Title:

Mortgage Loan Lead

Word Count:

312

Summary:

If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker looking to purchase mortgage loan leads, you may be considering what type of mortgage loan lead to purchase, and which company to purchase them from.

Keywords:

Sales, marketing, loan officer, mortgage, leads, telemarketing, skills, training, communication, selling,

Article Body:

If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker looking to purchase mortgage loan leads, you may be considering what type of mortgage loan lead to purchase, and which company to purchase them from.

There are a few different types of leads to choose from and literally hundreds of lead companies to buy them from.

A few different types of the mortgage loan leads you can purchase would be “real time” leads, which are only seconds old by the time you receive them. There are also the old or recycled leads which you can receive relatively cheap and usually in bulk.

Be careful with the recycled leads because you can guarantee that they have been through many loan officers before they have reached your desk, so don’t be expecting much on the quality end of these leads.

Than there is the live transfer lead where the prospect is transferred to you from a representative of the lead company once they have made contact. Just make sure you are available to take the call.

Once you have decided which type of lead is best for you, it comes time to decide on which lead company to invest in.

My suggestion to you would be to call and speak with someone in customer service. Get a feel for how they obtain their leads and how they deliver them, as well as gathering information on their return policy.

If you are unable to reach anyone in customer service, or they are not clear on their answers to your questions, than it is time to move onto the next lead company.

Remember, you work hard for your money, and if you feel as though the quality of the customer service is not good or meeting your expectations, than most likely the quality of the leads will not be good or live up to your expectations.

Title:

You Don’t Need Sales Training

Word Count:

607

Summary:

Is there a right way to sell? Do you ever wonder why sales can be so difficult? This article reveals the truth about true sales and marketing effectiveness and gives you an inside-out strategy for polishing your sales pitch.

Keywords:

marketing effectiveness, marketing consulting, sales training, outside-in, inside-out

Article Body:

If you’re a solopreneur, consultant, business owner, or independent professional, you probably have asked yourself some or all of the following questions:

* How can I get more clients?
* How can I get better clients?
* How do I sell more to the clients I’ve got?
* Can I earn more money and still have a life?
* Why are sales activities so difficult sometimes?
* Is there a "right" way to sell?
* Where can I turn for hands-on advice when I need it?
* When will this get easier?

Well, I’ve got some answers. Here’s what most sales training companies will tell you is the answer to your sales and marketing challenges: sales training. Here’s what most marketing consultants will tell you is your answer: marketing consulting.

Well, that just isn’t the case.

If anything, you need to UNlearn what a lot of sales training and marketing seminars and sales books have told you. You need to reconnect with how to sell based on WHO you are – in short, to start using and recognizing the power of selling differently.

And here’s something new and different coming from someone like me: You don’t need sales training.

Sales training (and any training) is for people who lack knowledge. My clients are typically very smart. But they've learned to sell from the head - using gimmicks, clever phrases, manipulative “closing” techniques, and artificial “rapport-building.” None of this works or lasts because it's outside-in – trying to force you into a mold that you just don’t fit.

A truly effective approach will unlock your thinking and help you sell FOR REAL. It's more authentic, and it works and lasts because you start to sell from the inside-out - based on WHO you are, and not on an external set of behaviors that work for only a very small percentage of "old school" salespeople.

Think about it. You know how to sell (or at least you know you don't like what a lot of sales training SAYS is the way to sell). You have probably had some sales training; and you might have gone to a few sales seminars; you have probably read a sales or marketing book or two; and you may even have heard some fluffy “woo-woo” talks that call themselves sales training; but none of it stuck because none of it seemed relevant to you or spoke to your desire to help people by providing genuine value.

You need a personal sales and marketing strategy that seamlessly combines your natural self with your strongest message to your best prospects with the highest value, using the least time and effort.

Then you need a plan and an accountability mechanism (sales manager, coach, or colleague) that will help you work your plan, day by day, prospect by prospect.

Unlike traditional sales training, true sales and marketing effectiveness is a process, not an event. And it always works from the INSIDE out. That means that it’s focused on internal skills and lasting tools, not sales training gimmicks or external “techniques.”

When selecting a sales and marketing professional, you need to be aware that a lot of marketing consultants give detailed blueprints but no tools. And a lot of sales training provides specific tools but no overall blueprint.

You want to look for a resource that integrates big-picture marketing strategy with day-to-day selling tools so that your marketing WORKS and that MORE SALES HAPPEN. The truth is that nobody needs “one-size-fits-all” sales training or “here’s-your-marketing-plan-good-luck” consulting. You simply need a customized set of keys to unlock the business answers you need. There is no cookie cutter. You’re no cookie.

Title:

Negotiating – The Myths and Realities

Word Count:

1137

Summary:

There are a lot of myths surrounding negotiating which don’t help if you are faced with handling such a situation for the first time. But as with many myths, there is usually a very different reality. So what are the myths and realities?

Keywords:

negotiation, negotiating tips

Article Body:

We have all been there at some stage in our business lives – the dreaded negotiation with your most awkward client. He regularly screws you to the floor each year on price and everything else you have to offer! Pretty quickly you see every negotiation as a battle and all your self confidence goes.

There are a lot of myths surrounding negotiating which don’t help if you are faced with handling such a situation for the first time. But as with many myths, there is usually a very different reality.

Myth: It can be a daunting ordeal

You mention to your trusted partner or member of staff that you are off to negotiate next year’s big contract. What do they say? “Good luck!” The majority of people think that negotiating is a dirty and tough task, a necessary evil.

Reality: Not if you plan

As with all things in life, we fear the unknown, especially if we are unprepared. The reality of negotiating is that with adequate preparation comes confidence. Before your meeting sit down and ask yourself the following questions:

1. What do you want out of this negotiation?

2. What is your lowest, acceptable and best price?

3. What are you prepared to ‘give away’ if necessary?

4. What do you know about the other company’s position in the deal?

5. If you don’t know much, what questions can you ask to improve your understanding?
6. Thorough preparation is a great confidence booster. See the negotiation as a presentation and plan your approach and questions before hand.

Myth: Negotiators are born

There is such a mystic surrounding negotiation and the skills needed to be good at it, that most people think you either have it at birth or you don’t!

Reality: Negotiators can be made

Like any skill in business, negotiation skills can be learnt and put into practice. There are lots of books, tapes and seminars you can attend on this subject. Negotiation is a structured process and once you understand how it all works the task becomes easier. But as with any new skill you have to practice, practice, practice and this is where most people fall down. Having acquired a new skill you have put in the training but it can be done!

Myth: To strike a deal you have to concede on price

The perception is that many negotiations end up with one of the parties always having to concede on price just to secure the deal.

Reality: There are other items you can concede on

The reality in any negotiation is that price is not always the deciding factor. There is usually something else that the other party wants in addition to, or instead of, a lower price. It could be that they need the product or service quickly and may be prepared to pay a premium for a fast delivery. They may want the product changed slightly to meet their specifications. They may like some on-site support for implementation.

In your research and questioning it’s up to you to find out what they really want. Dig deep and find it because every part of the deal is negotiable, not just the price. Once you have hit upon it, before conceding on price, throw it into the pot. Remember, this could be something which means very little to you but a lot to them.

Myth: If their first offer is what you want, say yes

After your sales pitch your client comes back and immediately offers exactly what you wanted. Wow, what a great outcome! He’s got what he wants and so do you. Deal done!

Reality: Always counter the first offer

If you accept immediately there are two problems:

1. Your customer will think he has had a bad deal, “He accepted straight away! I could have had a much better deal. I’m sure I went in too high.” With these thoughts going through his mind he won’t feel totally happy with the deal and the chance of cancellation or no future business is higher

2. It’s likely that this your customer’s opening bid. Opening bids are usually on the low side and used as a starting point. Accepting now, even if it’s what you were looking for, could mean you throwing away a higher price

There are instances where the customer will say “I don’t negotiate. This is the price I’m prepared to pay.” He has set the rules, so as long as you are happy with the price, go for it!

Myth: Negotiating is a competition with only one winner

If you have a competitive streak this is how you will see a negotiation – something to win or lose. Non-competitive people who believe this myth automatically lower their defences and quickly cave in to the ‘stronger’ player.

Reality: There should be two winners

Negotiation is not a competition. The ideal outcome should be win-win, where both sides feel they achieved something out of the whole process – one got a sale at a price he wanted and the other got a purchase at a price he wanted.

Win-win outcomes leave the door open for building strong relationships which will lead to more business in the future. Win-lose outcomes mean that one side will be reluctant to deal again. If, by your very nature, you are a competitive person, temper this and accept the reality that the negotiation process has to have two winners, not just you!

Myth: If you walk away, that’s it

You have found the perfect product but you don’t get the price or deal you are looking for. However, you are afraid about loosing the opportunity so you decide to go for it anyway, at any price.

Reality: Opportunities often come around again

Accepting a deal through fear is not a position you want to be in. You will always have a nagging doubt that you paid too much or gave away something which you should not have. Be strong enough to walk away from a deal if it’s not what you are after.

You have to learn to detach yourself from the underlying deal and avoid getting emotionally involved with the product or service. Just concentrate on getting the best result. Being emotionally detached means you can walk away with no doubts. You may find that a few days later the seller will be back banging on your door with another offer. Remember that opportunities always pop up and walking away is not a failure!

So take a fresh look at negotiating. Are you clinging onto old myths about how negotiating should be done? Accept that the reality can be very different!

Title:

Negotiation Tips For Newbies.

Word Count:

574

Summary:

Experienced negotiators are a hard thing to find these days. Although it’s not easy to become a professional negotiator since it requires knowledge and experience, anyone can be a better negotiator in every field of our lives. Some rules must be adapted in order to succeed that.

Do not try to be pleasant. It’s true that most people want to be pleasant and popular but this is not appropriate in negotiation process. During the negotiations you will have to say “No” many time...

Keywords:

negotiation,negotiation tips,negotiation secrets,negotiation tactics

Article Body:

Experienced negotiators are a hard thing to find these days. Although it’s not easy to become a professional negotiator since it requires knowledge and experience, anyone can be a better negotiator in every field of our lives. Some rules must be adapted in order to succeed that.

Do not try to be pleasant. It’s true that most people want to be pleasant and popular but this is not appropriate in negotiation process. During the negotiations you will have to say “No” many times and displease your “opponent”. If you can’t accept that then let someone else do that job.

Stay focused. Chit chat is the last thing you need. Remain on your primary goals you have set and do not let the conversation go beyond that. Don’t be the one who talks more. The more you talk the more your opponent will know.

You have to be prepared before the procedure. Learn everything for the other side, their financial status, older negotiation results, other deals they have done, the arguments you expect they could possibly develop.

Where the negotiations take place? This is critical. There is a debate on that. Some people believe that negotiating in your base will make you feel better and more comfortable during the process. Some other think that negotiating in your “opponent’s” base can provide you valuable information for who he could be and what can you except. The third view specifies the need of a neutral place. All could be right or wrong.

Go for the higher offer. If you plan to sell your house 100.000$ you will not start the offer from 100.000$.You have to start from more. In that way you will have more space for shifts. You have to set these goals before the beginning of the negotiations.

Focus on your strong arguments and on the other side’s week arguments. Doing this, you will have the upper hand and you will gain more in the outcome of the negotiation. Do not let happen the opposite! If not you will loose more than you expected in the first place.

Avoid the early concessions. Try to be the last who give up. You should expect your opponent negotiator to make the first move.

Don’t accept the first offer. The first offer is not the last, almost never. You will get a better one if you insist.

Try the “salami” tactic. Don’t ask for the whole thing but a tiny piece. Since there is not going to be an objection from the other side then you can ask for another tiny piece. This tactic is popular in diplomacy between countries but it can be adapted to individuals too.

Don’t be impatient. If the deal is very important, be prepared for long and tiring negotiation process. If you are in hurry to close it you will have to give more in order to do that.

Do not accept no always as an answer. It’s been proved that no can be transformed to yes with the appropriate arguments.

It’s not a personal matter. The other negotiator is a human too. There is no need to take it personal and get angry if it’s not going as you wanted to be. You can be a tough negotiator without being hostile.

Avoid the big lies. You won’t be believable. You can twist around but lying will lead to dead end.

Title:

Sales—Using The Law Of Expectancy

Word Count:

379

Summary:

Studies in persuasion technology show that what you expect tends to be realized. I call this the Law of Expectation, which is also one of the tenants of sales.

As a sales professional, your expectations influence reality. I recently came across a movie called, "What the Bleep Do We Know?" It explains how our thoughts and intentions shape our reality. If you haven’t seen the movie, I urge you to do so. (You can go to http://www.whatthebleep.com/ to learn more.)

The mov...

Keywords:

Sales, Motivation, Patrick Porter, Goals

Article Body:

Studies in persuasion technology show that what you expect tends to be realized. I call this the Law of Expectation, which is also one of the tenants of sales.

As a sales professional, your expectations influence reality. I recently came across a movie called, "What the Bleep Do We Know?" It explains how our thoughts and intentions shape our reality. If you haven’t seen the movie, I urge you to do so. (You can go to http://www.whatthebleep.com/ to learn more.)

The movie explains that human behavior is directly related to how others expect us to perform. As an example, there was once a study in which first grade students were told that blue-eyed kids are smarter than brown-eyed kids. The blue-eyed children subsequently scored better on tests than their brown-eyed peers.

After several months they decided to bring the children together and tell them that what they'd told them before was wrong. This time, they said that all children are born with blue eyes and the more we learn the more our eyes turn brown, so brown-eyed children are smarter. Just as predicted, the blue-eyed children started to have trouble with their studies and the brown-eyed children improved.

So what might happen if you truly believe you're a great salesperson? What if you were to see, hear and experience every prospect as a great candidate? How do you do this? One way is to make a great first impression; it’s the moment where the Law of Expectation has the greatest impact on your performance. You communicate your expectations by your word choices, voice inflection and body language. When you expect your prospects to buy, all your actions will lead them in the right direction.

Before each sales meeting, try asking yourself, "How do I expect this sales process to go?" If your other-than-conscious mind feeds back a negative response, mentally rehearse the end result you want in full color with sound and feeling. You may want to imagine the prospect signing an order form or handing you a check. Now picture yourself smiling and shaking hands with your new customer. Know that you’ve just done a great service. When you spend time rehearsing success, you’ll be comfortable with it when it happens.

Title:

Death of a Salesman? It’s What Happens When the Customer Says “I’ll Think It Over!”

Word Count:

259

Summary:

Michael Jordan said “Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it”
You have given a great presentation, you ask for the order and the customer says he‘s going to think it over. This was the moment I felt was the last straw. I’d had it! I don’t want to sell anymore; I’m going back to bookkeeping! So, without a care in mind I said whatever came to mind and it worked! Let me share my epiphany with you.

Keywords:

salesman,customer,think it over,obstacles,presentation,selling,sales trainer,objections

Article Body:

I was selling employment testing material that was based on the teachings of a well-known sales trainer. The question that brought the most conversation was about closing. How do you ask for an order? When someone says I’ll think it over, do you become the nice customer service type that says “fine, call me when you’re ready” or do you go for the throat and say “what is there to think about?” You know the first response is totally wrong and the second, which is the suggested answer, will probably turn the customer off. You try to say it nicely but at this point it’s likely he’s not going to say much more. What did I do? I said gently and with a smile in my voice, “Mr. Customer, could you think out loud so I can hear you?”

I must tell you, I did not expect the response I got. He laughed heartily and said he could do that. He proceeded to tell me his reasoning and I proceeded to answer all his objections. We were both very relaxed; he purchased my product and congratulated me on my question and my closing.
There’s an old adage that says, “A smile given to another can make the difference in their day and yours too.”

Needless to say, I decided selling could be fun. I did not go back to boring bookkeeping and now that I’ve retired, these words ‘could you think out loud so I can hear you’ are my present to you.

Title:

Magic Number Calculator - A Diagnostic Approach to Sales Performance

Word Count:

839

Summary:

I walked into a VP of Sales mission with a sales organization consisting of 120 reps spread out over 12 sales regions. They were running at 38% of revenue goal for over 2 years. I ran a Key Performance Indicator study and determined they were running 2 new appointments per week/rep, but their KPI’s dictated they needed to achieve 7. So I announced a training objective to enable them to do it effectively, (now branded the X2 Sales System) and threw quota out the window for 90 days. But I replaced the monthly quota with the weekly 'magic number'. 8 months later sales units sold increased by 520%. Find out how.

Keywords:

sales leadership,sales training,sales performance,sales management training,corporate sales training

Article Body:

We discussed the most overlooked Key Performance Indicator is the "magic number," which refers to how many new appointments a sales rep must generate each week in order to achieve their revenue goal. In early 2000 I walked into a VP of Sales mission with a sales organization consisting of 120 reps spread out over 12 sales regions. They were running at 38% of revenue goal for over 2 years. I ran a KPI study and determined they were running 2 new appointments per week/rep, but their KPI’s dictated they needed to achieve 7. So I announced a training objective to enable them to do it effectively, (now branded the X2 Sales System®) and threw quota out the window for 90 days. But I replaced the monthly quota with the weekly ‘magic number’.

8 months later sales units sold increased by 520%.
(See the Resource Box below to calculate your sales team’s ‘Magic Number’.)

A rep's magic number is determined by looking at several of her other KPIs. Say, for example, that your company sells copiers (for which an average sales cycle is 45 days) and that a rep's monthly sales revenue goal is $15,000. Her average revenue per sale, meanwhile, is $2,500; her current first-appointment-to-proposal ratio is 60 percent; and her closing ratio is 40 percent. What's her magic number? In other words, how many new appointments does she need to set each week in order to achieve her sales revenue goal of $15,000 per month?

The Magic Number Formula

Monthly sales revenue objective: $15,000
Divided by (/)
Average revenue per sale: $2,500
/
First-appointment-to-proposal ratio: 60%
(What percentage of the time do reps gain commitment from prospective clients to "take the next step" in the sales process after the first appointment?)
/
Closing ratio: 40%
(Proposal to close--measures proposals submitted vs. new business achieved.)
/
Weeks in the month: 4
=
Magic number: (approximately) 6 new appointments each week

Once you have identified the magic number, the next step is to determine how many new appointments a rep is currently generating each week. If she is falling short of her six-appointments-per-week goal, your job as a sales trainer is to find ways--through targeted KPI training--to help her bridge that gap and achieve her "magic number."

Here are some tips for doing just that:

1. As an organization, announce that the ability to convert conversations into appointments will become a KPI of the sales process.

2. Define an appointment-setting objective and train to that objective. For example, if the average weekly amount of time that sales reps devote to prospecting new clients is 22.5 hours (out of a 45-hour workweek), your organization's objective might be to cut that prospecting time in half (to 11.25 hours per week) while simultaneously exceeding current appointment-setting levels. With your objective in place, it's now time to break down and document the steps in the prospecting process and train reps on how to make better use of their prospecting time during each step.

3. Map out all possible scenarios that might occur during the prospecting process. Once you have done so--and documented best-practice strategies for handling each scenario--create mini training modules and/or job aids that show reps how to handle each scenario effectively.

4. In addition to enhancing reps' prospecting skills, another way to ensure that they achieve their "magic number" is to help them improve other KPIs in the "magic number" formula, such as their closing and first-appointment-to-proposal ratios.

> To increase their first-appointment-to-proposal ratio, for example, your training might encourage reps to start at the "top" with those who have fiscal authority and can "call the shots." Training might also pinpoint ways for reps to avoid "selling" products during the first appointment by providing them with an outline of the diagnostic steps they should follow in order to evaluate the fit between their solution and a prospective client's business objectives.

>To increase reps' closing ratio, meanwhile, the training you develop might show reps how to ask pertinent questions to determine what a prospective client's decision-making process entails, what the client's internal criteria for change include and which players need to be involved in the sales process in order for proper evaluation of a product to occur. In addition, your training might show reps how to catalog risk factors (e.g., possible objections or reservations a client might have regarding purchasing a product or service from your organization) for each player involved in the decision-making process and then provide reps with strategies, tactics, and tools for direct communication with clients based on those risk factors.

In the end, targeted, effective sales training can make a critical difference to your bottom line, and so can effective goal-setting. In today's high-performance sales culture, it's up to trainers and sales management to work together to focus more on daily and weekly goals and less on monthly or quarterly quotas. Success in doing so rests on the ability to switch paradigms from looking merely at required end results to also determining the necessary KPIs it takes to get there--and then building supporting tools and training to help sales reps along the way.

And, above all, don't forget your magic number!

Title:

Garage Sale Pricing - Strategies For Easily Pricing Garage Sale Items To Sell

Word Count:

359

Summary:

How to price garage sale items is always a source of concern. If your pricing is too high, then the stuff won't sell, pricing that is low means poor profits. What you want is a nice balance so that you will get the most money for your garage sale items, and leave you with a cleaner house too.

The purpose of this article is to give you a couple of quick ideas that will help you determine good garage sale pricing levels so your items will sell and produce the best possible ...

Keywords:

garage sales, garage sale tips,garge sale advertising

Article Body:

How to price garage sale items is always a source of concern. If your pricing is too high, then the stuff won't sell, pricing that is low means poor profits. What you want is a nice balance so that you will get the most money for your garage sale items, and leave you with a cleaner house too.

The purpose of this article is to give you a couple of quick ideas that will help you determine good garage sale pricing levels so your items will sell and produce the best possible profits.

The biggest challenge you will need to face is the challenge of 'pricing from the heart'. Some items are useless to you, but useful (valuable) to others. And of course some things that you value may be absolutely worthless to anyone else on the planet.

The easiest garage sale pricing tip we can give is to use color-coding. Choose several different coloured stickers (or tags) and then give each colour a price. At the sale, in plain view, post a large sign with the price scale for each colour of sticker you use. Then, simply mark all of your items with coloured stickers. This is one of the fastest and easiest garage sale pricing techniques around.

Be sure to have a smaller version of the price key at the cashier's table – this garage sale pricing tip will make your life much easier. The color-coded method as a garage sale pricing tip works really well if you are having a two-day garage sale and you advertise that you will be reducing prices on the second day. Then, instead of changing the price on every single item, you can simply post a new sign or make changes on the one you have up already.

Pricing the stuff you want to sell at your garage sale does not need to be a stressful event. Just think about how much you'd be willing to pay for that item if it were used and had no special meaning to you. If you do that, you'll be in the right ballpark and will have much better success at selling all your stuff.

Title:

How to Recognize Your ‘True’ Sales Performance Competencies

Word Count:

1074

Summary:

“Run your Numbers…don’t chase after Quota”

How do you currently define a “Sales Performance Competency?”
Let’s take a look at (3) essential sales competencies that will dramatically increase your success and take the guesswork out of month-end.

Keywords:

sales leadership,sales training,sales performance,sales management training,corporate sales training

Article Body:

Let’s first define what we mean by a “core competency.” We will then introduce the 3 Core Competencies, and spend our time understanding how they can dramatically increase your success.

The term Core Competencies refers to those essential elements in the sales process that most directly impact your success. These elements are controllable and measurable, and sales professionals can be trained to be proficient in these areas. Unfortunately, many sales organizations and individuals lose focus – distracted by peripheral activities or sophisticated systems that track dozens of different activities when only a handful really matters.

Without a foundation built upon these essential elements or Core Competencies, and because of all the distractions and roadblocks an organization is susceptible to today, results can be mediocre or less.

Take a look at the following list of items that are prevalent in the sales cycle, and select the items that you believe are absolutely essential to your success.
- Closing Sales
- Developing Prospect Lists
- Setting Appointments
- Running 1st Appointments
- Working Qualified Prospects through the Sales Pipeline
- Post-Sale Marketing
- Developing Referrals
- Reporting and Paperwork
- Documenting Testimonials

Many of these tasks are important, but they are not all sales performance competencies. Yes, it is important and useful to ask for referrals and develop testimonials from satisfied customers, but your success hinges mostly on the mastery of – and attention to – the Core sales Competencies.

One simple way to determine whether an activity, routine or task is truly a core sales competency is to ask what activities are directly linked to revenue.
After all, revenue is how we sales people measure success. That’s our scorecard at the end of the month.

We can do that through a series of questions listed below.

Is it an essential component to the sales mission or is it just an ingredient in the recipe?

Separate necessary tasks in your sales day from key competencies.
Consider a golfer’s essential competencies from tee-off to last putt. Is the core competency the ball – or the club? Or is it the golf swing and putting stroke?

As an example, Prospecting for new business is a necessary sales system to put in place for routine success. Within your Prospecting system are individual components for lead generation; things like customer referral programs, vendor collaboration programs, affinity programs, target information seminars and association programs. These are not authentic sales competencies but tactical vehicles for lead generation.

The actual sales competency is the ‘Act of communicating the Business Reason to Meet’ once you are given the opportunity to have a face-to-face or telephone conversation with your intended target prospect.
And the measurement of that competency, or key performance indicator, is the ‘Conversation-to-appointment’ ratio; how many times you ask for the business appointment versus how many times you achieve it.

Can it be measured routinely and accurately with a napkin, pencil, and calculator?

Just as measuring your ‘Conversation-to-appointment’ ratio; how many times you ask for the business appointment versus how many times you achieve it, your first appointment to proposal ration is a key performance indicator which make it also an essential sales performance competency, because the objective of your first appointment is advancing your sales process to the next step. That might be a demonstration, a site visit, a survey or a proposal.

The degree that you perform your 1st appointment sales process to achieve your ‘Next Step’ objective is measurable and will give you diagnostic feedback to your competency level parallel to your 1st appointment methodology and process.

Can you set a realistic performance benchmark tied to revenue goals?

Let’s say you have diagnosed your sales performance competencies as converting target prospect conversations to appointments, converting 1st appointments to the ‘next step’ in your sales process and then closing the business from there. So that’s (3) sales performance competencies; Conversation-to-appointment ratio, 1st appointment to proposal ratio and closing ratio.

How would you go about setting realistic performance benchmarks that the team can aspire to and measure themselves against?

To do so you need (3) more sales performance numbers; your average revenue per sale, your monthly revenue objective and your weekly activity number. Your weekly activity number is a derivative of your (3) sales performance competencies and your average revenue per sale parallel to your monthly revenue objective.

Here’s an example of a sales manager in the document management industry. Her team’s average revenue per sale is $3400. She calculates she needs to maintain a 1st appointment to proposal ratio of 65%. The closing ratio is set at 40%. Their individual monthly revenue goal is $25,000.
The derivative of these performance numbers is a weekly activity goal of (7) new appointments per rep, on average.

Next is the reality check. Are these performance numbers realistic to meet? Do they have the necessary skill-set and supporting tools to meet all the benchmarks and achieve the performance ratios and activity goal?

If not, what adjustments are needed in line with the benchmarks and what training is needed to achieve them?


Can you apply “Pin-point Training” and “Powerful Routines” around each core competency?

We know what training is, but do we understand why training fails? Timely training is NOT a seminar or one-time event. It requires appropriate structures for learning and application, defining useful short-term objectives, measuring progress, working closely with qualified trainers for follow-up and support, and most importantly, organizational commitment from the ‘Top’ down.

‘Timely training’ is focused on one sales performance competency at a time until the appropriate benchmark of performance is realized.

So if you can say it is directly tied to revenue (or your end result), is a skill set that can be trained to for improvement, and can be easily measured, it is a Sales Performance Competency.

Perhaps a golf analogy will help illustrate the power of the Business of Core Competencies. A self-professed “poor” golfer with a chronic slice might attempt to correct the problem by adjusting his stance – actually aiming away from the fairway so that the slice hopefully lands the ball in the middle.

In contrast, a low handicap golfer with a persistent slice might address the problem by adjusting their grip, rotating their hips, or the adjusting the arc of their swing. In other words, the good golfers address the core competencies of the swing vs. adjusting peripheral elements.

Off the golf course, in the sales arena, the opportunity for you is to identify, train to and measure sales performance competencies and performance metrics, and not just chase after quota.

Title:

4 Explosive Tips To Dynamite Your Sales Volume

Word Count:

544

Summary:

Some of the most effective things in life are the simplest. Marketers spend a lot of time trying to understand the psyche of consumers, discover ways to predict economic trends and a million other aspects of business that can determine success. Hey, it pays to remember that some things are just basic, common sense and as easy as pie.

Keywords:

quick delivery, easy to buy, follow up

Article Body:

Some of the most effective things in life are the simplest. Marketers spend a lot of time trying to understand the psyche of consumers, discover ways to predict economic trends and a million other aspects of business that can determine success. Hey, it pays to remember that some things are just basic, common sense and as easy as pie. Let's look at some tactics that just might be the key to the success you've been pining for.

1. Keep An Eye On Your Best Customers
Yeah, wouldn't be great if all of your customers were just like them? ...easy to please, loyal, and ready to tell a friend about your wonderful service. Just maybe you can develop more customer just like them!

Think about it... what makes them so great? What are the traits they have in common? Direct your marketing campaign to people who are just like them. Focus on their niche! You'll net new consumers and higher profits for your efforts.

2. Hurry It Up!
What's the hurry? Todays customers are busily running helter skelter from work to day care to home to an event back home... They're rushing through life, but trying to save a buck as they go. How much do you think they would appreciate the ability to do both in your shop?

Revise your advertising campaign to stress the time they'll save and the money they'll keep in their pockets while enjoying all of the wonderful benefits your products have to offer. Chip in a few specials where they can save even more moeny (with a deadline, of course). Deliver! Immediately! Let them save money and time... and hey, watch your sales explode!

3. Make it Easy to Buy
Convenience it the key to attracting buyers in today's fast paced society. What will be the fastest and easiest for them... credit card, phone, fax, Internet, or cold hard cash? They say there are different strokes for different folks... your customers don't all use the same methods to buy. It just makes sense that if the method they prefer is available, they'll be more likely to take advantage of it.

Simplicy... ah, it makes life so much easier. Yeah, your harried customers are busy and tired. They don’t want to mess around. Most of the time, they just want to make the purchase and head home. Convenience stores testify to the fact that quick and easy often overrides a better price!

4. Follow Up
Following up with a customer who didn’t buy can be the determining factor between and “almost sale” and a satisfied, loyal customer. Simply contact them afterwards and let them know the product is still available or offer them further information they may find valuable.

One of my favorite catalog companies always closes out the sale with a special buy that is available only at the time of purchase. I'm not an impulsive shopper by any stretch of the imagination, but it stops me in my tracks every time. I know it's a one-time shot, and I really consider whether I want or need it before I hang up the phone.

Expoding your current sales volume and profit margin may not be as difficult as you've been making it! Give these 4 tips a shot, and see what happens!

Title:

Wholesale - Is It Worth The Cost?

Word Count:

566

Summary:

A rather devil's advocate look at whether or not buying wholesale is worth the cost of excessive inventory, if you truly don't have the need for it.

Keywords:

wholesale

Article Body:

If you're reading the title of this article and wondering if it's a misprint, it is not. Wholesale many times comes at a cost that people don't realize or don't think about until it's too late. This article will try to shed some light on some of the pitfalls of buying wholesale.

There is an old saying that goes, "You don't get anything for nothing" and that is so true with buying wholesale. Let's take a look at a few real life examples and you'll understand the problems you face.

For starters, you just can't buy wholesale if you're a regular Joe off the street. Meaning, you can't walk into a wholesale store, walk up to an aisle, pick up a bar of soap, walk to the checkout and expect to pay wholesale for it. You'd better be prepared to go back to that aisle and gather up a few cases of soap. Then you have a shot. Before that though, you need to have a membership.

Most wholesalers require that you pay a yearly fee for this privilege of being able to walk out of their store with 10 cases of Ivory Soap, which will probably take you 25 years to use unless you own a hotel.

Therein lies the rub in buying wholesale. Each outlet is different, but the amount of product you will need to buy in order to walk out with your purchase is at times beyond what would be reasonable for any rational human being unless they indeed did own a large business of some kind that uses these products.

A perfect example is wholesale distributors for recording media like tapes and CDs. There is usually a minimum of about 10 to 20 pieces required in order to get these items even close to wholesale. The more pieces you buy, the lower the cost per piece. But unless you own a recording studio or plan to tape every rock album from 1970 to the present, the number of pieces you will need to purchase in order to get them wholesale is a number that is closer to the speed of light than the number of golf balls you can hold in two hands.

Then of course there are those yearly fees for belonging to all these wholesale clubs. They're not cheap. Some can be as much as $50 to $100 a year. Sure, if you're a restaurant owner who uses lots of dishwasher liquid in a year it's more than worth it. But what does the mom do who goes through a bottle of dishwashing liquid maybe every 3 months? When you're buying, what in some cases can be as many as, 10 cases of dishwasher liquid with 10 bottles in each case, you're looking at 100 bottles of dishwasher liquid. At a consumption of maybe 4 bottles a year you're looking at 25 years until you use the stuff up, if it lasts that long. Certainly these things have to have a shelf life.

The reason these companies can sell wholesale is ONLY because they sell in volume. And they're still selling these items at a profit. In case you aren't aware of this, wholesale is not the same thing as cost.

So if you're planning on buying wholesale you'd first better figure out if it's something you need a zillion of and also if it's something that is going to last 25 years if you don't.

Yes, even wholesale comes at a price.

Title:

Don't Shoot the Sales Team

Word Count:

462

Summary:

Revenue is down. Sales are slowing. The CEO looks up from the business plan and realizes that the company won’t meet analysts’ expectations. Focusing on the organization’s sales leader, the stage is set for sacrificing a scapegoat.

Upon who else should the axe fall when the sales organization

Keywords:

sales,sales improvement

Article Body:

Revenue is down. Sales are slowing. The CEO looks up from the business plan and realizes that the company won’t meet analysts’ expectations. Focusing on the organization’s sales leader, the stage is set for sacrificing a scapegoat.

Upon who else should the axe fall when the sales organization misses revenue targets? After all, aren’t sales and revenue the responsibility of the sales leader? The answer may be as easily forgotten as it is obvious.

To one degree or another everyone in an organization impacts the revenue generating process. The strategic plan of the board of directors and the CEO provides the overall strategy for revenue generation. The marketing department provides crucial demographic and psychographic customer or client information on which the sales department relies in formulating industry and account strategies. Manufacturing, finance, legal, customer service and all other departments facilitate or constrain the process of generating revenue, each in their own peculiar way.

The sales organization’s influence in enterprise revenue generation is con-centrated in the sales pipeline. Identifying bona fide sales opportunities, managing those opportunities through the sales pipeline until they produce revenue, and then managing customer or client relationships are the primary responsibilities of the sales and sales management teams. Rarely, if ever, does the sales organization control the resources of manufacturing, marketing, finance, legal and customer service.

The picture most companies present to the world show the sales organization “out there,” in front of customers and clients and in front of the rest of the company’s departments. Even marketing, the first cousin of sales, is more often than not as disconnected from sales as are the other departments. The sales group leads the company charge, and the other departments take up rear support positions, providing tangible and intangible support.

Revenue generation is a cross functional, company-wide process that involves every department and all employees in the organization. The CEO and the Board of Directors set corporate strategy and everyone else in the organization executes that strategy. We have never observed a situation where the sales organization is in disarray while all the other business segments are humming along with little or no friction. In those rare cases where the failure or underperformance of an enterprise’s revenue generation process lies within the sales organization, the appropriate sales executives, managers and sales professionals should be held accountable and should suffer the requisite consequences. Before CEO’s shoot their sales teams, however, they might want to take a critical look at the entire revenue generation process and how each business segment contributes to or detracts from the success of the process. Like America’s favorite psychologist, Dr. Phil, would advise: Every department in an organization either contributes to the company’s revenue generation process or contaminates it.

Title:

Improve Retail Sales Performance With These Sales Coaching Tips

Word Count:

750

Summary:

Your POS system generates key statistics that tell you about your Retail sales performance.
These key statistics are: Average sale, Transactions per hour, Items per sale, Conversion rate, Sales per hour.

But did you know that tracking these statistics on an individual Salesperson basis can lead you to focused clues about improving individual performance. Most POS systems don’t enable you to track individual sales performance or generate individual KPIs (key performance in...

Keywords:

improve retail performance,roster,kpi,retail software,increase retail sales

Article Body:

Your POS system generates key statistics that tell you about your Retail sales performance.
These key statistics are: Average sale, Transactions per hour, Items per sale, Conversion rate, Sales per hour.

But did you know that tracking these statistics on an individual Salesperson basis can lead you to focused clues about improving individual performance. Most POS systems don’t enable you to track individual sales performance or generate individual KPIs (key performance indicators). If they do, they do not allow you to set a Store Sales Goal for comparative purposes.

If your POS system does track these KPIs they can lead you to some very important coaching strategies:

Coaching on Low Average Sale

Salespeople need to create value in the sale by demonstrating more expensive merchandise. This usually requires more skill and more product knowledge.

Customers need to be probed to identify their needs so the Salesperson can match them with the right product. There is no point in launching into a demo unless the needs of the customer are known. This leads to unsuccessful attempts at adding on. Perhaps the sale itself is lost due to inaccurate probing.

If the Salesperson is in a hurry they may not maximise their opportunity to sell. This will usually be characterised by low items per sale and/or high transactions per hour, as well.

Salespeople need to be aware of natural product add-ons such as extended warranties, product customisation and delivery options. Lack of product knowledge again is a cause for low average sale.

Coaching on Low Transactions Per Hour

Salespeople may be guilty of spending too much time with customer and not closing sales quickly enough. This is usually due to a lack of skill or motivation.

You need to identify a specific behavior that is cause the poor performance which may be thing like too much time spent merchandising, taking breaks, smoking, or talking to customers without trying to close the sale.

Converting customer is paramount to increasing transaction per hour.

Approach more customers and try to spend less time with them

Coaching on Low Items Per Sale

Salespeople need to at least attempt to sell more than one item to a customer. Product knowledge and sales confidence are the keys to a successful add on. Lack of sales skill will inevitably result on giving up too quickly or ignoring an opportunity to add on.

Probe customers with broad questions relating to the product they are buying. You may find out something about the customers that leads naturally to the ad on.

Since the customer’s mind is most open to buying prior to making a buying decision on the primary item, a Salesperson who always waits for that commitment prior to adding on may be minimising his/her chances of successfully adding on.

Salespeople are sometimes much to careful about saving a customer’s money instead of trying to sell them more items. If the store is quiet Salespeople need to try harder to ad on. Even if the store is busy, a customer who has already decided to make a purchase is more easy to sell something to than a customer walking into the store.

Coaching on Low Conversion Rate

Lack of probing, skill in selling, product knowledge, and approaching customers is usually the cause of low conversation rate.

In most cases increasing the conversion rate of the store is the quickest and easiest way to increase the sales average. Converting one more customer per period can create a dramatic effect on the sales for the day so Salespeople need to close faster and attend to more shoppers.

Lack of clear and targeted demonstrations and a lack of product knowledge can cause wasted time with Salespeople performing the sale but not closing the deal.

Coaching on Low Sales Per Hour

Usually this statistic is low because one of the other’s is low.

Make sure you are tracking this statistic accurately. If you are measuring sales performance for an individual who is selling for less hours than being tracked this will inevitable show us a low sales per hour.

Summary

Targeting individual deficient sales statistics provides vital clues to Store Managers about the specific area of performance that should be targeted for coaching purposes.

Coaching on the most deficient statistic yields the greatest and quickest results and the potential the biggest improvement in sales performance.

The author of this article has developed a software program used by retail stores to quickly and easily calculate individual salespeople’s statistics.

Title:

Living Room Furniture

Word Count:

486

Summary:

The way you arrange seating in your living room effects how your family and guests socialize and congregate in your home. With the right arrangement and seating styles you can turn a drab and quiet living area into a buzzing den of conversation.

Keywords:

Living Room Furniture, Modern living room furniture, , Living Room Accessories, Sectional Sofas, Loveseats, Audio-Video Racks, Home Furniture.

Article Body:

Living Room Seating

The way you arrange seating in your living room effects how your family and guests socialize and congregate in your home. With the right arrangement and seating styles you can turn a drab and quiet living area into a buzzing den of conversation. Look for couches that reflect your personal style, but also offer comfortable seating. Be wary of seating that is too soft, as this will make it hard for people to sit forward and engage with others. On the other hand, finding a chair, chaise or recliner in which to hunker down for movie or TV viewing is perfectly reasonable – just make sure that it isn't your main item of living room furniture. A couch that is too firm will not be comfortable for long conversations. Often the best choice is something cushiony but supportive.

Popular living room seating includes couches and sectional sofas, chaise lounges, accent seating, recliners, armchairs and loveseats.

Media Furniture

Today's media furniture needs to do more than just house your TV and stereo. It is just as important that your entertainment armoire, media cabinet, entertainment center or Audio-Video rack hold CDs, DVDs, and even old videotapes, while matching or coordinating with the existing home furniture. Your ultimate decision will depend in large part on what fits the space, although personal preference is always important.

Living Room Accessories

Coffee tables, end tables, side tables, ottomans and decorative chests are just a few of the larger, more impressive pieces of living room furniture accessories available. Smaller living room accessories help to add homey touches that make a house a home. Such items include candleholders, picture frames, artwork, and flower vases among many others.

Living Room Furniture Styles

As you shop for your new living room furniture you will encounter several different styles. Keep the following in mind as you decide what works best in your home.

1.Modern living room furniture is sleek and streamlined and known for using the most technologically and architecturally advanced design. Modern living room furniture often incorporates metal and glass, and allows the furniture's form to make a statement, without utilizing patterns or frills.

2.Transitional living room furniture is a combination of modern, traditional, and casual styles. Borrowing from both the Arts & Crafts Movements and the Modern Movement, transitional living room furniture is not as bold as modern furniture, but uses some of the same principles in beautiful and subtle ways.

3.Traditional living room furniture springs from many sources, including Colonial furniture design, Queen Anne's reign, and antique Roman styles. Often crafted from hardwoods like mahogany and cherry, this style tends to feature more ornamentation and embellishments than other living room furniture styles.

4.Casual living room furniture is all about laidback comfort. Often seen in natural- or light-colored woods, this style fits the no-nonsense home and a "no frills" sensibility.

This Article is Originally Published here: http://www.emassive.com/Living_Room_Furniture.htm

Title:

Sell Don't Tell - Selling Tips that Work

Word Count:

341

Summary:

Are you making the most of your web traffic, or are you losing potential clients because of yourwebsite content? If you want to maximise conversions then here is a good tip for you

Keywords:

sales selling website ecommerce

Article Body:

Most websites exist to sell something in one form or another. OK, so you might not be selling something directly from your site via shopping software, but if you run any form of commercial website then you are trying to sell goods or services to the visitors that come to your site, and telling them what you do is not going to gain you the maximum return on investment of your website. You must sell your services or goods, not tell people about them.

The job of a web site is to give the visitor (prospective customer) all the information they need to make that buying decision. The simple phrase is educate, inform, motivate.

There is a well know acronym of AIDA
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

These are the four stages everyone goes through before they buy. If your web copy is not doing this, and you are missing calls to action, then you are losing money. Lack of a call to action is one of the most common errors on a page. ‘Click here for FREE information’ is a simple instruction that will get people taking the action you want.

So how about educate and motivate? How do you get the ninterest and desire? A simple re-write of your site can have a dramatic effect on its success, and it can pay for itself in no time at all. So what is the difference between selling and telling?

Product descriptions:-

Available in black
In stock
Next day delivery

----------------------

Available in jet black, allowing you to wear this beautiful necklace with almost every outfit you own. This can be delivered to your door overnight if the order is placed before 3pm, and the item is : in stock

It is plain to see which of the above tells, and which sells!

The plain fact is that as a web marketer it is your job to sell yourself, your services, or your products, and you need to understand the difference, if you don’t, then your orders/enquiries are going to someone else.

Title:

Sales Cycles - How Long Is Yours?

Word Count:

366

Summary:

Sales cycles vary but it is important that you understand how much revenue your average small-business client is going to generate during a 12-month period. You need to know how long it takes to earn revenue from the point your prospect enters the sales cycle.

Keywords:

Sales Cycle, Sales-Cycle

Article Body:

Sales cycles vary but it is important that you understand how much revenue your average small-business client is going to generate during a 12-month period. You need to know how long it takes to earn revenue from the point your prospect enters the sales cycle.

Your sales cycle starts when you receive the initial lead and doesn't end until the point where that person writes their first deposit check and signs their first contract with you. The sales cycle encompasses all the time and energy you put into changing the relationship from a lead to a paying customer.

When you first start your business it will be your responsibility to estimate the total sales cycle time. You want to know how long it's going to take to go though the sales cycle with an average lead.
Each section of the sales cycle involves time. Things to consider include:

How long are you typically in a qualification stage?
How long does it take you set the appointment?
How long does it take you to do some pre sales-call research to understand what you're up against before you walk in the door?
How long does it take you to do the sales call?
How many weeks are you on the sales call in the deep analysis and proposal?
How long is your follow-up cycle?

You should also consider what kind of funds are going to be required for each stage of the sales cycle and what activities you will need to do in order to convert leads into paying clients.

The Bottom Line on the Sales Cycle

Knowing the average time of your sales cycle is a large part of the business planning process. You won't know exact numbers but you need to estimate the total time involved. Think about how long you're going to be at different stages of the sales cycle. Knowing how much time each stage of sales cycle is going to take will help you figure out how long it's going to take to start generating revenue and producing a positive cash flow.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Title:

Search Out Sales

Word Count:

400

Summary:

Regardless of what you are looking to purchase there is one sure fire way to save money. The best way to do this is by waiting for a sale to come around on the product. If you think about it, during the course of a year almost everything that you can buy will be on sale at least one time. This means that if you can wait to buy it, you should wait to buy it. If you can wait on larger purchases you will most definitely save a lot of money over the course of a year.

One of th...

Keywords:

Article Body:

Regardless of what you are looking to purchase there is one sure fire way to save money. The best way to do this is by waiting for a sale to come around on the product. If you think about it, during the course of a year almost everything that you can buy will be on sale at least one time. This means that if you can wait to buy it, you should wait to buy it. If you can wait on larger purchases you will most definitely save a lot of money over the course of a year.

One of the best products that you can save money on is clothes. If you are in need of winter clothes try to buy them during the spring when they go on sale. And along the same lines, if you are anticipating a need for summer clothes you will want to make your purchases during the winter months. By purchasing clothes during off peak months you will be able to save yourself a lot of money.

Another big purchase that families make are automobiles. Even though you may want your new car now, if you can wait a bit you may be able to save yourself thousands of dollars. At different times every year car manufacturers put out huge rebates on their cars, or are looking to move them quickly for one reason or the next. If you can wait for this time of the year to come around, you will save yourself a good bit of money.

Also, to take advantage of sales, you will need to keep an open mind. If you are only interested in one particular brand you may end up waiting around a long time for a sale. But if you keep your options open to other brands and styles you will almost always be able to find a sale when you are looking for it. This is one of the most difficult things that people have to learn to do that are trying to save money.

By sniffing out sales you will be able to save yourself a lot of money over the course of a year. It may not seem worth it at the moment, but if you exercise some patience you will be able to get exactly what you want for a much better price. Keep an open mind, and start saving money today!

Title:

Are you finished before you start?

Word Count:

534

Summary:

Understanding the impact your mindset has on sales is critical for success. Gain a better understanding of its importance as well as some tips to improve your sales mindset. Don't be finished before you start.

Keywords:

sales mindset, belief in self, sales, success, mindset,

Article Body:

A colleague and I were in conversation recently when he shared a very profound statement, "You can be finished before you start."

We were talking about the power of one's mind, more specifically about ones sales mindset. Eugene was relaying an exchange he had many years ago when he was a pharmaceutical sales rep. He was comparing notes with another rep that was having difficulty getting in to see physicians to promote their company's product. He wanted to know why Eugene was having so much success, and he was not.

Turns out, this other sales rep found it extremely difficult to turn the doorknob to enter the doctor's office. He had such high self-doubt, Eugene explained, that he had lost the sale before he even initiated the call. This is when Eugene summed things up by commenting, "You are finished before you start!"

This simple statement may apply to those suffering with weak sales results. Appreciate sales is not for everyone. Being in the sales profession requires intelligence, personality, perseverance and a strong believe in ones self and belief in ones customer.

When you think about it, your objective is to help your prospect make an informed purchasing decision (or not) based on the knowledge you bring to the table. Most successful sales people are advocates for their prospects, doing what is in the client's best interest. This typically evolves into a meaningful relationship based on mutual trust and understanding. Those that rise to the top in the sales profession also tend to have a high belief in self.

How is your belief in self? Do you experience self-doubt to the point you have trouble dialling that cold call, or making that initial visit to your prospect's office?

This is more common in sales than we think, not just for those new to the business, it can affect experienced sales people who have fallen into the infamous "rut". How we think and how we see our self causes this "affliction".

How we see ourselves in our minds eye determines our belief in self. The subconscious mind is incredibly powerful. Research by psychologists Dr. Henry Murray, Dr. David McClelland, and Dr. Clayton Lafferty has determined our actions are a result of what we think.

The challenge is to recognize when one is not thinking positively about their capabilities and then develop strategies to counteract this thought process. Here are some tips you can use:

1. Remind yourself of your previous successes
2. Focus on your current strengths and future potential
3. Visualize yourself being successful several times a day
4. Record a positive belief statement you can repeat 5 times a day
5. Set and achieve realistic goals (start small), then stretch them
6. Celebrate successes along the way

In the classic book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, he makes the case it is scientifically impossible to conceive an idea in your mind, to believe you can do it, and then not be able to. The fact we can conceive something in our mind and believe we can do it, means we can.

Don't be finished before you start. Your sales mindset needs to be the "hidden partner" that allows you to not only succeed in sales, but to thrive.

Title:

The Citizen Watch Company

Word Count:

295

Summary:

The Citizen watch company.

Keywords:

watches, citizen watch

Article Body:

"Close to the hearts of people everywhere" was the founding principle that Citizen watch designers had in mind when they originated these exceptional watches way back in 1924 with the hope that this brand would become widely available to ordinary citizens and be sold throughout the world.

The Citizen Watch Company's founding fathers got their wish. Citizen is now the world's largest watch company. More people depend on a watch made by Citizen than any other timepiece. During the last 80 years, Citizen has expanded its business throughout the world and has achieved recognition as a global brand. The past 25-year period has coincided with the company's dramatic rise to its current position as the world's largest watchmaker, a distinction Citizen has held every year since 1986.

The Japanese manufacturer has also been able to repeatedly develop pioneering technologies that take their power from natural energy sources. From the world's slimmest LCD watch to the first voice recognition watch and the world's first professional dive watch with an electronic depth sensor, Citizen's record of world's firsts is unmatched.

One of Citizen's innovative energy solutions is called Eco-Drive and is found in many Citizen watches. Through the use of highly sensitive photocells, even the weak light from candles can be converted into electrical energy to power the watches' movement. With models ranging from dressy to sport to professional dive watches, Eco-Drive watches run continuously in any kind of light for a lifetime of use and never need a battery. These watches will not only help save you money but will also help you do your part in protecting the environment.

Besides their innovative technology, Citizen watches are characterized by a high-quality finish, superior materials and an attractive design. What other reason do you need to choose a Citizen watch?

Title:

Relax Your Customer

Word Count:

508

Summary:

One of the most important skills a doctor can posses, is that of a bed side manner. In the same sense, it is important that sales people posses the same type of skill, to be able to put their customer at ease.

Keywords:

Sales, marketing, loan officer, mortgage, leads, telemarketing, skills, training, communication, selling

Article Body:

Relax Your Customer

One of the most important skills a doctor can posses, is that of a bed side manner. In the same sense, it is important that sales people posses the same type of skill, to be able to put their customer at ease.

Relaxing your customer is important to any type of sales situation you may find yourself in. Remember, think of the customer as a guest in your house, you are the host, so you want to make them as comfortable as possible in your house. The more comfortable they are in your house, the easier it will be for them to talk to you.

In sales, trying to persuade someone we have never met before to buy our product can be very challenging.

It can be challenging for a number of reasons, mainly the fear that consumers associate with sales people.

The fear that we are all alike, comparing us to the unfair stereotype of the used car salesman. They are afraid of being convinced to buy something they don’t need at a price they can’t afford.

You need to find a common denominator with your customer, something you can both relate to, something non-business.

A non-business conversation is a great way to break the ice with your customer. We all want to make a sale, but since when is it a crime to get to know your customer?

This is easier than you may think, people love to talk, especially about them selves.

So ask questions. Ask about their pets, their families, their work, and their hobbies.

When I was in banking, I managed a branch inside of a supermarket. Our daily goals consisted of going out into the aisles, approaching customers, and trying to convince them to bank with us.

We applied certain techniques to this type of sales that worked rather well.

For instance, the pet food aisle was a good place to talk to people, because people loved to talk about their pets. A simple question such as; “What kind of dog do you have?” would get them talking with the greatest of ease.

The junk food aisle was also a good place to talk to people. For some reason the presence of candy and junk food put people in a good mood, and they were more prone to talk with a stranger.

One place we stayed away from, was the frozen food section, because people didn’t want to talk where it was cold. Understandable.

My point is, people love to talk as long as they can relate to the subject manner, so don’t be afraid to ask questions, and get to know your customer beyond that of the products they need.

The more relaxed you can make your customer in your setting, the better off the two of you will be, and the more sales you will walk away with.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

Title:

It's Not Your Job to Lower Your Fees to Help the Client Afford You

Word Count:

436

Summary:

What do you do when a prospect claims, "I can't afford your prices, but I want your services." Find out how you can stand tough with your pricing and help the client understand your value so you don't have to lower your prices or reduce your fees to get the client.

Keywords:

fees, charging, negotiating, setting, sales, marketing, creative, professional, freelance, design, subcontract, money, value, business, professional

Article Body:

I constantly receive questions and complaints from my creative professional clients about what to do when a prospect claims, "I can't afford your prices, but I want your services." My clients are frustrated, because they are usually being told this while standing in a mansion-like home, furnished with top-of-the-line furniture, with a beautifully manicured lawn, and three luxury cars parked in a four-car garage.

How much your client can afford is relative to their values and beliefs of what is important. It is not your job to lower your price so the client can afford you. It is your job to help the client see the connections between their values and your services, regardless of how much money they've spent on other items.

In other words, don't lower your price because the client says she can't afford you.

What a client can and cannot afford is all relative. For example, I know a woman who enjoys eating out at expensive restaurants, though she claims she cannot afford to go on vacation every year. On the flip side, I know families who rarely eat out and cook low cost meals at home, so they can afford to vacation twice a year. Therefore, it is valuable to the first woman to eat out and it is valuable to the other people to go on vacation. What they can each afford is based on their values of what is important, not on how much money they have.

What people choose to spend their money on and what they can afford is not the job of the restaurant, nor is it the job of the vacation spots. Just as it is not your job to lower your price just because the client wants you to.

You have to help the client see the value in your services by learning more about what is important to them and why. During your initial visit with the client (either on the phone or in person) you must ask them questions about what they want and, more importantly, WHY they want it. Buy uncovering "the why" behind their wants, you can help them connect their needs to the value of your services.

Don't just pitch your services to the client, ASK them what they want. Then follow up with a question (or several questions) which help you understand why they want it.

Keep in mind, if the client continues to whine that she cannot afford your services, then move on. Don't lower your price. If she wants you and finds value in your services, she'll find the money to be able to afford you.

Title:

How to write a successful business proposal

Word Count:

314

Summary:

The words " business proposal " are expected by any sales representative, marketing or public relations person. Even if writing a business proposal doesn't represent a very pleasant activity, marketing reprezentatives are happy to do it as they see a potential business opportunity.

Keywords:

business plan, writing a business proposal

Article Body:

The words " business proposal " are expected by any sales representative, marketing or public relations person. Even if writing a business proposal doesn't represent a very pleasant activity, marketing reprezentatives are happy to do it as they see a potential business opportunity.

The best business proposal is made by having direct contact with the client. However, there are situation in which direct contact with the client is not possible. In this case, some suggestions are required.

Things you need to take into consideration before sending a business proposal :

1. Start by writing a business proposal by creating a short and convincing summary of the document in question

2. concentrate more on the results rather than process and methods. A client will buy tools and methods only when they are convinced that you can obtain the results they want.

3. Be generous with your ideas and show your inventivity.

4. The length of the business proposal doesn't matter much. What matters is quality! Business proposals are accepted based on their quality.. not quantity.

5. The contens of the business plan needs to reffer to the client and solving the client's problem.

6. Check and recheck if all information written in the business plan are valid and to the point.

7. Pay attention to the smallest details, stay away from stereotypes, use good quality paper and make sure you send your business plan on time.

8. After you write the business plan, wait on day and pay more attention to it, read it again and again until you are satisfied.

9. Write a real business plan based on what you actually can offer to the potential client. This will help avoid having unsatisfied clients and unpaid bills!


Writing a business plan is necessary. A well written business plan can play a decisive role in winning a project, while a bad written business plan can lead to failure, even when everything concerning your sales activities went excellent.

Title:

Mortgage Sales, Overcoming Objections

Word Count:

351

Summary:

I’m sure you are familiar with hearing “I’m no longer interested,” or “I just closed on my loan last week.”

Keywords:

Sales, marketing, loan officer, mortgage, leads, telemarketing, skills, training, blog, selling, internet mortgage lead

Article Body:

As a loan officer, it is important to keep your pipeline full at all times. For this reason, it goes without saying, that you should be taking as many applications as you can throughout the week.

Obtaining leads to be turned into applications can be obtained in a variety of ways. Such as, networking, customer referrals, family, friends, mortgage lead providers, etc.

Another method, probably the most dreaded in every sales force, but also very necessary to keep app’s coming in is cold calling.

We all know the feeling of rejection over the telephone, but it is very important to maintain your persistence and overcome these obstacles.

I completely understand that there is no way to overcome the objection of a customer hanging up on you. My only advice would be to not dwell on it, or take it personally, just move onto the next call.

Keep in mind, for a lot of people, purchasing or refinancing a home is a huge financial undertaking in a person’s life. Perhaps the biggest, so be understanding if they seem defensive or get cold feet.

I’m sure you are familiar with hearing “I’m no longer interested,” or “I just closed on my loan last week.”

For starters, don’t even give the customer the opportunity to give you an objection.

Remember, you are the expert, so you do the talking.

Your opening line should be something like this:

Hello Mrs. Jones, my name is Susie Smith and I understand that you are interested in a mortgage. I have some great products that I believe would fit your needs and budget. If you don’t mind, I would like to take just a few moments to go over them with you.

This approach immediately takes the pressure off of the customer, and nine times out of ten they will be willing to listen.

Remember, it is all in the approach and the tone of your voice, smile when you talk, it will reflect in your voice. And be nice, relax your customer, make them comfortable, and you are half way there.

Title:

Use Super Tech for Business Excellence Part 1

Word Count:

457

Summary:

Joel Barker, visionary author of Future Edge, paves a road to excellence for the future. Is your company doing this? Is your competition doing this. This article, in the first paragraph, details the 3 required traits.

Keywords:

erp, manufacturing software, sales teams, business, small medium business, sales software, crm, customer relationship management, sales tools, sales management

Article Body:

The paradigm Shift in Electronics and Industrial Sales

A Paradigm is a set of rules and regulations that does two things:

1. It establishes and defines boundaries.

2. It tells how to behave inside the boundaries

Instill 3 Traits for Excellence and Super Abundance

Joel Barker in his book Future Edge, lists 3 traits; a culture of excellence, innovation and anticipation as the three. He says not one, not two, but all three must be present. A culture of excellence is first and this excellence must permeate from the initial product design to the after-sale product support. W. Edwards Deming was a leader in promoting excellence in the area of TQM or Total Quality Management.

The second key is innovation. Innovation is the way you gain a competitive edge. Innovation joined with the excellence culture is a powerful one two punch. This is not enough for sustained market leadership however, and there is one elusive skill that must be added to the mix.

This skill is anticipation. Anticipation is the clear vision that steers your organization. The skillful application of intelligence to your data to get to the right place at the right time. This clear view into the future will drive great ideas to ascendancy. If this vision is lacking the organization will suffer. An example may be the The Walkman. Sony started the portable music revolution and Apple has swallowed the market share as a shark swallows his prey. Perhaps Sony could have anticipated changing demand and in doing so, forestalled the end of life for the Walk Man.

The Secrets of Super Technology

The Internet is designed for customer and partner intimacy. Every computer which is connected to the Internet is as close to your computer as your own keyboard.

The principal account manager at the contract manufacturer in China can be right in your own office. You customers and your salespeople can be on the same side of the desk even though the desks are on the other side of the world. Super Tech drives customer relationships closer and closer.

We have lived in an evolving world of high-tech which has permeated every corner of our society. The last 10 years has exploded communication and collaboration applications and we define this as Super Tech. Organizations have not taken advantage of revenue creating tools.

Paradigm shifts change the rules and when the rules change so does your world. Super Tech is simple, on-demand software. This software, aligned to your business process, relishes the power of on-demand collaboration. Super Tech is the key to winning in the market place; easy to use powerful on-line software that will change the way business is done and will change the way products are sold.

Part 2: "How Low Tech is Killing Innovation", is next...

Title:

Become Fearless Doing the Doing

Word Count:

641

Summary:

There are some things in life I’d much rather not be doing and this slightly tongue-in-cheek article is about one of them.

This one thing is about getting out there in front of hundreds of thousands of commuters handing out advertising leaflets. How embarrassing! What if someone recognized me?!

Keywords:

stuff,doing,responsible,responsibility,comfort zone,fear,fearless,fearful,comfort,zone

Article Body:

In the past I held positions of responsibility and always had others who did the doing things for me. I used to supervise personnel; I tended to be in charge of my own work unit, and my own time.

I once attended a job interview where I was asked by members of the interview panel how would I organize and set up a telephone conference. I replied that I would email/telephone the IT guys with dates and times and have them do it.

To my horror, I learned that apparently I was the one responsible for this task and would have to arrange this telephone conference myself. Gee that sucked! Needless to say I immediately lost interest in the job (nor did I get it, for some strange reason). Whenever I retell this story I still manage to laugh at my reaction “What, I have to organize what?” Thank goodness for my attitude readjustment!

Over the years I’ve had many job and career changes and with each role someone would always be available who I could count on to help me out. Always, without fail!

Never having to worry about all that other ‘stuff’ kept me a prisoner of my own comfort zone. There was always someone else who did that ‘stuff’ while I got on with other work I was responsible for, there was always a safety net.

Back to the advertising leaflets, I tried, with the help of others to find personnel to do that ‘stuff’ (handing out leaflets while I would be doing something else I was responsible for) for me.

I quite simply couldn’t find anyone who was okay with doing ‘stuff’ for me.

Then an amazing thing happened.

As I was telling my sad and pitiful tale to a friend of mine, my friend cheerfully offered to help out. I was stunned and thought to myself “if my friend is willing to go out on a limb for me, what was my hang up?

The hang up was easy to identify. It was the fear of doing something for the first time. It was once again time to step outside my comfort zone. Sigh.

After I gave myself a stern silent talking to, like “What on earth is up with you?”

“You know you’ve been running away from having to do this that’s why now you have to do this, you need this experience!”

“Becoming fearless will set you free!” Reply to self, “easy for you to say!”

Once I worked out exactly what my strategy would be in overcoming this fear I became peaceful with a new attitude of “Let’s do this, it’ll be fun and you never know how many nice people I’ll meet today?” and “This is the perfect excuse and trade off to do lunch in town with my friend”

Remember back to when you first stepped outside your comfort zone. Maybe you were scared and fearful because you were unaware of what would happen next or you were fearful of being rejected by others of what you had to offer (for example: advertising leaflets)?

Now recall the second, third (or more) time you did the same thing. What was your experience like after several times of doing the same thing? My wild assumption is that you learned something new every time and you adjusted your strategies accordingly.

Your mind remembers all that you do (whether consciously or unconsciously). The more you do something outside your comfort zone, the easier it will become to adjust to your new comfort zone.

Whenever you try on something new know that it does get easier with time and as you continue to learn, grow and as you continue doing, you’ll become an expert before you know it.

Michaela Scherr

Title:

4 Ways to Use Auto-Responders to Build Sales

Word Count:

342

Summary:

These 4 Auto-Responder strategies will increase sales, build customer retention and improve your customer relationships.

Keywords:

sales, business, small medium business, erp, supply chain, sales management, crm, crm software, sales force automation, sales software, sales tools, sales team, manufacturing, distribution

Article Body:

Auto-responders, email systems which are built to deliver multi-step messages over time, will add value to your business in four ways: auto-responders can educate customers about your products and services, auto-responders can build rapport with your prospects, and auto-responders can carry much of your customer support and customer training load. These systems are always working for you delivering important and valuable information. Please see several ideas on how to do this below:

1. Communicate with Customers: Enter company data and product information into a series of auto-responders. Messages should be informative for your customers and should include an offer of value which the recipient can respond to. The auto-responder cycle can add value by making your company information more accessible to your clients.

2. Increase New Business Sales: Put a lead management system in place with auto-responder functionality. This will solve a common problem. Sales people will work a lead list, and burn a lead if it does not respond. The multi-step auto-responder system keep your company in your prospects's mind. The AR system spark a low fire into the mind of your prospect and build mind-share touch by touch.

3. Distribute Training: Training is critical to customer adoption and customer retention. Training is expensive and can eat up valuable sales and operation time. Distribute training to customers, new and existing, with an AR. The messages can range from the "Welcome on-board" basics and can evolve to advanced learning. Why not create advanced usage streaming videos and content and load up a 7 or a 10 message AR and put this Advanced Training offer to your customers for a fee?

4. Distribute Support: Set-up an auto-responder with Frequently Asked Questions. Determine what customer queries are asked and put a series of answers into your auto-responder. Put your AR to work for you by distributing your FAQ to your customers and your trial users.

The auto-responder sequences are fluid: work always to improve your messages and your offers. Your auto-responders can differentiate your business by optimizing customer communication and getting the most from your lead generation and marketing systems.