Cheap & Sale in UK

Unleash Your Lead Generation Machine

2009-05-20T02:03:00.001-07:00

Lead generation is a funny thing. Itâs the lifeblood of any growing business, yet many approach it in a casual manner at best.

Consistently generating leads for your business takes momentum and momentum takes energy.

In my experience, lead generation energy is best created by effectively approaching your very well defined target market from several angles, advances and mediums.

Your multi-pronged attack should come just short of making them feel that you and your business are everywhere they want to go.

One way to accomplish this is through the carefree spending of bucket loads of money on advertising. Itâs an approach that has actually worked for some, but I donât recommend it for most small business owners.

A more effective small business lead generation machine, one that generates the greatest return on investment, is best created through the blending of targeted advertising, consistent public relations and a systematic approach to referrals.

This three prong attack is the stuff that momentum is built on.

Advertising

For most small businesses, direct mail is one of the best ways to target specific markets. The key to making small business direct mail, or any form of advertising, work is to use your advertising to gain marketing permission, before you try to gain a sale.

In other words, focus your advertising message on creating a lead. Make them an offer of a free report, seminar, evaluation, newsletter, or other low cost or no cost education message and let them begin to get to know you through this two step process.

The fact is you canât really expect a prospect to make a buying decision about your product or service from the 127 words you can cram onto a postcard. You can however, get their attention with a free report that offers them 5,000 words of your expertise. Once they have consumed that, they will be primed and ready for your follow-up sales message.

Public relations

PR is a big field but for the sake of this article, Iâm talking about two things â" Getting nice articles about your firm in publications read by your target market and placing expert articles, written by you, in publications read by your target market.

If you arenât doing both of these as part of your lead generation strategy, you are missing the boat.

When a prospect reads an article in a newspaper or magazine it carries much more credibility than an ad. The fact that someone else (the publication) thinks that you are great is a very strong endorsement.

Target the publications you want to appear in and then start to market to them. Read them, send information and notes to writers on staff, find out what guidelines they have for guest authors and start creating some positive PR to go along with your advertising.

Hereâs a quick tip. Ask your best clients what publications they read and rely on the most. This can be a great way to find the best publications to advertise in as well. Every industry has dozens of trade publications, but only a few are actually read.

Referrals

Itâs a good bet that a large percentage of your business came to you by referral. Cousin Louie liked what you did for him, so he told two friends and the rest history.

Referrals are a great way to build a business. Leads that come to you by way of referral generally cost nothing. Clients that come to you by way of referral are often your best clients.

Most small businesses get this, but few approach lead generation by way of referral in a systematic way. And, asking a few people if they know anybody that needs what you do is not a systematic referral approach.

Here are the steps in the system:

Target a referral source â" this could be your clients, but often the best referral sources are actually strategic partners that also serve your ideal target client

Educate your referral source â" Create a one page document that your referral sources can use to introduce what you do, how you do it and why they should consider having you do it for them. The biggest potential pitfall of a shoddy referral approach is that you get tons of leads that arenât right for you.

Communicate a creative referral marketing offer â" If you can create a game out referral lead generation everyone will want to play. Reward your referral sources in creative ways. Co-brand powerful information products and show your strategic partners how to use them.

Creative referral offers also make great news stories for your PR program.

Are you starting to get a glimpse of how some of this works together, builds momentum and creates energy?

About The Author
John Jantsch is a marketing coach, author and creator of the Duct Tape Marketing System. You can get more information about the Duct Tape System and download your free copy of "How To Grow Your Small Business Like Crazy by visiting http://www.ducttapemarketing.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Jantsch

Selling from your Heart

2009-05-19T18:03:00.001-07:00

Are you a Solopreneur, a Small Business Owner, a Helping Professional, or a Creative who is tired of trying to figure out how to sell yourself and your services without feeling uncomfortable or pushy? If so, you are not alone! Many of us have experienced manipulative and abrasive salespeople who have turned us off...made us cringe...and even stopped us entirely from pursuing a purchase we really wanted. If we ourselves have had poor experiences with salespeople, how can we be expected to enjoy becoming one? Well, let's look at the alternative. In order to bring our talents, our services, and our gifts to the world...we need to figure this out. What I know for sure is that we cannot grow our businesses without becoming comfortable with "selling"...so let's bite the bullet and master this "selling thing". "But we didn't sign on to be salespeople", you say. "We signed on to help people or to make a great product available or to express our creativity!" "We're ok with connecting with people, forming new relationships, and helping people to get what they need...but in a professional and non-threatening way." And so it is with "Selling from your Heart." "Selling from your Heart" is about forming connections with potential Clients, finding commonalities, enjoying conversations, figuring out what's missing, helping to clarify what's needed, and partnerning to find solutions. Is that something you're comfortable with? I thought so! So let's create a plan that will help you to embrace your professional selling self and, in so doing, enhance the very reputation of "selling". Step 1 Know Yourself. Who are you? What makes you special? What characteristics do you have that would attract someone to partner with you? What products or services do you have to offer them that is unique? Step 2 Get Clear On Who You Want to Attract. Who would you really like to work with? What qualities do these individuals have? What would it be like to have a relationship with these types of people? Create a "My Favorite Client" profile. Keep it in full sight. Step 3 Look for Your "Favorite Clients" Everywhere. It's like a treasure hunt. Where do they hang out? What do they read? What radio stations do they listen to? Where might you run into them? Step 4 Create an Image for these Individuals to See. How will you portray yourself to these potential Clients? What will you send them that will make you curious about you? Should you place a photo on your brochure? Should you pose a question in your copy that will make them say...Hmmm! What will make them reach out? Step 5 Imagine Yourself Conversing with Exactly the Type of Client you Seek. If you could talk with your Favorite Prospective Client, what would you like to find out about them? What would you like to share? How would you introduce yourself? What questions could you ask to put them at ease? Step 6 Be a Conversation Starter. Remember, people love to talk about themselves. Ask an "open-ended" question. Listen to the response. Listen some more. Come from curiosity. What does this person have to teach you? How might you two connect? What are the commonalities of experience? Is this someone you can help? Step 7 Move it Forward. Are you eager to share the "good news" about what you do with others? Are you excited about what you do? Are you comfortable in your own skin...even if it's new? Just be yourself. Share what turns you on. Tell a fun story. Move the relationship forward. Step 8 Watch for the "Magic Click". Are you feeling on the same wave length with this person? Does it just feel good to talk with them? Do you want to know more? Is the conversation "flowing"? Enjoy the connection! Step 9 Enjoy the New Relationship for What It Is Right Now. Be sure to be clear about what you do and why you love it. Invite your new acquaintances to "try you on"...through a sample or complimentary session. Nurture this new connection. Be there when they're ready to learn more. Step 10 Be Ready for Them When They're Ready for You. When the time is right for them, be easy to find. Congratulate your new Client on the choice they've made to better their life. Build on this wonderful, new relationship. Strengthen it with intimacy, caring, and skill. So this,my friends, is "Selling from your Heart". How much fun is this! You have opportunity after opportunity to connect with people, form new relationships, share your talents and skills and products, and help people to get what they need...exactly what you signed on for. And don't forget to keep the conversation going for a long, long time. Ask your new Clients to give you feedback on how the process or service or product feels to them. When they're delighted by the results, ask them to spread the good word through a Testimonial or other venue. If they forget, ask them again. Create a graceful ending when it is time for them to leave you. Keep in touch. Are you ready to make "Selling from your Heart" a goal in the new year? I hope so. Your reward will be a Client Base that is suited to exactly who you are who will help you to market your products and services for a long, long time to come. Happy selling!

Cold Calling Nightmare -- Turn the Nightmare into a Sales Success

2009-05-19T10:03:00.001-07:00

Do you know that some of the greatest salesmen do it on the phone?

Yet, I keep hearing how cold calling is a nightmare, how they hate it, and how even some sales gurus say "cold calling is dead." Here are some of the reasons Iâve heard from my own sales trainees, at least in the beginning:

1) Rejectionâ"All I got was Noâs and the phone slammed in my ear.

2) All I got was voice mail jail and no one ever returns my calls.

And there are others, but most come back to the same thing: the obstacle you are facing isnât out there in the cold cruel world. It resides right between your own two ears. Your own beliefs are the obstacle. It isnât anywhere else.

For this article weâre going to deal with the âallâ syndrome and rejection.

A client and I once developed a cold calling campaign plan. He was to make 200 cold calls in the next week. We developed the general idea of what he was going to say, who he was going to call, and how he was going to say it. Then we practiced it until he sounded natural.

When we got together the following week, I asked, So, howâd it go? âHorrible, all I got was phones slammed in my ear, P.O.âd people and Noâs galore. It just didnât work at all.â

How many calls did you make?

â30, and after all those Noâs, I gave up.â

How many appointments did you get?â

âOnly one.â

So, what was your success ratio? How many appointments for how many calls?

âLetâs see, I think that isâ¦.1 in 30, or 3%.â

And what was our original estimate. Wasnât it 1 in 25? So, how can you say that it was a failure? You werenât far off.

ââ¦â¦.butâ¦.butâ¦all of those Noâs, 29 out of 30. That was mostly failure!â

Letâs see, at 1-2 minutes per call for Noâs, and maybe 5+ for the yes, how many minutes did you spend to get just one appointment? Isnât that around 60 minutes to get an appointment? Not bad if you ask me. What would have happened if you had made all 200 calls?

âMaybe 6-7 appointmentsâ¦.Wait a minute, didnât we target 8 appointments for the 200 calls?!?!â

How many calls were necessary to achieve your goal of 8 appointments a week? (This is probably THE MOST important question since it tells you clearly what you have to do to get the needed RESULTS).

Another thing would have happened if he had made the 200 calls: Heâd have gotten better and better, gotten over his fear, and probably would have seen his call success improving toward the 1 in 25 calls, or even better.

I tell most of my clients that they need to make about 500 calls to get good at it. The trouble is that most never reach 500 calls, or if you do it takes them 2 years to do it, and by that time either the boss has eliminated you, or if you are a business owner your overhead costs have eliminated you.

It all started with the âallâ syndrome. In other words our belief that

ALL we got was noâs, ALL we got were Voice Mails, and that NO ONE ever returned a call.

Itâs the glass half full or half empty issue. That is a belief that in this case isnât valid.

Use the Plan â" Do â" Improve/Optimize scenario.

Plan what you are going to do, Do it (make sure to measure the results so you know what works and what doesnât), make changes (new plans), and Go back through that loop over and over.

Letâs apply that to the scenario above.

Develop what you are going to say, how you are going to say it and to who. Find the reasons why someone would even want to talk to you and develop it. Measure your success, measure how many successes you had out of how many calls. In most cases, it really isnât as bad as everyone makes out. Now that you have the key measurementsâ"fix them. That means, change what you say, how you say it, or who you say it to, and watch the numbers. Do they go up, or down? Capture what works, and learn from what doesnât. Youâll see those numbers constantly moving up.

Learn the best way from the expertsâ¦get every book you can, go to training classes, hire a sales coach.

You are always in control. Don't be at the mercy of anything, someone else, the environment, the market place.

Sales Results -- not just Training

Typical results Leads -- up 5-10 times Sales closes -- up 4-5 times

Alan Boyer, The Leader's Perspective, LLC Reach Further Than You EVER Thought Possible...FASTER http://www.leaders-perspective.com

Psychology - the Magic Selling Ingredient

2009-05-19T02:03:00.000-07:00

Basic psychology is about people's needs and their need to fulfil them. Most of us have a distinct priority at any given time, one problem that must be solved before all others, a "one thing at a time" mentality. You will be unlikely to interest a homeless man in a new car, until he's fulfilled his basic need for shelter first - unless he plans to live in the vehicle, I suppose. Understanding this principle and seeing how it applies to selling, will enhance your sales performance zillion-fold. Sell one thing at a time and concentrate on that. Sell other things as "back-end" once the immediate need is fulfilled. Don't confuse, don't stray from the point, do stick on the blinkers and keep to the target and the matter in hand. Don't overlook the obvious. Make sure you put the words "Click Here" on a banner. People respond to simple commands. Serve up testimonials next to your products or your newsletter sign-up form. People want to belong to groups: they'll want to belong to your "club" if it is seen to be a good one and endorsed by others. Use colours that convey the right image and incite the right actions. Want to be seen as an authority? Use black and yellow. Conservative and business-like? Dark blue, maybe a bit of grey. Business-like and money-orientated? Blue and green - which so many large corporate sites have adopted. Positioning of elements on a web page also makes a big difference. Apparently, whatever is at the top-right of the screen is what's most likely to get clicked. The average eye is drawn to that position - nothing to do with Windows' exit button being up there, I'm sure! This and 90% of the population being right-handed, to me, makes a strong case for right-hand navigation, with your best offer in pole position. Words: I could write tomes on what you can do with them! But I won't make an idiot of myself, instead read what great copywriters like David Garfinkel, who is the author of Killer Copy Tactics and widely acclaimed as "The World's Greatest Copywriting Coach" says. He uses psychology to great effect: http://www.roibot.com/kc.cgi The main point with words is to get to the emotions of your visitors. It has been said time and time again, but all anyone is interested in, is what your product or service will do for them. They do not care who you are or how many bells your widget has: they want to know if it will save them time or money, make them more desirable to the opposite sex or solve some problem they have. You need to show them the problem and how your offer solves it for them. Some of these things are seemingly very small, simple and insignificant, which is the beauty of them and, at the same time, the very reason why most people will overlook them. Using the right format in terms of colour, design and wording will have psychological influence on your visitors, which turns them into subscribers, buyers or whatever it is you desire. Great to have power, isn't it? I know, I know, it all sounds awfully manipulative and in the wrong hands, I'd tend to agree with you. But I am not talking about making people do something against their will. I am saying that this is nature and harnessing it: guiding people in the direction that they would naturally go, is a far more logical way of obtaining the result you require. Think about the rules of Judo or Karate, where you utilise your opponent's own strength to gain advantage. Pushing them further in the direction that they were already going will have them over a lot easier than it would have if you'd struggled to use your strength against them in the opposite direction. The same goes for mental engagements. People - that includes you and me, whether we wish to admit it or not - do react in almost predictable ways to these stimuli. It is our nature: instinct and it surely makes sense to work with that, rather than against it. Otherwise, you are fighting against people and nature: giving yourself an uphill struggle, creating an unnecessary battle and a hurdle to be overcome. Don't make it hard for yourself or your prospective clients. Know who they are and what they need, fulfil that and you are well on your way to success.

10 Important Things To Tell Your Prospects

2009-05-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

10 Important Things To Tell Your Prospects by: William R. Nabaza of http://www.Nabaza.com 1. Tell your prospects that you offer free delivery. This may cost a little money, but, you will gain the extra customers to make up for it. 2. Tell your prospects that you offer a lower price. If you can't afford to offer a lower price you could always hold the occasional discount sale. 3. Tell your prospects that your product achieves results faster. People are becoming more and more impatient and want results fast. 4. Tell your prospects you've been in business for a longer period of time. People think if you've been in business longer you have more credibility. 5. Tell your prospects that your product tastes, smells sounds, looks, or feels better. When you target the senses you're triggering human appeal. 6. Tell your prospects your product is compact or light. People may want to take the product on a trip or don't have much room where they live. 7. Tell your prospects that your product lasts longer. People don't like to spend more money purchasing replacement products all the time. 8. Tell your prospects that your product is easy to use. People don't want to buy a product that they have to read a 100 page instruction manual. 9. Tell your prospects that your product has better safety features. People want to feel safe when they use your products. 10. Tell your prospects that you stand behind all your products. People want to know that you backup any claims you make about your product. ---- William Nabaza of http://www.Nabaza.com specializes in domains, webhosting, webmaster's tools, netpreneur's articles and resources. Stands out as a freebie provider, business opportunity provider and the like. Visit his site at http://www.nabaza.com or contact him directly at william@nabaza.com more free articles here: http://www.nabaza.com/resources.htm

The Critical Factor In Consistent Sales Success

2009-05-18T10:03:00.001-07:00

âAlways bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing.â

- Abraham Lincoln -

I have recognized for years that I could teach and then drill selling skills into a promising sales representative and could help my client to create a climate for self-motivation and yet some representatives with extremely high potential for success still would fail at the selling process. To combat this unpredictable failure, I often have counseled clients to hire two representatives to end up with one good one or three to get two. Even though I believed that a new sales person would do well as long as he had been given the right selling and prospecting tools and the motivation to spur him into action, often I saw perfectly capable employees leave the selling profession, simply because of a missing ingredient. I couldnât quite put my finger on the elusive success component, but I did feel it had something to do with an individualâs achievement drive. Thatâs why I initially created our Getting An Edge workshop and self-administered reinforcement series (see http://thesellingedge.com/manual2.htm). After watching good people fail, I sensed that there was a missing factor in our sales training. Now research by Dr. Kevin Celuch, professor of Marketing at Illinois State University, has not only identified and clarified the critical ingredient to sales success, but he has made some vital suggestions on how to instill this factor into individual sales representatives.

Dr. Celuchâs has analyzed* 166 previous studies that had been completed on selling success. In his research he found that even with all of the vital selling skills in place and a motivational climate within a given company, a sales representative or service professional will often fail due to what Celuch refers to as âa vital mediating factorâ between a sales personâs selling skills and motivation. This mediating factor, is a sales personâs own self-esteem. Celuchâs study shows an extremely low correlation between sales success on one hand and a sales representativeâs aptitude, sales techniques, organizational skill and motivation factors on the other. Across a long list of diverse selling activities and abilities, the real indicator of selling success found in the Celuch study was a sales professionalâs perceived self-efficacy. A âbelief in oneselfâ was Dr. Celuchâs explanation for a salespersonâs behavior and performance levels. He found that self-belief was the critical intermediary between a sales representativeâs knowledge and the professionalâs behavior.

It is interesting that a gut feeling that I have had about sales success for the past 17 years has finally been proven by research. Achievement drive, the self-esteem that drives achievement, is critical to your companyâs overall selling success. Those of you that use testing before hiring new sales associates should make certain that this critical factor is assessed by your tests and weighted heavily as you make decisions regarding those that you hire. For those sales representatives already in place, you need to assess your programs for helping the employees crucial to the overall success of your organization to maintain and consistently improve their feelings of self-worth. The manual listed in the first paragraph can help anyone to alter negative feelings and attain a personal belief levels that will produce consistent sales success.

* Source: Kevin Celuch, Illinois Stale University. Based on "Perceived Self-Efficacy and Salesperson Performance," presented to Pi Sigma Epsilon research fraternity convention.

VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling EdgeÂ®, Inc. an Ohio consulting firm specializing in sales and sales management training, personal coaching, advisory services and publishing. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Service Linen Supply, Bank One, Jefferson Wells International, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of the âbest sellingâ Building & Closing the Sale, Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publications a division of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching, telemarketing, and personal productivity manuals. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden's latest books, 101 Sales Myths or Organizing For Sales Success, go to: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/

How To Pick The Right Direct Sales Company

2009-05-18T02:03:00.001-07:00

I have people ask me all the time what direct sales company they should join. This may seem like a simple question, but unfortunately it isnât that easy to answer. The short answer is âIt dependsâ. Let me explain why and what you should look for in a direct sales company that is right for you. The ideal or best direct sales company for you should fulfill as many of the following criteria as possible.

Love The Product

The most important thing when picking a direct sales company is that you love the product. Donât join a company because you think the product would be easy to sell, find one with a product that you actually use, find helpful and enjoy. Your passion for the product will come across as you tell others about it and make selling it much easier. Your potential customers will sense how much you like and enjoy the product. This can go a long way in earning their trust to spend their hard earned dollars with you. And no â" you canât fake that kind of passion for a product. Donât even try.

Fair and Competitive Compensation

Keep in mind that you are in this to earn a living, even if your goal is only to make a couple hundred bucks a month. Take a look at what some of the other direct sales companies are paying, both in commission and bonuses. Make sure the companies you have narrowed it down to offer a fair and competitive compensation plan.

While you are looking at this, also keep in mind how much you will have to spend to join. How quickly can you expect to recoup your initial investment? I would be much rather inclined to give a company with a slightly lower compensation a try if it doesnât cost me much to join.

Great Customer Service

Have you ordered something through the company? Do you know someone else who has ordered through them as a customer? How was the customer service experience? Part of your long-term strategy is to build up a customer base that will order through you over and over again. Bad customer service on the company end will make keeping your customers hard.

Training and Support For You

Last, but not least, you want to make sure the company offers you the training and support to help you grow your business. Do they have a training manual and ongoing meetings or classes? You should also discuss when and how you could contact your sponsor for support. Talk to other reps in the organization, or even better find someone who is no longer with the company and talk to them about their experiences dealing with the company as a rep.

Donât just take your sponsorâs word for it. Remember, she may be sugar-coating things a little, since she will be compensated for recruiting you. Overall, take your time evaluating any direct-sales company you are considering joining. Donât just jump in, do you homework and I am sure you will find the Direct Sales Company that is right for you.

For more direct sales business tips, advice, articles, and suggestions head over to http://www.mommysplace.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nell_Taliercio

Burn Your Boat!

2009-05-17T18:03:00.001-07:00

Do you allow fear, anxiety and worry to dominant your thinking? Do you find yourself frequently questioning your decision to become a salesperson? Having self doubt or a lack of commitment is emotionally draining and erodes your effectiveness. A truly committed person does not have the luxury nor the time for the self-indulgence of negative thinking. No great achievement has ever been accomplished without a plan and a commitment to see it through. There is magic in commitment! In battle, the ancient Greeks developed a well-deserved reputation for bravery and determination. They were successful because they were well trained, well lead and most of all, well motivated. The Greek commanders were master motivators and knew how to instill commitment and prepare their soldiers for victory. For you see, once they landed on enemy shores, the Greek generals would give the order to âburn the boats.â Imagine the psychological impact on the soldiers as they watched their boats being set to the torch. Once their boats were burned, they realized that the only way they were going home was by conquering their enemy â" there was no turning back. There is a great deal of power and wisdom in what the ancient Greeks understood. In your sales career you are not asked to commit to battle, but make no mistake, commitment is required. Your battles are not fought on enemy shores but within the confines of your own mind. There is a need to commit to self and to career. Until you have made the decision to be fully committed, there is hesitancy and the opportunity to draw back. The moment one defiantly commits oneself, magical things happen. The true underlying motivation for all success is a deep and unwavering commitment to the task at hand. If you are being pushed around mentally by thoughts of fear, anxiety and worry, itâs time to âburn your boatâ and become fully committed to your sales career.

6 Steps to Closing the Sale

2009-05-17T10:03:00.001-07:00

When it comes to closing the sale do you really know how to close? Do you freeze up afraid to close or don't know what to say? Do you know how and when to close the sale or even if the prospect is interested in your product? Well, read on and I'll share with you six ways to overcome these common challenges and increase your closing ratio. Your Attitude Makes a Huge Difference Before going to any appointment get yourself in the right frame of mind. Go in with the attitude that you will close the sale. When I'm driving to an a appointment I'm not listening to the radio, I'm imagining how the sale is going to end up, me closing the sale. When I arrive at the appointment I sit in my car for a few minutes, close my eyes and visualize every thing happening just as I want it to. I see the prospect approving the contract, giving me the check and us shaking hands and smiling. If your attitude going in is negative you might as well get back in your car and go home. ABC - Always be Closing Be prepared to close the sale at any time. Be ready to close when you walk in the door. The sales process doesn't have to continue through all the steps. You can close the sale at any time. I have seen many salespeople with a prospect who is ready to buy, money in hand, waving it in the air, however, the salesperson stops them and says wait, I haven't finished my presentation yet, let me tell you how great I am. They've been taught to go through all the steps so they keep talking and many times talk themselves out of a sale. At any point during the sales process the prospect is ready to buy...close the sale. Understanding What They Want and Need "Closing is the process of helping people make decisions that are good for them" Closing the sale begins when you qualify the prospect. Make sure you are qualifying every prospect thoroughly. Determine their emotional wants and their motives. It's at this stage the prospect will tell you their hot buttons and give you the road map to close them. Also they will become comfortable with you and by showing an interest in their needs you will set your self apart from all the other salespeople. How to Recognize Buying Signs Buyers will often give you signs they want what you're selling. These signs can either be verbal or visual. Let's start with the verbal. A buyer may start asking more questions. They nod their head in agreement. They require more in depth information. They start talking about how things will be when they own the product. Some visual signs to watch for are a smile, a raising of the eyebrows or moving closer to you so they can see better. If it's a couple they may show more affection or they may look at each other in a certain way. When you have memorized your presentation you can be more aware of these buying signs and your closing ratio will increase dramatically. When you know what you are going to say and don't need to think about it, your sales will increase dramatically because you can sit back and watch their body language and buying signals and you'll know when they're ready to buy. How to Make the Decision to Close The Sale When you have qualified the prospect properly, the buying signs are there and you know they want to buy, make the decision that the best thing for them is to buy. Then focus your attention on talking about the things they like or feel are important as you close the sale. Put your personal feelings about your product or service aside and focus on the buyer. Assume the Sale If you've done everything right and the buying signs are there, assume the sale and begin filling out the order or what ever the next step is. Keep moving ahead until they stop you. If you did your job and your closing the sale at the right time, they won't stop you. I have given you an overview of the closing process, however there is much more to closing the sale. Far to many details to discuss in this article. So I have created a free 4 day e-course to give you more indepth strategies and closes. Do you have only one or two closes in your arsenal? Is your best close, well, what do you think? or the real powerhouse, can I put you down for one? Or do you just want to master the closing process so you can increase your sales? Then take my free four part mini course where I go deeper in to the process of closing the sale.

Business Sales Leads

2009-05-17T02:03:00.001-07:00

When talking about business sales leads, it is important to understand the buyer, and to create a customer through this understanding. Buyer behavior studies can play a pivotal part in this regard. A lot of time and effort have been spent on this relatively new discipline. And every buyer-study has unfolded some new dimension of this discipline. The subject has been approached and analyzed from different angles and under different premises. Different inferences have been formulated. But the subject, too complex to beat, still remains a theorem without a proof.

What motivates the buyer? What induces him to buy? Why does he buy a specific brand from a particular shop? Why does he shift his preferences from one shop to another or from one brand to another? How does he react to a new product introduced to the market, or a piece of information addressed to him? What are the stages he travels through before he makes the decision to buy?

These are some of the questions that are of perennial interest to business firms regarding the sale of their products. It is around these questions that the product and promotion strategies of the business firm ultimately revolve. In all of their strategies and plans, firms make assumptions as to how the buyers would behave and respond to marketing programs. Knowledge of the buyer and his buying motives and habits is thus a fundamental necessity for getting business sales leads.

It needs to be emphasized at the very outset that there is no unified, well-defined, tested and universally established theory of buyer behavior. What we have, today, are certain ideas on buyer behavior. Some of these ideas have taken their cue from economics, others from psychology and yet others have drawn cues from several of the social sciences simultaneously.

Business Leads provides detailed information on Business Lead Lists, Business Leads, Business Sales Leads, Free Business Leads and more. Business Leads is affiliated with Sales Lead Management.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Marlborough

Let's Take the Fear and Mystique Out of Selling!

2009-05-16T18:03:00.001-07:00

Face it â" nobody likes cold calling. Most of us cringe when we hear these words â" we tend to conjure up visions of a vacuum cleaner salesman reaching in and pouring cigarette ashes on the rug before we can get the front door closed.

In recent years, many small businesses have been founded on the premise that the World Wide Web will make personal selling obsolete and unnecessary. The truth is: unless your product or service is cutting-edge with few competitors, you will have to sell it! And by selling it, I am not referring to impersonal Website selling; weâre talking belly-to-belly, folks!

Listen, I realize that some of you get nervous at the mere thought of having to âcold-callâ strangers. But wait - this isnât so scary as you might imagine. Letâs evaluate a somewhat âsofterâ side of selling from a systems perspective.

The plain truth about selling is: we all do it. You do it. I do it. Your significant other does it. And believe it or not your kids use selling techniques on you all the time. Anyone who has accomplished anything in his or her life has had to sell people on an idea or the value of a project in order to get there. Thatâs right â" they sold someone on the idea of helping him or her. The problem is that in our society we have a skewed idea of the true value of something that in reality we use all the time! The truth is: selling is an accepted and necessary social activity, when conducted in an honest, straightforward way.

Before we can begin to develop a systematic approach to selling, we must come to terms with the following truths:
1.Selling is a necessary activity that creates value for both seller and buyer.
2.You should not try to sell to someone who doesnât yet see need or value in your product or service.
3.Trust and confidence are the most important components of the selling relationship. They are a challenge to obtain and remarkably easy to lose.

Letâs take a look at each of these in turn. To begin with, you must believe in the value you and your product or service can provide to your clients. If you donât believe in your own value, you wonât come across as sincere when you talk to people about it. People donât buy anything from insincere people. So if you feel that salespeople in general are simply devious predators, get over it! The truth is, selling is a necessary and vital activity that brings solutions together with problems to the benefit of all concerned. You are an expert in your field â" a problem solver. Think of yourself as a vital component of your potential clientsâ chain of success. Doesnât knowing this foster a more positive self-image than that of a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman with a can of ashes? (My apologies to vacuum cleaner salespeople everywhere!)

Now that you see yourself as a problem-solver rather than a salesperson, letâs look at truth number two. Weâve all heard sales trainers stress that you must convince prospective customers that they need your product or service. While it is true that most people have problems that require solutions, itâs also true that folks simply donât like other people they donât know telling them what the right solution is. I stress the phrase, âpeople they donât know.â This is key, and an important component of truth number three, which Iâll address in a moment. So how do you get prospects to see the value in your offering? Answer - try a more collaborative approach. Begin by striking up conversations with potential clients in neutral situations. Examples of neutral situations include meetings of fraternal (Rotary, Kiwanis, Jaycees) and trade organizations (your industry or professional specialty probably has several of these, possibly with local chapters), which you should join if you are truly serious about growing your business; business âmeet & greetsâ; community volunteering opportunities; and certain family events like your kidsâ sports and extracurricular activities. These are all opportunities to meet local business people who have problems that will benefit from your solutions.

I know â" you donât want these new acquaintances to think of you as one of those (see âcan of ashesâ) people. However â" and this is important â" if you want to be successful, you must be continuously promoting your business. No one will do that for you, unless you can afford a public relations officer and an expensive ad agency. Accept this as a fact of business life.

So how should you approach someone in a neutral environment? First of all, get to know the person personally. Try to find a common personal interest you can discuss together. After all, youâre both at this event, right? So you may have more in common than you think. Next, ask the other person what they do for a living. Try to draw them out and get them to be specific. Asking leading questions and listening actively will help you determine if your product or service is applicable to their situation. If it isnât â" well, youâve at least possibly made a new friend and confidant, and whatâs wrong with that? If you do find that your new contact might be a problem you can solve, donât jump on them with anything that smacks of âsales pitchâ at this point â" youâll just turn them off. Instead, explain briefly what you do and take this approach: ask the new contact if you can meet them (over lunch, golf, tennis, in their office, racquetball, dinner, or whatever works) for a few minutes to get their thoughts on what they think of your business and your approach. Donât sell- instead ask for a little consulting help. Make them feel that you genuinely value their advice.

Once you have set up the meeting, show up intending to involve the other person in your business. Let them get to know you personally first by sharing personal information about yourself. This begins the process that is brought to light in truth number three: trust and confidence are what get you new business â" not hard selling skills. Whether you know it or not, by allowing the prospect to get to know you a little, youâve already begun the selling process. Keep it soft â" donât pressure your prospect too much. At the same time, be listening for opportunities to show him or her what your capabilities are. Be ready with testimonials: stories of projects youâve worked successfully that mirror your prospectâs situation. People like stories; they add credibility and make it easier to relate problems to solutions. Draw out the prospect â" remember this rule: if youâre talking, youâre not selling. Become an active listener. Successful salespeople only do 25 percent of the talking in a sales interview. Now that you have established rapport and begun to develop a personal relationship, itâs much easier to discuss the solutions you are selling and relate them to problems your new acquaintance may be experiencing. This is not so scary, is it? Hereâs a recap of this client-generating âsystemâ:
1.Join business and professional organizations and get involved in their activities. In addition, be aware of the potential for making contacts in other social situations.
2.Approach the people you meet as a person who is worth knowing personally first. Invite them to get together socially in a neutral place.
3.During the meeting, strengthen your personal relationship before getting to business.
4.Next, ask them what they think of your business; ask the prospect to act as a casual âconsultantâ to your business.
5.Once youâve established a personal relationship, the trust youâve nurtured makes it much easier to talk with them about the business solutions you are prepared to offer.

For small business owners, new business development can be a daunting task. Taking a low pressure/ non-aggressive approach toward developing new clients can be quite rewarding; it certainly is considerably less threatening for both you and your potential clients. It also makes more sense than the hard sell, âashes on the rugâ approach we all know and dread. Next time, try the friendly approach â" I think youâll be surprised how effective it can be.

Brian Cushing is a sales trainer, college professor, and author; his firm, Peddlesmarter.com, helps small businesses develop and manage new customer relationships through promotional and sales training activities. Contact him at: boxstep052@sbcglobal.net

Choose a price that sells! (Part I)

2009-05-16T10:03:00.001-07:00

The best price is that price that maximizes your profits while building a lifetime customer through value satisfaction. On the Internet, time waits for no company. Your customer has access to tons of information through the Web. Your competitor is a mere mouse click away. You have to get the best price right... the first time. In the digital market scene, there are very few second chances. Pricing is risky. What price is too high? What price is too low? Will a certain price work three months from now? Do you know? Do you know for sure? Pricing is the single most important marketing decision you'll ever make. You have to know what price you should charge so that you can promote it effectively and place it into the hands of your customer. It's the marketing guide to success! Ken Evoy from SiteSell priced their first e-book, Make Your Site Sell! (MYSS!) at: http://newsletter.easy-home-business.com/hts/myss.html at the ridiculously low price of US $17 to penetrate a competitive marketplace. They wanted to overwhelm their customer with high-quality information at a price that anyone with *any* interest at all in selling on the Net could not reasonably refuse. The result? Huge sales, delighted readers and MYSS! is known as the BIBLE of how to sell on the Net... While they knew the general strategy for MYSS!... Did they know the right price before starting out? No way! Did they know what effect $5 more or less would have on the bottom line? Nope. Did they like that lack of confidence? Strike three. Take a minute or a few more... go back to the computer and do a search on the Net for the keywords "pricing" or "pricing software". I'll wait right here.... :-) ... No surprise that you're back so soon! There's not much out there to help anyone, small or large business owner, to price perfectly. If you are selling a commodity, you already know that your profit margins have to be razor-thin. You are forced to compete on price. It's sometimes the only thing that sets you apart from the field. Your business operation has to be seamless. Gaps are too costly. If you have a proprietary product, its uniqueness and benefits have to be recognized as such by the market. You have to know if your product has enough original features to warrant a higher price than the cookie-cutters around it. What are the usual approaches for pricing? The traditional "bottom up" salad bowl approach... direct and overhead costs tossed together with market pressures before being "dressed" by the price A chat with your salespeople A look at the competition's markup I think we agree that pricing is critical to our businesses. It's the only part of our operating equation that brings money into the company and into our individual pockets. It's the P that "extracts the value" out of the perceived value that you create through the product itself, and through your promotion of it. Because of that, the price for a product or service has to be a top priority. The perfect price maximizes profits... and income is what it's all about at the end of a business day. Luckily for you, but definitely not for your competition, you're on your way to success. After reading this web page, you will know how to determine the right price. You will know how to *find* the Perfect price. THE 4 P OF MARKETING First of all examine your business using the 4 P of marketing magnifying glass. Look at your Product. What do you sell? What does your customer buy? What are its major benefits? How important and unique are they? Look at your Promotion. How do you promote your product or service? Look at your Place. How do you ship from place A to place B? Look at your Price. How do you decide on which price to charge? How did you decide on your "macro" pricing model (ex., penetration-pricing or priced model) and how did you choose the exact number? Write down your answers. You need a strategy for every part of your business operation to guarantee success -- the pieces of the e-commerce puzzle have to fit together. You need to be able to set the best price of your product or service with clarity. And you want to see the results of that decision *increase* the income side of your ledger. PRICING MODELS PRICING TO PENETRATE: Your objective here is to penetrate the market fast and deep. In other words, sell as many units of the your product as possible. So, you set your price low. Use this strategy to establish a powerful position in the market quickly. Why? The basic goal is to acquire as many customers as quickly as possible. In other words, you are "buying market share" to establish dominance. You may also be sensing that more competition is on the way. Market dominance is particularly relevant when you consider that shopping (and buying!) on the Internet is about to explode over the next two years... all over the world, not just in your neck of the woods. You want to have a well-established online presence before the throngs of new customers are grabbed by other businesses. The best price to penetrate was the model for Make Your Site Sell (MYSS!), the BIBLE for making a site that sells. SKIMMING THE CREAM: This is the opposite pricing strategy to penetration. Here, the best price is deliberately set high, in order to reap large profit margins. This is usually at the cost of losing a large number of customers. High price tactics are also known as "selling off market share." You gain income from those high profit margins, in exchange for having a smaller and smaller percentage of the market buying your product. This model works well if you have a proprietary product. Some customers will pay more for uniqueness, especially if good value is perceived as part of the equation. Typically, two scenarios work with high-pricing... When you first launch a product and want to recoup all the R&D quickly. Good examples are consumer electronics "Prestige pricing" -- Mercedes-Benz, Tiffany's. Sometimes an example is worth 1,000 words. :-) "Skimming" carries some important risks... Big profit margins attract competitors who want a piece of the same pie. The only difference though... they are willing to shave dollar signs off to get the eye of that Web customer with the open wallet. The second "speed bump" has to do with public relations. Your business will not survive if customers feel that they have been "taken for a ride" BEST PRICE TO KILL: Here, profit is definitely not the objective. No competition is the goal, at whatever cost it takes. It's *not* for the faint of heart. In many cases, it is not even legal. OK. Three distinct business/pricing models. Which one matches yours? For small-to-mid-sized businesses, your choice is usually between penetration pricing and high- pricing. Don't make the mistake of doing a "little of each" -- you'll end up in a fatal valley between the two. Ask yourself these four questions... What was my goal when I chose my model? Knowing where I am now with my business, would I have chosen a different approach? What are the pros and cons of my pricing strategy? Which model do I see myself using three months from now? With confidence? THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PRICING Let's consider the power of the following selling techniques... The arranged smell of fresh-baked bread in a house to ignite childhood memories of food or family in the prospective home-buyer. Fresh flowers/produce near the grocery store's entrance to encourage impulse buying --something that's not "on the list". Big sale signs at the back of the boutique to force the customer to walk by all this season's clothing styles. The offer of free money or big prizes on the Web site in order to get the visitor's click and cookie. All four strategies above involve pyschology. It's a reality in the business world today. You've got to be able to get inside your customer's head. And not leave one empty space for your competitor! It's a race for "share of mind." Pricing is no exception. Reflect on the psychology in our guiding e-commerce statement... The perfect price is that price that maximizes your profits while building a lifetime customer through value satisfaction How do you define "value satisfaction"? By putting yourself into your customers' shoes -- simple but often ignored advice. Sometimes a vendor thinks that s/he knows what's best for the customer. Let's call it the "mothering-smothering effect." If you reverse your viewpoint by coming at it from your customer's angle, then you start to look at your product differently. (That's the funny thing about pyschology, it works on both sides of the business fence.) Price to attract those first-time customers and let the value of your product "keep" them with you for a lifetime. So where do you start? That's as easy as counting... ONE) The most common pyschological technique is to use a price that ends in any number but 0 or 1. We all know how much better 99 cents sounds than $1.00 -- and $997 in comparison to $1000. How W-I-D-E that narrow gap is to our buying ear. The customer feels like the saving is MUCH more than 3 dollars... And s/he credits that "good feeling" to you, the vendor. This effect happens even more so with the next method. TWO) "Value-bundling" gives the customer the great feeling of getting something for nothing. Here products that have a logical association with one another are grouped together and a better price is set for the combination. Value-bundling is a powerful method if the price of your bundle equals the price of the most expensive component. Yup, you know,the refrain... "I would've paid that much just for the... " Want an example? SiteSell.com value-bundled Make Your Knowledge Sell! (MYKS!) http://newsletter.easy-home-business.com/hts/myks.html to the extreme. MYKS! shows you how to find "the infoproduct within," how to create and publish it, and how to market and sell it. It's under one single "MYKS!" roof. You need *absolutely* nothing else to succeed at selling what's in your brain. If they had stopped there, the value alone would be terrific. But they didn't stop there... They added 7 more indispensable tools so MYKS! is actually "The Complete Infopreneur's Toolkit" and not just a book. THREE) 15%, 25%, 40%... how much louder that price tag seems to scream as the percentage grows. You bet, it catches the ear and eye of the customer. Use discounting to... Build existing customer loyalty. This is so easy on the Net. You can reach previous customers with a quick e-mail and offer them a price reduction on your new product. To emphasize the point, set up a special discount url for this select group (which, of course, should include your deserving affiliates.) Show your appreciation concretely. Encourage or reward bulk buying. Go beyond the obvious reduced "per unit shipping charge"... offer "three for $20" (or better, $19.95) for that $7 bottle of wine. Sure, the margin is a bit less... but your gross is much better. Your customer saves on shipping, product cost, and gets that Runder $20 psychological boost. Compete with your competitors as in the case of seasonal deals or for special markets like seniors and students. Who can turn down a good deal? Not me (at least that's what my wife says!). Discounting can be a strong tool. But it's not without its own Achilles' heel... Define your goal clearly, before you discount. Otherwise, you're just giving money away. Who can afford that? -- FOUR) The third pricing approach uses the pyschology of perception. You know that truism... Quality is in the eye of the beholder. And where does "the eye" land on the Net? That's right. On your Web site. If your site makes a great sales effort, you will be able to build a higher perceived value. And that will support a higher price for your product. It's *worth* it to the customer. This is IMPORTANT -- if you sell via the Web, one of your site's most important functions is to build perceived value. Whatever that value is, when it comes to selling on the Net... Never price beyond the value that your Web site creates and that your product supports. Not if you want to build a successful, growing, long-term business, that is. FIVE) The final strategy examines the price-sensitivity. I call it "rubber band" pyschology. Customer perception comes into play again, as well as competition on the market. If demand for your product drops when you increase the price by only 1%, you have a product that is very price-sensitive or price-elastic. If on the other hand, doubling the price only causes a slight drop, you have a price-inelastic product -- that means that it almost doesn't matter what price you charge because people will still buy it... within limits, of course. Make Your Price Sell! http://newsletter.easy-home-business.com/hts/myps.html can let you finds those limits, plus the perceived value of your product, you will be able to use a line graph to see how your product reacts to changes in the price. OK. That's it for the psychology of pricing. What's the key point? No matter what approach you use, it has to "ring true" to the customer. S/he will only be attracted to your price and product, if it's *worth* it. Written by Dr. Roberto A. Bonomi

Remember High Tech can equal High Touch

2009-05-16T02:03:00.001-07:00

Do you remember the commercial where the sales manager handed out airline tickets because the sales staff was loosing touch with their customers? That impactful commercial typifies the fear many corporate executives have when approaching the natural extension of e-business. I believe high tech equals high touch. Here are some essential concerns to keep in mind when approaching e-business. These questions can help you focus your electronic growth so that you will humanize your e-business strategies. 1.)Today, how do you communicate on a daily with your customers? Look at your current business model and consider how you take orders. By building an online order taking process, you can offer your customers the best of both worlds with traditional and online ordering. This online extension of order taking will save your customers time and create good will toward your company. Technology can extend order taking by linking with your existing inventory control and accounting systems therefore streamlining your processes. The streamlining will reduce your customers' paperwork and cost per transaction as well as making it easier to interact with your company. 2.)What are the repeat questions your customers ask? A simple, focused web presence can head off those repetitive questions from potential customers. Yes, your are right in that you can turn face-to-face questions into a sale. You need to remember today's customers are using email and the Internet to scout potential vendors. Today buyers do their research before picking up the telephone. Online FAQ's will provide the background they are seeking so they are more informed when they contact you. This gives your sales associates an advantage. They can turn that potential call into a personal, human interaction if sales associates do not have to repeat FAQ's. 3.)How many of your customers are online and actively using e-mail? Ignore your customers and they will go away. This common phrase is a lesson in how not treat your customers. A recent study by Jupiter communications revealed that 42 percent of companies tested didn't respond to relevant email inquiries and took more than five days. If your customers are using email (and they are) then you must be ready to respond. Consider your business model. Who responds to customer inquiry? How will you handle email requests? How will they be delivered? Should you outsource? How will you track? Can you capture email for future marketing purposes? 4.)Is your product developed to customers' specifications with periodic approval? A majority of business on the Internet is conducted within an Extranet. This is a closed environment protected from general Internet traffic designed for communication with buyers. If your company is in frequent contact with the customer asking for approval at various points of product development, then an Extranet must be a consideration. You can design a system that allows your customer to view the product and give check off approval. They can view architectural designs, CAD drawings, photographs, detailed specifications, or work-in-progress. The added, and personalized bonus, is that your customer can do this at their convenience. You can call or visit but the time during that visit is spent working on the customer relationship - not order specifications. 5.)Do you cross sell or up sell when taking an order? New designs in web interfaces can deliver with the same selling dynamic. You can suggest other products during a customer search. New software even allows you to save the search. You can capture your prospects email and categorize it for future marketing efforts. For a truly personalized touch, follow up inquiries with a telephone call - or personalized email. You can ask your customers if they would like this feature - taking service to all time high. 6.)Let your customers know you are online. If you build it, they will not come. The old thought that if 'I go online, new customers will come running' is false. You need to employ new and traditional methods of marketing in order to let potential customers that you are online. A recent online company sent a simple postcard announcing their new online service - within three days of the mailing, they noticed a 65% increase in traffic. You may not see this type of increase but you need to consider all avenues of marketing to notify customers of your new service. Moving into e-business should not replace traditional methods of selling. Approach the process as an extension of your current model and look for additional opportunities to communicate to your customer. Finally, keep your customers in mind when you develop your model. As we said in the beginning, keep that concern in front and you will develop a profitable, humanized e-business.

Blame The Salesman!

2009-05-15T18:03:00.001-07:00

As I was enjoying a beer with a longstanding friend recently, we got to reminiscing over the many good sales people (and some not so good) that we had known, individually and collectively over our long and varied sales careers.

Apart from the âWhere is he now? Wonder what heâs doing?â theme that threaded its way through our conversation, we somehow alighted on the rhetorical question, âWhy do some excellent sales people fail to perform with certain employers, and conversely, why do some apparently mediocre sales people achieve noteworthy success at certain times in their career?â

Iâm sure the question crosses the mind of every sales manager or director at least once a day. We didnât have a clear cut and agreed answer, of course.

We looked at each other, deep frowns on our middle aged foreheads, and attempted to answer this conundrum, dredging up all of our accumulated knowledge on the subject.

Pros and Cons
âNot enough or inappropriate training?â
âPoor motivation?â
âNo aptitude?â
âDoesnât smile enough?â
âGood listener?â
âGreat closer?â
âGets to the bottom of the customerâs needs?â
âCanât articulate the USP?â
âSticks to the sales process?â

As we droned on a light began to dawn as we thought deeper about our puzzle. Not a blinding flash of light, more like the gradual cranking up of a dimmer switch.

Perhaps we had been looking at the problem from the wrong point of view. It had been hardwired into our psyche. We had been indoctrinated to believe that any fault in failing to meet a sales target was singularly down to the sales person.

It must be, surely? If you failed wasnât it a matter of attitude (must always be positive, regardless of the fact that your dearest aunt had popped her clogs that very morning), or circumstances (why, oh, why did Superspeed Logistics have to be taken over by Global Dropshippers), or territory (why did they give me Grimsby), or target (what planet are they on? This is 20% up on last year and I worked my backside off to make that) or longevity in post (Ronâs been here forever, knows all the wrinkles, and plays the system), or plain old cronyism (Benâs always sucking up to the boss, even goes out socially with him and his missus; he gets given all the plum prospects).

They all seemed logical. They all seemed plausible. They are all only part of the story.

They are all only part of the story because we know (and you do to) that there are many exceptions to such obvious causes.

The normal process in our experience goes something like this:

Chief Executive: âWe promised the market to improve our shareholder returns this coming year. Now chaps, what this means is that we have to sell more. As we all know margins on our current product range are reducing, and it will be some time before we get the new stuff on to the streets. So we need more sales of what we have. Correct, Charles?â

Finance Director: âSpot on Robert. All the projections show that we need a 20% increase over last yearâs sales. That should do the trick.â

Chief Executive (looking menacingly at the Sales Director): âAny problem with that, Richard?â

Sales Director (sheepishly, fingers crossed behind his back): âEr, no. I think we can manage that.â

An over simplification, naturally. But you get the gist. Of course, for those of us sales people who have been around this particular block many times, and putting power politics aside for the moment, we all know what the problem is.

It isnât the Chairman. Heâs from a legal background and the world of selling is a complete mystery to him. But he does know that he and the business wonât survive without sales. It isnât the Finance Director. Sales belong to that line on his spreadsheet that simply makes everything look good, or bad.

Then it must be the Sales Director (a 'he' in this case). Itâs his job to âmake the numbersâ so if he fails to do so, itâs as plain as a pikestaff where the blame lies. Plus heâs got a wife and kids and a huge mortgage to support (after all, he is a salesman). This seems like the situation on a plate of bacon and eggs - the chicken is involved but the pig is committed.

Let me explain. When businesses (either newly founded or setting their forward goals) do their business planning, the Sales Director is usually a party, but in many instances as a bit player. At some point he will be handed a figure, cast in stone, not dissimilar to the manner in which Moses received the Tablet on Mount Sinai. Except there will only be one, very visible commandment. And he wonât, I stress wonât, argue with his particular boss over whether itâs right or wrong. Trust me on this. So, he is the involved chicken in this situation.

Heâll then decide that in order to make this number heâll need a plan. Now, our Sales Director is a very well educated and savvy man and he knows he will need a strategy in order to convince his people to climb yet another massive obstacle, higher even than the previous one which left him with a surprising number of casualties. So he has his number, he knows how many sales people he has, and he knows that his resellers can hardly be asked to provide more than a nominal increase in contribution. So his maths in theory is simple. Take the figure handed to him from on high, subtract what he feels can be contributed by his resellers, and then divide by the number of sales people. Easy! Everybodyâs happy! Until a reseller goes bust, or his best sales person leaves to go to the competition, or his products are in the declining part of their lifecycle. Or motivation levels hit an all time low.

Now consider his involvement as the pig, metaphorically speaking of course. Maybe, just maybe he can get his own number accepted first. He will need to present a thoroughly researched and substantiated plan to succeed. So he builds his strategy house, but this time from the foundations up. He asks himself some telling questions, the answers to which remarkably, are often absent from the business plan.

1. Do I have an agreed, documented sales strategy? If not, why not? And if I have, is it truly connected to the organisationâs business plan and will it stay that way?

2. How well does the Management Team understand my strategy? Have I explained it to them fully?

3. Do I know what our target markets are? Have I focused my people in the most profitable areas?

4. How well does the Management Team understand our unique selling propositions in each market?

5. How is our sales revenue performing in each market? Do I know why the French love our products and the Germans wonât touch them?

6. How are our distributors/resellers/agents sales revenues performing? Are they motivated to sell our products?

7. Do I have a consistent and well understood method for setting sales targets? Do my team buy into the way I set targets?

He wisely decides to become connected to the rest of the organisation and marshal his thoughts around what will be required to impress his boss.

The problem is he is too busy with the day to day operations to do it alone.

So what is the solution?

The real person that this story is based on hired a sales improvement specialist to assist him and his Management Team. Their brief was to develop a strategic sales plan; to assess his organisationâs capability to carry out that plan; and to develop or confirm his Go To Market strategy.

So now there is science behind his number and buy in from the board (who have been actively involved in developing the plan). The Sales Director in this story now has a detailed plan to measure progress against. If things don't proceed as expected he will have an early warning, in time to identify the cause and make the necessary adjustments. Now, sales scapegoats should be the only redundancies.

Contributor Paul Chiswick FInstSMM is MD of sales improvement specialists B46 Consulting. Tel: +44 121 748 4138 paul@b46.org http://www.b46.org

Your Timing Couldn't Be Better!

2009-05-15T10:03:00.001-07:00

Suddenly gripped with a vision of what I wanted from his company, I seized control of the conversation and asked the salesman whom I should talk to about my idea. He was startled, of course, that I was turning the tables in the middle of his presentation, but he complied.

A few calls later, I was speaking to, and pitching a guy, who after hearing my idea volunteered, âYour timing couldnât be better!â

I love that phrase, because it symbolizes what is tremendous about selling, especially when youâre doing it, unconventionally.

When you take the initiative you literally make things happen. You create something where there was nothing. You amalgamate the most intangible things we know, a goal, a concept, your words, a telephone connection, and the next thing you know, youâre doing business with a person who was a stranger, mere seconds before.

What can be more exciting than this?

An artist, who rummages for discards and then assembles this erstwhile junk into something interesting or beautiful, is no more creative than you are, at such a moment.

The key to all of this joy and success is to be prepared to pitch anybody, at anytime.

Iâm really fond of taking calls that are made to me, and injecting into them my own agendas.

There are several advantages:

(1) You can find out a lot about the company that the caller represents because salespeople are talkers and you have one on the line;

(2) As the callerâs perceived âcustomer,â heâs going to be more polite and patient with you as you do the Vulcan Mind Meld with him than he would be if you had actually phoned him;

(3) If youâre really persuasive, heâll do a hot transfer on the spot, connecting you with someone who can provide even better information as well as tips for selling to the firm; and

(4) Youâll sound loose and relaxed, because youâre sailing in their wind, and you know it.

Win, lose, or draw, turning the tables is great practice, and it pumps you up.

Youâll know youâre getting pretty good at it when you start hearing, âYour timing couldnât be better!â

How to Get Past Call Reluctance and Make Your Calls More Profitable

2009-05-15T02:03:00.001-07:00

Getting past call reluctance is one of the keys to successful cold calling. Understand what's causing the reluctance and work on a solution. The three main causes of cold calling reluctance are lack of a plan, attitude and fear of rejection. Cold Calling Tip #1: Have A Plan. Planning is a key to success in anything you do in sales. Know who you're calling. Write a thumbnail sketch of the people you're calling. What I mean is get specific about the group of prospects in your target market. How old are they, what kind of work do they do, where do they live, and what kind of challenges do they have. The better picture you get of who you're calling the better you'll understand and relate to them. The second part of this cold calling tip is know what the big picture is for you. Why are you in sales and what benefit does your product or service bring to your target market? Decide what your objective is for the call, get the appointment, name, etc. Plan out what you're going to say. Have a written script that tells you exactly what you'll say. Know what objections may arise during the conversation and how to handle each one. Understand how and when to close. It's not just picking up the phone and hoping for the best. Put your plan on paper so you can see it and internalize it and your cold calling success rate will increase. Cold Calling Tip #2: What's With Your Attitude? Improve your attitude and you'll improve your results. I've seen a dramatic difference in my phone success based on my attitude. When my attitude is bad, people are less receptive and my success rate goes down. When I'm feeling good, my success on the phone goes up. I guess it's not that everyone else is having a bad day. Work on your attitude everyday. Make a decision to have a good attitude. If you have a bad attitude don't pick up the phone. Stop watching the news and start reading positive books. Have fun on the phone, make someone smile. Cold Calling Tip #3: Don't Take It Personal. Remember, not everyone you call will be interested in what you have to offer. So be prepared for rejection and understand they aren't rejecting you they're only rejecting the offer you're making them. Thank them and move on to the next. Cold calling is time consuming and nerve racking for many sales people. If you expect and prepare for the best, you'll have a better chance of the best happening.

A Low Cost Merchant Account

2009-05-14T18:03:00.001-07:00

If you are new to the business world, you may believe that a low cost merchant account is beyond reach. You might reason that every dollar of profit you make should be funneled right back into the businessÃâ products or services rather than into an account that facilitates electronic payment processing. But a merchant account may be the very asset your business needs in order to achieve the growth you want to see. By providing your customers with alternative payment options to cash and check, you are inviting them to spend more and pay according to their preferred method, since research shows more consumers are choosing to pay by credit card than any other means.

A low cost merchant account can help your business grow by enhancing your marketing plan. When the word gets out that your company offers electronic payment services like credit card swiping, telephone dial-up, and Internet Website payment options, customers will be impressed and may be more likely to check out your various options to see for themselves how easy you have made it for them to shop with your company. Naturally, you donÃât have to offer all these options at once. But you can start by getting approved for merchant account services and then setting up one type of credit payment option to see how customers respond. If all goes according to plan and growth follows the expected trend, you may decide to add another option to further expedite payment procedures.

Your low cost merchant account can put a terminal-printer on your checkout counter to help your cashier process credit payments in addition to making change for cash payments and getting the managerÃâs check approval. When customers know that you accept credit cards, they may be more likely to spend more than they would have otherwise. They might even buy gift cards or novelty items in the checkout line. If you deliver goods or services with an appliance installation service, for example, you can buy or lease a wireless credit card processor that can go wherever you do for point-of-sale processing. You donÃât have to worry about statements that wonÃât get paid or billing customers each month for the next year. A credit card sale can finalize the account to the satisfaction of both your client and you.

When you are ready to grow your business to the next level, with a low cost merchant account, you can apply for digital credit card processing by installing a telephone credit payment service. This will allow customers to call in at any time and key in their credit card account number for payments without the aid of a customer service representative. Then you can add a company Website with a credit-processing feature where customers can order services or supplies and pay on the spot with a credit card.

DonÃât wait too long before making the move to electronic credit card processing equipment. Your customers expect it, and your company needs it to stay solvent and experience serious growth. Start thinking about applying for a low cost merchant account.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Shane Penrod is the founder of www.merchant-account-quotes.com Specializing in allowing merchants the ability to shop and compare multiple quotes from national merchant account providers. For free quotes on merchant account rates and fees, please go to www.merchant-account-quotes.com

Reduce to the Ridiculous

2009-05-14T10:03:00.001-07:00

A life insurance agent sits across the dining room table from a couple. The couple is middle class with two children ages 2 and 10. After conferring with the couple for 45 minutes the agent has designed a plan to protect the family against death of either the mother or father or both. The agent slides the proposal across the table to the parents. The parents glance at the proposal and see that the plan will cost them $50.00 a month. The couple hesitates then glances at each other.

The agent observes the hesitation. He anticipates an objection and reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out 2 quarters, 2dimes, 3nickels and 4 pennies. He then puts the change on the table and states that âThe childrenâs future will be protected in the event that a tragedy takes the life of one of you or both for a little over a dollar a day or a cup of coffee.â In sales, the next one that speaks loses. The couple smiles and asks âWhere do we sign?â

This is called âReduce to the Ridiculousâ and it is a form of âframing.â In the sales profession this is a very effective way to overcome the âmonthly objection.â Millhouse framed his decision in the very same manner. The salesman reduced to the ridiculous and Millhouse bought. Forty cents a day sounds better than $12.40 a month. The couple in this example was faced with the dilemma of $50.00 a month. The children would still be taken care of financially in the event the parents died but $50.00 a month is a lot of money, that is $600.00 a year or just $1.61 a day. âWait a minute, just $1.61 a day? We can do that! Where do we sign?â What does this say about our customer base?

People do not respond the same to prohibitions and allowances (Plouse, 1993). Take for instance the agent and the couple or Millhouse and the salesman, both were faced with a substantial amount of money out of pocket even though the need warranted it. When the agent and salesman turned the concept around to the point of value for only pennies a day, the customerâs frame was changed and the sale was made. The âframedâ saw that the allowances far outweighed the prohibitions regardless of the fact that everything was the same. This is very powerful in the world of sales. âHow you make a decision is often determined by how you view your choices or how you frame the questions around itâ (Anderson, 1999).

In the Millhouse example the salesman framed the question around the future success of the company being worth âone can of soda.â This statement is pretty ridiculous to the point that anyone would say yes to that statement. If the salesman framed the question any other way, the possibility of a sale at that moment could have been greatly diminished. For example, if the salesman stated that the future success of the company depended upon the purchase of this product today, there is no value associated with the gain or loss. Millhouse didnât see a can of soda being the reason the company is successful; rather Millhouse can easily validate that the decision could be made tomorrow and thusly rationalize against the purchase. For example, he could rationalize the overall cost versus gain, interest paid, and âIs it really a value.â People tend to be against risk and will look for reasons to talk themselves out of the situation when given the chance (Anderson, 1999). The can of soda a day is not a loss compared to the future success of the company.

Framing in the business world can be a powerful ally to the salesman. Salesman are trained not to go into a sales pitch right away but rather âfeel outâ the prospect, gather information and find the hot spots. An experienced salesman knows his prospects as well as the product if not more. An experience salesman builds a relationship with the prospect. An experienced salesman asks the right questions. An experienced salesman frames the closing statement to the point that the prospect would be a fool not to buy.

A good listener as well as inquisitor can learn more about a person in one conversation than they think. The more the person knows the more power that person has to be an influence upon the decisions we make. In these cases knowledge is power. Successful businesses with products to sell have uncovered so much information about the people and markets to which their products are being sold to. Without this knowledge, the marketing departments would never know how to cleverly make that closing statement, or put that person there in that commercial or use those colors within the product they are marketing to sell. This is all a form of decision framing by influencing the way the customer sees the product, convinces themselves to purchase the product and rationalize that the purchase was a good decision. Framing a decision in part is controlled by the normalcy, habits and attributes of the decision maker (Plouse, 1993).

Morally, people must take the decisions they make into careful consideration and accountability. One can have a great influence over another when it is done right. We are all guilty in one way or another of framing, from the toy companies to convincing your boss you need a raise. The world is bought and sold face to face or across the airwaves using frames. Conflict and peace and the reasons for either one are thrust upon us by using frames. The key is to take time in making a decision.

Usually a decision can be made on a product or situation with a little bit of time in between. Will the decision be different? There is an extreme possibility that it will. If one was framed and took time to think about it, more than likely the decision will be different. Millhouse didnât take time to analyze the total cost of the product on the extended payment plan and the difference that would make on the actual bottom line and whether it was worth it then. We are all guilty of framing and being framed. We all have a responsibility to take a few steps back and think about and realize the decisions we make. The fact of the matter is we would probably be surprised about how differently our lives might actually be.

Raul Ramirez

References âDecision Making Traps We All Fall Intoâ Kare Anderson Canadian Womens Business Network 1999. retrieved 18 November 2005.

http://www.cdnbizwomen.com/articles/kare8.html

Plouse, Scott (1) (1993) âThe Psychology of Judgment and Decision Makingâ New Aster: McGraw-Hill

Raul Ramirez is a licensed agent in the state of Florida and is the owner of Gulf Breeze Insurance Inc. http://www.gulfbreezeinsurance.com

Selling and Marketing Basics; What Unique Skills or Superior Abilities and Advantages do You Have?

2009-05-14T02:03:00.001-07:00

If you run a small business, private practice are you indeed communicating with your potential customers out there?

Is your message simple and strong?

Is your marketing informative and to the point?

Are you marketing in such as way that you are telling the public or your target customer of your unique skills, services, superior abilities?

Are you showing your customers the advantages they receive when they buy your products or use your services?

Now I realize this is nothing more than marketing basics and that you probably are aware of such things and the needs to be able to answer these questions and perhaps you can. But when was the last time you asked these questions to yourself about your market niche? What unique skills or superior abilities and advantages do you have? You must have a realistic idea of your unique skills and superior abilities if you are to sell your products or services. You must be able to define these and also explain them in a simple way to your customers, prospects and potential clients. If you fail to define these things you are cheating yourself and your sales and someone, most likely your competition will come along and define them for you. Consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Understanding Body Language: An Effective Sales Tool

2009-05-13T18:03:00.001-07:00

There is no question that people can speak volumes without uttering a single word. Non-verbal communication, including body language, can be a powerful sales tool if one is able to understand its signals. However, when you realize that the human body can perform over 700,000 unique movements, the idea of comprehending all those signals would seem like an unrealistic endeavor. Do not despair because just having a rudimentary knowledge of some basic signals and gestures could greatly improve your ability to sell. "I need my space" There are four types of space: public, social, personal and intimate space. Most selling usually occurs in personal space where one-on-one conversations are more likely to occur. People need to understand that personal space is significant for two reasons. First, it is defined differently for each person. Secondly, if you invade someone's personal space without their permission, chances are they will shut down and stop listening. One visual signal someone can give you that you have indeed invaded their personal space is the loss of eye contact. If they have maintained eye contact up to the point that you began to move toward them, and then the other person looked away, chances are you've just stepped into their personal space. "I can see it in the eyes" The old saying that the eyes are the windows to our souls may or may not be true. However, for many people, being able to look into someone's eyes helps them to determine how honest that person is being. We also tend to believe someone more who is able to maintain eye contact while having a conversation. Eyes that dart away or look downward send a message. For example, people who maintain direct eye contact, have "smiling eyes", or maintain a relaxed brow are telling you that they are interested and comfortable with you and what you are saying. People who are unable to maintain eye contact or who have tension in their brows may be lying, uninterested, uncomfortable, or confused. "With Open Arms" Arms and upper body movements are easy to correlate to one's actions. Simply put, open arms and open hands send a message of openness, honesty and pride. Avoid speaking with your hands behind your back or in your pockets. This suggests you have something to hide. If someone is listening to your sales pitch and their shoulders are hunched, their posture is rigid, or they are tapping their fingers. This suggests that they lack interest, are anxious, bored or agitated. You may need to rethink your approach. For some people, the ability to interpret body language comes naturally. For others, they may have to work harder to uncover the signals of body language. If you fail to consider the role body language plays in a closing a sale, both yours and the buyer's, you may overlook an essential tool in the sales process. Try to think of your ability to interpret body languages as just one more necessary skill needed to become a successful salesperson.

Referrals Build Profits: The Best Kind Of Customer Is A Referred Customer

2009-05-13T10:03:00.001-07:00

Referrals are the key to exponential and cost-efficient business growth. Supply a topnotch product... let your customers know how advantageous your brand is... and provide exceptional service.

Do that and youâll encourage customers to willingly send their families, friends, acquaintances, and business associates your way.

Thereâs no easier sale than the sale made to a âpre-soldâ prospect. This kind of favorable condition can only arise as a result of the shared enthusiasm from another delighted buyer. Word-of-mouth advertising generates top quality referrals. As a marketing tool, it simply canât be beat. Word of mouth promotion cannot be purchased for any amount of money... it can only be earned.

Referrals happen when one friend willingly shares information with another. What makes referrals so effective is that no true friend would recommend a business, service, or product that they didnât completely approve of themselves.

The foundation for building your business with referrals is a solid product or service -- one that not only meets, but exceeds your advertising claims. One way to achieve customer satisfaction is to âunder promiseâ and âover deliverâ.

It doesnât mean you should weaken your advertising materials. Simply focus on providing more for you customers â" more than you promise. Thatâs another formula for success. People are always thrilled to get a little something extra with a purchase theyâre already happy about.

Write powerful sales copy that clearly positions your product as the overwhelming favorite. Make a huge promise... and deliver even more.

Treat your customers as the most important component of your business. Customers are vital to your success â" even to your very existence. People want to be treated fairly, with respect, and courtesy. The golden rule still applies â" treat people the same way you like to be treated. Remember, nobody likes to wait beyond a reasonable amount of time for an order to be filled.

When you get in the habit of delighting customers, youâll find that people are only too happy to tell others. As word spreads about your product or service, youâre business is propelled to new heights.

Your success in business is predicated on your ability to satisfy customers, and to continuously grow your customer base. In all your communications with customers, you need to encourage them tell others about all the benefits your product or service offers.

Let loyal buyers know that youâre always seeking new customers. Remind readers that youâve built your business by thoroughly satisfying customers and having those customers tell others in turn.

Ask buyers if they know anyone who would like and could benefit from your catalog. As soon as a name is provided, fire off an information package... and send a thank you note to the customer who fed you the lead. Referrals make it easy to grow your business.

Provide discount cards for new customers. Offer a 10% to 15% discount on their first purchase and then make these available to your existing customers for distribution to others. Give them an extra reason for handing these discount coupons out.

Offer points towards free gifts, free premiums, for each discount coupon redeemed, or simply acknowledge them as a âbuilderâ of your organization, complete with their picture and certificate, proudly displayed for all to see.

The best way to get customers to refer others is âin the momentâ -- when theyâre still enamored with your product or your high level of personal service.

While customers are enjoying these positive emotions about your company, thatâs the time to ask for a little favor. Ask... âIs there someone else you know, who might want toâ¦ grow their business by 37%this year? ... get that older car looking showroom-clean? ... transform any weed-filled lot into a lush green lawn and garden?

Simply fill in the end of the sentence with the big benefit youâve just delivered on. Plant the seed of referrals and referrals will come your way.

9 Important Things You Assume Your Customers Already Know But Don't...

2009-05-13T02:03:00.001-07:00

Have you ever seen Die Hard? Remember when Bruce Wills said: "Assumption is the Mother of All..." Well here are 9 things that we assume our customers already know but really don't. It is our job as professional sales people to educate them on our services and products. 1. Tell your prospects that you offer free delivery of vehicle to their home or work. 2. Tell your prospects that you offer a lower price. If you can't afford to offer a lower price you could always hold the occasional discount sale. 3. Tell your prospects that your product achieves results. People are becoming more and more impatient and want results fast. 4. Tell your prospects you've been in business for a longer period of time. People think if you've been in business longer you have more credibility. 5. Tell your prospects that your product smells, sounds, looks, or feels better. When you target the senses you're triggering human appeal. 6. Tell your prospects that your product lasts longer. People don't like to spend more money purchasing replacement products all the time. 7. Tell your prospects that your product is easy to drive. 8. Tell your prospects that your product has better safety features. 9. Tell your prospects that you stand behind all your vehicles. People want to know that you back-up any claims you make about your product. Talk about these points in your next meeting and watch you salespeople get excited about selling your product and working in your store.

10 Ways to Stay Super Motivated in the Sales Game! (Fail-Proof Strategies For Beating The Competitio

2009-05-12T18:03:00.001-07:00

Whether you work for yourself or for a conglomerate, selling is tough. Partly because youâre not just selling you're being of service to your customers in ways no one else can be; and partly because you have to persuade your lead that their best interest is your true intention.

Built into this process is rejection, and lots of it. When it comes to insurance, people want to know youâre on their side. But they also want to get the best deal they can. This means that you have to find the WIN-WIN for both of you. It is your responsibility to find the WIN-WIN because there are lots of other salespeople out there that will if you donât.

Still, that elusive WIN-WIN can play havoc with your confidence level, and because of this, you must have an arsenal of strategies to stay motivated and inspired while pursuing your objectives. Here are some ways to WIN-WIN. Some will work better than others. Find your keys to success and with them you can open the doors to opportunity.

1. Throughout the day, routinely tell yourself how powerful you are. Obstacles and distractions will arise. Their tendency is to knock you off balance. Remember, you are greater than anything that may confront you.

At times it might seem as though Powerless is your middle name. Remind yourself during these times of what it took to get you here. After all, youâre the one that did it. No one else. You are the creator of your greatness. Be proud of it!

2. Your customers want you to win too. Be fair with them and they will be fair to you. They are entrusting you with something very dear to themâ¦ their lives. When they believe you are on their side, they will not only tell you, theyâll tell every one else they know. Make them the focus of the sale and when theyâre happy, you will be also.

3. Aim for the back of the head and settle for the nose. This means expect the best possible results. Anticipate dominating the competition. Most sales people expect to hear no.

They would actually be surprised if someone said they want to buy something, anything from them! Itâs simple: set your expectations for success so high that even if you fail, youâll have achieved more than most others out there trying. Accept less than you aim for but not less than you expect.

4. Want to make it happen? Want to get your message across? Praise others and watch them flock to your side. By acknowledging others, even for the most insignificant details, you not only use words of encouragement that inspire you, but you learn to focus on the positive.

In addition, you move the focus from you to them and they become confident. Their new esteem will be something you contributed to. This will further inspire you and press you to do even better work with the next person you meet.

5. Clearly define your goals. Vague goals are no goals at all. Be specific. Where do you want to go and when will you be there? What do you want to achieve?

How emphatic are you about the outcome? When do you want it? If you donât have answers to these questions, then your objectives arenât clear in your mind. Where will you be when itâs complete? You must have concrete impressions of what your mission is.

Hereâs a strategy that is sure to work!

-Keep your goals written down on 3â X 5â index cardsand keep them near you in plain sight. If your goal is to become a top-10performer in MDRT, then describe how you will go about doing so. What strategies will you utilize to make these objectives a reality? The more you can refer to them, the more second nature their success becomes.

-Identify with each goal. Breathe it in, feel its texture. Smell its fragrance. Taste its realness. The more ârealâ you make it in your mind, the more vividly it exists in your mind, the more it manifests itself around you.

6. LAUGH! âll put it plainly. If youâre not laughing, youâre wasting your life! Laughter has been irrefutably proven to not only improve the quality of life, but to extend it as well.

By utilizing every muscle in the face, and increasing blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain and other vital organs, laughter secretes endorphins from the hippocampus region of the brain that make you happy, create higher states of thinking, and enable you to succeed. Theyâve also been clearly linked to an increase in life expectancy.

When you laugh, you create laughter for others to share, you invite others to laugh along with you, and you find new ways to solve old problems. So for crying out loud, why arenât you laughing?

7. Plan to relax. You plan your stresses, your breakdowns, your confrontations, your meals, heckâ¦ you even plan your bathroom breaks. Plan to relax.

The number one cause of stress related absenteeism and loss of productivity in business worldwide, as published in a March 2000 report by the US Labor Dept., is STRESS. The same goes for the highest cause of heart attack, depression, mental illness, obesity,and general poor health. Plan for time in your day when you will focus on yourself and on enjoyment.

The secret is, it only takes a couple of minutes a day to relax. If you plan for three minutes in the morning, four minutes in the midday, and three minutes before you end the day, youâve squeezed in ten minutes a day of focused relaxation. WOW! Imagine that. Youâre working, and youâre relaxing. But how do you find ten minutes to relax in the middle of all you do?

Close your eyes. Itâs that simple! Closed eyes, deep breathing, allowing the stress to flow out of your body, allows you to return to a state of harmony and can mean the difference between being the golf ball and being the iron.

8. Because rejection and self-doubt are such built-in components of doing business today, it is critical that you surround yourself with positive, elated, creative, inspired individuals! Just like an anchor can pull you down and keep you from advancing, negative influences, (NOT PEOPLE) can dull your advantage. They cause you to question the daring feats you take to be successful. They minimize your hope and limit your potential. Theyâre bad news for your Good News Way of Life.

Positive people, those that want to see you succeed, the people you run to tell when great things happen, are the most important company to keep. They may not be influential or rich. They may not be the prettiest or most in-demand people you know. But when they make you feel good and cause you to be better than you are otherwise, their contribution to your success is immeasurable!

The more light you let into a room, the more life will grow in it. In the same regard, the more darkness to which you subject the room, the less opportunity for vibrancy. Incredible, collaborative, inspired surroundings cause us to be the best we can possibly be.

9. Because we often work by ourselves, we might get distracted by the things which matter least and as a result lose focus on the most important tasks in front of us. When this occurs, remind yourself of the magnificence awaiting you. The best way to combat distraction I have found is simpleâ¦ MAKE LISTS!

Write it down. Make sure that anything and everything you have to address or acheive is in front of your eyes. The more you can look at whatâs in front of you, the more accessible it becomes in the life you lead.

10. And perhaps most importantly, have faith in yourself. You are a creative, powerful, success-oriented leader! Your words and actions carry further than you can possibly imagine. Your influence reaches miles beyond your scope of vision. So remember, just because you canât see your results immediately doesnât mean theyâre not being seen and felt by others.Have faith that your results will manifest in the way you envision them. Have faith in the fact your legacy will outlast your efforts.

Home Base Loan Officer Positions

2009-05-12T10:03:00.001-07:00

If you are a loan officer looking for a little more freedom and flexibility in your work day, you may want to consider a home base loan officer position.

Most mortgage broker shops will allow for you to work from home once they have trained you on their system and have acclimated you to their products and services.

Most mortgage companies, banks included, prefer for their mortgage representatives to work from home because it saves the company money in the way of office space.

Finding a home base loan officer position should not be too difficult if you are looking in the right places. Most loan officer positions that you see in want ads and on Yahooâs hot jobs put work from home in their job description.

Working from home can have its challenges at times, so make sure it is the right choice for you.

For instance, I was a loan officer working for a mortgage company. After six months of learning the ropes in the office, I made the decision to work from home.

After working from my home base for about three months, I began to feel lonely. I began to miss the comradery that I once had with my fellow co-workers in the office.

I began to feel as though I were no longer a part of the rat race.

And although I was supplied with all of the necessary equipment to run a home based office, I still felt as though I was lacking in some of the resources a large office had to offer.

My advice to you would be this. If you decide to work from home, consider partnering with another loan officer to work with you. Obviously one that you like and trust, just so you have someone to bounce things off of, if nothing else.

Or, work from your home base on your own for a while to see how you like it. If you begin to feel that the environment is a little stagnant, than consider bringing in another loan officer to work with you.

In the end, if a home base loan officer position is what you want, than do it, it just may be the right fit for you. The beauty of the loan officer position is that many options are open to us, so if you donât like the home atmosphere, go back to the office.

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. You can also check out his blog at http://wwwmortgagespot.blogspot.com for more articles

Amber Silver Jewelry

2009-05-12T02:03:00.001-07:00

Why Amber? Amber contains joy and happiness. It contains life-giving energy. The life that started more than 30 million years ago survived the massive moving of earth plates, masses of heavy grounds falling on them, being washed away miles away and miles deep to the ocean bed ... and the traces of them still stayed to amazing details inside the tree resin we now call Amber! The treasures of life forms proved its existence through this long and really earth moving experience. Amber is therefore symbolic of life-giving energy. Amber is popular for thoughtful gift giving to the beloved ones. Amber has a meaningful message about life and survival. What is Amber? Commonly referred to as tree sap, however amber is anything but sap! Read below to know more. This is how it all started millions of years ago...Large number of trees in some parts of the world began to seep its sticky and aromatic resin down their sides and onto the land while filling internal fissures, trapping debris, such as seeds, leaves, feathers and insects on the way. These seeped globes of tree resin collected life forms in the process. As geologic time progressed through the millions of years afterwards, these forests were buried under the ocean or the resin was washed out of the forest floor by large rivers and transported south towards the sea. In the course of time, the globes of resin progressively hardened into a golden gem with a warm and soft glow from within! . This process of fossilizing tree resin of ancient trees is called "natural polymerization and oxidization of original organic compounds". In other words, amber is fossilized resin that is million of years old. Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30-90 million years old. Therefore contrary to common belief, Amber is not produced from tree sap, but rather from plant resin Amber and Baltic Amber Since the ancient times, the word amber meant only one thing - the Baltic Amber! However, the process of how amber is formed traced more amber varieties in different parts of the world. Although more than 125 types of fossil resins are known in the world, these resins are not amber but its relatives. They are mostly found in Europe and America and each of them has its own name. But the Baltic amber is uniquely known for its quality and is most sought after. Baltic amber is fossil resin produced by pine trees, which grew in Northern Europe - from southern regions of the present-day Scandinavia and nearby regions of the bed of the Baltic Sea. The climate became warmer and conifer trees started to exude big amounts of resin. Scientists say that amber (or succinite) is a fossil pine resin from this region that has achieved a stable state through oxidation. Our amber comes from the Palvininkai deposit in the Yantamy, Kaliningrad Province of Russia. The Palvininkai deposit contains 90% of the world's amber. Even now 500-700 tons of this mineral per year are excavated in an open mine using modern mining equipment. Over 90% percent of all extracted amber is of poorer quality and can be used only as an ingredient in other products. http://www.pippinbass.com

How to Educate your Prospects

2009-05-11T18:03:00.001-07:00

There's a saying about business that goes, "You're too close to your business and services to see them the same way others do."

You might assume your clients know more than they actually do. You don't want to assume they will remember things. You live for your business. You live and breathe it within your industry. Your prospects don't. They have their own lives. You know every detail about your products and services. They don't. You want to educate them instead of just advertising your business through conventional means.

One of the great ways to do this is through a newsletter. It takes time for them to learn about your products and services. You may see them just once a year and although you may do a great job educating them, they're still not going to remember you a year from now. Just because your product and service is your life doesn't mean it's theirs.

If you don't have an on going product or service program in place, you should begin one immediately. This will keep your company at the top of your client's mind.

What kind of valuable information can you provide? Quite a bit. Show them extra ways, tips and techniques to use your products and services. If you constantly educate them over and over again, then they're going to feel more connected with you.

Your goal should be to get all of your customers to explain your products and services then you'd really be doing a great job. Believe me, your bank account will reflect this.

Always Give Them Something. you can mention this in your newsletter. You never want to leave a prospect or client without giving them something. You don't want to leave them empty handed.

You don't want them to walk out of your store or leave your web site without taking something with them. You don't want to leave a customer or prospect's house without' leaving them with something. You don't want to leave a meeting with a prospect without giving them something.

It can be something you sell, a small token, or create something specifically for this reason. You can create a special report. This might be an after service or after purchase report that shows them how to get the most benefits out of your product or service.

A certificate for a complimentary maintenance, tune-up, telephone conversation or something to enhance the initial purchase. a free gift such as a pen, paper weight, calendar or discount coupons fqr another purchase.

You don't want to use this just for prospects, but also for customer clients. If they buy from you, they should receive something from this list also or everything off the list. Everybody likes to get a free gift. Everyone who does business with you or inquires about business with you should always receive something extra. If you constantly follow this strategy and not leave them empty handed, you will get a lot more business.

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter on your web site as long as the byline is included and the article is included in it's entirety. I also ask that you activate any html links found in the article and in the byline. Please send a courtesy link or email where you publish to: support@multiplestreammktg.com

Abe Cherian is the founder of Multiple Stream Media, a leading performance-based Internet advertising company dedicated in helping small businesses create online presence, brand recognition and online automation. Main company web site: http://www.multiplestreammktg.com

Schedule Telemarketing Time For More Success

2009-05-11T10:03:00.001-07:00

Telephone canvassing, or cold calling, is the practice of sitting down with a long list of potential prospects you've never met and telephoning them, one at a time, to learn which of them needs what you sell and then arranging to sell it to them.

Believe me, nobody likes telephone cold calling. Salesmen don't like it because they perceive that cold calls are to unfriendly, unkind strangers who would rather see you in a California kickboxing ring, going one-on-one with Governor Arnold, than see you in their offices. It's true. They are. They would.

Prospects don't always appreciate cold calls, because they are from people they don't know, asking questions they don't want to discuss. These calls are unscheduled, intrusive and sometimes can be a general pain in the South Forty.

At other times, however, prospects do respond well to cold calls. They open up freely and give us the chance to sell them what they need.

So, here's the dilemma: If we don't like doing it, and prospects donât always know when they like it done to them, why is it that we all MUST make cold phone calls part of our selling strategy? There are countless reasons. Here are just a few:

1. It's the fastest way to qualify prospects and maximize valuable selling time.

2. Itâs also the fastest way to them know what we do.

3. It's targeted. It's the best way to find the decision-maker.

4. It creates a quick personal relationship with the buyer.

5. It keeps us productive when store traffic is down.

6. It reaches prospects weâll never run across in our other selling activities.

Every time you sit down to make telephone-canvassing calls, can you clear your mind of self-doubt? Concentrate on the goal of the moment and you will find that each new day will bring you new business, will raise you to new heights in professional productivity, and will give you a great sense of personal satisfaction.

About The Author

Stan Rosenzweig is a sales trainer, marketing consultant and author. He creates customized corporate sales training and directs strategic marketing, product development and cost management consulting for large and middle sized companies and offers free selling advice at http://www.salestipwebsite.com.

Maximize Your Retail Customer Profits

2009-05-11T02:03:00.001-07:00

Letâs be honest. It is getting harder and harder to make a decent profit from our retail customers. The internet abounds with articles such as; âCar dealers hate us...youâll love us!,â âHow to save $3000-$6000 when you buy a new car,â etc. Our customers are coming in and telling us how much over invoice they are willing to pay. So how can we maximize their profit potential?

1. Build Value
A Purdue University study showed that when the customers perceived value exceeds the price (meaning that customers feel that they are getting more than they are paying for), eight out of ten will buy. So where and how do we build value? Look to build value in each of the three Psâ¦Product, Place and Person.

PRODUCT
Know your product inside and out. Find the interesting details that customers might not be aware of. When doing your walk around, donât just spout off features. Make sure you tie features to your customersâ hot buttons. Use the phrase (or something like),âAnd what that means to you isâ¦â It is best to talk about an average of three features per walkaround position. It may seem like more is better, but studies show that customers tend to get overloaded and can have a negative reaction if too many features are presented. Spend at least 15 minutes a day on boosting your expertise, learning something new about your product, reading owners manuals and articles about your product, walking the used car lot, or talking to a mentor in your dealership. Do what it takes to be an âexpert.â

PLACE
Ask yourself what sets your dealership apart. âHave we been in business for 40 years?â âAre we a family business?â âAre we a âno hassleâ dealership?â âDo we have more inventory than our competitors?â In other words, how are we distinct? Once you have answered that question, make sure your customers know how your dealership is different. Does your dealership have a mission statement? Do you know what it is? Learn it and talk about the goals of your dealership with pride.

PERSON
The most important element of the three Ps is to build value in doing business with you. First of all, you are the only thing that you have to offer that they canât get anywhere else. Your willingness to go the extra mile, be patient, and be well informed, will help the customer buy a vehicle, rather than having you âsell themâ one. These practices will go a long way towards setting you apart from your competitors. The world is changing fast. Make sure you are aware of new technology that will help you stay connected to your customers. Check your negative attitude at the door. Your customer is making a decision about you in the first 90 seconds that they spend with you. Your smile, eye contact, warm handshake and enthusiastic greeting will prove to them that you are someone that they want to do business with over and over again.

2. Stay in touch
This is where most sales consultants drop the ball. We are so busy dealing with ups that we forget that our most valuable and easiest customers are the ones who have already bought from us. Get a customer management program such as ACT and use it. Call your customers within 24 hours after the purchase to make sure everything is ok. If there is a problem, move heaven and earth to fix it immediately. Write a handwritten thank you note, then check in (with their permission) via a phone call, email or newsletter at regular intervals. Make that contact personal. Use the information you learned previously to continue building rapport. Ask how Johnny did in little league. Congratulate them on Beckyâs graduation. The more personal the conversation, the more effective it will be. Some sales consultants make their clientsâ service appointments. The goal is to add value and have your name be on the tip of their tongues. You want to assure that they will come back to you when they buy their next vehicle.

3. Ask for Referrals
Your happy customers are your best salespeople. Let their great experience be a story that they tell over and over. If you have done an exceptional job, donât hesitate to ask them to recommend you to their friends, co-workers and family. If you explain that you build your business with positive word of mouth, theyâll be happy to help you out. Donât forget to thank them for their referrals. Again, a hand written note is essential. Some states allow birddogging, even if yours doesnât, you can âthank themâ in a variety of other ways. A dinner at a local restaurant, or a free oil change will show them that you are grateful.

If you follow these three simple steps you will maximize the profit you will get from your customers! Work smarter, not harder.

Laurie Brown is an international speaker, trainer and consultant who works to help people improve their sales, service and presentation skills. She is the author of The Teleprompter Manual, for Executives, Politicians, Broadcasters and Speakers. Laurie can be contacted through http://www.thedifference.net, or 1-877.999.3433, or at lauriebrown@thedifference.net.

Soccer, Sales and the Quality of the Product

2009-05-10T18:03:00.001-07:00

... Excuse me, it's again about the World Cup ... but it seems more real than life itself:

After beating Holland and England, Portugal is finally stopped by France. A very important detail matters. The French style also helped, but most of all, Portugalâs productivity wasnât just enough; they were too much focused on sales.

Sales and football? In a normal game each player tries to be productive. Sales and football is about convincing (the referee) that you have been hurt by your opponent. The best sales deal is when you fake a tackle in the penalty area and you receive a penalty you didnât deserve.

The match between the Dutch team and Portugal was a big shame. For those of you who have seen it will understand. Besides the 16 yellow cards and four reds, there was no productivity. Instead both teams were competing for a golden globe â" whoâs the best actor in faking being tackled (in the penalty area) or hurt when not even touched. Both teams excelled in this. But Portugal won (and they deserved it).

England, that met Portugal after the Dutch, was obviously not prepared for this of game. Rather than sticking to their own rules they were distracted and lost because of lack of discipline. Most of this could be set on account of one player, receiving a red card when the team cannot afford it: âIt is not the first time that the 20-year-old has let his temper get the better of him to the detriment of his team.â(from âRed card and penalties sink England against Portugalâ - http://www.desifans.com/news/2006988)

Now the detail. This happened just now, when Portugal played against France. For the detail you had to observe Zidane the captain of the French team. He embraced Figo who he knows very well for they both played in Real Madrid. This little understanding that initiated Zidane was not without a meaning. Zidane â" a real gentlemen â" hinted the captain of the Portuguese team to a fair play. An important detail.

The sales was not out of this game however. Many tried to fake a fall in the penalty area, but besides this, there were no real incidents. Other than a real tackle by the Portuguese which led to a real penalty.

From that moment onward, the productivity of the Portuguese team wasnât sufficient; although they tried, they didnât get even. The (business) lesson from all this is that in the end, the quality of the product beats the sales energy.

Do not try to sell (a quality) that you canât produce.

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hans_Bool

The History of Coffee

2009-05-10T10:03:00.001-07:00

The History of Coffee Coffee was discovered in Eastern Africa in an area known as Ethiopia. A popular legend tells of a goat herder named Kaldi. One day he noticed his goats acting frisky after eating berries from a bush. Kaldi tried the berries. He found he had renewed energy. The news of this amazing fruit spread throughout the region. Monks started drying the berries to transport to distant monasteries. They reconstituted the berries by soaking them in water. They would eat the fruit and drink the liquid to provide stimulation for a more awakened prayer time. The berries were transported from Ethiopia to the Arabian peninsula and were first cultivated in Yemen. Then coffee travelled to Turkey where beans were roasted for the first time over fires. The beans were crushed and boiled in water, creating a crude version of the coffee of today. Coffee arrived on the European continent through Venetian trade merchants. The catholics were totally against drinking coffee. In fact they thought the Pope should ban coffee, calling it the "Drink of the Devil'. However the pope had already become an avid coffee drinker. He liked it so much that he blessed it. Coffee houses spread quickly. Many great minds gathered in them for thought and creativity. In the 1700's coffee made its way to the America's by means of a French infantry captain. He travelled with a small plant. It was then transplanted to the Carribean Island of Martinique. There grew 19 million trees within 50 years. Coffee was declared the national drink of the colonized U.S. by Congress. Today coffee is a giant global industry employing more than 20 million people. This commodity ranks second only to Petroleum in its dollars traded worldwide. There are 4 billion cups consumed every year. Coffee is the worlds most popular beverage. In Brazil, over 5 million people are employed in cultivating and harvesting over 3 billion coffee plants. Sales of premium speciality coffees have skyrocketed. Sales have reached the multi-billion dollar level and increase annually. Well that is the history of coffee. It all started with a farmer wanting more energy. Even today most of the world wakes up to a cup of coffee to start thier day. I am one of those people who can't live without coffee, especially in the morning. Due to it's popularity, I am sure I am not the only one.

How to Close More Online Sales - Through the Magic of Questions

2009-05-10T02:03:00.001-07:00

No one can deny that sales closing techniques are absolutely vital in face-to-face selling. But often, people ask me if they can apply my powerful closing techniques to online marketing. My answer is an unequivocal, "Yes!" Of course, there are some closing techniques that are more applicable to the Web than others -- but I'll show you magical closing secrets that can dramatically increase your web sales, and rapidly increase your online income. This works best on direct response websites - i.e., those that focus on getting an immediate response in the form of an order or lead. Before we get started, I must emphasize that much of the sale is made in the presentation. The close is largely determined by how well you've presented the product to the prospect. Your objective, then, is to take the prospect smoothly past the point of closing, making it easy for him or her to come to a buying decision. You can accomplish this with the strategic use of questions. The All-Important Opening Question When you're selling online, you don't have the benefit of interacting with your prospect the way you would in face-to-face selling. Therefore, the first thing you say in your web copy has to be something that breaks preoccupation, grabs attention, and points to the result or benefit of the your product. At any given moment, your prospect's mind is preoccupied with dozens of things. Therefore, a well-crafted question will cause the prospect's thinking to be directed to what you have to say. Your opening question must be aimed at something that is relevant and important, and at something that your prospect needs or wants. What do sales managers, for instance, sit around and think about all day long? Increasing sales! Therefore, if your target market consists of sales managers, here's an example of a question you can use as a headline or as the first part of your copy: "How would you like to see a method that would enable you to increase your sales by 20% to 30% over the next 12 months?" When you ask such a question, the first thing that pops into the mind of the prospect should be, "What is it?" - whereupon you've captured his or her attention, and you can then begin to articulate how your product or service can solve the need posed by the question. Plan your opening question carefully. If your opening question fails to break your prospect's preoccupation and grab his attention, he will click away before giving you the opportunity to present your product or service. Questions That Keep Them Involved Questions are equally vital during the presentation, i.e., in the body of your web copy, for clearly explaining how your product or service solves your prospect's problem in an easy, fast, or cost-effective way. Therefore, install questions within your sales copy that capture attention. Keep your prospect involved, and keep his mind from wandering off in a different direction by using intriguing questions that grab his lapels and jerk him toward you. For the length of time that it takes a prospect to answer a question in his mind, you have his total attention. The prospect is drawn more and more into the sales process as your questioning proceeds. If your questions are logical, orderly and sequential, you can lead the prospect forward toward the inevitable conclusion to purchase your product or service. Tip: Never say something if you can ask it instead! Think of how you can phrase your key selling points as questions. The person who asks questions has control! Closing Questions that Presume the Sale Just as questions are important at the beginning and the body of your web copy, they are even more vital at the end in gaining a commitment to action. The key to asking a closing question is confident expectation. You must skillfully craft your question to convey that you confidently expect the prospect to say, "Yes" or to agree to the sale. For example, you can pose the following question in your web copy: "When would you like to start using to multiply your profits?" In other words, you don't ask if they want to buy your product, but when. This way, you're asking for the sale expectantly, and the more confidently you expect to sell, the more likely it is that you will sell. Tip: In crafting your closing question, include the benefit that your prospect will get from your product. When you ask a compelling closing question, you diffuse the tension that normally creeps up on your prospect at the "moment of truth." A prospect's tension leads to the hesitance that kills so many sales - both online and offline. To be truly persuasive in the selling process, learn to use questions judiciously throughout your web copy. Instead of trying to overwhelm your prospects with reasons and rationales for doing what you want them to do, ask strategic questions instead. When you take the time to plan the wording of your questions, your prospect will become more interested in your product -- and consequently, you will make more sales.

The 7-Roles of Highly Competent Salespeople: Role #2: The Client Focused Positioner

2009-05-09T18:03:00.001-07:00

A âroleâ is defined as the characteristic and expected social behavior of an individual. We all play many roles in life, such as parent or salesperson, and it is not difficult to see how this sense of the word role is related to its meaning in theater, where a âroleâ was played by a character.

All of these factors have a significant negative impact on self esteem, professional self image and consequently resilience in the face of adversity. In short, without a clear definition of the roles you are to play, the amount of work you are to perform and how these roles intertwine, you may end up like the other thousands of salespeople a year who do not make it in the profession. I will now define professional selling roles and what is generally expected in each.

THE SEVEN ROLES OF HIGHLY COMPETENT SALESPEOPLE ARE:

"The Strategic Planner"

"The Client-Focused Positioner"

"The Persuasive Communicator"

"The Focused Catalyst"

"The Concerted Facilitator"

"The Effective Manager"

"The Value-Driven Guardian"

These roles are created by understanding the phases of building customer satisfaction and loyalty (as outlined by the United Professional Sales Association). Their model focuses on the entire transaction experience of a buyer, from initial needs identification, through decision-making, selection, and purchasing. More importantly, this transaction experience continues past the purchase into implementation -- and beyond into measuring the quality and return-on-investment of the solution.

In this article, I will explain the second role in greater detail (please see my other articles for in depth explanations of the other roles.)

ROLE 2: "THE CLIENT-FOCUSED POSITIONER"

Primary Focus of This Role:

The primary focus of this role is to distinguish yourself and your company in a buying environment where buyers have large amounts of choice, information, and power. You will not only seek to understand your position in your prospect's minds, but work diligently to ensure you stay truly-focused on understanding your prospect or client.

General Expectations:

In this role, you will build on the work of your Planner Role. You must gather enough customer, market, and business data to support your Positioner Role (the next role). You will take the more generalized information from the previous Planner Role and leverage it to find out what is important to a specific and unique buyer. Because consumers perceive solutions as becoming more and more similar over time, you must develop an approach that protects your solution from becoming a commodity if possible (a commodity is a product or service that is differentiated only on price). To do this, you must learn to create an approach that will resonate with the buyer -- based on unique benefits as perceived by the specific buyer.

You will have to ensure that marketing and selling messages do not conflict with that âuniqueness.â To achieve this, you will focus on gathering as much knowledge as possible from your Planner role and refine that knowledge into a customized initial approach for the unique prospect. If you do not have enough information to accomplish this, you will leverage your Communicator Role to attain it. You will work diligently to ensure there that your prospective buyer has a clear understanding of your solution, a clear characteristic and feature message that the understand, and a clear understanding of a distinctive set of core benefits that you will (hopefully) leverage with your Catalyst Role (the next role) into a sale.

Pre-Sale Expectations:

Before the sale occurs, you will be extremely focused on what the buyer wants and needs and you will work diligently to consider your own company's strengths and weaknesses as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the competition in an attempt to understand a gap your company might be able to fill. You will gather enough information to clearly, succinctly, and precisely understand the value your company will provide to the targeted segment of the market you identified with your Planner Role.

To determine needs and set expectations, you will actively seek out buying decision-makers and engage them in a way that synchronizes with their decision-making process. You will work with them to understand how your company's solution is different than others in the marketplace while maintaining the flexibility to come up with new ideas or solutions if necessary (and attainable by your company). You will build a strategy that identifies a target market or prospect and then uniquely tailor an approach that maximizes your chance of success in creating a sales dialogue. To do this, you will develop âdifferentiatorsâ (i.e. guaranteed aggressive response times, preferential rates on all goods and services, dedicated account and support personnel, escalation lists, access to the consulting firm's senior management for problem resolution, etc)

If your company does not have a unique benefit or if your company sells commodities (paper, printing, office supplies, consumables, etc); you are required to differentiate your company through your own personal interactions with buyers â" your personal positioning.

Post-Sale Expectations:

After the sale occurs, you will work to identify new opportunities by re-positioning or re-packaging new solutions to meet new needs that your Facilitator and Catalyst Roles uncover.

Required Traits of This Role:

You will be asked to be emotionally strong, customer-focused, creative, market oriented, strategic, conscientious, and curious in this role. You must also have the ability to improvise and take abstract ideas and make them "concrete."

--------------------------------ABOUT BRIAN LAMBERT--------------------------------------

Brian is the Chairman and Founder of the the United Professional Sales Association (UPSA). UPSA is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington DC that has addressed the concerns and challenges of individual sales professionals. Brian has authored the worldâs first universal selling standards and open-source selling framework for free distribution. This 'Compendium of Professional Selling' containing the commonly accepted and universally functional knowledge that all sales professionals possess. The open-source selling standards have been downloaded in 16 countries by over 300 people. Over 30 people have made contributions.

Because UPSA is not owned by one person or any company, it is a member organization and guardian of the global standard of entry into the sales profession.

Find out about the membership organization and understand the processes and framework of professional selling at the UPSA Website at http://www.upsa-intl.org.

Find out more about Brian at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Brian_Lambert

Or at http://www.brianlambert.biz

Sales Trainer, Mentor, Leader, And Counselor Shares Our Belief System - Are We Doomed?

2009-05-09T10:03:00.001-07:00

Part 2 of 'Your Abundant Life'

Even with the amount of absolute passion that I have to help people, it's a fact that a lot of people simply don't know how to believe in themselves, or how to let go of their past.

Thatâs my biggest obstacle when dealing with others. Thatâs the topic for this conversation. Why donât people believe in themselves? Ask yourself the same question right now. âWhy donât I believe in myself?â Most people will get immediately defensive and say 'I do believe in myself', 'I just havenât got my break yet, or found my niche', and a whole bunch of other excuses. So if you do believe in yourself, whatâs really holding you back? Go ahead; ask yourself. I think I know part of the answer. Hereâs a bit of a clue.

There are so many negative and deceitful things out there, (especially on the Internet), that when something real does come along, we have a difficult time believing it. We also have a hard time believing that something really good and positive can happen to ourselves. We think and we know we deserve it, but luck just hasn't been on our side. But we continue to do things like play the lottery, even though we have a better chance at getting hit by an airplane coming out of the sky. Why do we do this? Simple, because we have no confidence in ourselves, or what we are capable of accomplishing. We are clueless for the most part. Letâs look at our lives for a moment. I think this may provide some insight into the basics of attitude. You were taught this way by your peers, and the following is what you have to show for it.

I know that right now you either dislike your job, or you don't have one, or you don't have enough of one. Maybe you like your job somewhat but dislike the pay, but you have been doing the same thing year after year, you work to many hours with too little in return, and that doesn't even include the commute time, and the endless hours stuck in traffic. How exhausted are you on a daily basis? How about having to get up day after day?

The routine of every day life simply sucks. Sure, you have some good times, but for the most part, drudgery at its finest. Ask yourself another one here for me. How many times have you looked in the mirror and said to yourself, âWhat am I doing here?â Shall I continue? Sure, letâs rub it in a bit.

You dislike your lifestyle because you don't really have time to have a life. You probably don't have enough time for your partner, let alone yourself, your kids, and they are growing up without you being there for the most part. Your spouse, children, girlfriend, boyfriend, partner, significant other, etc. complain that you are never around. There's not enough money or enough time for a REAL vacation, no romantic evenings with your mate at a fine restaurant because you can't afford the luxury, or because you are to busy doing who knows what. You are constantly worried about one thing or another. Most of the time itâs about money. Then you need to make more money so you do have the time, but you donât have enough time need to make more money but you are exhausted. What about money for retirement? Let's not go there please.

So when and where does it ever end? Do I have to die in order to get some peace? Who is this guy? Not only does he stick the knife in, but he twists it as well. âWhy are you doing this?â you might be saying. Thatâs an easy one. I looked in the mirror many, many moons ago, and I didnât like what I saw. I was young, but I was already working like a dog and going to school, and I decided that there had to be a better way. I got lucky (thereâs that word again), and I found not one, but two terrific people to mentor me back in the late 70âs. But the kicker was when I had the privilege of spending several days with the most dynamic person I have ever met, and probably will ever meet. His name? Why Zig Ziglar of course. There is no substitute for a good teacher, mentor, trainer, whatever you want to call them, and a real one is nothing at all like the peers you probably listened to when you were growing up. I was young and easily influenced, and the timing was perfect.

I have earned my education, what it took me to compile the amount of information that I have ready to unload on you is extensive. I have a PhD in the school of Hardknocks, and after 30 years in the sales and marketing arena, I am quite an expert in the industry. A true professional knows people, and what makes them tick. My forteâ is people. I mentor, train, teach and mold people into leaders on a daily basis. Itâs old school, the main focus is honor, integrity, and the sheer determination for success through the âwork smart, not hardâ principle. I train and mentor people to be leaders in life, and if they happen to join me in business, all the more better, because I know where they came from and what to expect. Making money is my specialty. Go to http://www.danspy.com, and have a look at what I do as my main business. If it sounds intriguing, let me know. There is a place on the website for your contact information, or simply just give me a call on my toll-free line. I give you my word, I will not try to convince you of anything that you canât convince yourself of. Go For It Now!

Why Selling 'Wants' Always Outsells The Selling Of Needs.

2009-05-09T02:03:00.001-07:00

Television pervades our lives. It has become a 'staple'. It is something that we all 'need'. When we move into a new home we 'need', a refrigerator, a lounge suite, a bed etc (and a television set).

Well, in reality a television set is NOT something we need, it's something we believe we need. In fact our Human 'needs' are relatively few. We need shelter, food, love, and purpose in our lives. Owning a television set is not anywhere to be found on any known list of Human 'needs'.

So, what on earth does this astute observation about Human needs have to do with television or Internet marketing practices?

A lot.

You see marketing has little to do with our basic Human needs. However, it does have a lot to do with appealing to our Human wants. Marketing strategy is situational or circumstantial. The 'big' marketing term used here to explain this is 'phychographics'. It may also be called 'positioning'. However, whatever marketing techno-babble is used it means 'situational or circumstantial' selling. Don't get confused by the marketing techno-talk.

Wants are different from needs.

For example if you are hungry you know you NEED food. However, the choices you make about what to eat will directly relate to your own existing circumstances.

If you were sitting in the middle of a drought stricken country where there was little food to eat you would not be concerned about WHAT you ate. Your prime concern would be about eating ANYTHING to survive.

However, if you were living in a place with abundant resources, and you had a 6 figure income you would have different 'needs'. You would probably be making life changing decisions like, 'which wine should I drink with dinner, the red or the white'? This is not about survival. This is not about need, it's all about wants.

Now, I'm sure you've heard it all before, "know your customer". If you know your customer and can fulfill their "needs" (aka wants) then your business will succeed.

So, how do you do that 'know your customer stuff' (especially if you haven't got any customers yet)?

Well, the most valuable time you can ever spend BEFORE you market anything (on the web or anywhere else) is the time you spend identifying what the real and/ or (perceived) needs (aka wants) of your target market group actually are.

The fortunate thing about marketing on the web is that (if you know what you're doing) the web will actually TELL you what your potential customers WANT. It's called keyword research.

Understanding how people search on the web, and what they search for is the foundation stone needed to grow ANY successful Internet business.

Keyword research will tell you much more than how to get on the front page of Google. It will tell what products to develop, or promote. It will tell you how to promote these products to the right market, and it will also tell you reams about your potential customers BEFORE you invest one dollar on the promotion of anything.

Mastering keyword research techniques will tell you whether your potential customers 'want'... a television set or 'need' a steak sandwich.

Live Well. Expect Success!

Kenneth Doyle - eAnalyst

Kenneth Doyle Is A Writer And Internet Marketing Consultant, *Find Out About His [Keyword Optimized] Article Writing And Submission Service Gets Thousands Of Prospects To Read YOUR Web Site Offers, Here... http://www.feedyourhungrymind.com/articlesam3

Prescription for Success: The Role of the Pharmacy Call in Pharmaceutical Sales

2009-05-08T18:03:00.001-07:00

After the countless hours of product training and skill development and relationship building, your efforts culminate when a prescription is filled at the pharmacy.

When you consider that pharmacists talk to the same physicians that you talk to, about treating the same patients that you talk about treating, itâs obvious that pharmacists play a vital role in your success.

Why wait any longer to establish or improve your relationships with pharmacists in your territory?

A licensed pharmacist is a pharmaceutical specialist. Although physicians are experts in disease diagnosis and treatment, pharmacists are experts in pharmaceutical disease management.

Many physicians rely on pharmacists to train patients to use metered-dose inhalers, blood pressure monitors and injectable medications. Physicians also assume that pharmacists will monitor potential drug-drug interactions and recommend appropriate drug substitutions.

A pharmacist is a patient care provider. He or she is a link between patients and medical professionals, and can triage routine illnesses like a cough, cold or the flu. Patients count on their pharmacist to tell them how to take their medications, what outcome to expect, and how to react if something goes wrong.

A pharmacist is a pharmaceutical sales partner. Pharmacy support is crucial for successful pull-through programs, patient education, and supplemental physician contact. A pharmacist may be able to provide information about managed care formularies and drug pricing, as well as alert you to patient questions or concerns.

Pharmacy calls are sales presentations
Successful pharmaceutical sales reps prepare and execute pharmacy calls with the same care as they approach physician calls.

Conduct basic pre-call planning to identify your goal for the call. Do you need authorization to display prescription vouchers or coupons? Do you want to inform the pharmacy staff about a new drug launch? It should only take a few minutes to mentally outline what you hope to accomplish, but those few minutes make a difference.

Begin each call with an introduction and a statement of purpose. Most people recognize you before they remember your name, so until you have developed a relationship, put the pharmacist at ease by re-introducing yourself on each call.

Get right to the point of your visit. A clear statement of purpose will help the pharmacist assess how much time they need to spend with you, and whether or not they can afford that time right now. âMay I have two minutes of your time to tell you about a new indication for Hoozlefritz extended release tabs?â is more helpful to a pharmacist than, âHi! Iâm the new Hoozlefritz rep.â

Deliver your information succinctly and factually. Pharmacists do not prescribe medications and do not want to be âsoldâ on the merits of your product. They do, however, want to know the indication, dosing, mechanism of action (MOA), pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profile, and occurrence of side effects. This is vital information for their consultations with physicians and patients.

Close your call by asking, âWhat can I do to be a resource for you and your customers?

Here are specific suggestions from pharmacists in three different settings that you are likely to encounter in your territory: retail chain, independent and hospital pharmacies.

Retail chain pharmacistsâ recommendations:
Develop partnerships with pharmacists. Paul, a New York state-licensed pharmacist, points out that he and physicians and pharmaceutical reps all have the same goal: to provide excellent patient care. âWe are all interdependent. The cycle starts with the drug companies and links to the physicians and the pharmacists, who link directly with the patients. Weâre all in the patient care business.â

Suzanne, a licensed pharmacist in Tennessee, agrees. âMy customers are the drug repâs end customers. For both of us, âsuccessâ means making our customers healthier.â

Chain pharmacists across the country agree that pharmaceutical reps can be more effective if they DO:
â¢ Provide the pharmacist with objective clinical information.
â¢ Invite pharmacists to educational programs with physicians, or sponsor separate programs for their local pharmacy organization.
â¢ Follow through on what they say they are going to do. â¢ Respect the pharmacistâs time.
â¢ Offer your business card every time. Make it easy for pharmacy staff to contact you.
â¢ Inform pharmacists of any prescription voucher, rebate or coupon programs ahead of time. This gives pharmacy staff time to learn the quirks of the program so that they can facilitate patient uptake.

Paul says, âOne of the drug reps in the area launched a prior auth product in a crowded therapeutic class. I stocked her vouchers at each of my stores, and she informed her target physicians of this. Physicians appreciated the simplicity, patients were happy about getting a free trial, I benefited from the increase in customer traffic, and this rep led the country in sales.â

DONâT:
â¢ Make pharmacy sales calls on Mondays or early in the morning.
â¢ Ask a pharmacist to stock your product âto be ready for the first prescriptionâ.
â¢ Ask a pharmacist for confidential information, such as, âWhich doctors are writing my product?â

Independent pharmacistsâ recommendations:
Masood runs a small chain of independent pharmacies in southern California. To him, respect is the most important element of a sales call. âSome reps think that because I am not a big name chain that I am not as important, or maybe they do not need to be polite with me. But that is not the way to think of it. I am very busy here, with many customers every day. The smart reps know that I am a big business for them in this city.â

Consensus of independent pharmacists is that reps will be more successful if they DO:
â¢ Provide NDC #âs.
â¢ Understand that pharmacy customers are the first priority. Be patient.
â¢ Educate the pharmacist about potential side effects.
â¢ Ask for the opportunity to schedule an educational lunch presentation.
â¢ Treat independent pharmacists as well as they treat chain pharmacists.

âIâve worked in both settings, and Iâve seen a lot of drug reps overlook independent pharmaciesâ, says Alan, a pharmacist in Wisconsin. âMaybe they think that because weâre small weâre not ârealâ pharmacists. But we have the same educational background, and we have the same interactions with doctors and patients as any other licensed pharmacist.â

DONâT:
â¢ Ask for confidential information.
â¢ Ask a pharmacist to stock your product without a prescription.
â¢ âSellâ the pharmacist.

Hospital pharmacistsâ recommendations:
A hospital pharmacy may serve only inpatients, only outpatients, or a blend of the two. Inpatient pharmacies are usually restricted to stocking products that are on the hospital formulary. Hospital-based outpatient pharmacies operate like any other retail pharmacies. They are not usually restricted to the hospital formulary.

Tim is a hospital pharmacist in Maine who welcomes drug reps. âReps are a great source of information for me. I know that if I tell a rep that a patient had an unusual reaction to their drug, the rep is going to pass that on to their company to investigate. Drug companies are highly motivated to check it out and follow up, which helps me serve my customers better.â

Recommendations for pharmaceutical reps when calling on hospital pharmacies. DO:
â¢ Ask about scheduling an educational lunch presentation.
â¢ Ask for information about the formulary process; offer yourself as a resource for information.
â¢ Ask about the schedule for the hospital P&T committee.
â¢ Know your drug. Be prepared to clarify and support any information that is included in your product PI.

DONâT:
â¢ Ask for a list of physicians who are on the P&T committee.
â¢ Pressure the pharmacist to stock product without a prescription.
â¢ Make a sales call without a clear reason for the call.

Which brings us back to the bottom line: Pharmacy calls are sales presentations. And just like prescriber calls, pharmacy calls are powerful tools to improve patient care and drive your business.

If you make the effort to develop productive relationships, you will find that every pharmacist in your territory is an extra person on your sales team!

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer/Sales Trainer

Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning sales trainer and freelance writer. She has published articles on a variety of topics, including selling skills, motivation, and pharmaceutical sales.

You can contact her at sb14580@yahoo.com and read her latest articles on her website.

What is YOUR Big Barbie Camper Dream?

2009-05-08T10:03:00.001-07:00

Think back to when you were a little kid. Did you have something you really wanted - like I mean - REALLY WANTED for Christmas? For me - it was the Big Barbie Camper. For those of you who have no idea of what I am talking about - this was the Cadillac of all Barbie products - the huge RV camper that had everything in it - stickers for the outside - unbelievable. I drooled over the catalogue pages. Dog-eared the section with all the Barbie stuff. Pored over all the amazing features of The Big Barbie Camper. It was a camper that actually moved, with real wheels and a steering wheel, an awning, table and bench inside - what more did an 8 year old girl need? I had visions of Ken and Barbie driving their massive RV all over our basement floor. It was also $75 and there was no way my parents would have spent that amount on one gift. What did I get instead? A fuzzy, white bathrobe and a "spanky" collection of Anne of Green Gables books. I have never forgotten how much I wanted that Big Barbie Camper. And even though I didn't get it - I still believe in having Big Barbie Camper dreams. What is a Big Barbie Camper Dream anyway? Well - in business and in life, if you allow yourself to settle for second best I guarantee that is exactly what you will receive. Every woman needs a big dream - the kind that seems impossible at first. But the more you think about it, dream about it, talk about it - it starts to feel real. You need a Big Barbie Camper dream for your business. You want to make more money/have more success/create more fabulous customer relationships? Well then - you are going to have to quit playing it so safe. The world does not reward those who have dreams the size of marbles. You have to move into the Big Barbie Camper world of dreams. Consider this: - What would you do with your business if time, money and energy were not an issue? - What is an idea that has been "stewing" in the back of your mind? - What challenge excites you every time you think about it? - What customer would you love to have? - What project would you give up your anti-wrinkle cream for? - What scares the hell out of you besides spiders and turning into a bag-lady? If you are honest with yourself - you will discover that you have been holding yourself back from success. Lack of goals leads to lack of achievement. A reluctance to take calculated risk also leads to lack of achievement. Why? Because you get so hung up on the day to day details of your business, you forget about the Big Barbie Camper vision. So - do yourself a BIG FAVOR and let go of the excuses. I Diva Dare you to get your butt in gear and dedicate a portion of each week - even if it is only 1 hour - to get your Big Barbie Camper dream on the road. I'll see you there! CopyrightÂ© 2005

Exactly What to Say When Asked, "How Much Do You Charge?"

2009-05-08T02:03:00.001-07:00

A client with a creative business called me one day and asked the following question. It's a question I get asked frequently, so rather than write an entire article, I decided just to tell you exactly what I told her.

Kirstin,

"I never know what to say when a potential customer calls and asks 'How much do you charge? What are your fees?'
I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by quoting something too low, but also don't want the caller to hear a number that they think is too high and hang up.
What do I say to them so I don't put them off, but also don't immediately take myself out of the running to get their business?"

-Ann P., Philadelphia, PA

Ann,

Don't feel compelled to blurt out a number or hand over a price sheet. Calmly and confidently tell the prospect, "It depends." Follow up with, "Let me ask you a few questions...." Then proceed to ask the prospect questions that will help you learn about her needs, uncover her concerns, understand her methods of measuring success, and determine how to show the value of your services.

Without knowing the basic information above, you are not in any position to be quoting prices and fees. Do yourself and your potential client a favor and don't rush into discussing pricing until you have all the facts, m'am.

-Kirstin Carey
http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Kirstin Carey is the author of "Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks". Kirstin knows that most creative professionals hate sales, contracts and discussing money. She consults creative folks on the business side of creativity so they make more money, attract better clients, and love what they do. Get proven strategies and insider secrets to help creative types like you get the business help you need at www.MyCreativeBiz.com

Distorted Thinking Blocks Sales Success: How to Change Your Mind for Great Success

2009-05-07T18:03:00.001-07:00

Distorted thinking is so common in our thought processes that you might even say it was ânormal.â Distorted thinking is screening reality through a negative filter so that most events can seem negative. We think many thousands of thoughts a day and the average person has about 75-90% of their thoughts focused on: Repetitive thoughts (the same thoughts day after day) and distorted or negative thoughts. Whether itâs our culture, our early childhood training or traumatic events that bring us into a negative state: this negative state can be broken.

It takes discipline, discovery and self nurturing to turn your thoughts into a more positive framework, but it can be done! Distorted thinking styles was first written about by Dr. Albert Ellis. Look at the list below and see how you distort your thinking.

DICHOTOMOUS THINKING - Also known as Polarized, All-or-Nothing or Black-&-White Thinking. Thinking in extremes, it's either right or wrong, with no possibility of any grey areas in between.

Filtering. Focusing on the negative details and ignoring the positive. As well as magnifying the negative aspects. In situations that involve both positive and negative elements, you dwell on the latter.

DISCOUNTING - Downplaying and disregarding the positive. Phrases like: 'That doesn't count,' 'That wasn't good enough,' or 'Anyone could have done it.' Sometimes humor or sarcasm is used to downplay what one feels uncomfortable about.

CATAZTROPHIZING - Awfulizing or Magnification. Expecting disaster... 'what if this happens or that happens' and expecting the worst possible outcome. Exaggerating the importance of problems, shortcomings, and minor annoyances. Something minor goes wrong and the assumption is that it is a major problem. Tendency to expect the worst possible scenario.

MIND READING - Assuming you know what the other person is thinking and feeling about you or your situation. As well as reading into their motivation and intention.

Emotional Reasoning. Believing that what you feel is the way things really are.. automatically. Assuming that because you feel a certain way, that is the truth. 'I feel stupid, boring.. so I am stupid or boring.'

"SHOULDING" ON YOURSELF - A list of rules that everyone in the world and their families should live according to. Also statements with 'must' 'ought to' and 'have to' You feel enraged when others break those rules.

In order to change the outcome you must change your thinking. Both âpositiveâ and ânegativeâ events happen daily. Itâs your choice about what you perceive about the event. The outcome is dramatically different based on your thinking.

There are a variety of ways to incorporate more positive ways of thinking into your daily life. Here are just a few.

1. Create a baseline of your thoughts. Over the course of one day, create a tally of every time you think, say to someone else or participate in a conversation that is positive. Also, create a tally each of the times you think, say to someone else or participate in a conversation that is negative.

2. Now, every time you think or say something negative, place a mental stop sign up. Stop what you are thinking or saying. Re-phrase or re-frame it into a positive statement. If you can't make it positive, simply internally tell yourself to stop and then move on.

3. If there is a particular negative focus i.e. weight, money, health, relationships. Write positive affirmations for that area of your life.

4. Observe people who seem to be happy a great deal. Listen to what they say to others and about themselves. Model their behavior and also say those great things to yourself.

6. Have a one or two word mantra that you can repeat easily i.e. peace, love, breathe, acceptance, life or other words.

7. Write down what you are grateful for every morning or every evening.

8. Recognize your own magnificence.

9. Congratulate yourself for small changes.

10. Write affirmations and place those on your dashboard, mirror, or jewelry box.

Dr. Iris Fanning is a Nationally recognized Success Coach. Dr. Fanning is a graduate of Coach University, Honorary Doctorate in Divinity, M.A. degree in Psychology, Counseling & Guidance and a B.S. degree in Psychology. Additionally Iris is the self published author of "Change Your Life Right Now" c 2006 and "Do What You Love & Get Rich" c 2006. Dr. Fanning is also an in demand public speaker. Individual and group coaching is also available. Contact: coachiris@hotmail.com Please place Coaching in the subject line.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Iris_Fanning

People Buy People So Sell On Relationships

2009-05-07T10:03:00.001-07:00

(Objection handling tips excerpted from Objections! Objections! Objections!)

People buy people. If everything else were equal wouldnât you buy from the person that you liked the best? Of course you would and so do your clients. This may seem obvious but it is a fact thatâs often overlooked by most salespeople. This is a shame because itâs a fact that we can use to great advantage when selling.

Most clients are worried that you are going to push something onto them that they donât want. Why? Because weâve all experienced salespeople in our lives who do this. By focusing on the relationship and not on the sale you start to put your clients more at ease. This allows them to stop worrying that they are about to get âpitchedâ.

When I teach this simple technique to delegates and they get on the phones and try it they are always amazed at just how effective it really is.

Objections:

âWeâve got no needâ¦â
âWeâve got no budgetâ¦â
âItâs the end of the financial yearâ¦â
âItâs not my decisionâ¦â
âYou need to speak to someone elseâ¦â
âEtc.

The âBuilding Relationshipsâ Answer:

âThatâs fine. At this point most of my competitors would ask you when you do have a budget and arrange to call you back then. We at â¦ (name company) â¦ believe that business is built on relationships and I would still like to invest the time in getting to know you now. Tell me John, howâ¦?â

For the last 10 years, Gavin Ingham has been helping sales people to explode their sales performance by turning self-doubt, fear and lack of motivation into self-belief, confidence and action. With his inspirational approach to sales performance and motivation Gavin combines commercial experience, personal excellence and communications technologies in delivering personal and business sales success.

Visit http://www.gaviningham.net now to join Gavin's free monthly newsletter packed full of sales secrets, strategies and tactics. Join now and get Gavin's ground-breaking 9-part objection handling course absolutely free.

The Truth Behind Linear Selling: Why It Can Make Prospects Run The Other Way

2009-05-07T02:03:00.001-07:00

Sean works for a major telecom company.

During one of our coaching sessions, he told me, "I've been diligent about following the sales process that my company believes is required to make a sale -- but, for some strange reason, my prospects don't want to fit into that process.

What am I doing wrong?"

Sean's comment struck me because it spoke to years of traditional selling programs that promote linear selling -- moving prospects along from one step to another until they say yes -- as a "guarantee" of sales success.

But there's an inherent conflict here.

Linear selling says that you have to impose a predetermined structure on building a relationship -- but that's by definition an unstructured process!

Suppose that the "next step" isn't what the prospect wants?

"Wait a minute," you might say. "What matters most is that I put as many prospects as possible into my sales process, and hopefully some of them will turn into sales."

If you're thinking that way, it's definitely time for you to consider a different way of thinking.

Of course you can make sales using linear selling -- but you'll never know how many sales you're losing week after week because you're wearing the "blinders" of traditional selling.

If we fail to tune in to the natural rhythm of trust-building when two strangers become involved in developing a relationship...or if we try to force prospects into our process, we make the relationship about us and not them, whether we intend to or not.

And prospects sense that and pull back, because structured, linear sales processes don't recognize the human elements required to build the relationships that ultimately lead to sales.

Before a sale can happen, prospects need to feel that you're comfortable moving at their pace and their process.

If you try to force changes in that process, you'll only set off alarms that will pigeonhole you with the negative stereotype of "salesperson."

That's why I advised Sean to work on becoming aware of the milestones that prospects set and that will guide his path to a sale.

He needed to learn to build enough trust with prospects that they would feel comfortable telling him the truth of their process and their decision making path.

"I totally accept the principles behind what you're saying," Sean then told me, "but I need to know more specifics about what to say and do in a sales situation." Here are some suggestions I gave him:

* Integrate trust-building language into your conversations with prospects so they'll feel comfortable telling you where they are at in their process. For example, saying "Where do you think we should go from here?" invites them to tell you the truth, while "Why don't we set up a next appointment to discuss our next steps" gives the impression that you're trying to take control.

* Rather than asking prospects overtly what their decision making process is, use softer language that they can understand from their perspective, for example, "What specific gates do you anticipate you'll need to go through as you consider the proposition of purchasing the software to solve the business issues we discussed?"

* Don't probe or "fish" for prospects' "pain" as part of your sales process. Prospects have learned through long experience that the appearance of caring is usually a verbal ploy designed to move the sale forward according to the salesperson's agenda. Instead, speak genuinely and with sincerity to what you know their core business issues are. You can find out what these are by getting in touch with customers who have already bought your product or service and asking, "What three or four business issues drove your decision to buy our product?" Chances are, your new prospect will be dealing with similar concerns.

Consider these ideas, and try these practical suggestions. They helped Sean feel better about letting go of the old ideas he'd been taught.

Maybe they'll do the same for you.

With a Masters Degree in Instructional Design and over a decade of experience creating breakthrough sales strategies for global companies such as UPS and QUALCOMM, Ari Galper discovered the missing link that people who sell have been seeking for years.

His profound discovery of shifting one's mindset to a place of complete integrity, based on new words and phrases grounded in sincerity, has earned him distinction as the world's leading authority on how to build trust in the world of selling.

Leading companies such as Gateway, Clear Channel Communications, Brother International and Fidelity National Mortgage have called on Ari to keep them on the leading edge of sales performance. Visit http://www.unlockthegame.com to get his free sales training lessons.

Everyone Wants What You Are Selling They Just Do Not Know It Yet

2009-05-06T18:03:00.001-07:00

One of the best salesmen I ever met and no he would not come to work for me when I tried to hire him away to work for the Franchising Company I founded; had a saying. He told me of all his successful sales, which I had kind of figured since we had just made a rather large purchase from him. His saying was that; âEveryone Wants What You Are Selling They Just Do Not Know It Yet!â I thought that was funny and a really good attitude for a salesmen and then we discussed this concept in more depth.

You see when he first came in; I told him I was not interested and explained how we did things. He said; âWell yes that is a unique way of doing things and I am certain we can modify this to help you do it your way even betterâ and then we got into a the modification process and all the needs and objections to the thing and sure enough the salesman/problem solver proved himself right?

You know what? I really did want what he was selling and I really did not know it yet. But after the sales process was over and we took delivery it was truly one of the best things that our company ever did. The modified units helped our company become more efficient and gave our franchisees the edge over the competition. So perhaps you might consider all this and become a problem solver and not just a sales person and consider that; Everyone Wants What You Are Selling They Just Do Not Know It Yet! Think on this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Analyzing Internet Sales

2009-05-06T10:03:00.001-07:00

Before creating an internet sales/marketing campaign or focusing your products to their niche market, you need to know how buyers think, what their habits are and how to persuade them to purchase from you.

Marketing analyses are constantly performed by companies around the world to measure their effectiveness and how to deal with the new customer's behaviors, and the competitor's strategies; and there are some highlights to remember.

We should take into consideration that half of internet purchases have been made after searching the net, giving a tremendous importance to the organic search results. Of course some categories have a higher tendency (as the online travel market for instance) than others as clothes where customers know more specifically what they are looking for.

Other important fact is that generic keywords are much more used than specific ones, meaning that people prefer to look for broad terms rather than brands of product names. However talking about conversions, even though brands are not so searched, their conversion rate into sales is higher than generic terms.

So here comes a usual question while creating an SEO strategy for your products/services: is it better to drive more generic traffic and then filter the few buyers, or to focus on lower amount of branded targeted searches with higher number of transactions per visitor? Of course there is no absolute answer and the decision should be taken individually obeying the company's policies and the nature of the business.

As most of the searches before purchase come from generic terms, you can find a great opportunity focusing your attention into those keywords by using them as your new brand names and gain an attractive number of broad searches plus the benefit of the awareness for that keyword - as a brand.

Online purchases are made in average after 2-4 weeks from the first research as customers may go from general to particular results until they find what fulfills their expectations.

I expect that period will be shorter each time as customers learn to get what they are looking for faster; and because we - marketers - will continue improving our strategies to offer the right product to our client in fewer steps.

Five Mistakes to Avoid when Writing Sales Letters

2009-05-06T02:03:00.001-07:00

Look around the Web and youâll find sales letters promoting just about every kind of product and service imaginable. Some are long, some are short, some are punchy, some are formal, some work well and some simply donât work at all.

Writing a sales letter isnât a difficult task but unless you avoid the five mistakes that far too many copywriters make, your sales letters simply wonât be pulling their weight.

1. Features Donât Sell

If your sales letter tells your visitors that the âamazing new âwhizzleâ is being offered complete with 3-way tracking and an incredible 6 Mb of storageâ you wonât really be telling them very much at all.

Instead of concentrating on the productâs features, focus the readerâs attention on the benefits the product offers them. They want to know exactly how owning a âwhizzleâ will improve their lives. Will it help them lose weight, store their music collection or find their car if itâs stolen? If so, use the sales letter to tell them!

2. Exaggeration

Ok, so advertising always contains an element of exaggeration and Web-based sales letters are no exception, but donât let it get out of hand. A sales letter that sounds too good to be true will most likely be ignored so always stick with the truth while getting those benefits across. In fact, a sales letter that sounds 100% honest will be such a breath of fresh air that its honesty alone will most likely make it a success.

3. Thinking the Reader is âStupidâ

Most people are intelligent and want to be treated as such. Far too many sales letters talk down to the reader, offering them every snippet of information with the proverbial teaspoon.

Once a reader starts to think: âYes, yes, I understand that now get on to the pointâ, youâll most likely have lost a sale.

When writing sales letters, give your reader enough information to leave him feeling that heâs learned something, but give it in a way that has him thinking heâs picked it up without it being explained in detail.

4. Bore... Bored... Boring Your Reader

Whether of not youâre able to hold the readerâs attention will mean the difference between a killer sales letter and a sales letter that just hangs around doing nothing much at all.

As with all forms of promotional business writing, a certain amount of drama is needed in a sales letter in order to grab the readerâs attention and hold it throughout the message. Emotion is also used for the same reason. BUT, too much drama and emotion that isnât substantiated will become boring.

Appealing to the good nature of the reader in order to have him donate money to your âsave the garden slug fundâ isnât going to work unless you give him clear information about the slug and what impact its loss would have on the environment/his family/the economy.

While itâs important that the main selling points of the product or service are repeated several times throughout the sales letter, itâs crucial that the way in which the informationâs presented differs each time. If miniature windmills âwill generate power for your homeâ, they will also âcreate enough energy to heat and light your homeâ as well as âsave you hundreds of dollars in energy billsâ.

5. Lack of Motivation

Why are you writing a sales letter? Because you want the reader to buy a product, donate money, join a club or anything else that requires him to do something. If the sales letter doesnât motivate the reader to action, youâve wasted both your time and his.

Give the customer the opportunity to take action at several points throughout the sales letter and ALWAYS end the letter with a direct appeal. Click the link now! Ring today! If you want them to do something, tell them what!

Now that you know what to avoid, writing sales letters should become easier and the finished product far more effective. Hereâs to sales that skyrocket and a prosperous future for all.

Sharon Jacobsen is a full-time freelance copywriter living in South Cheshire, England. For a competitive fee sheâll happily write compelling sales letters to promote any product or service.

To contact Sharon or to learn more about her work, please visit her website at: http://www.sharon-jacobsen.co.uk

Re-Engaging Prospects to Make the Sale

2009-05-05T18:03:00.001-07:00

Often in sales a prospect may say they are not interested in your product or service at this time, as it is new on the market or your company is new to the area or region. And without a track record, well letâs just say they do not want to buy the first two-hundredth of anything built or be the first Guinea Pig to become a test case and end up falling on their face with egg splatter marks on it. Luckily in sales this is not a âNOâ or a âNo Wayâ but rather a wait and see approach.

Now then if you are too pushy with the prospect you can turn the âwait and seeâ to a âget the hell out of here; NO!â and so you need to handle these objections with white gloves. Many sales books will tell you that you need to bring the buyer back into the buying cycle.

This of course requires establishing a relationship, dialogue and getting to any âRealâ objections. They may indeed feel that the âtoo newâ objection is indeed a valid one, yet you probably as a sales person do not feel it is, because you believe in your product. That is a good thing and you darn well better believe in whatever you are selling.

If they say the product is too new, boomerang it and let them know, you realize that and you want them to be the first in the area to have one. Additionally ask them what they are worried might go wrong. Those parts maybe under warranty. If they say you are too new in the region and you are service business, offer them a trial service, one month only. âIf you like us, keep us, if not no hard feelings okay?â Consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Choosing Your ID Card Printers

2009-05-05T10:03:00.001-07:00

The major components in any ID Card System, ID Card Printers are many and varied. An ID card printer can perform many functions while printing an ID Card, and this is what makes them so useful. For example, while printing an image, an ID Card Printer could encode a magnetic stripe, a proximity card, or a smart card. The printer comes with software that manages the data that is printed or encoded on each card. The software handles all the functions and provides the printer with the necessary tools to perform all its functions at once. Before deciding which printer is right for your needs, consider what capabilities you want the printer to perform. You have to think about both the physical and technological properties of the printer and decide accordingly. As a rule, heavier ID card printers with a larger footprint have more abilities and are more durable. Lighter printers are usually better for less-intensive uses, and may have fewer capabilities, though this isn't always the case. More properties you should take into consideration when choosing a printer are the following: Do you want a single or double-sided card? A single sided ID card is excellent for simpler uses, like a student or school employee ID card. A double-sided ID card can add more security to your company and can be better for a larger company or corporation that wants enhanced security. Do you require color images or monochromatic images? You should decide if you want a multi-colored image on your card or a simple monochromatic (one color) image. Is encoding like magnetic stripes, proximity cards, or smart cards required? Institutions like Government buildings, schools, banks, and hospitals all benefit from the quickness and hassle-free efficiency of proximity cards, contactless smart cards, and magnetic stripes. Contactless smart cards and proximity cards use Radio Frequency technology that allows for higher security, greater efficiency, and easier use (no swiping involved). Do you want other security features, like holograms? Besides basic encoding, there are also more complex forms of security for ID cards like holographic cards. A holographic card is created by transferring holographic over-laminates onto cards. This minimizes the risk of the printed image being altered and forged. Make sure you request a custom holograph if you go this route, as the ones you buy online can be bought by many others, including counterfeiters. These are some of the most basic questions you should answer before purchasing an ID card printer. Check with your provider if you have other questions and make sure you ask any questions you have. You're investing in the security and organization of your company or facility, and having the right components can make all the difference in the type of Photo ID card you end up with. http://www.alphacard.com/

Do It Once - Do It Right - Repeat â Automate

2009-05-05T02:03:00.001-07:00

The dream for every business venture is to discover the secret formula for success in their industry. It doesnât matter how they discover the secret formula. The goal is to have one that is not only perfect but is reliable, repeatable and one that can be automated. If you are like me, you prefer doing business with a franchise brand name you can trust. It is the reliability of a repeated experience we prefer. We expect to repeat the same experience from each visit regardless of where the franchise is on the planet.

Franchising Your Sales Formula

We can apply this franchise formula and use their secrets as we develop a personal sales formula for our business. We simply need to follow the same steps they apply. First we need to discover the repeatable sales success formula for sales in our business. This might be similar to discovering the perfect cookie recipe using the right cooking temperature for the perfect length of time using the ideal secret ingredients. Our goal for this assignment is to document then duplicate and automate the procedure. When we finish, we will have a successful sales action plan we can repeat and automate.

The success formula for sales is very similar to our cookie example. As you know, the recipe must be followed or the results will be different. You know what happens when we substitute an ingredient in cooking or fail to follow the recipe. The same poor results will happen in sales. Here are three steps to franchise your sales formula for success.

Document the Events

Document the exact sequence of events including all the ingredients. Treat this exercise like a cookie recipe. You will want to know exactly what you said, when you said it, who you said it to and what you sent to achieve your results. Every business needs this documented but it is amazing how few businesses or salespeople have an actual action plan for sales. Treat this as if you were creating the perfect cookie and each action made a difference in taste. Once you have a successful sales formula, donât accept substitutions. I once learned a painful lesson when I used baking soda instead of baking powder for cookies. The results were terrible tasting cookies I couldnât give away.

Duplicate the Action Plan

When we visit the golden arches they duplicate their success formula to achieve consistent results. This is why I enjoy my fries and milk shakes with them. In sales we must learn to duplicate our action plans consistently. If we send mailers in our sales plan as the second step, we should always follow and duplicate this sequence of events. We should be considerate of the timing of our events. If we learn that every four days is the ideal timing, stick with the formula. The key point is meticulous adherence to details of our action plans. We must think of it as franchising our success formula as we duplicate our action plans.

Automate the Sales Events

With the advancements of technology we have numerous opportunities to automate the sales process. There are countless ways we can use computers and software to create systems that automate the sequence of events in the sales process. When we automate the routine sales event actions, we will gain more time for high priority sales actions. We should evaluate and consider everything we do as opportunities for automation. There are ways of merging tasks together, eliminating some and delegating others. We should focus on the important sales tasks and keep the main thing, the main thing. We should always remember the salespersons role is to develop profitable relationships that generate sales through the activities they perform.

Steve Martinez is the Founder of Selling Magic, a sales revolutionary company dedicated to teaching businesses how to increase sales by automating the best practices of sales. You can reach Steve at http://www.sellingmagic.com

My business: What is wrong?!?

2009-05-04T18:03:00.001-07:00

I have this online store (www.kinglot.com) and it has been up for about three months. I only made one sale and thatâs about it. Why? Not enough marketing. I tried everything from downloading programs like Ad blaster to submitting articles. I have no job, period. And, we all know that marketing your business is the biggest account. I tried my best to get my business out there. Most start-up business in retailing is very hard to make a profit. There are a lot of competitions out there. A lot of people want quality at the best possible price. I know I have the quality and the price, but what more do you want? All of my products are between 30 to 50 percent off from the retail price. Most people think the price is still too high. Take a look at my website; do you think my prices are too high? (I donât think so.) Why? I collected information from other sites that sell the same exact products and all of them have a much higher price. The thing is, if I make it any lower than what I am offering, whereâs my profits? I am not a greedy guy. My main goal is to satisfy the customer. I have to make profit one way or another to maintain this site up. Donât you think?

Neutralize The Unspoken Objections To Increase Your Sales

2009-05-04T10:03:00.001-07:00

You can increase your sales by neutralizing the unspoken objections your prospects may have to buying from you ...BEFORE you ask them to buy. Neutralizing unspoken objections will increase the sales you get from your web pages, sales letters and personal presentations. Neutralizing objections is easier than it sounds. Most of your prospect's objections to buying fall into 1 of only 3 categories. Let's look at these 3 categories of objections ...and some proven tactics you can use to neutralize them. 1. THE MONEY OBJECTION Most of your prospects have (or can get) the money to buy what you're selling. But they have a money objection. Some think your price is too high. Others believe they can get a better value from a competitor. You don't have to reduce your price to neutralize these Money Objections. Here are 2 proven tactics that work for any business. Enhance the perceived value of your product or service. For example, some businesses include with each sale a manual, CD or downloadable e-Book crammed with information related to using their product or service. Another effective tactic is to promote yourself or your company as a "Specialist" catering to the special needs of a narrowly defined targeted market. Prospects feel comfortable when buying from somebody who thoroughly understands them and their unique needs. They want to do business with you -- even if you don't offer the lowest price. Here's a simple 3-step process you can follow to develop yourself into a specialist: Step 1: Divide your primary market into several more narrowly defined specialty markets. Step 2: Learn everything you can about prospects in each new specialty market ...and about how your product or service meets their special needs. Step 3: Customize your sales message to appeal directly to the special interests and unique circumstances of prospects in each specialty market. TIP: If you're attracting many prospects who really don't have (or can't get) the money to buy your product or service -- you need to change your market. Target a market where prospects have an intense desire for the benefits produced by your product or service ...AND the money to buy it. 2. THE PRIORITIES OBJECTION Some of your prospective customer didn't buy from you because they put a higher priority on spending their money for something else. You can get many of these sales by persuading them to make YOUR product or service their priority. For example, develop some special offers your prospects can't resist. Create offers so enticing your prospects feel compelled to make your product or service their priority purchase. TIP: Include a deadline for every offer. It forces procrastinating prospects to make a decision. Many will decide to buy immediately so they don't forfeit your "good deal". 3. THE SKEPTICISM OBJECTION Your prospects bought things in the past that didn't produce the promised results. That makes them skeptical of your promises. Some of the ways you can overcome their skepticism include: ** Eliminate any risk of loss. Guarantee your customer's satisfaction. Offer to refund your customer's money if they don't get the results they expect. ** Prove your history of delivering what you promise. Provide testimonials from satisfied customers as evidence you've lived up to your promises in the past. ** Make yourself available -- personally or by phone. This is especially effective for Internet Marketers. Prospective customers feel more secure when they can talk with a real person. Neutralize all 3 of these unspoken objections before you ask your prospects to buy. Do it in your web pages, your sales letters, your personal presentations -- every message designed to generate sales. You'll see an immediate increase in your sales volume.

Seminar Expert & Keynote Speaker Suggests Taking This Zen Test: Can You Wait?

2009-05-04T02:03:00.001-07:00

I have this lingering summer cold, complete with a hacking cough that has overstayed its welcome by at least a week.

Soon enough, Iâll be back at 80% or whatever my typical efficiency rating is, so thereâs no need for self-pity.

When we get sick of being sick, generally, itâs a good sign. We have whatever is tormenting us on the run, and weâre ready to make a comeback, so overall, my spirits are improving.

But there is a point between illness and health, a forbidden zone, in which we shouldnât bother trying to get any serious or subtle work done, because weâll probably do more harm than good.

For example, I just dispatched an email declining an invitation to network tonight at a trade association mixer. I think my note may have sounded a little terse, uptight. I know for a fact it wasnât all that friendly, and certainly not chatty.

Why did I send it? The mixer is TONIGHT, so I waited, as it was, and not replying would have been even ruder.

But now, I have two serious business building relationships that I should attend to.

Because my voice is a little froggy and Iâm coughing, I donât want to use the phone. But if I opt for email, again, Iâll probably come across brusquely, and thatâs not my intention.

So, what to do?

Sometimes WAITING is the best thing, though Iâm itching to accomplish something, having sacrificed lots of hours over the last three weeks to this cold. But if I rush into action, I know Iâll misspeak and regret having done it.

This is where Zen and business instincts either converge or diverge, depending on your viewpoint. Practitioners of Zen and readers of the Tao have heard the ancient probative question:

CAN YOU WAIT UNTIL YOUR MUD SETTLES?

Put silt into a glass and stir it with a spoon and youâll see what this aphorism means. If you wait a proper amount of time, the top portion of the glass will clear up and youâll be able to see exactly where youâre going.

If I wait, Iâll have the energy and voice to use the phone, a tool that both of my prospects prefer, judging from their behaviors, and one that also gives me certain advantages.

If I rush, Iâll have to settle for email.

Is there a âmiddle way?â you might wonder.

There is. I can email both of them and suggest having a phone chat a few days from now.

This way, I can âact,â and demonstrate continuing interest in building relationships.

But I wonât overdo it, running the risk that fatigue or my cold will âdo the talkingâ and ruin what was nearly ripe.

Doing what you can, when you can; no more and no less, is helped along immensely by waiting.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books, over 600 articles, and numerous audio and video training programs, including "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant, and a favorite with salespeople and entrepreneurs. President of Customersatisfaction.com and The Goodman Organization, Gary's seminars and speeches are sponsored and hosted by organizations, worldwide. To ask Gary to speak before your next convention or sales meeting, please send your inquiry to: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Gary_S._Goodman

Increase Profits by Bundling Your Cleaning Services

2009-05-03T18:03:00.001-07:00

Anytime you place an order in a fast-food restaurant you're asked if you would like the "meal special" or "value deal". Instead of just ordering a sandwich you are now given the choice of a complete meal at a value price. Indeed, fast-food chains have perfected the idea of product bundling into an effective marketing strategy. What is bundling? It's a selling strategy that offers your customers a discount for buying two or more products or services. Packaging your cleaning services and products together can be a powerful marketing technique that allows you to sell more, and at the same time gives your customers added value.

For some businesses bundling seems pretty simple: a restaurant offering fries and a drink with a sandwich; a car wash offering a deluxe car wash with wax treatment; or a hardware store bundling paint rollers and a paint tray.

As a cleaning service you have an excellent opportunity to increase your profits by adding the sale of products or added services to the routine maintenance that you already provide to your customers. While you may not be able to address all of their supply needs, offering trash can liners, toilet paper, paper towels, soap, air fresheners, and ice melt will give your customers added convenience. They can easily order their supplies from you or you can offer to manage the supplies and restock when supplies are low.

When bidding on a new cleaning account, look at the supplies they're currently using, and then stop by your local janitorial supply house and get prices for the same or similar products. When preparing your bid, take a 10 - 15% markup on the prices you'll be paying for the products and include this on your bid. Explain to the prospect that you'll bill them for supplies used during the month on their monthly service invoice. By meeting their supply needs, your customer has one less thing to worry about and you have one more way to make a profit.

Another way to increase your profit margin is to bundle together similar services. When offering carpet cleaning, also suggest carpet spotting. Does your customer have a break room? Offer a package that includes cleaning the refrigerator, microwave or other appliances. You can even offer these services on a regular maintenance schedule, such as once or twice a month.

The change of seasons also provides an opportunity to offer added services. For your residential customers offer a "Spring-Cleaning Package". You might want to include window cleaning, blind cleaning and carpet cleaning. You do not have to give huge discounts when bundling services. Your clients gain value by being able to get all of their maintenance services handled by one company.

How do you decide what services to bundle together? Write down the types of clients you have and the services you are already providing. Do you clean banks, medical facilities, retail space, or residential homes? Make a list of the extra services you can easily provide that will benefit their business. Then offer those bundled services to your clients!

You can market your bundled services to existing customers by including a flyer in their monthly invoice. Take a few minutes to call your clients to check in and see if they have any concerns or if they are happy with the service you are providing. That call will provide an opportunity -- not only for feedback, but for you to let your client know about the products and services you can provide to them that will save them time and money.

Bundling services and products is one way to add another income stream to your cleaning business. It helps you to up-sell to your customers without having to spend much time or money on marketing. By selling bundled products and services you will see an increase in your profits and your customers will benefit from "one-stop shopping".

Steve Hanson is co-founding member of TheJanitorialStore.com, an online community for owners and managers of cleaning companies who want to build a more profitable and successful cleaning business. Sign up for Trash Talk: Tip of the Week at http://www.TheJanitorialStore.com and receive a Free Gift. Read cleaning success stories from owners of cleaning companies at http://www.cleaning-success.com/

In Sales Service Means Business

2009-05-03T10:03:00.001-07:00

Some businesses flourish while others slowly fade away. Thereâs usually a good reason.Âÿ Here are two examples.

Bernadette, my wife, has a busy schedule.Âÿ She will often call for a manicure at the last minute.Âÿ Sheâs been going to Carolâs Beauty Shop and Day Spa for the past two years.Âÿ According to Bernadette, whenever she calls Carol and regardless of how full her schedule is, she is always pleasant, professional and very accommodating.

When Bernadette calls and asks âDo you have an opening for a manicure this morning,â Carol never says no.Âÿ You can hear her smiling on the phone when she says, âSure, let me see whatâs available for you, Iâm sure we can fit you in.âÂÿ Then after looking at the appointment book she says, âI can put you with Rosa at ten or Carla at eleven, which is better for you?â

Her business is booming.Âÿ Carol started with a staff of two and now employs twenty. She combines the right words with a great attitude.

Example number two.Âÿ Last week, I needed some office supplies.Âÿ I went to the Office Max store in Vernon Hills, Illinois.Âÿ Itâs big and itâs close and I always have to wait.Âÿ It was 2:30 in the afternoon and there was a line at the only cash register that was open.

The woman in front of me was buying about six items including a day timer.Âÿ The day timer was missing the bar code needed for scanning purposes.Âÿ The cashier grabbed the microphone and called for assistance.Âÿ The man approached, with a face that declared, âthis better be good.â

He left to go find the price.Âÿ The customer in front of me said he was going in the wrong direction and took off to find the item herself.Âÿ Now there were seven people in line.Âÿ We were waiting, waiting, waiting . . . the very thing I enjoy most, especially when Iâm in a hurry.Âÿ

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I speculated quietly to the cashier, that if this kind of service keeps up, Office Max would be out of business in a few years.

The cashier looked at me and said with a scowl, âGood, we all hate working here anyway.â

After awhile longer, I paid my bill and left wondering where Iâd be getting my office supplies in the future.

Some businesses flourish while others fade away.Âÿ The people make the difference in every selling situation.Âÿ Here are three things to remember every day if you are serious about growing your business.

1.Âÿ Show up with a positive and professional attitude every day.

2.Âÿ For all routine situations, know exactly (word for word) how youâll deal with them.

3.Âÿ Focus on exceeding all customer expectations every time.

The key to success is you and you really make the difference.Âÿ Itâs hard to focus on the customer and not have them really appreciate your effort.Âÿ

Good service has its own reward.Âÿ So does bad service.

Jim Meisenheimer is the creator of No-Brainer Sales Training. His sales techniques and selling skills focus on practical ideas that get immediate results. You can discover all his secrets by contacting him at (800) 266-1268 or by visiting his website: http://www.meisenheimer.com

Selling Your Business â Step by Step Process

2009-05-03T02:03:00.001-07:00

So it's finally come time to sell the business. After investing years of your time and uncounted thousands of dollars, it has become successful, providing for your needs and wants, and it's time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Where do you start?

A good time to start thinking about selling a business is right after startup, when it shows signs of beginning to succeed and become self-sustaining. Even if you are planning on bequeathing it to your progeny or a partner, it's never too early to think about what will happen afterwards.

The first step is to take your time--selling a business is a complex process and you will only do it once. Confidentiality is a necessity at this point, as word of an impending sale can cause repercussions among employees and business partners (suppliers, customers, etc.) alike.

Your position in the business is also a point to consider. If you are the sole proprietor, the decision is yours alone. However, if you are a partner or board member, selling your part of the business will involve more considerations.

Finding a good broker is worth any amount of time needed to locate one you are comfortable with. Check the Better Business Bureau for any investigation history, and get referrals from fellow business owners or from industry associations like the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA). This is a non-profit "trade association of business brokers providing education, conferences, professional designations and networking opportunities" (IBBA), as well as professional certifications and boasts over 1300 members.

Next, a professional appraiser should be consulted, as just like selling a home, a professional appraisal will give a fair value to begin negotiations with. Keep in mind though, an appraisal is an estimate of the fair value of a business' hard assets, and the market value of the business may be higher or lower, as a business is only worth what someone else is willing to pay.

Determining major terms and price are issues that you are going to have to work out with your broker, but a few basic factors come into play: what do you want to get out of the sale? Continuing salary? Lump sum? Stock options? This is a step often overlooked until late in the negotiations, often to the detriment of the seller.

Financing the sale is usually about 90% left to the seller. If you can't or won't be willing to cover the costs of the sale, it may not be a good time to sell.

Once you and your broker have located a buyer and agreed on a price, a Letter of Intent is drafted. This letter outlines the terms and tentative price in a non-binding document and allows the buyer time to thoroughly investigate the business. This process is subject to Due Diligence, as the onus of discovery is placed upon the buyer and buyer's agent.

After the discovery process is completed to both parties' satisfaction, the Purchase Agreement is drafted. This set of paperwork creates a formal agreement between buyer and seller regarding purchase price, terms, and other legal details. Once the respective lawyers have finalized the details and complied with state law requirements regarding the sale, the Purchase Agreement is signed, closing documents finalized, and the sale is complete. If everything has gone well, it's time to breathe a sigh of relief and start planning what to do with all that free time!

William King is the director of All Wholesale UK: http://www.uk-wholesaler.co.uk, Wholesale Pages: http://www.wholesalepages.co.uk and Wholesale-Canada: http://www.wholesale-canada.com. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers, entrepreneurs and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

Turn Off, Tune Out, & Sell More!

2009-05-02T18:03:00.001-07:00

Itâs smarter to work harder.

Let me repeat that. Itâs 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 âsmart?â

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

Itâs 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 isnât 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. Weâve all had decades of exposure to the formats, so why canât 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 youâll find youâll recover incredible energy, and your career will soar.

It has worked for me!

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 SomeoneÂ® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Garyâs 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.

Premises and Principles of Sales

2009-05-02T10:03:00.001-07:00

sold to such a sophisticated client base had to follow some sort of secret code just to get access to an elite clientele. But as it turns out, the issues that a sales rep faces when selling to high net worth individuals is not all that different from those issues that are faced by a sales rep that sells to the average bear.

The principles that I shared with them seemed to be able to solve many of their sales challenges. Keep in mind that if you spend your time focusing on changing your premises and beliefs, more so than sales training, you will find that you have a bigger impact in how people respond to you.

Spend fifty percent of your time learning how to shape your premises to those of a top producer. Spend thirty percent of your time learning how to grow your personal development and sales strategy. Spend fifteen percent of your time polishing your habits. Spend only five percent of your time learning selling tactics.

Because the principles and premises that you follow make the biggest impact and give you a greater return on your time commitment, you must commit to adopting those beliefs that work for successful sales professionals. Integrate these three principles in your sales process and regardless of how sophisticated your prospect is, you will have them thanking you for thinking enough of them to offer your product or service.

First, follow the principle of emotional bank accounts. Remember that each relationship that you have is an emotional bank account. You cannot take a withdrawal from an account unless you first make a deposit. Asking for the order is a withdrawal. Asking for referrals is a withdrawal. Closing on the deal is a withdrawal. Too many sales reps try to move too fast through the relationship and make withdrawals before they are ready. Your intention of service is a deposit. Your concern for your prospect is a deposit. Your commitment to them doing whatever is in their best interest, even if it means not buying from you, is a deposit. Your belief of your product or service is a deposit. Make more deposits than withdrawals that you take and you will always have an eager prospect ready to refer more business to you.

Second, commit the principle of strong ethics to your sales career. If you have a product or service that cannot benefit your prospect, then you have no business trying to sell it to them. If you do, then you are violating principles of ethics. But on the other hand, if your belief is tremendously strong in the value that your product or service can bring to your prospect, then it is your duty to overcome any objection that they give you. When you have this level of belief, it really doesnât matter what sort of sales tactics that you follow. They listen to your heart more than the words that you say.

Third, integrate the principle of personal contribution. Find out how your product or service can benefit them on the personal level, and commit yourself to mastering how you can communicate this value. Role-play with your colleagues and managers. Find out from previous customers why your product or service benefited them, and share those stories with your prospects.

This week at your next sales meeting, print this article out and discuss it with your colleagues. Specifically, use these questions to guide your team at your next discussion:

How does our product or service benefit our prospect on a personal level? Are we willing to pass up a sale if it does not offer a benefit to a prospect? If we do, what can we do to still benefit financially from that relationship? How do we go about putting deposits in the emotional bank accounts of our prospects? What are we not doing that we could do which would make deposits? How many deposits are required before we start making withdrawals? What is qualified as a withdrawal from a prospect? Work together as a team to help integrate peak performance principles into your process, and watch how much easier it is to sell to your prospects.

Scott Love equips sales people and managers with tools that double their performance. To have him speak at your next meeting or convention, contact him at 828-225-7700. Visit his website for free tools and resources, http://www.scottlove.com.

The Best Day In The Week

2009-05-02T02:03:00.001-07:00

The best day of the week is TODAY, of course.Âÿ Yesterdayâs are lost forever, and we know only too well that tomorrow isnât promised to anyone.

To M.A.K.E. the most of every day â" do the following:

Monitor the critical performance elements in your business.Âÿ Know your numbers.Âÿ Know your statistics.Âÿ Identify your selling weaknesses and work diligently to transform them into strengths.Âÿ Every day ask this question, âHow can I do it better?âÂÿ Then do it better.

Adjust your attitude.Âÿ Tough people always figure out a way to deal with tough times.Âÿ Be tough.Âÿ You can achieve anything you can imagine.Âÿ To be on the safe side though â" make sure you convert your dreams into written goals with specific action steps.

Keep learning.Âÿ Donât let a single day go by without learning something new about your Selling Profession.Âÿ Subscribe to Selling Power Magazine, visit www.businessbyphone.com, read a book , listen to audio tapes as
you drive from account to account.Âÿ The more you study the more youâll sell.Âÿ Remember â" you have to learn more to earn more.

Enjoy the ride.Âÿ Face it â" lifeâs too short.Âÿ Customers and prospects are people.Âÿ Enjoy the time you spend with them.Âÿ Take an active interest in their business and learn about their personal interests.Âÿ You probably have more in common than you think.Âÿ

Donât put your family on hold.Âÿ Donât hit the mute button when it comes to outside interests and hobbies.Âÿ Nothing is more dreadful than facing retirement with zero hobbies and no favorite pastimes.Âÿ Waking up and falling asleep with CNN is no way to usher in your golden years.

With a little planning and flexibility you can M.A.K.E. every day
The best day of the week.

Jim Meisenheimer is the creator of No-Brainer Sales Training. His sales techniques and selling skills focus on practical ideas that get immediate results. You can discover all his secrets by contacting him at (800) 266-1268 or by visiting his website: http://www.meisenheimer.com

Christmas 2005: Bargains Galore!

2009-05-01T18:03:00.001-07:00

If you are one of the many millions of Americans who will be shopping this holiday season for gifts for loved ones, friends, and business associates, you are in the driverÃâs seat when it comes to finding the best prices. Several events this past year have merchants scrambling to set prices low enough so that you will shop and shop big. LetÃâs take a look at how these events are shaping the retailing landscape and how you can make it all work to your advantage.

High Oil Prices Ãâ" Hurricanes Katrina and Rita pushed already high fuel prices to record levels. Although off of their peak levels, prices are still too high for many consumers who feel pinched and are likely to cut back on spending. Factor in Hurricane Wilma and this will be a tough year for many.

Rising Mortgage Rates Ãâ" Incremental increases in mortgage rates means that mortgage bills are going up, taking away from money that could be used elsewhere. Home sales remain steady, so companies like Home Depot are likely to benefit, while department stores will be scrambling.

Credit Card Changes Ãâ" Our nationÃâs new bankruptcy laws coupled with credit card companies requiring higher minimum payments will certainly put the squeeze on for some. Not necessarily a bad thing to require higher payments, but the timing couldnÃât be worse.

Online retailers have a great opportunity to capitalize on consumerÃâs reticence. With lower overheads, free shipping, and access to a large pool of inventory, look for online shopping to jump up again this year.

For Ãâbrick and mortarÃâ retailers, expect that the motto, ÃâIf you cut prices sharply, they will come,Ãâ to hold true. Stagnant inventories cost money to maintain; moved merchandise means money that can be applied to the bottom line.

Look for aggressive sales and even price wars this holiday season as merchants redouble their efforts to reel you in. They have to; for some their very survival depends on your patronage.

Shop wisely!

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Copyright 2005 -- Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Samples from his portfolio are available right online.

Sales & Communication tips

2009-05-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

While these are bigger enterprises, I see some otherwise good sales people make the same mistakes repeatedly. If it makes the offending holiday rental owners feel any better let me tell you that even some sophisticated firms do no better. So - to help owners rent more days I'd like to give you a short list of things you can do to help make your revenue go up. Contact Data Include all your contact data on your website or advertisements. Personal name (full name), telephone, fax. This same information should be conspicuously posted on all your sales materials too. What you have to remember is that this person does not know you, you aren't a person they can talk to face to face at a travel agent, if you advertise in newspapers they can't even see the property, one vital word sums this up TRUST. Create literature Create written documents that completely describe your property and your terms and conditions. Include photos, floor plans, list of amenities and so forth. While a professional brochure is great it is not essential. The information can be a simple typed document. But include everything - the good and the bad. If you don't allow pets, smoking or parties say so up front. It avoids problems later AND is a selling point for guests who don't want those things. You can never include too much information. It's impossible. Answer Enquiries Answer every single email, answerphone message and letter even if your property is booked - why? Simply because that person will remember you the next time they are looking to rent a holiday rental and potentially they could be a future customer. I know it's time consuming but a simple, sorry but the property is rented for that property, but this is out website, and contact details in case you would like to rent next time. Telephone No matter how the inquiry comes in ALWAYS try to phone the person. If they ask only to be contacted by email you should honour that. But if they email, or fill out an online form and include their phone number it means they are willing to be called. So call them. Make friends. Invite them to be your guests. You don't have to be a "closer" or arm twister. Simply call them back and use the most persuasive words, "May I help you?" You'll be surprised as how easy it is. Keep records The great majority of guests do not rent after a single email or phone call. They have a general interest, they look around over time, they talk with people, they get side tracked considering other locations and then, maybe they decide to go to your area. It might be a day or a week, a month or years. Wise sales people keep a long list of everyone who has ever inquired. These are your leads and they are money in the bank. One word of advice though that you have to be careful of is the data protection act. So please make sure you contact the guest and say to them is it okay if I keep your details on file, or have a disclaimer in your emails or literature that way the guest knows that you are holding confidential information on them. I don't know how it works in Europe but in the UK the data protection is a legal act - and you can personally be held responsible for missing or leaked data.

Tips to maximize the sale of your business

2009-05-01T02:03:00.001-07:00

Question: How can I maximize the amount of cash I receive when I sell my business?
Answer: Acquire every last after tax dollar and get paid in cash. Also, follow three critical steps before proceeding:

1. Preplan the sale of your business. This should not be a spur of the moment decision. Rather, it should be well planned in advance. Though it is not possible to control the external environment, such as interest rates and strength of the economy, it is possible to plan for an orderly transition. Start thinking about some obvious sources for a potential buyer. For example, should an employee be groomed for possible succession? Might a good customer be interested in acquiring your business in the event of its sale?

2. Recognize the importance of finding the right buyer. Most businesses don't have a value that is set in stone. Instead they have a range of value. This means that different buyers will have different perceptions of the same business's value. It becomes important to pre-plan your confidential marketing effort to gain exposure to multiple buyers, especially synergistic buyers. Synergistic buyers are those individuals who, because of their location, complimentary customer base, financial resources or market position, can profit more from owning your business and are therefore willing to pay more.

3. Consider getting professional help. Unless you have a background in taxes, legal issues and merger and acquisition work, you will probably unknowingly make a multitude of costly mistakes by trying to sell your business yourself. Those mistakes may cost you substantially more than any fees paid for competent professional assistance. Do some homework on various alternatives. Become informed by attending seminars regarding tax issues, estate planning, and so on. Ask your CPA or lawyer to recommend Ãâgeneral knowledgeÃâ seminars that might assist your learning curve.

Question: How do I legitimately minimize my tax obligations when I sell my business?

Answer: Plan well in advance by reviewing your corporate structure on an ongoing basis. This will enable you to maximize the amount of proceeds you retain from your business's eventual sale.

As one would expect, the tax rules make it difficult for any quick fixes that give rise to immediate benefits. Consider changes to structure now that may result in more favorable tax treatment when the business is sold in five or ten years.

Start by getting up to speed on recent developments in the tax code. Chances are the code is very different today than when you bought or started your business. So sit down with your professional advisor and review your current business structure and its appropriateness for your business's eventual sale.

For example, if you are structured as a corporation, the substantial difference to your after tax dollars on sale depends on whether you proceed with an ÃâassetÃâ sale or a ÃâstockÃâ sale. Selling the corporation's assets can result in proceeds being taxed at the corporate level as well as the individual level when the remaining proceeds are distributed to the stockholders. However, if the stockholders sell their stock, it is likely that capital gains provisions would apply. The difference this makes to retained proceeds can be enormous.

Paying our share of taxes in the United States is an economic reality of life. Yet after tax dollars in the sale of a corporation can vary between 45 percent and 85 percent of the sales price based solely on tax structuring issues. The earlier you start planning for the sale of your business, the more likely you will be to minimize tax obligations.

Question: When is the best time to sell your business?

Answer: The best time to sell your business is determined through a careful consideration of the factors that can and cannot be controlled to maximize the amount of cash you receive. These factors include:

Environmental/External Issues- Beyond our Control

Low interest rates and a low inflation environment with plenty of liquidity and a buoyant economy create an ideal scenario for mergers and acquisitions. Clearly, we have enjoyed this scenario in the United States over the last few years. As a consequence, there has been a flurry of activity in corporate America as well as small business America. Well-run, sound businesses are selling relatively easily for nice multiples. Yet, as we all know, the economy goes in cycles. If the sale of your business is on the immediate horizon, then perhaps consideration should be given to bring the ÃâsellÃâ decision forward in order to take advantage of these robust conditions.

Internal Issues-Within our Control

A potential buyer is going to pay significantly more for a business that demonstrates a consistent track record of growing revenues and profitability. However, all too often a business is allowed to stagnate or even decline because the owners have taken their foot off the accelerator. Getting Ãâburned outÃâ and other health issues are probably the most often cited reason for a small business owner wanting to sell. This is understandable, but also often controllable. Recognize the warning signs and take whatever corrective action possible. Again, choosing to sell for a good price while the business is buoyant is far superior to forcing a sale because of health or other issues that have impacted revenues and reduced the business's value.

Above all, think with the head and not with the heart. A decision to sell can be very difficult for a host of good reasons. Most small businesses don't have boards of directors holding management accountable. However, sometimes it is prudent to seek outside objective advice from respected confidantes or professionals. These individuals bring a fresh perspective and insight that will assist you in making good strategic decisions for the future of your business.

Question: When a business is sold, what liabilities are the buyer responsible for and which remain the obligation of the seller?

Answer: In general, whether it is as an asset sale or a stock sale, just remember that sellers are obligated to provide Ãâlien freeÃâ assets to the buyer. While all transactions are unique, buyers will typically assume liability for the following: leaseholds related to real estate, unless they are relocating the business; accounts payable (and if they do they will also get the accounts receivable); advertising commitments such as Yellow Page contracts; customer deposits, provided seller relays to buyer a like amount of cash; and any other liabilities that are agreed upon in writing.

Sellers will typically be obligated to pay off out of the sale proceeds the following: lines of credit; installment debt and/or leases related to vehicles, computers, equipment; all obligations to employees up to the date of closing; all tax related matters; and all other debt that has any claim against any of the assets that are being transferred to the buyer.

There is another issue related to liabilities. The seller is obligated to give the buyer strong Ãâwarranties and representationsÃâ (guarantees) that there are no undisclosed or unknown liabilities that might create claims against the assets being sold. The California Bulk Sales Law essentially states that a buyer can be held liable for goods transferred to him or her that has not been paid for by the seller. Obviously, all buyers want and are entitled to protection from having to pay for the same goods twice.

In summary, it is essential that both buyer and seller commit to having everything in writing (i.e. no verbal agreements) and that both sides be represented by competent legal advice before signing on the dotted line.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Steve fitzgerald writes about southern california business broker. This firm has specialized in assisting owners of privately owned manufacturing, distribution and service businesses in selling their businesses. Learn more at www.acquisitionservicesgroup.com .

eBay Tips

2009-04-30T18:03:00.001-07:00

eBay Tips For just a moment, try to comprehend the power of the Internet. Every day, there are millions of people from around the globe "surfing the web." People run their business from the Internet, search for love, research succulent recipes, plan vacations, and best of all - they SHOP! People that shop are always looking for a bargain, not just any bargain, but something spectacular. The most popular public auction site, eBay, is where people gather to find anything from dishes to jewelry to houses and just about everything in between. Last year there was even a mother sold on eBay! You can purchase amazing original artwork from China, have it signed by the artist, and shipped directly to your home. Perhaps you are trying to find 12 yards of Toile to reupholster your couch. You might even be looking for a new lawnmower or different power tools. The great news is that eBay has it all! The other side of buying is the selling. Anyone can sell anything on eBay. Open an account, list your product, and wait for the bids to start coming in. There are secrets to being a power seller on eBay. While it is true that anyone can sell, to be successful, you need to know the inside secrets. One woman made over $250,000 last year on items sold on eBay. She is just one out of thousands and thousands of people that make a ton of money just selling merchandise. Are you ready to learn how to be an eBay seller? You will find it to be easy, fun, and exciting. 1. Collectibles Hot sellers on eBay are collectibles such as coins, stamps, or dolls. You can check out the collectibles category to get a better idea of what people love to buy. Anything that will move up in value would fall in this category. 2. Consumables This popular category would include anything that people use and then would need to buy again such as lotions, perfumes, camera film, candles, etc. 3. Information Products In this category, you would sell anything that can be sent on a CD or floppy disc or downloaded from the Internet. This is another popular category. 4. Start at Home When you first get started, it can be a little unnerving. The best option is to start by looking around your own home. Think of items that you would sell in a garage sale. However, instead of pricing each item and lugging it outside hoping for a nice sunny day, you can advertise them on the Internet. 5. Just eBay Although there are several other quality auction websites, eBay is by far the most popular and most successful. Although you could start using all the other sites, by spreading yourself out too thin you take the risk of getting things mixed up. In reality, it is better to use eBay and focus your attention and efforts on this one site. You will not be disappointed. 6. Look Around Navigate through each section to familiarize yourself with all the different pages. You will find a site map and help tab, which are very useful tools. It will take a little time to get used to the site but start by looking. As you start selling, navigating will become much easier. 7. Quick Response When you have an item listed on eBay and a potential buyer contacts you with a question, respond quickly. It is important and actually critical to your success to check your account several times a day. Answering a question could be the difference between you getting the sale or the buyer going elsewhere. 8. Trustworthiness It is extremely important that you handle your account with integrity. The number of positive comments and amount of stars earned are what will be the deciding factor for many buyers. Be professional, polite, and stand by what you sell. 9. Accuracy When you list your item(s) on eBay, write an accurate description. You do not have to write long paragraphs of rambling information but provide exact measurements, colors, condition, etc. Be extremely precise when it comes to your description. 10. Buyer Contact Once your item(s) have sold, be responsive to the buyer. Contact them in a quick manner, thank them for their purchase, and provide the required information for payment.

8 Steps to Guarantee Closing

2009-04-30T10:03:00.001-07:00

It's best to have the goal in mind - the sale. So let's start from the end and work backwards.

1.How to make the sale?

Get all the powerful people - especially the most powerful person to commit to your offering. This is the person with the ability to say yes and it happens. Don't be fooled by those who can say no. Anyone can get you eliminated.

a. If it is a business sale, there may be lots of people involved. The ultimate decision-maker is usually in the executive suite, and listens to associates and subordinates.

b. If it is a consumer sale (car, house, personal item), determine who has the power - husband, wife? Children can be significant influencers. Emotional buys happen, but will be returned unless the power and influences are synchronized.

2. How to get powerful people to commit?

Ask for the commitment. i.e. "Since you're feeling good about what we've just discussed, can I have your commitment that you will support me/my company.

a.If s/he says "yes", you've won a vote - not the sale - unless it's the person with the power to say yes and it happens.

b.If s/he says "no", ask "How come?" i.e. "Seems like you have some concerns. Please explain"

3.How do you know what s/he is feeling?

Ask the magic question - "How do you feel about what I've just presented?"

a.If s/he feels good - that great - go for commitment. See 2 above.

b.If s/he doesn't feel good or shows signs of hesitation/objections, ask "What's the issue." See 2b above.

4.How do you know what to present to make her/him feel good?

Ask questions about what s/he wants/expects. "What would the perfect solution look like to you?" "What will it take to get your vote?" Stop talking and listen. Then base your presentation on what s/he has said.

a.Be sure the answer comes from this person. The biggest mistake is to ask others what someone else wants/expects.

b.If s/he doesn't say the things you think s/he should be concerned about, expose and entice, i.e. "Are you aware â¦" "Others have used â¦ and found thatâ¦" Don't push. Sense if there is any interest only. Otherwise let it go.

5.How do you get to ask questions?

Make it a condition before you do any presentations. i.e. "I know you're expecting me to tell you about our stuff, but before I do, can I ask you a few questions about your wants and expectations so I don't bore you with information that is of no interest to you."

a.Ask questions when alone with her/him. People reveal more one-on-one. Remember you have to appeal to this person to win his/her vote. It's not about the company or the other people.

b.If you give the presentation before the interview, you lose. They get to know all about you and you learn little. Rescue strategy, when you can't resist the urge to present, is to ask each person the magic, feeling question. See 3 above

6.Who are the people to be questioning?

All the people who are touched or impacted by your product, especially those in high places. Win each of these people's vote. Ask to meet their boss so you can ask questions and win his/her vote. The powerful will make the final decision. Don't argue. It is what it is. Besides, what would happen if your competition gets to the bosses.

7.When do you start going after all these administrators, decision people and senior execs?

This is a lot of work.After you qualify that this is a good company and a good opportunity for you to pursue. Anything with life is not good for you. Use history to determine the types of companies/opportunities that have gone well for you and those that haven't. Seek only those that fit this profile. These are the plumbs and should close at a 70% rate if you do 1 through 6 above. Leave the rhubarbs for your competitors. They will die slowly while you use the time to find more plumbs.

8.How do you find enough prospects to be choosey?

Have a systematic prospecting program. Fortunately there are many levels and types of prospecting. Your easiest prospects are those who you currently do business with. Develop high level relationships,How? Read my book - TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER$), and you will get 100% of the business from 100% of your clients. Your toughest prospects are new account, cold call, greenfield prospects.

a.Prospect for those that fit your profile.

b.The more organized your approach, the better you changes of finding quality leads that are interested in doing something. Then do 7 through 1 above in that order only.

c If you don't prospect enough, you won't have enough plumbs and you will gravitate to the rhubarbs.

See selling is very systematic and can be easy. People make it tough by pushing product, going after everything, and trying to beat the competition. Best case these people close 30%. Do the above and you'll soon be closing 70% of those you choose to pursue.

About The Author
Wouldnât you like to be known? Sam Manfer, author, TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER$ show how to get top execs and be respected. Selling anything is then easy. Be known, be rich. Subscribe now for how-to articles, and actions www.sammanfer.com/info.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sam_Manfer

Ten Tips for Choosing the Right Direct Sales Company

2009-04-30T02:03:00.001-07:00

Direct sales can be your ticket to a profitable home-based business. There's low risk and low overhead - and you'll find lots of conversation, creativity, and cooperation among the company's representatives. But how do you know which company is right for you? Here are ten things to look for as you research your options.

1. Products. Successful direct sales consultants exude a genuine enthusiasm for their products. Before joining a company, you'll need to have the inner conviction that your company brings products and an opportunity that no other company can. It's important for you to get your hands on the products before you sign. Place an order or, at the very least, request a catalog and product samples before joining.

2. Passion. Does this company involve a business you are truly passionate about? One of the nice things about a direct sales business is that you can often find one that suits your personal passion...whether it's cooking, home dÃ©cor, beauty, or scrapbooking & cardmaking. And when you're genuinely enthusiastic about the industry and the product, you'll feel as though you are sharing, teaching, and helping - not selling.

3. Initial investment. What kind of cash outlay will your start-up require? Look closely at the company's joining fee and/or the cost of your business starter kit, but also think realistically about how much inventory you'll need to have on hand and what kinds of business supplies or products you'll need to get your business started.

4. Monthly minimums. What kind of personal sales volume is required? Are you ready to invest the time and energy that this level of business building requires?

5. Compensation Plan. Each direct sales plan is different, and it's important to look over the fine print. What is the commission rate and how is it paid? How are you awarded for recruiting others? How does the company handle breakaways?

6. Control. How much control do you have over the way you build and promote your business? Ask to see the company "rule book" before signing on.

7. Support. What kind of support networks are in place? How involved in the business is your upline? (Is your upline able to answer the questions in this article, for example?) How quickly does he/she return phone calls and emails?

8. Advertising. What kind of advertising and promotion does the company deem acceptable? Most companies have rules for the way their logo and trademarks are represented, both online and off.

9. Accessibility. Does the company offer exclusive products? Also, take a look at the level of saturation in your particular market. A newer company that offers quality products may hold a lot of promise in your particular industry.

10. E-commerce. Does the company have an e-commerce option? Many direct sales companies are now offering replicated websites so each representative can promote an individual online presence. A few direct sales companies even have shopping carts alongside these websites so you can make sales online, too, with the product dropshipped from the home office.

Take your time researching your options. When you have found the company that's right for you, you'll know it.

About the author: Susie Cortright is the creator of the award-winning online magazine http://www.momscape.com as well as a representative for a rapidly growing new direct sales company. Learn about the company she chose here: http://www.momscape.com/business.htm

Sell More Products and Services with Testimonials

2009-04-29T18:03:00.001-07:00

Testimonials are all-important to sell anything. You may already have testimonials for your new book and service, but do you have testimonials for other promotional pieces?

Next time you check out a Web site, notice the testimonials. Testimonials imply approval and recommendation. It's great to have them for your product, even your service; yet, most professionals don't use testimonials for the most important marketing tools--the ezine, the article, and the teleclass.

The Ezine

Does "Subscribe to my ezine" motivate you? To draw your target market's attention, you need to title your ezine and add a short benefit-driven description. Just like a guru recommending a book, you'll reap far more subscriptions when you add a testimonial.

Ezine subscriptions doubled in just one month for "The Book Coach Says" when the Web site added a ezine testimonial from Dan Poynter, self-publishing guru, "Book writing and marketing nuts and bolts--definitely worth your time."Âÿ This short line ran just above the place to collect ezine addresses for the ezine.

The Article

Those of you who send articles to opt-in ezines and other Web sites are probably increasing your ezine subscriptions as well as selling more products and service.

To take this one step further, add these articles to your own Web site with a navigation bar "free articles." People visit your site because they want free information.

After they get to your free articles, put a blurb at the top. When people compliment you on your article, use their blurb as a testimonial right above your articles. Here's one from a reader that added many new eBook customers: "You hit another one out of the park. I learn just what I need from your succinct, informative and original articles. Thank you."

The Teleclass

Just like a book, this product will pull far more participants when you add testimonials from past classes to your email sales letter.

"WOW! My Sales Letter worked!!!! Thank you for presenting your 3-session teleclass and eBook 'Create Your Homepage With Marketing Pizzazz.' You helped me focus on who my target market really is-- a major accomplishment. Knowing the difference between benefits and features helped me produce a sales letter that got me a sale the next day I put it up on my site."
- Harriet Meyerson, "Fire Up Your Staff On A Shoestring
Budget"
- http://www.confidencecenter.com

Web visitors don't want to take much time. They only want to spend time on what they know will assist them. Expand your use of testimonials to capture your potential buyer's interest. Then watch your sales grow!

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including "Write your eBook Fast," and "How to Market your Business on the Internet," she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says...and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

Stand Out From The Crowd With Your Logo

2009-04-29T10:03:00.001-07:00

Working as a web designer and web marketer I spend a lot of time everyday looking at websites. One thing that amazes me is the amount of sites that do not have a logo.

A logo is the personality of your business. It should be the first thing someone sees when they come to your site. It should tell about your business, who you are and what you do. You should look at developing a logo as important as developing a name for your site/business.

A logo builds brand awareness. Can you picture At&T, Coke, Ford, Chevrolet without their logos? All of these companies have logos because they know they build brand awareness. And coupled with the logo is a slogan that each company feels separates their product from the pack or that makes it interesting for their current and future customers.

How important is a Slogan? The tissue was first marketed as a "face towel." Sales where not good for many years, but when it was reintroduced as a "throw-a-way" handkerchief it become successful. Their new slogan, "don't put a cold in your pocket," took an old idea and gave it a new success.

How many slogans can we come up with?

"Add some muscle to your site" Geeks On Steroids

"That frosty mug sensation" A\&W ROOT BEER

"A-1 makes hamburgers taste like steak burgers" A-1 STEAK SAUCE

"Ace is the place" ACE HARDWARE STORES

"Plop, plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is" ALKA-SELTZER

"You\'re in good hands with Allstate" ALLSTATE INSURANCE

"Don\'t leave home without it" AMERICAN EXPRESS

"Reach out and touch some one" (1982) AT\&T

"The Ultimate driving machine" BMW

"The Greatest Show on Earth" BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS

As you are well aware this list could go on for pages but we hope you get the point. All successful companies have some sort of slogan that goes along with their main product in order to make it more enticing for their customers to use it. Don't think you are too small to worry with this as you should always think big and do what other companies have proven works.

Janeth Duque http://www.geeksonsteroids.com

Sales In A Flash!

2009-04-29T02:03:00.001-07:00

You'll get more out of this article, if you SEE what I'm talking about. So, 1) Go to http://www.macromedia.com/downloads for a free copy of Macromedia Flash Player 5.0 2) Then view these four flash presentations: http://www.worldprofit.com/uhbp/ http://www.fightercombat.com http://www.cashcomeseasy.com/flash.htm http://www.tombrenneman.com/flash 3) Look carefully at your own website. It's now time to dig into this article. Marketing Is About Breaking Through The "Blase Barrier": Flash Does Just That I've asked you to take a good long look at your own website at the same time you're looking at some of the hottest flash productions created by Worldprofit Design Services for a reason. Because flash is so new, I know the chances are that you don't currently have flash on your website. When flash didn't exist that didn't matter. Nobody had it. But now it most assuredly does matter. You see, flash has changed the online marketing game altogether. As a marketer, I have spent the last 25 years of my life working to solve one essential problem: how to break through to the prospects, getting them to sit up, take notice, and RESPOND! That's all marketing is ever about. The objective never changes, but the means constantly do. Flash is now the hottest way online of delivering a dramatic, enthralling, captivating, energizing and motivating client-centered message. When you take a look at a standard, stationary, non-moving website and a site using flash, there's just no comparison. Flash blows the old-time stationary site away. Think for a minute. Consider the "fighter combat" illustration above. What will move more people to fill out the form and notify advertiser Air Combat Canada that they're interested in taking a wild ride through the wide-blue yonder? A non-moving site with information? Or a flash site that picks you up, lifts you off your feet, and engages with your brain to generate a feeling of excitement and action? There's just no comparison! But, you say, I sell widgits that are just not as interesting as a 500-mile-per-hour jet flight with dogfight. Is flash for me? You betcha! Say you're selling garden tools. You'd think there was nothing less interesting in the world than a shovel, a rake and a hoe, right? Well, flash can take even the most mundane instruments and turn them into an eye-catching, hearting-pounding experience. Flash can make plants grow right before your eyes! Can make garden tools become the instruments that move the world! Can turn, in short, a garden-variety experience into IN YOUR FACE BENEFITS AND THRILLING ACTION! Friend, no stationary site can do that. Period. Not possible! Flash Is Composed Of Three Elements: Worldprofit Design Services Is The Master Of All Three Flash is composed of three essential parts: * copy * music * graphics. Each one must work to produce the desired results. As you may know, I wrote many years ago a book which has become the bible of copywriting. It's called "Cash Copy: How To Offer Your Products And Services So Your Prospects Buy Them.. NOW!" (Details at http://www.jeffreylant.com) This book is based on the revolutionary principle that everything you send to a prospect must be about that prospect... not about you. I have now applied these principles to the creation of flash presentations. Yes, I write many of them myself. (You can see more of my work at http://winnersworld.worldprofit.com) The point is a flash presentation must be a customer-centered presentation. It must be about the customer, appeal to the customer, motivate the customer to ACT NOW! One big advantage of flash is that is gets people engaged, draws them into the presentation and so effectively dissolves the usual blase and customer barriers that the prospect is more than happy do what you want: click here for more details, fill out this form providing you with all the information you need about the prospect, even BUY NOW! Flash without cash copy is like an automobile without wheels: it just won't run. But flash with cash copy is like a projectile sent at the speed of light: it's going to crash through prospect barriers and get that prospect to MOVE! (That's one reason why I wanted you to SEE some flash presentations before you read this article and to compare them your current non-flash, non-mobile, completely stationary and unmotivating site.) -- Music Did you listen to the music in the flash presentations I asked you to review? Maybe not consciously but your brain and body certainly felt it! Flash music is a minor art form all its own. But to a marketer, someone in the business of motivating people to act, it's most important. The music, of course, must be allied to both the images and the words. It must do its bit to move the prospect in the desired direction: TO ACT NOW! It needs to have a beat! Be pulsating! Energizing! Help catch the prospect up in the experience of what that prospect is watching... while never losing sight of the ultimate objective: GETTING THAT PROSPECT TO ACT. The flash examples above all use this kind of music. Indeed, such music is the hallmark of a Worldprofit flash presentation. But I can tell you this: even if we were asked to sell the most sedate product imaginable, we go out of our way to find just the right music, the motivating music, the thrilling, exciting, energizing music. And we'd find it, too! -- Graphics The word "flash" comes from the graphics which are used. These graphics (evolving rapidly even at this moment) focus on movement. The job of flash overall is to motivate a prospect to take action. The job of the graphics specifically is to make this happen as soon as possible. You will notice that flash graphics are always MOVING. There is nothing immobile about the graphics. THEY ARE ACTIVE! Just the way you want your prospect to be! See how the graphics in the above presentations MOVE THE MESSAGE! We work with the advertiser to make sure both that we know the message and that the advertiser is clear on which message he wants disseminated. Then the graphics are very carefully linked to the message to deliver the advertiser's knock-out punch. The music is then selected to accentuate that message and to provide further prospect motivation. What you're seeing when you see flash graphics is a fast-moving vehicle with a definite destination: moving the prospect to act, moving the prospect to do what the advertiser wishes AS SOON AND AS COMPLETELY AS POSSIBLE! Worldprofit Design Services: The Pick Of The Litter Flash graphics are so new you may even have known about them before reading this article. There are, right now, very few design establishments on earth which can use flash, much less harness all three essential elements -- words, music and graphics -- to create the knock-out presentation that moves mountains -- and prospects! Fortunately, Worldprofit Design Services is one of them. Worldprofit Design Services is a key division of Worldprofit, Inc., online at http://www.worldprofit.com since 1994. Since then our job has been to select the best and brightest technicians and web designers to utilize state-of-the-art technology in the service of a single objective: making your online business more profitable. We early became aware that flash constituted cutting edge marketing. As such we made it a point to both hire and train our designers in this very specialized form of graphic marketing. The result is the kind of superior work showcased above and unrivaled corporate expertise in this vital area. What's It All Cost? By now, you already know you want flash on your site. Around the office we have a saying, "See flash. Want flash." Frankly, it's just as simple as that. Once people compare what they've got to the client-centered brilliance of flash, THEY WANT FLASH! I'm sure you want it, too. But what, you want to know, does it all cost? Here Worldprofit shines. Worldprofit, Inc. is a Canadian corporation based in Edmonton, Alberta. Why are we there? Because it costs only a fraction to run an Internet business in Canada of what that same business would cost in the United States. Yet the quality of the workforce, their level of education and sophistication and their work habits and poise with dealing with customers are superior. In short, you get as good or better a work product in Edmonton as you get in New York or Los Angeles but at a dramatically lower cost! Again, I invite you to review the flash examples cited above to see for yourself. What's more because Worldprofit aims to become the planetary leader in flash production, we are hungry for projects which will allow our young, bright, talented, ingenious designers to showcase what they're capable of. Worldprofit has a mission and to achieve it we need to do not merely good but superlative work on your flash presentation. Even more, because we promote our work worldwide you will get the benefits of having your flash presentation showcased and marketed by us, just as the advertisers who commissioned the above flash presentations are benefiting by being included in this article, which will no doubt generate business for them! Yes, we will take the expert work we do for you and let the world know about it -- thereby benefiting us both! What Are You Waiting For? Unless the blood runs thin in your veins, you've been motivated by the flash presentations you've seen in this article. Equally, in your heart of hearts, you know that your current, immobile, stationary site is not as remotely comparable or motivating as what you've seen today. So, what's it to be? Sit there and let yourself and your non- moving site become completely outmoded while smart people worldwide work with us -- with me -- to get a flash presentation which blows the competition away? Or will you act -- right this minute -- to see what we at Worldprofit Design Services can do for you, the flash we can create for you? If you're ready to engage your prospects and get them to ACT now, we're standing by to help you do it with a cutting-edge client-centered flash presentation. Just mailto:customerservice@worldprofit.com w/ "I want a flash presentation now!" in the subject. Include your name company name telephone what you sell current site URL and budget. We're standing by to help you right now, to ensure that you make MORE SALES IN A FLASH!

How To Take The Right Steps To Increase Your Selling Results

2009-04-28T18:03:00.001-07:00

Steps - it is unrealistic for most salespeople to expect to make a sale in a single step. Most sales don't end after a single phone call. If youâre selling a complex product or service you won't get the order after a single face-to-face sales call. There are a number of steps involved in making a sale. If you want to make more sales, more quickly, more profitably, and do it more often you need your own personalized selling model.

This model consists of all the steps beginning with the identification of a sales opportunity and ends with the customerâs commitment to buy. Each step must be clearly defined and as a professional salesperson you must know each step like the back of your hand. How would you answer this question: what are the routine steps you take to generate sales for your company? If youâre answer isn't quick, crisp, and concise it means you need to do some homework.

In step - there is only one major way to get in step with your customers and potential customers. The single best way to get in step with your customers and potential customers is to ask rock solid questions. Assume nothing question everything. Remember, the more experience you have the more assumptions you'll make.

People are unique and so are your customers. It's not too early to start asking your customers this question. "What are your priorities for the year 2005." Don't assume you know until you ask the question and listen to their response.

Out of step - do everything you can to be out of step with your competition. From your customers perspective you don't want to look like your competition. Do everything you can to be different. Small differences create big advantages for you.

Example, attach a small ribbon to literature whenever you send it or leave it behind. Your promotional pieces will always standout from the rest of the stuff on your customerâs desk. The road to success is paved with differentiation.

Watch your step - personal and professional goals (in writing) determine who you are and establish very clearly where you're going. Imagine you are on one really giant and humongous stairway in life. If you could jettison yourself to the last step on that stairway and sneak a peek back down, what would you see? Probably lots of small steps.

One step leading to another. Always remember every step you take is moving you up or down on the stairway called life. View the steps as action plans on your way to achieving your next goal.

Step down - if the walls are starting to move in on you and you are feeling edgy and stressed you probably have too much on your plate. Translation â" youâre trying to do too much at one time. When you have so much to do it makes you dizzy just thinking about it, change your focus to doing less instead of more.

Try this; write down three things that are low value time busters. Take the list and toss it away. Forget about doing these three things. Why would you even think about doing low value, time busting, time wasting, aggravating, annoying, and pain in the butt things? Try checking voice mail and e-mail less frequently. The messages will still be there.

Your life needn't be lived on a treadmill that's going full throttle 100 percent of the time. Step down periodically to enjoy the journey called life. Step down if you want a change of pace.

Step on it - time matters most. Watch your watch and keep track of your time. Don't waste your time on anything frivolous. If what youâre doing doesn't add value to your customer or make you money, why are you doing it? Today is the most important day of your life!

Are you living it that way? Being busy isn't the same as being productive. Perspiring and getting results are two totally different pictures. The former feels good while the latter is good.

Step up â" and take action on all the things you are meaning to do. Procrastinators arenât born theyâre made from a lifetime of putting things off. Invest two hours this week to clear your desk. Create two stacks, MATTERS MOST and DOESNâT MATTER.

Take everything youâve been meaning to do and put them into one of these stacks. Once done, prioritize the MATTERS MOST stack and get rid of the other one. Do first things first and always concentrate on doing what matters most.

Small steps â" itâs been said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. My guess is the philosopher who penned that wants us to take a single small step. The first step is seldom the big one.

It is however the most important one.

Are Your Sales Scripts Working For or Against You?

2009-04-28T10:03:00.001-07:00

Copyright 2006 Joel Sussman

Sales scripts are a double edged sword. On one hand, they can help you present your selling points and sales rebuttals in an organized, strategic way. Used incorrectly, however, they can undermine your sales effectiveness and actually cause you to lose sales. Hereâs a caveat worth considering: Although sales scripts may contain tried and proven tactics for converting sales prospects into customers, a surefire way to drive a wedge between you and your prospective clients is to sound like youâre reading a script or regurgitating memorized lines. Bridging the gap between salesperson and sales prospect often requires a conversational, informal delivery that wonât come across if youâre reciting a script.

All the Worldâs a Stage

One thing we often forget about in the world of business and in the business of life is to âlighten upâ! Being too intensely serious and rigid can not only impair your âlikeability factorâ, but it can also cancel out a lot of the enjoyment you might derive from your business or career. Developing the ability to inject your presentations with a dose of personality, humor, and spontaneity can help you avoid sounding rehearsed and pushy. A certain amount of experimentation may be necessary to find out what works best for you, but thatâs all part of the process.

Getting on the Same Wavelength

Flexibility is vitally important in developing rapport with a prospect and winning their confidence. If youâre adhering to a rigid script, then youâre not being responsive to their needs, concerns, and questions. Granted, listening and being empathetic is more of a challenge for some people than others, but if your success hinges on the ability to persuade and influence (and whose doesnât?), then itâs a skill well worth cultivating. Very often the most fascinating, likeable, and persuasive people are the ones who have perfected the art of active listening.

Focus on Bullet Points

Rather than memorizing a sales script word for word, consider writing up an outline or a set of bullet points that you can impress on your mind. You may need to review the original sales script, every couple weeks, to make sure youâre ad-libbing effectively and accurately; but donât lose sight of the way youâre communicating nonverbally, because thatâs what your sales prospects are paying the most attention to.

Itâs How You Say It

A lot of sales and marketing people tend to talk too fast, either because theyâre so excited about what theyâre selling or theyâve had one cup of coffee too many. Some may feel the need to talk fast if they have a lot of information to impart in a short period of time. Every situation is different, but in most cases, talking fast is major tactical error. First of all, it may make it difficult for your prospects to absorb the information youâre giving them (and if theyâre confused, theyâre not going to commit); and secondlyâ¦ well, you know what they say about âfast talking salesmenâ. One way to get a reality check, once or twice a year, is to videotape and critique mock sales presentations involving you a few of your associates. Getting their feedback and seeing yourself as others see you can be an effective way to iron out some of the wrinkles that may be thwarting your sales performance and limiting your income.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Joel Sussman, a business writer, Internet marketer, and newsletter publisher, has created an online small business resource called âMarketing Survival Kitâ. Get ideas, templates, and proven techniques for increasing your sales at www.marketingsurvivalkit.com

IT Sales Skills: Selling Servers and LANs to Clients

2009-04-28T02:03:00.001-07:00

When you are running your own IT consulting firm, you will need some basic IT sales skills to effectively get your small business prospects and clients signed on for your recommended network solution.

Because small businesses are often resistant to change, computer consultants must be able to effectively and persuasively discuss the differences between a dedicated server solution and the status quo.

Know Clientsâ Hot Buttons

When selling to small business decision-makers, youâll need to speak to their hot buttons, overcome their objections, and relate your message to return on investment (ROI) and bottom-line savings potential.

IT Sales Skills

People have many different views on whether sales skills can be taught. Some think you canât be trained to sell -- either youâre born with the gift or youâre not. Others are adamant that anyone can sell more effectively with the right training.

The Bottom Line about Sales Skills

Small business computer consultants, as well as their staff, have to adopt some kind of sales skills that theyâre comfortable with -- even if they initially find selling painful. The goal here is to give you some tools to succeed, regardless of whether youâre a great schmoozer.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, PC Support Tips .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg helps small business technology providers get more steady, high-paying PC support clients. Sign-up now to get your free access to Joshua's field-tested, proven secrets for generating more monthly recurring service-contract-revenue with PC Support Tips.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joshua_Feinberg

Why We Buy - to Avoid PAIN!

2009-04-27T18:03:00.001-07:00

Our innate drive to maintain our âcomfort zoneâ directly affects how and what we purchase. Pain versus pleasure, similarity versus unfamiliarity and comfort versus stress; self inflected or not, are all feelings and emotions that affect most facets of our lives. How we deal with such emotion volatility directly affects our motivations to buy things that make us feel better.

Humans prefer pleasure, avoid pain, seek familiarity and would rather be comfortable than stressed out. Jack LaLaneâs famous exercise philosophy of the 1960âs, âNo Pain, No Gainâ does not apply to most of us.

We all like things to be âjust soâ, always in line with our expectations. Anything that rattles our comfort zone generally leads to an action response, a reaction, immediate pursuit of problem resolution. Herein lies a fundamental basis for sales professionals to leverage our natural tendency to seek and purchase things that help us avoid pain.

Selling is truly a Painful Process

Most selling situations involve collaborative problem or pain definition between a salesperson and a buying prospect. The sales representative ultimately attempts to educate the potential buyer about how costly it is to them of NOT having his product or service to eliminate their pains.

Many times in a buy/ sell situation the buyer does not know what his pains are, just the symptoms of the pain. Typically he knows he wants to rid himself of the pain but needs more information from the sales person to determine what it will cost him to do that. Cost manifests itself in many forms, time commitment, effort to be made or monetary investment to solve the problem.

Get Answers to These 5 Key Pain Questions

A skilled sales person must systematically qualify, or better, DIS-qualify the buyer early in the discussion to find answers to five basic questions:

1) What are the prospect pains? (They may not know!)

2) Can I, my product or service effectively eliminate the pains defined?

3) Is the buyer truly motivated to eliminate his pains?

4) Does the buyer have the financial resources to proceed?

5) Who ultimately decides to apply the available financial resources to these pains?

It is most logical that a sales representative must secure answers to these five disqualification questions BEFORE they decide to present their pain solutions, products, information or services to the buying prospect.

This decision to delay presentation, to postpone the âsales pitchâ, contingent on systematic disqualification of the prospect takes extraordinary discipline on the part of the sales representative. Most average sales people immediately jump into their presentation having no idea what really are the prospectâs pains, if heâs motivated to fix them, can afford the relief or whether he has the authority to make the purchase decision.

Prospect âPainsâ are not Unique

With a âpain definitionâ perspective incorporated in your selling approach you will quickly realize that many of your sales prospects have similar pains. You can categorize these pains, define their most common causes and solutions, then prepare in advance of your sales calls written or visual selling tools specific to each common pain. Each selling tool would be used only for a specific pain.

It is also natural for your prospects to have appreciation for others who had similar problems as they have. Anything you can do to document how you as a sales representative addressed another personâs like pains with your products or services will go a long way to justify their pending purchase. Written case histories of successful application of your product or service with previous customers are excellent selling tools.

Not âFeatures and Benefitsâ â" Itâs about PAINS!

So many sales technique training programs emphasize product or service feature and benefit âsellingâ. As a potential buyer it is nice to know all this, but prospects want the sales person to first listen to and understand their problems; how long theyâve had them, what its cost them and what theyâve done already to try to fix them. A potential buyer needs to do this first before they can fully appreciate any form of potential pain relief. (Again, save your sales pitch and get answers to the five fundamental pain questions defined here.)

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, once said, âWe will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasureâ. This is particularly true if we are fully involved in pain at the time. With this prospect pain definition selling approach increases in your sales results are certain, resulting in significant pain relief for both the buyer AND the seller.

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.

Understanding Why People Buy In Order To Close More Sales

2009-04-27T10:03:00.001-07:00

People buy for their reasons - not for yours. People don't want to be sold they want to buy. In every sales conversation there is one major benefit that will cause the person to buy and major objection that would hold them back. Everything you say has to show how this will benefit the customer. If you have 10 benefits in your product 90% of buying decision will hinge on one benefit.

Remember WIIFM What's in it for me i.e. benefits

Dale Carnegie once said, "When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity." In persuasion, your message has to focus on emotions, all the while maintaining a balance between logic and feelings. Logic and emotion are the two elements that make for perfect persuasion. We can be persuaded using only logic or only emotion, but the effect will be short-term and unbalanced.

Emotions create movement and action. They generate energy during the presentation and get prospects to act on the proposal being presented. The challenge with relying exclusively on emotion to persuade your prospect is that after she has left the persuasive situation, her emotions fade, leaving her with nothing concrete to fall back on. Logic plays the role of creating a foundation for emotion. This balance between logic and emotion could be called the twin engines of persuasion and influence. Master Persuaders know that each audience and individual has a different balance between logic and emotion. Your analytical type personalities need more logic than emotion. Your amiable personalities require more emotion and less logic. Always remember, you have to have both elements present in your message, regardless of the personality types listening.

Remember if your prospect is scared - try the following:

1. Give reassurance that it is all right to take this step, it is a great product and great company.

2. Overcome their fear. Sometimes fear or a bad experience from the past will cause your prospect to behave in an antagonistic manner. You must keep your cool, be completely ethical and totally believe what you're selling has real value and fairly priced.

3. Remember your prospect is not only buying for himself, but he also is buying with other people in mind. He is concerned what others will think.

Application

List the top 5 reasons people buy your product? (Benefits)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal. Get your free report 10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands and explode your income today.

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure youâve seen some success, but think of the times you couldnât get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade.

Kurt Mortensenâs trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available!

Kurt Mortensen teaches over a hundred techniques to give you the ability to effectively work with every customer that walks in your door. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others. Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income.

If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report "10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands." After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!

Sharpen Your Attitude Edge

2009-04-27T02:03:00.001-07:00

An edge is all you need to get ahead in the world of selling. You either get the account or you donât, and sometimes you get the account by a hair compared to your competitors. So just a slight edge is all it takes sometimes to win the competitionâs business away from them.

Here is how to get and keep an edge as it relates to your attitude. Remember that in selling the whole decision is made subjectively based on the emotions, not the intellect, of the decision-maker. And one way you can sway them over to your side, assuming you have all the other components in place, is to attract them to you with your insatiably positive attitude.

But the difficulty in doing this is that having a positive attitude all the time is nearly impossible in a profession where the real âworkâ is staying positive and overcoming all the rejection and seeing the energy and time loss of deals that donât get closed, sales that get missed, and opportunities that go to someone else. So how does a sales rep create and sustain an attitude so positive that it actually contributes energy back into his or her life?

Part of it has to do with daily affirmations. But that only goes so far. Plus, if you remember to do them, they start sounding rote and boring. So try something much more simple, much more powerful, and much more easier to remember than affirmations.

It is a power phrase. Or call it a mantra. Or call it a short little phrase that gives you a burst of energy and creates the attitude of positive expectation in your life.

Here is what I have used for many years and this little powerful and potent phrase has helped thousands of sales professionals all over the world:

âToday is going to be the most exciting day of my life.â

Say it as you are driving in to work tomorrow. Say it with expectancy. If you do not believe that this will work or make a difference, try it for a week and send me an email telling me I was wrong. But this short pithy phrase of positive power can give you the edge that you need to stay more positive, more focused, more disciplined, and more aggressive in reaching your goals. It will give you enough energy to get the edge and get the business. Remember that an edge, no matter how slight, is still an edge, and sometimes that is all it takes to win the business.

Copyright (c) 2006 Scott Love Scott Love equips sales people and managers with tools that double their performance. To have him speak at your next meeting or convention, contact him at 828-225-7700. Visit his website for free tools and resources, http://www.scottlove.com

11 Powerful Methods of Sales Lead Generation

2009-04-26T18:03:00.001-07:00

Are you searching for new and innovative ways of sales lead generation? Are you lacking in sources of good quality leads? Are you tired and bored using the same methods for generating sales leads? If you answered No to these questions you're either satisfied with the income you're earning - or you're not interested in earning a 6-figure income in sales. Please stop reading this article. If you answered Yes, then you're going to be very excited to read not only this article but the rest of the series I've written on sales lead generation. Here are the 11 most profitable methods I've found for sales lead generation that have turned hundreds of sales people into 6-figure sales people. Sphere of Influence Create a list of at least 100 people you know. Send out an introductory letter telling them about your product or service. Talk with each person at least every three months. Send them information of interest at planned intervals throughout the year. Consistently ask for and receive quality referrals. Remember, if each person you know also knows 100 people, well you get the idea. Cold calling Using cold calling effectively for sales lead generation requires five key ingredients. Target the market you are going to call. Know your objective (get an appointment, get a name). Have a memorized script. Smile. Be prepared for rejection. Have fun! Knocking on doors This method is much the same as cold calling. I used this very effectively in real estate. I used to knock on doors year round. Do you think people would remember someone who knocked on their door in the middle of winter? Farming This is another technique that is used effectively in real estate and can be adapted to any product or service. Pick a market of 200 homes or businesses and become the only person they think of in regards to your product or service. Seminars Seminars are great for sales lead generation. People who attend your seminar have an interest in the information you are presenting and a need for your product or service. Mass mailing Also known as direct marketing. Successful used of this method requires mailing a well written sales letter to a targeted mailing list. Newspapers Pay attention to the local news, business and announcements sections. Look for the people who get promoted, have babies, buy and sell homes and start up new businesses. There may be leads here for your product or service. Email publications Getting email addresses of past and current clients, your sphere of influence and any one else you come in contact with is a great way to keep in touch. Hairstylist Most everyone has a barber or hairstylist they use on a regular basis. When ever I'm in the chair the conversation covers a variety of topics. Offer them a $1 for every card they pass out or motivate them even more by offering a percentage of the sale that result from their referral. I've even picked up business myself while getting my haircut. Keep your ears and eyes open at all times. Daily Contacts Every day when you leave the house take twenty business cards with you and make it a point to give them away. That's twenty cards times five work days. If you're really ambitious, do it on Saturday and Sunday also. When you're looking to generate lots of quality sales leads the more lines you have in the water the more fish you're apt to catch. These are all effective methods of sales lead generation and should be used regularly. The title says 11 methods of sales lead generation, however, if you count there are only ten. That's because I gave the best and most effective lead generation method its own page. If you effectively work this method you will soon find you have more business than you can handle.

Size Does Matter

2009-04-26T10:03:00.001-07:00

Recently, I did a ton of traveling for business, and the theme "Size Matters" kept hitting me in the face, wherever I went. The verbal slapping began something like this...

At the airport car rental booth, "Mr. Raito, would you like to upgrade your mid size rental to a 'full size'?" Was my initial choice inadequate in some way?

Grabbing a quick, unhealthy lunch at McDonalds, "Would you like to super size your drink and fries?" Did the teenage cashier think I was too thin and needed a little extra help to pack on some extra weight?

Finally, checking into the hotel, " Mr. Raito, would you like to upgrade your room to a king size bed, with free Internet and complimentary breakfast buffet?" At 5'11", 175lbs, do I really look like I need a king size bed?

Size apparently does matter when it comes to the classic 'UP SELL' from almost every company we deal with.

Do we ever really need the larger than life portion of food, the king size bed so you can sleep sideways in comfort or even the gas guzzling car that could double for a tank? Odds are slim to none, yet people agree (sometimes even me) to the "Size Does Matter Up Sell" every day. Otherwise, companies wouldn't be wasting their precious time or energy.

Companies large and small 'Up Sell' because first and foremost 'it works', and secondly it doesn't cost them a dime to make an attempt to increase their profit from a sale they have already made. If you say no, oh well there goes three seconds and some oxygen from speaking. If you agree.... they just guaranteed themselves more money because they asked for the Up Sell.

If You Don't Ask You Don't Get!

I bet you can think of a few things you are doing right now in your profession or business that you could use this technique to try and 'get a little' or ' squeeze a little more'. Why wouldn't you? Example, you own a video store and you rent each new release video for $3.99. When the customer comes up to the counter with only one movie, why not indicate that for only .99 cents more the person could rent and additional regular video, which normally is $1.99. The sale was already made, so there was nothing to lose. Not a bad way too bring in 25% more money, just for asking a simple question.

So here is your 'Size Matters" Task to complete. Take note as a consumer from now on when, where and how companies are trying to 'Up Sell' you on a product or service? You may just be surprised. Do more than just take note, why not find your own creative way to use the 'Up Sell Technique' to positively impact your business or career?

by Lee Raito, CFP, FMA

Business and financial expert Lee Raito is a Certified Financial Planner and Financial Management Advisor. Lee has teamed up with Internet marketing expert Sam Heyer to provide you with information that will take your business success to a place it has definetly never been before. Their controversial book, Business Sexcess, is the much talked about book that will transform how you look at business. http://www.BusinessSexcess.com

Top Salespeople Know When To Walk Away

2009-04-26T02:03:00.001-07:00

You probed, elicited needs, and you tried to advance the buyer to the next stage of the process.

And all of a sudden, youâre getting nowhere, fast.

When you call, the secretary says heâs always in a meeting. He doesnât respond to your voice mails.

What do you do?

Keep him in your teaser file and continue to bombard him with calls? Send him a barrage of emails? Hope that there is still life in the deal?

I donâ think so. Youâve done the best you can do. Itâs time to walk away.

But this is hard, because we feel invested and we want to get some payback. Also, we know how difficult it is to simply get people to any stage in the buying pipeline, and weâre reluctant to start again at the beginning.

But these reasons arenât valid enough to justify throwing good money after bad.

You should still walk away.

I am one consultant and coach who believes that salespeople can be way too persistent with the wrong prospects, people who have already signaled hostility or hopeless indifference to our offers.

Hostility means theyâve taken a hardcore negotiating position that says take it or leave it.

Hopelessly indifferent people become unreachable, hiding behind the electronic fence of voice mail and secretaries who suddenly sound completely uninformed about anything.

Today, sadly, we have lead tracking software that keeps us hunting long after the scent of our quarry has left the forest. We never quite flush these losers from our systems.

Today, on a visit to a company in Las Vegas, I interviewed a salesman and asked him about the six prospects he currently had in an advanced position in the pipeline, ready to close at any time.

âDo you remember when you first called them?â I asked.

âYes.â

âCould you tell then that these prospects were special, that they were probably going to go the distance with you?â

A slight pause followed. He lit up.

âYeah, I DID know they were solid!â he replied, realizing perhaps for the first time that really good prospects stand up and shout, ââIâm worth your continuing effort!â

The rest are, for lack of a better term, losers.

Look through your database, and be ruthlessly objective. Purge all names that havenât shown very recent and substantial interest. Focus only on those who have, and on fresh leads.

Youâll do yourself a big favor!

How to Sell in Tough Times

2009-04-25T18:03:00.001-07:00

Do I have any specific thoughts about selling when times are tough? Well, if you are to achieve high levels of success in selling, you must be able to get positive results even while circumstances are negative. In just about every area of selling the field will over populate in boom times and thin out in tough times. The Real Estate industry is a classic example of this. Yet some people stay in the industry year after year, regardless of 'booms'. The consistently high performer will get results no matter what the circumstances. I find it's down to attitude. Some people look for circumstances in a victimized kind of way, to justify their poor results. They celebrate their good days, but in the down times, they have their 'safety net' of excuses ready. What they are doing, is giving negative thinking a lot of power simply by spending precious energy and time dreaming up and focusing on their 'reasons why it won't or didn't work' etc. Any time you offer your subconscious a choice between two goals, one negative and one positive, you risk it taking on the negative one. Which one do you give the most focus to? The exceptional achiever deliberately ignores talk about recessions, wars, the miserable state of affairs in the world or in their own lives, doom and gloom and any other subjects that he or she feels detract from their ultimate success. These individuals steer clear of the melodramas of life and concentrate their efforts instead, on matters far more worthy of their precious time and energy. Their 'batting average' matters more and it's here where their focus lies. I believe the biggest obstacle to successful selling occurs in your own mind. This brings us back to our perception of a refusal to buy being a personal 'rejection'. Quite simply, in selling, if you constantly feel rejected you cannot achieve exceptional results. It is also my belief that the number one reason for mediocrity in selling, is that three letter word - EGO! A falsely inflated ego is a vulnerable, fragile thing. If you are the type of person who takes "No" as a personal affront to your very worth, selling will be an exquisitely painful process to you and most people, sensitive or not, will avoid pain at all costs. You will become a master avoider and procrastinator. If you cannot confront and take steps to resolve the emotional issues that keep you prisoner and sabotage your success, then no amount of sales training will change your results for the better. Many people have wonderful people skills and are natural persuaders, but as long as they continue to equate their self worth with whether or not everybody wants to buy their products, they will set themselves up for a fall. When someone does not accept an offer I make them, I know it has nothing to do with me as a person. I therefore don't become emotional about it.

The best suite of Traffic Tips

2009-04-25T10:03:00.001-07:00

Are traffic tips important?... Just think: someone told you that if you aren't on Internet, you don't exist. So you started reading about how to create a web page or you hired an expensive designer and finally, you are the owner of Internet's most awesome web page about your product. That's fine! But... Who's going to find your web page among other 3.000 million web pages? It doesn't matter if you have a home made web page or a professional expensive made web page. People won't find you unless you start attracting traffic to your web page. Suppose for a moment that you have succeeded and you start receiving 1000 hits per week in your web page, is that good enough? Well it depends... If you where receiving zero, 1000 looks pretty good to start, but the key question is. Do you just receive 1000 hits of ANY kind of people or 1000 TARGETED hits. By Targeted Hits I mean people who's looking for what you are offering. And believe me the key to an easy home business is to get TARGETED visitors. There are many different ways to attract targeted visitor to your web page: Search Engines Directories Links from other web sites Off-line media Word of mouth e-mail signatures Usenet Newsgroups Unsolicited e-mail Banners Opt-in mailing lists Ezines Why did I use different colors, just to point the difference between the: Good Never use Not so good Lets have a brief description of each one of them... SEARCH ENGINES & DIRECTORIES As you probably know 80% of the sales usually come from 20% of the promoting effort, and with Search Engines this numbers usually are 90% - 10 %. So, to have a good traffic wave, you will use a lot of different means of promotion, but 90 % of it will come from Search Engines and Directories; so they are the back bone of the Internet marketing, and here is where you have to apply your biggest effort to do the things in the right way. And the best part of it is that they are a free! LINKS FROM OTHER WEB SITES You can get links to your web page from two different sources: *Search Engines: when your potential visitor asks for information about one of your main keywords, the Search Engine will show your web address link in their results. This will result in a visitor to your web site IF you are listed in the first 20 web addresses shown, people very rarely go after the first 20 results *Other sites: every good marketer is interested in providing good content to their customers, because if they like the content of their web pages, they'll keep on returning for more information. So other sites might point to your web page if they consider that's a good information to give to their customers OFF-LINE MEDIA There are many off line ways to generate traffic to your site: *Printed media *TV *Direct mail *Telemarketing scripts *Stationary *Flyers *Catalogs *Billboards *Blimps *News releases to targeted media *Business cards. *Etc. I told you above that the first and best way to attract targeted visitors to your web page is through Search Engines and Directories, well... the second best way to attract visitors to your web site is to write an article for a magazine or newspaper that reaches your targeted market. And why is this so important? Because if an important magazine or newspaper shows an article written by YOU, there is an implied endorsement from them. Their customers believe in them, and if they show YOUR article the customers feel they should believe in YOU. WORD OF MOUTH Word of mouth will cost you nothing and that makes it a very cost-effective way of attracting targeted customers. What could be better than a real person's testimony? But it isn't easy to get. Why is people going to talk about you? They will only talk about you and refer you if your offer them extremely good content, and if you treat them as if they where your only customer! E-MAIL SIGNATURES Very easy to create and free too! This is a very powerful and legal way to attract targeted customers because every time you write an e-mail to one of your customers they see it. And it becomes a strong way of promotion if you write to newsgroups, mailing lists, or any other place where many people will see it. E-mail signatures are a combination of a business card and PS it should be located at the end of all your e-mail, and are the second most important part of any sales letter. USENET NEWSGROUPS We must distinguish between two kind of Newsgroups, Forums and Mailing lists *Loosely regulated groups: Where anyone can write about anything. Yes you will be able to put your add here, but as anyone can, they are flooded and scarcely anyone pays much attention to the *Serious groups: That will have strict self-enforced rules. Write any commercial stuff to them and you'll be flamed. Here you have to build a relationship with the group, honestly participate in their discussions and they won't care if your include your e-mail signature, but don't try to fool them. They will insult you or you'll get banned or both. As a matter of fact, unless your product or service and the Newsgroups topic have a perfect fit, it's better not to use them. You will have to read everyone's postings everyday, and contribute regularly to get a small response and a lot of spam. UNSOLICITED E-MAIL If you send un-targeted e-mail to anyone, and don't provide your name, reply e-mail address and a way to be removed, that's named spam My advice is no to use it, not only for moral issues, but because it doesn't work, you will end loosing your ISP, your web sites and hours of hard work. A different thing is to write to targeted lists of people that have specifically accepted to receive your e-mail. (Although most of them accept your e-mail because they want to receive some free gift offered to tempt them, and so are a low motivated un-targeted market) BANNERS Lets be direct: how many times do YOU click over a banner? A banner to be of any use has to be: *Very well designed to produce high impact *It has to be animated to catch attention *It has to load quickly *It should be at the top or the bottom of the page to get best results *It better be the only one on the site *They are too expensive for most of the companies That you read about a banner exchange program that's free. Don't dream about it. It's never free, it will cost you A LOT of money, because although someone MIGHT click over your banner that's shown in other site, when a targeted prospect that's browsing YOUR site, clicks over the exchange banner, you can say good bye to your prospect. And that's a lot of money! OPT-IN MAILING LISTS This is a good selling method! Because only targeted people will opt-in to your mailing list, BUT although opt-ins allow you to create a relationship with a targeted prospect that when they start trusting you, in many cases will by from you, this is a long term relationship, and here we are talking of TRAFFIC developers. This is NOT a good way to develop traffic, is a good way to develop sales in the long term EZINES Same as with opt-ins, this is a long term sales source, not a traffic developer. If you are looking for a good traffic building tips ebook, you can find it here: http://www.easy-home-business.com/how-to- sell.html Written by Dr. Roberto A. Bonomi

Whose Goals Are They?

2009-04-25T02:03:00.001-07:00

Many have goals, but few reach them all. Businesses like sports teams aspire to making goals (gaining points) to earn rewards. Are your goals clichÃ©d with being productive? Why is it so difficult to set realistic goals that 100% of the time you can reach with ease? Ever think about what the motivating factors are that caused you to choose those goals? Goals cannot be set alone - they need reflection and confirmation of the origin along the surrounding dynamics to assure the appropriate method to set realistic goals. If you choose to set goals based only on what you think is right, that will not work alone. You need to agree that the goals set by your organization are also your goals but not limited to their plan - make your own! Look beyond, dream about what you wish for your loved ones, for yourself and start there. Taking charge of your own destiny will keep you productive. You will be able to look beyond the politics of organizations that can diminish your efforts to reach and exceed goals when they are not your own. When the press asked Larry Bird how many practice shots he takes in a day, he responded with "1,000 shots." The reporter asked, "How is that possible?" Bird simply stated that some shots are physical but most are visually taken (positive visualization). Visualizing successful shots when at a stop sign (seeing your successful goals played out) is an effective means of motivation towards achievement of your goals. It's up to you to determine what you wish to achieve in life, but learn from what you've accomplished, what factors proved to support you on your journey to achieve goals that are in line with what you desire. But make certain you visualize all your goals for the day, month, year and life and map them individually, enabling you to see how to score your own shots. When you own your goals, they will naturally motivate with empowerment to reach them.

Leads: Do You Have Enough?

2009-04-24T18:03:00.001-07:00

Generating leads is part of every business. Everyone has to have customers and prospective customers are leads. Even the shopper perusing the weekly grocery store ads is a lead, but generally leads are potential customers whom you contact in a variety of ways, several times before they make a buying decision and purchase your product or service.

We used to think of leads as being mostly for real estate agents, insurance agents and stockbrokers, but nowadays, counselors, life coaches, and those marketing any kind of product or service via the internet must generate leads and stay in touch with them in order to sell their products and services.

How do we find these leads? There are many methods. Then what do we do with them? We continue to stay in touch regularly to remind them of our services and products.

Referrals are your best customers. Thatâs still true, even with the internet. Start with any client base you already have and build it with good websites and some advice from marketing professionals who will help you to get more traffic to your site. You can ask people to enter their name and email address on your site to receive free information about the very thing they are on your site to learn about.

Give free talks at bookstores and to professional organizations. Ask them to give you their email address so you can follow through with more valuable information. Always invite people to forward your emailed letters to anyone they know who has the same interests or needs.

Then you send that free information to them. Sometimes itâs a series of reports you have created. Each report is sent to remind them of you and your services. Give them some good solid content and also show them why they will need your service or product. Most of us will need professional help to create a site that will do this.

Newsletters are great, too. By this I mean a regular email to your list that includes solid information such as articles about your industry and solutions to the problems your customers or clients have. If applicable, include your calendar of events, such as talks and workshops or support groups. Definitely include a good photo of yourself to personalize the newsletter.

With regular contact to your list, following good web marketing advice, and asking your list to send others to your site, you can generate leads and build your business.

About the writer

Wallace Mettarod started in insurance sales. On weekends he helped his neighbors and children learn about their computers. Last year retired to run his own home-based internet marketing business. You can read more on the subject of leads at FSI Leads

Letting Them Use Plastic

2009-04-24T10:03:00.001-07:00

Obtaining merchant status will help to increase your sales.

Consumers are becoming creatures of convenience; when dealing with businessesâ"large or smallâ"they desire ease of transaction. That most frequently translates into the ability to pay for services rendered or product purchases via credit card.

Small businesses are often denied merchant status because they canât prove to the bank that they are good risks. You must establish and demonstrate a track record before a bank or independent sales organization (ISO) will agree to back your business. Even today, some banks also hesitate to provide merchant status to companies without storefronts, to mail order firms or to individuals with a past history of personal or business bankruptcy. Although thankfully, it is getting easier today than it was even 15 to 20 years ago.

In this article we will help you to understand the reasons you may not be able to obtain merchant status, so that we can help you find ways to more favorably present yourself and your business as candidates for merchant status.

1. Start with your own bank. When shopping for a merchant account, the first place to stop is your own bank.

When banks look at an application, they consider three critical things: the principals, the product and the process. In other words, they need to know about you, what you are selling and how you are selling it. Be sure to take the time to carefully develop your proposal. It can really pay off. Show your bank that youâre serious about obtaining merchant status and you take your business very seriously.

In spite of your best efforts, the bank may still turn you down. The next step is to approach other banks in your area. If youâre still running into roadblocks, there is another option.

2. Investigate ISOs selling on behalf of other banks. ISOs serve as a liaison between banks and merchants. Your odds of getting merchant status from an ISO may be greater than from a bank, but the costsâ"and risksâ"may also be greater.

Most ISOs are legitimate businesses, but it pays to be wary. The first thing you should ask any service provider is what banks they represent. When considering an ISO, a merchant should know which bank they are working for, and should check with MasterCard and Visa to ensure the ISO is properly registered. Keep in mind that this service you are buying can have a significant impact on the cash flow of your business, and donât be shy about asking for references.

A good bank or ISO should provide reliable and trouble-free processing, with responsive customer service whenever you have a problem, all at a fair price. Whatâs fair depends on the risk level of your business and the terms being offered by competing ISOs. Make sure the merchant bankcard provider you choose fully supports you as a merchant with a variety of services, like check guarantee, acceptance of all major credit cards, debit cards, etc. Also make sure they fully support the equipment or software they sell you. If they donât, ask them who does and how much extra this costs. Some programs may be appealing, but require hidden costs for assistance.

3. Clearly understand the costs involved. To better grasp the issue of costs, you must understand how credit card sales are processed. Simply stated, when you conduct a charge transaction, you will receive the cost of that sale, less a previously agreed-upon discount (from two to more than five percent), from the bank or service company. The more stable your business is, the lower your discount rate will be.

Fees are a substantial cost: ISOs typically charge fees for minimum activity, if yours doesnât reach a pre-determined amount; fees for each transaction made, above and beyond the two to five percent discount; and fees for processing customer statements. Another cost is that of equipment. Most merchants today use an electronic draft capture terminal to process sales, which you can lease or purchase. It is more economical to purchase the equipment, but your choices will be limited by the ISO you choose. You might be able to purchase a used terminal from your ISO or buy a new or used terminal from another source. Check with your ISO first!

If you have a personal computer and a modem, there are several software packages currently on the market that perform authorization and draft capture. Make sure that any software you buy is compatible with the system used by your ISO.

4. Caveat emptor. As with any other business decision, carefully consider your options and shop around. Research the requirements, costs and services of banks and ISOs offering merchant status, and talk to other business people who are already offering credit card service. There are many reputable companies out there and, of course, there are also bad apples. As a merchant, ask questions about any company you are choosing to use. The company should be willing to answer any questions you might have, as well as to tell you openly if they canât!

While the information presented might seen very disheartening to your getting merchant status, listen to this. Many individuals who have filed bankruptcy and have terrible credit have received merchant status.

While you may pay more fees going through an ISO, it is worth it to be able to say, Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover. For those of you doing any kind of consulting it is a big plus. If you eventually sell products, again it is a great convenience for your customers and many times will close the sale.

So, GIVE YOUR CLIENTS THE PLASTIC OPTION!

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, it's like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com

The "Wall of Defensiveness": 7 Ways to Tear It Down

2009-04-24T02:03:00.001-07:00

Have you ever gotten frustrated when you realize that your prospects keep stereotyping you as a "salesperson"? And because of that, they don't give you the trust and openness that you deserve, and that are essential if you're going to help them solve their problems?

That's what's been happening to Michael, who calls companies to set appointments with decisionmakers. "I have a great product that I'm passionate about," he told me, "but when I call prospects, they immediately start treating me as just another salesperson who's trying to sell them the same type of product that others have tried to sell to them in the past...Is there any way to stop them from pigeonholing me?"

Michael is hitting what I call the "wall of defensiveness" that almost all decisionmakers these days use to protect themselves against sales calls. It tears me apart that he, like so many other salespeople, have to endure this type of personal rejection as he tries to make a living.

And none of the sales training or motivational programs he's been through had helped him to solve this frustrating and debilitating situation.

In our one-on-one sessions, Michael and I discussed 7 key strategies that can break down that wall, and he's been finding that they work for him...maybe they'll work for you, too...here they are...

1. Curb your enthusiasm. This idea always comes as a shock to anyone who's been exposed to the old "sales gurus" who insist, "The more enthusiastic you are about what you are selling, the more people will be attracted to your solution"--but, boy, are they wrong! When you come across as overly enthusiastic, especially when you're on a first call to a new prospect, you immediately trigger sales pressure that tells your prospect, "I'm excited because I just know that you need what I have to offer!" But in any new situation, that's exactly what you don't know--so try cutting out your enthusiasm on initial calls. Otherwise, you're likely to hit the wall.

2. Avoid assuming that you and your prospect are a fit. You may have the "perfect prospect"--someone with the exact criteria and profile of your ideal customer. However, if your words or tone of voice say, "I know you'll benefit from our service because you fit the exact profile of our customer base," you'll inadvertently will set off alarms that will let your prospect associate you with the negative "salesperson" stereotype. Instead, learn to be humble, and avoid making assumptions until after your prospects trust you enough to share their true issues with you. Then the two of you can decide, in a natural evolutionary way, whether you're a match or not.

3. Don't think that you have to have all the answers or you'll "lose" the sale. So many of us work ourselves into a frenzy before we actually pick up the phone to call someone. Why? We're afraid that if we make a mistake or don't deliver our pitch perfectly, we'll be rejected. But it's okay not to have all the answers. Ever see the TV show "Columbo"? Was he perfect? No. He was human, humble, and unassuming, and people trusted him. It's okay not to have all the answers. Needing to have all the answers is a control trip, and when you're with a prospect, you're not in control--the two of you are in a relationship. The more you internalize that realization, the more comfortable and less frenzied you'll feel. And you'll be surprised when your prospect appreciates you for being a just another human being.

4. Don't try to overcome objections. Overcoming objections doesn't build trust. Instead, it only associates you with the negative stereotype of a salesperson who has been trained to move the sales process forward at the prospect's expense. When you hear an objection, diffuse it and re-engage the conversation on your prospect's terms.

5. Learn to diffuse sales pressure. Hidden sales pressure is the root of all sales woes. Diffuse it at the beginning of the relationship, and you'll never have to deal with it again. Shift your mindset and change your language so it reflects you being your most natural self. The most sophisticated sales strategies in the world won't make any difference if you don't know how to diffuse the sales pressure that prospects are only too quick to sense--and back away from--in any buyer-seller relationship.

6. View prospects as potential friends, not as sources of commissions. If you see dollar signs instead of human beings when you're with prospects, they'll sense your attitude and see those dollar signs in your eyes. Keep your conversations human by always viewing your prospects as people who have potential problems that you can solve.

7. Acknowledging the sales game diffuses the pressure. If you find yourself in a sales situation that puts your relationship with your prospect at risk--for example, a prospect promises to call you back but doesn't--call the "game." Call your prospect and say simply and gently that you really don't want the relationship to degenerate into the stereotypical cat-and-mouse sales game. Your message should always be, "Our relationship, not my commission, is my priority."

The bottom line of all this is: You can no longer rely on what you are selling to distinguish yourself, because there's just too much competition out there. Instead, you must focus on how you're selling. That's the only thing that will make you different from everyone else.

Sales Talent Is Available and Affordable

2009-04-23T18:03:00.001-07:00

During my many years of reviewing and analyzing inventions, new products and service offerings I have been amazed by the innate fear of selling expressed by so many otherwise capable entrepreneurs. There exists a palpable fear of selling that mimics vertigo, arachnophobia or a fear of snakes. This fear should never stop a project from successfully entering the marketplace.

Ponder the daily aspects of life virtually all of us experience. We seek out, and interview, for jobs. We seek out, then court, and marry our mate. We compete in sports, lobby for promotions, seek support for church and charities, and support causes. Each of these, and so many other activities, require us to utilize some portion of a sales experience.

In reality, sales are nothing more that asking for a preferred result. The seller wants to receive consideration in return for placement, or acceptance of their product or service. A selling situation almost always requires an equal transfer of benefits. A simple example is selling a car. If book value of a car is $5000, and the seller asks $7500, the sale will almost never happen unless a witless soul arrives and can be hustled.

Nevertheless, many people get the sweats, canât sleep, or hyperventilate at the mere thought of an imminent sales presentation. No matter how confident they may be in all other situations, standing, presenting, selling their opportunity before a stranger is a chilling experience. There are affordable alternative options available to avoid this difficult hurdle for many entrepreneurs.

1. Utilize the inter-net. There are many web-sites specializing in specific areas of sales: technology, consumer products, hard-goods, giftware, etc. SalesGenie.com is one, but a thorough search will turn up many more. These e-commerce sites specialize in matching sales agents with appropriate products.

2. Research trade organizations specializing in your product category. One example, if you develop a new hair care device, research the Barber, Beauty, Salon Institute (BBSI). This is an industry specific trade group that organizes expositions, lobbies, provides research and acts as a central clearing-house for the salon market. Sales agents are members and are always seeking out new products to represent, and they work on commission. From hardware to auto parts there are similar trade associations seeking the next hot new product.

3. Hire a consultant. There are many consultants specializing in sales and marketing within specific industry categories. The advantage of a sales consultant is that they will work more closely with a seller to customize the approach, strategy, the offers and promotions. This will result in a stronger opportunity to close a deal, and that is always goal number one. Search the inter-net using keywords such as sales consultant, sales engineer, sales strategy, marketing consultant, and hundreds of other search-word combinations. Remember to always get and check references.

4. Visit and utilize gift mart showrooms. There are huge permanent Gift Marts in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Los Angeles. Millions of square feet are devoted to presenting a bewildering array of products in licensed showrooms. Each showroom also has a field sales force covering specific states. These territories are assigned by vendors (sellers) and are commission based. Again, most of these thousands of showrooms specialize in a product or category. From Christmas, to lighting, to tabletop, to clocks, and thousands of other product categories, you may discover a sales group potentially ready to handle your line of product.

5. Seek out expositions, fairs and trade shows specific to your commercial opportunity. I typically walk trade shows to network for clients. This is invaluable. Each category of product has an inside baseball aspect. Trade terminology, unique trade terms, assigned coverage territories, trend cycles vary greatly by industry. You need to learn what is going within your area of interest and there is no better place than shows to study, research and meet potential sales partners.

These are only a few ideas offering alternatives to fear of selling. There are far too many opportunities that never get off the ground simply because the creator believes, âI am not a salesmanâ. You do not have to be. There is a sea of experienced sales talent ready and able to sell their expertise.

Duquesa Marketing, Inc. is an international consulting firm with over 35 years experience looking at hundreds of new products, concepts and inventions each year from entrepreneurs, inventors and companies all having the same goal; to commercialize their product. The ideas and products that succeed invariably consist of the same basic elements. In order to successfully place a service or product in this very aggressive marketplace no shortcuts are tolerated. There has never been a better time or place to launch that needed new product, and the rewards have never been greater.

Geoff Ficke is President of Duquesa Marketing, Inc. An international consulting firm with over 35 years experience in creating customized strategies and business plans, product development and funding opportunities for entrepreneurs, inventors and small business expansion. Mr. Ficke is also a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Study at the Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He can be reached at 407-260-1127 or through the company website, http://www.duquesamarketing.com.

Build & Protect Your Confidence

2009-04-23T10:03:00.001-07:00

I can remember the first time that I had to get new customers from a cold start. I was a sales rep at IBM. I had only been selling for a short while since graduating from college, and I didn't really know what to do.

When I started working for IBM, I was given extensive sales training. My sales training period took me 9 months, which you may be surprised to learn was considered fast back in 1987! IBM wanted its salespeople to be well prepared to sell any of its products to any business that wanted them.

So you'd think that I would've been well prepared for sales prospecting with all that sales training.

I wasn't.

Our sales training did not give me any advice on sales prospecting or lead generation.

IBM's sales training was very good, but I started out being groomed for large account sales. After my first year of working on a large account, I was moved into IBM's new business group. Even though I was excited about this new challenge, it was not what I had been trained for.

Fortunately, I had a great sales manager who new how to create new business. One of the things he suggested was that I get my year off to a quick start by running a seminar for the medical groups and hospitals in my territory.

If he had not suggested this to me, I might have gotten intimidated or frustrated at the idea of making cold calls to generate all of my new business.

I ran the seminar, and it turned out to be a big success generating many sales leads. My year was off to a fast start, and I was feeling pretty confident about my sales abilities.

I tell you this story, because sales confidence is in many ways a fragile thing. Success builds on itself. Too many salespeople are thrown out there with a sink or swim attitude by their management. If I hadn't had the help of a great team of people around me at IBM, I probably would have been frustrated and hated cold calling and prospecting. And, I most likely wouldn't have had the stellar year that 1989 turned out to be for me.

Confidence is often created through positive experiences. However, what do you do when you have little experience in something like generating new business or making cold calls?

You find confidence, by looking for a way to do something that you personally believe you can actually do. The key is belief. You must believe that you personally can actually do it.

One of my clients who wants to grow his business recently felt unwilling or unable to make cold calls. Why? Because he hates being the target of cold calls himself. You know the kind. The telephone rings, and after a long pause, some telemarketer asks for you by mispronouncing your name. And then they try to keep you on the line forever at dinner time.

The thought of making such a call on a business was very demeaning to my client, as I am sure it is to many of us.

Bad selling by masses of poorly trained telemarketers makes it difficult for many of us to sell well. When we experience cold calls such as these we don't want to appear like this ourselves. It makes us ashamed to be in sales, even fearful of making cold calls.

As a result, many people hate the thought of making cold calls. It doesn't fit into their self-image as professionals. A loathing starts to creep in at the thought of making a cold call. It builds to the point where one can't, or won't, make the call.

So how do you get past the fear to a state of confidence without any experience?

Follow these steps:

Find a technique that you believe you can perform. One where you will feel respected, helpful, useful, valuable, whatever.
Find examples of people, preferably like yourself, who are using the new technique successfully. Recognize that you can succeed precisely because someone else is already doing this successfully.

In my client's case, I explained that true cold calls are the ones made to people who have never heard of you or been exposed to your message before in anyway. Not only are these kinds of calls difficult, they are not very productive precisely because they have never heard your message.

So I made the simple recommendation that he warm-up these calls by preparing a direct mail sales letter to send to his target market first. Now my client found something that he believed that he could do. The prospects would receive a letter in advance written by a professional copywriter. Not only will he get some hot leads calling him out of this effort, but he feels confident about making calls to the remaining warmed up prospects.

What's important here?

Make sure you plan for success. Choose a strategy that is proven to work by others. By doing this, you can have the confidence to persist in the strategy if at first it does not work as perfectly as you had hoped.

When you are stuck, get into action by finding a method that someone else is using successfully. Notice the challenges they overcame and how they did this.

Sometimes it's the small steps that matter most on the way to greater sales success.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown's sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

Dear Customer Let's Help Each Other To Be Efficient

2009-04-23T02:03:00.001-07:00

(What would you think of dispatching a note such as this one to prospects who have requested information and price quotes? Please let me know! â"G- )

Thank you for your inquiry.

We sincerely appreciate it, and we are in the process of responding.

Hereâs what we intend to do:

(1) Once we understand your needs, weâll write a proposal.

(2) This proposal will contain our best price. We donât negotiate discounts.

(3) If awarded your business, weâll give our best efforts, for which we ask to be paid on time, without additional prompting.

(4) If at any time you believe we arenât performing at an acceptable level, please tell us promptly, and weâll make appropriate adjustments.

(5) When we have fulfilled our responsibilities, we will offer your name as a reference to future customers, who may wish to speak to you about our work. But we will not offer your name without believing that your reference will be pertinent and valued.

After submitting our proposal, we will not chase you, hound you, call you incessantly, or leave multiple emails or voice mails. That would be inefficient and bothersome, and it would force us to raise our prices for all customers, including you.

If you like our proposal, please let us know, promptly. If you donât, weâd still like to hear from you, because it would save us time, and give us valuable feedback as to how we missed the mark, so in this way, youâd help us to improve.

If you like how we sound so far, weâll be delighted to take the next step with you. Please let us know, specifically how we can be of service and what your needs are.

In the meantime, thank you again, for considering us!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell SomeoneÂ® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, âThe Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,â published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Credit Repair Services

2009-04-22T18:03:00.001-07:00

If you are in the business of credit repair services. You may have at one time considered purchasing credit repair leads. The benefit of purchasing credit repair leads, is that the customer is committed to having their credit repaired by a professional such as yourself. These customers are not playing games or surfing the net looking for information and merely contemplating the idea of credit repair, they are very serious about it, and they are waiting on a phone call. Wether or not you are an established credit repair business or a start up, credit repair leads are a good option when considering lead sources. So where is the best place to get credit repair leads? The obvious answer would be to find a credit repair lead company, but that isn't always as easy as it sounds. Yes, it is easy to find the lead company via the internet, but finding a good one with reasonable pricing is where the challenge lies. For starters, find a lead company that obtains their leads through web sites they own and operate themselves. Steer clear of the companies that buy their leads from other companies and recycle them. You never know how many times that selling company has sold the lead. Try to find a company that not only sells their own leads, but sells them at a reasonable price, exclusively, and in real time if possible. Make an attempt to contact someone in their customer service department. Ask them as many questions you feel to be appropriate. If you are not satisfied with the answers to your questions, or the quality of the service you receive, than move onto the next company. The quality of the service you receive is usually an indication of the quality of the lead you receive, so proceed with caution.

3 Tips For Getting Through The Voicemail Screen

2009-04-22T10:03:00.001-07:00

How many times have you heard that you gotta get past the gatekeeper and get to the decision-maker to make the sale? Countless books and sales trainers have talked about this for years. Much of this advice was written for a world without voicemail.

Today's flatter organization has fewer administrative assistants for management, which means fewer live gatekeepers to screen our phone calls. The delegation of authority has also resulted in decision-makers being found at lower levels in the business than ever before. More and more decision- makers now use voicemail as their primary or even exclusive gatekeeping and screening tool.

Today I am going to discuss a few sales tips for getting through to your target in the world of voicemail hell. The first rule as always in sales is to be prepared, so you should have ready two or three major pains and visions that your product solves or enables. Make sure you have prepared at least one strong pain that your prospect is likely to identify with (pain elimination is a stronger motivator for most people than vision creation).

TIP#1 - Call At Weird Hours

People who screen their calls normally during the 8am to 6pm business hours will often pickup the phone if a call comes in at 6am or 8:30pm and they are working at their desk. With some of the insane hours people work these days, this can be very effective. They will pickup the phone generally thinking that the only person who would call at 8:30pm at night is their spouse or a friend. Who could possibly know that they are at the office at that sick hour? Try calling anytime after 6pm, and up until 8pm or 9pm when you really need to reach this person. If they are that important to the business, and that hard to reach, chances are that they work very late, very early, or both.

Getting the direct extension number of a Director or VP in a medium to large size company can seem like an impossible task. Some top people will have a direct extension that the receptionists won't give out. Instead, the best you get is a general department extension like 555-2000 (where there actually is a gatekeeper). Other times you get only the gatekeeper's voicemail (now you are really stuck in voicemail hell).

TIP #2 - The Wrong Extension Trick

Call another extension at the company randomly, say 555-2198 and ask for your target. You more than likely will get a person who is not experienced in taking outside phone calls. When the receiver of your call says you got the wrong extension, tell them that you have been getting passed around to the wrong extensions, the wrong people, the wrong voicemails, and that you are really frustrated - sound really distraught. Tell them you must return this call, but that you lost the direct number or that it was garbled on your voicemail. Ask them if they can tell you the direct number to dial so that you don't get passed around by receptionists into the wrong voicemails anymore. The key here is to sound distraught. You want them to feel a little sorry for you, so that they will want to help you. People like to help others in need. Armed with the direct extension number for your decision-maker, see Tip #1.

TIP #3 - Prepare A Commercial

You may decide that the best use of your time is to leave a message. If you want any chance of getting your call returned, you better make it good. My favorite approach is to tell a brief story to get the prospect's attention before they have a chance to realize that this is a voicemail from a salesperson and hit delete. Your story should contain a customer who had pain that your product solved. Start your story by saying "Hi Greg, Shamus Brown here. You know, XYZ company was experiencing an extreme... [fill in the blank with a strong business pain here]" Do not identify yourself as a salesperson or identify your company at the beginning of the commercial. Make the pain sound real bad - talk about the serious consequences of it. Then finish your commercial by saying "Greg, to find out how my company, ABC company, helped XYZ company eliminate this problem, give me a call at (530) 265-4099."

To leave or not to leave a message depends a lot on the nature of what you are selling and the prospect base that you are selling to. If you are selling to a small group of companies, then I would not leave a message until after being very persistent with the first two approaches. If you have a high number of potential prospects to call on, you could use the commercial approach on everyone. Be flexible and persist and you'll eventually make contact.

On a final note, the best way to get to a decision-maker is to get introduced to the person. Partnering with another company that already has an existing relationship with the prospect is very effective for leveraging in at a higher level. Selling someone else below first takes more time, but is often the way that business is done in the real world. These tips above will come in handy when you are at a loss for how to get a referral introduction.

10 Killer Ways To Multiply Your Sales!

2009-04-22T02:03:00.001-07:00

1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer. You could follow-up with a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for other products you sell. You could follow-up every few months. 2. You could upsell to your customers. When they're at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale. They could just add it to their original order. 3. Tell your customers if they refer four customers to your web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price. This will turn one sale into three sales. 4. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. This will multiply the sale you just made. 5. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to your products. You could include an ad on or with the product for other products you sell. You could make sales for the reproduction rights and sales on the back end product. 6. You could cross promote your product with other businesses' products in a package deal. You can include an ad or flyer for other products you sell and have other businesses selling for you. 7. When you ship out or deliver your product, include a coupon for other related products you sell in the package. This will attract them to buy more products from you. 8. Send your customers a catalog of add-on products for the original product they purchased. This could be upgrades, special services, attachments, etc. If they enjoy your product they will buy the extra add-ons. 9. Sell gift certificates for your products. You'll make sales from the purchase of the gift certificate, when the recipient cashes it in. They could also buy other items from your web site. 10. Send your customers free products with their product package. The freebies should have your ad printed on them. It could be bumper stickers, ball caps, t-shirts etc. This will allow other people to see your ad and order.

Timeless Principles To Steer You Through Negotiations

2009-04-21T18:03:00.001-07:00

If you want a sure-fire way to succeed at negotiations Ãâ" whether itÃâs with your partner over which TV programme to watch tonight, or with a business partner in some high-powered negotiations -- then learn these 7 principles of negotiations expressed through 7 timeless quotes:

Principle 1: Negotiating is an essentially human way of interacting. It is the way we progress. Adam Smith, the Scottish economist who wrote ÃâThe Wealth of NationsÃâ put it this way: ÃâMan is an animal that makes bargains. No other animal does this. One dog does not change a bone with another.Ãâ

Principle 2: Negotiating is not about dividing up a limited cake in ways that are divisive. It is about making a bigger and better cake. David Ghitelman says that the key to making negotiations work isnÃât a scarcity mentality but an added value mentality: ÃâNegotiating is about creating value, not dividing wealth.Ãâ

Principle 3: Conflict is at the heart of negotiation but only a positive view of conflict will result in a successful outcome. As Dean Tjosvold said: ÃâCo-operative conflict builds people up, strengthens their relationships and gets things done.Ãâ

Principle 4: There is a time to speak and a time to shut up in negotiations. When you do more listening than speaking, you actually increase your power. Geoff Burch, the so-called ÃâhellÃâs angel consultantÃâ, put it this way: ÃâIf youÃâre talking, youÃâre giving information and therefore giving away power. If youÃâre listening and asking questions, youÃâre gaining information, the raw material of knowledge, and therefore gaining power.Ãâ

Principle 5: In power negotiations, when the stakes are high, let the other side believe what you want them to believe. But donÃât lie or be dishonest. Sun Tzu, the writer of the oldest military treatise in the world, ÃâThe Art of WarÃâ, put it in these words: ÃâAll warfare is based on deception. Therefore when capable, feign incapability. When active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away. When far away, that you are to lure him. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.Ãâ

Principle 6: Recognise that you will only reach agreement by understanding the deeply-held needs of the other side. In Frank RomerÃâs words: ÃâPeople will sit up and take notice of you if you will sit up and take notice of what makes them sit up and take notice.Ãâ

Principle 7: You can only succeed in negotiations with a win-win attitude. To quote B.C.Forbes: ÃâAny business arrangement that is not profitable to the other person will in the end prove unprofitable for you. The bargain that yields mutual satisfaction is the only one that is apt to be repeated.Ãâ

If you are new to negotiations or still struggling to master the skill, remember these 7 quotes. They are words of wisdom passed down the years and invariably learnt by the painful lessons of experience.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

ÃÂ© Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com For instant solutions to all your management training needs, visit www.managetrainlearn.com and download amazing FREE training software. And while youÃâre there, make sure you try out our prize quiz, get your surprise bonus gift, and subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter. Go and get the ManageTrainLearn experience now!

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