Monthly Archives: February 2013

Top ten tips for selling your product or service

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Sales 101

 1. Research the company you are selling to

Google is your friend! Use it! Learn as much as you can about the client you will be working with.

2. Be respectful to all gatekeepers

The person that greets you is just as important as the person that you are meeting with.  Don’t talk down to them or be rude to them.  The Receptionist or administrative assistant may hold all the answers to your questions.  On a funny note some times the person that greets you might just be the CEO of the company.  (This story comes from one of our coaching clients) “I had a meeting once where the CEO’s Secretary was out sick and the CEO was at her secretary’s desk when my team came in for the meeting.  No one on the team knew what the CEO looked like and the team lead was very short with to the ‘Lady at the desk’, who seems to be a bit out of her element. Later we were introduce to the CEO, the meeting was with one of the companies Sr. VPs,  you could see how embarrassed my colleague was, but more importantly we lost the deal.”  The moral of the story, respect everyone no matter who you think they are.

3. Ask a lot of questions

The more questions you ask, the more information you will get.

4. Actively listen to what is being said to you

Active listening is like a well-played tennis match. The ball must go back and forth..  Actively listen to what is being said and response accordingly. People like people that listen and engage in conversation with them.

5.The little things in life matter

This story is one that comes from my own experience.  I had a vendor come out and present their product to the CEO of the company I was working for a few years ago.  The rep was very nice and really understood our needs.  The mistake she made was when she set up our conference room, for her PowerPoint, she decide to sit at the head of the table while presenting.  The CEO of the company I was working for was one of those people that believed in showing respect to titles.  So you could image how he was offended by the fact she sat in his chair.  He was so offended he checked is IPhone during the whole presentation and was very combative with her during the Q and A of her product and services.  Yes, she had the best price and yes, she was willing to give more than what we would be paying for, but because of that small mistake she lost the account.

6. Never try to sell a product or service your client can’t use

If you aren’t looking out for the best interest of your client, your client will never give you additional business.  Sell what they need not what they don’t need.

7. If you know someone else does it better; let your client know about their product and service

This point goes along with point #6, if you are looking out for the best interest of your client, you will tell them when someone else can give them what they really need.   When I was a sales rep, if my company couldn’t proved the service the client was looking for I always found or referred someone that could. Because of this practice my clients saw me as their consultant.  They always took my calls.  They will always do business with you and trust what you tell them.

8. Play well with others

Because I was (and still am) always willing to give referrals to clients about other great business; other vendors were always willing to partner with my company or me.  They knew we would never try to steal their business and our goal was the best interest of the client.  This made us easy to work with.

9. Remember the boycott motto: “Always be prepared “

I don’t think you need an explanation on this one.

10.  Be happy to be there. Smile!

Remember you are selling yourself as much as you are selling your company. So it is important to always present yourself in the best light.

 

Mistakes in transitioning your family business to a new person

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Making someone the head of your business for the wrong reasons.

You know they won’t make a good CEO/President or Owner, but they are you son or daughter and they has been with the company for a long time and are technically competent, but have no leadership skills.  The issue is you built the business for your son or daughter and no, you are afraid they would be offended and leave the company if you don’t offer them the position; so you give them the job. Big mistake. You need to make sure the person you pick has the leadership skills to run your company.

Using the wrong outside advisor

When you decide to start an internal ownership transition, you need to deal with advisors (Consultants, Attorneys, and Accountants) that have experience with family own business transitions.

Setting up an “Us vs. Them” Scenario

When offering leadership to a new person, it must be done carefully. Discuss it with the team and make sure everyone understands and can see that it isn’t because Johnny is your son he is getting the job, but because he is the best person for the job. If you are not giving Johnny the job, make sure the message is not Johnny is not good enough  but that he is not the right fit.

Not dealing with the emotional transition

People want to feel important and if they have worked for you for many years they need to feel secure about the changes.  Don’t forget that fact when bringing in a new CEO/Owner. Do your best to make them feel part of the transition; it is not a strictly business for long term employees.

Remember transitions are not easy but if you really put your company first and don’t take any of the changes personally.  This will make it a smooth transition for everyone.

Happy Valentine’s day

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England Dan & John Ford Coley sang ‘Love is the Answer ‘but Woody Allen said “Love is the answer, but while you’re waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty good questions.”

John Lennon said, ‘All you need is love’, and Charles M Schulz added “but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”

Lord Tennyson beautifully said, “It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all “but Laurence J Peter put it best, I”t’s better to have loved and lost than to do forty pounds of laundry a week.”

As you can see today is about humor and the little curmudgeon in all of us!

And now some funny curmudgeon like quotes about this day of love!  Hope you enjoy them:

Miguel De Cervantes

“Absence: that common cure of love.”

 Aerosmith

“Falling in love is so hard on the knees.”

Author Unknown

“If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?”

“Forget love, I’d rather fall in chocolate.”

Henny Youngman

“I’ve been in love with the same woman for forty-one years. If my wife finds out, she’ll kill me.”

Jonathon Swift

“Lord! I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing.”

 W. Somerset Maugham

“Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.”

 

  Charles Dickens

“Never sign a Valentine with your own name.”

 Henry Kissinger

“Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s too much fraternizing with the enemy.”

 Oscar Wilde

“Women are made to be loved, not understood.”

Henny Youngman

“You can’t buy love, but you can pay heavily for it.”

The Beatles sang money ‘can’t buy me love’, but  Richard Friedman rightly pointed out “money will buy you a fine dog, but only love can make it wag its tail.” 🙂Holiday-Valentines-Day-by-veraukoion_1455705

 

The Power of Storytelling in Business

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*2. Storytelling

“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.” -Robert McAfee Brown

“After listening, leaders need to tell great stories in order to sell their products, but more important, in order to sell their ideas. Storytelling is what captivates people and drives them to take action. ”

* taken  directly from Dave Kerpen’s 11 Simple Concepts to becoming a Better Leader

Last night I went to a sales presentation for a start up company, that had a great service but  was poorly presented.  I am going to be nice and not tell you the name of the company. 🙂 The issue I had was they spent 40 minutes telling us about numbers and how much we could make by helping them build their business  but nothing about why they created their business and how the service really works.  Twice the CEO started to say it was for personal reasons he created this service and he wanted to help people. He never follow through with making me see his vision.

The most important marketing tool gives you a way to express your vision. That I, the listener, understand why you are so passionate about what you are selling to me.  Tell me a story!

I went to bed thinking about all the ways I could help them fix their problem, and this morning as I had my morning coffee while Ipad surfing ( before I start the day) I came across Dave Kerpen’s article.  The second concept ( see above) jumped out at me.  I put my cup down and yelled out YES! My poor assistant might have had a heart attack, I need to check on that later. 🙂 To be honest, I didn’t even finish the article before I started writing this.

Why did point hit me like Zeus’ Thunderbolt?  Because it’s true; storytelling is the most powerful way we connect and convey our ideas.  The most powerful way to get someone on your side or get your point across is to tell a story.   Take a minute and think about the best teacher or mentor you had; what was their teaching style?  85% of you will say they told stories.  Facts and figures are important but if I cannot connect to those, I don’t care about them.

I keep thinking about the film “The Mirror has Two Faces”  in which Barbra Streisand, Jeff Bridges, both Columbia University professors, are looking for love.  Barbra’s character (Rose) is a great teacher her classroom is always filled and Jeff’s ( Gregory) is the class you hate to take.  He is a nice guy and quite brilliant, just a bad communicator.  When he ask her this one simple question..#” How do you make them stay?”  She later gives us the answer.. #“ Tell me a Story.”  If you click the two links you will see the two different types of educators.  But the point is clear-When you want to engage you need to tell a story, Jeff’s character figure it out and his class was the better for it.  #(Math Class).  Now if I could get the CEO of last nights presentation to figure it out, I would be happy. 🙂

What does that have to do with marketing? Everything!!!!  If you want someone to believe in your idea or product you need to engage them. Tell a story. Stories are illustrative, easy to memory, and allows presenter to create stronger emotional bonds with the audience. It makes the listener feel you believe in what you are saying to them. If I believe you I will do business with you.  It is that simple.

So the thought of the day is, ask yourself, What does your product or service really mean to you?  Tell Me a Story!

# Youtube videos are linked here

Small Business Marketing Ideas

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Small Business marketing can be a challenge, most small business owners wear more than on hat to run their business and it can be overwhelming when you are trying to produce your product or services while getting the word out about your company. What should you do?   Perhaps with an ad in the phone book, some search advertising, postal mailers or a Facebook page?  But those can quickly become complex and expensive, consuming time and money while leaving little room for what you are in business for… your product or service.

Don’t panic!

Here are some great Marketing ideas to help you get your products and/or services out into the world!

Everyone will tell you to create a marketing plan and I am sure you are thinking I don’t know where to begin.. Start with a simple focus group. Get your friends and family to try or look at your product or service let them do a survey on survey monkey to they can tell you the truth without hurting your feelings.

Think about what your target audience or niche is?  Create that person on paper and start looking for areas or place “Target X” would be.

While you are working on starting your plan you need to work on your materials.

Create your unique own business cards.

Create a digital version of your brochure you can email or post

Create a website and make sure you think carefully about social media.

Social Media Marketing

Create a Facebook page.

Create a Twitter account.

Reply or retweet someone else on Twitter.

Start a business blog.

Create a Groupon.

Email Marketing

Create an email opt-in on your website or blog.

Offer a free download or free gift to make people willing to add their email address to your list or like you on Facebook. For an example check out our Facebook page free gift

Send regular emails to your list about new products or services

Start a free monthly email newsletter.

Perfect your email signature. Even in your personal emails make sure your page or website address is in the signature.

So know you got your presence known on the web let’s talk  In-Person Networking

Write an elevator pitch. -Think of it as if you have 2 minutes to get someone to check out your company. – Practice on your family

Introduce yourself to other local business owners.

Join your local chamber of commerce.

Rent a booth at a trade show.

Don’t forget to ask for referrals.

Help promote or volunteer your time for a charity event.

Sponsor a local sports team.

Cross-promote your products and services with other local businesses.

Plan your next holiday promotion.

Plan holiday gifts for your best customers.

Create a business mascot to help promote your brand.

Pay for wearable advertising. (T-shirt with your logo, bags or hats)

And if you feel like you need help

Hire a marketing consultant.

Hire a public relations professional.

Hire a sales coach or salesperson.

Don’t forget to have fun and don’t get upset if you make a mistake.  Life is about learning from your mistakes!