All morale problems are serious

All morale problems are serious
No sales manager worth his title will ignore a morale
problem or treat it lightly. He knows that all morale
problems are serious because they adversely affect a
salesman's performance which, in turn, affects the
company's profits. Morale problems can cost a company
money in more ways than one: A company has a considerable
investment in every salesman. When a morale problem
affects a salesman's performance, the company might not
only lose some profits, but also receive a negative return
on its investment in that salesman.

Also, if a company is spending time and money on a sales
force motivation program, it can lose that expenditure to a
morale problem. (However, as we shall see later, a sales
force motivation program can sometimes cure a morale
problem or keep some of them from arising.)

A sales manager must be especially alert to such problems,
partly because they are difficult to detect for what they
really are. A salesman's depressed sales may indicate
nothing at all related to his morale. But, what looks on
the surface like a valid salesman complaint or external
situation may actually be a concealed morale problem.

Some sales managers will take no action on personal,
non-job related problems in the belief that, "It's a
private matter and none of my business." The fact is,
however, that it is a sales manager's business. Anything
that affects a manager's business is his business.

There are no "common" morale problems

Morale problems may be hard to ferret out because, I
contend, there are no "common" ones. Each one is special
to the individual concerned. And there are no standard
solutions to any of them.

Twenty years ago, we had an industrial psychologist on our
staff. He had neat little categories and fitted each morale
problem into its proper slot. Once so identified, he had a
textbook remedy to be administered in massive doses. This
procedure nearly ruined our sales force. Our supervisors
were talking at subordinates, rather than with them.
Morale went down and turnover of personnel went up.

There are no magic formulas for solving morale problems.
We remind our managers that they were once on the firing
line, selling. Handling morale is similar to overcoming an
objection in a sales presentation. Both are obstacles to
progress. The problem must be broken down into manageable
components. This can be done only by observation and
questioning.

When a customer raises an objection, he seldom tells you
exactly what is on his mind. The same is true when a
member of the sales team starts complaining. If you treat
the initial symptom instead of the true ailment, disaster
might be the result.

Treating morale: case examples

Many years ago, I was transferred across the country with a
new title of Assistant District Manager. My primary
assignment was to work with the men in the field on
technical and sales problems.

My first contact with one of the salesmen (whom I shall
call Bill) was something of a shock. I knew that he was
the top producer in the district, and had been for several
years. With our customers he was perfection all smiles.
But as we rode from one account to the next. Bill was
hostile.

He complained about slow deliveries, but his big complaint
centered on low commission rates. I explained that many of
his large volume accounts were on reduced-prices contracts.
Company policy provides a lower commission on discounted
business. This approach backfired. The more we discussed
the issue, the more irate he became.

After the day's calls, he stopped at his home to introduce
me to his wife. As we chatted in his large and expensively
decorated home, his prior remarks about low commissions
made little sense.

Later, while walking around the gardens. Bill pointed out
the kennels where he was raising show dogs. As I admired
the beautiful animals, he became radiant. His attitude
change was complete and instantaneous.

I learned, in subsequent talks with my boss, that when Bill
became extremely depressed he would drink heavily for about
a week. Also, these bouts with the bottle were becoming
more frequent and lasting longer. Obviously something had
to be done or we and society would lose a good man.

----------------------------------------------------
Thotsaporn is the owner of http://www.pointfinance.org
where he provides finance information and resources.

Find Your Perfect Niche

Find Your Perfect Niche
Do you find that marketing and selling seems to slip to the
bottom of your To-Do list every week? That there are
always other "better" things to do--people to see, places
to go, things to do?

If so, it's a sign that you don't love marketing and
selling. It may also mean you don't have a Niche, or you
don't have a Niche of people you love to work with. You're
not alone. And you don't have to change who you are to
build the business and earn the income you want—you
simply have to learn how to find a Niche.

Your Niche is a specific group of people and businesses you
enjoy working with, who have challenges that you can solve,
they want those challenges solved, and they can afford to
pay you for your products and services. They could be
consumers, businesses, non-profit organizations, government
agencies or schools or education-related organizations.

For example, if your expertise is in "motivating employees
to work at their peak performance level", a Niche for you
might be "employees in the healthcare industry" rather than
"employees" in general. Or your Niche might be "employees
in marketing departments of consulting companies".

With a Niche, you are providing solutions to a specific
group of people who really want and will pay for your
products and services. You're making your solutions more
targeted and can deliver them in a laser-beam focus to a
group of people who really want and benefit from your
knowledge. Successful leading experts own a Niche. You
can't be the leading expert for "everyone".

Why is a Niche so important? And what does having a Niche
really do for you?

It simplifies your life and your marketing, and increases
your income. When you're recognized as a leading expert in
your field, clients and the media call you - you don't
spend a lot of your time selling. And when your Niche sees
you as an Expert, they'll pay more for your products and
services.

Let's take a real-life example. One of my colleagues is a
Virtual Assistant and provides services to business owners.
Her services are appropriate for various types of
businesses and their owners, including speakers, authors,
coaches, consultants, free-lance writers and trainers. When
we first met, she was trying to market to all of these
groups at the same time. Now she's focusing on one Niche
right now - speakers. And in her Elevator Speech she tells
people that her specialty is speakers. Since she's started
focusing on speakers, 1) she gets many more referrals than
she used to, 2) she knows the challenges of speakers
better, since she talks to them all the time, and 3) she's
increased her income dramatically. Because she now focuses
on a Niche, she understands the challenges that speakers
face, since she talks to them all the time. And that means
she can design services specifically to solve those
challenges. Speakers gladly hire her because they know
she's the Expert in this area. She's known as the Virtual
Assistant for Speakers.

A key success strategy for marketing your business and
becoming known as a leading Expert in your area is writing
articles for ezines and newsletters. It's much, much easier
to find publications to submit your articles to when you
pick a Niche. For example, let's use the same real-life
example. When my colleague looks up ezines and newsletters
to send her article to, she used to look up "business
owners". There are thousands of publications for "business
owners", and she didn't know where to start.

Now, with her Niche - Speakers -- she still finds many
ezines and newsletters for "speakers". However, it's a
manageable number, and she now spends her time sending her
articles out rather than deciding which of thousands of
newsletters she wants to submit them to.

And when these speakers read her articles and call her, she
has a program, answers and examples of how other speakers
get more speaking engagements. So they know she's "the
Expert".

Action Steps:

1. Start a folder called My Niche. Put it in a place where
it's handy and you can look at it and add to it over the
next few weeks. Take 3 sheets of paper, and put these
headings on each: -- My Niche - Who I like to work with -
for example, Accountants, Business Owners, men and women
between the ages of 30 and 45, bright savvy executives,
etc. Be specific! -- What people in my Niche do - job
title, work they do, leisure activities, etc. -- Challenges
that people in my Niche face, and really, really want to
solve. Start making your lists, and write everything you
can think of that goes on each one. You're looking for the
ones that they'll do almost anything and pay almost
anything to solve.

2. Take time every week and every chance you get to search
the Internet, publications, newspapers, colleagues, books,
and any resources you think of. Find out what people in
your Niche are like. Find out about their challenges. For
example, act as if you're one of the people in your Niche -
a manager who wants a promotion, or someone who's stressed
out and wants to make changes. Search Google for solutions.
Look at the headlines on magazines. Go to a large newsstand
and look at all the magazines that are out there now. These
all give you clues. Find professional and leisure
organizations that your Niche may belong to or participate
in. All these give you clues to the challenges they face.

3. Know your Niche so well that you give them a name and
cut a picture of them out of a magazine. Give them a
personality. Keep adding to the information on all your
lists.

----------------------------------------------------
Jan Wallen works with individuals and companies that want
significant sales results. Jan is action- and
results-oriented. Once you start working together, she is
100% committed to significant sales results for you. You
can find more information and worksheets on finding your
Niche in my eBook "Riches Are Niches™ - Find a Niche
& You'll Be Rich" (http://www.Niche-It.com). To learn more,
call (646) 485-4059 or go to http://www.janwallen.com

How To Get More Customers Without Spending A Fortune On Advertising

How To Get More Customers Without Spending A Fortune On Advertising
"I need more customers but I've got no money".

You would be surprised how often I hear this. It seems to
be a common problem with small business, so over the years
I've been testing and documenting a large variety of
low-cost marketing strategies.

The results of my testing shows that one of the most cost
effective way to get more customers is to 'Give away free
samples' or 'Free trials'.

The benefits of this marketing approach are two fold.
Firstly you are removing all risk from your potential
customers and secondly you are demonstrating the value of
what you sell in a tangible way.

Let's look at some small business examples:

Example 1: I had a client who was starting a children's
pony-ride party service. To kick start her business I held
a birthday party for my son and invited her to bring her
ponies. She gave all the kids pony rides (which they loved)
and we put vouchers for discount pony parties in all the
lolly bags. We had 30 kids at the party, most of whom had
brothers and sisters. The following month she got two party
bookings. Again she put vouchers in the party bags. She
continued this process with every party and the business
took off. Her only cost for this promotion was the time she
spent giving my son the initial party free and the cost of
printing the vouchers but even that was minimal because in
the beginning she was printing the vouchers on her home
computer. It wasn't until she was making reasonable money
that she invested in professional printing and design
services.

Example 2: To kick start my marketing business I began
giving out vouchers for A FREE Marketing Analysis and
Consultation valued at $297. I gained a lot of bookings
from people who weren't even considering hiring a
consultant but once they had seen the results of that
initial consultation about 80% purchased additional
services.

Examples are Everywhere. Giving away free samples and
trials is so powerful that even the multi-nationals are
employing this strategy. When Krispy Kreme opened a new
store in our suburb they had employees out on the streets
handing out free donuts for the first few months of trade -
the result was cars queued down the street waiting to buy
Krispy Kreme donuts.

Microsoft is now giving away a trial version of Office
2007, you can download it from the web and you'll find it
preinstalled on almost every new PC sold.

We've all been past a bakery or food outlet that was
handing out samples and I'm sure most of us have gone ahead
and bought something as a result of that sample -something
that we had no intention of buying moments before being
handed the sample.

The law of reciprocation tells us that when most people are
given something they feel the need to reciprocate. So if
you give away a free sample people will often unknowingly
feel the need to make a purchase in return.

Have you ever had to make a purchase decision for something
that involved a sizable sum of money? When choosing between
several companies, the company that offers a free trial of
their product is going to be the more attractive option and
provided that product meets the buyers needs the other
options in the marketplace won't even get a look in.

What could you offer your potential clients to get them
hooked on what you sell?

Here's some ideas to get you thinking: A hairdresser could
give away free hair cuts or free foils. A beautician could
give away a free mini facial. Any business that offers
services via consultation could give away a free
consultation. A mechanic a free oil change. A restaurant a
free meal.

Most businesses will find they have several options as to
what they could give away free. Test a few different offers
and see which ones get the best response. When measuring
your results look at the big picture. Don't just measure
the immediate sales that result but look at the sales that
result in the coming months / years.

Distribution or your offer. Once you've decided what you
can give away, you need to set up a plan to actually get
your offer to your target market. You can of course just
stand on the street handing out samples to passers-by but
unless you sell a product with an extremely broad target
market you'll find this method very difficult to control,
because whilst giving out free samples is an extremely low
cost way to win new customers this strategy will only work
if you are giving them to people who are likely to buy from
you in the future.

The simplest way to reach your ideal customer is to first
decide exactly who your ideal customers are and then look
at what other businesses they are buying from. Once you
know this you can approach those businesses and ask them to
distribute your freebies for you. Not only will you gain
valuable access to the people most likely to buy from you
but you will reach those people in volumes far greater than
you could if you were approaching them all personally.

Just as Microsoft knows that new computer buyers are the
most likely prospects to buy the new version of Office you
need to recognise the purchase patterns of the people most
likely to buy from you.

----------------------------------------------------
For more low cost marketing ideas go to:
http://www.the3WayWin.com

The Shocking Truth About How To Start An Internet Business......Part 3

The Shocking Truth About How To Start An Internet Business......Part 3
Your first three years of business are critical to your
success - or failure. Not only do start-up businesses have
heavy one-time, up-front expenses, but they're also tight
on cash and funding. So your first task is to create a
realistic budget. This acts as your blueprint for success.

Your preliminary budget outlines expected and conservative
income figures. Start with broad expense categories like
utilities and income, breaking these out into more detailed
line items like Utilities: telephone, Utilities: gas,
Income: paperbacks, Income: hardbacks, and so forth.
Expenses are typically easier to project than income. But
income grows more and more predictable as time goes by. For
this reason, review and adjust your budget quarterly and
annually based on new data. (We'll talk more about this in
the final installment of this series).

Differentiate your one-time expenses (business license,
legal fees, signage, sales literature, and so forth) from
your ongoing expenses (leasing, utilities and insurance).
Project figures out a full three years with growth
dependent on market research or educated estimation. Add an
extra 25 percent to all expenses to cover unforeseen or
emergency events.

Survive on as little capital investment as possible during
your first few years to ensure survival until you reach
profitability. Buy and budget only those items necessary to
generate revenue. Organize your budget into fixed and
variable expenses. Your fixed costs are those which remain
stagnant from month to month, including your building
lease, utilities, advertising and insurance, while your
variable expenses are typically dependent on sales, like
commissions, inventory and shipping.

Avoid optional or unnecessary purchases. Nearly every penny
you save goes into your pocket. So don't give in to
temptation by spending $1,000 on a new desk. Buy only
what's necessary to generate revenue and allocate money
toward items receiving the strongest ROI. You can always
upgrade down the road once your businesses is better
established and income is more predictable. The leaner your
organization, the better.

Finding Funding

Every business needs start-up capital. These funds help you
purchase furniture and fixtures, computers and inventory
while still bringing in a livable wage during the first few
years when most companies see more red than black. But how
much you need and where this funding comes from differs
from business to business.

According to a Biz$hop article for Wachovia, the country's
fourth largest bank and diversified financial services
company, more than 17 percent of start-ups launch with less
than $5,000 cash. So before you develop a funding
acquisition plan, calculate how much money your business
can realistically generate to finance its own expenses.
Then define exactly how much money you need to cover
necessities, expansion or possible risks.

Start-ups have several options for acquiring funding - from
mom and dad to venture capital partners. Begin with your
own resources including savings accounts or home equity.
Next, tap into your family and friends. Next, research
venture capital firms. These are companies that finance
start-up ventures who have limited access to capital
markets but need quick growth. Angel investors are another
source of business financing. Angel investors are
successful entrepreneurs that have money to invest in other
companies. Newspaper ads and person-to-person networking is
the best way to find angel funding sources. The Small
Business Administration (SBA) also licenses Minority
Enterprise Small Business Investment companies (MSBIs) and
Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) to help fund
critical growth stages.

Many small businesses have survived the first few years
using credit cards and personal loans. Working or
investment partners can bring in funding or services that
can save your company money. For instance, if you partner
with an attorney or a designer, you save a great deal on
legal or design fees. When you need stronger financing,
you'll need to discuss these goals with a commercial bank,
savings and loan or finance company. You may qualify for a
small business or SBA loan or line of credit. But make sure
you have sufficient collateral to guarantee funding in the
event of default. Borrowers want to make sure they give
credit to start-ups that have as much confidence in their
own success as the bank would be offering in loans.

----------------------------------------------------
Clinton Douglas IV, writes E-Business articles for people
who want to achieve more online success. Learn Today, "How
to Start an Online Business in less than 30 Days starting
from Scratch"! Free Special Report - Limited Time! Plus,
weekly newsletter from Online Empire Secrets (A $400
Value). Click Here ==> http://www.clintondouglasiv.com To
get Your FREE REPORT!

Understanding how the coachee feels

Understanding how the coachee feels
I recently had a conversation with a manger we were
training as a coach who was concerned at the level of
apathy and even hostility his coachees were displaying. He
explained that the normal reaction to being coached was for
his staff to cross their arms, lean back in their chairs
and adopt an almost 'bet you can't coach me!' attitude. No
doubt these same people would leave the coaching
conversation thinking 'See. I've won. You can't coach me!'
How sad.

I suggested that he adopt a less well known coaching tool
called Transposing to help him work this through.

Transposing asks you to put yourself in another's position
and ask: What am I thinking, what am I feeling and what do
I want?

I asked the manager to think of one particular individual -
let's call him Doug. When we transposed Doug we realised
that he was thinking "Oh God, what have I done wrong? If
I'm being coached, I must be seen as underperforming!"

We also figured that Doug was feeling anxious and
uncertain. His interactions with management at the company
in the past had usually resulted in a 'telling off' in some
shape or form. No wonder he was acting like a beaten dog
and holding himself stiff until the next beating arrived.

Our biggest insight came when we considered what it was
that Doug might want. We realised that given his prevailing
thoughts and feelings, he would want to get out of the
meeting as soon as possible; with his dignity intact.

It was now obvious why Doug was so reluctant to get
involved and the manager and I were able to devise a way he
could position coaching to overcome these thoughts and
feelings. It happened that Doug was a massive sports fan
and so his manager pointed out that Tiger Woods, David
Beckham and so on were all incredible performers with very
little wrong with their games, and yet these same people
valued their relationship with their coach above all
others. He also pointed out that sports coaches were
rarely, if ever, better performers than there clients, but
that this was not the point. This lead to Doug realising
that coaching was not about his manager just telling him
what to do, how to do it, and pointing out all his
mistakes. Instead it was an opportunity for Doug to explore
his working life and find ways forward in the areas he
found he found difficult or frustrating. In fact at a
subconscious level Doug began 'transposing' his boss,
appreciating how difficult it must be to provide coaching
to such a truculent group. This mutual empathy is a
wonderful by-product of the transposing tool and I'm happy
to report that Doug's relationship with his manager is now
flourishing.

By the way, another good reason for walking a mile in your
coachee's shoes is that if things don't work out, you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes!!

----------------------------------------------------
Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years'
experience. He works with a host of clients in North East
England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and
Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their
true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides
a simple yet elegant key to this lock. For a bumper load of
coaching tips and tricks - including FREE resources - visit
http://www.mattsomers.com

Social Security Number Search: How to Find a Person's SSN

Social Security Number Search: How to Find a Person's SSN
The United States government originally used a social
security number, which is also know as an SSN, as a means
of taxing a person. In recent years, however, the social
security number has become an easy means of identifying a
person for many legal purposes.

Looking up a person's SSN can tell you a lot about them.
Every social security number is different, so, if you know
a name and SSN, you can quickly access many public records
about a person.

The biggest reason that you may want to do a search, based
on a person's SSN, is if you are an employer who is looking
to hire a new employee.

A social security number search can verify that the person
is who they say they are, for tax id purposes. After all,
identity theft is a common problem in recent years.

Beyond that, though, a social security number search can
also tell you a person's traffic violation history,
criminal history, credit history and several other
important facts. As an employer, you can never be too
careful. You always want to be sure that the person you
are going to hire is fit for the job.

One way to look up a person's SSN information is through
the United States Social Security Administration. On their
website, you can conduct up to ten social security number
searches each and every day. It is a free service,
provided by the United States government.

Aside from the Social Security Administration's website,
there are also many other online resources available to
you. Different websites have different fees, so be
careful. You may want to check on a website's reputation,
before researching on it. One way or the other, though,
you should eventually be able to find information on
anyone, as long as you have their name and social security
number.

If you have tried to search for someone's SSN on your own
with no luck, or if you simply do not have the time to
conduct the search yourself, you can enlist the services of
a private investigator instead. Private investigators will
give you up to date, accurate information. However,
accuracy and speed can be expensive. Be prepared to pay up
to one hundred dollars or so per search.

The bottom line is that you can never be too careful these
days. So, if you are going to go through the motions of
conducting interviews and reading resumes anyway, why not
take it a step further? Arm yourself with all the
information you can, by doing a social security number
search. After all, SSN information is a matter of public
record and it can be a big help in making your final
decision.

----------------------------------------------------
Visit http://www.SocialSecurityNumberSearch.us Today to
Search by Social Security Number or to Lookup SSN!

Two Types of Small Businesses - - Which is more client attractive?

Two Types of Small Businesses - - Which is more client attractive?
Are you the type of business that communicates your client
results, or do you only talk about your business processes?
I have found that most successful global small businesses
have the attitude that a sale is the beginning of a
life-long relationship with a client. These small
businesses KNOW the results they bring their clients, and
they know their clients intimately, so to speak. Their
every need is anticipated, and they sell solutions to their
individual client's specific problems. The client is KING,
and the product or service, is a means to an end. That end
being a RAVING testimonial and the constant satisfaction of
the client's own unique needs and values.

Now the problem that I find with my clients who struggle to
attract local or global clients, is that they talk about
the process of what they do, not what they really do for
their clients. There is a huge distinction here, and that
distinction is costing them, and perhaps you, lots of
potential new clients. When I hear a small business owner
say, "My accounting firm has been in business X amount of
years, and we offer the typical accounting services blah
blah blah", it sends up a red flag for me. It tells me that
these people don't really know what they DO for their
clients. They clearly are not connected enough to their
client base to see what their client truly values.

Hate to say this, but nobody really cares about your
business processes. Until you can tell a client what's in
it for them to work with you, they won't pay attention to
you very long. Now, there is nothing wrong with you if you
have been doing this wrong, but you'll want to fix your
marketing message quickly.

You may have heard of the phrase "features vs. benefits",
but have never really known what it meant. Let's learn it
now, OK? An example of a product's feature is its color,
size, etc. An example of a benefit or result is the
solution it brings you. It helps you save money, it takes
away the pain, etc. An example of a business process is a
tax preparation, spinal adjustments, selling candles,
building a home, etc.

Now, I want you to think about how you support your
client's values, and what they really get from you. For
example: In America we value speaking up. Americans tend to
not beat around the bush, get to the bottom line, and ask
for the sale immediately. That's why slogans are critical.
This is not the case with other cultures:

*Japanese value saving face. The main goal is not to
exchange information. The overriding goal of the client
communication exchange is maintaining harmony.

*South-Africans value formality in dress and speech to
promote good client relationships.

*Hungarians value understanding the past. That's why it is
important to use historical context, in order to describe
the present benefit of your product or service.

I love cultures, and I could go on and on. But you get my
point. Different cultures will require you to have
different client-centered marketing.

To help you develop client-centered marketing, I want you
to make a list of the top 10 reasons, values, motivators,
results or benefits that make your target audience buy from
you. Now, not every thing you listed will fit your
business, but it will help you narrow down your client's
motivators. And once you know what motivates them to buy
from you, you can use that message in every piece of
marketing you own.

----------------------------------------------------
Kim Schott, your Global Client Communication Expert, is the
author of the Keys to Client Communication System, the
step-by-step, paint by numbers client attraction program to
attract more clients in less time. To receive your weekly
how-to articles on consistantly attracting more local and
global clients in less time, visit
http://www.SchottCulturalConsulting.com