Posts from — August 2006

One of the best ways top producers build their book of business is through referrals. Although referral business usually generates the best type of clients in terms of both quality and revenue, many people are not clear on how to effectively get in front of referral prospects. So here is a step-by-step guide to follow:

1. Set a Referral Goal. Like anything else in your career, you can set a goal for the number of referrals you want. A general rule of thumb is that 50% of satisfied clients you ask will give you at least one referral. So, if your goal is to get 10 referrals in a month, you need to ask 20 clients.  Read more...

How would you feel if you found out that a fundamental truth that you’ve believed since you were a child wasn’t exactly true?

What would think if you found out that the golden rule, or at least the way the rule was taught to you, is wrong?

We all know the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Isn’t that what we have been told all of our lives?

I would suggest that the happiest, most successful, most fulfilled people we know don’t follow the golden rule as we’ve been taught it!  Read more...

Good news! People know what you do. They know what you sell. They know how to use it. They know how much they are willing to pay. They know if they want to buy what you’re selling. And they know whether they want to buy it from you. And all this before you’ve ever even had a chance to meet them.

As business owners we forget how educated and informed our customers are. Long before they walk through your door or pick up the phone to call you they probably have more information than you do on product specifications, price, and your competition.  Read more...

Chances are this article’s title gives you a strong opinion about whether or not to continue reading…

You are either in sales and want to understand your work better and therefore very interested, or you are being kind and giving me until the end of this paragraph to convince you to continue, because you aren’t in sales, you don’t want to be in sales, and you don’t see a connection between your work and sales.

If you are in the second group, please give me just one more paragraph before you decide, ok?  Read more...

The Sharp Angle Close is used when you hear a challenge from a potential client. It’s almost as if they throw down the gauntlet to see if you really can deliver. In fact, it is often used in reference to delivery dates.

Here’s how it goes:

Client: “If we go with your product, we’d have to take delivery by May 3. Can you handle that?”

Sales Champion: “If I could guarantee delivery by May 3, are you prepared to approve the paperwork today?”  Read more...

Sales and marketing are two terms that are often heard together and even used interchangeably. They are both vital to success but are two extremely different, sometimes opposite, concepts. The terms import and export are also used together but, as you know, they are quite opposite when you consider any transaction.

Sales, for the sake of this discussion, is the process of contacting potential buyers to present your products or services. Marketing, on the other hand, is the process of creating an environment where potential consumers call you about your product or service. While the desired result may be the same, the process and skill set required are totally different.  Read more...

A challenge I’ve always had in training people is convincing them that no matter what their product or service is, if they follow the techniques of a Champion, they can earn a large income.

We have a tendency to believe that the salespeople who earn large incomes probably sell million-dollar products. That’s simply not true in all cases.

Do you know what the truth is? Regardless of the investment for your product or service, you can earn a large income by serving the needs of the right number of people.  Read more...

Selling is a contact sport and prospecting for new business is the name of the game! You’ll never meet a salesperson that failed because they had too many prospects to talk to. For the majority of salespeople, finding new customers is without a doubt the most difficult and stressful aspect of the profession.

Here are six, practical tips to help you become more effective at generating new business and following up with prospects.  Read more...

Recently I sat down with a prospect whose sales had been below goal by almost 70% for several months. I asked her to share her typical day with me. She said, “Kim, I get to my office by 8:00AM. I make calls to prospects and follow-up on leads. In the afternoons I spend most of my time pulling together information for prospects on the financial markets, retirement products and stocks they’ve asked about.”  Read more...

Ansel Adams is quoted as saying “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.”

Adams was most likely speaking about photographic images not marketing strategies. Yet many companies today are wasting precious marketing dollars building sharp images of fuzzy business concepts.

Your singular, most critical marketing objective should always be to create more sales. Many small companies make the mistake of spending their limited marketing budgets on image building. Creating a unique and meaningful image in the customers’ mind is key but it should not be the primary goal.  Read more...