Perhaps we can start a campaign, here and now, a Hall of Fame and a Hall of Shame to let our industry know who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. As it would be my clients who would make any booking, and of course they are totally unaware of this at this time, I asked what the agency commission rate was. He said 15%. I said "therefore if the clients make a direct booking the price will be 3,420 minus 15%, 2,907, is that correct?" Sensing he had boxed himself into to a corner he immediately responded. "No, with that much discount we would only offer a 10% agency commission". Mmmm! Interesting, I thought agency commissions were fixed on the rate card and a minute it go it was 15%. I received a phone call the other day from an advertising representative who had got my number via our website. This gentleman was calling to tell me about a fantastic opportunity he had to offer for the special EBACE (European Business Aircraft Convention & Exhibition) edition of his publication. An advertiser had pulled out at the last minute so they had some space they had to fill quickly, and of course the space was at a considerable, never to be repeated, massive discount. Thinking he had reached an agreeable price he decided to go in for the kill and launched into his pitch on why this edition was such an un-missable opportunity. Unfortunately for him it was at this point his telephone connection made a loud click and I was pitched into a surreal world where I could hear him but it was as if he was on speakerphone and talking from the back of the room. It sounded like someone giving a pep talk and pre-op briefing for the Dambusters raid. I started to ask if the caller would be at EBACE and if it would be possible to arrange a meeting. My new friend was not really interested in arranging a meeting and nurturing a new relationship, his sights were firmly fixed on "filling that space". I said "hello, can you hear me". No reply. I waited patiently. Again "hello, can you hear me? I can hear you faintly but you don't seem to hear me". No reply. He was in full flow, still talking non stop! At this point I should have hung up but was curious as to where this was going. After a full five minutes and forty five seconds he eventually stopped, probably wondering why he had not heard a peep from me all this time. I explained that I had not been able to hear what he was saying, BUT before he launched into his spiel again, I "appreciated his offer but I should not waste anymore of his time." The clients would not be advertising but we could meet at EBACE and continue from there. Having spent the best part of 10 years as a advertising salesperson (and with my calculator poised at the ready) I decided I should have a little fun and see how far I could bargain the price down on this incredible one time offer. My second big mistake! I had a couple of clients visiting EBACE and in my role as media advisor they had given me the task of arranging some meetings with trade and industry publications. I saw this as an opportunity to make another appointment for them and the start of a beautiful new media relationship. My first mistake! I concluded by saying that he had been given every opportunity to continue this budding relationship and it was only my politeness, good nature and curiosity which had allowed him to go on for so long. I should have cut him off in the first minutes of the call. My parting shot was that he had totally turned me off his publication and I hoped that I should not encounter him or his magazine in the future, I would positively recommend NOT advertising with his publication. This was not acceptable to him. He asked what the client's phone number was as he had a "duty" to make them aware of this incredible opportunity. He went on to tell me an anecdote about how if there was a jacket on special offer at my local branch of Armani that if I did not know about it I would miss out, therefore it would be churlish of me to not let him speak directly with the clients. I explained that as their "media advisor" I would be advising them not to advertise on this occasion but a meeting at EBACE may just be the start of a beautiful relationship. With hindsight I feel sorry for this guy. I find it hard to believe he will have a long career in advertising sales and I will be amazed if a person with such an aggressive attitude will be made welcome at industry events. The problem is that this is the kind of pitch that gets advertising representatives (and some publications) a bad reputation. It also makes life difficult for the "professionals" out there doing a good job. This attitude of the short term,Cheap Cam Newton Jersey, one time sale is no good for the clients and no good for the publication. Eventually they will run out of advertisers and in a small industry the bad reputation will become known very quickly. Determined not to let this opportunity go he asked for the name of the MD of the client. I advised him that it was not my policy to give such information away and there would be no advertising, but (in a Bill Cosby assertive voice) "HOW, ABOUT,Cheap Vince Young Jersey, A, MEETING at EBACE!!?" I came to this conclusion because during the first five minutes of this call I had little chance to get my requests in,Cheap Roy Williams Jersey, he was so busy telling me what an "incredible" opportunity this was. I should also mention that during the call there was a strange clicking noise on the line, almost as if the call was going to break up but then it would come back at full volume. Then it turned nasty! He said I had an "un-professional attitude" and "did not know my business." That was it! I explained, with restrained anger, I had over 12 years experience of advertising sales. I had been polite to him because I empathised with his plight and had tried to move forward with a mutually agreeable solution. He had talked incessantly for 40+ minutes, he was not remotely interested in my objectives, he did not take his cue when he was politely turned down but offered the olive branch of a meeting, for 5+ minutes of the call I could not hear what he was saying and to top it all he had the nerve to say I did not know my business. The full page rate was in excess of 8,000 but because of the last minute urgency of this situation the offer was 5,500 for the page. I explained that for a magazine I had never seen before (and believe me I have seen most of them) there was no way my clients would consider that price, he would have to do better. He immediately did! The price dropped to 3,420! But there was no way my clients would consider a magazine at such short notice, sight unseen, unknown etc.

2. Distribute business cards. By this, I do not mean giving out your business cards to every person you meet. Remember, quality is better than quantity. Before you give people your business card, care to have a short conversation with them. Make sure that you've made that connection before you hand over your card so the moment you call,Cheap Marion Barber Jersey, these people will remember you. 3. Be patient. Selling isn't about meeting people and getting them to make a purchase all in one day. Buyers would like to have some time to think things through to make sure that they'll get great value for their hard earned money. So, instead of sounding too pushy,Cheap Roman Harper Jersey, tell your prospects about your products and make follow-ups after a week or two. 1. Networking events. Attend as many networking events where you can meet a lot of people who might be interested on what you offer. For example, you can attend car expos if you are selling car accessories or car insurance policies. Through this, you'll be able to easily connect with people who might need your offerings. Get to know as many people as possible to easily build connection. Although not all of them will buy from you,Cheap Deion Sanders Jersey, I am pretty sure that they know some people who might need what you offer. 4. Referrals. Call your previous customers who were obviously very satisfied with your products and services and see if they can give you the names of people they know who might be interested on what you offer. These people will surely buy from you if you were recommended by someone they trust. Here's how you can boost the number of your sales leads:

Listen. I believe that the best salespeople are the best listeners. If you invest time asking great questions it is critical to listen to what the other person tells you. Many things can get in your way and prevent you from accurately hearing what has been said. Try this; at the end of a sales meeting, summarize your understanding of the conversation in your own words and check the accuracy of this summary with your prospect. Know when to let go. I often talk to sales people who continue following a lead even when it is clear that a sale will not happen. This usually happens when their pipeline is not active with prospects. If you have done everything you can to move the sales process forward but it has ground to a halt you must consider whether it is the best use of your time to keep trying to make it happen. More often than not, it is not worth the time and effort. You have a finite amount of time in a day or week which means you need to focus your attention on leads and prospects who are interested in your product,Cheap Kevin Faulk Jersey, service or solution. We live in a quick-fix society so it's no wonder that many salespeople look for the magic cure or band-aid solution to increase their sales. However, I believe that success in sales follows a basic set of rules. Follow these rules of selling and you will notice an immediate improvement in your results. Ask high-quality questions. I have written about this before but the vast majority of sales people (even seasoned pros) fail to ask their prospects and customers high-quality questions. This can happen because they have never been taught to ask questions or because they think that they do it. Unfortunately, failing to ask high-quality questions early in the sales process means they often mis-pitch their product, service or solution which causes the prospect to voice more objections. And once you ask a question...be quiet, wait for an answer. Too many sales people give their prospects answers to the questions or continue talking after the question has been asked. Trust is essential. If people don't trust you chances are they won't buy from you. This is more challenging than it sounds because your prospects are inundated with calls and emails from other people all trying to sell them something. And, because of the less-than-honest experiences decision-makers have encountered, they are more reluctant to trust someone they don't know. That means you need to demonstrate exactly why a prospect should trust you. You can't tell them; you must show them. You can do this by acting in a professional manner, treating the people at your prospect's company with respect and dignity, and respecting the time of your prospect. Do what you say you will do when you said you would do it. Sounds simple, huh? Personal experience has taught me that sales people frequently say they will do something then fail to follow through on their commitment. This lack of attention to detail demonstrates a lack of respect and quickly leads to a loss of trust. Show value. The best way to demonstrate value is to show exactly how your solution will benefit your prospect. Contrary to popular belief this does not mean talking at great length about it or telling your prospect everything there is to know about your product or service. Showing value means discussing the aspects of your solution that are most relevant to each customer or prospect, in terms that are easy to understand. Focus your presentation. Make your presentation all about the customer. It's not about you, your company or your product. Virtually every sales presentation I have been subjected started with the sales person talking about their company; reciting stats about how long they have been in business, who they have as clients,Cheap Brandon Banks Jersey, etc. Adapting the presentation to meet the specific needs of each individual customer is what the top sales people do. Regardless of what your marketing department thinks people seldom care about your company. They want to know what problem your solution will solve. Avoid using unnecessary jargon or terminology. The simpler your presentation,Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys, the easier it is to understand. Fill the pipeline. Many people experience tremendous peaks and valleys in their sales because they do not consistently prospect for new business. This frequently occurs when a sales person is busy. They neglect to prospect because it is the least enjoyable aspect of their job but when the sales drop or business with their current clients ends, they scramble to generate new business. Invest time filling your pipeline on a regular basis and you will seldom have to worry about reaching your targets. 2009 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.

Competition: Narrowing Your Choices: Independent sales reps can be a great help to any size of company, and can make a great living while setting their own schedules. Here are a few tips to get you started. Once you get your choices narrowed down to two or three companies,Cheap Matthew Stafford Jersey, see if you can have a beer or a cup of coffee with some other sales reps that work for these businesses. Make sure, however, that you would not be in direct competition with any of them so you can get the straight dope. Ask what the good and bad points are about the company in question, and whether the products are easy to sell and up to snuff quality wise. Research: You will also have to consider the cost. Some companies will charge small to medium start up fees that may include purchasing sales kits from them. These sales kits will include such items as free samples of the product to leave behind, any catalogs they may have, order forms,Cheap Steve Smith Jersey, and the like. When you are dealing with a smaller company, they may not even have such kits, and you can prove invaluable to the company by putting together kits for them. There are many ways to put together these kits, so look around online for a good tutorial. Make sure that the company you would like to work with has a need for distributors in your area, and that the area is not already saturated. If the company you are working with has assigned territories, you should be able to avoid this problem. If not, keep in mind that customers are usually loyal to products and not reps. If you are looking to work with larger companies that are experienced in these matters, it is important to note that their sales kits can run anywhere from very little money to thousands of dollars. Just something to keep in mind, though, of you are selling items with hug commissions and you are an experienced salesperson, you can earn that money back in no time. Once you have found a good match for your desires and skills, contact the company. You may, as stated above need to purchase sales kits, or create some to make your job easier. After following all their procedures, all you have to do now is to get out there and start selling. One way to find a company for whom to be an independent sales rep is to think of a product that you enjoy and believe in and that you feel needs a little bit of a push in your market. Often small companies don't have the wherewithal to keep a large sales staff on hand, are would jump at the chance to take on a new rep that was willing to work on commission. So, if, for instance,Cheap Barry Sanders Jersey, there is a great local hot sauce that you feel should be in supermarkets or in more local restaurants, call the company and ask what their policy is on new accounts. You may just find that they were waiting for someone like you to kick-start their sales.

Challenge the assumptions that so many others are making about today's market and what that means for your bottom line. It's not that people aren't buying anymore. Their priorities may be different, and as I have pointed out in a previous article, the decision-making and buying process can be longer. However, your customers are still out there, and demand remains unabated for great products, things that make their lives easier,Saints Jerseys, more enriching or more productive. Just as important, the need for professional sales support-people who connect with other with empathy and persistence-that's an opportunity that never goes out of style. These examples are the newest in a long line of success stories to emerge in similar economic times that we're facing today. Hewlett Package was founded during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Networking giant Cisco Systems received its first round of financing and moved from a garage to an office space in 1987-another tough year for the markets. During the recession in the early 1990s, Wal-Mart expanded its number of stores, opening new ones in Mexico...and they seemed to have managed rather well in subsequent years. In 2009, the Ford Motor Company took a chance and launched an aggressive marketing campaign, at a time when many competitors were in retreat. As a result, they recently reported that they are now one of the first major manufacturers selling cars in the United States to report a monthly sales increase this year. Those efforts are being noticed elsewhere, too. Advertising Age, a leading publication in the marketing industry, credits Ford for taking the risk, saying that the company, among a very select group, have "managed to improve consumer perceptions despite major issues in their respective categories." Too often what's overlooked is that there are great success stories out there being written today by companies who see this economy the way I do,Cheap Charles Mann Jersey, as a golden opportunity to grow and prosper. That's why I encourage everyone to dig a little deeper and find out who is succeeding in the marketplace, because there are some great lessons to be learned from them. I'll start with two recent examples. Here's another fresh example. Apple is known for building great-looking, innovative products and it's no secret that they are perceived by some as being uncompromisingly pricey. Despite the economy, despite an array of cheap alternatives in the marketplace, and even in spite of a campaign by a competitor that emphasizes that price difference, Apple sales are up. Way up. In July 2009, they posted the best non-holiday quarter in the company's history. One of the biggest difficulties I have with recessions is that the bad news it generates tends to become like junk food: we know it's bad for us and yet we eat it up anyways. It is far too easy to get caught up in who is on the losing end of things in a tough market, even though, and let's face it, that's what tends to sell in the news business these days. All these examples-both classics and new-illustrate how it's important to not let yourself be captive to market conditions at any given time. See what's in front of you as a challenge, and recognize the opportunities that come knocking in this new economy are different from before. CEO coach Tony Jeary said it best in his guest column featured in Zig Ziglar's recent newsletter: "Opportunity in good times assumes the continuation of the normal and capitalizes on things remaining normal. In bad times,Cheap David Garrard Jersey, opportunity comes by abandoning things that no longer work and finding new things that will work, based on new needs."

Let's turn our attention now to how to attract real clients - clients who will stay with you, place more than one or maybe two policies with you,Cheap Mario Williams Jersey, and even refer others to you. There are many ways to accomplish this. The key is to take the focus off of price and place it onto you! We don't have the ability to fully develop this principle in this article, but I can share the methods that work with you. Here is a list of the eight methods that, if executed properly, will take the focus off of price, place the emphasis on you, and attract the kind of prospects who become true clients. The best ways to attract the best prospects are: More often than not, the underlying problem causing poor retention is either a lack of relationship between the agent/advisor and the client, or the type of "client" the agent has in his or her book of business. I put the term "client" in quotes because often the type of policyholder who causes retention issues is more like a customer - someone who just conducts transactions. A customer is not usually thought of as someone with whom you have a relationship. In this article we'll address the client/customer issue and save the relationship issue for another time. OK. No one likes their retention to be poor. But the truth is that poor retention is a symptom, not a problem. It's tempting to point the finger at large rate increases as the culprit, but that's not usually the case. If new agents are writing new business, you can be pretty certain that rates aren't the driving force behind retention challenges for an established agent or advisor. If you can master just a couple of these prospect-generating methods, you can sustain continued growth in your business and attain a rate of retention in excess of 90%. Now, let's say that instead of relying on internet leads, we use a different passive method. We choose, instead, to rely on an ad in the yellow pages or the newspaper. The good news is that someone who calls you from a yellow page ad is more likely to be serious about changing their coverage. That's a good thing. And placing an ad allows you to provide some information to entice prospects to call. The only problem is that most agents/advisors don't know how to create an effective ad. If you don't believe me, just open up the yellow pages and look through the ads under "Insurance" (or whatever heading you'd be listed under). THEY'RE ALL THE SAME! Almost all ads are "vanilla" and ineffective. When faced with page after page of the same ad with different company names, how does a prospect decide who to do business with? Generally, they call up several of them, get some quotes, and go with the lowest one. Guess what happens when renewal time rolls around? You got it. Chances are they'll go through the same process all over again. Once again,Cheap Gale Sayers Jersey, the only dynamic at play is price. Allow me to offer an example to further make my case. Let me relate the experience of an agent who came to me for help a year or two ago. This agent is a P&C agent. He explained that he was writing 900 new policies a year,Cheap Rams Jerseys! (Which is an extraordinarily high number.) However, he was realizing a net growth of only 100 policies a year in his business! (Another extraordinary result, given the amount of business he was writing.) Naturally I asked him how he was getting his policyholders - but his answer didn't surprise me. Yellow Pages. He was living the experience I described above. The bottom line is: If you're attracting policyholders through passive methods like the ones we just discussed, then you're very likely to have your book of business filled with customers rather than true clients. If having customers causes retention challenges and having clients improves retention, then it begs the question, "How does one fill their practice with clients rather than "clients" (customers)? To answer that, we first need to understand how we ended up with customers instead of clients in the first place. We generally end up with customers when we acquire prospects through passive methods rather than active ones. One of the popular passive methods is to find prospects through the internet - buying internet leads. Let's start by examining the nature of those leads. The first question to ask is, "Are people who request a quote over the internet looking to purchase insurance? " The answer to that is "maybe". One would think that if someone completed a request for a quote form they were serious about buying a new policy. The truth is that often people are just checking to see whether their current premium is competitive. Essentially they're just using your knowledge and your time to do a little research and/or to "negotiate" with their current agent/advisor. But let's say that they are, in fact, serious about making a change in their coverage. There is only one reason someone like that would chose to do business with you. Price. The only dynamic in their decision is price. You could argue that the reputation of the underwriting company plays a role, but most people aren't savvy enough to understand the differences between companies - especially if it's a company they've heard of or "think" they've heard of. The decision all comes down to price. And if you're "lucky" enough to get them as a "client", guess what happens when renewal time rolls around? You got it. They go through the same process all over again. Cold Calling (believe it or not, this works great when done right) Curiosity Conversations (talking to people actually works when you don't sound like a telemarketer!) Effective Networking (as long as you don't use a "30-second Elevator Speech") Direct Mail (but don't use your company's literature) Client Referrals (yes, it IS possible to get them) Public Speaking (the secret is that you shouldn't talk about insurance!) Niche Development (even if you can work with anyone and everyone) Centers of Influence (I know,... most agents don't get enough referrals, but there are 3 reasons why)

With a humorous twist, my posts will take you through the essentials of successful selling, illustrating that business can be fun and should be fun. Love what you do and do what you love. It's about passion...it's about creating the pathway for your own success and doing it with enthusiasm and zeal. Anyone who wakes up in the morning with passion in their heart will bound out of bed ready and eager to face the challenges of the day. A positive attitude is the fuel that will drive your ability to achieve the tasks you undertake. Adopting an expectation of excellence and achievement is the first step to being successful at what you do. You have the freedom to SELL! You can sell as much as you like, to whomever you like, for whatever the acceptable rate is,Cheap Aaron Maybin Jersey, without exploiting yourself or bringing shame to your family name! Yes, selling IS definitely better than sex. And we'll examine the reasons why more closely in the next few posts. The world's oldest profession involves selling. One might even argue about which came first - the selling or the sex? In fact, selling and sex are so closely related that succeeding at either one of them can be euphoric, addictive, and good fun. Some people might like to argue that selling is not better than sex. They believe it's the other way round. In this post (and other following this one) I will give you many different reasons why selling IS better than sex. "If you think you can do a thing or you think you can't do a thing,Cheap Joseph Addai Jersey, you're right." This brings us to the next point: that it is perfectly legal to sell professionally. The Ten Commandments don't say anything about not selling. Yes, one of the commandments is "Thou shalt not commit adultery", but Moses did not climb Mount Sinai to receive the instruction "Thou shalt not sell". On the contrary, selling, bartering and trading were an essential source of income for many families, even in Moses' time. Nor is selling listed as one of the seven cardinal sins and the Pope makes no mention about the hazards of selling prior to marriage. For a start,Cheap Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys, it's okay to make a sale in public. In fact, the more people that witness the sale you're making and the product you're providing, the better! Also, when they see first-hand the customer's satisfaction at having had an excellent sales experience, it inspires them to think about making their own purchase. This leads to word-of-mouth referrals where you earn a reputation for being the best at what you do. You become known as the expert in your line of work. But sex in public? Well, that may just get you into a lot of trouble. And let's face it - a reputation for being promiscuous is perhaps not the way you want to go. A positive attitude reaps rewards. It was Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, who said:

Companies always need to differentiate themselves and what better resource then your sales person who is the front line with the customers. You can write great brochures, wonderful case studies, but the best promotion is a high energy sales person who exudes enthusiasm. Looking at just one person's sales quota does really tell you anything about that person's performance. You need to see how each person in doing relative his/her surround, the regional performance and others. Related to recruiting and motivation, sales are a focal point from a customer's point of view. Thus performance should include how a sales person is viewed by the customer, follow sales people and sales management 1-Sales quota for the year, for the region/territory, percentage as compared to others and other regions/territories. Similar to criteria # 1,Cheap Clinton Portis Jersey, account coverage should be factored in to get a quota per account ratio. This will recognize individuals who not only strive for revenue, but also strive to develop accounts for future rewards. Qualitative measurements for a salesperson Sales people's attitude is a reflection of the company they work for, thus if you want your image to be positive, can do, and confident looking then make sure part of sales appraisal has this factor. 4-Geographic coverage, account "density" A well balance of portfolio to revenues not only benefits a sales person but provides a nice competitive advantage in the overall market place Quantitative measurements for a salesperson (note: appropriateness will depend on the salesperson's role or title). The most common response I hear when I ask a sales person how he or she did for the quarter or the year; is something about their quota. i.e., "I made quota" or "I'm at 70% of quota, but with two big deals hanging fire." While quota should always be part of a performance evaluation, I would suggest a good appraisal should include other considerations. 3-Handling of expenses Good sales people (actually all employees) need to be efficient because we all contribute to the success of the enterprise and therefore how we get things done has an impact on both customer satisfaction and economic factors. Sales people have to be good business people also. How one manages and cares for accounts is equally important as acquiring accounts. Sales needs Performance Metrics. Good performance criteria should have quantitative and qualitative measurements. The following are some of the major categories for both areas. You need to measure sales personnel on how they handle and manage accounts. You may have one person having a good quota but with just one account versus another person with equally good quota but with numerous accounts. Who is actually performing better? 5-Products and services sold per goals 5- Managing accounts, tasks and personnel 6-New accounts/ new opportunities It is great to have good people exceeding quotas but you want them to be profitable at the same time. Individuals should be goaled on managing and controlling expenses as related to their job (examples: marketing programs,Cheap Ravens Jerseys, travel,Cheap Chris Long Jersey, demos, and sales venues) 2-Recuiting and training of others 3-Motivation and motivation of others 2-Accounts managed, number of account calls 6-Efficiency in tasks, meeting goals So once you have your sales strategy in place, one of the major tasks is to develop territory goals and eventually goals, measurements and performance criteria for each member of the sales team. It always great to get re-occurring revenues, but a good salesperson always needs to develop the "next" group of customers. This is important for many reasons; two of them are increasing your base and opening up new markets. In summary a salesperson's performance appraisal should be multi- dimensional. The two major sub- categories of qualitative and quantitative provide a good balance for each salesperson. Second, by having a mix of criteria, you normalize sales people, territories and goals for apples- to- apples comparison. Third, you will have your sales force working towards all goals and objective and thus a win - win for all. People in sales are the most critical resource and usually ones of higher salary; therefore bringing on and training these individuals is a key component for sales success. 1-Innovation- creative ways to "sell" to various accounts 4-Role modeling/leadership for others

Selling is easy, and in most cases you don't need to be looking for a magic solution to it. However, it is easy only if you work hard on each sale, put your clients first and continuously work to improve yourself. Study sales everyday. Read books about it, attend seminars and talk to your colleagues. Another good way is to find a business mentor, someone who can point out what you do wrong and fix it. You don't have to hire anyone, a good friend with better skills than you will do too. The key is to always study and learn for new solutions as well as correct any potential mistakes that you may be making. The reality of selling is though that not only it can't be sped up,Cheap Steve Smith Jersey, it can't also be simplified. Sales is a slow process in which every aspect of it counts equally. There are simply no shortcuts that can be taken. there are however few things you can do to make yourself more efficient in selling. And ultimately make more sales easier. To make your sales happen more often, put yourself in this mindset of helping people. You will notice that it will affect your entire professional life, from attitude to your actions. And most importantly, your sales too. PUT OTHERS FIRST To many salespeople their work is about quotas, achievements and that last big sale they have made. In reality though I always believed that selling is about bringing helpful solutions to your prospects and clients. As a salesman your first and foremost task is to help your clients by offering them tools,Cheap Shannon Sharpe Jersey, expertise or advice. This is what they buy from you, as well as your attitude. If you want to become more efficient at selling, get used to the idea that you will have to work really hard. STUDY SALES As someone working closely with small businesses and their owners I get a chance to observe how they work and develop themselves in their roles. And it is often frightening to watch how very few of them actually makes an effort to continuously study sales and business in general. To me however, if you want to succeed you need to be a student, for life. WORK HARD Selling is about hard work,Cheao Mike Thomas Jersey, there is no doubt about that. It is not something that can be done without any effort. Of course some sales come easily but others will require extra amount of work to be made. Every salesperson I have ever met wants to know the shortcut to make a sale. The fastest, easiest and the simplest way to win the order. And so far there hasn't been an exception to this rule.

After some discussion, I asked those present who had a cell phone with GPS? Almost one half of those present raised their hands. Then I asked who had a written sales action plan for their business futures? Of the 30 plus professional salesperson to small business owners in the room, no one responded with a raised hand. If you want to increase sales and thrive instead of die,Cheap Dan Fouts Jersey, now not later is the time to start putting your sales goals to writing and uniting them to your other business goals. Use your GPS to catapult your business over your competitors and be one of the few who succeed instead one of the many who fail. Why the resistance to planning continues to perplex me. People understand the value of planning for vacations, honeymoons, holiday shopping and even the grocery store. Yet, they continue to let chance and happenstance rule their daily business and sales activities. What would happen if they had instituted their own Goal Planning System or GPS for their businesses? Would they see their sales grow with greater consistency? Would they be in better control of their futures? Would they be on their own plan and not on their competitor's plan? Boy has selling really come far. Between the emails to the cell phones with Global Positioning Systems (GPS), sales is far easier than years gone by. Today's new technology allows for the mobile phone to be a 21st century guide through this GPS software. These cell phones can determine where you are and how to get to where you wish to be to make that next sales call or meet with that new potential customer (a.k.a prospect). This finding was quite consistent with the other surveys I have taken during the last 10 years. Captain Wing It is alive and well in America. Busy business people are spraying and praying their actions all over the place hoping that something will stick. No wonder after 10 years, according to the Small Business Administration (U.S.),Minnesota Vikings Jerseys, only 1 in 10 businesses is still around. Yet, the same individuals who can find their way using these cell phones lack a way to plan their selling future. During a recent presentation to a group of business professionals,Cheap Michael Bush Jersey, I realized that the great divide between knowing and doing continues to expand even with all the new technology.

All the methods above are free advertising methods that serve as a good start for getting fresh leads. For success in the long term,Brett Favre packers Jersey, it is better to partner up with a marketing company. Companies that have the tools necessary in turning the website into a real lead magnet. So many people are getting into social networking ever since big sites like Facebook were introduced. This is why so many marketers are diving into these networks because they are very approachable especially if the profile is filled up properly and truthfully. This is what you should do as well especially if you hope to find some business partners that you can trust. Social networking is all about building relationships and connections and in business you need to do that as well. It also serves as a nice place to advertise links where all people in your contacts list can see. If the site is attractive enough, some people may advertise the link to their friends as well which can add a great amount of leads if social network marketing is done consistently. Forum Marketing Article Writing and Marketing Article marketing is a very important task since there are thousands of websites that are striving to generate leads as well, but lack the content needed to become successful. Many web users out there already learned from their mistakes in the past in trusting business opportunities and they will take any future websites that they see more seriously. You need to prove to them that you are different by writing good articles that explain why your website is unique and what benefits they get by opting in. With good SEO skills, writing articles and submitting them in the different directories also help search engines index your site better so more people can see it just by searching the net. Although social networking is practically a norm these days,Cheap Tramon Williams Jersey, a lot of people are still posting in forums because of how interactive forum threads can be. People feel more comfortable posting their concerns on forums because forums are aimed at a specific category or audience. This is a great opportunity for you if you find a good forum that is closely related to your site. Just see if it allows advertising and then put your website on your signature. Then blend in with the discussions so your site follows wherever you go. If your posts are helpful to the community, people will check out your site out of curiosity. Social Networking No online business opportunity will ever become successful unless it has a fully functional website. This website must not only look attractive,Cheap Asante Samuel Jersey, but it also must be accessible making sure that the process of obtaining whatever products and services are being sold or simply registering as a member is as smooth as possible. Even if these objectives are met, the website still will not be successful if there is nobody visiting it. Without the right tools like autoresponders, leads cannot be generated either. Once you have the website fully operational, you will need to expose your website to your target market. Here are some ways on how you can do that.

"Thank you pages" reinforce the sale and help to build long term relationships. Also, these thank you pages can help drive your back end sales. Creating Thank you pages can be tedious,Cheap Malcom Floyd Jersey, especially if an instant download page is needed. However, I have created a way for you to instantly be able to create the code needed for these pages so that you can get more profit from the sales you are already making. If you can build your sales pages and thank you pages faster and make a way to get paid quicker you can start generating massive profits online sooner. You will also make more profits if you add this software to your line of products by utilizing the resell rights. In summary, this software will help streamline your business so you can concentrate of building more income streams. by Coby Wright In conclusion, the faster your products are online for the world to see the faster you will build massive profits. I have created a software that will streamline the product sales pages creation and allow you to quickly publish your sites and make money faster. 5. Combine All of the Above and You Will Make More Profits Faster If you want all your hard work to pay off you must create a way for your customers to pay you. This can be very time consuming and often times confusing, especially for beginners. Throw in an instant download system and you can spend days alone trying to test this and fixing the HTML. However, I have found a way to instantly create your payment processor links so you can get paid faster and generate massive profits sooner. 2. The Quicker You Build Your Sales Pages the Quicker You Make Money This sounds like a no-brainer, but it really is the truth. Often times, people spend days, weeks,Cheap Carson Palmer Jersey, or even months designing the code for sales pages. This severely hinders profits. Now imagine if you could create this code is minutes and be up and running in less than 5 minutes. This would greatly increase your profit making opportunities and you can start on another product. I have found a way to instantly create my sales pages. Keep reading for more info. When running a business online you must always look for new ways to streamline your business. I have detailed a few areas in which you can streamline your business and make more money from your online website. 4. You Must Get Paid 1. Find Products with Resell/Reprint Rights 3. Thank You Pages are a Must When you purchase the resell/reprint rights of a product you are allowed to keep 100% of the money. Now instead of taking small commissions you will be keeping all the profits. Also,Cheap Jon Beason Jersey, you can now setup affiliates to sell for you and make a commission off of someone else's hardwork. Reprint rights allow you to shortcut the creation process and possibly save yourself thousands of dollars and years of work. Resell rights are the shortcut to your own product, not to mention the most cost effective.

Of course,Cheap Steven Jackson Jersey, this can work the other way around as well. If you have bad news, call when you think your prospect or client is going to be in a meeting and you will buy yourself some time before you have to deliver that news! Because almost everyone schedules their meetings and appointments on the hour, every hour. It's human nature. With this in mind, it's pretty safe to say that the average person will be in his or her office during the bottom half of the hour, either catching up on missed work or preparing for the next meeting. We've discussed the best time of day to call prospects in the past. Usually if you call early in the day you have a better chance of getting the person you really want to speak to on the phone. Here's a quick sales tip to get you started this week. No matter what time of day you're making your calls, remember this - call them at the bottom of the hour. But what if you can't call first thing in the morning? Busy businesspersons don't always have 1-2 hour long meetings. They often have brief meetings throughout the day, so the odds of you catching him or her are greater during these times. There will,Cheap Matt Ryan Jersey, of course, be times when you call and they're still in another meeting, and that's OK. Just try again later on. What?! Why?,Cheap Rodgers-Cromartie Jersey! Take a look at your marketing list? Is there anyone you really want/need to reach? Try this theory out for yourself and see how it goes!

Think about it - when you are buying something,Cheap Ray Nitschke Jersey, you want to be listened to - and not talked at. It is no different for your prospects, no matter how charming you are. The fact is the more pertinent questions you ask, the better information you get - all while talking less. The result? Stronger connections with your prospects - and more sales. You know it. So do I: duct tape can solve most any problem that man or machine can produce. Give me a roll of duct tape, and I'll fix it every time. As a grizzled sales veteran, I look back on my career and wish that I had taken a roll of duct tape with me on any number of sales appointments. "How many sales have I lost because I talked about the wrong things, or just wouldn't shut up?" And let's face it, listening is a lot less painful than using duct tape. Let me explain. Like many in the profession, I used to think that my greatest asset was my ability to talk. My early sales training backed this up: talk about the product, talk about the customer and you'll make sales. And while I have experienced success in all points of my career, there does come a time to stop talking and listen. Yes, there have been times when a piece of duct tape across my mouth would have served me and my sales well. I have come to realize that the ability to talk can hurt as much as it can help. If you don't agree, ask yourself the following question: There. You've done it. Actually, you have done two things. You've just asked yourself a direct question,Cheap Calvin Johnson Jersey, and in doing so, have just identified the solution to the problem - ask questions, listen, and talk less. When you ask direct questions and listen to your prospects, two things happen: first, they tell you what is important to them - making it easier for you to give them what they really want and need; second,Cheap Stewart Bradley Jersey, you send the message that your prospect or customer is more important than you - which is something that will start your relationship off on a good foot, set you apart from your competition, and ultimately increase your sales. You will be surprised to learn how many sales people either don't buy into this idea, or give it lip service - and then keep talking.

So as to avoid any misunderstanding, when we talk about great sales training we do not,Cheap Marques Colston Jersey, under any circumstances, suggest sending recently recruited sales people to classes for weeks on end, filling them full of theory and only then letting them loose on your own clients. It simply implies doing anything you are able to to ensure that the recently employed salesperson has a fair chance out there with your customers and is effective as soon as possible. Great training of recently hired sales people must therefore accomplish 2 distinct goals. It must give the newly recruited sales person a sense that they're competent and up to the new career, and it must ensure that they are really capable of achieving selling success promptly. Finally, in their eleventh week they return to the head office. Here they're given feedback, their product know-how is deepened and they're in a position to swap experiences. This week concludes having a formal dinner party,Cheap Christian Ponder Jersey, with their partners, at the weekend. This sales training article will take a look at the components of an in-depth sales development training course that's utilized by sales managers to grow self-confidence and competence in their recently hired junior sales people. The following training course program is utilized by an assembly technology company which has more than 4,Byron Leftwich buccaneers Jersey,000 salespeople. It illustrates the shape that serious and very effective sales training takes. In the ninth week the newly hired sales person goes out on their very own to their customers. In their second week they stay at the head office for more product education. In their fifth week they are given additional training covering motivation, working methodology, visit planning, area and client development. In the 10th week they receive additional motivation, sales procedure and sales psychology training. In week eight they accompany their area sales supervisor visiting clients in her own personal area. A couple of days of their 6th week is spent in a sales group and the remaining 3 days are spent visiting new prospects with their area supervisor. It is really unfortunate that "in at the deep end" sales training methods are even now widespread in numerous organizations. Do you have a comparatively high turnover rate in your newly employed, junior sales men? Dr. Hans Christian Altmann, the well-known motivation expert, says of this, "The top explanation is bad training". Dr Altmann additionally says that "The causes for a great number of resignations inside the first two years start in the first 3 months". The vast majority of sales managers underestimate the time required and effort needed in teaching newly employed sales people. Some are actually even completely unaware of their duty towards them. This lack of comprehension means that many companies still use in-at-the-deep-end approaches of developing where a recently recruited sales person is literally thrown in at the deep end with no any essential preparation and is left to either sink or swim. The better ones swim but the poor ones sink. In conclusion, this in-depth 11 week sales training course fully equips a freshly recruited sales person with the knowledge, self-confidence and basic skills required for a long and productive career of selling for the company. In their 4th full week they receive field training. In this 7 days the sales person is accompanied by their field trainer on client visits. In their seventh week they also spend a couple of days in a sales group after which 3 days visiting new prospects with their area sales manager. In their very 1st week in the brand new position, the sales man stays at the head business office. Here they are provided a tour of the company, presented with some essential knowledge and instructed about the organization philosophy. They in addition go through three days of specialist product training. Their third week is also spent in the head office. In the course of this week they're given training in order that they comprehend the price and commission rate system and also the order-processing procedures. They meet their area manager in the branch office on Friday and are shown the sales area they're going to be responsible for. This course of action may possibly make sense if a brand new sales man can be trained in a single working day and if all that were essential for sales results is diligence and good manners. But the process is as inhumane as it is costly if what you'll need are actually qualified and competent salespeople!

Well you don't have to unfortunately there are to many stores that don't understand this simple thing so ill say it again and for all those reading this who understand what I go through make sure to let the little boutique owners know that if we can see how it looks on a female mannequin then we can see how it will look on us,Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys, and if we cant then they are making life more difficult for us and that means less money for them. Ok, so here is some unsolicited advice from a serial shopper. I shop all the time! And when I say all the time I mean all the time! I go to the village, Soho, Manhattan, you name it. I love to shop. I love the people, the little coffee shops, the book stores, the whole experience. But what I love most (and the reason why I'm writing in the first place) is the clothing stores,Cheap Michael Strahan Jersey, from the big ones like Macys and century 21 to anthropology and banana republic all the way down to places like Lilith and pink loto (both small and awesome little boutiques in Soho,Cheap Earl Thomas Jersey!) I mean, isn't that the point of display mannequins to begin with? That is why there is a mannequin business altogether. It's very simple to me. When I go into a store and want to know what's new the first thing I do is... actually before I go into a store, is look at the display in the window. I see a male of female mannequin all decked out in the latest new stuff then if I like what I see I go in and look at what the other display mannequins are wearing. It saves me so much time! Can you imagine having to go into a store and sift through a million deferent things in order to put together an outfit? It's just great to drop in rite after a hard days work and see the latest and hottest in fashion. But hear is my question. It may sound simple and don't laugh at it as you read, but why are there some many stores that work so hard and hire so much creative talent to decorate their stores with funky furniture and modern art but don't use mannequins? I mean, I know I'm not a professional or anything like that but it doesn't take a genius to know that the more a person sees when she is shopping and the more it is laid out for her the more likely she is to go ahead and buy something.

Construction worker looking for supplies: Most large companies already have a set supplier that they partner with. However, if you are a construction worker who does side projects yourself, you might need to buy supplies on an as-needed basis. Why not search the internet first for construction leads that can get you cheap or even free supplies? You might be surprised how many people give their extra supplies away for free just to get them out of the way. Construction supplier looking for clients: In this case, of course you want to have an online website up and a few ads that say "we sell affordable supplies." But you can also go out looking for sales leads. You can target classified websites where construction workers are advertising they are available for side projects. Use their method of contact and inquire about their current method of obtaining supplies. Then, mention your business, the materials you sell, post a phone number or link to your website, and consider offering them a discount. Construction worker looking for side projects: This gives you a lot more flexibility. Not only can you target companies who are looking for temporary workers, but you can also target homeowners looking for someone to help with their home renovations. In this case, you not only want to search job boards, but search for construction leads on classified websites where wanted services are posted. In short, these are just a few of the many construction leads you can find online. So what are you waiting for? Now that you know what type of people to target online, you have a good starting point. It is time to get out there and generate leads. If you do it right, you are likely to find yourself making money, saving money,Cheap Dez Bryant Jersey, or even accomplishing both! Construction worker looking for a job: If this describes you, you want to do most of your searching on job boards or classified websites where jobs are listed. What you are looking for are companies who are hiring full-time or part-time workers. You might even want to extend your reach by applying to temporary jobs, just to get your foot in the door. These temporary jobs may have your working during a full-time worker's vacation, working to replace a worker who was injured, and so forth. There are lots of construction leads you can find online. Whether you search the internet yourself,Cheap Paul Hornung Jersey, hire a professional, or use a desktop leads generator, you will find lots of great information. If you are a construction worker looking for a job, you can find that job. If you are a construction worker looking for paid side projects,Cheap Hakeem Nicks Jersey, you can find them. If you are a supplier looking for customers, you can find them. If you are a construction worker looking for discount supplies online, you can find them too. An important key to finding good construction leads online is to determine ahead of time what your targeted market is. This is someone who wants what you have to offer or someone who has what you need. If you'd like some examples, please keep reading on.

A technique that is important to remember throughout the sales process is to pay attention to the emotions behind the prospective buyer's words. If you find that the prospect is in a negative state it may not be the right time to close a sale or you may lose it. Use other NLP techniques to lead them to a more positive state. Submodalities are smaller parts of these senses and combine together to give us an understanding of the world around us. Here is an example of how this can be used with closing techniques. Suppose that you want to use a story to close on a deal. Sometimes making a sale, does not mean that the sale will be today if there are other resources that need to be addressed first. Your respect and rapport with the customer could win you the sale tomorrow. Use you closing techniques wisely and you can see your sales goals soar. If one of the tested techniques worked then they could move to Exit as the behavior was successful. If the behavior was not successful they would move to the Operate stage. This is where a new behavior would be attempted. In the case of using a story in the compendium of closing techniques, a new story,Cheap Michael Strahan Jersey, a different ending, a joke added, or using another in your compendium of closing techniques could be employed and tested. There is more than one kind of closing strategy and sometimes a sales person must learn new ones if their old strategies do not seem to work anymore. Neurolinguistic programming offers some different strategies that can work as closing techniques. You would judge the success of your closing techniques by whether you see, hear or feel what you imagined through the submodalities. Did the reality match what you pictured? Be patient with the customer and be respectful of their resources such as time,Cheap James Jones Jersey, money, and family. If the customer needs addresses these be respectful and do not push your closing techniques too soon. There are examples of closing techniques that apparent work that sometimes uses the letters ABC which means- always be closing. This means as you are going through the sales process that your mind is always imaging the closing. This keeps your mind focused on successfully closing, controlling your mind from the first hello, to always have positive expectancy for the sale and seeing it as already accomplished fact. One of the simplest closing techniques is based upon the TOTE model. This represents - Test, Operate, Test, Exit. This can be applied to closing as a certain approach is used first to test the waters. You could use these submodalities to assess whether or not your closing techniques are a success. If you think about making the sale in your mind using the closing techniques of telling stories you might even hear your own voice telling the story. If the new behavior worked then the sales person would exit the process. If not, they'd move to operate, essentially to try a new variation. Do not overdo the closing techniques. You may find you at closure and then talk too much and bring them right out of the sale mode. You need to know when you have closed the deal and stop -- to prevent over doing your close. This can happen because the sales person is so afraid that the customer will say "no" that they just talk too much and push too hard. Suppose the sales person uses a joke or story at the end of their sales pitch as a way to close a deal. First they would test it. Does the story really work? Do people get it? Are there a higher number of sales when they use the story? Do these type of closing techniques really work? Another technique is just being silent and allowing the customer to respond. No pressure on them whatsoever,Cheap Limas Sweed Jersey, you are just listening and allowing them to let you know their needs. You can finish it with a well-structured closing to cinch the sale. NLP submodalities can be added to the TOTE process for closing techniques. Modalities are the same as our five senses - hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting and smelling. Instead of just testing it, you would use submodalities to test its effectiveness. You just imagine in your mind a picture of closing the sale and you would try to hear and feel what was going on. These sounds and sights would be the modalities. The submodalities would be making the picture larger, the sounds louder and feelings more intense.

3. Show Your Expertise 1. High Energy Levels If there's one thing I can be sure of in sales it's the fact that people are quicker to buy off people they like. When people get on well with people it not only helps to close more deals but can also speed the process up considerably too. If a customer likes and trusts the sales person they will often skim over certain procedures because they have that gut feeling that they will get the right treatment. There are four key elements that can really help to build relationships quickly and if they can be used together the results can be quite astounding. Show that you genuinely care and most people will take an instant liking to you. What a lot of people don't understand about closing the sales is the fact that it should be the easiest part of the deal. It should be the easiest part of the deal if you have done the groundwork properly and if you know how to prepare a customer for that moment. Closing becomes easier when you create rapport, when you show that you really care, and when you come across as the true sales professional. Mirroring can come in many shapes and forms but it's basically mimicking what the customer is doing to make them feel more comfortable dealing with you. Adaptability Empathy Humour I used to draw on this technique during my own selling days and I'll tell you why. My own voice tends to be a little low and at a medium pace on most days and this is what I used on most of my sales calls. However there were days when I had to up the pace in what I would call "massive action" Basically I needed more sales to get me on track or to get ahead of the curve. I started to notice a pattern on these days. When the momentum started to flow and the sales started to grow, I felt that my voice was getting more energetic and the pace of my speech seemed to move up another gear into a higher acceleration mode. What did this do to my level of persuasion with customers? It seemed to have an almost magical effect and on certain occasions I was truly shocked at the way people reacted to my pitching. Looking back at those days, especially in the timeshare and the insurance business, it all came down to my energy levels. I'm not so sure it would have been possible to maintain those levels of energy on a constant basis, because it does drain more of your energy without doubt. However if there's a time when you need to close more sales,Cheap Braylon Edwards Jersey, you need to increase your energy levels. If there's one thing I don't like when I'm talking to a sales person it's that sensation that he or she is bluffing the answers to my questions. It's irritating because if they can't give me the facts, how am I supposed to put my blinding trust in them. The bad news is that it's a very common phenomenon in sales, and few businesses seem to care as long as the money rolls in. Well they should care because it not only influences sales conversions; it more seriously affects repeat business rates. People will often not return to make another purchase if they feel the sales person they dealt with didn't know what they were talking about. I can understand a sales person not being very knowledgeable if they have just started a job,Cheap Brett Favre Jersey, but there are too many sales people who are experienced and still have poor knowledge of their industry and their competitors. 2. Build Instant Rapport I had recently been asked by a friend of mine to come up with the three most persuasive selling skills I could think of that would help him close more sales. I gave it some serious thought and here are the three most powerful techniques that I came up with: Mirroring I know some people don't think they are funny enough but if you're short on inspiration, get some ideas from books. It will often make a difference to someone else's day so it's well worth it. Building rapport requires a certain amount of patience and the ability to be flexible. If someone asks a stupid question,Cheap Ryan Clady Jersey, never snap at them. Instead, smile in your mind and be as helpful as possible. If you want to close more sales you have to work with all kinds of people, not just the ones you like. So how do you make a customer feel comfortable about your level of expertise? Well I would start by learning the language of your industry. I believe it's important to insert the odd technical term to show you know your stuff. Now don't get me wrong here, we don't want to confuse the customer with a load of terms they can't understand. It's more about inserting the odd phrase or specific term in your speech or writing to impress. Expert terminology will give you a much more professional image and that's exactly how you get people to trust you.

Guess what they will be glad you did! What you want is to keep getting information out to your customer so they don't have to research what you do. Then make sure that they know you can offer same or similar services/products that they are getting from your competition. The whole focus should be on sales and not just how salespeople are doing but how to generate more business. The second should be on incentives and sharing the wealth with staff. No one would hesitate to pay a plumber top dollar for his services but these same people won't go for spit to expand their businesses by sharing the wealth with the people who are lining their pockets in the first place. I have seen it so often. Small companies will hire one of their loser relatives and pay them instead of the real achievers on their staff. Here are some other ways: Most small companies have limited resources of personnel and time. Salespeople go where their pockets take them, owners are spread out doing a gamut of things and customer service is trained to take and turn over calls quickly. So how do you get more business from companies you are currently doing business with? 1. Don't just send out new items or literature without highlighting the contents of the envelopes,Cheap Brandon Jacobs Jersey, such as,Cheap Paul Krause Jersey, Enclosed Literature Requested or offer a time incentive to purchase. 2. Streamline the enclosed information to be easily read and digested in a matter of minutes. 3. Make sure key companies are assigned to your sales' staff so they can develop more business and have customer service work with sales with training on when to turn the call over to sales. 4. Have sales search the Internet and check out every customers' websites to see the items they carry. Then call the customer stating you have seen such and such on their website and did you know we offer this? Most customers don't have the time to find out what YOU sell. YOU have to tell them. 5. Offer a bundle package if the customer starts to buy other items not previously bought from you. 6. Make sure your mailers have more pictures than words. 7. Do a test mailing with a survey. 8. Add to your mailing that a $50 coupon offer is enclosed if your online survey is completed or some other offer. 9. When talking to customers ask the right questions to maximize your information gathering and not waste their time. Painstakingly as is sounds repeated phone calls must be made to existing companies to screen them for potential new business. Try doing this in the off months when your customers may not be as busy and might welcome the opportunity to talk. Let's say you have worked with your staff and have things in place that the incentives will allow them to get more business. Knowledge might be power but information helps you decide where to spend your time and money. Instead of trying to always get new business try getting more from the customers you have. Remember, generally, no one gives all their business to one vendor but what you are trying to do is get the lion's share. Even if you don't now,Cheap Ndamukong Suh Jersey, some reason might be don't have or aren't able to offer what the other guy at this time but this might be indication of where to grow your own business when expanding.