The Ultimate “Think Differently” Sales Tip
Sales drive revenues, and revenues drive companies. Companies, then, are only as good as their sales people. In a society that has become increasingly immune to typical sales pitches, competition for consumer dollars has reached a fever pitch. Consumers are inundated daily with various versions of sales propositions: email, cold calls, fliers and brochures, special offers, internet banners and offers, you name it. How can you expect to compete in this environment?
One simple but effective method: Fire your sales people. Most sales personnel stink anyway. This action doesn’t reflect their character as people, but rather their ability to increase company revenues. And most sales people (even if they are nice people) do a horrible job at this. Think about it: When was the last time you went shopping, or out to your favorite restaurant, and encountered a terrific sales person? If you have trouble recalling, you’re not alone. As consumers, we are even immune to bad service, as long as the product is adequate. We put up with annoying sales people who are pushy and impersonal because we want the outfit. We rationalize away bad service at our favorite restaurant because the food was good (when the waiter finally got the order correct!). We don’t think twice when we encounter a lazy sales person who really doesn’t enjoy his or her job. It doesn’t have to be like this.
If you truly want to improve sales within your company, fire your current sales people, and then hire true sales people. How do you know the difference?
*People that are “true” sales people value relationships first and sales second. They are cordial, pleasant, and well-meaning.
*People that are “true” sales people seek to satisfy the customer, not their boss. There is a huge difference!
*People that are “true” sales people are internally motivated rather than motivated by sales rewards or incentives.
*People that are “true” sales people are easily found in crowds. They are naturally gregarious, and most likely bring out the best in you during your interactions with them
So, what do you do if firing your sales people is not an option? At the very least, improve your current hiring policy. No amount of company training can make up for the fact that an individual is not cut out to be in sales. Another idea: work to reassign those in your sales force whose skills are better utilized elsewhere. My recommendation is to evaluate your current sales staff in regards to their people skills. You’ll find that many of your sales people would be better placed within your company. Behind a cubicle.
Copyright (2003) Leif H. Smith, Psy.D. All rights reserved.
Performance expert Leif H. Smith, Psy.D, is the president of Personal Best Consulting, a consulting firm located in Hilliard, Ohio. To learn more tips and techniques to immediately improve performance in your life and to sign up for his FREE monthly advice newsletter, visit http://www.personalbestconsulting.com
Heavy Duty Online Sales Grabbers
1. Give your prospects extra incentives so they will order more
quickly. It could be free shipping, a faster shipping option,
free gift wrapping, etc.
2. Make your small business look big on the world wide web.
Design your web site using professional graphics, ordering
systems, organized layouts, etc.
3. Attract a lot more customers by giving them clear ordering
instructions. Give them all the information they need so they
can complete their order easily.
4. Give your customers buying incentives so they’ll make repeat
purchases. Offer them discounts, free gifts, bonus points, etc.
5. Tell people about your site whenever you get a chance. Those
people will tell other people and so on. It’s a cheap way to
multiply your advertising.
6. Write and send press releases for your web site. Use a strong
headlines, make it newsworthy, and tell the journalist why their
readers would like it.
7. Use a lot of headlines on your web site and ezine. Some types
of headlines are free offers, questions, problem solvers, sales,
and statistics.
8. Design graphics, templates, buttons and banner ads for other
sites. Allow people to use them in exchange for your web link on
their home page.
9. Use time saving promotional software. You can automate your
search engine submissions, posting to online classified sites,
etc.
10. Advertise your online business by dressing in clothes that
are imprinted with your ad. It could be a T-shirt, ball cap,
coat, etc.
Sales Managers: Get Your Team Up For The Game!
If you’re a sports fan, or an athlete, as I am, you know when you or your team are “flat” and are just phoning-in their performances, and when they’re juiced, and ready to go.
It makes a crucial difference in sports, as well as in selling.
In both situations, we have to get up for the game, and if you’re a sales manager, it’s your duty to psych up your players before every engagement, whenever possible.
As a former sales manager, and as a sales coach and consultant, I advocate having frequent sales meetings for this purpose. Meet, greet, and motivate your people before every shift, if they sell from inside.
If they’re outside sellers, try to arrange frequent telephone conferences to achieve the same thing,
Remind them of their sales targets, and try to tell inspiring stories, or share recent customer testimonials with them.
Every meeting should give them another reason to feel proud of themselves and what they’re selling.
You can use these get-togethers to review closing techniques, or to introduce better techniques of any kind. And most important, team members can discuss what’s working for them, which their peers don’t get a chance to see and to hear for themselves.
But the key deliverable from a successful meeting is emotion. They should get a boost, feeling higher and more energized than before.
One of my salesmen said to me, after our umpteenth meeting, “Gary, I might be able to make more money somewhere else, but nothing is going to be this much fun!”
Mission accomplished!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.
Wholesale Trends: How eBay Sellers Can Profit From Them
Wholesale trends are one of the most important pieces of news that eBay sellers should be monitoring. Wholesale trends are the changes in demand for products being sold in the marketplace.
These trends also include the introduction and demand for new wholesale products into the marketplace.
eBay sellers of all types need to monitor these changing wholesale trends. By seeing what is becoming popular and what is losing in popularity, eBay sellers will be able to know what products they should be buying and selling.
Here are three great methods for monitoring wholesale trends. Remember that you want to be able to anticipate product demand before your fellow eBay sellers do. This is especially important if you want to be selling on eBay popular products before other eBay sellers start catching on.
Wholesale Trend Monitoring Tip #1
Movies. When a new movie is released you can expect a great deal of marketing to be involved. By the time the movie hits the screens you can expect thousands of enthusiastic fans to be familiar with the movie. You can expect that products related to the movie will be strong sellers on eBay.
Wholesale Trend Monitoring Tip #2
Magazines. Popular culture magazines are the first ones to showcase a new product hitting the marketplace. Often they will cover the development of a product that they predict will be very popular. And sometimes the magazines themselves create demand for a product by publishing a glowing review of the product.
Wholesale Trend Monitoring Tip #3
Top online searches. There are many free web based services that will show you what the current top searches are. You can use these services to determine what it is that people are searching for. If you see a surge in the number of searches for a certain actor, then you should start selling related merchandise on eBay.
Donny Lowy runs http://www.closeoutexplosion.com an online wholesale and closeout business that supplies eBay sellers, retailers, and flea market vendors.
10 Bizarre Ways To Blow Up Your Sales!
1. Team-up with your weaker competitors to beat your stronger
competitors. You can create win/win joint venture and cross
promotion deals with them.
2. Design your site so it will be worth bookmarking. Your
visitors will bookmark your web site if it’s full of free
original content like articles, ebooks, etc.
3. Offer your customers back-end products. It is easier to sell
to existing customers. If you do not have a back-end product,
join an affiliate program.
4. Increase the perceived value of your product. You could offer
an affiliate program, give away free bonuses or use famous
endorsements on your ad.
5. Remind your visitors to promote your web site. Use phrases
like; “Refer This Our Web Site To A Friend” or “Link To Our Web
Site”
6. Make your testimonials more powerful. You can include
pictures, hand written signatures and contact information with
each testimonial.
7. Up-sell to all your customers. You could sell add- on
products, deluxe products, extra parts, related products, add-on
services, etc.
8. Place your ad in targeted e-zines. Ask the owner if you could
place your ad in a higher position in exchange for a percentage
of the ad’s profits.
9. Use permission marketing to increase your sales. You simply
ask people to sign-up to your e-mailing list. They’ll already be
interested in messages or ads.
10. Provide a privacy statement and all your contact information
on every page of your web site. This’ll persuade your visitors
and prospects to trust you.
The World Leader in Botanical Beauty Care Online Store #8 in Nation
The online direct selling store owner Zdenka Prokop, Independent
Beauty Counselor, has deployed the website
www.YvesRocher-Kiotis.com; open 24/7 for sale of Yves Rocher,and
Kiotis products with no animal testing. The store with France
fragrances and beauty products for skin care and body care, are
shipped from Canada and France to Nashville, Tennessee.
Yves Rocher group is the world leader in natural beauty care and
a fast-growing online sales channel. The online store
www.YvesRocher-Kiotis is opened for all your beauty needs, with
100% natural French cosmetics, a variety of special products,
free gifts with purchase, and seasonal promotions. Products are
Anti-aging innovations by looking to natural resources:
Essential Botanical Oils or DNA Anti-aging hormone complex; and
all with 100% satisfaction guarantee.
To reach a higher level in personal Purchases and Recruitments
is not a question of luck. It is a question of having the right
attitude, the enthusiasm, the dedication, the perseverance, the
right technique and “know how,” the ability to make a client
base grow, to build a team and to keep it active. All this
constitutes a great accomplishment. In March 2005, the online
store www.yvesrocher-kiotis.com owner, Zdenka Prokop, was ranked
as an Independent Beauty Counselor in national level #8 in
personal purchases. She left behind over 20,000 counselors. Her
online store has for sale many natural beauty products, and can
cover your needs for ideas, tips, and advice. She is an example
of what it is to be a champion.
For additional information or samples, contact
YvesRocher-Kiotis.com Independent Beauty Counselor Zdenka Prokop
through her website www.yvesrocher-kiotis.com by e-mail
info@yvesrocher-kiotis.com or by phone 1-615-832-0060.
Basics and Benefits of Voice Mail and Unified Messaging
Voice mail and unified messaging are automated telephone
technologies used by businesses large and small to increase
productivity and efficiency while providing 24-hour
responsiveness to callers. Also called “virtual office systems,”
“virtual assistant” and “virtual PBX,” they don’t require you to
buy any software or hardware. You’re simply renting a monthly
service, and the service provider automatically routes your
calls to a number that’s exclusively assigned to you. All calls
to this number arrive at your physical phone.
Depending on the features you choose and how you tailor them,
most voicemail/unified messaging services make it possible for
your callers press keys for more information by voice and/or
fax, and to leave voice mail messages, and to be forwarded live
to the person they’re calling.
There’s a range of different voice mail and unified messaging
services available, all with different features and calling
plans. They charge a monthly fee for the basic service, plus
long distance by the minute for all usage. Most include a toll
free number, and some also offer local (non-toll) numbers in
selected cities.
Pricing varies depending on the features you choose. You can get
everything from a toll free number and/or one voice mail box to
a unified messaging aka a virtual PBX with the works.
If all you need is a toll free number, shop your local Yellow
Pages and the Internet for companies specializing in toll free
numbers only. Or if all you need is one or two voice mail boxes
for taking messages (and you’d rather not use an answering
machine), begin with your local telephone company and then
compare their prices to other such services.
But now let’s talk “unified messaging, virtual office, virtual
assistant and virtual PBX,” all of which generally mean the same
thing: a single phone number that does it all for your callers,
automates your communications and consolidates all your
messaging, 24/7. The starting point in determining the nature
and scope of your service requirement is to know how many voice
mail boxes you need. You figure this according to how many
different products and/or options you want to present to your
callers via outgoing audio recordings that you place in the
system. You also look at this based on how many associates, if
any, are using the system with you.
For example, you’ll need more than voice mail box if you need an
automated way to deliver various kinds of messages/announcements
to your callers, say, about different products or different
options. This allows your callers to press designated keys to
hear what they’re looking for and to leave messages relevant to
that topic.
You’d also need more than one voice mail box if anyone else
works with you in your business. This allows callers to leave
messages and make contact with the staff member you’ve assigned
to that voice mail box extension.
If you want to take your calls live, you need “Follow-me-live”
aka call forwarding. Ideally, the service you choose should have
unlimited call forwarding where it can ring as many different
phone numbers as you want until it finds you. (Many services
will only forward to one additional number so keep an eye out
for this.)
Another thing you’d most likely want to avoid is the service
that limits the length of your voice mail messages, in, out or
both. Be sure you don’t mind having your callers cut off at the
ankles before subscribing to limited-length messaging services.
So far we’ve only scraped the surface of unified messaging
services. Among the many other features and functions of the
best services are caller ID, call screening, paging, fax on
demand, email voice and fax delivery, voice blasting,
name/address capture, lead distribution, music on hold,
automated order taking, automated interviewing and more.
The service you choose should be just that robust, versatile,
scalable and flexible without costing an arm and a leg. The best
example is a user-centric service that has years of consistent
uptime, lots of features, simplicity of use, and never a busy
signal. The idea being to support your need to deliver the
highest form of responsiveness to your callers that automation
can provide while gaining greater productivity and efficiency
for your business.
What is Referral Lead Generation?
Referrals aren’t generated, they just happen, right? While many businesses believe this, it is a common marketing myth. Most businesses assume that referrals just happen by chance when someone tells another person about their experience with the products or services they’ve received. While word-of-mouth has always been an obscure concept and certainly unpredictable, new Internet technologies are making it easier than ever to nudge along and follow its momentum.
The Difference Between Referrals and Word-of-Mouth
Before you begin a word-of-mouth or referral advertising campaign, you should understand the difference between the two. While referrals and word-of-mouth (WOM) can both help to promote business, referrals go further, allowing customers to actually participate in the sales process. This participation may include a face-to-face, telephone or email introduction. And although a referral begins with word-of-mouth, word-of-mouth does not always generate a referral.
Successful referral lead generation starts when a marketer or business owner adopts a new mindset about referrals, recognizing the sales potential available through a warm market. A warm market includes those customers, vendors or other businesses that have worked with you in the past or have purchased your products or services, and had a good experience. Utilizing this warm market, plus integrating some kind of a customer relations referral system, promotes successful lead generation and keeps your business on track.
Cold Leads or Warm Referrals?
Many businesses are just too busy pursuing customers to take time and learn how to get customers to pursue them. They say people change for one of two reasons; pleasure or pain. Unless the pain is painful enough, many businesses would rather continue pumping money into ineffective advertising outlets or purchasing leads from brokers.
This is especially true for certain industries like the mortgage industry where lead purchasing is a mainstay. A cold lead is an individual or contact that is not familiar with your business, and has never purchased your products or services before. These leads demand the longest buying process and reaching them is challenging because it requires repeated message saturation to achieve optimal results or client conversion.
Today, higher advertising costs, increased competition, an overly-saturated consumer marketplace, and lower ROI are making business owners and marketers alike take a second look at referral marketing as an alternative to standard advertising methods that just don’t seem to bring in the results they used to. Which sounds better, a cold lead or a warm referral?
When statistics show that up to 45% of most businesses are chosen based on the recommendations of others, why do businesses and marketers still continue to throw their hard earned marketing dollars at a cold market?
The Internet offers hope through interactivity, affordability and accessibility. New technological resources are readily available to us, to help support referral generating efforts and make it easier to spread word of mouth. Unlike rising gas prices, we can actually fight back against rising ad cost by using the Internet to improve customer retention and facilitate in the referral generating process. Satisfied customer advocates are our best selling asset and they’re also the best defense against rising advertising costs.
Some ways in which technology can be used to grow referrals and save ad spend:
Permission Based Emails - a vehicle to “get the word out”
Refer a Friend links - makes it easier to forward information to others
e-Newsletters - simple and low cost way to stay top of mind
Audio and Video Testimonials - increases credibility and trust
Electronic gift cards - low cost, efficient way to send and track rewards
Affiliate Web Links - added exposure with reciprocal referral partnerships
Diana D’Itri is the Exec VP of Ravebiz, a leading referral marketing and technology company. She’s a key driving force behind educating clients on how to generate more quality referred customers through practical applications and an automated, web based system called the Rave APG eReferral.
For a free download “31 tips for boosting referral business” go to http://www.ravebiz.com Diana can be reached at (866) 284-3020 or email her at diana@ravebiz.com.