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The Impact of Coaching Salespeople and Sales Managers
Yesterday I presented at the Sales EdgeOne Three-Day Sales Summit and my co-presenter, Donal Daly, cited a statistic from Gallop: Organizations that use coaches get a 26% ROI from that effort. That statistic surprised me in two ways.

My Sales Process, Strategies and Tactics in Your Voice
It is extremely important for your salespeople to utilize the strategies and tactics in the context of the sales process that was introduced - AND IN THEIR OWN VOICE. They can't ever stop sounding like themselves!

Home Party Recruiting Motivation
Home party plan business recruiting success tips to grow an awesome sales force and make more money from home.

Online Videos … The Move to Entertain, Educate, Sell

If you're like us you're watching more of your TV over the Internet. Why not? No need to let some psycho at the network dictate what you watch and when. Funny thing is the ads even look better on the iNet. They're faster, crisper, more entertaining. Ok not all...some are long, boring, sloppy, crappy! All by ourselves we're going to change all that (yeah right) with some advice to those folks on how they can produce better videos that folks want to watch. If only a few listen maybe you'll want to begin a steady diet of marketing videos. Wouldn't that be great you watch the stuff then you go buy the stuff, the economy gets better, you miss more TV shows, watch more stuff on the Web and the cycle continues till we finally take most governments off life support and they act like responsible citizens...cool !!!!

Cash Flowing your B.C. and Ontario film grants – Film Finances Canada and Tax Credit Financing
Film tax credit financing in Canada ;Information on how to access and successfully completed the financing of B.C. and Ontario film grants . Tax credit financing for film finances Canada .

The Only Sr&ed Guide You Need For Your Sred Loan on Your R&D Tax credit
Sred Funding Basics;Information on what Canadian business owners need to know about sr&ed financing for a sred loan on their r&d tax credit non repayable grant .

The Only Sr&ed Funding Guide You Need For Your Sred Loan on Your R&D Tax credit
Sred Funding Basics;Information on what Canadian business owners need to know about sr&ed financing for a sred loan on their r&d tax credit non repayable grant .

Optimize Your Sales Force Without Spending a Dime
Enter to Win a Free Sales Force Makeover! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a company that wants to grow more quickly.... If you can state your case effetively than anyone else, your company could win a Sales Force MakeOver worth between $100,000 - $250,000!

Rejection Proof - The Science Behind Success in Sales

The stronger a salesperson is, the less likely rejection is to have a major effect. That said, there are effective salespeople who have a rejection problem but they manage it better than their less effective colleagues. There are also some very ineffective salespeople who don't care about being rejected. In fact, their lack of caring about it may even lead to their ineffectiveness since their strategy rarely includes consideration of how to avoid resistance!

This One Tip Helps Salespeople Close More Business
Make your solution ideal, both in terms of it being needs and cost appropriate, with no options, and if you did what you were supposed to do throughout the sales process you will make it easy for your prospect to make a quick decision.

More Sales Coaching Leads to Accelerated Growth
Your salespeople have the opportunity to replay their last call - one that probably had a horrible ending - and learn from it... Your salespeople can experience a live version of reincarnation every day! There are two keys that can't be overlooked though:

3 Strikes and Your Out - The Need for Sales Force Consistency
I place a higher value on consistency than I do on talent. I don't care how much potential a salesperson has. If they aren't performing the basics - consistently - then the talent is wasted.

Sales Tips for Trade Shows and Major Accounts
The exhibitor and visitor attendance is more good news relative to confidence, spending and outlook in the business sector. The bad news is that the exhibitors were clueless as to how to get people to stop at their booths and engage.

Rehiring After Layoff
Employers who have laid off employees during the past couple of years may now find themselves in a situation where they want to rehire some of those employees as the economy turns around. Before rehiring, employers will need to review a number of benefits issues to ensure compliance with separation agreements, employee handbooks and Internal Revenue Codes, just to name a few.

Lesson #4: “We focus a lot on culture”
“Watching Ev really sink his teeth into the role of CEO, take it very seriously,” says Stone. “He very genuinely wants to innovate – not just from a product or technology standpoint, but from a company standpoint. For me, I’ve learned about what it means to focus on a culture, to build social responsibility and the idea of a company as a super-organism.”

How Does the Secret of Happiness Affect Sales Motivation
OK. So what kind of a dynamic does this create for salespeople? Salespeople must be happy in order to succeed but we also know that they must want more than what they have in order to be motivated. What is the balance between being happy and being dissatisfied?

Should Special Effects Determine If You Have the Right Salespeople?
One of the answers we usually provide when we evaluate a sales force is whether or not a company has the right salespeople. Of course we must know, right for what?

8 Question Sales Quiz - Malpractice?

First, there aren't 8 questions in the world where the answers would allow us to make that determination. Even if we tried, we couldn't identify even 15 of our 100+ questions that would allow us to answer that question accurately! But I was curious and clicked on through. 8 Questions and if you get 3 strikes or wrong answers, you're out and shouldn't be in sales. This free test shouldn't even be available for entertainment purposes!

Singapore Food Franchise Snackz It Expands to three Locations

Snackz It! tasty bites are created in a way for customers to eat while on the move. Hassle free is the key component common to every item on the menu. Snackz It, one of the Singapore food franchises, serves a combination of deep fried and noodle based items. Every item from Crispy Chicken, Crispy Pork to their noodles with oysters and chicken shreds is well accompanied by their signature seasoning powders including their spice peppers, chilli powder, plum powder and the wasabi powder. Creative quality food and our service culture is something we feel is very important and which defines our unique strengths. Customers can rely on our consistency and tastiness in every outlet! says Alex of Snackz It!.

Missing Sales Research and a Call for Sales Superstars
So the research or intelligence above may help you learn why you didn't get the business, perceptions about your company, its shortcomings, and the perceived advantages of your competition. But the author left out the most useful sales research...

Born to Sell? Give me a Break

We all have opinions. We all prefer one style over another. We all have what we believe are better methodologies, strategies and tactics. But there are some topics that are just begging for data - not opinion - and the author I seem to target more than any other just wrote one such article on whether great sales pros are born that way. All opinion. But based on what? He doesn't really say. He simply uses his two kids as comparison. The problem is, he is dead wrong and the data says so.

Arbitrary Trademarks
The strength of a particular trademark is gauged according to the Distinctiveness & Descriptiveness Continuum. Arbitrary marks are not as strong as fanciful marks but they are still strong in terms of trademarks. Choosing an arbitrary mark certainly makes the trademark filing process easier, provided, of course, that the mark is legally available.

Fanciful Trademarks
The strength of a particular trademark is gauged according to the Distinctiveness & Descriptiveness Continuum. On the very left of that continuum are fanciful marks, which arguably are the strongest sort of marks to file. Filing these types of marks increase the likelihood of trademark registration (provided, of course, that the mark is legally available).

1st of the Top 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions

This is the 1st in the series of the 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions. #1 - COACHING In its simplest form, sales coaching consists of the following two activities: 1. Pre-Call Strategizing - coaching prior to selected calls to make sure that the salesperson has a good reason for having the upcoming call, a desired outcome, a game plan or strategy, and the appropriate questions/dialog to achieve the desired outcome. 2. Post-Call Debriefing - coaching after selected calls to discover the true outcome of the call, why the salesperson got that outcome, and what they could have done differently or more effectively...

2nd of the Top 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions
This is the 2nd in the series of the 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions. #1 - ACCOUNTABILITY In its simplest form, sales accountability consists of the following: * Holding salespeople accountable to something measurable - metrics - on a daily basis * Being more demanding - being firmer and tougher * Eliminating Excuse Making - people take responsibility for their results More...

4th of the Top 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions
This is the 4th in my series of the 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions. #4 - RECRUITING The most important things to understand about consistently recruiting strong, successful salespeople are:

6th of the Top 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions
This is the 6th in my series of the 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions. #6 - LEADERSHIP Sales Leadership includes but is not limited to:

8th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions
Systems and processes are your sales infrastructure - everything that is not your people. A lot of us use the two words interchangeably. So what is the difference between systems and processes?

How to Get Results from Inside-Out

Would you like to be able to get results you want without having to take constant massive action, getting overwhelmed and exhausted in the process? The success secret I teach my clients is a process that helps you to get results from the " inside out". We all have dreams, desires, and goals that we aspire to right? That's a good thing! Our desires help us to focus our attention, which leads us to take inspired actions and enjoy the results. Perfect, right?

Use Christmas to promote your business
It’s getting close to that time of year again – when everyone starts to talk about the ‘C’ word and looks forward to their two week break. Before you look forward too much to your break though, I want you to stop for a minute and just think about promoting over the Christmas period.

Sales Training is not a luxury – it’s essential
Keeping you and your sales team ‘match fit’ and actively engaged in the market place selling effectively is paramount to your survival and success in today’s market. Yet too many businesses, large and small, do not train their sales teams in the vital skills needed in the much more consultative, value add, less product focused market of today.

Sustainability – the new criteria

What is your position on SUSTAINABILITY? What community improvement activities is your company involved with? These are questions, among many others, that my team and I are responding to for a Request For Proposal (RFP) document for a sales training project with a large Australian Corporation. This is the first time we have been asked to respond to these questions in a formal manner and legitimise our position on ‘sustainability’. As sales people and as business owners, not only are we being asked to legitimise our product offering, our service standards, etc. we are now required to articulate our stand on ‘sustainability’.

Account Planning, Management & Development
As markets tighten and market competition increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for companies to achieve product differentiation in their market place. As such, businesses will find it harder and harder to optimise their profits unless they develop effective strategies to achieve differentiation. One way to accomplish this is through the enhancement of customer intimacy.

How The APE Philosophy Can Help Your Organization
Complacency sets in, challenges happen, can your organization survive? The APE Philosophy is simple and creates no extra work. If you want to help your organization be prepared and read on!

What Are The Career Opportunities In The NGO Sector?

Forget those age old days where people were neither serious nor willing to peruse a career in an NGO (non-governmental organization) sector. They planned to work with an NGO only after their retirement and hence it never became a good career ground for them. However, with increased professionalism, ample growth opportunities, and a challenging career ahead, there has been a quantum change in the thought process of young aspirants who today foresees the NGO sector as a great hotspot for future career aspirations. Moreover, with so much industrialization and developments happening everyday, this sector also needs future leaders who have a vision and a mission to serve the society and fight for its justice.

136 Effective Presentation Tips by Tony Jeary and David Cottrell

In these tough economic times we should all be on the lookout for ways to make ourselves stand out in business - in a good way. Being able to step up on the job and to create and do an effective presentation is a great way to make ourselves stand out. Are you an entrepreneur who does presentations for your business? Are you a sales person who does presentations for clients? Are you a speaker who speaks in front of crowds on a regular basis and you want to stay at the top of your game? Are you in a business and you want to advance and impress your boss? All of these people can use the information in this book.

Gold Reaching All-Time Highs!
The gold and silver ETFs are on fire as they continue to surge higher. Being ready for a sharp reversal is important if you want to lock in gains on a portion of your position.

How to Gain Online Recognition by Writing about Your Customers

You can gain tons of business recognition along with web traffic if you get in the habit of collecting Case Studies, Testimonials and Press Releases from some of your happier clients. In order to have fresh and news-worthy material, you'll need to collect pertinent information from your clients (stories, testimonials, impressions, stories, etc,). Use your creativity and talent to transform them into tangible and interesting marketing materials.

Top Tips for Starting & Running your Article Marketing Campaigns [Part 1 of 2]
If you're not article marketing for your business then you should definitely start...immediately. Article marketing is one of the top ways to establish yourself as an expert, build your credibility, expand the online footprint of your brand, increase backlinks to your website, and boost your website rankings. All this drives targeted traffic to your website for conversion to paying customers.

Marketing to get results!
Many businesses just knock any type of ad or marketing campaign together not really knowing if it will work!

Descriptive Trademarks

The title here is a bit misleading as descriptive words are not typically allowed to be registered on the USPTO’s trademark Principal Register. Let’s back up a little... One of the main points (some would argue THE main point) of having a Federal trademark is to have exclusive rights to a name, a logo or a slogan within your industry. Given that, words that “merely describe” the goods or services are not going to be allowed.

The essential meaning of trackbacks
As a professional blogging company based in the UK, we felt obliged to start a mini-series identifying important aspects of the blogging structure. With millions of bloggers already online and many more set to blog, there are plenty of methods available to help everyone share and promote their content.

Dealing With Different Personality Types: What M&Ms Teach You About Life
At any given moment, our brains are being exposed to millions of bits of sensory information. What makes this interesting is that each of us filters out different sensors, so we each are experiencing a different “reality,” often without realizing that this reality is unique to us.

3 basic steps to finding & developing top prospects
1. Prospect Generation: How to develop more good prospects 2. Prospect Qualification: How to identify more REAL prospects 3. Prospect Development: How to cultivate prospects so they'll choose to buy from you

Reacting too soon from your emotions

The way we choose to communicate is important. You are not responsible for how others interpret your information, but you are responsible for your method of communication. We want to be considerate of others and have our intention be understood at the same time. There is a lot more going on than just our words. Our emotions behind our words, our intention behind our message, our vocal tones, and our body language will affect the way our message is received. There is a difference between responding versus reacting. If you react too quickly from your emotions it doesn’t give you a chance to discern or internalize and you are allowing your emotions to control you. To respond in an emotional mature way, take some time to BE RESPONSIBLE and process your emotions. If your tone is “harsh” during many of your communications, it’s possible tha

Three Strikes for Customer Service
All I wanted was to buy an iPhone.

7-Sigma Selling
Selling a product or service is more than making presentations to prospects. It's making presentations to the RIGHT prospects at the right time. It's also about treating prospects right ON time. "Prompt response to needs and requests" is ranked by prospects only 2nd to pricing.

Are You Into Legitimate Small Home Business?

1.Are YOU a new Online Small Home Business Owner? Or Are YOU an experienced Online Small Home Business Owner? 2.Are YOU facing multiple challenges within various aspects of your Internet based Online Small Home Business? 3.Have YOU ever thought that YOU will have to make one more effort to find a suitable small home business association to overcome some of the challenges that YOU are facing in this current competitive business environment? If YES, then continue reading….

EFFECTIVE Meeting Facilitation - Say Goodbye to the WOMBAT

"Oh no! Another meeting! That's 3 hours of my life I'll never see again!" If you've ever felt this way or suspect you've evoked this response in others, read on. A new acronym has popped up that defines many meetings. Many people are now referring to meetings as a WOMBAT (Waste Of Money, Brains And Time). To turn your meetings from WOMBATs to EFFECTIVE, here are some tips to create an environment where participants can bring their strengths and ideas to the table. EFFECTIVE meetings have not only positive discussion, but also a will to make important decisions and to take action.

Remedy #2 for product launches & start ups -- "Plan."
A strong, well-thought-out plan is essential for three reasons: 1. It's necessary to convince management/investors they should buy into the idea 2. It helps collaborators know what's needed to accomplish the mission 3. It forces you to think through all the potential pitfalls that may arise

MLM Business Opportunities, Do they Work In A Web 2.0 World?
If you are reading this, you are either looking into an MLM Business Opportunity or your already in one and struggling? Am I right? There are many reasons why they don't work today, but more importantly what can you do about it?

How to use the Free classified for marketing purpose
This article will provide some information about using the free classifieds for business marketing, what is the advantages and what we need to know before placing our Ads.

Is your Online Business Making This Mistake?

"Failing to plan is planning to fail", you've heard this before. This is particularly true for businesses and no prizes for guessing; this applies to online business too. If you have decided to do business online and you have no plan, you are doomed to fail. Online business plans must be focused on all business activities which will lead you to your goal, help you to reallocate your resources to optimum use, analyze and make corrections & adjustments to get back on track if you ever deviate from your goals.

Book Review: Ogilvy on Advertising
David Ogilvy (the creative head of Ogilvy & Mather) describes in plain language in his classic book what it takes to create great advertising and lead an organization. He also includes lots of advertisements that work – with a description of why they were effective.

Remedy #1 for product launches/start ups: Part 2
Beware of these 3 serious errors: 1. Incorrectly identifying your prospects' real & recognized needs 2. Failure to properly & precisely position your product 3. Overestimating/Underestimating the size of the market -- both in units & dollars

15 Ways to Create High Visibility with FaceBook
Facebook can generate a lot of traffic to your site and it should be taken seriously if you intend to be active on the Social Media realm. This article enumerates 15 rapid ways to be visible on search engines by using FaceBook. It is estimated that the network will have more than 500 million by the end of next year. Shouldn't you or your business take a front row seat on this ride?

Leadership, Management, and Coaching
Leadership, Management & Coaching: Every business leader - YOU - needs to wear each of these hats and to become very adept at knowing when, where and with whom to wear each one. What will make the biggest impact?

Laid-off IT workers strike out on their own
The multiple opportunities available to laid-off technology workers who want to work for themselves has been highlighted in a new Computerworld article. Some IT employees have been using their skills to start their own consulting businesses, while others turn to online employment marketplaces to find freelance and contract jobs.

3 Steps To Regularly Achieving Your Goals
Goal setting is an age old strategy used at one time or another by almost everyone to increase productivity, reach new heights and attain those things deemed pleasurable in life. Yet, very few understand how to set goals so that they can be easily met. This article presents a 3-step process that formalizes the goal setting process and dramatically improves one's chance to meet those goals.

Why a Top Sales Manager Must Always "Tune Into the Right Frequency"

It's definitely clichéd, but I think this is one of the most critical elements to successful sales management and that is to make sure you are tuned into the right radio frequency with your salespeople. There's only one radio station that your sales executives like to listen to and that radio station is: WIFM. (You might say WIIFM, but let's not get too technical here...). This is the "What's-In-It-For-Me" radio frequency. This is the only station they pay any attention to and if you're not broadcasting on it all the time, 24-7, then your sales reps are gonna switch you over to some other station on XM or Sirius radio...or worse yet, turn off the radio completely!

Success In Home Based Businesses Defies Logic
Starting home based businesses is like trying to get a jet into the sky. You spend massive amounts of resources (money) to taxi down the runway, and when you’re about to run out of asphalt, the jet amazingly lifts up towards the sky.

Real Estate Marketing To Online Marketing- Learn From Top Sales Expert
Explaining how to make the transition from Real Estate Sales & Marketing over to Online Marketing, working from home, using your already developed skills learnt from your previous profession and becoming an industry leader in one of the fastest growing trends in the world.

Five Fabulous Features Of Online Web Conferencing
There are a number of ways you can use an online web conference to drive sales & profits better than other methods of presenting. Here are 5 ways that are unique to webinars that you can use to demonstrate the need and want for the products and/or services that your company sells.

10 remedies for the 1,000 pitfalls in Start ups & New Product Launches
Even well-known, well-established firms have major problems launching new products. For start ups the risks are even greater. Thorough market research, planning & positioning are essential. These 10 remedies will help increase success.

Market Your Small Business for Free by Harnessing the Power of Online Forums
According to a report on the internet research firm Website eMarketer.com, more than 260,000 small businesses in the U.S and Canada use Social Media marketing tactics. Yet only 28% of them use forums to market their businesses. I believe you should be part of that 28%!

C-Level Selling - A Sales Person's Best Resource
Sales managers and sales people are sympathetic to other salespeople. Learn how they will help you get to the C-Level and make your sale to their companies.

Talent Management – Maximum Impact with Minimum Spend!
According to the CIPD Learning & Development Survey 2009 the development of management and leadership skills will play a central role in meeting business objectives over the next two years...

"Are There Legal Real Work From Home Jobs?" How to Find A Legitimate Work From Home Business

It is a very ugly fact that there are still a huge number of scam artists out there preying on those who are desperate and looking for a way to provide for themselves and their family. At the same time there are those people out there who honestly DO have others' best interests at heart. The real trick is to find out which is which. Many people have become incredibly jaded from their long search, leading many to unfortunately answer "no" to the question "Are there legal real work from home jobs out there I can truly depend on?"

Leadership is about the Leader's Character
Regardless of your industry, here are some leadership virtues that you want your employees to be able to imitate in you

Why A Top Sales Manager Needs To Be On All His Reps’ “Pre-sets”

You have to be more popular than Howard Stern. You also have to be cooler than Opie and Anthony too. Why? Because one of the most critical elements to successful sales management is to always make sure you are tuned into the radio frequency of your salespeople. Here's why. There's only one radio station that your sales executives like to listen to and that radio station is: WIFM. (You might say WIIFM, but let's not get too technical here...). This is the "What's-In-It-For-Me" radio frequency. This is the only station they pay any attention to and if you're not broadcasting on it all the time, 24-7, then your sales reps are gonna switch you over to some other station on XM or Sirius radio...or worse yet, turn off the radio completely!

'Why it pays to reward your customers'
Over the last 10 years, I have learned many lessons managing my own companies and consulting to my clients and by far the single most vital lesson is ensuring that customers stay happy. In this article I share my thoughts about this essential topic.

Global IT companies expect recovery in 2010
In news that hints at increased job opportunities for IT workers across the world, a new study from AT&T shows that CIOs and technology executives expect economic recovery to begin early next year.

How To On Twitter (Day 2) – Finding Followers, Managing DMs, and Automating Followers
3 How To On Twitter Steps – Day 2: (still not tweeting): 1. Repeat Day 1: Find 3 People, sift through 5 pages of their Followers to find people you’d like to Follow, and Follow. 2. Begin using TweetDeck.com for Direct Messages (DMs) 3. Begin using TweetLater.com to automate your Followers message(s).

Coaching through the Recession
Tips to get businesses through the recession.

1-Minute Manager Mentality: The Root of most evil
1. Multi-tasking degrades performance 2. Most corporate carburetors are set too lean 3. MBO: works well in theory, but not always in fact

Cubicle Courtesies Unlock Doors

It’s true that the close quarters of office cubicles in companies are a breeding ground for hot tempers, resentments and damaged relations. It’s also true that most of our complaints about our co-workers are valid and should not be ignored. The challenge is to devise and employ strategies to create goodwill in the office so that minor annoyances do not explode into a toxic work environment that no one will benefit from. Open environments and cubicles are here to stay. Ensure that your business relationships enjoy that same longevity by employing strategies of cubicle courtesies which will open doors to a more productive and enjoyable workspace.

Overemphasis on inquiries devalues B2B ad results
1. Inquiries are only the tip of the iceberg 2. Measuring only inquiries cause their value to degrade 3. Lower quality discourages Sales follow up

Prospect Development: The Giant Donut Hole in Sales & Marketing
Ineffective Inquiry Qualification & Development * The most-ignored activity in Sales & Marketing * The most-effective way to maximize your MarComm investment * The surest way to increase sales & profits

Overestimating/Oversimplifying Branding Efforts
1.A strong brand can greatly increase revenues & profitability 2. Customer/Dealer relationships are often stronger than strong brands 3. Building a brand takes years of selling & promotional effort & expense

PowerPoint for Educators: How to Make Multiple-choice Quizzes with PowerPoint via VBA
PowerPoint is a great assessment tool to create quizzes. This article will teach you how to create multiple-choice quizzes in PowerPoint via VBA with step-by-step illustrations. The VBA feature in PowerPoint gives educators an accessible way to easily create interactive multimedia quizzes.

Salespeople misperceive their proper roles by being misled by leads
By being the "Star of the Show' you are in peril of overplaying your part. By being the Stage Manager you can control the development of the plot.

Let’s throw away $10,000 through fear
The fear of change can be so great that people will throw money away rather than make a small change. How do you deal with this and get them moving forward.

Deadly Sin#7B: One-size-fits-all Sales Pitches
There are two basic weaknesses to one-size-fits-all sales pitches: 1. Failure to appeal to different types of prospects 2. Failure to discriminate among different types of prospects with the same general interests, but who have different "social styles"

Info Products Made Easy--Stand Out from the Start
Investing a little time upfront to strategically map out your ebook or info product will go a long way toward making sure you end up with a bestseller...here's some ideas for how to do that.

Deadly Sin #7: Sales Materials & Support Activities aren't dovetailed to optimize sales
Prospect Development must be a total team effort: Management and salespeople see things differently. But the prospect has an even different perspective: The prospect's interest in buying is rarely as urgent and intense as the supplier's is to make the sale.

Chinese Salespeople May be the Next Group to Outsell Your Salespeople
What are you going to do when, not only are you out priced, out sourced, out willed, out shipped, and out produced, but also out sold - by the Chinese? That is the question posed by my Kurlan & Associates colleague, Frank Belzer, who is blogging from Shanghai, where he is spending the week training Asian companies in the art of sales management.

What is a franchise?
Business format franchising in a nutshell is the documenting and replication of a proven business formula. In order to franchise a business it must not only be successful but have a good trading history under its belt...

Are you clueless, unsure, confident or awesome?
None of us can know everything about everything. In fact there is so much to know these days, that our level of competence in the wide range of topics we discuss with customers varies all over the place.

Tell them exactly what you're going to do to them
Ever think about selling your sales process? And I don't mean going into the sales training business by selling it to competitors or companies in similar industries. I mean did you ever think about selling your sales process to your customer?

Equity Markets are a Farce!

What drives an investor to buy a stock? Is it the fundamentals? The technicals? A combination of the two? Well I’m not quite certain anymore. You can basically throw all of the textbook answers out the window when it comes to today’s equity markets. Why do I say that? Because I believe that the only thing that is driving this market is the notion that the government is going to bail out everyone and their brother.

Dads Working From Home presents question #10: When should I give up?
Dads Working From Home presents: The 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions about Starting a Home Business. Question #10: When should I give up?

Flight To Safety No More?
Friday's market action was rather interesting. Both the equity markets AND the US dollar gained as the S&P 500 index ETF (SPY) and the Powershares US Dollar Index Bullish (UUP) were up 1.3% on the day. Has the dollar's status as a safe haven currency been broken?

Planning & Goal Setting
The simple “how-to’s” of powerful goal setting so that your goals are achieved effortlessly.

Failure of HQ & Sales to Communicate Effectively

Sin #4 of the "9 Most-Deadly Sins in Sales & Marketing" is Failure of HQ & Sales to Communicate Effectively * HQ/Marcomm sees forests, not trees * Sales sees trees, not forests Perspective is everything in business and in everything we do. It's essential that Sales and Management agree on what's best for their customers -- and their company. They must start by agreeing on the best "Positioning Statement" they can make for their company. All messages the company conveys -- Mission Statements, Elevator Pitches, Ads, Websites, etc -- should all have their origins in the Positioning Statement. All parties must also agree that the Positioning Statement is the best message the company can make.

The Science of Smiling
You have to choose to use an Echt-Smile as your facial expression. It lowers your blood pressure, improves your breathing, and protects your Nervous and Immune Systems. Read to live longer and healthier.

The Hawthorne Effect is Alive and Well
Genuinely good ideas have staying power, right? What if you could find a proven approach to continuous improvement with roots nearly a century old? Would you pursue it?

How Strong is Your Customer Loyalty? What AT&T and Apple Can Teach You
I've recently run into an interesting dilemma -- will my loyalty to Apple win out against my disgust with AT&T? But more importantly, what can you learn from my story to increase your customer loyalty and decrease your customer problems.

How to Properly Prepare and File for Bankruptcy
Are you thinking about filing for bankruptcy? This process can seem daunting and overwhelming in the midst of an already stressful time. Here are the basic steps in the filing process:

Teaching Sales in School is Like Learning to Golf on the Wii

They're finally teaching sales in school - yeah! And even more surprisingly, kids are actually taking the classes - yeah again! Why surprisingly? How many of your salespeople selected, as their primary career choice, sales? Kids get a sense that selling is an honorable profession! This post, from November of 2008, demonstrates each of the last two points - kids don't choose sales because, well, they don't believe it's honorable...

How Leaders Cheat Others
Developing key people is a challenge for anyone. Leaders need key people for business growth, but are Leaders unintentionally cheating key people out of growth and development?

The Creative Executive
The ability to be creative is one of the most powerful tools a leader can have. How does one develop more creativity on a daily basis. Here are some tips.

The 9 Most-Deadly Sins in Sales & Marketing -- and how to avoid them
The first deadly sin: Failure to distinguish differences in: * Value & importance of different markets & market segments * Wants & needs of different markets & market segments

The Enemy is Out There
Every second you spend pointing a finger at another group in your organization, trying to show how you can do their jobs better, you are wasting valuable time and resources. Not to mention the professional disrespect and contention that blooms. While you are infighting and pointing fingers, your competitors are laughing all the way to the bank.

Trust-based relationships
I typed ‘Sales' into 'youtube' the other day just to see what was on offer. I have to say that some of the initial videos displayed on the front page were very disappointing indeed, especially when it came to building trust-based relationships with clients.

Why you have to love Tech Stocks!
As someone who spent a lot of time as a Financial Planner after the Tech Bubble in the late 90’s, it is not easy to say you have to love Tech stocks. Why? Because, the Tech market of the late 90’s became the poster child of what not to do when investing. It became a cliché for anyone who taught people how to diversify and be a balanced investor.

What’s your competitive edge?
How many of us have been in business for a while and things have been going along smoothly, sales coming in, customers are happy. Then you notice that you are not winning the business you used to win.

What do clients want?
Clients don't expect to be coerced, bullied, tricked or intimidated into buying. They don't expect to be treated like an idiot by sales people who just talk at them and flash brochures or product sheets. Relationships do not work effectively if they are forced!

Martial Arts Marketing
Two Basic steps to knowing your key markets & prospects so well, your message matches their needs and helps assure the sale: 1.Identify those few, key major segments that account for most all market sales. 2.Determine that unique position that gives you dominance.

Moments of Truth Are Potential Opportunities for Sales Success
Are you finding moments of truth as potential opportunities or obstacles? How well you handled these experiences can deliver additional sales success.

How By Answering These Three Questions Can Dramatically Improve Sales Training
If you only had 3 questions to answer to improve sales training. what would they be?

iPhone 3G S â€“ The fastest iPhone announced
Almost 2 years since Apple first introduced the iPhone and selling more than 21.4 million units since, comes a new version bringing more features to the ever popular smartphone, the iPhone 3G S, where S stands for speed.

How Just One AMP Can Increase Sales
Sales! Must have more sales! Sales! Where can I find new customers? Sales! I am just one person! If you have had any of these thoughts, you may find this article of interest

Are Your Sales Reps Hard Closers or Hard Helpers?
Are your sales people learning the sales trade? Or are you letting them off the hook by learning the tricks of the trade?

Are You 'Offering' Your Customers REAL Value?
Here are some of the basic elements to keep in mind when you begin to write your copy.

Customer preception of waiting
This article shares the results of a study conducted at The School of Business and Economics at North Caroline AT&T University. The report focused on the customer's perception of delay before receiving services. A small group activity is included for the purpose of discussion of what your site/department/business can do to affect customer satisfaction.

7 Reasons why Canada’s dollar will continue to Pounce on the U.S. Dollar!
There are many dynamics working against the dollar and for the Canadian dollar. I don’t claim that these are the ONLY reasons but I do believe that they are very important dynamics that are all collectively working at the same time to bring down the USD/CAD currency pair.

Stress Tactics and Vents
There are over 24 stress tactics and vents. In this introduction David Oliver gives us the first two!!

Relationships & Stress
Here David Oliver shows how relationships can both cause and heal stress and defines the difference between load and burden. READ ON

The Compass or The Clock
David unpacks the single biggest key in stress avoidance and helps us to understand the difference between making the most of time and going in gthe right direction. READ MORE

Good Intentions Are Never Enough
In this sobering short Oliver describes the danger of beliving 'Love in your heart' is enough to give your family the best.

Stop the madness
How shopping and credit produces one of the most common stress triggers. L:earn how my wife saves me....

Revisit the Past to Increase Future Sales
Would you like more sales now than last year? Then you may need to revisit a marketing and sales skill set that was developed during your high school days even if you never took a business course.

Stock Market Outlook: Holding pattern until the Fall!
This stock market has really been historical over the last 12 months. 2009 in and of itself has been quite a ride, but where does this leave us? The market has been stabilizing and trading in a range for two months. There may be a big move to the upside this Fall out in front of the heavy inflation to follow.

Is It Time You Protired?
David Oliver looks at this increasingly popular approach to lifestyle balance and quality of life

Five Reasons Prospects Stop Responding To Your Sales Process
How long do you pursue a "hot prospect" that is not responding to your sales process?

Think Link
How to Stop Order-Taking & Satisfy Customers by Selling What They Need

Writing Tip: The harmful effects of Rambling Rose
Most people use what we can the Rambling Rose writing process. They type as they think through the content. When people do this, there are predictable outcomes for the writer, the draft and the reader.

Explanation of the Trademark International Classification System
Filing a name, logo or slogan is not all about the mark itself but also what you're doing with it, i.e. your goods and/or services. All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45.

Go ahead. Ask for help.
This article shares the results of a study on the theme of asking for help. This is designed for facilitator's use in a staff meeting.

Read On Book Review ~ twitter Revolution
If you don't have tweeps, aren't familiar with the twitterverse or haven't started tweeting, it's time to get on board with the twitter Revolution.

How to Manage Change
There is a frequently-quoted statistic, which may not be strictly numerically accurate but certainly has the feel of truth. 75% of all change initiatives adopted by organisations fail.

Watch salmon. Swimming upstream just makes you bait for a bear
Statistics show that the most common time for people to have heart attacks is Monday morning – that’s how stressed we are about the work that we do, is it really worth that much?

Improving Morale After Redundancies

When the actual redundancy process is complete and the unfortunate employees are made redundant there remains the issue of low morale that inevitably continues for some time. Without close monitoring this can become a very serious issue to any business. Once the reduction in employees has taken place the staff that remain will probably be expected to achieve more and may have additional responsibilities placed on them. How do you get the best from your staff now that they feel uncertain about their future and how do you improve morale? There are five key areas that need to be considered and worked with carefully on an ongoing basis.

Sales People..."How's It Going?"
Bosses would like to be your friend, but when they ask how it's going do you know what they are asking for?

China & Russia Gang up on the Dollar!
Russia and China tag-team to take advantage of a weakening dollar. While I hate it that there is such a “disdain” out there for the buck…I must say, I have to agree with China’s concerns.

Filing a Trademark: Plain Text Vs Stylized/Logo
When filing a trademark, the USPTO gives you two options: Standard Characters or Specialized Form (Stylized and/or Design). Let's look at each one in detail and that should help you decide the best way to file for your mark.

Job Adverts – how to write attractive ones
Writing great and successful job adverts is a real skill so we offer you a few pointers to make the most of your recruitment drive and attract the best possible candidates. Keywords are crucial for online searches but also include benefits you offer as an employer. This may set you apart from your competitors.

Online Recruitment – A Quick Guide
When seeking to recruit for vacant jobs in your company online recruiting is attractive but can be a little overwhelming. Here we offer a few handy tips and suggestions to help your recruitment process be as effective as possible.

Are You Marketing With Adrenalin?
Someone recently asked me if the only way to cause people to react emotionally to your marketing message is by using fear (fear of the unknown, loss, death, family, job, etc.).

Self-Leadership Success - How to Mend an Interrupted Dream
Should you languish over the past and try to relive it, you can’t! Nothing stays the same. You may want to hold onto what once was, but the dream as you remember it is gone. That isn’t to say you should ignore the wonderful memories and attributes of your past dream. These qualities which are still alive can be used to mend the interrupted dream to new wonders and possibilities.

Defining Your Target and Niche Markets
Defining your target and niche markets is the key to understanding how your business can deliver the greatest value to your customers and prospects. This article provides strategies for uncovering and defining your niche market areas.

Trademark a Name and Logo: Together or Separate?

Trademarks can be names of products or services, logos, slogans, packaging and even sounds and smells. In essence, a trademark can be almost anything that is used to identify a particular product or service. Registering a trademark grants the owner exclusive rights to the mark within the specified industry. Now when it comes to filing, a big question is should the name and logo be filed together or separately?

FLSA Pitfalls and Innocent Errors

Inspired by the presentation given by Astron’s own Michael F. Maciekowich, in partnership with Bond, Schoenick, & King, entitled: “Can Your Compensation System Weather the (Hurricane) Winds of Change from the Obama Administration?” this edition of Astronology will tackle some of the pitfalls and innocent errors organization sometimes find themselves in when handling serious issues with the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA.

Smart & Simple Internet Techniques

You CAN enjoy your online experience - these internet safety & eCommerce tips will help keep you safe and happy. The internet really can be a safe and convenient place for you to run your business, take care of your finances and enjoy shopping. Learn how to tell if websites are secure; learn smart moves with payment processors; email smarts + how to keep your computer "criminal free" + other simple but “must do” tasks for your online & offline routine.

Starting A Home Based Business? – Avoid These 6 Costly Blunders
A lot of people would like to start an internet home based business. However, many people do not know where to start. Starting a home based business can be overwhelming and confusing for the inexperienced. The fact that there are a lot of ‘business opportunities’ on the internet does not make it any easier.

Is This Stock Market Rally Believable?
I admit I am far too guilty of trying to rationalize what my eyes are seeing as the market seems to defy gravity and continues to move higher. I usually laugh when I see some respected pundit or the CNBC zoo-crew provide a reason for market movement (almost always after the fact) as the answer is usually never as complicated as they make it out to be.

Dollar Falls As China Buys Up Commodities! Euro & Aussie to Benefit!
China is stockpiling commodities as part of a reallocation of its sovereign wealth amid concern that its dollar assets may decline! China is one of the fastest growing nations on Earth right now. So, when China does something, the world listens.

Self-Mutilation, The Imposter Syndrome and Your Essential Message.
Are you undercutting your own Essential Message?

Everything Starts With A Conversation (Including Your Next Sale!)
Picture this. You're out having a coffee with a friend. An acquaintance of your friend happens to walk in and sits down for a few minutes to chat. After you finish talking about the weather and last night's sports scores, the inevitable question comes up: "So, what do you do?" You've got 60 seconds. What do you say?

Digital Bytes – The Challenge of Balancing Real, Virtual Worlds
People jog off cliffs, they walk into manholes, they walk into the middle of the street without looking, they go through meals never looking away from their screen -- regardless of which one it is -- updating their social media, viewing/responding to emails...moving around the virtual world missing some of the really neat stuff going on in the real world. Hey we're guilty too!!

Why Buy an Existing Franchise Opportunity
Provides a list of some of the potential advantages of buying an existing franchise opportunity versus starting a new franchise.

The Art of The Conversion Conversation: 5 Simple Steps To The Soft Sale
I am a mediator-type of person meaning that my head often over rules a decision that could (and should) have been made with my heart. Because I have this personality characteristic, I have become a great at teaching clients how to get their prospects to make a decision from their heart. Let's talk about what it takes to close the deal!

Positioning Basics

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to strategy and positioning. Anyone who says there's a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn't get it. Strategic positioning is more art than science. And each and every client is a new canvas. Great positioning is as unique as every situation. You have to be flexible, nimble. My ‘methodology' is more a way of thinking about things. I don't really have a checklist or set of step-by-step instructions.

Rags to Riches…Anecdotally Speaking

I love listening to a good story...especially ones about entrepreneurs and their path to eventual success. The woman or man who turned nothing into something, who did it quickly, and without the help of others, AKA the "rags to riches" story. I think there is a yearning in every entrepreneur who hears these stories to identify with the subject and imagine how it could happen to them. Like there is some magic formula to success, and if we could just do this one or two things...our business would take off, our work load would ease up and we would start living the good life we deserve.

What is the best Franchise?

As a Franchise Consultant I get asked all the time: "What is the best franchise?" The "best" franchise is relative to what business model fits you the best. I would love to tell you that every franchise is right for you, but that would not be true. First thing you need to do is figure out what business model you want to operate. Things like: - Do you want employees or not? - Retail, Wholesale, Mobile, Home or Office? - B2B or B2C? etc... No where in there was Brand name or $$ right? That is because those things should come after you decide what business model fits.

What to do with the Stock Market Rally
Currently the S&P is at 870. That means it is up about 30% from its bear market low of 670 on March 9. Quite a rally and the question is: Is this sustainable?

How to Get Everything You Want in Business and in Life by Having B.A.L.L.S.
How to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone & Find Your B.A.L.L.S. So You Can Get Everything You Want

Differentiating Pricing Strategy From Selling Strategy

Let's differentiate between this very sound pricing strategy yet unsound selling strategy. From a pricing perspective, this strategy allows you to effectively position your company, brand, products and services wherever you need them to be, based on markets, competition, reputation, quality and business strategy. However, from a selling perspective, never provide your prospect with even two, let alone three options. It's difficult enough to close business in a timely manner today and you certainly don't want to be the cause of a decision making delay.

11 Franchising Tips for 2011...
Tips for Franchisee's wanting to buy a Franchise in 2011.

May The Force Be With You
I was never a fan of the Star Wars movies. I couldn't really see what all the hype was about, so I never saw any of the movies until a couple of years ago. A friend told me I had to watch them, all of them. He said I would love them. He was right! It was actually the character of Yoda who I fell in love with and his lessons about the "Force."

How To Valuate Your Business
The venture capitalists will usually look at your projected, or pro forma, earnings 3 to 5 years from the point of their investment. From there they will deduct a 30% annual return that they expect to receive and will subtract a further percentage for the fact that you are a private and therefore non liquid company. This is known as the pre-money valuation.

StorySelling “How to Write Mini User Stories”

Why: Use mini user stories, with the right sales message, so that your salespeople are able to sell value and differentiate your offering instead of pitching product and reducing price. Mini User Stories: Make the stories short. Use only one constraint per story otherwise you risk flooding the Buyer with too much information. Make the Buyer the Hero of the Story: Many Customer Stories make the company out to be the hero who rode in on their white shinny horse to save the Buyer.

StorySelling: How to get past your Buyer’s defensive wall and create a need
Review the following two StorySelling examples and decide for yourself if you feel that StorySelling could help your Sales Team sell more?

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