Each business owner has one or more products and/or services that they offer to potential customers and clients. And each business owner has a sales path or process to bring their potential customers and clients to a buying decision.
If you think about it closely, what we are in effect doing is helping the prospect travel down a “possibility – probablility – certainty” path.
Through the use of pain/pleasure and proof, we want the prospect to move from the possibility of buying from us, to entertaining the probability, or eventually helping them feel certainty about their decision to buy from us. Mastering this process is a direct contributor to success.
The initiation of this process involves recognizing if the prospect is in a mode of resistance, and creating an environment where they are fully engaged in order to begin hearing what you have to say.
Our upcoming free webinar addresses this issue in large part. The title of the webinar is “Debunking the Sales is a Numbers Game Lie.” This is where it all starts. I want to invite you to attend the webinar, and you can register at the following Go To Webinar link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/876378032
I wanted to let my blog readers know about an upcoming webinar entitled, “Debunking the Sales is a Numbers Game Lie”. In particular, we will be looking at effective ways to lower resistance in our prospects.
It is all about getting off the roller coaster sales profession ride and realizing that it truly is not a numbers game if you have the right tools.
Date: April 25, 2012
Time: 11:00 AM CDT
You can register at the link below:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/876378032
Grab The Training That Will Take You To The Top
When you don’t educate your self thoroughly, your selling skills are going to become a train wreck. That is why we provide you with superior sales coaching which is guaranteed to significantly improve your sought after earning potential .
Any excellent salesman understands that effective sales coaching is something that you should engage in constantly. Also, it is undeniable that there’s simply no miraculous solution to help your selling effectiveness instantaneously. Because of this, our world class selling instruction is the ideal platform upon which to construct a financially rewarding sales future. Although your existing passion and skill will probably determine how high you can actually go and just how swiftly you will get there, our exceptional selling instruction is the ideal prelude for your moneymaking selling fortune. We will get you there faster.
The sales instruction takes off by dealing with essentials including “The 6 standards of sales achievement.” All of us make use of the Socratic approach to instructing in our sales training program and that means you won’t sense yourself getting ‘lectured’ to, but instead discover youself to be within a fascinating active setting. Our sales coaching trainings are likewise distinctive because of their practice of inspiring, combined with acknowledging individuals, who present amazing perception within the training sessions.
High quality sales training meetings like ours are not only instruction sessions, but thought invoking coaching that promote your inner skill as a sales person. That which you uncover through these training sessions is going to have an intense influence on both you and your future.
I encourage you to call me today to discuss this opportunity further, or better yet, request our sales training discovery session to see exactly how you would benefit by our sales training.
Wallace Wattles wrote the book, “The Science of Getting Rich” in 1910. It might boggle your mind to find out that is is still the absolute best prosperity model on the actual science of getting rich. His treatise on this subject is the most balance I have encountered.
Join me on a webinar, where we discuss the principles of the book, and as a thank you, I will make sure that your receive a copy.
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/562498217
Join us as we discuss Wallace Wattles’ book “The Science of Getting Rich.” This principles of this book contain timeless wisdom and a practical, step-by-step prosperity program.
We will discuss the core elements of his work, and discuss how it is still the best approach to wealth.
As a way of saying thanks for sharing your time with us, we will make sure you receive a copy of this incredible book
Title: The Science of Getting Rich
Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2012
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM CDT
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
Today’s session with one of my sales training clients was on the topic of setting the agenda for your meetings. This process is absolutely essential for success.
Have you ever wondered how the tables got turned, and you find yourself answering rapid fire questions by the prospect? Are you in the habit of having your meetings shortened and you find yourself escorted out the door without having learned anything about your prospect? Do you never seem to be able to get a second appointment?
If you answered yes to any of the above, you would greatly benefit from training on how to set the agenda for your meetings. Learn how to gain control, get conceptual agreement, hold off questions and tie it all together with a trial close. These four distinct steps, if used every time, will keep the above from occurring.
Whether you are struggling, or at the top of your game, everyone can benefit from a trainer or coach. Contact us, and learn how we can help you achieve the next level of performance.
Call Us At 636-724-5222
Have you ever thought about moving your sales process online, or at least a part of it? There are some good reasons for contemplating Virtual Selling.
Cost Savings:
Driving / Flying to prospect meetings can be very costly, not only in dollars, but in time spent as well. Coordinating and running virtual meetings creates significant savings on travel expense. Gas, wear on a vehicle, as well as incidental expenses can be reduced tremendously by running your meetings from behind a desk and computer.
The potential for saved time with Virtual Selling is even bigger than what you might think. When I first started selling Internet Marketing services in the Greater St. Louis area, I scheduled appointments, only to find out when I got there my prospect was often not, or they had to reschedule with me due to various circumstances. Even worse was finding out that the prospect was not qualified. (I was using appointment setters at that time.)
I was losing upwards of an hour or more in travel time that was lost forever from a productivity standpoint. Needless to say, I was frustrated.
Click on the graphic to send us your inquiry. Add "Virtual Selling" to the message section of the form.
On the flip side, when I am selling virutally, a blown meeting costs me at most 10 minutes. I can move immediately onto another task. This has saved me many hours each week. My favorite way to sell to this day is virtually, even though I use a hybrid approach more often.
Credibility and Respect:
Prospects appreciate the use of technology that enhances the process of bettering their business.
I have observed that business owners and executives are busier than ever. As a result, they appreciate being able to conduct business in as efficient a manner as possible. I can’t begin to recount all the times I have hear appreciation for this approach.
Recognizing the challenges that our prospects are facing, and being mindful of them creates respect.
Virtual Selling does not have to be long distance. I have closed a good number of deals locally through the virtual process in its entirety. You can give the option for either an in-person, or virtual meeting at any point in the process.
Salespeople can be intimidated with the thought of virtual selling, or they may not understand all the potential advantageous. That is why we offer a FREE virtual selling training consultation in order to evaluate whether virtual selling is a good option for you.
Decide who you serve (and focus on them intensely)
Who do you serve with your business? Do you have a clear picture of those in your target market, if you have one? Can you describe your ideal buyer/client in detail?
Answering this question is predicated on answering the first basic business principle, which was “Decide What To Do“. It would serve you well to read that one first.
You must decide who it is that you serve with your business. You have no choice, if your intentions are to be successful. The reason relies in the fact that we must bring focus on that group intensely. You cannot be all things to all people, you cannot focus with intensity on an unlimited selection either, as those approaches find themselves becoming an unsustainable business model.
Once the question of who you serve is answered, you can go about creatively planning how to reach, touch, and impact that group in the most efficient manner. Being freed up in this area is liberating, and much if not all of the guessing is removed from the process at this point.
There are resources and organizations available that can help you to identify who you serve. If you have been in business for any amount of time, you have the added advantageous of possibly having data to work with. There are even some web tools that can help you gain initial data very quickly.
Next time around, we will look at the Deciding What Makes You Different. In the meantime, I value your feedback.
When you break down all the fluff, there are two ways to promote and market your business: dumber, slower, and expensive — or smarter, faster, and cheaper. – David Siteman Garland
Effective marketing produces lead generation, which gives you the best opportunity to produce sales. On the flip side crappy marketing just siphons off your money. The best way to evaluate your marketing over the past year is to look at your sales revenue numbers.
So for your revenue to increase through sales, you need to figure out how to effectively market. This is where the “two ways to promote and market your business” quoted above comes into play.
I believe that everyone would like to think that they are on the smarter, faster, and cheaper bus, but it might be hard to tell without an honest, outside evaluation. This is where an outside assessment can be helpful, and the reason why we offer free marketing discovery services. This is just one of the services we provide free for business owners.
Request your discovery sessions today. Send in the form on the contact us page and put “marketing discovery session” in the message field.
POWERUP Strategy is Coming!
“Knowledge is the engine that powers great decision making.”
“Rightly applied knowledge is the beginning of wisdom.”
Business owners are always looking for access to great information that will help them grow their business. Unfortunately, many times you have to wade through a massive amount of information to gather up the “golden nuggets” that have value to you.
POWERUP Strategy is being created to cut through the fluff, and deliver the critical information that you need as a business owner very quickly. Topics are selected carefully in order to deliver the most valuable information possible.
There will be three knowledge and informational tracks, and each will be incredibly valuable to business owners.
Keep an eye out for the awesome offers that will be available to you at our launch.
Could you and your sales team use some training in the new year?
You may have a diverse group of salespeople, or it might just be you within your own company, but one thing is for sure, if you don’t take deliberate action to improve your selling ability, you will plateau at best, and regress in your skills at worst. Maybe this has happened to you in the past, or you have observed someone who did not put the required effort into maintaining their skills, and the natural result was that sales decreased. This wasn’t even the worst of it. The commissions took a big hit as well.
Just as a craftsman hones his/her skills to stay on top of their craft, we salespeople must constantly strive to improve our capabilities. Otherwise, we will slip to middle-tier performers, or even worse, we will start pulling up the rear of the sales performance chart.
Don't End Up Like Sysiphus!
Some of your top performers may only require a “tune-up”, while others on your team might need remedial help. The goal is improvement for everyone on staff. This is where tremendous ROI can be achieved for a business. Raise the level of performance for the stragglers, the mid-performers, as well as your stars.
We are currently running eight-weeks sessions with our sales training, and ongoing support is available beyond that point as well. In less than than two months, your team can be re-energized, experiencing better meetings, and closing more business.
Request our sales training assessment and we will schedule a time for the assessment, AND schedule a time for a FREE training session, so that you experience first hand the value of investing in yourself. Give Michael a call at 636-724-5222, or fill out our contact form and put “sales training” in the comments section.
What is one of the primary advantages of “painting word pictures” when we communicate about products and services?
Painting word pictures impacts the intellect of course, but it also can powerfully touch the emotional part of our being. A person can know intellectually that a solution is viable, but many times that is not enough to close the business. Closing business will more often occur when they begin to internalize the solution emotionally. Stories that utilize great word pictures will take them to that place.
Make your stories come alive!
Any business has products or services, and the business owner has to communicate how these will benefit the prospective client or customer. A great way to do this is through word pictures. With that in mind, it bears us the asking of the following question.
What is the best way to convert benefits into vivid word pictures?
If you can tie your benefits to stories that illustrate the awesome results others have received from those benefits, then you will help the prospect make the mental connection that they themselves can receive the same benefits.
Making that connection is critical for gaining new customers.
Why are people who are in a good mood more likely to buy?
A person’s bad mood is a fundamental objection to the sales process. Once the mood of a person lifts, they become more receptive to what the salesperson is communicating.
In effect, a bad mood is another mode of resistance that must be removed before real communication can occur.
We also associate our purchases to a feeling of pleasure. It is much harder to move someone from a bad mood to feelings of pleasure than it is to move someone the shorter distance between being in a good mood to one of pleasure and contentment.
Laughter is a fantastic tool for mood transfer.
It is essential in business to relieve tension. Tension can crop up in many ways. It might show itself in the sales process, or in delivering a product or solution. It might even occur if you have not been paying attention to a valued client, or customer.
Relieving tension can also be relieved several ways, and the one that I want to reference now is laughter! How does laughter relax us?
Laughter ends up being our sixth sense. The “sense of humor.” Laughter has the tendency to “dissolve” things like tension, objections, and the types of emotions that weigh us down. Even the Bible talks about laughter being “better than medicine.” It takes us back to childhood, where the weight of the world was not resting on our shoulders.
According to science, laughter helps to integrate both hemispheres of the brain. You can use laughter to help the analytic get in touch with their creative, and vice-versa.
I an not advocating that you learn a stand-up routine, especially if that is not your strong suit. Make it a point to be on the lookout for the “sublime” elements in life, and be ready to share those. Some of the funniest things in life are derived from the mundane.
Why is it that in the end, it is the salesperson with the strongest developed relationship with the prospect who wins the sale?
All things being equal, a client will go with, and stay with, a salesperson with which they have a strong relationship. Clients always intellectually rationalize their decisions, and as such, they like to buy from those they like. Building the relationship with your prospect becomes one of the prime factors for winning business.
Your new client now feels like they can communicate on a level that is much deeper than someone who made no effort to get to know them. They decided to buy from a “friend.”
“What are the potential rewards of being willing to take risks and surprise prospects?”
Differentiation.
Standing out from the crowd engages the imagination, and initiates curiosity in the prospect.
Many prospective clients are just “going through the motions” when they meet with you. By taking a risk, you break through their monotony, and engage their mind and emotions.
What can we do to differentiate ourselves, not only a human beings, but also as business owners?
Business is no longer about who has the cheapest, or even the best “widget.” Business is now built on relationships. Do you believe this? I hope you do, since it is reality, whether we wish it to be or not.
Let’s take a peek at one way you can almost instantly stand out from a relationship perspective.
A couple of characteristics that are in short supply amongst businesspeople and salespeople is honesty and integrity. People are desperately looking for the old-time “straight shooters”, where their word was their bond, and they delivered on what they said they would. It can be almost that simple to separate yourself from the pack and show that you desire relationship.
The reason that this can become a game changer is that one of the fundamental needs of human beings is relationship. When you consider how many of your clients and prospects may have come from broken homes, blended families, or have even experienced the break up of a marital relationship, you will begin to understand the void of relationship in many peoples lives. It is not a question of dysfunction, but rather the degree of dysfunction in relationships that is in question.
Can a single relationship bridge all of these potential gaps? Of course not, but reaching out will benefit both parties in tangible ways. Our reaching out in relationship must be genuine activity though, and not a tactic designed to make a sale. Authenticity is a must in relationship. We humans have a way to “sniff out” if something is not authentic.
Relationship helps all of us create and maintain a level of certainty regarding our “worth.” We all have the opportunity to deliver powerful medicine to the soul with each person we create a relationship with, yes, even a business relationship.
Go forth and spread the healing.
“ Why do people love to be surprised and delighted?”
As adults, we lives lives of predicability! Life becoming mundane is the unfortunate experience of a large percentage of our population. Anything that breaks through the constraints of that existence causes levels of euphoria.
Being surprised and delighted opens the skies for a brief period and allows the rays of wonder to peek through.
Tony Robbins teaches that one of the six basics needs is certainty. But interestingly, the flip side of that is also true. We have a basic need of uncertainty as well. This is where surprise becomes effective in a business or sales situation.
Think of how you might bring the element of surprise into your business dealings, and then evaluate the results. You may be pleasantly surprised.
“What are the advantages to finding time for family and friends as well having an interest outside of work?”
We have a need to grow in all aspects of our lives, not just in our profession, since success is comprehensive instead of compartmentalized. The most successful businesspeople and salespeople are well-rounded. Their growth in their personal lives provides residual benefits for their professional lives as well, but that should not be the primary motivation.
We use our profession to create an environment that makes our personal lives, and the standards by which we want to live them possible. The objective is not an isolated domination of our profession, but rather the fulfillment of a life that uses the profession to make additional opportunities for fullness of life possible.
You most probably have a vision, and definite goals for your work, but have you put as much energy and effort into having the same for your personal life? If not, I challenge you to make it a priority in the coming year.
To me, one of the biggest benefit to a career in sales is being able to determine just how much money I want to make, and how much time I want to spend making that money so that I can enjoy what life has to offer while I am still young enough to appreciate it.
I really believe that there are two areas in which a person can “write their own ticket.”
- The first is in a sales career.
- The second is as a business owner.
If you combine the two, then you have a powerful synergy.
How can we make ourselves so compelling that the prospect has the desire to buy?
IF we can demonstrate that we are “THE” solution to that which causes our prospect to lose sleep, the likelihood that the prospect buys rises exponentially. IF we have engaged their intellect, and their emotions, as well as brought the solution in a unique and engaging way which personalizes the relationship, then we can clearly identify the buying signals that gives us the best opportunity to win the business.
Preparation and proof are the strongest tools to help us accomplish these goals.
Is the almost 100-year old way of chasing sales DOA (Dead on Arrival)? I was reading a article by Jeffrey Gitomer yesterday that asserted that this was indeed a fact. Truth be told, I agree with him, and have felt this way for over a year. If you intend to be a sales superstar in 2012, you are going to need to learn a new approach. You can continue in the old ways if you are content with the crumbs that will be left over by the master salesperson.
How can you tell if you are stuck in the past?
Do you ask yourself any of the following questions?
- How do I make a better cold call?
- How do I close a sale?
- How do I get to the decision maker?
If you answered yes to any of these, you are still using a deprecated form of salesmanship. Unfortunately you are beating your head against a wall, with very little hope of the success you are looking for and deserve.
Learn me ask you a series of better questions?
- How many Twitter followers do you have?
- Do you have an updated and informative Facebook page?
- Do you network on Linkedin?
- Do you know what your Social Promotion Score is?
- Are you involved in a significant way in your community?
The way to get in front of decision makers has changed for good. Cold calling may get you in front of a business owner occasionally, but if you analyze your performance with cold calling, you will begin to see that your conversion rate is at best quite anemic.
For better or worse, we live in an age where relationships and reputation rule the day in business. The world has turned social, and many of us didn’t notice. At least we didn’t notice right away. Now is the time for action!
I would be happy to get you a nudge in the right direction. Just use our contact form to let us know you would like to discuss selling in 2012.
Driving Web visitors to a business web site has grown to be a fairly well proven technological procedure that performs very well. This does not mean that the process will be easy, but that we know enough regarding how it operates to do a credible job of delivering precise traffic in the right direction.
Converting Internet Traffic into a lead, or sale, still has quite a bit of art, as well as scientific discipline in the mix. One of the speediest means to improved revenue is a higher “conversion rate” on the traffic arriving on your site.
Of course, the very best of both worlds would certainly be increased Web traffic conversion, and greater targeted traffic as emphasized below.
The optimum method to accomplish this lofty objective is through a four-step process that leads to great success.
- You have to “Measure” – or define your objectives so that you can determine performance. If you don’t understand your target, how in the world are you going to recognize if you have hit it?
- You then want to “Experiment”. If you keep trying to get varied results while using the exact same techniques, you will never get to the place desired.
- “Test”. Sort of sounds like a bad word that flashes you back to your school days. You have to have the feedback which testing provides. Absolutely nothing else will be able to take the place of testing.
- Someone needs to keep his or her big baby blues on the winning prize, or be “Monitoring” the process at all times.
Imagine that you are converting at a 2% higher rate than what you are presently experiencing. That would make a great impact on the bottom line.
In order for your company to effectively compete in today’s business world, you need to have a stellar Internet presence. Even so, just having a website isn’t enough. Your website has to rank nicely inside the search engines so potential consumers can discover you. In order for that to happen, you need to become an expert in world-wide-web promoting, or hire a professional services Search Engine Optimization firm.
There are numerous advantages to hiring an SEO Company instead of trying to market your web business yourself. For one thing, learning net marketing and advertising is a big expense in time. You have to do it properly in order to beat out your competition. There are several techniques to learn and several of them are learned through trial and error, which keeps you from achieving your goals as quickly as possible.
The time you invest in understanding about online promoting could be better spent in building your company and taking care of your customers. You can leave the management of the site to an experienced company that will get improved effects much quicker than you could do personally.
Knowledge can mean the difference between success and failure for your Internet site. That’s the main reason why you should hire professional help instead of trying to understand online promoting well enough to produce it yourself. Things change fast on the Internet. What works today may possibly be outdated by the time you learn it. It takes a huge commitment of time and interest to stay abreast with the latest on net advertising and marketing trends.
Marketing a website on the Internet is not as easy as it might seem. That’s due primarily to the fact that there is so much competition. You’ll find hundreds if not thousands of other websites, which are trying to get ranked for many of the same keywords that you need to use. The corporations that utilize the most skilled net marketing experts are the ones that will secure those coveted, best search engine results listings.
If you leave net advertising and marketing up to chance your competition might trounce you.
Business has been difficult for many businesses over the past two years. Growth has leveled off, if not declined. A sense of panic can slowly envelope an entire organization if a sense of hope wanes.
The KPI “Key Performance Indicator”, that most often leads to a situation like this is a decline in qualified leads being brought into the business.
Less leads = less new business = less cash flow = panic
When we humans are confronted with a situation like this, many times our first inclination is to constrict expenditures in a mighty way in an attempt to cope with the lower revenues. One of the first things we tend to slash is the marketing budget, possibly because it is not easy for us to quantify the value that we are receiving for our marketing dollars.
Is this always the best approach?
I can’t speak to every situation, but answer this, “when is the last time you ever heard of a company contracting its way to success?”
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a very powerful marketing tool that has the ability to bring a significant amount of increased revenue to a business. PPC done well should follow a 5-step plan for maximum effectiveness.
Step 1: Create an informative webpage
- Ensure there is a call-to-action on the pages that traffic is directed towards
Step 2: Generate a list of keywords
- Keywords that potential buyers would search
- Identify your negative keyword list
- Identify broad and exact match phrases
Step 3: Build your campaign
- Research bid prices on Google
- Write your Google AdWords advertisements
Step 4: Monitor your results
- Split test ads against each other to achieve higher click through rates
Step 5: Improve your performance
- Rewrite ads to improve click through rates
- Optimize landing pages to improve conversion rates
- Improve your ROI by adjusting bid prices
I was reading a Dave Ramsey book and I came across the statement, “Even a turkey can fly in a tornado.” He likened it to people doing all kinds of crazy things with money when the economy was good, but not realizing that they were being unwise and risk taking with their money.
Your marketing plan has to work in a good or bad economy to be sound. That got me to thinking about how we business owners handle our “marketing money” in both types of economies.
I have seen money spent on some pretty crazy stuff. Expensive marketing endeavors that you can’t even track to see if it is successful outside of the cash register ringing. And even then you don’t know the source of the revenue.
The highest priority KPI (Key Performance Indicator) for marketing is ROI (Return on Investment). If you put $5.00 in to marketing, you want to earn $20.00 in return. That is a great goal. Just like your retirement planning, you want to make a sound marketing investment.
Let me quote Dave a bit further in his book, “Just because you see a turkey flying in a tornado doesn’t mean turkeys can fly.” Making wise marketing choices can keep you firmly grounded in the good as well as the bad times.
I heard this statement on an instructional video and it was an eye-opener, even for an experienced SEO (Search Engine Optimizer) like me. I’ve recognized that in years past SEO was science and art. Ever increasingly SEO has become a science. It is possible now to know exactly what needs to be done to create a first page listing.
It is amazing what some of the tools we use tell us now. As we examine the sites that have the top 10 listings for a phrase, we can examine exactly why they are there. With that knowledge we can make a determination on what it will take exactly to compete in that market. Sometimes we even determine that it isn’t worth the effort for that phrase and look for a better one in which to penetrate that market.
The purpose of search engine optimization, (SEO), is to position keywords that are appropriate for your business on a search results pages that will give your company exposure to those who want to buy your “stuff”.
We call the process of this type of work SEO positioning or SEO placement.
SEO positioning is critical for marketing success. I have yet to come across a company, or organization that has all the leads or business that it wants. Customer acquisition continues to be a priority for every business.
Selecting the right words to be found on is absolutely essential. The selection should take into account your target market demographics, how people search for your type of products or service, how often a term is searched, as well as the competitive levels of the words and phrases. Otherwise you are putting a blindfold on and throwing darts at a board with no frame of reference.
SEO positioning can put you in a position to be found by those who need YOU! It is a powerful tactic that is being taken advantage of by millions … yet there is still plenty of room for your company to capitalize on SEO placement.
Bing, the Microsoft-owned internet search engine, is teaming up with Facebook in an effort to steal market share from Google, the 900-pound gorilla in search.
Now when you type in a keyword phrase like “Secretariat the movie” in Bing, you might see a link to actress Diane Lane’s Facebook user profile. You also might see pictures of your Facebook friends who have “liked” the movie on the social media site. Yahoo, the No. 2-ranked search engine, utilizes Bing’s search technology and is also incorporating Facebook features into its search results.
Is Google nervous about Facebook moving onto its turf? Maybe. Then again, maybe not: depending on who you ask, the internet search giant still carries from 66% to 80% of all global search traffic. Bing? From 6%-11%. So the third-ranked search engine still has a long way to go.
What does this mean for internet marketers and their clients? It’s time to refocus on your corporate and personal Facebook pages –they just might be getting listed in Bing!
Some people think that when they invest in a company to do SEO for their business, that they should see results immediately.
Search engine optimization rarely works that quickly.
You must use patience as SEO work is being done on the backside of your website. It can takes months to process everything as the links should be added slowly for maximum effectiveness. SEO Companies add hundreds of back-links to your website and over a period of time these back-links have a profound effect on increasing your website visibility.
Being patient will bring forth the desired results.
We live in tough economic times, and the challenges before us are difficult, but certainly not insurmountable. As business owners, we are constantly on the lookout for those things that will either make our business function easier, wring more profit out of our efforts, or both. That is the beauty of the free enterprise system. Our success, or failure, is within our ability to control.
Business has changed
Much has changed in the way that business markets. What an understatement, and the changes are coming at greater frequency. A high percentage of business owners now believe that marketing their products and services is absolutely essential, but the problem still remains regarding determining who they should turn to for help.
FIRST: The first step should be to look for someone who will sit down with you and ask the right questions in order to understand your challenges and desires. A “cookie cutter” approach does not work well with any type of marketing.
SECOND: After the needs are fully addressed, look for someone who will give you options. You should be able to step into a plan that fits your needs, as well as your marketing investment budget.
THIRD: Marketing on the Internet in particular is changing rapidly, so finally, you should look for someone who will stay with you, in effect partnering with you for your success.
They’ve Changed the Local Game with “Place Search”
Just when we were getting comfortable with local search, Google flipped everything on its head with the launch of their Place Search feature. This new kind of local search organizes information around specific locations making it easier for users to compare places and decide where to go.
If you’ve conducted a local search within the last week or so, you will have noticed a number of changes to the results page, including the following:
- Elimination of the 7-Pack Google Map listing
- Ranking algorithm for local listings has been updated
- Google Places pages have greater visibility
- Local results with more information (ie: 3rd party review sites)
- Information is grouped to make it easier to digest and compare
- New link for “Places” in the left-hand panel of the search results page so you can switch to these results whenever you want
- Google map now on the right side above the paid search listings, which scrolls as you scroll down the page
Google is building in web intelligence! A Google Place Search result will begin appearing automatically on Google when they predict you’re looking for local information. Their goal is make it faster and easier for searchers to find the local information they are looking for that will ultimately help them decide where they want to go.
Maximum revenue generation is a combination of having qualified leads to work, and a highly effective sales team to close business.
Lead Generation and Sales
Great lead generation without highly trained salespeople creates a massive dent in your ROI for marketing dollars spent. Having great salespeople with no leads to work will create a frustrating environment for the sales team.
Do you need help in one, or possibly both of these areas? I can help you get the assistance you need for both areas in a one-stop environment. A coordination of your lead generation, and then follow up on the sales piece through a great sales system that is workable for any skill level within your sales team.
Higher quality sales leads, fed to increasingly more effective salespeople is a fantastic recipe for business growth.
Tony Robbins has famously stated that success can be achieved by making a 2 millimeter shift in what you are doing. In other words, the path to the right destination does not require a hugh redirection. This is especially true in sales.
Regardless of your innate abilities in sales, small adjustments can help you to achieve significant increases. The key is to schedule those adjustments systematically, and with the oversight of an outside observer. This is where sales training and coaching can pay off big.
Systematic training, which includes role playing and accountability, under the watchful eye of a trainer can help you, or your sales team, make the incremental changes that will elevate performance across the board.
If you, or your company needs a sales “shot in the arm”, I want to invite you to give me a call at 636-352-3692. Tiger Quest through Skillful Selling many just be exactly what you need to make the right shift.
There are rivers of information readily available about just about every social technology tool that’s out there. However, our focus is on choosing tools that fit within a sales process, and serve a particular function in helping generate leads or increased visibility. They are also chosen as the tools we believe you can learn to use quickly and easily integrate into your real world activities. In this free online tutorial, we will review the most useful social tools for salespeople and how you might learn to put them to use.
If you want to increase your knowledge on Online Reputation Management (ORM) and/or get more comfortable with using social technology tools, Register to attend our Free Online Training, “Social Media for Sales People” coming up on Wednesday April 27, 2011 from 12-1 PM EST. I hope you will join us for our free webinar.
A Salespersons Most Important Social Technology Tools:
- Google Alerts – Are free to use, daily summaries of information found about a given topic on the internet
- LinkedIn – What makes LinkedIn so powerful is the ability to look for shared connections for people you want to meet; it’s a real world technique of asking for referrals except that you can look through someone’s Rolodex to see who they know!
- Blogging – A business oriented blog for a salesperson can be a terrific conversation starter with new prospects, especially if you maintain it regularly and post valuable information.
- Facebook – The guidelines for success on Facebook are much the same as for other social sites if you are looking to make new contacts; in other words “share” over “sell.”
- Twitter – Twitter can be a great tool if you have the time, you can use it to share your updates on things like new products, new research, new blog posts and the like that customers may find of interest.
- Analytics – A tracking program to give statistics about how many people looked at your website or blog post, etc.
Can’t wait to jump on the social media bandwagon? Click here to download the new EBook “Social Media for Sales People”
BUSY AT THAT TIME? Sign up anyway. We’ll send you a link as soon as it’s over so you can listen in when it works for you.
I hope you will join us for our Free webinar. Please feel free to contact me (Michael Richards) at 636-352-3692 if you need assistance.
Do you recognize, way down deep in the pit of your stomach, that you, and your sales team, need help in order to close more sales? It may not have been the highest priority on your list of issues to deal with in the past, but with the prolonged down economy it is fast gaining critical status.
Let’s get together over the phone, or in person, and discuss how the Tiger Quest Sales System just may be the very answer you need in order to get significant you need. We all realize that successful businesses have a habit of surrounding themselves with keep people and organizations in order to achieve their objectives. Tiger Quest wants to be part of that strategic team.
Oh, almost forgot. Don’t forget to request your free training that will teach you how to move your prospect, who is in a mode of resistance, to a place where they will be glad that you are there. No kidding!
We have a hard time finding anything of value for free these days, especially something as valuable as free sales training. There always seems to be a “hook,” or a “catch” to the offer. In fact, when was the last time you truly received something of value for “free?”
So let me share with you a “free” offer that has tremendous value, with absolutely no strings attached.
As a sales professional, or sales manager, we quite frequently run into a massive mode of resistance when we meet with a prospect, especially the first time we meet. Not many salespeople know how to effectively sneak past that resistance to the point where the prospect engages with you in a meaningful conversation. Have you ever heard of the quote, “Sales is a numbers game?” Yep, that is where it came from.
What if I told you that I can share a system that will greatly increases the number of receptive prospects? Guess what? You are now working with a better funnel, and you are going to make more sales. The logical result of that is more money in your pocket. Many times, a great deal more money.
I will be happy to provide a FREE 45-minute Tiger Tools training session, without commercial, or obligation. Pure training that will make a huge impact on you as a salesperson.
All you have to do is contact me by phone or by our contact form, and I will arrange a time for the training. If you are in greater St. Louis, I will come to your location, or if you are outside the area, I can coordinate a webinar.
You have absolutely nothing to lose, but everything to gain, so give me a call or take in a bit more about Free Tiger Tools Training.
You heard it correctly, FREE sales training!
Arguably one of the most important assets of any company is it’s salespeople. Business profitability begins with their ability to acquire new customers, as well as nurture repeat business out of the existing client base. Their importance is such, that most organizations hire someone to oversee their activity in an effort to increase their productivity.
One would think that this group of folks would receive ongoing training in order to hone their skills, and increase their closing ratios. Actually that is far from the truth. Very few companies invest in ongoing, meaningful sales training and coaching.
I have never met a salesperson that did not want to perform above their current level. Most just don’t know how to get to that place without additional insight. Insights like:
- How do I break down the resistance that prospects have towards me when I walk through their door, or speak with them on the phone?
- Once we are engaged and the resistance is broken, what’s next?
- What can I do that 90% of other salespeople never do that can help me close more business?
- How can I tell when a prospect is ready to buy?
- Can you move a stalled sale towards a close?
Practical ideas, with practical applications are the key. The Tiger Quest sales training is a “system” that helps any salesperson travel the six steps the lead to the close, and how to deal with the issues that can arise along the way.
You should seriously consider investing in the ongoing training of that important asset … those that sell on your behalf. When you are looking for the right organization to execute that training, I hope you will give me a call.
Are you a winner, or a whiner?
Come on in and take inventory with me for just a moment. When things don’t go exactly the way that you want with your sales prospects, how do you react? Do you take full responsibility for what has happened and work on taking the necessary steps to move it in the right direction, or do you find anything and anyone to blame for the situation.
Are you a winner or a whiner?
Let’s face it. It is difficult to take responsibility for all things related to your sales career. It is easier to make excuses and blame others.
Don’t let others control you, because that is what happens when you choose to blame other things or other people. Take full control over your career, and choose to excel at what you do. Take responsibility.
Hiring a sales coach can help you improve in many areas, and being accountable is just one of the areas that you can take advantage of. I want you to not only take responsibility of your sales career, but I want you to make a massive amount of money doing it. Taking responsibility is a step in the correct direction.
