Tips, Tricks, and Tools for the Business Researcher
Chris confessed:
“I am not shy. I can talk to anybody, but I would rather be funny and amusing than taken seriously. (It is safer.) I end up ‘performing’ and make no progress. How do I get past this?”
Kim complained:
“He’s asked me five times if he can give me a quote on my insurance. So now, I just avoid him at meetings.”
Here’s what I think: I think Chris fears people will think he is like the person Kim is talking about. How unattractive.
Dear Wendy,
Is there an art to creating the right mix of networking activities? How do I know if I’m going to enough or the right combination?
Dear Artistic Networker;
Bravo! your instincts are correct. Successful results do indeed include both harmony and dissonance, just like an opera. Here are three components that will ensure grand reviews and encore engagements:
Think love triangle: Every opera has a 3-way. It creates a little tension, adds a little spice, without it there isn’t a story. Effective networking requires divergence too. There are 21 different types of networks: Industry specific associations, Single occupation associations, Trade associations, Close-contact associations, Charitable and civic associations, Philosophical associations… you get the picture.
SOS, also known as Morse code, is a universal distress signal. For salespeople, a “Save Our Ship,” becomes a “Save Our Sales” distress call. While everyone selling likely has their own SOS, here are five common sales calls for help.
1. Cancelled appointments
Are you confirming any appointments you set with prospects? Either the day before or the morning of, telephone or email prospects. I usually telephone. If something has come up for the prospect, I reschedule with them right then; they’re already on the telephone. If they just don’t show, that’s an entirely different problem and solution. NOTE: never assume that a no show means not interested.
2. Prospects buying from competition
Are you going through all that you know how to do and losing sales to the competition? What about losing to the competition of procrastination? Examine your qualifying process. You have a qualifying process, right? At a minimum, early on you want to be certain of four things: you are working with someone with a budget for your product or service; you are talking with all decision makers; the prospect has indicated a need by conveying a problem they want to eliminate or a solution they need, and their timeline fits with your sales process timeline.
Continue reading ‘Sales Training – Salesperson’s Universal Distress Signals’ »
Filled with music
mostly from the 1950’s and 1960’s some Jukebox songs weave a tale of the life of someone who sells. Let’s put a quarter in for some Jukebox music to make you smarter, take the pain of rejection away, improve your creativity and reduce your stress. As a salesperson or small business owner with sales responsibility, your thoughts, attitudes and actions are vital to your sales success. Here are the top picks:
1. We Belong Together, Ritchie Valens. “You’re mine and we belong together.” Is that what you are thinking about your prospects? And just how are you showing them? Do you take your time to build rapport? Are you getting to know them? Then are you letting them get to know you, your product and your service?
2. What’s Your Name, Don and Juan. “What’s your name? May I walk you to your door? It’s so hard to find a personality, With charms like yours for me.” Learn about primary personality styles with a model like the Personal Profile SystemÒ or some other. An easy and exacting model of a prospects buying style will help you help them easier. If you open the next sales step sooner or later, depending on the buying style, you will find a perfect match of selling for your customer.
Continue reading ‘Sales Training – Salespeople Get Uplifted With Jukebox Music!’ »
Unlike real barbed wire being cheaper, easier and quicker to use to get results to better control livestock and land, sales reluctance is costly, stubborn and slows down a salesperson’s success. If a salesperson’s product or service is that valuable, a salesperson will want to have various ways to cut through and strengthen their self-promotion.
Go under. Barbed wire is a wall without being a wall, just like reluctance is a sales barrier which may not be recognized. Reluctance commonly shows up as fear of rejection, failure or being perceived as an impostor and pervades all parts of the selling process. Research by Behavioral Sciences Research Press has found that for sales call reluctance, there is usually a specific limited reason. Find out what causes your particular reluctance, then find a way to get it under control.
Cover it with a blanket and climb over it. Rather than become entangled in the barbed wire of sales reluctance, identify your issues and set an action plan to get over it. Do you have an underlying belief that salespeople are scammers? When I lead sales training workshops I often ask, “What words would you use to describe salespeople?” A long list of negative words like, dishonest, pushy, doesn’t listen, start to be spoken. When you are reluctant about follow-up, do you procrastinate to avoid seeming pushy? Consider changing that the belief to how what you have to offer brings great value to people and you owe it to them to help them.
Home Based Internet Business – Planning and Strategy Many people think that owning their own business is a complicated endeavor that requires them to have years of training and gobs of startup capital. While these things can be very helpful in making a business a success, it might surprise you to learn that they are not requirements! Even more importantly, it’s no longer required that you find a location and choose a down in which you will open your business because online based internet business has become an extremely popular way to stretch your wings as an entrepreneur. If you are interested in online based internet business, there are a few things you should know about planning and strategy. The most important thing to know about an online based internet business is that while it will be based entirely on the internet, and you’re probably not going to need an office or a building in which to operate, you will still be starting a business. Make sure you visit your local or state government offices and find out what the legal requirements are to start an online based internet business in your area. The worst thing that you can do is get all set up and find some customers, only to tell them that you can’t sell them anything because you forgot to get your sales license. Another thing that you should know about online based internet business is that although you will be able to start it quickly and with only a little capital (in most cases) it is still important to make sure that you have a good idea.
If you’re only halfway convinced that your idea for a product or service will catch on with the internet audiences, you should probably assume that these customers will be even less convinced. Online based internet business still needs to be driven by innovation and creativity. Just like starting a traditional brick and mortar business, starting an online based internet business requires that you make a plan for the future, and that you and any partners decide what your short term and long term goals are. Too many online based internet business ideas have been very successful much earlier than their owners anticipated, and they find themselves poorly equipped to handle the demand. Work out various scenarios and make sure that you keep your budget in mind. Make decisions about suppliers, distributors, and how you’ll handle shipping. You’ll be glad you thought of these things in the beginning.