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I Advice - Who's Calling?
Let's face it, advertising isn't exactly a bargain. We all know that Super Bowl spots are going for $2.4 million. Most businesses have experienced the costs associated with running an ad in their local paper or on their local TV stations. Many local companies spend thousands of dollars per year or month playing the ad game. Many national companies spend tens of millions of dollars annually on the advertising treadmill.But advertising doesn't have to be as costly an endeavor as many people believe it to be.This Miracle Grow Ain’t CheapAs we talked about
Relationship building and networking does not end with the contract being signed or a handshake. The key to success with current and future clients is following up. Here are three ways to stay in touch and be remembered long after the initial encounter is over:Send a handwritten note. The day after you meet a potential client, write him/her a not stating how much you enjoyed meeting him. Invite him to meet you for a breakfast or lunch so you can get to know each other better. When friendships form, business opportunities eventually develop. With your current clients, stay
And when you think about it, you are calling a decision maker, who is generally a very busy person, with numerous, weighty responsibilities, and asking them to spend some time listening to you. It’s asking a lot when you look at it that way…
So, the question is, why should they agree to see you or I? In answering that, it’s useful to ask ourselves a question: If a total stranger were to call and ask to set a time to see you, what would it take for you to agree? I’m willing to wager, they would need to get your attention and tell you how meeting with them was going to show you a way to either ‘avoid pain’ or ‘gain pleasure’ through your product or service – and tell them confidently and quickly!
Examples of this may include how they could avoid loss (of money), gain time/money. Or avoid losing customers to competition. Increase their customer base. Prevent loss of market share. Increase market share. And if you can’t, do any of those things, why would they want to meet with you? What’s in it for them anyway? If you don’t know the answers to those questions, from your customer’s perspective, find someone to help you brainstorm some ideas and find the answers. It could be the best time you invest in your business this month!
One of the greatest challenges when new business phone calls need to be made is, people have often already worked themselves into a less than useful state of mind. You may done this yourself. Time comes to make the calls. Just before you do, you’ll grab yourself another coffee. Then someone you asked to drop in some artwork calls in, so you look at that. Back at your desk, there’s a message from a friend, so you’d better return that call. Then before you start, you need a tidy
It’s not unusual for entrepreneurs to find the whole idea of marketing intimidating. Even seasoned business owners often feel their marketing efforts aren’t working.Don’t let marketing intimidate you. At its core, it’s really not much more than common sense – the key elements that form your plan. Add some creativity. This is what you’ll use to implement your plan and make it work. That’s the basis of marketing. Pretty simple once you break it down.Let’s do a quick overview. There are a few key questions you need to answer upfront.1. Is t
So, the question is, why should they agree to see you or I? In answering that, it’s useful to ask ourselves a question: If a total stranger were to call and ask to set a time to see you, what would it take for you to agree? I’m willing to wager, they would need to get your attention and tell you how meeting with them was going to show you a way to either ‘avoid pain’ or ‘gain pleasure’ through your product or service – and tell them confidently and quickly!
Examples of this may include how they could avoid loss (of money), gain time/money. Or avoid losing customers to competition. Increase their customer base. Prevent loss of market share. Increase market share. And if you can’t, do any of those things, why would they want to meet with you? What’s in it for them anyway? If you don’t know the answers to those questions, from your customer’s perspective, find someone to help you brainstorm some ideas and find the answers. It could be the best time you invest in your business this month!
One of the greatest challenges when new business phone calls need to be made is, people have often already worked themselves into a less than useful state of mind. You may done this yourself. Time comes to make the calls. Just before you do, you’ll grab yourself another coffee. Then someone you asked to drop in some artwork calls in, so you look at that. Back at your desk, there’s a message from a friend, so you’d better return that call. Then before you start, you need a tidy
There are many bad sales habits that separate the all star sales representatives from the amateur sales representative. These habits also likely make the difference of tens of thousands of dollars a year in commissions for the all star as compared to the amateur. The following are the bad sales habits that I have seen many sales people employ:1) Chasing the wrong customers. Quite simply put this is the biggest mistake that most sales people make. They chase every customer in their sight. You know the routine, at every sales meeting they are aski
Examples of this may include how they could avoid loss (of money), gain time/money. Or avoid losing customers to competition. Increase their customer base. Prevent loss of market share. Increase market share. And if you can’t, do any of those things, why would they want to meet with you? What’s in it for them anyway? If you don’t know the answers to those questions, from your customer’s perspective, find someone to help you brainstorm some ideas and find the answers. It could be the best time you invest in your business this month!
One of the greatest challenges when new business phone calls need to be made is, people have often already worked themselves into a less than useful state of mind. You may done this yourself. Time comes to make the calls. Just before you do, you’ll grab yourself another coffee. Then someone you asked to drop in some artwork calls in, so you look at that. Back at your desk, there’s a message from a friend, so you’d better return that call. Then before you start, you need a tidy
When I started in the search business in the early 1970's, it didn't take long for me to notice that there were very few people in their 40's who were working in technology (my focal point at the time). I remember asking myself, "What happens when people turn 40 in this business?"Today, this is no longer an issue as firms have discovered that in the age of labor shortages, older workers are essential to firms achieving success. But a new problem has been created that few firms are addressing.By aggressively doing things to hopld on to the baby boomer generation, Gen
One of the greatest challenges when new business phone calls need to be made is, people have often already worked themselves into a less than useful state of mind. You may done this yourself. Time comes to make the calls. Just before you do, you’ll grab yourself another coffee. Then someone you asked to drop in some artwork calls in, so you look at that. Back at your desk, there’s a message from a friend, so you’d better return that call. Then before you start, you need a tidy
The idea that there are millions of dollars in grant funds – free money -- waiting for the small business owner to tap into them is true and at the same time, not true.In most cases, grant funds are not designed to start a new business. There are some specialized businesses that may qualify for start-up money, but 99.9% of the businesses in the Yellow Pages would be ineligible to receive start-up funding.Yet there are millions of dollars available to help fund existing small businesses and employment programs, particularly in the non-profit arena. The trick is to b
Oh, look at the time! They’re probably at lunch now. Better diarise a time this afternoon to get right on to those calls. OK, so I’m exaggerating, but you get the picture. If we are not prepared, and don’t have a structure that allows us to confidently make the calls, of course we are likely to delay the process.
Many years ago when I started out in my own business, I was selling a US designed product that came complete with a structure for making cold calls. I read through the scripts and thought, “There’s no way I could say that. That’s not my style. Things are different in Australia.” So instead, I started doing things ‘Franks way’. After a period of time not achieving the types of results I was after, I went back to those scripts and thought, “Well, I’ll try it once. Can’t do much harm trying it once.” The difference was immediate!
In Australia we have something of an aversion to working from scripts, and there are a couple of reasons for that. One is, the script wasn’t written by us, so it may call on us to use slightly different language – and that feels uncomfortable. The other thing is, we have no doubt been on the receiving end of a call from
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