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ul Tagged Articles
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How to Achieve Consistency on the Sales Force
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| I have always believed that in sales, the three most important attributes (not skills) are the willingness to do what it takes to succeed (commitment) the passion for being the best (desire), and the discipline to repeat the required behaviors and activities (consistency). |
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How You Can Get Your Salespeople to Do What They Don't
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| Please read this article the way I intended to write it. First, what it is not.
It is not an article about how I lost 40 pounds. Nor is it an article about why I lost 40 pounds. Instead, please read this as an article about how to get people to change.
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Top 20 Requirements - How Salespeople Can Be Better at Closing
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| While salespeople can get better at closing, closing is an outcome, and with the exception of real estate and banking, not really an event. When we evaluate sales forces and look at their ability to close, they may possess some of the strengths and skills that are part of the Sales Core Competency called Closing, but most of those attributes are used prior to, not during, closing time. The ability to close depends on the following 20 variables (in no particular order) that a salesperson brings to the table - or not: |
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But I'm a Sales Guy - The Story of Motivation and Compensation
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| A Sales VP and his CEO were in the conference room and each time the CEO brought up a problem, we asked the Sales VP to elaborate. Each time he began with, "Well I'm a sales guy so I know this stuff..."
Yes and No.
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There are always options ...
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| If you have ever been caught in a situation where it seems like there are no options the reality is that there are always options!
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The Role of Preparation in Developing Top Salespeople
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| The Internet has made it easier than ever for prospects to find your company, a benefit of Sales 2.0. The upside is that your leads are coming from unexpected places and you are getting audiences with prospects you may not have found ten years ago. The downside is that this has changed the sales process, accelerated the sales cycle and in some cases, made it more difficult than ever for companies to close these new found opportunities. |
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Anatomy of the Worst Sales Call Ever
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| It's easier to talk about some of the things he failed to do since he didn't do anything correctly. If we were to perform an analysis working backwards from the end of his (can't really call what he did a) sales process: |
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Call Reluctance - Causes, Factors and Predictors
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| Historically, when salespeople have failed, has most often been because of their inability to get appointments. We are able to identify the three factors that indicate a call-reluctance problem - a malady that is career-threatening for salespeople who are expected to hunt. |
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Sales Coaching - Are Sales Managers Any Good at This Function?
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| I've written extensively about sales coaching before. Yesterday, a fairly typical day, I coached 4 different sales experts and 2 clients on how to more effectively coach salespeople and sales managers. I have noticed that most sales managers believe that they're fairly good at coaching when, in reality, most of them are very ineffective at it. Why? |
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Great Sales Opportunities That Don't Close
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| If getting opportunities into the pipeline is the most universal sales challenge, then getting opportunities closed comes in a close second. I'm talking about prospects who aren't ready to say, "yes" but are still "very interested". These calls pose problems for salespeople for several reasons: |
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How to Get Business to Drop Out of the Sky
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| I think it's both predictable, phenomenal, and fulfilling. I'm talking about the magic that occurs when you and your salespeople leave their comfort zone and work hard to perform the very work, activity, behavior and actions that, left to their own devices, would choose not to do. Whether it's a salesperson who finally: |
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18 Business Trends for Your Sales Force
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| My guests were Mark Berezow, Gary Harvey and Rocky LaGrone. Before they handled one caller's sales force challenges (excellent stuff) , they commented on the state of business out there right now.
They see:
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Complexity of Issues Regarding the Regulation of the Natural Health Product Industry Likely Tied to Basic Issues
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| This Wednesday's segment of the PI Window on Business "Doing What Comes Naturally: Are Natural Health Products Being Held to a Higher Standard?" in which I interview NHPPA President Shawn Buckley regarding the controversial Bill C-6 that poses two potential threats to the industry's survival in Canada, promises to be one of the most thought provoking. |
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The Importance of Google Local
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| One of the most important, cost-effective, and easy ways to get exposure on Google is by taking advantage of Google Local (also known as Google Maps). This article will highlight some of the strategies to improve your Google Local results. |
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The Time To Act is Now On Becoming a
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| Leadership is one of the most salient ingredients of a community that is searching for improvement. Today, potential leaders are scattered everywhere and all that's left to do is to arouse their leadership vein and let it run into their blood and become the best of who they are in whatever endeavor they would want to lead to.
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Making the EXCEPTIONAL Normal - Part 6 Measuring Success
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| If you want your team to produce exceptional results, you need performance measures to guide your and their efforts. |
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The Fine Art of Dealing with Dominant People
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| Direct, decisive, determined, domineering. These are just some of the words that describe a highly dominant personality. Everyone knows one. You might even be one. Dominant people are the leaders, the pioneers, the risk-takers. Companies are run by them, wars are led by them, innovation follows in their wake. These are the people that we look to lead us where we might not otherwise go. If you are lucky, you will work for one. If you are really lucky, their office will be in another state. Yes, dominant people are the ones we love to hate, or at least hate to talk to (notice that I did not mention listening as a strong point). Get off on the wrong foot with one and your career can take an unwelcome sidetrack. Have them on your side and you have a strong champion. So how can you effectively communicate with such a power personality? |
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What is a Recession Proof Franchise Opportunity
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| Recession Proof franchise seems to be a phrase thats buzzing around at the moment. But what does this really mean? Is it really possible that a business can be recession proof? |
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So where are all the Elite Sales Performers?
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| I received yet another call today from a sales manager asking me where he could find a really good sales pefomer for his business. He complained that most of the sales people in his industry had been around the block too many times and no new skills, ideas or talent where being brought into his industry. Same old people, same old things, same old results.
Trouble is he is not alone and the Elite Performers you want are most likely working in other industries or markets and are not even thinking about working for you. |
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Contact vs Connection
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| Know the feeling when you make contact with someone and you both promise that you will keep in touch but never do? Or someone you met briefly at a function, where you exchanged business cards, calls you up asking for one favour after another never seeming to return the favour? Or others still who seem to make friends with you only to use you to get to someone else and drop you and soon as they do? Well you are not alone. These are some of the pitfalls when it comes to networking and selling.
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Sustainability – the new criteria
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| 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’. |
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The relationship of revenue growth to your job?
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| Every sales person knows the relationship of prospecting to sales is critical. Without prospecting you are not likely to get a sale. We all know the relationship of sales to revenue growth is high. But how many people in your company know the relationship of revenue growth to their specific job?
The sales people do. Owners do. They think about it every day. |
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Client Buying States
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| Selling can get quite confusing sometimes. Prospects or clients saying one thing and doing another. It’s hard enough that you put in all that effort and have your sale go nowhere.
It might help you to know, if you don’t already, when selling that there are mainly four different Buying States. They are classified as :
1. Opportunity
2. Problem
3. Static
4. Blinkered
Two Buying States show that a sale is possible.
Two Buying States show that a sale may be difficult or unlikely. |
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Making Decisions
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| Several years ago I read a great book called ‘Kids Are Worth It – Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline’ by Barbara Coloroso.
This book has served me very well as a parent giving me guidance in how to raise self-aware and self-disciplined children. In particular, I learnt by heart the following questions which I ask myself whenever I make decisions and in turn, have taught my children to ask whenever they make decisions.
The 3 Decision Questions are:
* Is it life threatening?
* Is it morally threatening?
* Is it unhealthy?
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Be Consistent & Keep Your Customers Happy
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| One of the things that frustrate me the most as a customer is inconsistent service standards, inconsistent procedures and people’s inability to deal effectively and honourably with different types of people. If left unchecked this leads to confusion, frustration, wasted time, wasted effort, impaired brands and reputations, lost revenue and lost customers.
These issues don’t seem to be as much of an issue when you deal with very small companies because usually everyone knows what everyone else is doing and how it should be done even if it is only via word of mouth. However as businesses expand and get on board more people to work in the front line you, as the customer can’t always expect to get the same person to deal with then the challenges begin. |
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Account Planning, Management & Development
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| 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.
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Go E#$% yourself!
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| As a sales rep, you know better than anybody what your customers and prospects need to know. You've done your research. You know their issues, challenges and objectives. You know the value they could accrue by using your stuff. They just won't take the time to meet with you and listen! Well, maybe it's you that needs to listen up. Are they telling you to... |
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Sales is a team effort
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| Sales numbers and sales processes should be understood and owned by everybody in your organisation. In today’s world if you are not directly in sales you are supporting someone who is. This is why sales really is a team effort.
Rather than being just about a feel good factor and great staff alignment, this has practical applications as well. For instance with the ability for customers (or anyone) to find and connect with anyone in your organisation through many difference channels (i.e. social networks, Google, etc.) the whole business needs to be sales fit. |
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Creative Ways to Market Your Business…
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| Marketing your business has become more important more than ever in this tough economic climate. I constantly hear business owners cutting costs to operate on a tighter budget. One of the biggest mistakes is cost cutting marketing costs. Marketing helps bring revenues in the door and this is the last area to cut. Below are some traditional and creative ways to market your business. |
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Home Based Business - Lateral Thinking
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| Lateral thinking is a systematic approach to thinking. It teaches you to think out of the box or expand your horizons and to think creatively. Thinking laterally is a critical skill for all business owners, especially Home Based Business Owners. |
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How to sell new business meetings - the greatest secret revealed
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| Do you want to know the greatest secret of selling new business meetings for sales prospecting. Its really easy to do and can double or triple your effectiveness overnight. Find out what it is here.... |
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Sales Prospecting - How to get a meeting now when they suggest call back
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| Very often when sales prospecting someone might tell you that they have a project planned in 6 months and you should call back then. What would you do to get a meeting now? Because you know that if you call in 6 months the project may well be gone.... |
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Loving Yourself First
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| Do you believe that loving yourself first is selfish? Discover why the opposite is true! |
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Life Wave: Secrets Of The Top Producers Revealed!
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| You can use these 6 key strategies to truly explode your Life Wave business. From mindset to marketing plans and working your LifeWave business on the internet, these are the techniques making the money for the top producers. Now you can use them too! |
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I Want To Improve Your Credit Score, But You Won't Let Me Help!
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| Credit score ignorance is just as bad as accumulating too much debt or not paying your credit cards on time. If you don't understand how your credit report score is calculated then you can't improve your credit score. read this brief primer and learn -- How do they calculate your credit score and who are "They"? |
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Web Design & Conversion
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| One of the most important yardsticks to measure the success of any web-based venture is its online conversion rate. Getting people to your site is all good and well, but the real measure of your website’s design and content is whether you are able to turn the casual browser into a paying customer. |
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Increase Profits Without Adding Resources - Part 2
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| Are problem employees and troublesome customers draining your energy AND wallet? Here are a few tips for dealing with both. |
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How To Write A Killer Press Release
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| So how exactly should you write a press release? Here are a few great guidelines. |
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Date Your Customers - They'll Keep Coming Back
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| There are a few rules you follow when dating your significant other. It times time to build that relationship. You work on it through open communication and true concern. The same ideas should hold true in your business relationships. Here's 6 rules for dating your customer. |
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Performance Review for the employer and employee
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| Performance Review for the reviewer and the "reviewee" |
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Asking for a Raise
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| Asking for a Raise |
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Addressing Difficult situations at Work
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| Difficult situations at Work |
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How To Branch Your Business
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| If you’re thinking of growing your business (or increasing its revenue), focus on your business structure first. I’m not referring to your internal business organization (e.g., marketing, sales, administration, development, customer service, etc.) – I’m referring to your external business conversations.
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Pricing in a Down Economy
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| When the economy turns sour the natural tendency is to cut prices. If you do, you're sending a message to the market. The question is "Is this the message you want to send? |
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Express Your Independence
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| Learn to love and accept yourself and "get" that you have the power to manifest any kind of life you want. This article shows you how. |
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Maybe I really DO want to appear to be an order-taker...
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| Technology has changed everything. It used to take multiple face-to-face sales calls to get a prospect up to speed on the potential value of our products and services. More importantly, those calls enabled us to acquire a broad, deep understanding of their issues, requirements and problems. Now, web 2.0 makes our info available 24/7. They don't need us to learn about us. AND, they now refuse to take the time to educate us regarding what they need. |
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Why Sales Coaching Really Matters
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| Without systematic, on-the-job coaching post a sales training program 87% of skills that were covered in the sales training program are lost within 30 days
With systematic, on-the-job coaching post a sales training program the return on the sales training program is four fold.
Lesson: Sales training without coaching is a cost liability rather than an investment. |
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Getting back to the sales basics
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| I don't know about you but recently I have found myself getting more and more distracted by the latest trend and fads, especially the social media phenomena. My reason for this is that I have been trying to get my head around social media and specifically, the impact on the sales profession.
I like to keep on top of what is current, what is emerging, and what is still an idea. This is why I make time each week to do research as it helps me navigate my way around the present and into the future. However, I am finding there is so much to read, so much to get my head around, and so much to integrate into my business that it can take up a lot of time... and it only seems to be increasing.
I read recently that 20 years ago information was doubling every 5 years, 10 years ago it was doubling every 18 months and today |
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Data Money Online Scam
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| How do you know if the company you want to join is a scam? |
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Why Use Feedburner for Feeds
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| Feeds have become second nature on the internet today. Almost every news source provides a feed to grab that data. So how can you grab feeds but do it in a way that makes it simple. FeedBurner of course! |
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Human Resource SWOT Analysis
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| With many smaller sized organizations not having a full-time in-house Human Resource representative, the choice may be to outsource this function to an HR Consultant. Choosing to go this route is a wise investment. But how does one know where to start in terms of the organization’s human resource requirements? Well, complete a S.W.O.T. Analysis, of course! |
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The Phone Tools & Tips Used by the Top Income Earners
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| Everyone uses the phone, but few use it effectively or even think it's important to learn. The first few seconds of any phone call are crucial. The moment you say "Hello," the listener on the other end of the phone forms a subconscious opinion. When you talk with your prospect face-to-face, he base's his opinion about you on such factors as facial expression, body language, hand motions and voice. On the phone, he can only rely on his ears.
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Secrets to Becoming an Online Network Marketing Entrepreneur
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| Online Network Marketing secrets and the key strategies to become a successful online network marketing entrepreneur. |
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Secrets to Becoming an Online Marketing Entrepreneur
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| The secret key to look for when setting up an online business. |
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Doing The "Right" Thing, Just A Little Too Late
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| There are so many missed opportunities because we fail to act and do what we know is "right" or would be "best". Why? Maybe because we fear having to go to bat for an employee, or because we don't want to cash in our chips for that particular person, or because of our own fear or insecurity. Don't let opportunities go by. |
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Squidoo - A Fast Way to Promote Your Website or Blog
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| A not so "new kid on the block" - Squidoo is a medium where you can promote your website or blog fast on the internet. Google indexes Squidoo lenses more often than your site is indexed and a presence on Squidoo will take your products and services to the front row of the internet.
A serious marketer should become very active on this platform by finding their niche and write about it. There is no limit to how many lenses you create. The more the better.
This article will explore the advantages of writing Squidoo lenses. |
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How Powerful are your Press Releases?
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| A Press Release is an important element of your promotional campaign. It helps in driving traffic to your website but also in generating lots of back links and thus kicking your Google Page rank higher. As a direct result your website is selected easily by other major search engines (Yahoo, AltaVista, etc.).
This article will go into the fine details of creating a successful Press Release and what it means for your business as a whole. |
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The Art of Lifestyle Design: Cultivate Business Around Your Life
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| Are you wondering what you need to do so your business will support your lifestyle? I was. I was tired of working by the hour and lacking free time.
I embraced these 5 steps, and fast tracked my life and my business to the way I wanted it to be. I re-defined and designed how I was going to spend my time. I took back control, and you can too.
Here are 5 steps to design your life and business the way YOU want it to be. |
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Boot Camp Training for Conflict Resolution Skills
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| A few hours of conflict resolution training can help work groups and teams to better manage conflict levels in the workplace. Providing employees with a common conflict resolution language and process can pay dividends in maintaining productivity and morale. Eight key skills of conflict resolution are... |
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Email Marketing Tests to Get You Started
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| If you’re utilizing email marketing, you should be utilizing email testing. But it can seem complex and costly, and many small business owners aren’t quite sure where to start. If you’d like to use email testing, but aren’t sure where to start, here are 4 of the easiest tests to get you going: |
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Let your feelings lead you and others
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| The human being is rather a 'human feeling'. |
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Increase Productivity and Profitability by Simply Eliminating Gossip
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| Do your employees gossip? Have you ever considered the financial impact to your bottom line? What can you do to eliminate it? |
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ADHD Study Tips
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| Studying when you have ADHD can be a frustrating experience. You try really hard, but you don't seem to get the results that reflect the amount of effort you put in. Even if you write a great paper, you might forget the deadline and lose marks because of that rather than the content of your work. You might find it difficult to pay attention during a lecture, or procrastinate over preparing for your exam and then study all night in order to know the information you need. |
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Yes You Can Compute Success and Turn Circumstances into Opportunities
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| It is normal to want to have a life that is fulfilling, happy and abundant. Hanging on to old perspectives and attachments to beliefs that are based on being right rather than happy are limiting, self destructive and keeps you trapped and living a mediocre life when you can have an extraordinary life. |
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Book Review: Ogilvy on Advertising
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| 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. |
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‘Great’ at sales but they don’t ‘fit’ the culture
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| Sound familiar? A ‘good', maybe even ‘great', salesperson is recruited and hits the ground running, kicking sales goals in the new role, however within a short space of time they have alienated their team, decided that the role is not for them, and left the organisation. As we know the cost of this selection is huge and begs the question, why did this ‘great' salesperson not work out?
While there are many possible scenarios and reasons, we often find that a major contributor is the cultural ‘fit' between the individual and the organisation. |
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What do your sales people really need to know and apply?
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| In today's market selling skills training does not equal product training or pressure tactics. If product training or pressure selling (the hard sell) are on the top of your sales training agenda or the only training you offer your sales people then you may want to rethink your sales training strategy.
What is expected of sales people today by way of skillful thought and action goes way beyond the product or the hard sell.
Let's first look at what clients want. This will then help us determine what sales people need to be able to do. |
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Light Employees’ Passion for Jobs
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| The door to positive and permanent change opens from the inside rather than being absorbed from the outside. Each of us has a purpose and a challenge, but we must uncover it to bring passion to the surface. Managers who ask workers what they “want” to do instead of what they “can” do are better equipped to put people in the right positions. |
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Enjoying Life: How Discovering Your Natural Skills Can Keep Things Looking Up
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| Determining whether a particular skill you possess is natural or acquired is an important step to doing more of what you do best. Discovering and developing skills that come naturally to you brings feelings of fulfillment and joy, and a sense of greater life success. |
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5 Quick Ways to establish an online presence
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| Professional Business Coach and Internet Entrepreneur Frank McGuinness provides 5 very simple yet effective ways to create an online presence with your new internet business. |
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What makes a good franchisee?
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| Considering franchising as a route to self employment? Not everyone is cut out to be a successful franchisee. Nick looks at what qualities make a good franchisee and what don't. Don't miss this essential franchise reading material if you are seriously considering buying into a franchise in the near future... |
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Job Myths (Part One)
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| Congratulations you've got a job! Now did you get a job description and a list of things you were suppose to be responsible for?
Great. That's the first myth....that that list is what you're responsible for and will be paid to do. Come learn about two job myths so that you can become your owm Myth Buster!
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I'll Try
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| Commitments have become something we keep if they are convenient for us. |
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The Missing Keys to Great Negotiation Skills
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| Improve your negotiation skills and drive more dollars to your bottom line. Enhance your ability to achieve your desired outcome by understanding these basic negotiating skills. |
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How To Make Money And Maximize Sales With Your Home Business?
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| One of the biggest trends for the past several years is learning how to make money on the internet. The problem for most is how and what are the best ways to grow your business online. To learn more, read this article. |
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Protect your Workplace from the Violence and Murder of Annie Le at Yale University
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| Employers need to protect their workplaces from instances of workplace violence. The recent murder of Annie Le at Yale University is just the most recent in a rash of incidents of workplace violence that occur daily across the country. This article helps employers learn important steps to protect against violence in their workplace. It also provides information on the warning signs of workplace violence and resources for employees that may be prone to workplace violence. Despite statistics showing huge increases in incidents of workplace violence, most employers fail to take the basic necessary steps to prevent workplace violence including having a workplace violence seminar and providing workplace violence prevention training. This article provides employers with the basic steps they can take to prevent workplace violence today. |
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Sales Training - Make sure you choose one that understands the stages of learning
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| Its important to choose a sales training company that understands how people learn and the best way to develop them at every level. If you are considering sales training then you have to read this article to find out more... |
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Sales Motivation - Self analysis questions to keep you motivated in Sales
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| Sometimes we can lose our way in sales and lose sight of why we are doing things. If you ever feel like you need some extra motivation or that you are losing your way then try these self analysis questions to keep you on track. They will keep you focused and help you sell more while enjoying the process. |
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When is it Helpful to Apologize?
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| Discover when it is loving and appropriate to apologize and when it is a form of control. |
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Is making money online really possible – Why Internet marketers succeed
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| People are flocking to the internet in the millions, all hoping to discover a way to make money online. Some are just looking for additional supplement income while others treat it more seriously and work it like a full time business. So is making money online really possible for anyone and what are the factors involved. |
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Is making money online really possible – Why Internet marketers fail
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| Every day, millions of new internet marketers are joining the ever growing family of online entrepreneurs that are hoping to make money online. Many are just looking to supplement their income while others are looking at internet marketing as a full time job. Thus the question holds, is making money online really possible and what are the factors involved? |
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Internet Business Opportunity - 10 Tips - How to Set Up Your Office Ergonomical
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| When you own an internet business opportunity, it is very important for you to set up your office ergonomically. Ergonomics is the systematic and interdisciplinary study of human beings and their material connection with the work environment. Repetitive motions will do damage over a time a period. LNI claims are mainly from PC usage.
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Why Trying Is Just Failing Without Taking Responsibility
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| When pitching my business opportunity I often hear “XYZ company? I tried that before, no thanks!” And therein lays the problem, all this “trying” that people do, free trial offers are the bane of our society. They’ve created a “life is a smorgasbord” culture. |
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Why use article marketing?
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| Why use article marketing in developing your online business? This is a very common question and a valid one at that. If you think about it, we understand why this question is regularly asked. |
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Does article marketing really work?
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| Many individuals spend their time on several different mediums for their online marketing efforts and one of these is article marketing. It’s really common to hear friends ask – so does article marketing really work? Does it bring in the leads? Should I put in effort to create these articles? And my answer to that is always a definite YES… |
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Time Off: Do Small Business Owners Get Any?
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| Time Off: Do Small Business Owners Get Any? -
People might become business owners because they want to get ahead. However, once you're living the life of a small business owner, you quickly discover that you have a much shorter-term goal: Trying to take a vacation. Business ownership is busy and a vacation may feel like it will cause serious business disruption. But there is a way that you can enjoy a vacation. In this article, you'll learn how some businesses are breaking out of the entrepreneur time trap to allow the owners to enjoy some renewing downtime.
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SEO Positioning or PPC Marketing: You Can Only Choose One.
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| There are two sides of online marketing: a. The slightly awkward, a little rough around the edges, SEO Positioning that speaks in code and works really late at night b. The smooth talking, nicely dressed, PPC Marketing, consuming numbers and spreadsheets like the entertainment section of the NY Times
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Get More Done with On-Call Help
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| Get More Done with On-Call Help -
How do you successfully grow your business out of the "one-person-show" mode? Hiring employees can be a costly risk, even if it seems to be the right answer. However, there is another answer – an intermediate step – that business owners can use as an opportunity to scale up their business without blowing their budgets. In this article, you will read about that intermediate step and why it is advantageous to you.
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Successful Transitioning from an Individual Contributor to a Supervisor Role
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| The time has come. You were an employee in an organization and now you are being promoted to a supervisory position. How can you make the jump from one role to the other and still be successful? As a supervisor you now have more roles and responsibilities. Here are some tips for transitioning from an individual contributor to a supervisor. |
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Can Using Twitter Make You More Efficient?
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| Improve efficiency using Twitter? Really? It's all about connections. Read and learn! |
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Demographic Profile of an Average American Millionaire
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| Bullet points from the book "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley. |
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Seven Ways to Improve Cash Flow In Your Business
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| Business cash flow struggles? Here are 6 ways to speed up the cash coming into your business. |
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10 Basic Internet Traps
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| The Article deals with the main reasons why so many people with quality products are not able to establish the right income and speaks about standard Internet situations that present basic traps for both newbies and people who do not yet make enough money even though they have spent long time online. |
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Does Marketing Work?
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| I was at a networking event the other day, explaining to someone what we did. In response, I received a smile back and the comment “well, marketing doesn’t really work anyway does it?”
Interesting question! And I can completely understand why he said that. For a lot of small business owners, that’s exactly what they find – that marketing doesn’t work. The result is that many business owners feel frustrated with marketing and give up on the process, choosing to rely instead on referrals and word of mouth.
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How to Coach at Work
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| Leaderaship coaching is all the buzz at the moment and the 'in thing is to coach or be coached'. The problem is if you have decided that coaching is for your organisation but you dont know where to start, then this article will give you some food for thought and some help. |
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4 Tips for Job Seekers Who Are Being Interviewed
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| Interviewing for a job can be a nerve racking experience. The pressure of convincing an employer you are the right person for the position is sometimes overwhelming, especially in a tough economic climate like this one. But even when the competition is staunch, there are ways to WOW your potential new boss. |
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How To Think Like A Leader
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| The thought process of a leader is different from that of followers. Sure, leaders are usually very smart and have access to plenty of specialized knowledge and experience to help them make decisions; but these characteristics are not what make leaders “different” thinkers. What makes leaders different is their ability to think critically in leadership situations. Critical thinking is the key. So how does one go about thinking critically to make the right choices in leadership situations? |
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3 Tips For Creating Productive Teams At Work
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| Team work is essential for effective business. No employee, not matter how talented they are, works in a bubble. The problem with teams, however, is that they are made up of individuals who sometimes have competing ideas and personalities. These differences, in one sense, can be valuable (i.e. during brainstorming or creative sessions), but they can also lead to conflict. So how can managers put together effective, productive teams and skip all the drama? |
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3 Tips for Customer Service Excellence
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| Customer loyalty is fundamental to business success. But just supplying customers with a quality product may not be enough to keep them coming back; companies need to go the proverbial extra mile to ensure the customer is fully satisfied- or even better, "wowed". |
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The more you practice the luckier you get!
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| By taking control and ownership of your planning and responsibility for forecasting accuracy and opportunity generation you can improve and maintain your consistency of performance. If you are lacking in any of these areas you must take action, it's the key to all success. Do it and do it now - Create your own luck!
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C-Level Selling Tip 4 -- Relationships with C’s Produces Business, but You Don’t Have a Relationship
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| Relationships at C’s and high levels are easy to attain if you know how. Let me explain.
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Sales Peoples' Biggest Weakness – C-Level Selling
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| If you want overachieving salespeople they must know how to and be comfortable C-Level Selling. Most sales people deliver mediocre results because they lack this skill set. Learn how to put this missing major element into your salespeople.
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The Thin Line Between Persuasion and Manipulation
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| We practice the art of persuasion every day in our businesses. We bend our audiences' beliefs through the stories and information we share, through the brand or image we create, through the sales discussions we guide so carefully. So where's the line between sales and marketing persuasion - and manipulation? |
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Monetize Your Message: HOW to profit WILDLY in the new world of Speaking - Part TWO
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| marketing Your message... Speakers today are facing unprecedented challenges in demonstrating their value and overcoming the now-standard obstacle of decreased funding for events and training opportunities. In Part TWO of this article series for aspiring and experienced speakers, we learn EXACTLY how to combat this and remain profitable. |
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Cold Calling Tip: Turn a Cold Call Into a Warm Call
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| If you use the telephone to generate new business, and you should be, then you need to know how to turn a cold cll into a warm call. This fantastic article will show you how. |
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Cold Calling Tips: Check Your Calling Attitude
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| Many people want to generate new business in a short space of time but few relish the prospect of using the phone. The main thing holding you back is your own cold calling/telesales attitude. It's costing you business so find out how to deal with it here. |
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What if a Home You Stage Fails to Sell?
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| Expert home stager, Staging Diva, offers advice to home stagers concerned about what happens if a home they stage does not sell. |
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M is for Marketing
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| If you’re just starting up in business, marketing is probably the most crucial element for you. Get this wrong and you don’t have a business. Get it right and you could take off like a rocket! |
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Do You See Opportunity or Crisis?
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| What if adopting a positive viewpoint changes our crisis into opportunity? |
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Can't Touch dis
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| Every so often I run into a challenge so daunting that there is no place to hide. I was recently hired to develop a fairly simplistic pilot program that could easily be exportable to other areas of the country. |
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Competing on Price in a Down Market
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| When companies change their focus to customers really challenges rather than focus on sales, Sales go up as do profits. |
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Marketing Strategies - What Should a Banner Advertising Campaign Look Like?
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| Are you new to banner advertising? Here are some real figures to help you know what to expect. |
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Manifesting the Best of Both Worlds
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| We often don't realize how we compromise our life enjoyment by believing in limited possibilities. This is your official invite (with tutorial) to drop the constraints and enjoy the best of both worlds! |
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Harnessing Human Resources for Sustainable Competitive Advantage
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| Paying careful attention to the one thing companies can control - the quality of their people, especially in the leadership pool leads to generating excellent results year after year. |
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10 ways to get business when bootstrapping
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| When bootstrapping a business - resources are usually limited. So here's a 10-point guide on stuff that's worked for me, and might just work for you as well. |
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Do people know what you do?
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| I was with a business contact of mine the other day and mentioned a project that we were working on for a client of ours. To my surprise he said to me, “I didn’t know you did that!” |
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C-Level Sales Training Tip 2 – The Prospect Seemed Interested, but the Sales Cycle Is Stalled
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| Learn to shorten sales cycles in this article by moving those sitting on the fence to closing. |
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5 things to look for when researching legitimate home based business opportunities
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| You've made the hard decision of starting a home based business but don't know where to start in your research, I will outline the 5 things that you should look for when researching legitimate home based business opportunities to try to save you some time in your endeavors. This list will not be all inclusive, but are things that you need to definitely look at in order to find a legitimate home based business opportunity.
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Make No Mistake, We Should Make More
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| Mistakes are anathema in our business culture, and actually our culture-at-large. Unfortunately, they are also a critical element of most successes, especially entrepreneurial ones. This article examines why and how we should embrace mistakes. Make no mistake, we should make more. |
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Claim Your Local Listing in 19 Places
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| Search engines are changing. You may have noticed that any time you search for something in your area, you get more than the usual list of results, you get a map with some links next to it. Evidence suggests that creating/claiming your local listings is a good start.
So here are the basic steps to claiming, creating and managing your local listing. We’re also showing you 19 places where you can do this. Most are Internet Yellow Pages sites (IYPs) and others are local directories and the search engines themselves.
You don’t need an expert to help you create and claim your listings. In fact, it’s best if you do this yourself. |
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The Ghost and Our Integrity
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| Audiences view social media as the safe ground for truth and integrity. It's the place where they can share and obtain real information in honest and meaningful ways. The place they can learn about prospective or current partners, get a feel for their thoughts and perspectives. |
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Keep Your Eye on the Revenue
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| Regardless of how you choose to create your go-to-market strategy, how you execute your launch, how you drive momentum - there's one key to a great launch. Keep your eye on the revenue. That's your true measure of success. |
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Looking for an Easy Online Business Opportunity?
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| Well, if you are looking for an easy online business opportunity then I might as well tell you now, your chances of success are pretty slim. Sure, there are plenty of businesses out there that will tell you how easy it is to make tons of money with them. Then they will take your money, tell you to go out and promote the program and you will never hear from them again. When you get frustrated you will quit and move on to the next easy online business opportunity! Somewhere along the line you will realize that ”just go out and promote the program” is not as simple and straightforward as you have been led to believe. Sound familiar? |
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The Company Your Keep
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| People perceive us in part based on who we hang around with, who we point to as 'friends' and associates. |
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Experience is not a substitute for the pre-call plan
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| Every now and then it's a good idea to re-visit one of those "everybody knows that" concepts and do a hard-nosed self-assessment regarding our personal sales performance. Always, always pre-plan every sales call, right? |
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Are you clueless, unsure, confident or awesome?
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| 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. |
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Take a SWOT at all your key customers
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| There is a reason some concepts stand the test of time. They work! The notion of analyzing customer strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is one of those concepts you can't afford to ignore. |
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Think and act like business manager
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| The traditional role of sales rep as provider of information is obsolete. That role got outsourced to Google because it's a lot faster and easier that way. |
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Do you speak the universal language of business?
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| Communication is one of the obvious cornerstones of a successful sales career. You need to speak the language of the country where you're doing business. You need to know and understand each industry's specific lingo. You need to have a solid grip on the unique dialect of executives with different functional responsibilities. You need to be particularly fluent in the one language common to every decision-making executive. |
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8 things to do with an article
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| If you’re going to take the time and trouble to write an article, I’m a big believer that you should try to re-use it as many times as you possibly can. Apart from the reason you’ve written it in the first place, which presumably one of the reasons is to help your build your credibility as an expert, here are eight other things you can do once you’ve completed your article: |
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The Hard Sell
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| I declare right up front that I am not, and never have been a fan of the Hard Sell. You have probably guessed that from all my previous posts.
And if you ask most people about what they think about the profession of selling they will often describe something akin to the ‘Hard Sell'. Of late I have also noticed a rise in ‘hard sell' stories where people are being unnecessarily pressured to buy or sales people being pressured to sell at almost any cost.
The hard times may be pushing some people to do things they wouldn't normally do like the "Hard Sell". |
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What's in a relationship?
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| The term ‘Relationship Selling' is often bandied about by sales managers and sales people without properly defining what it really means.I often hear "We are in relationship selling" or "We need relationship sales people" however what I do not hear being asked is:
What type of relationship are we talking about?
What type of relationship are we looking for?
What do we mean by relationship selling anyway? |
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Seeing the world from your client’s perspective can make for easier sales
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| Each week we meet and speak with a variety of prospective and/or existing clients who have problems they need solving in our area of expertise. It is more than likely we will deal with a mix of clients: some with little or no understanding about what we really do and those with previous experience, knowledge and opinions in our area of expertise. And then there are those clients who are in between. Whatever their level of sophistication, how well we understand and identify our clients' key priorities and problems, and what they value about working with a credible business partner is crucial to developing, attracting and retaining healthy client relationships and growing sales.
However, most businesses tend to view the world from their own perspective and not from their clients'. This means: |
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Persistence and the Honourable Retreat
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| Did you know:
Over 50% of sales people give up at 1st contact if they get a ‘NO' from the prospect never to go back to that prospect again.
At the 5th contact 7% of sales people are left to speak with the prospect to see if they can do business together.
At the 8th contact there is only one sales person left to work with the prospect. Hopefully it is you.
Many sales people, especially those new to sales, often take it personally when a prospect says ‘NO'. Many fail to persist and often fail to favourably position themselves to ‘leave the door open' for future contact thus limiting their sales opportunities even further. |
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Blogging - One of the Best Internet Marketing Strategies
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| The Internet is changing all the time, so it's important to take advantage of the best Internet marketing strategies out there. One of them is to start a blog!Blogging will give your subscriber a chance to see how knowledgeable you are about your particle blog subject. If you are an expert, this could be a big plus for you because when people see that you know what you are talking about, they will always come to you for more advice or help. |
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Advanced Sales Training - 8 What-to-Do’s About Cold Calling
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| We all need new customers. Cold calling seems to be our default tactic and everyone will agree, it's highly inefficient and very demotivating. So here are 8 actions to take to make it work better for you. |
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Happiness at work, depends on you by Talyn McArthur
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| Happiness: From Defining to Solving the Problem |
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Housework and ADHD
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| When you have ADHD, one of the worst tasks imaginable is… housework. Not only is it boring and mundane, it also provides ample opportunity for procrastination and distraction to take place. What could be a two-hour cleaning spree could take all day. However, even though housework, such as cleaning and tidying, taking the trash out, etc. is not a pleasant prospect, it does need to be done, both from a health and safety standpoint, and for your mental and emotional well-being. You feel much better when you have a clean and tidy house. So how can you make it more interesting and even fun? Below is a winning formula!!! |
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Powering Momentous Market Launches
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| Successful market launches are more than a single Lightning Bolt announcing availability. Great launches are all about building momentum, creating buzz and ultimately, announcing success. That's what Rolling Thunder is all about. |
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Benefits of Hiring Older Workers
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| By 2016, it is expected that 1 out of 3 workers will be 50 years of age or older. A labor shortage, as much as 30% by 2030, is expected as boomers continue to mature. Employers who learn how to attract and keep older workers will be able to fill the expected shortfall. |
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Anchored Backlinks - A Simple Guide
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| Anchored backlinks are key to any campaign to rank well in the search engines. This article describes various strategies for getting backlinks to your website or blog. |
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If you could name just one marketing method…what would it be?
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| Small business owners often ask me if I could pick just one marketing method what would it be. Well, don’t worry I’m not going to say to you that it depends on your target market or on what you do. I really do have just one marketing method that I would pick above all others. Do you want to know what it is? |
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It's What's Inside That Counts
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| Too often, we forget that, like a spring providing a continuous stream of water, we are continuously pouring out what is inside of us. Some days, everything is fine. Other days, we wonder how we could be so far off course from the goals we want to reach. Since consistency is the key to peak performance, and consistency comes from knowledge of self and the application of our skills through awareness, it is obvious that better results can be guaranteed by knowing what is inside of us. |
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Have More Energy At Work With These Tips To A Better Nights Sleep
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| US and Australian studies highlight how fatigue is impacting our quality of life and the quality of work. It is costing relationships and it's costing companies billions in lost productivity. One of the most common causes for fatigue is due to poor or inadequate sleep.Follow these hints on how to overcome the three most common sleeping problems and to get more energy back into your work and your life... |
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C-Level Selling - Asking Sales Questions Is Easier Said Than Done
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| It’s easy to tell a sales person to ask questions and listen more. However, doing it is very difficult. Here are 5 steps to make the process easy and productive for closing sales. |
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Simple and quick tips to get clients fast
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| August is traditionally a time when things go quiet for a lot of businesses as potential customers get back into the swing of things. When you need customers fast though, knowing that is no help at all. So, here’s my top simple and quick ways to get customers fast. |
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How to Achieve The Success That Has Eluded You In The Past- Part 2
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| Here is the second set of 5 powerful ideas to help you achieve the success that you want but has eluded you in the past. |
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How to Achieve The Success That Has Eluded You In The Past- Part 1
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| Most everyone wants a greater degree of success. For some people, the success that they want has eluded them. If this is you, here are 10 easy to implement ideas to help you achieve what you want. The first 5 ideas are in part 1. The second 5 ideas are in part 2. Take the time to act on these ideas and then enjoy your newly found Success!
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Keeping the Love Alive: Selfing, the Cure for Resentment (Part 2 of 2)
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| When your world is filled with many wonderful opportunities, it can feel difficult if you feel you must choose between them, and it's equally rough if you have a hard time saying no to people. Yet saying yes to everything can lead to both over-commitment and resentment, which can erode your relationships, whether at work or home or in your community. |
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There's Value, Value, Value & Value!
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| None of us can ever invest enough time in increasing the punching power of our Value Propositions. Ever think in terms of their ubiquity and staying power? |
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Value, Value Stream, Flow, Pull, Perfection
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| Manufacturing executives said it didn't apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Software development executives said it didn't apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Business & technology services executives said it didn't apply to them. (They were dead wrong.) Sales executives, managers and professionals KNOW FOR SURE it doesn't apply to them. And of course they are right. Right? |
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Get Paid To Write Online
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| Getting paid to write can be a very good way of earning an income from the web. There are many sites offering opportunities that you can take advantage of. Or you can start your own site with your own articles. |
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Five Keys to Controlling Time
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| Controlling time seems to be a continuous challenge for all of us, how can we get more control and enjoy the day and life more. Here are a few ideas that work. |
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Speak for Leads
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| Capture Leads Through Speaking Engagements |
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So You Want to be a Consultant?
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| I've been consulting successfully for over 20 years now. That makes me an old-timer in many folks' perceptions. Friends and associates often come to me for advice on how to start their own consulting business - mostly around how to position themselves as an expert in the market. Here are the thoughts I share. |
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B2B PR: How The Times Are A Changin'
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| The changing nature of media and how it affects the intricate balance of the PR world. |
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Change Is Not a 4 Letter Word
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| Surviving and thriving in these turbulent times means we may need to do things differently or do different things. We need to change. Here are 6 ideas you can implement immediately to get the change you want and need. |
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The Power of Excellence
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| The one ingredient that turns the ordinary to extraordinary is merely a commitment to excellence |
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Improving the Bottom Line With Qualification
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| Given all of this information, even the least experienced seller can figure where the sweet spot is - in terms of benefit, quality, risk management and price.
Now the challenge is deciding what to do with the information.
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Good Decisions, Bad Decisions
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| Why is it possible for two identical businesses in the same market selling the same products and services to the same prospects have radically different outcomes? There are two key reason; First, staff and how the employees of the organizaton do their jobs, second, the quality of the decisions being made on a daily basis.
I'm not foolish enough to believe anyone is capable of making the right decision every time, but there are times when the right choice is just not that hard to identify. When those decisions face us, it is imperative we do the proper due diligence and make the RIGHT decision. This article talks about some of the core reasons bad decisions get made, and talks about how to avoid getting caught in that trap. Enjoy! |
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The Transition from Sales Person to Sales Manager
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| An article taking about the transition from Sales Person to Sales Manager |
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Marketing in a recession can really help your small business
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| The most important thing a business can do in these challenging times is marketing. It is ironic than that this is often the first budget that companies cut when times get tough.
Small businesses can really take advantage of this and learn to survive and thrive in these challenging times. |
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How to run a Sales Meeting
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| Have you ever sat through a pointless meeting and calculated how much of the company's money was being wasted on individuals sitting around a table completely zoned out? |
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Being authentic in sales
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| The 20th century approach of one-upmanship, although still encouraged by many traditional sales managers, seems to be slowly retreating into the shadows of the past as crude and old-fashioned. Polar opposite to the latter, but just as unproductive.. |
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Selling and managing are not the same
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| I wrote recently about sales burnout and the challenges many SME business owners have of being all things to all people including, usually, the main sales person and sales manager. Like many people, I have known that selling and managing are not the same thing. They are two very distinct jobs with different demands and expectations. |
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What is good selling?
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| Like many people, I have always been curious about what makes "great sales performance". This is a perplexing question that has been asked and attempted to be answered by many people over the years.
Also, are great sales people born? (most people believe this to be true - but it's not). What does it take to be an elite sales performer, and can anyone learn how to sell well? |
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Professional Visitor or Professional Sales Person?
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| I am seeing a lot of time wasted by sales staff aimlessly chatting with clients.
How often are you left with the feeling that your sales people are seeing clients, but beyond the "hello" and general chat, nothing of substance is happening?
I call it the phenomenon of "professional visitation". |
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How not to make a prospecting call
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| I've been selling for more than 20 years and have learnt many things by trial and error, common sense and staying aware of market conditions and how customers like to buy. There is no shortage of information out there about prospecting, sales, etc.
However, I am still amazed at how people don't know how to prospect successfully, given the plethora of calls we receive at home in the evenings, with very much similar outcomes to my experience. So why do many businesses still get this part so wrong? |
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The huge cost of hesitation
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| I knew that being hesitant in the sales arena was a no-no, but I didn't know just how much business it could cost. |
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Fix the sales force you have
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| Would we expect any elite sporting team to enter a competition without a clear game plan, talent plan, fitness plan, business plan and action plan? No, of course not. We expect them to be aware, organised, focused and determined to play their best and aim to win.
Well, more than 90% of sales people do not follow any logical process when selling. They are often left to their own devices and simply fly by the seat of their pants, relying on intuition and hoping for the best.
They often cannot articulate their value proposition or know how they compare to the competition. Nor are they clear about what activities they need to do on a daily basis to achieve sales success. Most make it up.
No wonder many don't meet business owners expectations. |
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Creating the right sales training environment
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| The manager, coach or trainer who is committed to accelerating the learning process of their people must attend to creating an optimal learning or meeting environment which also includes it being safe on all levels. For learning, feedback or a meeting to take place effectively you need to create a comfortable and safe environment. For this to occur you need to plan and arrange the environment and resources you will need for your session or meeting. |
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Success is a moving platform
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| Do you have the wrong sales team delivering your sales strategy?
Ask yourself the follow the questions:
How has your strategy and /or market place changed recently?
How have you seen the role of 'sales' change over the last few years in your industry?
How do your sales people compare to your competitors?
How do your sales people need to sell now?
How is your product offering behaving in the market place now? Was it once exclusive and now a commodity?
The definition of a ‘good' salesperson is driven by many possible needs. Those needs are a function of industry standards, changing market conditions, competition, corporate strategy and culture, personalities, past experiences, just to name a few. |
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The Entrepreneurial Sales Person
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| It seemed to me that successful sales people had a lot in common with successful entrepreneurs who are often the main sales people in their own businesses anyway.
I thought we could use this information to help us find and cultivate Entrepreneurial Sales People for our businesses, especially to help we entrepreneurs who need to grow our businesses beyond our own capabilities and personal time constraints. |
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Stop Blaming Sales!
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| If sales isn't responding - then marketing is responsible. Marketing's role is to give sales the tools and training they need to sell the company's solutions. It's also marketing's role to get them excited about the newest offerings. So the next time someone starts to blame sales for lack of product acceptance in your customer base or for discounting deals that don't generate the margin or results you expected - think again. It's most likely sales is doing the best they can with what they've been given. |
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Let Go of What You Cannot Control to Increase Sales & Reduce Stress
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| Is your inability to increase sales directly related to where you are investing your resources of time, energy, dollars and emotion? Is this increasing your stress levels? Learn a quick way to regain control of your sales and your life. |
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Psychological Aspects of Closing the Sale
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| Do you or your staff have issues when it comes to closing sales and asking for commitment? This article will explain some of the primary reasons why this happens enabling you to develop a strategy to overcome this challenge! |
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Facebook and iTunes Applications – How You Can Use Them to Grow Your Business
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| The following tips will show you how to use Facebook and iTunes applications to promote and grow your business.
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Leaders - Make the Tough Calls!
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| Popularity is not part of a CEO's job description. Be a leader and make your decision. Listen to all the input, take the feedback and then decide on a strategy. That's why you get the big bucks...to be a leader and make the tough calls. |
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Your work environment leaves an impression...of you
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| Like it or not, many do "judge a book by its cover." In many ways, our work environment is a reflection of who we are, how we work, and how we may treat others. This article addresses the work environment as well as providing tips on sprucing it up. |
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Give the customer more than what is asked
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| This article delves into the foresight and initiative shown in giving the customer more than what is asked. The customer loves it when something was provided without having to ask for it. A short small-group exercise is included. |
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Get Up Again When You Get Knocked Down
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| Why do we fall down? To learn how to get back up again. I remember hearing this in a movie not so long ago. We all have our set-backs and some of us take pretty hard hits. Encouragement along the road is part of the game. |
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How to Improve Sales Training Programs with this One Word
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| Why are good sales training programs still being used when the results are questionable at best? Possibly the major obstacle is not being identified. |
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Revenue is Down, Let's Fire Sales
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| Cutting back on your source of revenues is something that needs to be done with a precision scalpel - not a chainsaw. |
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How A Simple Visual Can Determine Why You Cannot Achieve Your Goal To Increase Sales
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| Visualization is a great technique to create awareness about current behaviors and then to change them when necessary. Read about how using a visual of a 3 foot piece of rope can positively increase sales.
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How You May Be Losing Sales Because You Are Pushing Your Prospects Instead of Letting Them Pull You
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| Is your sales approach all about pushing your prices, products or proposals onto your potential customers? Maybe it is time to consider another, more effective one? |
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Increase Sales By Being One of the Few and Not One of the Many
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| Do you truly want to increase sales? Many say they want to achieve their sales targets, but the evidence is contrary to their actual behaviors. Learn how a recent challenge demonstrates how few truly want sales success. |
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How Sales Training Forgets This Essential Sales Tool
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| How well have you trained your sales staff? Possibly, you may have missed this one essential sales skill? |
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Two Must Have Tools To Dramatically Increase Sales
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| Imagine for a moment, as a sales professional, you are allowed only 2 tools to begin to increase sales. What would be your first two choices? |
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In Sales You Receive What You Pay to Receive
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| Want to receive more to increase sales? More often than not, you probably receiving exactly what you have paid to receive. |
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Extended Warranties: Sensible Insurance or Waste of Money?
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| Paul Champagne saved the Canadian Department of Defence more than a billion dollars over a ten-year period by "ripping up a couple thousand extended warranties", according to Maclean's magazine (6 July 2009). That's a number that's hard to argue with. So we took a closer look at extended warranties: the pros, the cons, who really benefits from them.
The conclusion? Extended warranties are a very expensive form of insurance. They are a cash cow for retailers, yielding profit margins of 50% and more. The benefit to consumers is dubious, to say the least.
This topic is the sixth in our 2009 white paper series: "Making every IT dollar count!" The full white papers are available on our website.
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How to get business from social networking
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| Social networking a.k.a. the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Ecademy, LinkedIn and so on have become the new marketing buzzwords. Everyone is interested in finding out about them and knowing how to use them to get business in through the door. |
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Customer preception of waiting
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| 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. |
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Bad Business Profits Are Not the Way To Increase Sales
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| Did you ever think some business profits could be bad? Profit is supposed to be a good thing. However, during down economic times or when businesses choose not to innovate, the proliferation of bad profits is everywhere. |
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Revisit the Past to Increase Future Sales
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| 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. |
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First Write-Off
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| Write offs are difficult to avoid. Most business, sooner or later, will see some expected income lost. Most of the time it is real loss, since you lost either billable hours or inventory. Although it is difficult to look at it in any good way, you may be able to find ways of making lemonade out of this lemmon. |
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Contractor vs. Consultant
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| Consultant, Contractor… is there a difference? Sometimes there isn’t, sometimes the same person can be both, even on the same engagement. However, I define the difference this way: |
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Involving your Team in Decisions
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| As a manager, you have come to realize that decision making is a major part of your job. Some decisions have become second nature, and some require a bit more thought, but you’re able to handle even the toughest of them without much difficulty.
As the dynamic of the work place changes, however, decisions will more often be made by teams rather than individuals. Managers will assume the leadership positions in this team decision-making process.
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Be on time
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| This article shares the sentiments of former president George Washington concerning punctuality. Additionally, there are some interesting facts concerning time and the workplace. The article includes a team exercise that may be facilitated in a small group staff meeting. |
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What provokes you to give back?
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| This article delves into a study conducted 37 years ago on what actually motivated people to provide assitance to another. Although almost four decades old, the tale is fascinating.
This is quick, simple, powerful, and provides a small group discussion for small staff meetings. |
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Leadership Strategy - Remove The Deal Breaker to Success And Happiness
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| The caveat during transitions, whether personally or new directions professionally, are past beliefs and paradigms fighting against change. The inner saboteurs are in their warring gear standing steadfast to have you believe that it is safer to stay put or you will end up in a worse position. They are determined to convince you that the "right" choice is not to rock the boat otherwise you will sink!
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Yo Adrian! You Don't Have to "Win" to be Great
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| Applying strategies from the Rocky movies to your business. |
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Writing Training, Business Communication Training, Presentation Skills Training And Instruction in Effective Communication
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| Writing or speaking in public, effective communication begins and ends with the "what" -- the content. Once writing training and presentation skills training help you gain confidence in that (and you will because you're an expert; otherwise, why would you be writing or speaking in the first place?), the "how" will begin to fall into place. To get there, you should take advantage of the fact that WRITING IS THINKING, learn to FOCUS ON YOUR READER OR AUDIENCE and EDIT YOURSELF SCRUPULOUSLY (quality control).
Also, no matter how casually you may approach emails, that form of business communication is ubiquitous and requires the same writing skills as hard-copy memos or reports or letters. So the same three foundations of effective communication should apply when you start tapping away at the keyboard.
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Tackling Barriers to change
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| There are a number of barriers to successful change - both in terms of implementing it and equally, if not more importantly, sustaining it. By highlighting a top 10, this article gives ideas on how to avoid failure and how to implement and sustain successful change.
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Fed Decision: Deflation vs. Inflation
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| With the Fed in meetings the next two days, and fears of heavier inflation much greater than ever before, Bernanke and company find themselves in a very difficult spot and will have to tip toe around inflation fears and focus on their bigger fears of deflation. |
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Positioning for Success - Part I
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| Positioning is probably the most important thing you'll do in your consulting or entrepreneurial business life. People come to you because of their perceptions, and perceptions are created through positioning stories. The right positioning and focus will attract prospects and customers to your door, and keep them coming back. |
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Have You Got The Symptoms?
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| International author David Oliver defines some of the symptoms of stress |
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What’s the Difference Between Writing Articles & Media Releases?
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| Writing an article to boost your business expertise differs from writing a media release for free publicity. Find out what those differences are and how they can affect your results. |
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If You Talk the Talk, You Better Walk the Walk
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| Walk your Talk. Someone will find out when you don't. Thanks to Web 2.0 - that bullet can be shared around the world. Besides, it's the right thing to do. Keep your integrity and do what you say. You may not win all the time, but you'll win more than most. |
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The value of assessment & constructive feedback
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| This article demonstrates the significance of being measured and receiving beneficial analysis on individual performance. |
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Honoring your promises are highly profitable
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| This article provides a demonstration of the impact of honoring one's spoken commitment.
It is designed for a facilitator to use in a staff meeting. |
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2009 Cold Calling Checklist
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| If we listen to the media, 2009 is shaping up to be a tough year. People are losing jobs and homes and businesses are struggling. A tough economy, however, does not mean that no one will ever buy anything or that no business at all will be done in 2009. What it does mean is that business owners and sales professionals will need to adjust tactics to survive: They will need to become more proactive and more efficient at finding new opportunities. |
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How to Use Scripts to Ensure Consistency in Customer Service
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| Is your first reaction like that of my clients - scripting doesn’t work, scripting is too artificial, scripting doesn’t take into account different personalities? I’ve heard just about every excuse as to why scripts won’t work; but, as I wean my clients onto the idea and they see their bottom line increasing, converts are made. Here’s how to get started. |
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Writing Tip: The harmful effects of Rambling Rose
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| 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. |
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Writing Tip: Use a forecasting subject line
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| When you want your emails to get things done, begin with a forecasting subject line. This simple step will turn your readers from passive to active. It often determines whether your email gets read or not. |
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What are you doing...outside of the office?
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| This article challenges one to be cognizant of conduct immaterial of our whereabouts. This is designed for a facilitator to use in a staff meeting. |
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Go ahead. Ask for help.
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| 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. |
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What's That Prospect Thinking?
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| Even the young gun sales star is in danger of becoming a dinosaur if they fail to reexamine their sales approach. The presentation that earned you a trip to Madrid two years ago may land you on Monster.com next year. Can you morph your presentation and sales strategy? |
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May the Abilities Rest in Peace
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| The bottom line is that to truly communicate with our audiences, we need to stop using the same words that everyone drags along, and start thinking creatively, originally and most of all - think and talk like a customer. |
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Get More Clients by Making Your Marketing Materials the Life of the Party
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| When you sit down to write your marketing materials, you’re really getting ready to have a one-on-one conversation with the person who’s going to read them. It’s up to you to decide what kind of conversation that’s going to be. If you make it sound like your typical, formal, boring, all-about-me marketing, people aren’t going to stick around to read the whole thing…
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What If You Hate Long Sales Copy?
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| You've heard using a long copy sales page will increase your small business' sales and help you land more clients--but what if you groan every time you come across one on the internet?
I'll confess, I used to hate long copy too until two factors that changed my mind. Read on to find out what they were--as well as three ways to create a sales page you'll like..that creates results you'll love. |
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Interviewing Techniques - Finding your New Recruit
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| The most crucial part of the recruitment process is the interview stage. You’ve advertised and made the most of the tools at your disposal and assuming you have a great list of potential employees how do you proceed? We offer some practical tips for recruiters on interviewing.
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Evaluating your recruitment process
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| Getting recruitment right first time saves money, time and much angst. Continually evaluating your recruitment process is how you will achieve this. This article tell you how. |
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Finding a job on the internet
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| When looking for a new job the internet is an obvious place to start. There are plenty job boards and recruitment agencies to choose from. Here we offer some great tips to assist you succeed in your job search.
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Career Search – Ask yourself ‘What Can I Offer?’
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| When seeking a change in career the most crucial question to ask yourself is, what do I have to offer a new employer? Consider your work history as a whole and identify the transferable skills you’ve learned in an effort to put yourself ahead of other potential jobseekers. |
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Getting An Outside Look
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| Working with a team over time can create "group think" and rob the ability to be objective. Soliciting feedback from the outside can help overcome this. Read this article to find out how. |
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But They're Our BEST Customer!
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| A strong relationship with a customer is the Holy Grail we all seek. After all, once you have a Win/Win relationship, both businesses profit, right?
Sometimes, but not always. |
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Three is Marketing's Magic Number
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| When you overload your audience with too many messages, you risk not communicating at all. |
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Sales is Discounting Again
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| How many times have I heard this cry from clients? Always makes me wonder if corporate citizens understand and appreciate how hard selling can be - especially if you have little air cover and not much ammunition.
The fact is that if sales is discounting it means the company, and particularly marketing, hasn't done its job. I'm not trying to pass blame - just pointing out a 'relative' truth. |
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Liven up eLearning course to engage learners with funny quiz
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| Making good eLearning courses is a developing art. A funny quiz can energize almost any content and produce powerful new understanding for your learners. Integrate funny quiz into eLearning course is an easy way to capture the attention of learners and make your course memorable. |
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Successful Entrepreneurs - Know How to Grow Your Business, but Need a Push?
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| Often, successful entrepreneurs fail to implement their own great ideas and strategies, ones they know would take their business to higher levels of revenue and profits. |
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Dealing with Blind Spots
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| This article deals with learning how to avoid blind spots by helping a client or team member gather all the necessary information they need for the task at hand. |
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What Happens When You Try to Hard To Sell?
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| If you are in an industry that has been impacted by the recession, and you are doing everything possible to continue to bring in revenue, then you are working twice as hard, twice as long and twice as smart. If not, you are probably failing right now. Twice as long is plenty obvious. Twice as smart means planning the strategies and tactics you'll use for each opportunity. But what about twice as hard? Is that working twice as hard today and tomorrow or is that working twice as hard with every prospect? |
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Thinking about Selling Your Business? - Some Quick Tips
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| Follow these tips for a successful business sale or merger and you'll be rewarded with a higher business valuation, a better buyer, tax savings and a more successful deal outcome. |
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7 pointers for success in a franchise
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| This article gives you seven pointer on how to succeed in your own franchise business. |
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2 + 2 = 3
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| Quantitative evidence can be a great boon to companies. They prove the points we want to make. But they can also shoot our credibility in the foot - or even worse. I want to emphasize is the importance of understanding your numbers - and of spinning them to support your points in a reasonable and logical fashion. |
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Cash Cow or Sacred Cow?
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| Getting down to the nitty gritty about a client's 'best sellers' is one of the first things I jump into when I start a new project. More often than not, those 'best sellers' are the source of more problems than anyone would expect.
How can that be? It's the biggest seller (which is easy to prove with revenues), the cash cow, sacred cow, the product that delivers major corporate differentiation. Right?
Sometimes it is. But more often it's not.
It may generate the most revenue - but you have to look deeper, much deeper, to find out how the product is impacting your business. |
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Sales Process Should Fit Buying Stage
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| Sales Process Should Fit Buying Stage |
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Why Improve Your Communication Skills?
| |
| Ask yourself these questions. The answers you generate may surprise you. |
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The Cost of a Franchise Offering
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| There are initial and ongoing costs to a franchise program. This article summarizes each and gives an idea of what the franchisor can expect. |
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Okay I'm On Twitter
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| Tools to help you maximize Twitter |
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Book Review: Selling The Invisible
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| Selling The Invisible is packed with tips and insights on how to market your business services. Harry Beckwith claims that most marketing advice is based on a product marketing model, most of which doesn’t apply to service businesses.
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What Comes First? Ready..Aim..Fire?
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| No doubt the phrase “ready..aim..fire” has been drummed into your head as the right way to do things. But is it really? |
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Press Release Credibility – Quotes and Testimonials
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| One of the guidelines for writing an effective Press Release is to write in the third person. You want to avoid “I”, “You”, “We”, “Us” because you are reporting and not having a conversation with someone. These nouns are used in a Press Release only when they are a part of a direct quote. |
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Million Dollar Mistakes
| |
| Want to avoid common start-up missteps? Read on... |
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Your E-Mail Name Could Hurt Your Career Advancement
| |
| What do email addresses like "Pookie Bear," "Hot Mama," and Sexy Stud" have in common. They could all hold up your advancement or even stop you from being hired. |
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your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
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