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సంఘము » సందేశాలు - పేజీ 55
arrow right Do You Know When You Are Being Sold To?

Britney Spears has recently caused controversy with suggestions that the ad campaign for her new fragrance range uses subliminal or hidden messages in its efforts to convince potential buyers. Advertisers have long been aware of the power of appealing to our subsoncious minds, so what methods exactly do they employ, and how widespread is the practise?Broadly speaking, there are three methods in common use - Product Endorsement, Product Placement, and Hidden (Subliminal) Imagery.Why do advertisers use these methods?As consumers, we tend to make buying decisions based on emotion rather than logic. When see a product, we make up our minds very quickly about whether we want it or not, based purely on the way the product is presented to us. Any accompanying sales pitch is merely there to help us justify the purchase to our more logical selves. Advertisers know this of course, so they spend huge amounts of time and money marketing their products in ways that appeal to our emotions and subconscious mind.So how do the three methods work?Taking each in turn:Product EndorsementThis is possibly the most up-front and honest method. Quite simply, a product is endorsed by a well known figure ? a celebrity or sports person perhaps - or a singer! Nike are big users of this technique, with major sporting stars regularly featuring in their commercials. Whilst they might not spell it out, the message is always the same ? "If our product is good enough for Mr x, then it's certainly good enough for you".Product PlacementThis is the slightly sneakier derivative of product endorsement, and involves well known figures (often fictional) endorsing products or services outside of a clearly labelled commercial environment. The technique is frequently used in sitcoms and soap operas. For example, you settle down to watch an episode of Fraser, your all time hero, and happen to notice that he drinks a certain brand of coffee ("brand X"). You may not consciously notice this, but your subconscious mind is taking in every detail. Because you have such respect for the famous Dr Craine, you naturally trust his judgement when it comes to coffee. Hence the next time you are in the supermarket and you spot "brand X" on the shelf, you are much more likely to choose it over the rest of the selection on offer.Product placement is a particularly potent form of subliminal advertising because it catches us off guard. When we see a commercial break on the television, we know we are being sold to and so have our defences up ? we take what we are told with the due level of cynicism. But when the ads are over and we return to the TV show, we mentally relax that guard, and become much more open to suggestion. It's not just consumer goods that are marketed this way; awareness groups and even political campaigners use the same subliminal techniques to subtly get their message across.Hidden (Subliminal) ImageryThis is perhaps, the most devious technique in the advertisers armoury. It involves embedding images or words into a standard advertisement. One of the most effective uses of hidden messages in mainstream advertising is the "sexual connection". Sex conjures up strong emotions of power, pleasure, and well-being, and so if a advertiser can tap into those at will he has a powerful tool indeed - no pun intended! Examples of subliminal messages of a sexual nature being used in advertising are numerous; Ritz crackers have the word "sex" spelled out on them in the tiny dots; many drinks ads manipulate the ice cubes in their photos by embedding images or words on them. Next time you see a print ad ? study it carefully for hidden images or words, you may be surprised!About The AuthorJoanna Ferndale is an advertising executive and freelance writer. You can find more information on hidden subliminal and subliminal messages at http://www.subliminal-messages.info

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  వర్గం: సంఘము   »   2 పుస్తకాలు   »   తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right How to Reach Purchasing Agents of Big Corporations

Now business owners and sales professionals can develop a Faster and Easier method of selling to big corporations, Hospitals and Universities, Government Agencies (State, County levels), and other medium enterprises... as well as K-12 (Kindergarten through 12th grade).This Sales Lead Database will link you directly to the purchasing, procurement, and materials managers/agents ofCorporationsUniversitiesHospitalsStatesCountiesK-12This is not a

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  వర్గం: సంఘము   »   2 పుస్తకాలు   »   తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right How To Shorten The Selling Cycle And Reduce Buying Stalls

The main reason for buyer resistance and selling stalls boils down to one simple fact: the reasons for not buying are bigger to the prospect than the reason to buy.If you sell an intangible product or service, it may be even tougher to close down a sale because your product or service is not something people can see, touch, or feel. So the reasons for your prospects to buy have to be vivid, logical, and emotional. There has to be a reason for them to buy NOW, or they'll put off making the decision until later.When you sit down with a prospect, ask a lot of questions about the prospect related to your product or service to get the person to tell you what is important in his/her life.If you are selling a tangible product, you might ask questions like the following:-- What do you like most about your current product?-- What do you like least?-- If you could change anything about the product you have now, what would it be?-- Has any needs changed hat makes buying a new product different than the last time you bought (bigger family, etc.)?-- Why do you want to buy a new product?If you are selling an intangible product, then questions like the following might be more helpful?-- At this point in your family/career, are you more concerned with getting ahead, security, planning for the future, creating a legacy, being esteemed by other, etc.?-- Is that different from what your focus was two years ago? Five years ago? Ten years ago?-- Where do you see yourself in three to five years?-- What kinds of things have to be put in place to in order for you to accomplish what you have planned?The answer to these and other questions may help you determine what is most important to your prospect. Now, just look to see what types of products/services you supply that can help the prospect get what he/she wants.For instance, if you sell insurance, you have to realize that NO ONE wants insurance, but they may want the things that insurance provides like security. Or if you sell real estate or cars, the car or house may not be nearly as important to the prospect as the status that each may provide. So if during the questioning period, you find out that your prospect is most concerned about security for his/her family, then you'll show the prospect how the policy you sell will give the family security, or the house you have in mind is resistant to forces of nature, or the car you sell just won Motor Trend's safety award.If you have a personal example of a sale you've made in the past that was able to get the thing that your new prospect wants by buying from you, then by all means, tell the new prospect about this success. Be specific. Use proper names, time, and location, and your prospect will begin to picture himself/herself having received that benefit as well.During the close, give them options like, 1) buy this now, 2) wait a year, 3) wait five years, 4) wait ten years, etc. Shem how much they will miss out on if they wait (higher premiums, less return.) Show what might happen if circumstances change between now and the time they buy.Give them options, and they will probably choose to buy now.Copyright 2005 Doug StaneartDoug Staneart, doug@sales-leader.com, is CEO of The Leader's Institute, http://www.sales-leader.com, specializing in sales training, public speaking, and team building training for individuals and groups. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  వర్గం: సంఘము   »   2 పుస్తకాలు   »   తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Peak Performance ? What You See Is What You Get!

Would you like an easy way to track the performance of your sales SuperStars? Will a large sales activity board really make a difference? You bet! This article will give you three easy ways to improve the performance of your sales team because what you see is what you get!Setting up your sales activity board: Start by ordering a large erasable board from your local office supply store, the bigger the better (hint, a big board = assumed big results!) and mount this board on a wall easily seen by your sales team but not visible to your current or prospective clients. Use this sales activity board to track the performance of your company, highlighting the "critical" factors for your sales success. Initially, track the cold calling activity of your sales team, their client retention percentages, the number of daily presentations they make, and their closing ratios of presentations versus the number of sales being made. Your sales activity board is also a perfect place to forecast the monthly team goals for your sales team and will give each team member a way to see how their month is progressing. At the end of each month, schedule a regroup meeting to summarize the performance from the most recent month. Then, erase your sales activity board and set new individual/team goals for the upcoming month.Tip From The Coach: After you have installed your erasable sales activity board, assign a unique marker color to each sales person. This "pride of ownership" means each person on your sales team will have great enthusiasm in making sure they can see as much of their marker color on the sales activity board, as the rest of your sales team. Sounds crazy, but it works!Ranking top performers: Using your sales activity boards, recap the performance each month for each of the sales teams you manage and develop a ranking report. Use this report to track the SuperStars in your company and circulate this information company-wide. This ranking report should reward top monthly performance both individually and as a team, depending on the areas you are measuring. This ranking report should also summarize your SuperStar performers for the month, by the quarter and year-to-date. By reflecting these three time periods, everyone is given a chance to shine and every individual within your company can see how their performance compares to the SuperStars within your company.Tip From The Coach: Based on the results from your sales ranking reports you can now create sales incentive programs and build new compensation plans with much greater accuracy. In addition, your sales ranking reports will also become a powerful tool for calculating quarterly projections and developing each year's budget. Lastly, try and keep your "critical" factors for sales success on a one-page report, if possible.Tracking your key prospects: Now, set-up a place on your sales activity board to track the progress of your key prospects. For instance, if five new sales could come from one large company, put their name on your sales activity board and leave a space to track the amount of sales activity being made with this company. Once you and your sales team have identified your ten largest prospects, develop a 90 day written plan to sell each large account.Tip From The Coach: Be certain your sales team works their key prospects consistently while continuing to be "professionally persistent". Ask your sales team to work like "heart surgeons". A heart surgeon can apply a little pressure in a small area and get giant results. The same thing will happen for your sales team when they see the results of focusing on their key prospects.Want to hear more about this important topic or ask some additional questions? Fax a note on your letterhead to 435-615-8670 or send an E-mail to ernest@powerhour.com and The Coach will fax/E-mail back to you a free invitation to be a participant on a TeleForum conference call. On this call we will discuss the type of information to put on your sales activity boards and how to develop a performance ranking report for the sales teams you manage, using one form.Author's note: Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach, is the founder of PowerHour® a professional business coaching/recruiting service and the author of SmartMatch Alliances?. He has spent 17,500 hours [since 1995] delivering customized training, by telephone, in leadership, traditional/Internet marketing and sales for fast growing sales companies and entrepreneurial businesses worldwide. PowerHour® specializes in global distance learning by telephone, using their state-of-the-art conference call system for interactive and dynamic TeleForums. Twice-monthly TeleForums link 10-100 executives/professionals/individuals who are geographically dispersed, in a time efficient and profitable format.PowerHour® is based in Olympic-town?Park City, Utah, at 435-615-8486, by E-mail ernest@powerhour.com or visit their TeleForum website: http://www.powerhour.com. To receive a FREE success newsletter, with subscribers in 74 countries, send an E-mail to: ernest@powerhour.com. Recent PowerHour® articles have appeared in 4000+ business/trade publications and websites.

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  వర్గం: సంఘము   »   2 పుస్తకాలు   »   తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Stop Talking - Start Selling

Selling is not talking. It's listening. You may have heard the saying "the first person who talks, loses". And, it's true most of the time. There are dozens of reasons to stop talking so you can start selling. Here are a few worth listening to:Let Them Take Center StageMost people would rather talk than listen. When working with a prospective buyer it's a good idea to let their ego take center stage by allowing them do most of the talking. With a few well thought out questions you can learn a lot about how your product or service fits into their needs and wants. Remember, what's at stake is not your ego but a sale. So, let them exercise their ego for the sake of your sale. Let them talk so you can learn enough to start selling. It's a win ? win opportunity, their ego gets stroked and your sale gets made.Let Them Load the GunEverything you can learn by listening is a potential bullet when it comes to pulling the trigger on closing a sale. As they talk about their concerns and interests you should be listening for the bullet points to shoot back at them during the closing stages of the sales conversation. Don't make the mistake of talking over the key points people will give you if you'll listen to them. You want to take careful aim with the bullets they've loaded. If you don't stop talking, you might just shoot yourself in the foot.Let Them Circle the WagonsGiven a chance, most people will tell you their objections and voice their concerns. It's only natural to become defensive when you're in the middle of a decision making process. Again, some pre-planned questions, a good understanding of the key bullet points and a listening ear will help you break through the barriers a person will present. As tightly circled as the wagons of their defense might be there's always a way into the center of their concerns and an opportunity to close the sale. If you're too busy trying to talk your way in, you'll surely miss any openings that exist to make the sale.The hardest thing to do is to stop talking, but it's the easiest way to start selling.Reprinted from The Profit Puzzle - Free Small Business Course, an ideal business tool for anyone thinking about, planning, starting, running or growing a small or home-based business.Copyright 2005 Don Osborne - All Rights Reserved.

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  వర్గం: సంఘము   »   2 పుస్తకాలు   »   తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right The Trusted Advisor Relationship: What Is It, and What Should It Be?

For the past months, maybe a year, I've been hearing sales groups talk about the need to become Trusted Advisors (I'll call them TAs). I suspect that the problems cropping up in the sales arena these days ? the increased length of the sales cycle, the increased levels of competition - are leading sales management to base their initiatives on being of true service to prospects, as a way to seem different from the competition.But by everyone attempting to become TAs, and by not changing the basic skill set ? or belief set or outcome - of the sales force, sellers are doing more of the same, but with a different name.Sorry to be so blunt, but let's look at the facts here.1. So long as you are trying to sell your product, the entire discussion with prospects will be biased: the questions will be biased, the help you offer will be biased, the prospect's responses will be biased.2. Buyers won't trust a sales person they don't know. They can't, which means interactions will have to occur over time, and at the mercy of how the long it takes the prospect to trust you.3. The criteria that buyers will use to take advice from a sales person is dependent upon many mysterious factors that you can't know up front. Therefore, you'e flying blind as you were before trying to be a TA.4. If everyone is attempting to be a TA, what differentiates anyone? And what if the prospect is getting conflicting advice? What if the prospect is getting the exact same advice ? through several different sales people?5. If you are only asking questions around the area that your product supports, how can you truly advise a prospect who lives in a complex system ? which all of us, and all of our prospects, do?6. How can you truly be offering advice if you cannot know the entire internal fact pattern that has created and maintained the buyer's problem over time?Net net: this seems to me like just another buzzword.THE CURRENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTLet's see what needs to happen before you can actually call yourself an advisor. First, you'll need to understand the system that your buyers live within.Your buyers are facing many new challenges these days. Their competition (or in the B2C area, the range of products offered) is so complex that they have to manage a world-wide competition with competitors that they don't even know. To remain competitive and fresh, the prospects need to initiate frequent innovation that will potentially bring in new business partners, support new initiatives, and manage change as quickly as possible.As a result, there is a continual flow of new decisions, new decision makers, new initiatives, new rules, roles, norms, and problems that need to be managed that have not been in play before now. And the prospect may or may not be familiar with the full range of issues that will affect him and that need to be managed.I recently called a client's prospect on a very large, long-term sales effort that had been going on for years. It seemed the prospect needed the service badly and it was costing them large sums of money as a result of not adopting the seller's product. My client's people were very professional, knew all of the problems attached to the perfect solution, and were offering very high quality advice as TAs.And yet the decision was dragging on, and through different managers as people came and went ? without a decision being taken. Everyone even tried to go around the problem and the immediate players, to no avail. When I called, it became apparent that there was an entirely different 'soft' problem ? a human problem - that had nothing to do with the specifics of my client's solution, and no one had addressed that problem at all. Yet so long as it continued to remain unresolved, the sale wouldn't happen.My client was doing a fine job of being a TA; the team of sellers have been entirely knowledgeable, professional, and very supportive of their prospect. They had even become friends over the years. But they weren't managing the real issue ? one that no one had recognized.For some reason, when you see a problem that your solution can fix, you think the only decision that your prospect needs to make is whether or not to purchase your product. In reality, deciding on your product is the last decision that will get made, after the prospect figures out all she needs to attend to in order to design a solution acceptable to all of the internal elements.HOW A SELLER CAN ADVISEGiven the type and number of number of decisions the prospect needs to make, you can now make a real difference to your prospect by helping him recognize all of the internal elements he needs to manage before you pitch your product.Until now, you've concentrated your assistance on that area that your product can support. But think about systems for a moment: a system is a conglomeration of all of the elements that determine the status quo. To flush it out a bit, I'll use the RIPP model ? Relationships, Interventions, People, and Policies.Relationships include: vendors, partners, stakeholders.Interventions include: boards, media, market forces, mandates, policies.People includes: roles and job descriptions, management and leadership styles, values and beliefs, and personality issues.Policies include: rules, history, norms, goals, initiatives, and time frames.The above comprise the systems elements that live within every system, defined here in human terms, and included in personal relationships, corporations, sole-proprietors, and every group or team in every industry. You have all of the elements of RIPP in your family, your primary love relationship, your work, your team. And until or unless all of the elements are addressed, any change would create chaos.Systems don't like chaos, and they try to fix things internally before they are willing to come up against any areas of discomfort within the system. In other words, prospects will try to fix their problem themselves before they make a purchase with a new vendor. Remember that your product is not what they seek ? they merely seek to solve a business problem in a way that will cause the least disruption.So even if your product is the perfect solution, the prospect will be unable to make the decision to purchase it until she has examined and rejected all familiar fixes.THE LENGTH OF THE DECISIONWhat's stopping your prospect from examining these elements sooner? To start with, it's hard to notice something wrong when everything feels normal - much like a fish being unaware of the water it's swimming in.Have you ever looked at pictures of yourself from years back and noticed things like extra weight, a bad haircut, a questionable outfit? when at the time, it all seemed fine? What about at your job, when you've followed the same rules or routines for a period of time until they are changed, and you notice that it's much easier in the new routine ? and wondered why you didn't change sooner? What about relationships ? those friendships that are so difficult but continue under force of time, but when they are ended, you wonder how you ever maintained them?It's difficult to see all of our own internal, personal idiosyncrasies, as our current state seems rather fine as it is or we would have changed it already. Remember that systems include all that is - the good, bad, and ugly. But it probably does not look good, bad, or ugly because it just 'is' and feels normal that way.We don't question our natural state unless some new information or idea or activity gets us to step away from our comfort zone and see a wholly different view. It's only then we realize that a change needs to happen. But note that we keep people and systems around us that will continually reinforce our world view, as it's too difficult to consider the possibility that we're wrong.And so it is with our prospects. They live in a system that just 'is'. They can't see what might be problematic since it feels normal. As an outsider, you might be able to see a problem, but in reality you have no idea how the problem became created, how it is maintained, what connections are important for the working of the entire system, and you're basically on the outside looking in.THE JOB OF AN ADVISORIf you want to become a true TA for your prospect, use your connection to navigate your prospect through all of the internal decisions she needs to make before she can even think about designing a solution [see: People Do Not Decide Emotionally].Become a guide through the buyer's system. Forget your product, and lead the prospect through the rules, the roles, the initiatives, and the relationships that need to be examined before anything new will happen. They need to do that anyway ? with you or without you ? if they are going to decide to do something new and make a purchase. They certainly won't make a decision to purchase anything until or unless they've discovered their own answers and design their own solution. The time it takes prospects to make a purchasing decision is the length of the sales cycle. They don't care how long it takes ? they'd much prefer it was quicker rather than slower. They could use some help: it might as well come from you. Then you would be a true Trusted Advisor: to do that, you'll have to forego selling.Sharon Drew Morgen is the author of NYTimes Best Seller Selling with Integrity. She speaks, teaches and consults globally around her visionary sales method, Buying Facilitation.http://www.newsalesparadigm.com http://www.sharondrewmorgen.com 512-457-0246 Morgen Facilitations, Inc. Austin, TX

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  వర్గం: సంఘము   »   2 పుస్తకాలు   »   తేదీ: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   ద్వారా: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Top 10 Ways to Maximize Your Approachability

After reading and researching thousands of books, articles and other resources on communication, first impressions, networking and conversation, I've learned one thing: none of them address what approachability means. Or maybe they just don't take the time to define it, stress its importance and offer suggestions on how to maximize it.That research was my impetus for writing The Power of Approachability. I wanted to give people a clear picture of what the idea meant, along with many small tips and suggestions to put that idea to use ? one conversation at a time.So, straight from the pages of the book, here are my Top Ten Ways to Maximize Your Approachability.Ready to Engage The word approachability derives from the Latin verb appropriare, which means "to come nearer to." Interesting. It doesn't say anything about the approach-er or the approach-ee. Just "to come nearer to." So the first idea to remember is that approachability is a two way street. It's both you stepping onto someone else's front porch; and you inviting someone to step onto your front porch.Although this article will address both sides of the street, here's an example of the former. When you arrive at a meeting, event, party or anywhere in which many conversations will take place, prepare yourself. Be "ready to engage" with conversation topics, questions and stories in the back of your mind ready to go as soon as you meet someone. This will help you avoid those awkward "How's the weather" type of discussions.CPI This acronym stands for the Common Point of Interest. It's an essential element to every conversation and interaction. Your duty, as you meet new people, or even as you talk with those you already know, is to discover the CPI as soon as possible. It connects people to you. It allows them to feel more comfortable talking to you. And it increases your approachability inasmuch as people will be magnetized to you due to the commonality you share.A great tip is to ask the right type of questions. Similar to our first example, "ready to engage," you don't want to ask people about the weather. You can do better than that! Instead, ask questions that begin with "What's your favorite?" "Tell me the best?" or "When was the last time?" The CPI is almost guaranteed to be discovered.Flavored Answers In the event that one of those Fruitless Questions like "How's it going?" "What's up?" or "How are you?" comes up, don't fall into the F.I.N.E. trap. In fact, fine isn't even a word. No, seriously! I looked the word up in 23 different dictionaries and it wasn't listed! Upon further research I discovered that F.I.N.E. is an acronym for "Feelings I'm Not Expressing."A great technique is to offer a Flavored Answer to a Fruitless Question. Instead of "fine," try "Amazing!" "Any better and I'd be twins!" or "Everything is beautiful." Your conversation partner will instantly change his or her demeanor as they smile and, most of the time, inquirer further to find out what made you say that answer. Because nobody expects it. And offering a true response to magnify the way you feel is a perfect way to share yourself with others, or "make yourself personally available" to others.Don't Cross Your Arms Even if it's cold, even if you're bored, even if you're tired and don't want to be there ? don't cross your arms. It's such a simple, subconscious non-verbal cue that too many people practice and it hinders their approachability.As a result, people won't want to "bother" you. They will form the impression that you are defensive, nervous, judgmental, close minded or skeptical. Honestly, would you want to approach someone like that? I know I wouldn't.Don't Assume Every time you assume, you end up making an ? yeah, yeah, yeah ? we get it. Or do we? How many times have we uttered one of the following sentences, only to be stricken with a terrible case of Foot-In-Mouth Disease?You must be new here? How's work going? Do you remember me?Remember, just because someone walks in whom you've never seen before ? doesn't mean he's new. Or just because you're at a networking meeting ? doesn't mean everyone in attendance has a job. And believe me, not everyone you remember ? remembers you.Approachability is a function of comfort, so it's important to sidestep these moments of embarrassment with Success Sentences. These are phrases that allow the other person to offer you're the information you need to know. Examples include, "I'm not sure we've met before," "What are you working on this week?" and "I'm Scott, we met last month at the Chamber meeting."Options for Communication Your friends, colleagues, customers and coworkers will chose to communicate with you in different ways. Some will choose face to face, some will email, others will call, while others will do a little of everything. The bottom line is: make all of them available. On your business cards, email signatures, websites or marketing materials, let people know that can get in touch with you in whatever manner they choose. Sure, you might prefer email. But what matters most is the comfort of the other person and their ability to communicate effectively.A good idea is to give people as many options to contact you as possible. There's nothing more annoying to a "phone person" than when she discovers she can't get a hold of you unless she emails you.Email Signature Whatever program you use for email - Outlook, Eudora, Yahoo, Hotmail - find out how to customize your signature. There's nothing more frustrating than receiving an email from someone who wants to talk further, get together or have you send them something that doesn't have any personal information in the email. So at the end of every email you send, always cross reference the following information:Name Title Company/Organization Mailing address At least two phone numbers Fax number Email address Website A sentence or two about yourself, your company or your jobThink of it this way: have you ever received a handwritten letter from someone that had no return address stamped on the envelope?Always Have Business Cards Have you ever told a story about a successful, serendipitous business encounter that ended with the phrase, "Thank God I had one of my business cards with me that day!"? If so, great! You're practicing approachability by being "easy to reach."If not, you've no doubt missed out on valuable relationships and opportunities. And it happens ? people forget cards, get their supply reprinted or change jobs. But the bottom line is; there is a time and place for networking: ANY time and ANY place. Because you just never know whom you might meet.No Fear They won't say hello back to me. They won't be interested in me. I will make a fool of myself.This is the number one reason people don't start conversations. However, practice will make this fear fade away. The more you often you start conversations, the better you will become at it. So, be the first to introduce yourself or say hello. When you take an active instead of a passive role, your skills will develop and there will be less of a chance for rejection. Also understand the gains vs. losses. For example, what's so bad about a rejection from someone you don't even know?Wear Your Nametag I've heard every possible complaint about wearing nametags, and all of them can be validated. Case in point:Nametags look silly ? yes, they do. But remember, everyone else is wearing them too. Nametags ruin my clothes ? not if you wear them on the edge of your lapel or use cloth-safe connectors like lanyards and plastic clips. But I already know everybody ? no you don't. You may think you do, but new people come in and out of businesses and organizations all the time. But everyone already knows me ? no they don't. Even the best networkers know there's always someone new to meet.Your nametag is your best friend for several reasons. First of all, a person's name is the single context of human memory most forgotten. And people are less likely to approach you if they don't know (or forgot) your name. Secondly, it's free advertising for you and your company. Third, nametags encourage people to be friendly and more approachable. TRUST me on that one!© 2005 All Rights Reserved.Scott Ginsberg is a professional speaker,

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arrow right How to Make Sure You Sell More!

Make sure you target women. It's true for almost anything you are selling. According to Women Mean Business: The Secret to Selling to Women, eighty percent of all checks written in the US are written by women and they purchase 80-% of all consumer goods in the U.S. That's not a market segment you can afford to ignore. Even for items traditionally thought of as male dominated, such as consumer electronics, women have significant influence.The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) found women actually spent more on technology in 2003 than men, accounting for $55B of the $96B spent on electronics gear. Auto industry research shows that 65% of new vehicle purchases are substantially influenced or directly made by women. A 2005 study by Lucid Marketing found that your business will suffer if your business web site doesn't measure up with women consumers.How can this help you? Make sure you actively pursue women as customers, even if you don't sell goods or services that you think appeal to women. Make sure your site or facility appeals to women as well as men. Women tend to feel uncomfortable around unhelpful or pushy salespeople. This occurs often in segments such as automotive or consumer electronics, where sales people tend to try to dominate or "sell down" to women. This could give you an advantage if you sell on the web, where this would not be a concern.According to the Lucid study, women value the following attributes in an e-commerce website.? Easy navigation ? Maximum product selection ? Product reviews / recommendations ? In-depth product information ? Competitive pricingMake sure your site provides these things.According to retail statistics, women tend to make purchase decisions based more on lifestyle and aesthetics. Keep this in mind when formulating your product mix and promotional strategy. Women and men both desire flat panel TVs for example, but for different reasons. Men tend to either want to impress their friends or have them because they are 'cool'. Women want a flat panel more because they intrude minimally on a room's design, space and aesthetics.Women also tend to be influenced by safety and security more than male customers. Make use of this on your site and in your store.For all of you that sell in traditionally male dominated segments, explode your sales by making sure you don't neglect women. This strategy will open new horizons to your business and allow you to generate more referrals from satisfied women customers.Steve Faber has been successfully marketing both on and off line for years. He has been a principal for a bricks n mortar business that grossed almost $2 million a year. He has been involved with several successful websites for both bricks n mortar and online businesses. You can get his free newsletter with great information to really grow your business at: http://site.liveanotherday.com/newsletter.html

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arrow right What Do Mobile Auto Detailers Clean When it Rains?

A mobile auto detailer and their profits are tied to the weather perhaps more than any other business. There are ways to make money even on a rainy day if you are smart. A mobile detailer can do many things. They of course can specialize during these time on the interior detailing of automobiles, SUVs and mini-vans. It might not be as glamorous but there are plenty of latte stains on the inside of the modern American automobile.Some mobile auto detailers get fewer than one or two complete auto details on rainy weeks. If they fail to market correctly they will perhaps get three interior details a week during the rainy weeks. They will probably discount their prices in fact merely to get the work. Some discount to $45.00 each in order to get the work on a rainy week. If you are a savvy consumer you will wait until it rains and ask for a good deal. If you were to break it down; 3 interior details at $45 is only $130.00 gross revenue, so you can imagine the independent operator is barely surviving.If it rains for three weeks straight in February, which is already is a short month, then they will spend this on food and gas. At current fuel prices it would not take much for them to show a loss. In other words they cannot make the truck payment, rent or printing (advertising). Without these things the mobile auto detailer competitor is basically S.O.L. . No wonder these mobile auto detailers go out of business each year and eventually find a new trade. Many detailers are detailers because:There is a sense of prestige working on fine automobiles.There is a lot of freedom driving around all day.They can act like big shots with business cards, car phones, pagers, etc.When it rains, there are no fine automobiles to clean. Their regular customers are not interested and rejection sets in. There is no freedom when you are broke; they can't afford to buy gas. They can't act like big shots when they have to borrow money from their friends to buy gas. Their friends get tired of always buying them beer when they go out. It gets old quick and their friends stop calling. These are some of the reasons for turn over rates in the auto detailing business. There is plenty of work with 1.7 cars for every man, woman and child in America, but once it starts raining there are few takers. The strong survive and the rest take a dive. Think about seasonality in your business, do you have a plan?

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arrow right Never Stop Selling

The question: "When should a growing company slow down its sales function and focus solely on delivery?"The answer: "Never!"When fast growth is the focus of your company, the only constant is that you will always, and I mean always, need more sales. It doesn't matter how full the sales pipeline looks, you need more sales. It doesn't matter that you have no idea how you're going to deliver the order you just took, you need more sales. And it doesn't matter that you're booked for the next year, you need more sales.To understand why you must keep selling in the face of certain income, I will introduce you to "Murphy's Law" of Sales which states that "whatever business can be lost, will be lost!" Customers will change their mind, cancel orders, and in some cases just go out of business altogether.There are numerous snags that can stop your sale before it hits accounts receivable and unfortunately most are beyond your control. The good news is you can protect yourself against this uncertainty by filling the sales pipeline at all times, no matter how good things get.Enlarge the PipelineA great way to protect your sales future is to increase the expectations of your sales pipeline. If you think you need to put $1 million in the pipeline try moving that number to $2 million. I'm not suggesting that another million dollars worth of sales are going to magically appear just because you updated your Excel spreadsheet. Instead I'm suggesting that you raise the bar on your projections so that you can absorb the inevitability of losing sales along the way. It's far better to be over prepared.Spread the responsibilityBecause small companies typically cannot afford to hire several salespeople they often rely upon the founder or another single person to do the job for the entire company. The problem with this approach is that there is too much reliance on one person to feed the entire organization. Sometimes people run into a cold streak, get distracted, or just aren't the right fit at the right time. Any one of these factors can cripple your sales pipeline.Instead of relying on an individual to bear the company's entire sales load, spread the responsibility across all members of the organization. A great way to do this is by giving other people in the company an opportunity to participate in the sale process as well. Allow others to help prepare presentations, give them responsibility for "up-selling" existing customers and ask them to use their professional networks to identify new opportunities.When you're hot, stay hotAnother mistake growing companies tend to make is celebrating their victories and resting in the spoils of sales. You've just won that huge account and now you don't have to sell for six months while you rake in the dough, right? Wrong! The worst thing a company can do when it's hot is to stop selling.The confidence and positive energy behind a big win is a force you cannot possibly replicate with bonuses, company meetings or sales team pep rallies. Harness the positive momentum from big sales to make more phone calls, setup more meetings, and close more deals. It's much easier to call that next client after you've made a big sale than when you're on month three of a cold streak.Keep your sales team in sales, not deliveryNow your winning sales team is landing customers left and right and it's time to start delivering on the promises they made over those expensive dinners. Since the customer naturally expects the sales team to be along for the delivery, your top salesman should be along for the ride, right? Wrong again.The sales team is there to sell, not deliver. And any time that they spend servicing your existing customers is time they aren't spending finding the next customers. As soon as the shoe salesman becomes the cobbler he's doing the wrong job. Get your sales team right back into the field as quickly as possible and let the people in your organization responsible for delivery service your customers.Watch the HorizonIt's easy to get distracted today with a big win and all the obligations that come with delivery. All of a sudden you need to worry about staffing, office space, equipment and of course satisfying that customer you just spent all your time wooing.While you don't want to miss delivery, you simply can't afford to lose sight of the next sale on the horizon, which means it's time to pick up the phone, schedule a meeting, and close that next sale. The only thing more important than your last sale is your next sale!- WilWil Schroter is a serial entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. Wil has been recognized as U.S. Small Business Person of the Year, twice as the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year (1999 & 2004), and is a member of the Business First Top 40 under forty. Connect directly with Wil at wschroter@yahoo.com. Visit http://www.goBIGnetwork.com.

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arrow right Everything Follows the Pitch

If you asked me to point to the heart and soul of a startup company, I would not say it's the people, the culture, or even the product. I would say it's the pitch. The pitch is that one message that, when delivered, makes people say "wow, that's a great idea!". The pitch gets everyone in the room excited about getting on board with your product and your company. It's the inspiration that carries everyone along for the ride.The pitch also determines whether or not the company's offer has any viability in the market. For this reason the pitch should always precede any other developments or decisions. Your pitch is your divining rod that helps you make decisions on where to go next. So working on the pitch should always be the first step toward introducing any new concept.Pitch EarlyPitching early is about as close as you can come to having your own crystal ball to see into the future. Getting a customer to say "yes" today, even though the product may not exist yet, is as important as getting them to say "yes" when it's actually available. This process allows you to probe your customers' objections early and understand where the fatal flaws in the model or product offering exist. Better to find out now that customers aren't dying for your product than after you've mortgaged your house to finance your idea!Pitch EveryoneFor the pitch to work, you need to see how it resonates with all of the usual suspects - customers, investors, and employees, in just that order. Each of these constituents thinks about your pitch slightly differently and for good reasons. Customers are interested in how your service improves their life. Investors want to know that your idea can turn into a profitable enterprise. Employees want to know that selling your service will create a great (and steady) place for them to work.The reaction of each member of this trifecta merits careful consideration. For example, if your customers love your product but investors don't see how you'll ever make money, you have a potential problem. You will need to successfully pitch all of these groups eventually, so pitching them effectively early on is critical toward refining your offering and insuring its later acceptance.Build the product with the pitch in mindKnowing the pitch allows you to make much better decisions when developing the product. If what you're building doesn't add to the pitch, think twice about adding it at all. In a startup environment you have limited resources, so you need to concentrate your time and effort on features that will lead directly to the customer's, investor's and employee's decision to say

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arrow right Sales People have an advantage as entrepreneurs

Zig Ziglar use to say in seminars and on tapes that nothing happens until someone sells something. I had never really understood how absolutely true that was until I got into franchising and saw how one franchise sale could add jobs to the economy, provide great service to a community and change the quality of life for the franchisee and their family. Sales people have an advantage over other folks in business. Our top performing franchisees were always the best sales people. Our toughest competitors, well their founders were great sales people too. To this point I would like to recommend a book to you, that makes this point:"The Force" by David Dorsey.This is an interesting book on the psychological turmoil associated with a sales team. How it transfers itself into the personal lives of team members and how companies like GE, Xerox and IBM develop team leaders and sales people to excel. Remember many great sales people have gone on to be great entrepreneurs. Ray Kroc, Ross Perot come to mind. It discusses the motivations and the inner drive of these people. We have many former sales people on our team doing very well. It appears that sales ability as it relates with people is a key ingredient in being a successful franchisee. Now we have successful franchisees, who are not sales people, however I have noticed a higher degree of success with people who have had sales experience.This book should be read by those who do not want to be sold something by a sales person and by salespeople who think they are missing something or do not understand what their purpose is in their current job. Sales people who are quitting their job should read this book and those thinking of getting out of sales into a business should also read it and think about it.

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arrow right Just Ask!

Instilling urgency in a prospective customer can make the difference between achieving a sale and losing it altogether. If your prospects cannot vividly see personal benefits from taking action, there will never be the sense of urgency needed to follow your suggestions.Closing is the logical conclusion of a demonstration of your products and services. Make certain that you ask enough open-ended questions to know for certain that you are applying the correct solutions to the exact problems and needs you have uncovered from your questioning. Through this process, the answers to your questions should give you all the levers you need to create a sense of urgency in your prospects.Urgency can also be created when prospects can take advantage of special pricing on packages or bundles of products for a limited period. Make certain that all special offers or time constraints are pointed out to your prospects so that they can feel the need or urgency of making a decision today. If service charges will be increased or interest rates will change soon, use this information to set the stage for a positive and timely buying decision.You can also create urgency by asking your prospects how much it will cost them not to take action today. If a suggested product will help them make money or avoid losing money, show them exactly what it will cost them to leave this problem unsolved. Also show them the pitfalls of trying a "do it yourself approach." Often from this vantage point, prospects will be able to overcome the natural reluctance to making changes and move forward with a favorable decision.If your prospects are still reluctant, ask them about their concerns or reasons for not moving forward on your suggestions. Often a person just needs to verbalize why he feels the way he does to see that his concerns have little or no foundation in reality. To assist your prospects, write down each concern and then weigh or compare the reason to wait or postpone a decision against the benefits of taking action now. If you have built trust with your prospects, you can act almost as an independent consultant might act to help them "weigh" what would be in their best interest. It's always best to have all the reasons for reluctance to proceed out in the open so that they can be addressed, minimized, and new positive reasons given for taking action.VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a firm specializing in sales, customer relations, and management training and development. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, Fifty-Minute series books and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publicantions a dividion of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching & team development, telemarketing, and personal productivity training guides. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden's new manuals, 101 Sales Myths and Organizing For Sales Success, check out the listings on The $elling Edge, Inc. website at: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/books1.htm.Note: You can contact Virden at: virden@TheSellingEdge.com.

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arrow right Top Seven Ways to Write An Order-Pulling Sales Letter

Ready to put your Web pages up? Ready to sell a lot more products and services? If you're not getting the sales, you want you may want to think "makeover." Whether you're just starting or doing a web makeover, you need to Power Write your sales letters.Before you call your Web master to design your web site, you want to be sure you have great sales copy for each product or service you want to sell.What Doesn't Sell-big pictures -my mission -my bio -subscribe to my ezine -dark colors -a lot of script -page takes more than 10 seconds to loadIn my first Web site, I made many mistakes. Sales for six products didn't go over $200 a month. For the second Web site, each product, and service sales letter gave my visitors reasons to buy. Sales were $75 the first month, and in four months, they reached $2265. The next year they went to 3000 and each year after, over $4500.Sales letters Sell! Here's 7 Sales Letter How-To's1. Start the Letter with a Benefit-Driven Headline.In a large Times Roman font, put up a question or benefit-driven headline that grabs your visitor by the collar. For example,

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arrow right Your Profit is in Your Follow-up: A System for Increased Sales Conversion

No matter what you sell--products, services, or causes--one of the key ingredients to your success will be the attention you give your sales lead follow-up system.Notice that I used the word system to describe your follow-up program. It's an important conceptual word. If you do not have a well planned, *step-by-step system* for lead follow-up you are leaving a lot of profits sitting on the table.It is widely accepted that it takes a minimum of five to seven attempts to close a sale (any sale) before the customer has enough information and confidence to buy from you. If your idea of follow-up is to bounce one autoresponder message back to your on-line inquiry and expect the cash register to ring, you are in for a shocking surprise.You have heard often, and will continue to hear, that effective marketing is based on the building of relationships with your potential customers. It's true! Indeed, this is one of the true Power Principles of internet marketing. One of the great benefits of the internet is the ease and cost-effectiveness of relationship building.We must understand that our potential customer is inundated with competing advertising messages from various media--television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, point- of-purchase, direct mail--and now the internet.All of these marketing methods attempt to build a relationship with its audience in order to make the advertising message credible and believable. Credibility and believability lead naturally to sales.The one media that stands head and shoulders above the competition is the internet. No other vehicle provides the opportunity to connect with your audience in such a timely and intimate way. Using the combination of web sites and email you have the graphical power of television and the intimate targeting of direct mail--without the associated high costs. It's a powerful combination.If you really want to 'Reach Out And Touch Someone', the way to do it is with the real Killer Application of the internet... e-mail.The two most powerful e-mail tools for effective client follow-up are:==> Your own e-mail newsletter, ezine, discussion list, etc.==> A programmed system of timed e-mail follow-up messages.Let's look at each one briefly:YOUR OWN E-MAIL NEWSLETTER, EZINE:I can't say enough about what a regular newsletter or ezine will do for your bottom line. By communicating useful information to your clients and prospects on a regular basis you are building a strong bonding relationship with them. Over time, they will begin to see you as a partner in their success. The trust and friendship you have built through your newsletter will translate to added business and increased profits for you.Managing a newsletter or ezine does not have to be expensive or very time consuming. There are several free services that will host your publication and provide an automated subscription process. I just switched one newsletter over to the YahooGroups system for new subscriptions and it seems to work fine. It has eliminated all the hand subscription process and automated it for me, all at no cost.As a marketer, you simply must communicate regularly with your distributors... and your product customers. You should give serious consideration to producing your own periodic e-mail newsletter. In doing so, you will be building relationships which will fatten your profits quickly.AUTOMATED E-MAIL FOLLOW-UP:The use of autoresponders to supply immediate and comprehensive information to your prospects is a very powerful use of e-mail technology and, I believe, a good one.But, what do you do after the initial lead response? How do you continue to follow-up at regular intervals? If you deal with very few leads of high quality, it's not a problem to follow-up with custom one-on-one messages and it is imperative that you do so if you expect to convert these leads to sales.If your lead flow runs to big numbers, however, you have a problem. You simply must automate the follow-up process to insure that every prospect inquiry gets properly timed, on-going, information and reasons to buy--a minimum of 5 times. To do less is to waste your lead generation investment. You must maximize this return-on-investment if you are to succeed and the only practical way to do this is with automation.A number of e-mail services provide an autoresponder system that will send a series of pre-written, timed, follow-up messages to your leads. This is a powerful use of technology. The real power comes, however, when the messages you send are professionally crafted works of benefit laden sales copy. These timed responses can be profit-enhancing selling tools, or downright intrusions. The difference will be the skill with which you use the tool.Fortunately, you have numerous high-tech tools available. In order to maximize your income you will want to take advantage of all lead generation tools and systems provided by your company.The reward for building an automated follow-up system is always worth the effort. The time you spend nurturing your follow-up program will result in:* Increased sales and profits* Improved image* More sales leads* Lower sales costs* Shortened selling cycles* Improved cash flow* Faster Team Building* Higher Residual Income* Faster Return-On-Investment (ROI)Remember... the profits are in the FOLLOW-UP!© 2005 Thom Reece All Rights ReservedThom Reece is the CEO of Online Marketing Group, a Hawaii based direct response marketing and web development firm. His primary website, the Online Marketing Resource Center [http://www.e-comprofits.com] is visited by thousands of marketers daily. For a free subscription to Thom Reece's Web Marketing Strategies & Techniques Newsletter go to: http://www.WMSTDirect.commailto:thom@e-comprofits.com

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