by Alan J. Zell, Ambassador of Selling

A problem every business faces is where to find good salespeople. It has plagued businesses ever since salespeople were “invented.” Today, some firms use a “profile of successful salespeople” approach. They figure that if they can identify those attributes successful salespeople have, employees with the same attributes will become good and, hopefully, great salespeople. Some firms look for people with a personality that fits a format: that is, “A” types, “B” types, etc.

Seldom trying to fit a salesperson into a mold works. There is not one personality type that insures great selling, nor is there one resource for finding good salespeople. Every resource has its positive and negative aspects. When looking for salespeople, you should look at the following nine resources:

1. FROM WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION: Look right under your own nose; those already in other departments in the firm. They might be working in the warehouse, stockroom, receiving, shipping, or on the technical staff.

   Positive: They are already familiar and comfortable with your firm’s products and services and they will understand how their former job fits into the selling picture. When the opportunity arises, they will know, because of their familiarity with the internal workings of the firm, what changes can be made so the sale can be made.

   Negative: Many people went into their jobs so they wouldn’t have to sell. It may be difficult for them to become comfortable with the idea that they can sell.

2. FROM THE COMPETITION: either locally or from another area.

   Positive: The advantage is that they know already the competition, their strengths, and more important now, their weaknesses.

   Negative: It is often hard for the new person to adapt to a new way of doing business. Also, the current staff may have a hard time accepting “the enemy” into the organization.

3. FROM SUPPLIERS: Those who have been selling your firm the things that make up your products and services.

   Positive: They have a background in the industry, its problems, and customers.

   Negative: They will have to be taught a mew way of doing business and how products or services are used by your firm’s customers.

4. FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES:

   Positive: They will not have to be retrained in selling.

   Negative: If they are not able to transfer their selling skills, they must be un-trained and retrained in their new employers methods of selling. It will take time for them to become familiar with your firm’s products and services, the way your business operates, and what your customers have been buying, talking about, and looking for.

5. THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER SOLD BEFORE:

   Positive: The advantage is they can train them the way you want.
   
   Negative: You have to!

6. FROM YOUR FIRM’S CUSTOMERS: current or past.
   
   Positive: They understand your firm’s products and services from the customers’ points of view. Most likely they will be familiar with the competition’s products and services.
   
   Negative: They may have a hard time gaining the confidence of their former competitors — your firm’s current and prospective customers.
7. FROM STAFF’S RELATIVES AND FRIENDS:

   Positive: Your firm is seen in a positive light because your staff has, most likely, been telling their family and friends who are prospective employees the positive aspects of working for you. In addition, many people like the idea that they will be working with people they know.
   
   Negative: If either employee has to be disciplined or another problem arises, you have to understand that both the problem employee and their relative or friend will be reacting to management’s actions.

8. FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS:
   
   Positive: There is an ongoing rapport that often energizes the working relationship.
   
   Negative: Friendships and families have broken up due to strife in the workplace.
9. FROM THE CURRENT SALES STAFF: Those your firm has a lot of money tied up in already.
   
   Positive: It costs a lot less to retrain and reassign job
   responsibilities than it does to try to train new people. Sometimes the devil one knows has the potential to be far better than the devil one doesn’t know.

   Negative: You may find that your current staff’s imperfections may be due to your lack of providing affordable products and services, training, sales tools, supervision, and guidance.

No matter which of these nine resources you use, salespeople can only be as good as your firm and its products or services will allow, what tools they are given to work with, and the extent of customers’ wants, needs, and ability to buy.

Building a perfect salesperson, like building a perfect building, is an impossible dream. Great salespeople, like great buildings, can be built. They will be considered great when they meet customers’ expectations. Only then will salespeople meet the firm’s expectations.

Great salespeople, like great buildings, are not built in a day, three days, three weeks, three months. Great salespeople and great buildings are the result of many years of continuous training by great teachers.

by Alan J. Zell, Ambassador of Selling

Business turns from being very “up:” to being very “down.” Any business that has been around for a few years experiences the ebb and flow of the economy. It is when business is down that businesses find the road is not so smooth. If a firm is feeling a pinch, most likely, their customers’ businesses are feeling the same downturn. Is there a solution? Yes, there is!

In a positive business climate purchases will sometimes be made of things they might need in addition to what they do need. When times are tight they will only want to buy what they need at the moment. The fact that customers are buying less is not all bad. An empty warehouse, the saying goes, leaves room for goods to be added; a full warehouse rarely has any room.

There are several ways to promote business. The first way that usually comes to mind is to run a price promotion. It’s easy to do and often fills the immediate need. Long range, it may hurt. This does not mean that price promotions are all bad. They are often good: close outs and special purchases, as examples, will help both the supplier and the customer. Promoting by price may stimulate business, but if the customer hasn’t used up the special priced goods they bought, when it comes time to sell them at regular price, the customer won’t buy anything. In addition, the low price becomes the only price.

In tough times, cash flow is even more difficult to maintain than in good times. It is possible the reason customers aren’t ordering is due to lack of cash flow. A deferred or extended payment plan may be the answer for them.

Some companies will exchange goods on a 2, 3, or 4-to-1 basis so they could get their better selling or new merchandise into their customers’ hands. When I was a buyer, I was willing to take 10% less than my cost on what I was trading back so that I could get the better selling or new items. It was a case of “the best items sell first” and what I had in stock were the slower-selling items so it paid me to get the better selling items in without having the slower selling ones sitting on the shelf.

In one trade-back program, my vendor left the slower-selling goods on consignment after giving us the credit toward the new order. It was cheaper for them to have the goods in my basement than having to handle them again. Besides, if the goods were still in my possession, there was a better chance for me to sell some of them. Surprisingly, it didn’t take very long for us to move the old goods between what we sold and then sending, at our supplier’s instructions, the remainder to their other customers.

As a vendor, helping customers over the “hump” may be a way of increasing business not only during slow times but may have a very positive effect when times get better.

The answer may be as simple as creating new methods of advertising the product. All too often, “standard” goods are not looked upon as exciting. They were exciting when they were new, so why not look at them as if they were new? Maybe they haven’t been advertised for a long time. An ad, a poster, a new display unit, new boxes or labels, ideas of new ways of use, are some of the methods that could be used to boost sales.

What is important is that you are willing to do something to get things moving. More important, any of these methods would be telling your staff and your customers that you are not sitting back and crying in your beer. Instead, you are ordering “beer on the house for everyone!”

by Gareth Morgan

The more you understand about your customers, prospects and the marketplace you operate in the more likely you are to succeed. This is where market research helps. While it does not guarantee success it is a key component of any successful business.

Market research can help maximise customer satisfaction, profits, competitive advantages and help to identify the risks to your business. It can help you to build customer loyalty, identify new opportunities, and to identify and reduce business risks.

You may already be undertaking market research. Every time you talk to a customer or a supplier you are doing some form of research. Sometimes, however, you need to formalise this process. Market research is the collection and analysing of information about people, markets and organisations. The aim is to help you make better more informed decisions for your business.

Traditionally market research is divided into quantitative (numerical) and qualitative research. Quantitative can be collected by postal surveys, telephone surveys and face-to-face interviews etc. Qualitative data is about discovering how people feel about a topic or subject. Typically this uses interviews and focus groups to find out more about customers and their views.

Then just to complete the picture there is primary and secondary data. Primary is firsthand information. When you survey your customers you are gathering information straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak. It is more time consuming and costly but can also be the most useful because it is specific to your business. Secondary data is information that has already been collected by someone else. Market research organisations like Mintel. Keynote etc undertake many market studies, the government has a mass of information on population and expenditure on products, companies house has the accounts of registered companies, even telephone books are a secondary data source.

What should you research?

Your market: What is the total market size by sector both in the UK and overseas? What seasonal or fashion factors influence the market? Where are the big players? What are the trends?

Your environment: This is about the political, social and economic factors that influence your market; everything from a change in interest rates, the closure of a local business, to new government regulations can affect your business.

Your competition: Who are they and what are their services? What marketing activities do they use? What is their pricing policy? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Where is their appeal? Where do you have a competitive advantage? Also check out their financial performance.

Your product: Who uses? How often do they purchase? Is your product branded? What stage of the product life cycle is it at? Is your pricing and trading policy right? What are the returns? What new products are planned? How do they fit in with existing products? How can existing products be improved?

Your customers: How many are there? Where are they? What is their profile? What are their needs? How can you reach them?

Your performance: Regularly ask customers for their feedback on your performance. What do they like/dislike? What could you improve? Would they recommend you?

Avoid these common pitfalls

I don’t need research. I know everything. Typical comments from business owners who go on to say things like I have spent years in the industry, I know my customers. This is dangerous, as you have preconceived ideas and perceptions about your customers and their needs. You need to test your assumptions and remember the market and customer expectations are always changing.

“I like it.” Some times inventors and business owners get stuck on an idea because it appeals to them. You need to be careful when developing new products and services that they compliment what you already do and match the profile of your customers. Similarly you need market research to identify if there are enough customers for your product.

Using only secondary research. The published studies of your market place are useful and widely available from the Internet and libraries. They can only go so far and primary research with your customers can help you more effectively target customers and your marketing activities.
Friends and family. Asking people close to you for their opinion is fraught with danger. They will not want to hurt your feelings. Talk to real prospects and customers.

Try casually showing your product to people. Do they say “wow”. If so tell them you have one in your car available now, do they get their wallets out?

Market Research can help position your business for success. It can help you save time and money on ideas that will not work to concentrate on those that will. Market Research is not a one-off activity only to be used when developing new products or services it should be a key part of the marketing plan for your business.

For personal help to research your business or new product idea contact me on 01226 290288 or email Gareth@gapmanagement.co.uk

By gareth morgan

Because marketing has no on/off switch it is easy to fall into the trap of always doing the same things each year, but some time spend planning and putting down on paper your knowledge can provide some real surprises and useful knowledge.

These guidelines suggest the main areas you should review to achieve your goals and to increase sales and profits

Customers and Prospects

Anaylse and categorise by:

• Business type. This will help to identify the areas you are strong in and to concentrate on.
• Number of employees, base this on relevant employees, those who will actually use your products.
• Ease of doing business with, for example prompt payers
• Timewasters
• Pricing and discounts
• Sales and profit
• Potential for growth. How much of the potential business are you getting? Who else is getting business for the products or services you provide?

Next develop plans for each category.

Your lapsed customers. How many are there? What is the potential of this group who have purchased from you in the past? How can you reactivate them and make them loyal customers once more? Aim to contact some and ask them why they stopped doing business with you and what would you have to do to win their business back?
Features and benefits. What does the service you offer really mean for the customer?

Think about the key features of each service or product you offer and then what are the benefits the customer receives from each. Draw up a list of all the services you offer and do a feature and benefit analysis for each one. Do this by completing the statement: ” which means that” or identify the problem a customer faces and explain how you solve it.
Competition. Who are your main competitors and how do they market themselves and what do they offer.

Web site. Review your web site and web statistics. Make sure the site is working for you and develop a programme to keep updating the site.
Sales and marketing literature. Now is the time to review your material and decide whether any of it needs reviewing. The purpose of the material is to convince potential customers that you can help them and they should contact you to do business.

Try some new ideas. If you always do what you have always done you will always get what you have always got. Many businesses use only 2 or 3 marketing activities. To really grow their business they should combine several marketing methods at the same time. Which of these do you use or could you use?

• Web site with section and case studies for each niche market
• Industry specific brochures
• Leaflets and flyers
• Articles for trade press
• Referral programme
• Direct mail
• Fax marketing
• E-mail marketing
• Telemarketing
• Networking
• Advertising
• Press releases
• Sponsorship
• Entertaining

I suggest you try one new idea each month and monitor its effectiveness and success

Marketing is vital for survival and growth. There are as many ways as customers.As you learn more about your customer base you will come up with more persoanlsed, powerful and exciting ways to market your business.

Out of sight out of mind. People are busy and quickly forget. Brochures that you sent 6 months ago are forgotten or lost. Develop a programme of regular contact with prospects without becoming a pest. Follow up with newsletters, articles etc.

Time. Allocate time to improve your firm’s sales and marketing activities.
Measuring your success. Tracking the results of your marketing activity is vital to help you plan your efforts in the future. Always record when your new customers come from.

Using written articles is a tried and tested way to increase your website traffic. Let’s talk about some valuable tips on how to do an effective article marketing strategy:

Article Submission Directories

Of course you need people to read your articles. The best way to do that is by submitting them to article submission directories. People doing researches are most often led to article directories. Here, articles are arranged according to categories so it’s easier to find an article about a particular subject. Millions of people around the world are visiting article directories to research about some information.
By including your articles in these directories, you’re guaranteed to get reads and get more direct more people to your website. There are a lot of article directories that offer submissions for free. Examples are http://ezinearticles.com, http://goarticles.com, or http://searchwarp.com. Take advantage of these directories and give your articles the exposure they need.

Newsletter Publishers
There are many newsletter publishers on the web that welcome new content to include in their newsletter issues. Search for as many newsletter publishers as you can and request to be included in the newsletter. Remember to look for ones that publish newsletters that are relevant to the articles you’ve written.

Create your own E-book
E-books are increasingly becoming popular in the online community. You can create your own e-book that contains a compilation of your articles. You can try offering your e-book for free when offering e-mail subscription and if you get great response you can even sell it. Giving away free e-books is an easy way to gain recognition on the web. When people receive an e-book, they usually share it with others especially if it has helped them in some way. Moreover, many internet marketers have already made big profit by coming up with an e-book that contains valuable information. Aside from earning big, these e-books has helped them to establish a name in the online community.

Post in Forum Discussion
Marketing article can also be done by posting relevant messages in forum discussions. Visit forums that are related to your written articles and participate in the group discussions. When appropriate, you may share some advices and inform the group that you’ve written an entire article about that they might want to check out. Remember to leave the URL to your website with all your posts.

Use Bullets
People love to read short, clear, and useful information in bullets. Bulleted texts make an article a lot more interesting and easier to read. Some people who do not have the time to read the entire article may just read the bulleted texts and scan through the rest of the article. By using bulleted formats, you’re increasing your chances of being read by more people.

Write Quality Articles
Using article marketing strategies would be in vain if your articles do not have quality content. Don’t forget to proof-read your articles before submitting them to directories or posting them on your website. People can get easily turned off with typos and wrong grammar. Aside from double checking them yourself, have another person proof-read your articles for you. Others are more likely to see the errors that you may have missed. Lastly, quality articles always have original, interesting and useful content so make sure that each of your written articles has excellent quality.

Jessie Masterson is a credit analyst, a writer and a sharp internet marketer in her own right. For years, she has mastered the art of online marketing to snowball online success. She currently gives her share of online marketing for students who are still on their first steps of the online marketing ladder.

Copyright 2007

How to reach, influence and generate leads and more sales for your company from fewer buyers and with a smaller budget.

By M. H. “Mac” McIntosh, CBC

Yes, these are difficult times. Your company’s sales are down. Competition is tougher than ever.

However, if sales are down even 50 percent in your industry, that means that 5 out of 10 people who would normally buy are still buying. And you - as your company’s marketer - can still find ways to reach, influence and generate leads and more sales for your company from these fewer buyers, even with a smaller budget. Here’s how:

Eliminate marginal investments

First, cut out all the marketing communications projects you might never get around to anyway. These “wish list” projects can be added back to the marketing to-do list when the economy turns around and you have the money and resources needed to do them right.

Next, determine which B2B marketing communications programs will have the biggest impact on generating inquiries, qualified leads and short-term sales. Make sure these stay at the top of the list for funding and implementation.

Your company’s image and the market’s awareness of your products or services are important. But if your budget is tight, don’t try to reach the entire market with general messages. Instead, focus your B2B marketing communications efforts on explaining the benefits, features and applications of your products and services to a well-targeted group of prospects. Don’t spend your limited budget on an expensive image-advertising campaign that won’t affect short-term results. Instead, let the quality of your response materials and Web site do the job of enhancing your company’s image.

As you evaluate which marketing tactics to use, take a hard look at what worked in the past - and what didn’t. Swallow hard, and eliminate those B2B marketing programs that didn’t show a positive return on investment, as measured by leads or sales. Concentrate your current investments in the communications tactics that have made measurable contributions to your B2B marketing return on investment.

Interview your salespeople to identify which tools have been most instrumental in successfully selling your company’s products or services. Ask each salesperson to tell you, with regard to each of his or her customers, which sales tools (for example, brochures, data sheets, white papers, comparison guides, PowerPoint presentations) played the biggest role in snaring recent sales. Keep track of which tools they mention most frequently, and allocate your marketing budget accordingly.

Finally, consider the following money-saving tactics in the areas of direct mail, public relations, trade publication advertising, trade show marketing, Web sites, seminars and workshops, marketing partnerships, marketing collateral, referral programs and sponsorships.

Direct mail

In these difficult times, think about increasing your use of direct mail. Email, fax and regular mail are cost-effective ways to deliver targeted offers to the most desirable prospects.

Rather than doing less-effective “shotgun” mailings to rented lists, consider repeat mailings targeted at`known prospects (such as past inquirers). To cut costs, use business letters, email and faxes rather than expensive full-color mailers. Then save more money by sending expensive literature or materials only to those who request them - not to every prospect in your database.

If you don’t have your own email lists to market to, consider renting email lists from publishers or placing ads in other targeted e-newsletters or e-zines. These can be very economical ways to reach your market and generate a quick response.

And yes, I did say fax. If you don’t have someone’s email address or permission to correspond with him or her by email, you can still save money by sending faxes instead of mail. This works particularly well if you have a preexisting business relationship with the prospect. Don’t send unsolicited faxes to rented lists; do be sure to give recipients the ability to “opt out” by calling a toll-free number.

Get published

You will get more bang for your marketing communications buck by taking advantage of inexpensive public relations opportunities. These include writing or contributing to articles for industry publications. Contributed-article programs may include customer success stories that feature testimonials from satisfied clients, as well as bylined “expert” articles that highlight your company’s expertise.

Newsletters are another great way to provide value to your customers and keep your company’s name on their minds without spending a fortune. And controlling the circulation of the newsletter can help you identify and qualify prospects: you can make it a requirement that people who want the newsletter must fill out a brief survey. The survey asks questions about their level of interest in your products, buying authority and purchasing horizon. This information then goes into your database for immediate or future follow-up, as appropriate, by marketing or sales.
For newsletters and contributed-article programs, consider not only the traditional print format but also the Web. If you already have a Web site, it is cheaper and faster to post customer success stories and newsletters to the site rather than printing and distributing them.

Provide speakers

Another economical marketing tactic is to promote your company’s executives as potential speakers at key meetings and conferences. Speaking at prominent events positions those executives as experts. You can also use these events to generate leads by promising to send audience members a copy of the presentation, a free white paper or some other valuable information if they give you a business card.

Trade publication advertising

In these difficult times, you will likely be better off with a high-frequency or high-impact presence in one or two key publications than with an occasional presence in several. Be sure to study BPA statements to clearly understand what percentage of the magazine’s readership is really part of your target market. Ask your media reps to give you statistics on what percentage of their subscribers also read competitive magazines, and consider this information when calculating your true cost per thousand.

Bear in mind that when the economy is soft, advertising sales may be weak. That being the case, you may be able to negotiate an attractive rate with publishers who, in better economic times, would not normally be willing to cut a deal.

Trade shows

Trade shows can be expensive, so consider eliminating those that haven’t shown a favorable return on investment. However, if your trade show exhibits have proven effective in generating inquiries, qualified leads and sales, you can still find ways to reduce your trade show costs and boost your return.

For example, consider a smaller booth. Have dealers, distributors or resellers help you staff the booth. Eliminate expensive cocktail parties. Send preshow mailings to increase the number of visitors to your booth. Send postshow mailings and use telemarketing follow-up to convert casual inquiries into qualified leads.

Web sites

A few cost-effective changes can dramatically improve your corporate Web site’s marketing return on investment. Work with other organizations to link your site to their sites, increasing the number of visitors to yours. Register your Web site with search engines, selecting keywords carefully so your site will appear in the search results for your intended audience. Post articles and case studies on your site, then register those individual Web pages with the search engines.

Seminars and workshops

You can cut some of the cost of your seminars and workshops by holding them as Web events, teleconferences or videoconferences. “Webinars” and other virtual meetings eliminate the need for presenters and support staff to travel to distant cities. And virtual events sometimes enjoy better attendance than live events because attendees don’t need to leave their offices to attend. You still need to promote virtual events, but you can save a bundle on travel, meeting rooms and refreshments.

Marketing collateral

To save money, consider distributing smaller quantities of printed materials to your customers, salespeople, reps, dealers and distributors. Partner with a good literature fulfillment company to create a Web site for just-in-time orders of additional literature supplies. The fulfillment company’s services will more than pay for themselves through reduced literature and shipping costs.

My research shows that 3 in 10 requesters will want printed materials to share with their bosses, colleagues or clients. But that means 7 in 10 will be happy to save you money and get instant gratification by downloading PDF files or printing HTML pages from your Web site.

You can save on your printed literature production costs by avoiding expensive metallic inks and taking advantage of excess paper supplies the printer is willing to discount. Die cuts can be costly, but not if you use a die the printer already has created. You can also make items slightly smaller or print two-sided materials to reduce printing and shipping costs.

Find a marketing partner

Another way to stretch your marketing dollars is to team up with a company whose products or services complement yours. By pooling your resources, you and your partner can get far more mileage from your respective investments than either of you could alone.
An example would be a jointly sponsored mailing to promote products and services of both partners to their mutual universe of prospects. The investment would be minimal if you split the costs, but the access to additional prospects and the number of leads you generate could be substantial.

Create a referral program

A low-cost way to leverage the power of your existing customers is to create a referral program that rewards customers for sending prospects to your company. Depending on the relationship with the customer, an incentive may not even be required. Getting a referral from a happy long-term customer may be as easy as asking for it.

Sit back and think about it

I’m sure if you sit back and think awhile, you will find additional ways to cut the fat in your marketing programs and better focus your marketing efforts during these difficult economic times. Doing so will net you a better ROI on your marketing programs and help enhance your reputation with senior management as a valuable contributor to the corporate mission.

- Six Steps to Make Yourself and Others Feel Better at Work

We all want to be associated with a winner, be it a winning person, a winning team, a worthwhile cause or a successful organisation. We all have sports people, teams, actors or artists that we consider “ours”. When they do well, we bask in their reflected glory. It’s the same at work - we want to be associated with a worthwhile “winning” organisation. Our greatest reward is receiving acknowledgment that we have contributed to making something meaningful happen. More than anything else, people want to be valued for a job well done by those they hold in high regard.

A famous study by Lawrence Lindahl in the 1940’s came up with some surprising results. When supervisors and their employees were asked to list “What motivates the employees?”

• Employees listed “appreciation of a job well done” as number one and “feeling in on things” as number two.
• Supervisors, on the other hand, expected the employees would rank these two items as eighth and tenth respectively (supervisors thought employees would put wages as number one and promotion number two!).

These results were replicated in similar studies in the 1980’s and again in the 1990’s. In another recent study, employees were asked to rank job-based incentives - “personal thank-you’s” came first and “a note of appreciation from my manager” came second. “Money” came in at 16th!

Praise, the thing that motivates us the most, takes so little time and costs nothing! Famous management writer Rosabeth Moss Kantor once said “Compensation is a right. Recognition is a gift.”

Have you appreciated the work of others lately? Has the value of your own work been appreciated? Here’s a quick test - over the last week, have you:

• Told someone they have done a good job?
• Looked specifically to find someone doing something well?
• Made someone else look good rather than taking the credit yourself?
• Thanked others for your own success?
• Passed on positive comments you have heard about others?

These are simple examples of the things we need to do regularly to acknowledge the good work of others.

You might say, “If it’s that easy, why don’t more people do it?” There are many reasons, but they all fall into two categories - personal and organisational.

On a personal level, many of us are not comfortable giving praise. We may be awkward about it, or perhaps believe that people are paid to do a job, so why do we have to praise them?

From an organisational perspective, it may be the culture that is holding us back, or perhaps technology preventing us from valuing the work of others. For example, technology has changed the way many of us operate. Email may have replaced personal interaction, so we no longer see what others do well - out of sight is out of mind, so how can we praise good work if we don’t see it?

Here are six ways we can put praise for a job well done back into our working lives.

1. Look for things people do well and acknowledge them for their good work.
2. Be a model of acknowledgment - show others it’s OK to give praise.
3. Have a conversation with a colleague about how to give praise for work well done.
4. When people have performed above the norm, write them a small thank you note.
5. Encourage others to thank one another and pass on stories of good work to your manager.
6. Work to create a culture of appreciation - make acknowledgment part of your daily routine.

The essential point is that praise must be frequent and given locally (by colleagues and managers). It should not be seen as a corporate initiative or program, but merely “the way we do things around here”.

What’s not been said so far, is that praise must be genuine. People in general are very good at spotting insincerity. The message? When you do praise someone, make sure it’s for the good work they have done and not just for the sake of it.

A final word of warning. Many organisations turn acknowledgment into an event. They distort it with extrinsic motivators (such as money) and taint it with internal competition. Pure and simple, giving praise for a job well done is just that - pure and simple.

So, find someone doing something good today and simply tell them what a good job they’ve done!

Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

This article may be freely published electronically. It may be reprinted for individual use in hard copy but may not be reprinted in hard copy for commercial purposes.

By: Gareth Morgan

Not all customers a recreated equal, not all have the same buying power. It may seem strange to say this but choosing the customers for your business is critical for your success. The good ones add to your reputation and credibility, the bad ones cost you time, effort and money out of all proportion to the rewards. The ideal is to look to build long-term relationships with customers and avoid the “one - hit” wonders. When we start a business sometimes we take on customers that when we look back on should not have been taken on. They are just not worth it! Having said that sometimes winning an account has other longer - term implications that may make a poor account worthwhile.

4 Fs for success

Use these 4 Fs to select the customers you want for your business.

Fame: Good and well known customers can increase your credibility and act as great references. Will your new customers add value to your business profile? Will they add to your credibility? Will they be good references? Will others find it attractive that you are supplying reputable organisations?

Fortune: Will you make money from these customers? Will they pay on time? Will they be difficult to service and over demanding in their requirements?

Fun: Business is easier when it is fun and you enjoy working with clients. It is always easier to deal with the customers you enjoy working with. You are more likely to build long term relationships with people you enjoy working with.

Future: What is the business potential of the customer? What else may you be able to sell to them? The future potential of an account should also drive the resources that are put into that account. For example a small independent retailer may only have a tele-sales call a large retailer regular calls from an experienced account handler.

Spotting a bad customer

Poor customers may display some or even all of these characteristics:

• Low margin
• Always looking to reduce prices
• Constantly challenge aspects of your products or services
• Disruption to the normal business and other customers
• Slow or lengthy payment terms

How to choose customers

Choosing the customers you want can start by thinking about your existing customers. Think about he ones you really like and the ones you dread phoning or taking a phone call from. On a piece of A4 make a list of customers you like and customers you dislike and the reasons why. What industry sectors are they in? Does a pattern emerge? The objective is to seek more of the customers you like and from the industries you enjoy working with.

Time after time I come across business owners who tell their sales teams “we must have more new accounts” but do not tell them what makes a good customer. Here is an example that we can all relate to. If you supply office supplies and business equipment which customers are better for you? The ones who employ 10 staff in an office or the one - man band with no staff. Which should you take time to develop a relationship with? It may seem obvious, but you would be surprised at how often this gets overlooked in the rush to meet a target of so many new accounts this month. Quality not quantity is vital.

Where to look for your customers

Existing customers start with these. Talk to them ask if they know anyone else, are their any other departments within their business you should be talking to.

Past customers, go back to all those that used in the past and have stopped. Find out why and what do you have to do to become a supplier again. Be selective if you were glad to lose them as a customer for any reasons do not go back!

Suppliers these have an interest in your success. Ask them if they know companies who buy your products and services.

Observation take a different route to or from work and watch for new developments. Business parks seem to be springing up all over the place.

None of these ideas cost money. Begin with these before considering other ideas such as buying lists etc.

Avoid grabbing at business, the business you grab will probably be unprofitable.

By Keith Rosen, MCC
The Executive Sales Coach TM

Do you lack confidence? Suffer from low self-esteem? There’s no room at the champion roundtable for doubt or anything less than a winning attitude. So how do these top producers do it? How do so many of them go from initially lacking the confidence to close a deal to an extreme abundance of self-worth?

Here’s the secret to boosting your confidence today: Make
confidence a choice. I know what you may be thinking: It sounds too easy, and it has to be more difficult than this. Well, it depends upon the foundation and the strategy with which you build your confidence. Here’s one story that will introduce you to a whole new set of tools for confidence.

“So, I guess you could sense a change in the tone of my prep form that I sent you for our sales coaching call today?”
It was Denise calling in for her 7 a.m. coaching call. Prior to each coaching call, clients e-mail me their objectives for the call and their week in review. This way, they stay focused and accountable to their commitments, and have the opportunity to celebrate their wins each week.

She was right. “If you are referring to the sentence where you wrote, ‘I feel like getting out of sales completely and getting a mindless job somewhere else, maybe the government,’ or the sentence, ‘maybe I’m not cut out for this,’ then yes, I do sense something else may be off here.”

Denise and I have been working together for about seven months now. She’s made incredible breakthroughs in both her performance and her attitude. As a result, she was offered a promotion from regional sales manager to national account manager. With this promotion came a territory change as well as a new type of prospect. Where her average sale used to be about $10,000-$20,000, now her average sale was approximately $250,000.

“What caused this sudden change in attitude?” I inquired.

“Well, you know how we’ve been talking about the prospects that I’ve been filling in my pipeline? At this point in time, many of those prospects should be converting into sales. So I started making my follow-up calls as scheduled. Nothing but ‘Call me next week’ or ‘Now’s not a good time’ or ‘If you would like to leave a message . . .’

“I guess you could say that I’m getting a bit antsy. I want some of these deals to close already so that I can post some positive sales numbers towards my quota. As you can probably hear, I’m a little nervous. What if these deals don’t close?”

“You tell me, Denise. What if these deals don’t close?”

“I can tell you this, Keith: It won’t be a good thing! Maybe I never should have taken this national account position. I knew it was going to be a big change from regional sales but I didn’t anticipate such a change in the length of my sales cycle.”

“Maybe. Am I sensing some doubt in you?” I asked curiously.

“Oh, absolutely,” Denise exclaimed.

“And what, may I ask, are you doubting?” I responded.

“Myself,” Denise said quietly in a deflated voice. I could hear her confidence waning. It was as if someone reached inside her soul and ripped all of the self-worth out of her.

She continued, “And I know it’s just a matter of time until Lewis, my boss, calls me with some bad news like, ‘Denise. We really expected a lot more out of you. We thought you’d be much further along than you are. Denise, you’re fired!’”

I always find it amazing how creative our minds can be when it comes to visualizing our consequences and fears.

I shifted gears. “Denise, I’m curious about something. Didn’t you recently start this position?”

“Yes, about four months ago.”

“And isn’t it true that you’ve already closed and up-sold some big accounts?”

“Well, yeah, but that was like a month ago and I haven’t sold anything since. Besides
. . .”

Before the next excuse came out, I interrupted with “And isn’t it also true that you’ve gotten at least two deliberate and intentional accolades from both your new boss and his boss about how thrilled they are with what you have done so far?”

Silence.

“I’m sorry, Denise, but can you speak up a bit. I wasn’t able to hear you,” I said sarcastically, yet in a way that still made Denise feel empowered and supported.

“Denise, what are you hearing in what I’ve just shared with you?” I asked.
‘That maybe I’m being a bit too hard on myself,” she reluctantly admitted.
‘Does that feel true for you?” I reconfirmed.

“No, Keith, this is right on the money.”

“Well, are you ready to hear a little more that may also be right on the money but just a bigger pile of money?”

“Hit me!” She exclaimed. “I’m ready for it.”

Fueling Self-Doubt

I continued. “You had mentioned that your confidence has been deflated as a result of what you perceive as low productivity. Because you haven’t brought in any new sales recently, you doubt yourself and your abilities. Is that accurate so far?”

“Yup.”

“So, can I then conclude that you measure your self-worth by what you produce? That is, if you are closing new business practically each week, then your confidence would skyrocket to an all-time high.”

“That is for sure!” Denise exclaimed.

“Conversely, where you feel like you are now, where you haven’t sold — it’s affecting your confidence and the faith you have in yourself.”

>”No question there.”

“Denise, what does the word ‘confidence’ mean to you?”

I could hear her thinking. “I don’t know. I guess confidence means being in control. It’s when I have control over something. It’s a feeling of control and a belief in what I can do,’ she replied.

“So, in essence you are only worth as much as you’ve sold recently? Wow! That must be an interesting roller-coaster ride of emotion you’re on.”

“You can say that again, Keith!”

I continued. “So basically, if you sell, you’re feeling great. You’re in a positive state of mind. You are in a good mood and feeling a strong sense of worth about yourself. Conversely, if you don’t sell or don’t get the appointment or get in touch with a certain prospect that you’ve been attempting to connect with, you’re feeling pretty lousy about the day and about yourself. Denise, is this strategy of yours working for you?”

“Well,” Denise began, “I don’t know if I would necessarily say this is working for me. After all, it’s certainly causing way too much stress and anxiety. And it also keeps me from enjoying my family and maintaining my peace of mind.”

“So, would you be open to hear what I’m seeing and a new way of thinking that would remove your self-doubt as well as the stress that follows — permanently — so that you can start enjoying your life more?” I inquired, getting permission to continue our conversation and share some truths with her that I see.

“C’mon, Keith. We’ve been down this road before. Just lay it on me. I’m open to another way of thinking if it’s going to keep
me sane, happy, and employed.”

“Of course. Consider this: Do not allow external situations to dictate your internal condition.”

“Wow, that’s heavy. Is this another Keithism?”

I smiled. “Let me explain. You mentioned earlier that confidence is a belief in yourself. Where do we adopt these beliefs we have about ourselves? From our experiences and from other people. At some point during our life we learned the wrong lesson based on an experience we had. And the lesson was that if you want to be successful, you need to acquire things. You need to prove yourself and your self-worth. And those things you can acquire can be anything from money, cars, homes, toys, clothes, and in this case, sales, because if we acquire these things, if we create these things or work hard to achieve them, then we will be successful based on our current definition of success. And if we’re successful, then we’ve proven ourselves. And if we’ve proven ourselves, then boy won’t our level of confidence continue to rise.”

“That’s why the true definition of confidence is having an unwavering faith or belief not only in yourself but in each experience you have. And that belief is this: Regardless of the situation, regardless of how bleak it may look or how difficult it may be, it will all work out in the end without the evidence to support it. It’s trusting in yourself without any proof to back up your conviction.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Denise said after a few moments. “I can see how this makes sense but you can’t sit there and tell me that your attitude doesn’t change when you’re making sales each week!”

“I can certainly understand that, Denise, and you are right. For most salespeople, meeting or exceeding your sales goals has a very clear and measurable effect on their attitude.

“However, like most people would agree, the feeling of satisfaction you experience from closing the sale does not last. Conversely, it is fleeting until the next sale.”

“And doesn’t this support your old model of thinking? You’re putting yourself back into the confidence trap, surrendering your ability to control your level of self-worth by choice and instead allowing your experiences to dictate how you feel about yourself.

“Challenge your way of thinking and let your confidence be a choice based on an unwavering belief in yourself and in your abilities without needing the evidence to support it.”

by Dr. Rachna D. Jain.

Attracting and retaining long-term clients is a powerful strategy for growing your business. Long-term clients are likely to feel more satisfied, are more likely to refer others, and are more likely to purchase additional services from you. The savvy solo professional or small business owner gains big from focusing on these 10 sound strategies for long term client retention.

1. Focus your marketing on existing clients. Your current customers have already overcome certain hurdles to doing business with you and are more likely to buy from you again. Focus most of your time, efforts, and resources on better serving your current clients. Go deeper rather than wider.
2. Be consistent in your approach and interactions. Treat your clients with honesty, humor, and respect and maintain this over time. Present a consistent, solid, and professional style to your clients - one that they can grow to depend on.
3. Follow through on your commitments to them. If you promise to send information or to follow up, be sure to do this. You’d be surprised at how many professionals promise to send information, but then never do. You will gain loyalty and trust by doing what you say you will do.
4. Allow yourself to connect with them. Find out about their lives, their hopes, goals, and desired outcomes. Ask questions that encourage a deeper sense of shared understanding. The greater the level of connection, the greater the mutual satisfaction.
5. Have fun. It’s easy to get caught up in goals, outcomes, deliverable and all of these are, of course, vitally important. Clients do want outcomes. Also, they want to work with people who enjoy what they do. The more fun you can have while providing strong outcomes, the longer your clients will stay.
6. Position yourself as a resource for life. I tell all my clients, at the beginning, that I want to be their coach/consultant for life. That means they can always come back to work with me no matter how much time has passed between our meetings. This strategy has worked extremely well as I often get calls from clients from four, five and six years ago - whenever they are in need of a goals tune-up. Clients appreciate knowing they can come back whenever they choose.
7. Ask for feedback and input. At some intervals within the working relationship, solicit feedback and input. Ask your clients how they feel about working with you and ask if they have suggestions for how the working relationship or outcomes can be improved. Asking for their ideas shows that you care about their opinions and value their contributions.
8. Share resources. Do you know of a good book that your client might benefit from reading? Tell him about it. Do you have the name of someone who could help your client move ahead on her business plan? Tell her about it. Sharing resources is a terrific way to build loyalty and satisfaction.
9. Reward them for staying on. You might consider implementing some kind of loyalty or perks program, where your long-term clients are rewarded for staying on. You might offer them gifts, products, or services for a certain level of ongoing participation with your business. These work for things like coffee, office supplies, and groceries, so why not in your business, too?
10. Keep learning. The more you focus on gaining new knowledge, new skills, and new experiences, the more you have to offer your clients. The more you have to offer, the more they will benefit. The more they benefit, the longer they stay. Keep focused on your own professional growth and learning - make this a priority. Both you - and your clients - will gain.
    Implement these ten tips for client retention, and you too, will have a business that continues to grow now and thrive into the future.

(c) 2005, Dr. Rachna D. Jain. All rights in all media reserved.