Archive for the ‘Better Business Methods’ Category

The odds of your business surviving five years are 50-50 according to David Birch, former head of a research firm specializing in studying small business data. (Isen 2007) There are many reasons why a business will fail. Much research is available to denote which factors are the most important, however, it appears that most business fail because they lack focus on the organization’s most vital asset – customers.

Solo practitioners begin a business for two reasons; money and passion. Business professionals desire to take their passion and make money from it, and there is little harm in this. There is no better way to enjoy your time on earth than to do the thing that you enjoy.

However, with passion there is a need for focus. Presently with the cacophony of noise due to the Internet and social media resources, consumers are overwhelmed with messages. Consumers today require differentiation to denote whom to shop and whom to avoid. Unfortunately the Internet’s ubiquity hinders variety so that only option remaining the builds brand and business success is customer service.

Customer service is simply the organizational culture and processes that entrepreneurs create to ensure allure. Consumer decisions are driven by emotion. Service must be enculturated into the organizations so all staff become dependent on the client. This is an important construct; there is little difference from one retailer to the next or one restaurant to the next with one exception- customer service. When treated correctly, customers inform others of their experience helping to manifest the organizations brand and announce it to others. No marketing tactic in the IMC process is as cost effective as a word of mouth.

When customers believe and trust their vendor they tell others helping to create brand differentiation. Exemplars include Apple whose retail outlets are the busiest of any mall and Zappos.com whose unblemished customer service helps helped to brand to proliferate.

If there is little belief in customer service think again. According to both Dun and Bradstreet and the Small Business Administration, businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years. Customer service can provide the life raft of success if used correctly. In reviewing the success statistics, would you rather be a follower or a leader?

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on business development and sales. Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization to increase their business development skills visit him at www.stevensconsultinggroup.com

Popularity: 34% [?]

What nonsense is that? You’re the one that conceptualized, designed, and built your business from the ground up. You’re the one that has 100% control over everything in your company; right? Or do you?

Do you build any of your “business model” on “what ifs” — because “what if” you lost a limb, an ear, a finger, an arm, a leg, or god forbid, your head? Could you continue to operate in whatever way you needed to without a hiccup in your service to clients, customers, and other business relationships?

“I doubt that I could continue operating at full capacity in the event of a catastrophic time.”

Knowing our own limits, only helps us understand yours. Were all different, but, similar. Business can be looked at in the same light;

Business models are at a core, the template for all business models. Having a different business then the next person only makes you “similar” in the fact of processes, and things to do to keep your business active and going. (finding new partners, getting new suppliers, having someone do collections, finding new customers, seeing into new markets, driving new sales etc..)

You’re business may not have the same struggles as mine, or Joe’s, or Bob’s but I can bet your “butt” that all three of our business’s will need help to stay going, either now, or in the future!

So if you’re reading this, then you may be like a lot of other people who ask us; “What can The Sales Corner help me with?”

This is our response, which simply put is EVERYTHING, “What do YOU NEED?”

Once you can establish the need or multiple needs that you have, it will be easy to find a way to fill the need using The Sales Corner.  In fact there are several ways we can fill your needs with the offering of full service membership packages to look out in ALL the areas you might be looking for help!

See a complete list of package offerings here;

http://www.thesalescorner.us/blog/sales-corner-marketing-seo-sales-membership-packages/

ADDITIONALLY I can offer you some “REAL INSIGHT” into others similar needs and how they were able to utilize The Sales Corner to address those needs;

Question 1

My computer is running slow; My internet sites take longer to load and I wish there was a way I could get someone to help me without having to worry about the expensive price of the local “Squad” or wait from “someone in another country” to call me back or fix my issue.

Answer 1

The Sales Corner is able to propose one of our Phone Service and Support membership packages which are designed as all inclusive to what was needed here for this client to get phone support for  “general technical help, and product application support.” As this client had issues and needed a resource to contact with the assurance they would get a timely, and well educated response!

Question 2

What do I need to keep active, and reach my customers/clients?
I already know how to write my own content, publish my own articles, and get out into the Social Media scene to grow myself;

Answer 2

The Sales Corner is able to propose one of our Quarterly Website/Blog membership packages which is all inclusive to what this client needed to get a Website Built, Integrated, and Managed after Install! We think it’s great even when you don’t know what you need to in order to have a medium to communicate yourself on. This gives them ability to communicate directly and privately to their own user base!

Question 3

How can I get into new Sales and Marketing areas with my current projects?
I don’t know anything about how to use a blog, where I should be online or offline, or how to reach new people because my “old” approach isn’t working anymore;

Answer 3

The Sales Corner is able to propose one of our Quarterly Internet Marketing / Sales membership packages which are designed as all inclusive to what this client needed to get their products, their face, and “their business” out to people who wanted to know about them! This will keep them there where they need to be, in front of people online and off!

Question 4

Some folks out there have their own sites on a free host, or a host that charges them a monthly or annual fee; That’s okay, but sometimes people don’t always know what to do in these cases or how to get to their files etc. How can The Sales Corner help me get a place to host or store my files for my website, my blog, or FTP access?

Answer 4

The Sales Corner is able to propose one of our Quarterly Website/Blog Hosting membership packages which are designed as inclusive to what this client needed for their files to be stored, accessed, and managed on a regular basis as they saw fit! Now they can upload/download and so can their users (With or Without a Blog if they like since this is “file storage”).

As you can see, The Sales Corner and our network of members have very good methods of helping you get more information for free, save your business money, get more all while you can walk away and feel confident to know that you’re business isn’t going to fall under, because you couldn’t afford our monthly fee, or that yearly cost to keep it going!

“The Sales Corner is always willing to listen and work with all of our members to accommodate their needs and wants and desires, after all you help us keep going as much as we help you; We simply supply the magic powder to mix it all together which is then what we give you which is tangible and something you can count on for your business needs!”

Matt G
The Sales Corner

“The Shaman says only the best leaders use help to their advantage.” The Sales Corner Probing Question of the Day:

“When you find yourself without an answer to a problem….” “Where do you go to find the answer?”

Popularity: 88% [?]

1. Spending too much time with gatekeepers and others that are not key decision makers. Unless you are using them to gain access to economic buyers.
2. Not using action steps to move the sale forward. Do not expect the client to do your work.
3. Being ready and available for every call. Dress the part and dress professionally daily. Casual dress is a rote excuse for laziness.
4. Procrastination. Use a planner and take time for personal issues. Do not use work as an excuse not to spend time with family. Never use poor planning as an excuse not to return imperative client calls.
5. Not using a small percentage of each day for lead generation. The fuller the pipeline the more available the opportunities.
6. Not spending time in self-development. Learning is a continuous process. Do not use learning as criteria for weakness. Your organization is not responsible for your future development- take responsibility.
7. Using electronic media instead of meeting directly with buyers. Face and voice time are more important than the veil of the Internet.
8. Not using a process. Over 90 percent of sales professionals lack a formal roadmap that helps to efficiently find and close business.
9. Failing in customer service. Over 50% of every client interaction involves customer service. Kill them with kindness to have them return.

10. Responding to proposals not requested by buyers. Responding to blind RFI’s is simply a waste of time.

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on business development and sales. Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization to increase their business development skills visit him at www.stevensconsultinggroup.com

Popularity: 27% [?]

Why is it that individuals are so negligent to things that make a difference? As a business professional I find it vital to be attentive to nuances that aid relationships. These include graciousness, name recognition and simply being attentive.

Psychologists have studied the use of the Primary/Recency Effect, known for an individual’s ability to recall the first and last things they see or hear. If the cliché holds that people judge a book by its cover, then many will be ignored.

Business today requires being in the moment, and attentive to all things. Misspelling names, forgetting appointments, etc, do not gain accolades. If you want to leave a lasting impression and gain better relationships follow the simple suggestions:

1. Follow the Dale Carnegie Rule. In 1983, I read “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. The first rule, “a person’s first name is the sweetest sound they will ever hear. If you do not recall, write it down. If you cannot pronoun it ask the person. Stop being lazy and make a better first impression.
2. Cold Call Failure. Cold calling today is repulsive. Too many agents obtaining lists and calling prospects without preparation just provocation. If there is no want or need, there is no conceptual agreement. Stop calling people from a list and target a microcosm that might have a better need for your service.
3. Email Etiquette. As the Internet developed positive and negative rules of engagement developed to help with email use. However many today continually send emails without a subject message. Unless you desire a lack of a reply, be more attentive to the subject and actions you want your receiver to take.
4. Email Responsiveness. The purpose of email is to allow receivers to reply to email when they have a spare moment. However, what incites many is the general lack of a reply by receivers. People in all businesses are busy, yet this does not allow receivers to negate replies. Unresponsiveness to emails is as insulting as not saying “hello” to familiar faces on the street. No one is that busy.
5. Responsiveness to Voice Mail. Similar to emails, stop hiding behind procrastination and return calls.
6. Delegation without personalization. In the last few weeks I have sent correspondence to executives related to certain business matters. I realize the information will get read but delegated to a subordinate. However delegation might denote arrogance. Handwriting a simple note communicating the receipt of the letter, the importance of the query and the need for delegation is in the best interest of customer service. Arrogance and laziness trump customer service.
7. Follow Up. Return calls when you say you will, send emails when you say you will and offer feedback when promised.

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on business development and sales thought leadership. Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization to increase their business development skills visit him at www.drewstevensconsulting.com.

Popularity: 38% [?]

I’m excited to bring you this exclusive offer from The Sales Corner on
behalf of American Association of Inside Sales Professionals;

Are you an Inside Sales professional?
Maybe you’re in Management looking over a group of people?
Perhaps you are looking for some industry connections or similar
resources for Inside Sales improvement and overall learning?

Having spent many years as an Inside Sales Representative myself, I
strongly promote education and sales based training to improve a sales
persons techniques or sales tactics for the improvement of their
professionalism and business!

The Sales Corner has partnered with the AA-ISP to offer you a 10%
discount on your next membership registration!

Take advantage of this great offer by registering as an official member of The Sales Corner network!

Official Members List of The Sales Corner is 40 strong and counting! WHY JOIN?

Email:

Visit this group

Popularity: 24% [?]

Whatever happened to old-fashioned common courtesy? It appears that the proliferation and excuse of technology allow for too many excuses for busyness. Many will state that there is not enough time in a day to return calls and emails, however no one is that busy. Lethargy is no excuse.

It is impolite when individuals are unresponsive to telephone calls and emails. While some individuals do tend to get sidetracked there is something to be said for professional courtesy. Sellers that attempt to reach clients and prospective clients must take a stand. Simply state, “I know you are as busy as I however, after X voice messages and emails I am certain you received them. This is my last attempt to reach you so as not to be overly persistent and out of respect for our professional relationship. If you are interested please connect with me. ” This will enable sellers to maintain professionalism while attempting to receive some response.

Sellers do not become acrimonious or take the unresponsiveness personally. Simply state the message and move on. The world is too small to be angered each time this occurs and something imperative might be taking precedent. However, your time is valuable too!

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

There are seven secrets for selling effectiveness. Click here For a Free Report

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on business development and marketing. Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To discover how Dr. Drew dramatically accelerate your business development and sales skills visit his sales and marketing website.

Popularity: 15% [?]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ExecSense Publishes Webinar on Increasing Sales Team Productivity for Sales Executives Led by Drew J. Stevens, PhD – President, Stevens Consulting Group

(San Francisco, CA) (April 8, 2010) Drew J. Stevens, PhD – President, Stevens Consulting Group, has been selected by the speaker board of ExecSense (www.ExecSense.com) to lead a webinar on How Sales Executives Can Better Engage, Incentivize, and Maximize the Productivity of Their Team. The webinar is now available for download and watching on a computer, mobile device, iPod or printed and viewed offline at http://ExecSense.com/details.asp?id=921

In How Sales Executives Can Better Engage, Incentivize and Improve Relationships with Their Team, ExecSense examines why sales executives need to spend the time to make sure their key people are happy, being challenged, and incentivized in a way that ties in with the goals of their team and company. Take the 60 minutes to view this webinar (on your computer, mobile phone, iPod or printed out) to learn easy-to-implement tips and tricks for how other leading sales executives are currently getting the most out of their team, regardless of the state of the economy.

According to Catharine Lloyd, head of speaker relations for ExecSense, “We were honored to have Dr. Stevens lead a webinar on this topic.  His work is highly regarded in the industry and the webinar is a great resource for Sales Executives.”

According to Dr. Stevens, “One of the greatest issues sales managers have is motivating and energizing their teams. Now is the time to obtain the needed information as the push for more productivity grows post recession”.

For complete information or to purchase this webinar, please visit http://ExecSense.com/details.asp?id=921 or call us at (415) 453-3003.

About ExecSense Webinars

ExecSense is the largest producer of executive webinars in the world, developing over 500 webinars a year led by hundreds of C-Level executives (CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO, CLO) and partners from 60% of the largest 200 law firms. ExecSense enables business and legal executives to be in-the-know on the most important topics that impact their profession. News breaks every day, however the news stories and trends written about in newspapers, magazines and web sites are too general in nature or not explored in enough detail. To provide executives with more in-depth insights tailored specifically to their profession, ExecSense produces individual webinars as well as titles in our Instant Impact, What Executives Need to Know About…, SpeedBriefings, Legal Needs, Technology for Lawyers, Technology for CEOs, and What to Know Before… series. Depending on the webinar, it includes audio files and documents in PowerPoint, Word and/or Excel. ExecSense is a privately held company headquartered in San Rafael, California, founded in 2000.

About Stevens Consulting Group

Stevens Consulting Group works with organizations that seek to dramatically accelerate revenue. With over 27 years of experience and research, Drew Stevens Phd is one of the worlds leading authorities on business development and sales skills. Dr. Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To discover how Dr. Drew dramatically accelerate your business development and sales skills visit his sales and marketing website.

Popularity: 14% [?]

A common travesty that underpins sales success is fear. Selling professionals fear picking up the phone, they fear asking for referrals, they fear asking for the agreement. Sellers fear because they do not know what to do if something does not go their way. They have failed. Not true, failure is the best teacher in the world. Stop looking at failure as a negative. A terrific mentor, author and king of the consulting world Alan Weiss states, “If you are not failing you are not trying”.

First, selling professionals are constantly immersed in rejection. Yet it all begins with confidence. Sellers must believe in the products and services they represent. If you do not believe it you will not sell it! How do you expect buyers to believe you if you cannot believe it? Avoid failure with passion and conviction for the company you represent.

Second, regular readers of this column know my thoughts on cold calling- I abhor it. There are times when it is necessary. More importantly, there are times when friends, peers and colleagues might provide sellers with a referral. Research in this area illustrates that over 78% of individuals procrastinate making these calls because of rejection. Refrain from preconceptions and pick up the phone! What you are really saying is that you do not know what to say after hello! Rejections diminish with proper preparation, provocative questions and action steps.

It is important to remember that buyers do not reject you personally, they reject the offer simply because there is a lack of trust and value. Therefore, sellers must find methods that counteract these issues.

“Failure is not an option” originated from the issues of Apollo 13. Unfortunately many selling professionals use the cliché for all their efforts. With so many organizations lacking investment in their sales teams and with less individuals investing in themselves, failure is the best educational tool. Keep trying, continue failing, stop looking for short term results but long term strategies of self-mastery. Failure is the key to your economic selling future!

Additional Quote for the Day

“Why don’t you want to do what you know you should do? The reason you don’t is that you’re in conflict with yourself.” – Tom Hopkins (The Art of Selling)

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Limited beliefs also withhold your success, Click Here for a Free Report on Overcoming Limited Beliefs

Drew Stevens PhD is one of the world’s leading authorities on business development and practice management success. Dr. Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling and the upcoming book Ultimate Business Bible – 10 Strategies for Achieving Ultimate Business Success. Click to receive a free chapter of Ultimate Business Bible. Dr. Drew is one of the founders of the Sales Leadership Program at St. Louis University and operates Sales Fitness and Business Expert Radio one of the Internet’s highly successful podcasts and radio programs. To discover how Drew Stevens can dramatically accelerate your revenue contact him through his website.

Popularity: 12% [?]

If you or one of your selling staff where pulled over by a police officer and arrested for being a selling professional, would there be enough evidence to convict you or the others?

The purpose of selling is meant to create relationships. Selling requires building trust and asking provocative questions that instill dialogue to gain customer understanding. So why then are there so many floundering, failing and simply annoying many. Too many selling professionals today fail to do the required homework to have any intellectual discussion. It is criminally negligent to not conduct the necessary detective work and discover information to assist conversation.

In two recent and hellacious examples one seller was an SEO firm seeking to assist me my web efforts. However he knew nothing of my Google ranking. In the other, one sales professional did not get past hello because of the rote script she was reading from. This folly conveys ignorance and most of all laziness. Selling requires research and knowledge before engaging conversation. Anything less results in rejection.

Before you pick up the phone to say hello, make certain that the actions you take can convict you of being a professional, ethical and knowledgeable selling professional.

Quote of the day

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge. – Benjamin Disraeli

There are 7 techniques you can use daily to assist you preparation efforts. Get the 7 Secrets to Sales Preparation by emailing me today. Ask about our Free 30 Minutes “Sales Acceleration Coaching Clinic”!

©2009. Drew J. Stevens Ph. D. All rights reserved.

Drew Stevens PhD is one of the worlds leading experts in sales and sales skills. Dr. Drew is the author of six books including Split Second Selling and the soon to be released Ultimate Business Bible. With over 25 years of sales experience and business leader, Dr. Drew has extensive experience in assisting both entrepreneurs and selling professionals to experience higher efficiency and effectiveness. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness offering tips and techniques that immediately improve selling performance.

Popularity: 5% [?]