Why less passion is better for business.

Why less passion is better for business.
I just googled 'Passion in Business' and came up with
82,900,000 hits. And, according to the first several pages
of hits, everyone says that you must have passion to
succeed in business. 'Fuel your passion' is the watchword.

Why this quest for passion? Of course, passion can feel
wonderful, but do you really need it to succeed in
business? What happens when you don't have it?
Surprisingly, your business can do better with less
passion. Why?

To understand, you have to get past the
gobble-gobble-gobble of everyone who says you're doomed if
you don't fuel your passion to see the deeper spiritual
truths that are in motion. But first, what in the heck IS
passion?

According to the dictionary:

Passion: a powerful emotion or appetite, such as love, joy,
hatred, anger or greed.

Plus, the word evidently originally comes from the Latin
"passus" which is the past participle of "pati" meaning 'to
suffer.' It began to be used more widely in the Western
world when the Catholic Church used it to describe Jesus'
sufferings on the cross: the passion of Christ.

Do you get it? 'Passion' is just another way to say 'strong
emotional appetite.' And depending on strong emotional
appetites for too long, even if they start out by feeling
really good, tends to end in... suffering.

I want to let you know that you don't really need to fuel
your passion to succeed. Many times when I hear someone
talk about 'fueling their passion' they're really talking
about what I call the 'honeymoon' syndrome.

You see, when two people newly fall in love with each
other, they're in the throes of the 'honeymoon'- they want
to be around each other all the time, they can't get enough
of each other. Their emotions and pheromones are going
crazy- they're insatiable. It lasts a few months, or, at
most, a year.

Boy the honeymoon is fun. And it can help set the stage for
a wonderful long-term relationship. But if you're depending
on those crazy honeymoon emotions and appetites to make it
to your 50th anniversary... well, all I can say is, I wish
you luck.

Your business is no honeymoon.

Your business, in order to stand the test of time, and to
grow into something that can carry you, provide for you,
and shelter you, needs to get beyond the 'passion-only'
honeymoon stage.

Recently one of the participants in my marketing class was
experiencing some very strong fear and overwhelm. That's
passion- but not helpful for the business. She had been
busy chasing certain business outcomes, and the fear about
it was too much. I recently went through a similar spin.

Both she and I had switched over to the passion/appetite
fuel, and it was burning us up. We had to switch back to
the only fuel that lasts for the long term.

What is that fuel? And how do you switch?

Keys to Reining Your Passion

• Love is the fuel- passion is the derivative.

There is a Sufi teaching: "Know that the human has a
quality that has no end to it, and this is covetousness,
and because the human is forever seeking, this is a quality
that is derivative of love... Love causes seeking..."

Covetousness is the passion-driven (read: appetite-driven)
derivative of love, and it just ain't as good as the
original. Begin to notice in yourself the difference
between your heart's longing for love, and your ego
coveting more money, or more clients. Take a moment now-
can you feel the difference in your own body?

• Put your ego on a starvation diet.

If you can tell the difference between love and
covetousness, now keep one and throw out the other. Put off
feeding your coveting hunger- for a minute, an hour, a day.
This is the wisdom behind the spiritual practice of
fasting- abstaining from material sustenance. This
abstaining weakens your ego's hunger, and strengthens your
heart's contentment.

Don't believe me? Try it out. You don't have to do a 40-day
retreat in the desert- even just try skipping a meal. Or
even simpler: noticing a hunger you have, and spending time
with that hunger, instead of feeding it. What happens for
you?

• Now, apply it to your business.

Instead of focusing on what you want- more money, a bigger
business- put those appetites aside. Instead, take a moment
with your heart and ask 'What is your heart truly longing
for?'

Once you get an answer to that question, ask your heart
another one: 'How can your business support this longing?'
Let yourself be willing to be surprised. And let me know
what comes up for you.

----------------------------------------------------
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your
Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your
Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line.
He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the
globe succeed in business without lousing their hearts. Get
three free chapters of the book online:
http://www.heartofbusiness.com

The Best Well Kept Secret of Online Businesses - Tracking

The Best Well Kept Secret of Online Businesses - Tracking
Many internet marketers have quit talking about the
importance of tracking, or just forgotten about it all
together. Many others know that tracking is something that
they should be doing, but don’t fully understand it
or think it is too much trouble and not worth the time and
expense. Not too long ago, this might have been the case,
but now online business tracking programs are so cheap and
easy to use that not taking advantage of them is almost
like an online business suicidal attempt.

To help you understand the importance of tracking,
let’s go ahead and start with the basics. What can
you track and test?

Headlines, sales letter introductions, calls to action,
PS’s, audio, video, testimonials, sales copy layout,
sub headlines, bullet points, highlighting, yes and thank
you pages, post payment, payment pages, subscriptions,
subscription box layout, subscription box presentation, the
use of entry pages, lead generation, affiliate signups and
sales letters, training, education and what effect that has
on your visitors, affiliates and customers, subject lines
for your mailings, layout, html, text, web based content,
all aspects of the follow-up process, backend sales, front
end sales, price, traffic quality, cost per visitor,
keywords, visit times dependant on content, titles and
headings in your sales copy, your ads, your signatures,
your introductions, subscriber conditioning, length of
subscriber stay, customer feedback, presentation (of
everything), and the list goes on and on.

As you can see there is always something to track and test.
If you own or market an internet business and you’re
not at least keeping a close eye on your statistics for
patterns that might emerge, then your online business is
probably not running nearly as efficient as it could be.

Unless you start now that is.

So how exactly do you go about tracking and testing
effectively? First, I want to make sure that you
understand that over a short period of time with few
visitors, this isn’t an exact science. Nothing will
ever flow with any perfect regularity. A technique that got
you 20% more sales or signups straight after implementation
may well turn out to actually lose sales compared to the
alternative over the long term.

In order to track accurately and learn from your tracking
you have to get a decent set of stats. Judging your sales
material over 100 visitors isn’t going to do much for
you. Judging it over 3,000 to 5,000 however will give much
more accurate results, and that results will only continue
to get more and more accurate the more results you collect.
This will also allow you to ignore any problems that might
come about through anomalies and average out your results.

If you start analyzing you’re tracking stats without
enough traffic, to many factors come into the equation that
can throw off your data and make it appear better or worse
than it actually is. Were you getting the same quality
traffic from the same place? Was it more targeted than
previously? There are lots of things that can affect your
results. Averaging out over a long period of time is the
only way to ensure that what you have in front of you is
reliable.

Secondly, only test one thing at a time. If you’re
going to change the wording of your ad to see if it
performs better, than test one sales letter with one
headline, and one with another. Whatever you do,
don’t change six things on one ad, and then proceed
to change four things on your second. You might see a
definite increase in sales, sure, but how are you going to
know what had the effect and how to repeat it in the
future? You won’t.

You don’t want to just test one method one month, and
then swap to another method the next month. Look for
software that allows you to track both ads over the same
time period.

The fact is there are dry periods online. The amount and
quality of your traffic will change from month to month
depending on seasons and other program launch dates.
Tracking like this will get you far more accurate results,
as your traffic is taken from the same pool, eliminating so
many variables that could effectively give you totally
incorrect results.

Lastly and possibly the most important is to keep
everything. Make a tracking folder. Every time you test
something, record your theory prior to tracking, record
your stats, your signups, or how many visits you tested and
finally keep track of your results. This way, you can go
back and test again if you feel that times have changed, or
a particular technique has become overused.

See? It’s simple to track and test. Five or ten
minutes a day using a good tracking program and
that’s all it takes and the benefits are endless, not
to mention how good it feels when you hit the jackpot and
can apply sales and recruiting increases 10%, 20% or even
50% over multiple marketing campaigns.

----------------------------------------------------
Casey Dunham, member of
http://www.automaticbuilder.com/28203 , successfully owns
and markets several online businesses. Casey enjoys helping
other entrepreneurs achieve the financial and time freedom
that comes with owning a successful online business.
If you would like to use a free version of the same
software that Casey uses to easily track and analyze his
marketing campaigns, try the ProTrackerPlus software at:
http://www.ProTrackerPlus.net

No Frills Limited Liability Company Formation

No Frills Limited Liability Company Formation
Starting a limited liability company in the UK requires the
submission to Company House forms, 10 and 12, plus a
memorandum and articles of association to complete the
company formation and registration.

Companies House Form 10

First directors and secretary and intended situation of
registered office

Company formation Form 10 is where the details of the first
director(s), company secretary and the proposed registered
address of the proposed limited liability company are
recorded. Details required include the names and addresses
of the officers and in respect of directors the date of
birth, occupation and details of other directorships held
within the last five years Before submitting the
registration forms visit the Companies House website and
carry out a name check to ensure the name is suitable and
available. Names similar to existing companies are
unsuitable as are any names likely to cause offence. On
form 10 enter the proposed limited liability company name
in full including Limited as the last word and the proposed
registered office. A company’s registered office is
the address where Companies House can send letters to the
limited liability company after the company formation.
Enter the names and addresses of the Company Secretary, and
the Directors in alphabetical order. Companies House reject
registrations with invalid addresses. It is recommended
that all addresses and postcodes are double checked before
submission on the royal mail site which is a check
Companies House will also carry out. Form 10 must be signed
and dated by each officer and each subscriber to the
Memorandum of Association or by an agent on behalf of all
the subscribers to the Memorandum of Association.

Companies House Form 12

Declaration on application for registration

Company formation Form 12 is a statutory declaration that
all legal requirements relating to the incorporation of the
company has been complied with. This declaration can be
signed by a solicitor engaged in the formation of the
Company or a person named as director or secretary on form
10 under section 10 of the Companies Act 1985. The
Declarant’s signature on form 12 has to be signed in
front of and confirmed by a Commissioner for Oaths, Notary
Public, Justice of the Peace or Solicitor. The date and
signing of form 12 must be after all the other documents
are signed and dated as form 12 is a legal declaration that
the details being submitted are true. The form must clearly
show if a person has signed on behalf of a corporate
director. If it appears that the person who signed is not a
director, this will cause delay.

Memorandum of Association

Every company formation requires a Memorandum of
Association which is the record of the limited liability
company name, where the registered office is situated and
the objects of the limited company. The memorandum of
association objects clause can be as simple as to carry on
as a general commercial company. On the first page of the
Memorandum of Association enter the Company Name. The
Memorandum of Association includes the number of shares
being issued which can be any number the subscribers feel
appropriate. On the final page enter the name and addresses
of the subscribers to the Memorandum. These are the persons
who are taking up the first shares in the company. The
number of shares issued to each subscriber can be set at
one share each. This can be changed to whatever arrangement
is required provided the total number issued is less than
the total number of shares. The company's memorandum
delivered to the Registrar must be signed by each
subscriber in front of a witness who must attest the
signature. Also enter the name and address of the witness
to the subscribers who has signed Memorandum of
Association. This witness can be any third party able to
witness and confirm the signatures are correct.

Articles of Association The standard Table A, Articles of
Association, is a statutory document that governs the
internal affairs of the company and it is recommended that
Table A is adopted in its entirety when starting a limited
liability company. If the Articles of Association is
unmodified then it is not strictly necessary to send this
document with the documents for registration. However if
the Articles of Association are not submitted a letter has
to be sent with the application stating that Table A
without modification is being adopted. It is easier to
simply send the unmodified Table A. If Table A is adopted
without modification at least two directors must be
appointed. If the company will have only one director then
Table A should be modified to reflect this and submitted
with the other registration documents. The articles of
association delivered to the Registrar must be signed by
each subscriber of the proposed limited liability company
in front of a witness who must attest the signature.

Submitting the documents for registration

When Forms 10 and 12 and the Memorandum of Association have
been completed and checked they should be posted to
Companies House with the company registration fee to
register the new limited liability company. The standard
limited liability company registration fee is currently
£20, 2007. A limited company registration is normally
completed within 7 – 10 days when the Certificate of
Incorporation will be sent to the Company’s
registered. Same day incorporation is possible at a
registration fee of £50. If the express same day
service is required the envelope should be marked for the
attention of “New Companies Section” and
“Same Day Incorporation”

----------------------------------------------------
Terry Cartwright, a Chartered Company Secretary, provides
inexpensive company formation document packs at
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/company.htm and a limited
liability company formation incorporation service at
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/company.htm assisting many
individuals through the company formation process.

Three Scary Facts about Protecting Your Business from Audits and Lawsuits

Three Scary Facts about Protecting Your Business from Audits and Lawsuits
The mere thought of an audit or a lawsuit strikes abject
terror in the hearts of most small business owners. No one
wants to find their business the target of an IRS audit
– in fact, most of us shudder at the mere mention of
the phrase. Lawsuits are also frightening prospects. Yet
small businesses and entrepreneurs frequently leave
themselves open to failing audits and losing lawsuits by
not taking steps to prepare or plan for them.

Scary Fact #1: A study released in March of 2007 estimated
that U.S. citizens pay about $865 billion every year in
expenses related to lawsuits. A significant amount of
these lawsuits are brought against doctors and other
professionals. But a sizeable amount of this cost is tied
to suits brought against small businesses.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are particularly
susceptible to lawsuits because they are often so focused
on starting and growing the business – often with a
minimal staff – that they just don’t get around
to doing the paperwork needed to protect their businesses
and their personal assets. Further, many believe that a
business license and articles or incorporation, articles of
organization or partnership agreements are the only
documents they need in order to do business.

Depending upon the state in which your business is located,
this may be sufficient to allow you to do business. But it
is woefully inadequate to protect your business.

Scary Fact #2: If you didn’t form and structure your
business correctly, your personal assets could be at risk
in the event of an audit or a lawsuit. Incorporation is a
great thing, as is formation of a partnership. Without
proper structure and continued documentation, the business
is susceptible to disallowed deductions and personal assets
are well within the reach of those who bring lawsuits.

Business structures cannot prevent audits or lawsuits. But
S Corporation or C Corporation and Limited Liability
Company structures do allow you to separate your business
and your personal assets and offer liability protection.
The same is true of Limited Liability Partnership. You
have worked hard for your home and your possessions, not to
mention your savings and retirement plans and investments.
Don’t risk losing everything because your company
isn’t structured correctly.

Scary Fact #3: Many small businesses and entrepreneurs
fail to properly and adequately document decisions,
agreements and business activities. This failure puts the
entire business at risk. You must record business
decisions and summarize them in your Annual Meeting. If
you don’t, your notes will not stand up in court.

Every agreement made by a business needs to meet three
criteria:
1. It should be in writing.
2. It should clearly state how disputes will be resolved.
3. It should be reviewed by an attorney before it is signed.

Finally, ensure that every product you release and every
property you own and use for business carries appropriate
warnings, disclaimers, and the like. No matter how much we
might like to think otherwise, we live in a society in
which people are more than ready to take others to court if
they think they will gain financially. Once a lawsuit is
brought, your legal fees begin to accumulate. Even if you
win, you will incur significant financial loss.

----------------------------------------------------
Kari VanNoy and Juli Walsh are both paralegals. They have
spent the last ten years building their mission to educate
and protect small business owners. They created Just A
Minute, LLC to assist busy entrepreneurs and small business
owners with their corporate and company minutes and
resolutions to keep their company assets safe, secure and
protected. To learn more about how they can help with
Annual Meeting planning and documentation, visit
http://www.justaminutellc.com .

Rat Race Escape – Are You Ready to Get Out?

Rat Race Escape – Are You Ready to Get Out?
If you’re a candidate for escaping the rat race then
you may well already know it. Perhaps you have already
worked out how you intend to do it and you may even be at
the point of starting to take action. But what about those
who are still unsure as to whether, if the opportunity
presented itself, they would wholeheartedly embrace the
idea of breaking free from the drudgery of the 9 to 5?

Plenty of people like the idea of working for themselves
and are happy to vocalise this on a daily basis to anyone
who will listen. However, when it comes to the crunch, many
of the same people do not take action because they bow to
both internal and external pressures; there’s too
much financial responsibility on their shoulders for them
to become self-employed, they feel they don’t know
the first thing about business and don’t even have a
good idea for a company and, more to the point, they
don’t have any extra money or time to start a side
business, and so it goes on. And often, for those people,
the burning desire to break free from a corporate existence
just isn’t there in sizable enough quantities to
provide them with the impetus to overcome all the barriers.

There are a group of people, however, who despite the
internal voices that tell them they can’t make it,
they’re not good enough and so on and despite the
external voices telling them they have responsibilities and
that their ideas are pie-in-the-sky, still feel a
deep-seated sense of despair in the pit of their stomach at
the prospect of remaining employed for the rest of their
working lives.

Take a look at the below points and see how many of them
relate to you:

• You can’t understand how your co-workers and
friends seem so content to stay in a job, even though
they’ve experienced the world of work to the same
extent as, if not more so than you.
• You have always felt as though you’re in the
wrong skin in the workplace. It doesn’t matter where
you work, you feel as though your face doesn’t fit.
• You used to think you were in the wrong industry
and that changing jobs would help remove the anxiety
– it didn’t. Not the first time nor the second
time, nor this time.
• You don’t really like to do what others say
– it’s not that you don’t respect those
in authority, but rather you feel you would prefer to do
things on your own terms and in your own time.
• You feel like a caged bird, trapped by the shackles
of corporate life.
• Your body clock is not suited to society’s
rules on working hours. Your brain doesn’t engage
until midday and you like to work in short sharp bursts
with lots of breaks. Why is it considered productive to
trap people in a room for 8 hours at a time?
• You sometimes feel tearful at the prospect of the
commute to and from work.
• Your head is constantly full of thoughts of escape
but you’re just not sure of the how….

So, did some of those points jump off the page at you? Do
you feel this way about your job, about all jobs?
You’ll notice I talked earlier about those people who
might take action ‘if the opportunity presented
itself’. Would you consider yourself to be in that
category?

Well what if I were to tell you that the opportunities are
right under our noses, every hour of every day, every
minute of every hour? Alternatives to the 9 to 5 have never
presented themselves to us more readily than now. The way
we work is changing – the internet alone affords us
the opportunity to side step corporate life in a way which
would never have been possible 20 years ago. I’m not
saying it’s easy, and I’m certainly not saying
that it doesn’t require some considerable effort. But
what would you prefer? To put in a good bit of hard work
now (you work pretty hard anyway, don’t you?) to set
yourself up to be your own boss or to accept the
alternative; a life of longing, what-ifs, and endless hours
wishing you were somewhere else…?

----------------------------------------------------
For more hints, tips and inspiration on escaping the rat
race visit:
http://www.RatRaceEscapeArtist.com

Leading Breakthroughs

Leading Breakthroughs
If our organizations could produce breakthroughs, we would
all be enjoying exponential increases in results. Did you
know that such breakthroughs often require a different
focus than making modest improvements?

How can we replace our improvement projects with
breakthrough progress?

Breakthroughs usually take the sweat and tears of many
people. But those efforts won't bear fruit unless the
right mix of skills and experience is involved, properly
directed by exceptional leaders and by the right thought
process.

Let me put this advice in context: It's an important lesson
for those who want to make lots of 2,000 percent solutions
(ways of accomplishing 20 times more with the same time,
effort, and resources).

The steps for creating a 2,000 percent solution are listed
here:

1. Understand the importance of measuring performance.

2. Decide what to measure.

3. Identify the future best practice and measure it.

4. Implement beyond the future best practice.

5. Identify the ideal best practice.

6. Pursue the ideal best practice.

7. Select the right people and provide the right motivation.

8. Repeat the first seven steps.

This article looks at practicing to become more effective
in accomplishing step seven, select the right people and
provide the right motivation.

Recruit and Coach a Winning Team

People are the critical resource for any organization.
Without the right people, it's hard to exceed the future
best practice and approach the ideal best practice. Keep in
mind that few people, no matter how talented, function well
in a changing environment. Still fewer can work well on a
team instituting changes. One naysayer can discourage a
whole team. Someone who uses too much influence can stifle
others. You’re looking to create a rare and delicate
balance in your dream team of change makers.

Change? Over My Dead Body!

It might seem that the best way to implement any change is
to work with those who know the job best — those who
actually work with the process every day. But if big
changes are needed, this approach isn't always a good idea.
Use only the old crew and you are likely to run into a very
serious foot-dragging stall. Even the best workers lose
their perspective over time. Experimental evidence shows
that people new to a job have a much easier time with
understanding the need for and enjoying the pursuit of
changes. They can be taught whatever history they need to
know without being stalled by it. The current crew can play
devil's advocate — to keep the new team honest, as it
were. But don't hold their experience against the current
crew. Provide them with a new challenge in a different part
of the organization where they are unfamiliar with the
operations.

You need very capable relative strangers to take on a
change project, but they don't have to be people from
outside the organization. Look for as wide a range of
perspective, skills, and knowledge as you can.

Build a Dream Team

You must find people who are energized or excited by a
change. Your ideal team members must see change as a
challenge that will help them grow personally. Select team
members who will feel that being chosen to work on
approaching the ideal best practice is the most wonderful
thing that ever happened to them.

Beyond enthusiasm, what do you need? Open-mindedness. Take
a cue from Abraham Maslow and his concept of
self-actualization: what a person can be, he or she must be
(See Motivation and Personality [Harper, 1954]). Maslow
characterized the self-actualized, among other
characteristics, as displaying higher levels of:

• Efficient perceptions of reality

• Comfort with reality

• Accepting oneself, others, and nature

• Spontaneity

• Simplicity

• Naturalness

• Focus on problems outside themselves

• Detachment

• Preference for privacy

• Autonomy and independence from culture and
environment

• Freshness of appreciation and richness of feeling

• Transcendent experience

• Identification with mankind

• Deep interpersonal relations

• Preference for democratic processes

• Ability to differentiate between means and ends

• Nonhostile humor

• Creativity, originality, or inventiveness.

Maslow also spotted significant drawbacks among some of the
self-actualized who could be vain, irritating, cold,
uncritical, and overgenerous. Obviously, you should seek
team members who present the fewest of these drawbacks
… even at the risk of losing some creativity.

Don’t be restricted to Maslow's concept. People who
can adapt rapidly to unexpected problems are even more
valuable because they point the group in a new direction
when everyone else is stuck. You can spot these people by
asking them how they solved seemingly impossible problems
in the past.

Is There a Leader in the House?

Naturally, choosing the right team leader makes a big
difference in your results. Look for a leader who shares
the enthusiasm of each team member and knows how to harness
that enthusiasm. In addition, you want someone who places
the interests of the team and the organization ahead of any
desire to exercise power as top dog.

Avoid borrowing a leader from another organization (whether
they be consultants or outsourced service providers). Such
outsiders will have a harder time reflecting the values of
those they lead. If you cannot find an appropriate leader
in your organization, be sure to hire someone who will help
create the excitement necessary to bring off major changes
and who matches your company's values as closely as
possible.

Four leadership qualities determine success:

1. Shared values with the organization

2. Understanding the problems thoroughly before beginning
the mission

3. Ability to persuade others that the project will succeed

4. Skills relevant to the task.

If your top candidate is in good shape except for skills,
consider how you could use some training to fill in those
gaps. It's easier to fill in for ignorance than for a lack
of values.

Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

----------------------------------------------------
Donald Mitchell is chairman of Mitchell and Company, a
strategy and financial consulting firm in Weston, MA. He is
coauthor of six books including The 2,000 Percent Squared
Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, and The 2,000 Percent
Solution Workbook. You can find free tips for accomplishing
20 times more by registering at:
====> http://www.2000percentsolution.com .

The Secret to Quick Revenue Growth: Learn to Hire the Best Sales Team

The Secret to Quick Revenue Growth: Learn to Hire the Best Sales Team
For small business owners, a good sales team is essential
to continued sales and revenue growth. Unfortunately, sales
positions are the most difficult to recruit, hire and
retain. Relying on industry experience as the key hiring
factor is one of the most common errors in filling sales
positions. If the candidate left your competitor, how do
you know he’ll succeed at your company?

Many hiring mistakes could be avoided by observing the
candidate’s selling skills during the job interview.
Since an interview is basically a sales presentation,
it’s easy to test the candidate’s selling
skills if you know what to look for. Watch for these three
essential sales skills and you’ll find the right
sales professional for your company.

1. Prospect qualifying

During the interview a good sales candidate will ask you
qualifying questions, like:

What are the greatest challenges your salespeople face?
What do you see as the most important qualities in sales
staff?

If he doesn’t ask these types of questions, he is
probably the type of salesperson who wastes a lot of time
with unqualified buyers.

2. Pre-sales preparation

Just as a good salesperson knows his prospect’s
business before making a sales call, an excellent candidate
will come to the interview prepared by knowing about your
business. If he doesn’t, then that’s a big red
flag against his selling skills. You’ll know if he
did his homework by the quality of questions he asks you
about your business. He should be prepared with at least
one question that is specific to your business.

A good question would sound like:

I read from your website that you service most of the
tri-county hospitals. Do your future plans include
extending your market statewide?

A canned question would sound like:

How do you see your company growing in the next five years?

If he can’t ask questions that impress you with his
intelligence and curiosity, he won’t impress your
prospective clients either.

3. Closing the sale

A great sales candidate will ask closing questions to move
you toward a hiring decision. In the interview listen for
closing questions like:

When would you like me to come back for the next interview?

When do you expect to make a hiring decision?

What concerns do you have that would prevent you from
extending me the job offer?

The hallmark of a great salesperson is his ability to close
the sale. If the candidate doesn’t try to close you
on hiring him, he’ll lose a lot of your business as
well.

No matter the current size of your company, the sales
function has the biggest impact on your revenue growth.
Your company’s revenue will increase steadily over
time with a reliable sales team. You owe it to your
company’s future to choose your sales team with great
care. In your next sales interview, ask the right
questions and watch for the right skills and you’ll
be on your way to building a sales force that outsells your
competition.

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Deborah Walker, Small Business Coach, helps entrepreneurs,
small business owners and the self-employed to avoid costly
hiring mistakes. Her expertise covers all aspects of
attracting, interviewing and hiring the right employees.
Learn more at:
http://www.RevenueQueen.com

Land That Job: Part One, The Resume

Land That Job: Part One, The Resume
If you have decided that working in a call center is the
right career path for you, you should realize that you are
not alone. The U.S. Department of Labor reported in 2006
that more than 385,000 workers across America find
employment in call centers. How can you stand out from the
crowd and secure the job of your choosing?

The first step of landing your dream job is to build a
great customer service resume. A well-written resume is a
golden ticket to an interview. It forms a favorable
impression of you in the minds of your future employers
before you ever meet face-to-face. Resume writing is not
rocket science, but surprisingly few spend the time or
energy to make their resumes stand out. Sadly, many
otherwise young and bright individuals fall into traps that
lead straight to the rejection pile. The following pointers
will guide you around these pitfalls and into the
employer’s office.

As you draw up an outline of your work history, look for
the skills you have acquired that relate to your desired
position. In the meantime, research the companies you
intend to interview for. (Most companies have a website you
can visit for basic information, and some have pamphlets in
their reception offices. It is also a good idea to
familiarize yourself with the products and services offered
by the company.) You will want to tailor your resume to
highlight your skills relative to the job requirements of
your desired position.

As you detail your past performance in the Work History
section of your resume, resist the temptation to exaggerate
or lie. A customer service employee is one of trust. Even
if you score an interview using a dishonest resume, you
will surely be revealed when talking to experts. Do not
omit on your resume jobs you have held but which did not
work out ideally, as these will likely show up if the
employer runs a background check on you. At the very least
this will raise questions about your background. At most,
you can be fired for withholding the information after you
are hired.

After you have written up your resume, it is essential to
go back over it with a black marker. Eliminate all the
fluff and busy words. On average, a recruiter will spend
ten seconds or less looking at your resume. It should be no
longer than one page. Keep your information concise and to
the point. From arm’s length it should look neat,
with a balance between space and text. Process your resume
on a computer, laser printed on good quality white paper.
(Resist the urge to fancy it up!) Ask someone who is
detail-oriented to go over the document, checking your
spelling and grammar. Read it aloud once just paying
attention to the verb tense, and make sure it is consistent
throughout. Make an inspection at close range, watching for
consistent punctuation and capitalization. Finally, use a
basic font between size 10-12, and use italics instead of
quotation marks.

Last of all, create a cover letter introducing yourself and
your resume. In the letter, point out what qualifies you
for the job opening and give your contact information. Keep
the letter to no more than two paragraphs. Deliver the
letter and resume in person, if at all possible,
remembering to look the part even on this small errand.
Your attention to every small detail will pay off on this
path to landing the job!

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Rob Daniels comments on Call Centers at Call Center Depot
http://www.call-center-depot.com and develops content for
Call Center Tools http://www.call-center-tools.com