Archive for the ‘General Sales’ Category

Simply put, we want to know how you use your network to mastermind your success!?

Maybe you do things like write articles and spread the word and work of others through relationship like this article from the High Velocity Blog.

Some people wonder how you get to write articles on someone else’s blog, and it’s easy, as long as you know them and they know you and you create a level of trust and respect!

Don’t sit down an ignor your network; Give them “Warm Fuzzies” and make them feel good. We do things like post our members subject matter here on The Sales Corner, we allow them to write articles with no restrictions as long as their content is in the face of Sales, Marketing, or other current topics like Web Design and Business. Just like Drew Stevens does.

Maybe it’s someone in your network that you use to help yourself AND your members grow their business bigger and better, like FD Walsh. Coined in the past here as the “TSC SEO Shaman” because he’s a great content writer, social media net-worker, publisher of story, and more!

However you mastermind your network; don’t forget that business remains in all of your connections. People don’t gather around something they don’t need, want, or like. People gather around that which they are drawn to and enjoy doing that interests them.

Perhaps that’s one reason our members consist of so many people from so many walks of life! Because we help “business” owners and that means we do a lot for everyone in our network; Some Free, and some Not Free.

People we work with (people that I work with) understand that there are value in giving, and usually, if you give in the right ways, it will come back to you ten or twenty fold.

So I ask you; How do you mastermind your network?

Popularity: 9% [?]

What’s a good way to drive new clients and new relationship to your business? By helping people succeed.

Let me first tell you how positive I am about what we are doing here for people and their business. We are very glad our members continue to stay on our list and go down this path with us.

We want to help you to; and we’d like to ask you if there’s anything you need or could do to increase or better your Social Media
requirements in your company?

We invite you to register on our Members list via Google Groups and get more from The Sales Corner. One of the many values we provide is with exclusive content like our Members list has to offer!

height=30 width=140 alt="Google Groups">

Subscribe to The Sales Corner

Email:

Visit this group

Popularity: 8% [?]

By now, you’ve been around enough to read a large amount of content for Drew Stevens. We want you to consider the power and momentum that he can help bring to your business model or organization. We invite you to view one of his new videos and see his “View from the Stands” about the “Doctor Biz” so you can Accelerate your patient volume with proper marketing techniques!

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on Sales Consulting, Business Development & Marketing Solutions. Drew is the author of the successful sales process books – 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 Acceleration. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization visit his marketing and sales consulting website – stevensconsultinggroup.com.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Here at The Sales Corner, our number one topic sought out is for Sales Probing Questions.

It’s true that people go looking for the answers to sell better and be more effective. We encourage the education of an individual to be a better seller, be it they are in a sales environment directly, or not. There’s a place to sell, all the time, regardless of your position in your company or organization.

It’s also true that in the event you are having a conversation with a potential prospect or customer, you will find doors into other opportunities that were not immediately present! One example of this is the event called “Trigger Selling.” Trigger Selling is important because it’s the event that causes someone or an organization to buy. Sometimes a trigger can occur overnight, or over weeks, or even months. In any event asking the right sales probing questions, can and will often lead a person down a path to some “trigger.”

It’s important to study your prospects and be mindful of when things change. Often, change brings even more change, and this is a good opportunity to re-introduce an idea, or invite that person to view a new solution to their problems.

Furthermore, you can be become involved at a higher level based upon bringing new change, and introducing new ideas to your prospect. Be informed. Being informed can also bring you to an item called Customer Profiling, which is a good way to get a customers outlook or overview of their model, and help you spot any changes that may come quick, or find anything that may get you in their door again sooner ahead of your competition.

Other ways you can get a head of competition is by networking and learning from some of the best in the industry; Here’s a couple links to a few people in The Sales Corner network that would be more then happy to work with you!

Process Specialist; Increase Sales Blog

Drew Stevens Consulting;

Popularity: 15% [?]

During my workshops I frequently speak of the need for selling professionals to be prepared for every selling situation. With the lack of selling methodology and training amongst 92% of the selling population there are a number of gaffs during the sales day.

After a relaxing Independence Day weekend, I returned to several emails. One of the most striking included the following, “I realize that your company may be too big to have a need for our training materials, but I liked what I saw on your webpage and I thought it might be worth having a conversation.”

While I honor the selling representative for having the gumption to connect, their lack of knowledge for my firm is alarming. Worse yet, there exists the typical bromide of “what you can do for me approach”. Selling professionals must refrain from selling products and begin to realize the need to invest in and develop relationships. Consumers buy from those they know and trust and this begins with intellectual dialogue based on objectives and values.

If there is a desire to invest in a relationship then:

1. Conduct fundamental research on the company and establish need.
2. Get introduced to the economic buyer through a third party.
3. If a cold call is required, ensure the focus is on objectives and measurements of success.
4. Conduct research on the true economic buyer, blind messages to gatekeepers will only get lost.
5. Stop thinking of input; consider how your product or service will benefit the customer. Think of external value end the selfishness and focus on the prospective client.

Before you pick up the phone or key a letter:

• Know the customer.
• Know the industry.
• Know the competition.
• Know your value.
• Know your differentiation.
• Know your value proposition.
• Know your output.
• Know your decision maker.
• Know your time frame.

Customers are too busy and not inclined to have their time wasted on the folly of sales commission. The only methods of competitively selling today include differentiation, value and output. Anything less is simply a waste of the selling professionals time. How much do you know?

© 2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All rights reserved.

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on Sales Marketing & Business Development Solutions . 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 Acceleration. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization visit his marketing and sales website.

Popularity: 67% [?]

In recent weeks in working with a number of clients, there is a tendency to see similar issues between them. Much of what I experience concerns the sales force. The larger issue is that many organizations do not invest in their sales teams. Ironic since the notion of every business is to retain and acquire clients.

To assist organizations to operate more efficiently here are a few thoughts to remember:

Selling professionals are in the marketing business. Spend one to two hours per day creating information that increases marketing. Use resources stemming from IMC to assist you and the organization to attract consumers. Creating an array of activity lessens labor and helps to increase brand.
Use testimonials to build brand. Ensure that your customers and alliances can reiterate your value proposition and articulate it to others. Consumers that trust you and enjoy your value will be tickled to inform others.
Maintain customer contact. Those that invest in customer relationships are always top of mind. Consumers not only conduct business with whom they trust- but also remember!
Sellers and their business are dependent on customers. Ensure that all calls are returned timely. I use a 90 minute rule! If not return all calls and emails by day’s end. Additionally, any and all staff should be well versed in customer service culture.
Eschew the folly of trends. Refrain from the bromide trends of “casual day”. Always be prepared to visit a customer. Buy good clothes and resources (i.e. Wallet, brief case and yes a pen) to emulate the part. Have good vocabulary and become well versed to speak with economic buyers.

©2010. Drew Stevens Ph.D All Rights Reserved.

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on Sales Marketing & Business Development Solutions . 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 Acceleration. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization visit his marketing and sales website.

Popularity: 37% [?]

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: 39% [?]

We see it a lot here at The Sales Corner. Including the “decision makers” making the decision to put an exorbitant amount of money into a product or service to gain little to no attention from that service or provider. In this example below, we show you a common type of approach;

“Mr. Customer, you can pay $15,000 dollars to get you in the top 3 on Google in less then 6 months!” Doesn’t that sound great?! Oh, and by the way, can and will also offer you; Internet Marketing, SEO Services, additional Search Engine Placements, Revenue Ad ideas, ways to sell products, and other things that will appear to help your online growth…. and if you want to gain access to that stuff, you’ll need to pony up another $15,000 or more to take advantage of those things!” If you’d like can start right away as long as you can provide them a Credit Card, AND SURELY WILL GUARANTEE you top placement on Google for your money, and their hard work, and you’ll become famous! Doesn’t that sound great Mr. Customer?”

Ho Hum, but we here at The Sales Corner say “Sorry Mr Customer; You’ve just been screwed out of a nice chunk of change!” Change that you could have used to buy a new desk, computer, programs, or hell, maybe you wanted a vacation with your family while you left the business to someone else!!

Why are you screwed though? Here’s how, and we think you’ll find this a bit intriguing;

1) ANYONE can search Google for anything.

When they do, some of YOU will have success on the top pages and some will not. However, it’s true that the top 5 links mostly get the clicks, it’s not always true that just because you are in the top 5 you’ll stay there there based on what those optimized search terms were. No, you’re in the top 5 because Google put you there based on how they ranked your popularity. (among other criteria….)

(This information alone to the right service provider is worth about $10,000 dollars in their price book, and I’ve just provided it for
free.)

So how popular are you today?
Where do you fit in?
Is your provider KEEPING you in that top 5 with “good ethics” and “dynamic ways” to keep you in the top listings?

Frankly our “Kid and Pre-Teen Research Team” can do better then some of the “experts” out there. WHY? It’s because they are creatively changing and remain dynamic.

You’ll stay on top of the Google game if you are dynamic, changing, and doing doing doing something that Google likes. Do you know all the secrets? NO, and let us tell you, neither do we, nor does the next service provider.

What The Sales Corner does know is how to keep you in front of your customers in your market. We help you build on your relationships and open NEW doors!

The perks of some of these things are becoming “famous” on Google, or having “the source” be you when a potential party is looking for your solution, service, or similar product etc…

We hope you take the time to consider this the next time you are seeking a service provider with a very large amount of overhead needed to do a job that any smart 3rd or 4th grader can do. Please be different; be smarter then those people. HELP YOURSELF LEARN and GROW and ACHIEVE and perhaps best of all SAVE YOUR MONEY! (Or give it to us, to help your ROI…..)

The Sales Corner Memberships;

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

Popularity: 38% [?]

Sales proposals are part of business. Buyers want to know what they can expect before they turn over their hard earned profits for your goods or services. Websites abound with free templates to how to write a killer sales proposal. Yet, to be the Red jacket, to stand out from  all those other sales people suggests you may need to change the game plan if you truly wish to increase sales.

Outside of formal RFP’s required by many government or related agencies, most businesses use the word proposal. This word comes from the word propose which has Latin roots and means “to place forth.” Your goal is to place forth to your potential customer (a.k.a. prospect) what you will deliver.

Credit: Integratedinfo.co.in

If proposal means to place forth, then exactly what you are placing forth?  In simple terms, you are placing forth a statement of work or SOW.  So what would happen if you began to replace this phrase statement of work with proposal?  Would you think differently about your relationship with the prospective customer? Sales Training Coaching Tip: Change your words, improve your results.

Any gray suit can write a proposal, but those (Red jackets) who understand the nuances of words and how those words affect people (think emotional intelligence and neuro-linguistic programming) can bring additional value to the relationship via a statement of work.

The problem with proposals are they are just that – proposing. Your potential customer does not see you any differently than anyone else who has submitted a similar document. Also why would you waste your time unless you knew, barring some unforeseen obstacle such as a change in management, you were going to earn the sale?  I learned very early on that I could be in the proposal writing business or in the business of earning sales. For me in my executive consulting and coaching practice, practicality told to me choose the later because proposals in and by themselves are lost leaders.

Today, I do not, repeat do not, submit any proposals. Those are for the gray suits who are like sharks fighting after bits of decaying fish. What I have learned to do is to personally deliver statements of work that solidify the relationship and succinctly spell out how I envision the engagement to be conducted. My time is valuable and hence I am very selective in who I work with.

You can continue to deliver sales proposals after proposals or truly learn how to separate yourself from all those other sales people. The choice is yours.

Popularity: 23% [?]