business - Pivotal

Be Money Confident ambassador, Antonia Kidman, gave a speech about business lessons we can learn from elephants. ... Know how and when to use your strengths, develop your own thick skin ... and many more

Books, Business

How to read a business book

For most of us, when we want to improve at something, we read. And this is no less true for those of us in business or in leadership positions in organisations. And, of course, there is a plethora of books to choose from. In fact, according to a report from Fast Company, 5,301 titles "claiming to be about business" were published last year, up 30 percent from three years ago. And for those of us who are busy, but want the answers NOW, it can be frustrating trying to absorb all of the information available. Fast Company has some answers. Check out the article How to Read a Business Book.

internet marketing, Success

Be X Do = Have … The Formula For Success

Is there a formula for success?

I have a very simple formula I've used that I want to share with you that can do wonders in your business and your life.

The formula is simple, but just because it's simple doesn't make it easy.

However, if you start to use it and follow it, it will yield great results for you. So ... what is this simple formula? In order to HAVE anything in life, we need to DO something to achieve it, and in order to DO the right things in the right way at the right time, we have to BE the right person ... which means BE X DO = HAVE.

If you want wealth, you must invest. If you want love, you must first give it. If you want respect, you must earn it.

No matter what, you need to DO something in order to HAVE something. But DO-ing is not the only thing you need to change in order to HAVE something. You must also BE-come the person who would DO these things well and thus HAVE the things you desire.

You must also develop the identity, beliefs and values of the type of person who has those things has. That's why many people who come into great wealth very suddenly find themselves worse off in just a few short years.

Why?

They never developed the inner beliefs and values to match their outer reality. In short, they never BE-came "millionaires." Business is no different. In order to HAVE amazing customers (and amazing businesses need amazing customers), you must develop your business into one that will attract amazing customers.

So how do you develop the mind-set and the skill-set to maximize the BE X DO = HAVE formula?

Work at it.

It's as simple as that ... but as I said before, simple is not always easy. First, you need to train, or re-train your brain. Just like our bodies need regular exercise, our minds do, too - or else they default to negative and unproductive thinking.

You also must remember that DO-ing is as important as or even more important than BE-ing.

I often say you can't sit on a mountain-top and "OHM" your way to wealth. So you must be prepared to do the extra and the "overtime" to HAVE great results.

To jump start this process, here are four things you can do to start working on the BE-ing and DO-ing parts of the formula.

1)Idealization: Start stretching your mind with possibilities. Choose your ideal life and how you want it to be, whether is it being a great parent or having your own jet. Choose it as already yours, and accept your new thoughts as true. Saying you "want" something causes your mind to think you don't have it - meaning you won't get it. Remember though, this is not an immediate process, it takes time to re-train yourself.

2)Visualization: Relax 10-minutes in morning and 10-minutes in evening and picture your ideal life as real. Visualize and accept your ideal self as real and believe what you want is already yours, because at the subconscious level, your mind doesn't know what is real and what isn't. And keep planting those "seeds" of positive thoughts every day.

3)Verbalization: Create a series of at least 20 "I AM" statements that you speak or shout out loud every day. Give them and yourself energy, passion and vibration. Again, you are re-training your mind to accept a new reality - yours. And yes, that little voice in the back of your head will disagree for the first few weeks, months or maybe even years, but you have to start somewhere.

4)Materialization: Be aware of your changing outer environment as the seeds you've been planting start to manifest - especially as you do the extra work you need to do to make it all happen. Realize it's not a week long process ... but rather one that happens over time. Your own energy and emotions about the goals that matter most to you bring those goals to you faster ... so become a passionate advocate of the best and only product you really have - you.

Be, Do and Have. These three little words really can change your life.

And now that you know, the rest really is up to you!

About the Author: For more information on Brad Sugars please visit: http://www.actioncoach.com/bradsugars -or- for more information on Business Coaching please visit http://www.businesscoachbook.com Photo by brett reeves on Unsplash and by Elena Saharova on Unsplash

Business, Sales

Connecting with and selling to power buyers

Connecting with and Selling to
Power Buyers
with Josiane Chriqui Feigon

Josiane Feigon

You’ve increased your prospecting and marketing efforts but now realize you have invested too much time aligning with the wrong people. In today’s unpredictable economic landscape, it’s not unusual to spend time with buyers who have no power and no potential, yet make you believe they can actually do something.

There is business out there, you just have to work smarter to uncover it and get to the decision makers — the Power Buyers. It is harder than ever, but when you learn the right techniques, you’ll get more business. This session helps you focus on the Power Buyer: how to recognize them, what to say to them and if you really deserve to speak with them.

You’ll learn how to:

find the Power Buyers — how to recognize verbal and visual Power Buyer signs and what are common characteristics of people with high influence.
engage with Power Buyers — when you finally get to the Power Buyer, what do you say and how do you align and package your offerings with high value that creates curiosity and intrigue?
move out of the “No-Po Zone” — don’t get fooled into believing the ones with No Power and No Potential will actually do anything. Stop listening with your Happy Ears.
understand Power Buyer objections — you’ve been hit with a tidal wave of objections, but do you believe them all and where are they coming from?
determine if you are Power Buyer Worthy — do you have the self-confidence, knowledge and courage to believe you have something important to say?

Details:

Register for the 13th October or order the CD or MP3 recording. Note: Everyone who registers for the teleseminar will get the MP3 recording of the session for free.

Business

Be Prepared! … from the Little Red Book of Selling

What do you need to know about the prospect’s business to engage?

I mean if you just walk in the door and say, “Tell me a little bit about your business,” how unprepared does that make you look?

Answer: TOTALLY UNPREPARED.

Prepared is going to their website and printing out several strategic pages, reading them, and making notes so you can ask about what you don’t understand, or need elaboration on—not asking about them from TOTAL IGNORANCE.

NOTE: Just so we understand each other, “Tell me a little about your business,” is the third dumbest thing you can say to or ask a prospect. The second is “Let me tell you a little about my business.”

The prospect couldn’t CARE LESS about you or your business, and probably already knows enough to not want to hear it again. The first most dumbest? I’ll tell you later. Let’s talk about where to find out information about a prospect and his or her business before your sales call.

1. The Internet. Don’t just look up their site. Enter their company name on Google or other search engines like dogpile.com and see what pops up. There may be an article or other important information. Then enter the name of the person you’re meeting with. Then enter the name of the CEO. Then tell me why you’re not meeting with the CEO. (Just a little jab there.) By the way, if you look up the name of the person you’re meeting with and you find nothing, that also tells you something.

2. Their literature. Even though it’s we-we, it has the basic “brags” covered and may talk about shifts in emphasis and market coverage. It also tells you what they think of themselves and their products.

3. Their vendors. Usually reluctant talkers, but they can tell you what it’s like to do business with them and all about how you are going to be paid—valuable information to say the least. Vendors are a rarely used resource.

4. Their competition. Oh man, talk about dirt, here it is. Just ask casual questions about how they win business—it will tell you what it will be like to negotiate with them. By the way, the more their competition hates them, the better they usually are. Competitors hate the people who take business away from them.

5. Their customers. Customers talk. And they are the real word on delivery, organization, quality, and the subtle information that can give you an insightful competitive advantage.

6. People in your network who may know them. A quick e-mail to your inside group asking for information will always net a fact or two and may just be the bonanza you were looking for.

7. Their other employees. Occasionally the admin will help, but don’t count on it. A better bet is their PR department or their marketing department.

8. The best and least used resource: Their sales department. Salespeople will tell you anything. You can get details you won’t believe.

8.5 Google yourself. Want some pain? Look up your own name. Where are you? What’s your Internet position? Suppose they are looking you up. What will they find? If it’s nothing, that’s a report card on you.

And it’s not just Internet preparation. It’s other research, such as finding mutual friends, calling a few vendors, maybe a few customers. Getting VITAL information as it relates to the buying of your product or service. There’s one more thing in preparation: Be prepared with an objective or two about what you want to accomplish in the meeting.

Proper preparation takes time, but I assure you it’s impressive to the prospect. He or she knows that you have prepared, and is silently impressed. It’s an advantage that very few salespeople use. They make the fatal error of getting all their own stuff ready. PowerPoint slides, samples, literature, business cards—you know, all the same things the competition is doing. Biggest mistake in sales. And almost every salesperson makes it.

And it’s not only preparation about the sale—it’s your personal preparation for sales—your personal training. How ready are you? Get ready baby. Turn off the TV and get ready.

—Jeffrey Gitomer
Click on this title to Buy the Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness

Business

Three Ways Employee Mentoring Pays Off

Improve Your Millionaire Mindset by Using the Same Daily Rituals Used by Top Entrepreneurs

Would earning an extra $900 a month make a BIG difference in your life?

Sure, it'd be great, but it probably wouldn't have a huge impact on your mortgage, retirement savings, orthodontist bills, kids' college fund, or the piles of bills that are cluttering up your
desk, right?

But what if you could earn that $900 a month by working just 5-8 hours?

And what if, by using the same strategies you used to make that first $900, you could quickly start to DOUBLE it... and double it again... and again...

... until you're making potentially thousands a month. Does *that* change the picture?

I was just reading a case study on Derek Gehl's website about a 15-year-old girl who's actually doing this: making $900 a month on the Internet while working no more than 8 hours.

http://www.marketingtips.com/success-online/t/1087521

She obviously has NO business training or experience, and at just 15, she's clearly pretty short on "life" experience, too, but still, she's given up babysitting for good, thanks to the success she's having with her website.

And while she's not exactly getting wealthy (yet!), she's using the exact SAME strategies that hundreds of other successful Internet entrepreneurs have used to make MUCH more (sometimes millions of dollars) with their own Internet businesses.

I really recommend you check out her case study on Derek's site!

In it, he actually walks you through the exact, step-by-step system she, and thousands of his other clients, are using to achieve these remarkable results with their Internet businesses.

To read the case study, just follow this link:

http://www.marketingtips.com/success-online/t/1087521

Enjoy!

P.S. When you read the case study, Derek will give you permission to use the profit generating strategies it reveals yourself for 30 days, to see if they'll work for YOU, too...

... so make sure you check it out right away!

http://www.marketingtips.com/success-online/t/1087521

Business

Behind the Magic

How do stellar sellers work their magic? From the first cold call to closing the deal, discover the top sales secrets of some seriously successful salespeople.

How to sell more, better and faster: It's what keeps salespeople awake at night, no matter what they sell. And in an economy that's still soft around the edges, selling well is more important than it's ever been.

So how can you and your sales team excel in turning prospects into long-term customers? Here are 17 how-to secrets and words of wisdom from sales experts and entrepreneurs for mastering the entire sales process.

How to make a cold call
A cold call is not a time to make a sale. It's [a time] to give something. The first question is, "Is it OK if I share with you what we do and why people use us? Then, we can decide whether it makes sense to go further." Be as discerning of the prospect as they are of you. No one's going to do business with a beggar.--Bill Caskey, author of Same Game, New Rules: 23 Timeless Principles for Selling and Negotiating" and founder of Caskey Achievement Strategies, a B2B sales training and consulting firm in Indianapolis,

How to get past the gatekeeper
Voice mail is today's gatekeeper. The [most important] part of an effective voice mail is establishing your credibility by referencing a referral, your research or some newsworthy event in their company. The secret is to not talk about your product or service; focus on results. Talk like a businessperson, not a salesperson.--Jill Konrath, founder of Selling to Big Companies, a St. Paul, Minnesota, sales training firm

How to write a sales letter
The secret to a successful sales letter is making it look just like a typical business letter. You want to position yourself as a peer who has a great idea and a helpful offer. In working with sales consultants at IBM, we coach them to start where the last conversation left off--something like, "After your comment to me on the phone last month, I've been thinking about a way to X." Your opening shot can't be a misfire.--Dianna Booher, author of E-Writing: 21st Century Tools for Effective Communication and CEO of Booher Consultants Inc., a Dallas/Fort Worth-area communication training firm

How to generate repeat business
Our customers aren't customers; our customers are owners. That sets a certain bar. If one of our owners is going to take a flight, a sales vice president may be helping with the luggage and the catering. We feel like if we get in front of our customers and we hustle, at the end of the day, it will be translated into repeat business.--Kenny Dichter, founder of New York City-based Marquis Jet, an 80-employee global leader in private jet cards whose Marquis Jet Card Program has a 90 percent customer renewal rate

How to upsell your current clients
I asked a client if they were thinking about redoing their website. They said, "No." I didn't tell them, but I was going to work on something because I had a vision for it. I presented it to them, and they loved it. I had a $10,000 sale for that website. The biggest secret is just taking the time to think, "What does my client need that he's not asking for?"--Paula Yakubik, founder of MassMedia, a 7-year-old Las Vegas PR and advertising firm with 18 employees and $3.5 million in annual sales

How to hire a good sales manager
Successfully hiring a strong sales manager is a balance between science and art. All strong sales-manager candidates exhibit three behavioural traits: a high energy level, tenacity and competitiveness. The biggest mistake companies make is that they try to find someone who will change the process because sales are not at the desired level. The majority of the time, the process isn't broken; what they didn't find was someone who has sold in that process before. Finding a manager compatible with the process is crucial.--Jim Kasper, author of Creating the #1 Sales Force: What It Takes to Transform Your Sales Culture

How to offer great customer service
The big secret is to passionately believe in your people. It's easy to say and difficult to execute unless you're in a culture that supports and encourages great customer service. Everyone's going that extra mile. Behind every transaction is a personal relationship.--Jack Mitchell, author of Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results and CEO of Mitchells/Richards, a high-end Connecticut clothing retailer with $70 million in annual sales

How to close a sale
At the end of a sales conversation, the customer knows everything [he or she] needs to know to make a decision. The key is to ask the customer to take action. Simply ask, "Why don't you give it a try?" Don't sit there hoping that somehow, sometime, somewhere, the customer will take action on his own. Like a dentist's job is to pull the tooth, the sales-person's job is to ask for the order at the end of the presentation.--Brian Tracy, author of The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible and founder of Brian Tracy International, a Solana Beach, California, sales consulting firm

How to sell when price is the determining factor
If you're selling something on price, you'd better start learning how to declare Chapter 11, because you're on your way. Look at what's going on with the airlines and department stores. Everyone gets confused thinking it's all about price, but it's about relevance. Get away from price, and get to value.--Sergio Zyman, founder, chairman and CEO of the Zyman Group, an Atlanta management consulting firm

How to meet a prospect in person
This is your big chance to make an impression. Don't have your cell phone and your pager on, and don't have anything in your notebook that doesn't have to do with that customer. Ask follow-up questions, clarify that you understand what they're saying, and give them feedback that you're listening. You don't want an hour to go by where [the prospect] didn't feel it was valuable spending time with you.--Seleste Lunsford, co-author of Strategies That Win Sales: Best Practices of the World's Leading Organizations

How to give a great sales presentation in five minutes or less
Whether you have six minutes or 60 minutes to make a presentation, always organize your content, adapt to the moment, and dialogue with your audience. Reveal your core statement early and clearly, and support it with no more than three main points. If pressed for time, leave anecdotes and stories on the sidelines.--Bob Lipp, president of Better Business Presentations, a Great Neck, New York, firm that helps executives improve their presentation and public speaking skills

How to surpass a sales quota
People sit back and relax when they've made their quota. But that's when you really pour it on. At 5 o'clock, make 15 more calls. When you have a lot of business coming in and you're doing well, that's the best time to make calls to surpass your quota. Your actions are much more powerful when you're doing well than when you're trying to get started.--Barry Farber, Entrepreneur's "Sales Success" columnist and president of Farber Training Systems, a Livingston, New Jersey, sales management and motivational company

How to schedule your week most effectively
Every weeknight I would complete my Day-Timer with contacts I needed to make and proposals I needed to present the next day. I always had a complete plan written down. Map out your sales calls so you minimize drive time. Log all details about each appointment, tracking all steps of the sale until it's closed. This prevents redoing or forgetting scheduled items and will keep your day on task.--Henry A. Penix, author of Unwrap Your Gift and a former salesperson who ranked in the upper 2 percent of all salespeople for The Pitney Bowes Corp.

How to create customer loyalty
The hardest thing is getting somebody to trust you. After you build a relationship, the trust comes. Going the extra mile, being a good communicator, letting them know if there are problems--that makes people feel good. Be consistent. Do what you say you're going to do. When I see a parent with one child bring a second child to me, that's when I know I've created customer loyalty.--Kara Vample Turner, president and CEO of 7-year-old Primary Colors Daycare Center in Durham, North Carolina

How to relate better to your prospect
Ninety-five percent of what's sold in the world isn't an end unto itself, it's a means to an end. Nobody wants to buy computers; what they want is the ability to transfer information more quickly and accurately so groups can work together better, so they can put products out to market faster, so they can capture more market share. What does the client want to achieve? When you ask that question, it changes everything.--Bill Stinnett, author of Think Like Your Customer and president of Sales Excellence Inc., an Evergreen, Colorado, sales training and consulting firm

How to follow up with a prospect
I learned the importance of follow-up early on. I probably lost several projects because I was shy. [Now], we look for reasons to call back. If we get a sense of what they want, we'll sketch something, call them and try to get them back in. If you don't care enough to [take the initative and] call, I can't imagine people wanting you to build their dream home.--Lambert Arceneaux, owner of Allegro Builders, an 8-year-old Houston home builder with eight employees and projections of $12 million in sales for 2005

How to reduce the sales cycle
There is little magic to this, but a lot of work. Reps are loath to ask tough questions. [Does the prospect] have a committed budget? What's the process for releasing funds, and who has final authority to do so? What is the event driving this initiative? [If you] want to reduce the sales cycle, target prospects better, and qualify them rigorously.--Barry Trailer, partner with CSO Insights, a Corte Madera, California, sales effectiveness research and benchmarking firm

How to increase market share
To truly grow market share, a company must not only increase overall revenues but must also increase new customer acquisition rates and average deal sizes. The 2005 "Miller Heiman Sales Effectiveness" study revealed that less than 5 percent of companies accomplished this goal. The interesting thing about the winning companies is commonality in the key strategies they pursued. Most of their new product initiatives were aimed at providing additional value to their current clients rather than trying to create new markets. These top companies also had a much more evolved process of sharing best practices; they understand the benefit of quickly communicating and implementing successful strategies. --Sam Reese, CEO of sales consulting and training firm Miller Heiman in Reno, Nevada

Chris Penttila is Entrepreneur's "Smart Moves" columnist.

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