Strategic Marketing: Customer and Competition

Strategic Marketing: Customer and Competition
To begin an effective strategic marketing strategy, it is
imperative to know your customer, as well as your
competition. Knowing what your target audience is, and
knowing who your target customer is, will be the first step
towards developing a marketing strategy. Once you have
identified your audience, you can then begin to tailor your
marketing strategy, including your collaborative marketing
efforts.

Who is your customer?

You can start by making a series of imaginary profiles of
your potential clients and customers, asking specific
questions such as:

- What is the age range of my potential clients?

- What is their income range/

- What are their lifestyles and hobbies?

Depending on the product you are marketing, your phantom
client profile will vary. The motivation here is to think
of the customer as an individual, rather than as an
amorphous group of unknown clients. Once you identify a
potential client profile, it will be a more natural process
to tailor a marketing scheme.

An effective marketing plan begins with thinking
specifically in terms of whom your market is, and who you
are trying to entice to use your products and services. An
advertisement, email or website display will vary greatly
depending on whether you are targeting college age,
financially conservative students, middle income families
with small children, or single, young professional adults.
The same series of advertisements is likely to appeal to a
diverse variety of clients than a variety of ads tailored
specifically to reach an audience. The same product may
very well be suitable for a variety of clients, but the
same product is less likely to sell to a varied consumer
base with the same marketing strategy.

Don't reinvent the wheel

Knowledge of your competitors' marketing scheme and how
they market their products is almost as important as being
able to identify your prospective clients. There is a lot
to be learned from studying a competitor, especially if
they are a well established business with a solid marketing
strategy.

Marketing is the way to get your products
noticed—this is why it is an essential aspect to a
successful business. If nobody knows about you, how can
they purchase your wonderful goods and services?

Build upon what has proven successful

If you know of a business in your industry that has catchy
marketing ads, it is a good idea to try to understand what
they have done to be successful. This is important for two
reasons: you don't want to exactly replicate another
marketing strategy, and you want your advertisements to
stand apart from what is already being produced. This will
help you to develop and tailor your marketing scheme to
your target audience, in a way that is different from your
competition—and get you noticed!

Awareness of how similar businesses in your industry
approach marketing will help you develop the edge you need
to target your own clients. Intimate knowledge of who these
prospective clients are will set you in the right direction
for developing a successful marketing strategy that is
unique and specific to your business. Knowing your target
market, and how the market is targeted by others in your
industry, will put your business on a successful path for
growth and recognition. Based upon this knowledge, you can
even choose a synergistic competitor and create a
collaboration marketing campaign.

----------------------------------------------------
Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A strategic
Collaboration Marketing consulting firm. He empowers
business owners to discover and implement Integration,
Alliance, and Joint Venture marketing tactics to solve
specific business challenges. He demonstrates how to create
your own Collaboration Marketing Strategy to increase your
sales, conversation rates, and repeat business.
Contact: christian@christianfea.com
http://www.christianfea.com

If You Can Make Love, You Already Know Enough About Human Emotion, Romance & Sex To Be Great At Sale

If You Can Make Love, You Already Know Enough About Human Emotion, Romance & Sex To Be Great At Sale
If you want to sell more or if you are looking for
innovative approaches to sales training, we believe you
already know enough. You see, selling is like romance and
you already know how to fall in love and how to succeed on
dates. This sales training approach uses what you already
know about human emotions, passion, love and sex and
applies what you already know to helping your customers get
what they want. Think about it. Most, sales training DVDs
and sales training seminars use sports terms and analogies
like team plays, moving down the field and touchdowns.
Other sales training and sales training e-books use
military and conflict terms like closing the sale or
overcoming objections. The problem with these outdated
modes of sales training is that people today buy the same
way they fall in love - with their heart. We all do it. We
all do it the same way. You will sell more and enjoy it
more if you harness the power of human emotion and love to
make sales. Here are a few examples of the style and
philosophy that will increase your sales:

Getting To Know Your Customer - Most relationships begin
with a date that includes dinner. That's because most of us
need to talk before we proceed to love making. Over a
casual dinner, you ask questions, find out likes and
dislikes, get to know what makes them tick. This is the
first step. Take your time getting to know your customer in
a relaxed way that they appreciate. Just as on dates,
people love to talk about themselves, in sales by
listening, encouraging more talk and showing a sincere
interest in your customers and their needs, they begin to
warm up to you and to think you are not like the rest of
the people they have been with in the past. Take your time
and use extenders to encourage more communication. Watch
for body language and eye contact can help customers open
up and how asking "why" will reveal emotions other
questions just cannot reveal. They will feel you are "like
them" and "genuinely interested". You will feel good that
you are actually helping clients and not just doing a quick
dance to get your way. Both parties win and that is the
basis of passion and romance.

Revealing Your Product Or Service Wrapped In Emotions -
Most sales training talks about "presenting your product".
Wow! Imagine if you just unzipped and "presented your
product" on a date. I am thinking that approach is a bit
abrupt and it doesn't work well in sales either. This is
where people trained with traditional sales training begin
to loose the customer. The reason is the same as the reason
on dates. If a romantic encounter develops into one person
talking about themselves too much, the other party wants to
get away. The same is true in sales. Continue to ask
questions and show interest in the customer as you blend in
benefits about your company and product or service. This
blend of more interest, tie ins to your benefits and asking
if they agree is a winning conversation that keeps them
warming to you. By this stage, customers of sales people
using traditional sales training methods are checking their
watch and wishing their cell phone would rind so they can
end the torment of the conversation.

Asking For Commitment In Stages - One of the most delicate
parts of romantic situation is the ability to know just
when to ask for small commitments so that there are no
awkward moments when you have gone too far or no feeling on
the part of your love interest that you are not going fast
enough. In romantic situations, this is done through taking
very small steps and watching the reaction of your loved
one. It could involve (for women) tossing your hair as you
laugh, it could be (for a man) taking her hand. As in
romance, in sales situations there are many unspoken small
commitments you use in to gently move your customer to the
next level of attachment. Be sure to use all their senses
no matter what you sell and how to show proof for your
claims. After all, in romance as in sales, talk is cheap
and offering proof of what you say will allow your
customers to give you trust mere talking can never achieve.

Taking It To The Next Level - As you continue to warm your
customer to yourself and your product or service through
sincere interest, questions and good conversation, there
comes a time when we need to ask for a commitment. We need
to "move to the next level." Your customer wants to be
treated delicately at this stage but how if they trust you
and they feel you have their best interests at heart, they
actually want you to gently lead them to the next step.
They want to have what you are offering. Is this soft
sell? Maybe. But it is very effective just as gentle lovers
are the most effective, so gentle sellers get what will
help both parties more often than pushers. Best of all, in
sales unlike most romantic situations, your customer will
recommend you to friends and relatives because they
appreciate the respect and care you have shown.

There you have a brief summary of our approach to sales. We
know that if you try it you will sell more and enjoy doing
it too.

----------------------------------------------------
This sales training article explains how to sell using what
you already know about human emotion, romance, love and
sex. This approach works well with today's more
sophisticated buys and today's sales professionals like it
for its soft approach and high ethics. Get a free e-booklet
on this subject at http://www.sellingislikesex.com or call
us at 800-941-0068.

8 Steps to Designing a Newsletter for your Direct Sales Business

8 Steps to Designing a Newsletter for your Direct Sales Business
One of the many useful communication tools you can provide
for your business is a newsletter. With the options of
being able to communicate a brand image, connect with your
customers and prospects on a different level, and provide
value to your readers, you can also communicate any
promotions and product deals you may be offering. With a
monthly or weekly newsletter, your customers can be kept up
to date with all of your business endeavors.

The following steps will help you create a newsletter to
build your business presence:

1. Decide on the frequency. How often do you want to
publish your newsletter? As each issue will involve a few
hours of preparation including creating the content, you
will want to make sure you establish a schedule you know
you can keep up with. You can always add special editions
or increase the frequency at a later date if you find you
can afford the time. Most businesses choose between
quaterly, weekly or monthly options.

2. Email/print? How are you going to distribute your
newsletter? Sending a newsletter by email is cost effective
and immediate. Some businesses prefer print due to the fact
it allows something tangible for the customers to hold in
their hands.

3. If you are going to email your newsletter, you should
consider paying a professional service that will manage
your list and distribute your email. These companies
provide you with a pre-set newsletter template you can
design to your own preference. These programs manage your
list, provide unsubscribe options, and enable you to create
many newsletters at once and schedule them in advance.
Although prices vary, many companies base their pricing on
the size of the list being emailed.

4. Add a signup form to your website. This is a good way to
increase traffic and allows you to build a bigger list of
contacts and customers.

5. Let people know about your newsletter. By adding your
link to all out going email correspondence, signatures, on
your business cards, brochures, and other marketing
methods, more people will be able to subscribe as they
would like.

6. What is your newsletter going to be about? By reviewing
other business newsletters you will be able to decide
whether you would like to have a single article and a
promotion, or 3-5 articles and an equal amount of
promotional content. Consider what kind of content will
provide value to your readers. Will you be writing these
newsletters or hiring someone else to do it? What types of
problems or concerns do your readers have that you could
address?

7. Advertising? As a general rule of thumb, you should
provide 80% informational content and 20% promotional
content. If you would like an additional source of revenue
and have a pretty good sized subscriber base, many
businesses may be willing to buy advertising space on your
newsletter.

8. Graphics. Many readers enjoy reading a newsletter that
is visually interesting with logos or a header, photos, and
even charts.

Providing a newsletter full of quality content on a regular
basis is the key to a successful newsletter campaign.
Newsletters are the perfect tool for both marketing and
connecting with your customers and prospects on a regular
basis.

----------------------------------------------------
Number one secret in making money online is to take action
now. Visit Warren Knight's website at :
http://www.WorkAtHomeGoldRush.com for
more profit making tips as well as Warren's wealth formula
to living life on a permanent vacation.

ISO9001 & Risk Management

ISO9001 & Risk Management
In every human endeavour there is an element of risk;
personal, project or financial, or a combination of them
all. The task of the responsible individual is to identify
the risk and act accordingly. We all do these 'risky'
things, almost daily, aware that we are taking a risk.
Rather than avoiding risk we become adept at identifying it
and having a strategy for dealing with it if the risk
materialises. This is what risk management is about, and is
a skill that is important in virtually every endeavour.

The popular misconception that risk management is difficult
or complicated stems from the bureaucratic methodology of
some system-oriented organisations and managers. It is
neither complicated or bureaucratic, and need not be. Risk
management is basically a simple proposition with a
complexity dictated by the nature of the situation to which
it applies - usually a project, and the parties involved.
In its basic form risk management involves:

1. Identifying risk - Looking for anything that threatens
the successful completion of the project against the
original requirement. Risks can be environmental,
organisational, technical, legal, economic or commercial.

2. Counteracting risk - Taking action to remove or reduce
the probability of a risk being realised. The response
depends on the nature or seriousness of the risk.

3. Acting when the risk event occurs - Invoking whatever
contingency measures were devised for the risk that has
materialised.

And for this to happen requires:

4. Monitoring at all stages - This typically means
documenting a risk assessment in a profile that identifies
the risk, the probability of its occurrence, and the impact
if it does materialise. Factors that score highest are
those that require the greatest attention and monitoring.
A good risk manager will devise contingency plans that
reduce either the probability or the impact of these
occurrences, and so remove them from the scene.

Working within a formal structured management system
similar to that defined by ISO9001 requires the application
of risk assessment practices to satisfy the requirements of
the Standard. Auditors of such systems may not find
specific references to risk management in these areas even
though the identification of potential failure (8.5.3) is
wholly concerned with a topic that is nothing less than
risk management.

Well managed risk taking is a necessary feature of any
forward thinking enterprise, since risk is an element of
any progression or improvement. It is the adoption of
effective risk management in conjunction with the
continuing need to drive forward from a comfortable
position that leads to progress and advancement. Doing
what we always do purely because the risks appear to be
negligible or are well known is to be 'risk averse', and
for progressive organisations cannot be acceptable. Neither
is it acceptable to pursue new ideas without an
understanding of their potential benefit, proper planning,
a clear idea of the threats to these benefits being
achieved , and a strategy for dealing with them should they
materialise. We need to manage in a manner that is neither
predictable or reckless. Risk assessment is an essential
tool to support this strategy. We ignore it at our peril...

----------------------------------------------------
Meon Consulting, founded by Ed Bones, was formed to assist
clients with managing their businesses in a manner
compliant with ISO9001/14001. Ed had earlier held a number
of senior posts with Hi-Tech companies in the UK, Europe
and the USA. He has written and lectured on full range of
topics on quality improvement and TQM.
http://www.rent-an-auditor.co.uk . To obtain your FREE
Presentation please visit
http://www.rent-an-auditor.co.uk/contactus.html

Offer An Ezine to Keep in Touch with Your Customers

Offer An Ezine to Keep in Touch with Your Customers
Are you publishing an online newsletter (ezine)? It's an
easy and effective way to stay in touch with your customers
and leads. Your ezine can provide your readers with helpful
tips and advice to help them succeed. You can also showcase
your latest projects and include testimonials from happy
customers.

Here are 5 great reasons to implement this as part of your
marketing strategy:

1. An ezine regularly reinforces your expertise. Over
time, a newsletter establishes trust with your readers. You
begin to form a relationship, even if you've never met face
to face. And because you are showcasing your expertise on a
regular basis, your ezine builds your credibility.

2. It's a great marketing tool to keep in touch. When you
regularly keep in touch with your prospects and customers,
they remember you. And since people don't typically buy
something the first time they are exposed to it, an ezine
is a helpful way to stay on their radar screen until they
are ready.

3. Your ezine adds a human touch. If you include personal
updates and company news, an ezine is a great way to add a
personality to your business. You can write as much as you
want about your personal life and what is going on with
your company and staff. Your readers will begin to look
forward to your updates and stories.

4. You can promote your services and products. An ezine
offers a venue to offer specials, highlight new
services/products, and provide coupons and discounts. As
long as the majority of your ezine is focused on helpful
content, your readers will be delighted to find out more
about your promotions.

5. An ezine is an inexpensive way to build your list of
leads. Since there are no printing and mailing costs
associated with an ezine, it is a very cheap way to reach
lots of people. And you can easily grow your list be
encouraging your subscribers to forward your ezine. Simply
add a line at the top or bottom of each issue asking
readers to pass it along to anyone who might find the
information valuable.

To get started, pick out a system to manage your
subscribers. There are many services that do this - a few
popular ones include Constant Contact, MyEmma, and Mail
Chimp. Use an opt-in list in which a person has to agree to
become a subscriber and can unsubscribe if they no longer
want to receive your ezine.

Maven Action Item: Start to think about how an ezine can
help your business. Write down some ideas about how often
your will publish it. What will it be called? What can you
write about. Good luck on your first issue!

----------------------------------------------------
Wendy Maynard, the Marketing Maven, is the founder of the
Maven Marketing System, the proven system to attract more
customers, close more sales, and improve business
profitability. To receive her no-cost report on marketing
strategies, visit:
http://www.gomarketingmaven.com/free_report.html

Are you Experiencing Sales Growth Despite the Economic Times?

Are you Experiencing Sales Growth Despite the Economic Times?
Sales as both a career choice and a personal skill-set
requires the development of specific techniques, ongoing
personal development, the expansion of our comfort zone,
confidence, persistence, patience, gut-level instincts and
unlike most other professions, a thick skin!

Superficially, it looks like selling is a breeze; but any
experienced sales professional will tell you otherwise.
However, mastery of the previously mentioned skills will
afford you a profitable, fulfilling and rewarding sales
career in any economy, if you are willing to do the
required work.

Learning how to sell your ideas, to persuade others to your
way of thinking, may be the most important interpersonal
skill that one can develop. Many of our successes in life
hinge upon our interactions with others. Those personal
interactions depend upon the relationships we develop.
Those relationships are built by trust and integrity
expressed through effective communication between the
people involved.

Effective communication hinges upon our ability to sell our
ideas to others, to effectively convey our ideas in such a
manner that gains critical acceptance from others,
influencing their thinking and decision-making process. Are
you effectively communicating to your market the benefits
that only you provide?

The volatility of the present economic climate has left
many professionals and businesses, including salespeople,
in states of fear and uncertainty. We now have experienced
the largest number lost jobs in five years as businesses
are trimming people and shrinking their operations. How do
you sell in this environment? You must learn to expertly
and quickly qualify new prospects, seeking to offer the
highest possible value both there and to your existing
customers.

Selling is indeed a unique profession, combining one's
personal chemistry with precise direction. Today's business
climate demands greater focus and clarity from salespeople.
We cannot afford to be congenial generalists as that
mindset will not allow us access to key decision-makers. We
must become the expert in our field, being perceived as a
valuable resource, problem solvers and their go-to person.
Salespeople must filter their offering of products and
services, specializing with laser-like focus on one
particular solution that will be of greatest interest and
service to their marketplace.

Despite tighter credit, increasing unemployment, shrinking
production and other economic woes, many businesses will
remain a going-concern, requiring an ongoing influx of key
products and services to operate effectively. Your focus
must be at this level.

In the short term, selling almost anything will indeed be
tougher. Prospects and customers are busier, perhaps doing
the jobs of several people in prior times. It will become
more difficult to reach decision-makers, as their ready
availability declines. The "sales-men will be separated
from the boys" as they say. Many salespeople may not
weather the storm, yet wonderful opportunity remains for
those willing to adjust their strategy and tactics in this
ever-evolving economic situation.

Be strong. Be encouraged. Dig-in your heels and ride out
this storm. Those that do will emerge in a superb position
to prosper when the economy cycles back to growth mode.
Will you be one of those salespeople?

----------------------------------------------------
Daniel Sitter, author of both Learning For Profit and
Superior Selling Skills Mastery, has garnered extensive
experience in sales, training, marketing and personal
development spanning a successful 25 year sales career.
Experience his blog at http://www.idea-sellers.com

Build Your Business by the Numbers

Build Your Business by the Numbers
I've spent a lot of time in meetings during the past two
weeks and I found myself noticing opportunities for
productivity that my clients kept missing. Each time, I
spotted the same missing element: no one was keeping their
eye on the numbers.

A manufacturer was using two entire days for his monthly
management meeting. That's Days! Not hours!

A financial advisor insisted he's "been at his work so long
there are no new ideas for marketing my business.

An executive coach was planning a retreat for her clients
that was focused on strategy, without naming their goals.

In each instance I found myself pulling back the veil of
the hidden element that really magnetizes results:
Measuring.

As I think about it, there were actually 15 different times
over the past two weeks where I spotted the metric that
could be used to design and track high payoff business
building activities. I used those metrics to sharpen the
effort my clients planned to put into growing their
business.

I mean measuring the value of the activity so that you'll
know if the investment of time, energy, resources,
political capital and so on was worth it.

So I decided to pull together a quick summary of the
metrics that might be boosting your results too - if you
give them your attention.

The value you place on your time

The first measure is one that will help you decide what is
high priority and what is just interesting or busy work. If
your time is worth $15 per hour, then go ahead - be
distracted. But if your time is worth, $100, or $200 per
hour, or $3,600 per day and so on, they exactly what topics
should you spend your time on in meetings?

Moreover, what activities after your work are worth your
attention? Which high-potential employees or teammates need
your encouragement and guidance in daily or weekly meetings?

The value you put on your team's time

That exercise of building on an individual's hourly income
serves very well when they are entry-level staff. But when
they take on more senior roles, such as manager or higher
their value no longer stands in isolation. Their value is
in the results they create through their entire team.

There is a compounding effect. The degree to which you use
management practices to build our staff's potential, the
greater the overall result for the business.

The value you place on your market

Many people look at the entire industry they are serving in
order to envision their business's potential financial
return. This wide a view actually is more a a diversion
than a useful yardstick.

In order to recognize the true potential you could tap, you
need to define the niche you want to focus on so that you
make noticeable headway and can track the share of business
that you have a chance of capturing.

The value you place on your product or service

The biggest sticking point for many financial advisors,
business consultants, and executive coaches is naming their
rates. They look around to see what other people are
charging to create the limits to their pricing, and miss
the point entirely.

When you look at other people's pricing you're missing the
true opportunity - what is the value you are creating for
your clients with the results you are teaching them to
produce? With your focus on that result, you'll find you
can move your prices up 20, 50, even 100 percent and your
clients won't quibble at paying them.

As I pointed these values out to my clients, they shifted
their perspective and changed what they were focusing on.
They didn't abandon the subject, they expanded it to
include the new metric.

In sharing the added target with their teams and clients,
everyone's attention sharpened and new solutions came into
view.

The manufacturer focused on three topics his team needed to
solve and they did it the same day. The financial advisor
realized he had expertise in the health care industry and
six calls that week brought in two new engagements. And the
executive coach put the goals up on the board with the word
strategy and her client picked the strategy with the
highest payoff in the next two years.

So what business building topic have you been spending your
time on lately? Now it's time to use the value it will
bring your business as the key trigger to prioritizing the
time you'll spend on it.

----------------------------------------------------
Management expert, consultant, and coach Linda Feinholz is
"Your High payoff Catalyst." Linda publishes the free
weekly newsletter The Spark! to subscribers world-wide and
delivers targeted solutions, practical skills and simple
ways to build your business. If you're ready to focus on
your High Payoff activities, accelerate your results and
have more fun at it, get your FREE tips like these visit
her site at http://www.YourHighPayoffCatalyst.com

Tissot Watches in Sports

Tissot Watches in Sports
Tissot is the official timekeeper of five major
international disciplines: MotoGP, NASCAR®, Cycling,
Ice Hockey, and Fencing. In addition, Tissot also has a
history of partnership with major international
multi-sports events including the Pan-American Games Rio de
Janeiro. Sports reflect Tissot's brand values of precision,
performance, and prestige, whilst always looking to push
the boundaries further in pursuit of excellence. Let's take
a closer look at Tissot's relations to the five major
sports it is the official timekeeper of:

MotoGP As the official timekeeper of the MotoGP World
Championship, Tissot reinforces its dedication and
commitment to supporting sport at the highest level and
offering the best and most spectacular entertainment to a
wide audience around the world.

NASCAR Tissot continues its partnership with the National
Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR®) to be
not only the official timekeeper, but also the official
watch of NASCAR®. It is an extremely popular sport in
the United States, both at the circuit and on television,
ranking only behind the NFL in terms of television ratings.

Motor sports have been a vital part of the Tissot "DNA" for
almost 50 years and this is being further expanded with our
continuing partnership as the official timekeeper of
NASCAR®. Tissot and NASCAR® share a similar passion
for precision, performance, and new technology, and will
develop this further in the coming season using Tissot's
unrivaled reputation to enhance the experience for over 75
million NASCAR® fans.

Cycling Tissot has been the official timekeeper of the
Union Cycliste International, the world cycling federation,
the World Championships of road, track and mountain bike
cycling, as well as the World Cup Classics track series,
since 1995.

Ice Hockey Ice hockey is widely known as a dynamic and
fast-moving sport, offering hours of excitement and
suspense as two teams battle it out across the ice in a
game of skill, precision, and speed. Tissot has continued
to sponsor the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, and
shows no signs of stopping.

Fencing One of the oldest of sports and one where precision
and timing are crucial, fencing is an obvious choice for a
watchmaking company and a perfect illustration of Tissots
adage of "Performance by Tradition."

As you can probably tell, Tissot takes watchmaking very
seriously, and likes to support a variety of sports
worldwide, most notably those of motor sports. As Tissot
continues their growing tradition in the watchmaking world,
their contribution in the sports world is sure to grow as
well.

----------------------------------------------------
Tissot Watches (http://www.watchesonnet.com/Tissot.html )
have long been a leader in the sports world . To find a
sporty Tissot that fits you please visit watches on net
(http://www.watchesonnet.com )

Small Business Marketing Tips if you are Advertising with Meat Loaf

Small Business Marketing Tips if you are Advertising with Meat Loaf
This is a great lesson to for entrepreneurs who are
thinking about using media advertising as one of their
small business marketing tools.

Remember Meat Loaf (born Michael Lee Aday)? His album Bat
Out of Hell, released in 1977, has sold nearly 40,000,000
copies and was on the charts for over 9 years. He is also
featured in a new commercial that is running pretty
frequently on TV.

The ad features Meat Loaf as a dad whose son is begging him
to get him a cell phone. He's singing about how he won't
run up the minutes. I personally like Meat Loaf and his
music and I think the commercial is pretty cool with a very
catchy tune that pulls some lyrics and riffs from Meat
Loaf's Paradise By The Dashboard Light.

The other afternoon, I heard the commercial and started
singing the tune in my head and realized I had seen the
commercial several times and could not think of the company
or brand of the phone! Now, I'm thinking this was a fairly
expensive production because in addition to Meat Loaf,
Tiffany is in the commercial and they are probably fairly
expensive talent to hire.

After all of this expense, I couldn't relate a brand or a
product to the commercial! I kept an eye out for the next
airing and saw it was for the AT&T GoPhone. Think of all
the money spent on the ad. They did a lot of things right
like using celebrity endorsements, a good tune and an
entertaining spot. But it really made me wonder, why
couldn't I think of the company or the product?

What could you do differently if were considering a similar
TV ad as one of your primary small business marketing tools
? For one thing, a bit more focus on the product instead of
the production. For another, you would add a special offer
with a deadline to buy the phone or go to a Web site to
download the video and a special offer coupon. You would
have a tracking mechanism to see how many inquiries and
sales were generated. What if they had a toll free number,
1-800-MeatLoaf, to call and get a special offer and find
out how to download the song to iTunes or even a ring-tone?
The marketing folks could track response and the ROI on the
ad. What if there were a contest to be in a commercial with
Meat Loaf?

But instead, the focus was all on creativity and
entertainment. I'll bet the ad will even win an award but I
still think ads should be written to sell the product now,
not build a brand or win awards. My guess is that you can't
afford Meat Loaf in your ads but remember, when you do
advertise, it's about making money, not building your
brand. Brands don't put food on the table, sales do. When
you spend money on marketing, either do it yourself of find
a professional whose goal is to increase your profits and
is willing to guarantee results, not just earn a commission.

You can see the commercial on www.youtube.com. Search for
Meat Loaf AT&T. This version is a 90 second commercial that
does a better job of naming the product than the spot on TV
but it still could have soooo much more potential as a
source of REVENUE instead of a brand. When you think about
branding as a strategy, ask yourself if you want to get
your name out there or sell as much of you product or
service as possible and build a strong and loyal customer
list as quickly as possible.

For the small business marketing tools to add to your
toolbox, go ahead and think about branding. However, make
the strength of your brand be a result of your reputation
of providing phenomenal products and services. Build your
brand using marketing that creates prospects and leads. It
is just as expensive to get your name out there with a
compelling offer and reason for a client to buy from you
now as it is to just get your name out there. The
difference is the ROI. The Meat Loaf commercial offers no
way to measure the ROI and small businesses can't afford to
throw scarce marketing dollars up against the wall and
guess at the ROI.

Here is a powerful small business marketing tip when it
comes to a brand-building strategy: If your financial
planner came to you with an idea to spend $10,000 on
marketing as an investment, you'd think, "What will my
return be?" because she is your financial planner. Use the
same standards with your marketing, advertising and media
reps. Ask the question: "What is my projected return and
how does it compare to other marketing investments?" If
they tell you your return is x-thousands of impressions,
ask them which impression will put money in your pocket?

After you watch the YouTube video, see if you can help me
out. Why is Tiffany is carrying a leg of lamb on her
shoulder in the commercial? Maybe she makes her meat loaf
with lamb!

----------------------------------------------------
Small business owners - You can achieve rapid and
exponential growth in 90 days or less with my powerful
marketing system that we implement for you to make it
happen. Visit http://www.paulfloodmarketing.com to learn
the secrets to small business profits and view an amazing
57-minute online seminar on increasing sales without
risking more on advertising.

How to Choose an Employment Agency in New Zealand That's Right For You

How to Choose an Employment Agency in New Zealand That's Right For You
Looking your telephone book, you'll find dozens of
employment agencies throughout New Zealand. Regardless of
your location, all these agencies want your business!

Your location, skills, and job requirements are the primary
factors when choosing a New Zealand employment agency.
Since you don't know the agency, and they don't know you,
here are five ways to find the agency that's right for you:

Ask around!

New Zealand employment agencies with satisfied clients are
often the very best way to get a feel for how the agency
operates.

An agency should represent the company who hired them to
recruit suitable applicants and they should, with equal
vigour, represent you.

It is their function to represent both the hiring client
and the job applicant with equal priority and enthusiasm.

If you know someone who has had a good experience with a
New Zealand employment agency, this is the best
professional reference you can acquire.

Once you have decided on a certain agency, be thoroughly
prepared and do your homework!

Develop your own professional portfolio that includes your
educational background, all your skills and experience
using these skills, your job requirements, past employers
and at least three letters from professional references.

Some agencies may ask why you left previous employers, so
be ready for this question.Your curriculum vitae is the
most important part of your portfolio.

If you feel a bit inadequate in thoroughly expressing your
educational and professional accomplishes, consider hiring
a freelance writer who specializes in CV preparation.

The length and complexity of your CV will determine the
price charged by your writer.

You can find a CV specialist by doing a Google search of
the writers' job boards like Elance, DirectFreelance,
iFreelance, cragslist.com, WriterLance, JustMarkets.com and
many others.

Dress for success!

When you have your first interview with a New Zealand
employment agency, you need to create only the best
presentation of your skills as well as your professional
deportment.

Always keep in mind that your employment agent and your
prospective employer rely heavily on first impressions!

When you first meet with your employment agency keep in
mind your agent will advocate for you and prospective
employers.

Job seekers who secure a job via a New Zealand employment
agency gives the agency credibility with employer clients
and other job seekers as well.

This is how the agency profits from matching the right
applicant for the right employer.

Armed with this knowledge and preparation, you now know how
to use the services of a New Zealand employment agency to
your best advantage.

----------------------------------------------------
CONNEX Recruitment Ltd is an Auckland Employment Agency
specializing in full service, white collar recruitment over
a broad range of industry sectors. Our aim is to make the
process and experience of recruiting staff simple and
painless for everyone involved. Check us out:
http://www.ConnexRecruitment.co.nz/

The World's Easiest Automatic Close

The World's Easiest Automatic Close
There is an interesting situation with closing. Whenever I
conduct seminars, salespeople cannot wait to hear about
closing. They want the "secret words" that will make their
customers buy. Oddly, many salespeople are interested in
closing but ignore it in their careers. Studies show that
only 15% of sales situations actually end in a close. The
vast majority of sales opportunities end with the
salesperson giving and education to the customer and not
asking for or getting a sale. This article is designed to
end the wasted opportunities, end the rejection and reveal
a simple but very effective way to close automatically
every time.

Why Some Fail To Close - If a large percentage of
salespeople fail to close regularly, there must be reasons
for this. We need to examine these reasons and how to get
past them as a first step in helping you close and earn
more.

Fear Of Rejection - Deep down inside, we all fear
rejection. In fact, we seem to fear it so much that we
will jeopardize our income and success just to avoid
rejection. To overcome this fear, you need to take a few
steps which we will outline here:

Making Closing A Habit - You either have a habit of closing
or you have a habit of ending sales situations without
closing. WE salespeople are the ones who stop many sales
from happening. After you present, do you ever find
yourself stapling your card to a brochure or writing a
price on something and sending the customer away? Do you
ever find yourself setting up the time for your next
meeting or phone call instead of asking the customer to
buy? To be a good closer, you need to make a commitment to
close and to use the technique we reveal in this chapter to
get in the habit of closing. The fact is that great
salespeople attempt to close far more than poor
salespeople. Just trying to close at every opportunity will
make you a bigger success in sales. Set A Reasonable
Closing Goal & Monitor It - I am always amazed that many
salespeople do not have a goal for closing and do not know
their closing rate. Many salespeople know more about their
golf game or baseball than they know about their sales
skills. To be a success at closing, you need to have a
reasonable goal. No one can close them all. I suggest you
start with a low goal like one sale in every 10
presentations. Then, honestly keep track. Don't fail to
count some customers because they "weren't interested". If
you did a presentation, count them and count how many times
you attempted a close and how many sales you got. Once you
know your numbers, you can work on improving them gradually.

Using A "Deal Pack" - No matter what product or service you
sell, I recommend using a "deal pack". A "deal pack" is
simply a catalog size (about 9" X12") envelop that you fill
with one copy of every form you need to make a sale. It
could contain an order form, a finance application, credit
card slips, installation form, truth in lending disclosure
etc. The deal pack serves several purposes:

It Sets The Mood - When you arrive at the customers' home
or office; or when the customer enters you office space,
you begin with a "discovery" to find out their wants, needs
and fears. During this discovery, you give a casual
appearance and ask questions in a relaxed and friendly
manner which helps the customer to "open up" and talk to
you. Toward the end of the discovery, as you are listening
and chatting, you take out a "deal pack" and you casually
open the envelope and take out the papers with the order
form on top and place them in front of you. You do this
very casually and without drawing attention to it. The
customer sees you do this and it tells them tat you plan to
get a sale today. Because it is casual and you draw no
attention to it, very few customers will ask about it or
mention it, but this action sets the mood for them and for
you that a sale is expected today. Just leave the forms in
front of you as you present or as you take the customer to
see the product.

It Reminds You To Close - Another benefit of the deal pack
is that it reminds you to close. When you return to your
office after showing the product or as you look down at the
end of an in-office presentation, there are the closing
forms reminding you of what you do next. This sounds small
but it is a big factor in getting the closing habit.

Here Are The Secret Words To Close - OK, you have waited
to see the secret words that get the sale. Do we hypnotize
the client? Do we pressure them? Not at all. If you have
followed the steps outlined in the booklet and in our books
and DVDs, you are now ready to close. You simply get your
pen and say a statement like, "I'll get the paperwork
started" or "I'll see if I can get this installed this
week" and you start filling out the order. That's it, you
have attempted a close.

Don't Ask Them, Tell Them - Notice that the examples used
are not questions. We never suggest you say "So, do you
want to buy it" because they might say "No". Making a
summary statement and beginning to write and order is the
simplest, most automatic way to close sales. Best of all,
most of my students tell me they have less fear of
rejection when they use this technique. Be sure to do it
automatically every time. Most importantly, be sure you use
a statement and not a question.

Are You Skeptical? - I hope you will try this technique
because it is simple and easy to use. I get calls and
emails every day from people who say it has changed their
careers. If you are skeptical, here is a final suggestion.
Try it in sales situation you are sure will not result in a
sale. That way you have noting to lose and I know it will
work if applied correctly.

----------------------------------------------------
This is a sales training article by Carl Davidson on
Closing Sales. It explains how to automaticllay ask for the
order. Our company offers sales tarining DVDs, seminars and
e-books by Carl Davidson. Get your free sales training
e-book at http://www.sellingislikesex.com or by calling
800-941-0068.

5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects

5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects
Do you have difficulty engaging in budget discussions for
new projects -- particularly during initial client meetings
when it can be tempting to make promises that might be
difficult to keep? If so, you're not alone! This article
explores five ways to help you gracefully avoid backing
yourself into a corner.

------------------------------------------------------------
-------
It All Begins Innocently Enough...
------------------------------------------------------------
-------

Imagine that you're meeting with prospective clients for
the first time. You're bubbling with anticipation about
launching a mutually rewarding working relationship that
will produce gratifying follow-on engagements.

You listen carefully as the clients explain the project
that requires your attention. At the end of the discussion,
you feel confident that you and your team can exceed their
expectations. With delight, you describe your ideas to your
clients, who appear thrilled with your concept and can't
wait to get started.

------------------------------------------------------------
-------
But Moments Later, a Delicate Dance Begins...
------------------------------------------------------------
-------

The clients mention having a limited budget. So limited, in
fact, that you have no idea of whether you and your team
can complete the project within the financial constraints.
Yet, on some level, you feel very committed to the outcome
you had just described moments before.

So, when the clients state that they just can't budge on
their budget, something inside of you whispers, "Well, why
not go for it anyway? If we know anything at all about what
we're doing, we should try to deliver it within their price
range!"

And, voila! With just those fleeting, partially conscious
thoughts, you succeed in backing yourself into a corner!

------------------------------------------------------------
-------
Five Techniques for Reframing the "New Client" Scenario
------------------------------------------------------------
-------

To reduce the likelihood of unintentionally agreeing to an
unrealistic arrangement, particularly when courting a new
client, below are five approaches that you can mix and
match to create a win-win situation. Having these ideas
prepared before you meet can help you smoothly and
gracefully handle these situations.

1) The "introductory package" offer.

Many businesses acquire new clients through introductory
packages of their products or services. This means that
they complete very specific chunks of work, such as
designing a logo or setting up a blog, at specially
discounted prices. Note that these discounts apply only to
certain services, and not necessarily to an entire project.

Benefits: Once your new clients have experienced a good
starting sample of your work and have come to know, like,
and trust you, they may be much more inclined to request
further assistance from you at your regular rates.

2) The "test sample" technique.

When it's really not clear how long an effort could take
because there are too many unknowns, you can offer to
produce a "test sample" of the work (such as editing one
chapter of a complete manuscript) to see what it entails
before committing to the entire project. To create the test
sample, you could propose working to a not-to-exceed price
(not necessarily at a discounted rate).

Benefits: This approach is especially useful when the
client's content, terminology, technology, and/or other
factors are new, dynamic, or otherwise difficult to gauge
without further exposure to the material.

After reviewing the completed sample with your client,
you'd be able to estimate the remainder of the project with
much more accuracy. The client also can determine whether
your style ideally suits the project.

3) The "level of effort" approach.

Sometimes a client might not have much funding up front,
but could finance a greater expenditure over time -- much
like a recurring "monthly allowance." In this case, you
could offer to do the work on a level-of-effort basis, not
to exceed a target number of hours per billing period (say,
10 hours per week).

Benefits: This approach tends to eliminate the need to
create a detailed estimate for each task to be performed.
It also keeps the flow of work relatively steady for you
and makes monthly expenses very predictable for your client.

4) The "range of options" alternative.

When describing a vision of how you can best serve your
client's needs, offer to propose multiple ways of achieving
the results. This communicates the message that you've
anticipated the possibility of working within some kind of
financial constraints.

In a subsequent presentation, spell out two or three ways
of achieving the outcome you had described, each with a
different price tag. In the least expensive approach, for
example, you might deliver certain elements over time, with
fewer features, or in a different format from the
"high-end" version.

Benefits: The low-end option might be perfectly suitable
for the client's needs, and yet the client could flexibly
choose another option if more funding became available.

5) The "share of results" method.

If a working budget is practically nonexistent, consider
whether accepting a share of the results (such as a
percentage of sales) would make sense. If you strike such
an agreement with your client, you can craft a written
understanding that reflects this approach.

Benefits: This technique can be quite lucrative in
situations where the shared results increase over time as
your client's business prospers from your work. It's
considered a type of "contingency financing" because the
results are contingent on your efforts. If you can afford
to offer your services this way, you all but eliminate the
financial risk for your client, yet you reap the benefits
when you do a good job.

In conclusion, it's not difficult to back ourselves into a
corner with unrealistic budget arrangements when we're
highly enthusiastic about a new client project. Using one
or more of the five reframing techniques, you and your
client can find an ideal approach that serves both sets of
needs with grace, dignity, and mutual gain.

----------------------------------------------------
Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is the author of the award-winning
"Straight Talk on Boosting Business Performance" program.
She helps people "discover and recover" the profits their
businesses may be losing every day through overlooked
performance potential. To sign up for more free tips, visit
her site at http://LearnShareProsper.com

Ideas, Dreams, And Visions - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Ideas, Dreams, And Visions - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
So you had that fantastic business idea, the one that's
going to be wildly successful and make you a fortune - and
even better, you actually did something about it and
started your own business. Good for you! Not everyone gets
even that far. Most people sit and day dream about what
they might do if only ....

"The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who
will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to
actualize their vision" - W. Clement Stone

But you got over the biggest hurdle, you took that first
step and you actually created something.

Well done - you already did more than most. But once you've
got started and you've maybe lost that first flush of
enthusiasm with the day to day details of running your
business how do you keep going?

There are several things to look at here:

1. What are you really good at and what do you enjoy doing?

Make two lists - one of all the jobs you like and/or are
good at, and one of all the jobs you hate and/or really
don't do very well.

Take the second list and have a look at what you might
outsource or automate. Do you really love doing those
accounts or would your time be better spent in forward
planning while your accountant does the sums? Must you
personally reply to every last enquiry or could you create
a FAQ which you can post on your website and refer people
to by autoresponder?

Obviously in the early stages of your business you might
find you don't have the money to pay someone to do the jobs
you hate but you've got to think about what is best for you
and your business long term. Be creative - could you swap
skills to get the help you need?

The more routine jobs you can outsource or automate the
more time you have to plan and to market your business, and
to think about even more ways to bring in all that lovely
cash - not to mention you get to spend more of your time
doing the things you really enjoy doing.

2. Why are you doing this?

You really need to be motivated to start a business and
keep it going and the best way to do this is to know what
all that effort is for. What really moves you to get up in
the morning and do what you need to do even when you don't
really feel like it?

Write your reasons down and stick them on your wall. Even
better find pictures of that house in the country, the
Lamborghini or that 'must have' holiday and put them where
you can see them every day.

3. How do you deal with those inevitable bumps in the road?

Not everything you do will be perfect - sometimes things
you've tried will be a total disaster - but it's the way
you react to problems that matters. If you curl up in a
ball and give up at the first sign of failure you'd better
not be in business. "Patience and perseverance have a
magical effect before which difficulties disappear and
obstacles vanish." - John Quincy Adams. It's all about
attitude.

4. Have a plan and stick to it as far as possible but
always be prepared to be flexible and open minded.
Sometimes the most unexpected opportunities come up and you
need to be ready to seize them with both hands - as Joe
Vitale says 'Money likes speed'.

5. Get yourself a mentor - learn from someone who has done
it before. Having someone to bounce ideas off and someone
who can encourage you when things get tough is invaluable.

And most importantly, never let anyone put you down and
never be afraid of failure:

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points
out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds
could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust
and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and
comes short again and again; who knows the great
enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a
worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph
of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails at
least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall
never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither
victory nor defeat" - Theodore Roosevelt.

Don't ever forget that!

----------------------------------------------------
Ken Troyer is a very passionate online business coach and
has a very high level of integrity. Ken has been involved
in online business coaching since 2005...and has been
helping people build businesses online ever since. You can
read more about Ken over at his main website:
http://KenTroyer.com

One to One Marketing Trends

One to One Marketing Trends
What is one to one marketing? In some tiny towns today, you
could walk into the local mom and pop grocery store, be
greeted by name, asked how your daughter's wedding is
coming along and be given some advice about a problem you
mentioned the last time you went in the store. This type
of personalized service is nice, as it makes you, the
customer feel like your life is important.

One to one marketing works on the same premise as the
personalized service of a small store in a tiny town. Text
message marketing is a perfect example of one to one. The
difference is that it is applied to larger companies with
millions of customers. In the past, larger companies used
customer segmentation to market effectively. This means
that you and every other customer like you get the same
message, the same offer at the same time. Unlike customer
segmentation, where large groups of customers with similar
behaviors are treated the same, one to one marketing uses
individualized knowledge to tailor their marketing message
and communications.

So - how does a company achieve one-to-one marketing?
Technology plays a big part. Every single interaction must
be recorded. This means the contents of every single
complaint, every single call, every single e-mail and more.
All content related to what a customer says or does is
stored in a central location for easy access.

The next step is to apply individualization to every single
communication. It can't just apply to marketing-initiated
communications; it must apply to every communication within
every single department, whether customer initiated or not.
Individualization can mean that promotions are created on
the fly to appeal to the customer's specific interests or
modifying the product to meet an individual customer's
specific needs.

Tools to use for one to one marketing Text Messaging: Text
messaging is a great tool to use as most people keep their
phone with them and enjoy receiving the most up to date
information. You can use text messages to alert your
customers when you meet a need they already said they'd be
interested in. You can use text messages to alert your
customers when a product they purchase goes on sale in
their local geographic area. In any case, text messaging
is the method of choice to immediately reach a customer
when a certain event occurs and timeliness is of the
essence.

Web 2.0 Web customization using individual pieces of
information is fast becoming more popular. When a customer
takes a certain action on your site, you can personalize
the message the customer ends up seeing. But - it's much
more than that. Analytics are used to understand the
customer - what pages he views, what links he clicks on and
how long he spends on specific pages. And, like social
network pages, the relationships and interactions, like
shared digital content, playlists, and blogs are targeted
and customized for what your customer wants to see.

How traditional advertising produces diminished returns!

It used to be that once the marketing department found
something that worked, they would use it repeatedly. This
is because every time they used it, they would see success
after success. This is no more. For marketing
departments, it appears that the new credo is this: "The
more we do it, the less it works." The new business model
of marketing campaigns is that it will work for awhile
before it stops working. That's why businesses are adopting
new methods like text message marketing.

The main reason for the change is still being studied, but
there are some theories. One main theory is that clients
are ever-evolving and marketing techniques must change as
well. When it comes to customers, innovation and evolution
is the name of the game.

----------------------------------------------------
Catch the latest wave in marketing trends. Learn how text
message marketing can increase your sales at
http://textmarketingservices.com/

The Seven Principles of Sales Success

The Seven Principles of Sales Success
These seven "principles" affecting sales productivity have
been condensed from global survey results on salespeople
across a variety of industries and cultures. Regardless of
what business or environment one is in, the applicability
of these ideas are universal.

1. New prospects are the lifeblood of a business.

2. Selling is a "Numbers Game." The more you contact, the
more you close.

3. Without new prospects, all presenting and closing skills
are worthless.

4. Getting sales people to prospect, rather than showing
them how to prospect, is sales management's greatest
challenge.

5. Eighty percent of new sales people, who terminate in
Year 1, do so due to lack of prospecting activity.

6. Forty percent of veteran sales people experience one or
more episodes of Call Reluctance severe enough to threaten
their sales careers.

7. Assessment of existing willingness or reluctance to
prospect is the starting point in improving sales
productivity.

Aside from the issue of "fit" -- which has to do with
whether or not a person is suited for a sales career in the
first place -- prospecting is the most important behavioral
variable that affects success in sales. However,
prospecting is not about the "how to." My own experience in
working with hundreds of successful and not-so-successful
producers boils down to this simple truth: Prospecting is
80% motivation and 20% skill. Converting (i.e., presenting
and closing) is 80% skill and 20% motivation. Conscious or
unconscious resistance to prospecting for new business is a
complex behavior that has many underlying roots.

In numerous research studies over the last two decades,
psychologists studying successful sales behaviors have
learned that skills and knowledge are the easier elements
to identify and develop. Though essential for peak
performance, they are by themselves not sufficient for
breakthrough results. Skills and knowledge are the "tip of
the iceberg" so to speak. The unseen structure below the
waterline is more difficult to identify and develop. They
are: (a) self-image, (b) traits, and (c) motives. These
"submerged" attributes are actually the underlying
characteristics that lead to longer-term success.

In our consulting and sales coaching practice, we generally
acknowledge two key (interrelated) modes that govern sales
success. The first variable is simply a person's "internal
wiring." This is the "Strengths Profile" that characterizes
how a person acts within a work/professional context. The
second centers on prospecting behavior, which is equally
identifiable and measurable. Prospecting reluctance can be
reduced to three components: thoughts, feelings, and
actions. Actions are generally accompanied by thoughts and
feelings, which are in turn learned and/or genetically
predisposed. For the most part, call reluctance usually
involves learned negative emotions like fear. The good news
is that it can also be unlearned and corrected -- some
types easier than others to "cure."

These two "bookend" modes, Strengths and Sales Call
Reluctance, provide a framework (i.e., the chassis) for
selecting, developing and training sustainable and
successful sales performance.

What are the roots of "sub-optimal prospecting" aka Sales
Call Reluctance?

Psychologists studying successful sales performance have
learned that skills and knowledge are the easier elements
to identify and develop. Though necessary for top
performance, they are by themselves not sufficient for
breakthrough results. Skills and knowledge are the "tip of
the iceberg" so to speak. The unseen structure below the
waterline is more difficult to identify and develop. They
are (a) self-image, (b) traits, and (c) motives. These
"submerged" attributes are actually the underlying
characteristics that lead to longer-term success.

While most people have a predisposition to one or more
forms of prospecting reluctance, this does not mean that
they are call reluctant. Sales call reluctance (SCR) is an
"aggregation of emotion-based escape and avoidance
behaviors particularly associated with the act of
initiating first social contact." This concept was
developed by Dudley and Goodson in the 1970's. They can be
differentiated from broader concepts like social anxiety by
the type, degree, onset and limited specific nature of the
symptoms. Though environments differ significantly, success
in sales invariably requires generating new business,
translating into increased revenue.

Contact initiation with prospective buyers (and, in our
business, professional referrals) is considered a core
competency. Failure to prospect consistently and
effectively for new business is the most cited reason for
poor sales productivity. Studies linking call reluctance
and outcome measures such as commission dollars have shown
that contact initiation with prospective buyers, or lack
thereof, can distinguish high and low sales producers with
up to 73% accuracy. Other factors become equally critical,
if not more important, once first contact is made. However,
initiating contact with prospective buyers must occur -
consistently - before sales can be made. This fact remains
regardless of product sold, sales training provided,
production incentives, sales support, or even market
conditions. All of the above factors can be present, but if
there is a call reluctance issue sales success will not be
sustainable. In the early days of the reverse mortgage
business, prospecting was not the limiting constraint.
There was a lot of low hanging fruit, and it was relatively
easy to "get to the kitchen table." Most successful people
differentiated themselves with their kitchen table skills.
Nowadays, the tide has turned. People who have an ingrained
disciplined system that allows strong, consistent and
ethically appropriate prospecting will survive the tough
times ahead. Any effective training program to improve
sales productivity begins with an accurate diagnosis. In
our coaching interventions, we start with a much more
comprehensive on-line assessment, which then becomes the
blueprint for improving the skills and behavioral
competencies around successful prospecting. Without
effective identification and valid/reliable assessment,
effective counter-measures cannot be introduced. Though
sales call reluctance is a "normal" phenomenon present even
in the best producers, research has shown that it is the
single most important variable (i.e., the proverbial "weak
link") in determining whether you are earning what you
truly deserve.

----------------------------------------------------
Monte Rose has personally trained and coached managers and
producers during his tenure as salesman, manager, and head
of a major national retail sales organization. An
accomplished speaker and widely-quoted industry expert, he
has appeared in financial publications and nationally
syndicated media. His expertise is helping organizations
align passion, talent, and strategy to achieve breakthrough
productivity.
Contact info:
http://www.monterose.biz