miles ahead in the sales game. The one thing you absolutely must do is call at least 10 prospects everyday to make this work for you.

    Bette Daoust, Ph.D. is a speaker, author (over 170 books, articles, and publications), and consultant. She has provided marketing, sales, business development and training expertise for companies such as Peet's Coffee & Tea, Varian Medical Systems, Accenture, Avaya, Cisco Systems to name a few. Dr. Daoust has also done extensive work with small businesses in developing their marketing, training, and operational plans. You may contact Dr. Daoust at http://BizMechanix.com. You may also view her latest publications at http://BlueprintBooks.com. Dr. Daoust also writes for the National Networker http://theNationalNetworker.com.

    Wednesday, December 17, 2008

    Shift Your Focus For Sales Success

    Writen by Greg Beverly

    Rather than focusing on closing sales, focus on helping people to buy. Being governed by fear of rejection can make the task seem insurmountable, or an unattainable plateau. Many sales people take rejection far too personally. Being valued is important to self image, and self esteem and rejection can cause you to question that value. Unfortunately, in most cases the focus is on your personal fear of rejection rather than helping people make a good buying decision. The focus must be transferred and primarily centered around helping prospects to buy, and to make good buying decisions. Prospective clients are not concerned about how we feel, it's how they feel; it's not about us, it's not about me, it's about them! Shift your focus and you will immediately shift the fear of rejection.

    If all of your attention is on yourself, and what's in it for you, you will rarely get a sale. Very few people out there want to be sold. You don't want to be sold. I don't want to be sold. With that in mind, instead of selling, give your prospects a reason to buy.

    Go in with greater confidence, and concern, shift concern from yourself and your company to the prospect. Shift your focus and change your thoughts. Provide options and choices that fit your prospects wants and needs. Focus on helping others…your prospect in particular. Go into each meeting with a genuine desire to help your prospect improve their life. Even if you are selling to businesses, the end result is all about making their life better through increased business success.

    Sincerity, is a very important factor in helping any prospect to buy. As I mentioned earlier, go into each meeting with the attitude that whatever you do, you will leave your prospect better off than when you came in.

    You are the most important part of the sales process, you are the most important factor that can build trust, build rapport, and build relationships. Be real, be authentic and present what you have to offer in a very sincere manner. Integrity is the key. "I know exactly how you feel, because I felt the same way."

    Follow these steps in your calls and watch your sales results soar!

    Greg Beverly is a sales coach dedicated to helping create abundance for all who seek it. Find out how YOU can become a sales champion and live the life of your dreams by visiting http://www.salessuccess.yougethelp.com today.

    Tuesday, December 16, 2008

    Story Telling And Business Telling

    Writen by Lance Winslow

    Many Self-Proclaimed Sales Consultants and Marketing Gurus will tell you that story telling and business selling often have a lot in common and it is must easier to tell a story than to tell your customer to buy something from you for the following 3 reasons. Indeed there is some validity to this indeed.

    And that is all fine and dandy, but so often salesmen, especially stockbrokers, lawyers, used car salesmen and other scum will BS you and the stories they tell are tales of deceit and misrepresentation, falsehoods and misdirection or outright lies. Now then we all know that lawyers lie and used car salesmen will tell you for certain this car did not come from Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Soup Bowl as a Flood Car. Stockbrokers will indeed always tell you this is a hot stock to get a commission, as that is their job right? Well, does that make what they are doing right?

    I submit to you that if Sales Professionals and their Trainers tell you that story telling is the best way to sell, they sure as sheet ought to tell you that telling a true story is indeed the proper way to sell. Not making up some bull crap that they purport over and over again to make people buy their products or services or pay those outrageous lawyer fees while they bend you over and over again.

    If you are into selling and not telling, then perhaps you can use story telling as a way to propel your selling. Just do me one favor don't tell the same story twice and only tell real stories. I would really appreciate it. Consider all this in 2006.

    Lance Winslow

    Monday, December 15, 2008

    Needs Based Selling

    Writen by Jay Conners

    I am sure you are familiar with the phrase, "I could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo." First, allow me to personally congratulate anyone out there who has sold ice cubes to an Eskimo, for I believe this to be quite a difficult task to accomplish.

    You would have to be one heck of a sales person to accomplish this, but why would anyone waste their time selling somebody something they didn't need?

    First of all, imagine how long it must have taken to pull off a sale like that, I doubt the Eskimo jumped at the chance, it must have taken a lot of persuasion on the part of the sales person.

    Second of all, the Eskimo doesn't need ice cubes, so why would anyone waste their time selling them to an Eskimo.

    Okay, enough about the selling of ice cubes, I think you get the point.

    This brings us to the title of the article "Needs-based Selling." Sell your customer only the things that they need, you will find it to be a much easier sale, and you won't spend a whole lot of your time selling it.

    If somebody told me that they sold a heater to an Eskimo, I would be very impressed, because this person chose their target market wisely, and then sold his customer something that they need and can use.

    If I were an ice cube salesman, my target market would be supermarkets, convenience stores, and liquor stores, because they buy bags of ice in bulk to distribute amongst their paying customers. Why on earth would I waste my time selling my ice cubes to Eskimos?

    "Needs-based Selling" is selling people the things that they need and can make their lives more convenient. Get to know your customer before you start selling them your products, get to know as much as you about them.

    In my early twenties I was in the market for a new car. When I went to the dealership, the salesman asked me a few probing questions, such as, how old I was, If I lived in the area, and wether or not I was married. After gathering this information, he started taking me in the direction of the jeeps and sports cars. Because he found out almost immediately that I was young and single, he did not walk in the direction of the mini vans.

    The next time you have a customer in front of you, take a little bit of time to get to know them and their needs. Once you have accomplished this, offer your customer the products you believe they will need and can use. If they need it, they most likely will buy it.

    Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

    Sunday, December 14, 2008

    The Sales Training Series Gaining Commitment

    Writen by Duane Sparks

    Employers value salespeople based on their ability to Gain a Sales Commitment. Improving this sales skill has never been more important than it is today. So, what are you doing to get better?

    Here are several ideas on how you can improve your sales effectiveness at gaining customer commitments.

    Always Have a Commitment Objective!

    Our recent research shows that nearly 80% of salespeople do not understand what their primary purpose is. Your principle mission in sales is to Gain Commitment. The confusion stems from the variety of tasks we as salespeople are asked to perform. The end result is that 62% of salespeople make sales calls where there is no attempt at Gaining Commitment. One of the most important reasons why this occurs is most salespeople do not establish what we call a Commitment Objective for every sales call. This is the number one mistake that all salespeople make. Well, it's time to change that!

    Commitment Objective: A sales strategy and goal we set for ourselves to gain agreement from the customer that moves the sales process forward.

    No sales call should ever be made without a Commitment Objective. If you do not have a Commitment Objective firmly planted in your mind, you will wind up being one of those 62% that don't ask for Commitment.

    In The Field:

    Newly hired salespeople at Melody Inc., a Muzak Franchise, are required to make sales calls with veteran salespeople. Toward the end of one recent call, the prospect asked the veteran if he could keep the company brochure and share it with his partner. The veteran was happy to comply and began to pack up his briefcase.

    The newly hired salesperson had recently gone through Action Selling Sales Training and learned about reaching a Commitment Objective. She decided that it would make sense to capitalize on the prospect's interest and schedule the next logical step - a proposal meeting. So she said, "As a next step I would recommend that we plan another meeting with yourself and your partner. We will prepare a proposal that documents what we have discussed and the solution we recommend. How does that sound?"

    You guessed it. They scheduled a proposal meeting for a week later. During the next meeting they Gained Commitment for the business.

    Duane Sparks is founder of The Sales Board, a sales training company that has trained 200,000+. Visit http://www.thesalesboard.com or 1-800-232-3485