Why do people fail at marketing their business?

Why do people fail at marketing their business?

The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself. Peter Drucker

People fail at marketing for a variety of reasons. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive but here are the most common reasons I encounter:

  1. Never been trained in marketing
  2. Don’t understand the psychology of marketing
  3. Are not consistent in their marketing message
  4. Don’t ask for help because they don’t know who to trust
  5. Don’t want to do it for themselves
  6. Don’t know what works and do not want to spend the money

Let’s look briefly at each reason.

Never Been Trained in Marketing

Many of my clients have not been trained in marketing. They are engineers, cleaning companies, payroll specialists, merchant service providers or insurance specialist. They are experts in their field but not in communicating their value to others. The words they use reflect a lack of clarity in who they are and the value they provide. These small business owners are too close to see clearly their value. Because they are too close and cannot see themselves and their value as others see them, they talk in platitudes: many locations, peace of mind and financial security, without context.

Don’t understand the psychology of marketing

Marketing is nothing more then explaining what you do, why it is important and who should care. Always remember most people take action to avoid pain. Marketing is helping other understand how their life will be better when they buy your product, go to your restaurant, use your services.

Are not consistent in their marketing message

Marketing is about communicating your value proposition consistently. You cannot do a post on Facebook one time and expect to get results. One blog post won’t do it not will sending one postcard. It is about defining the buyers journey and walking with the prospect along the buyer’s journey.

Don’t ask for help because they don’t know who to trust

There are so many people who claim to be marketing experts that do not promote their product or service well. They love social media and expect others to see the same value. I can see why people are concerned about making a bad decision. I am appalled by some of the marketing messages that come across my desk by other marketers who want me to use their services.

Don’t want to do it for themselves

Many people know what to do and do not want to do it themselves. Dan Kennedy said it best, “do not outsource your marketing until you know what works. Otherwise, you are wasting money.” No one knows your business like you do. You may need some help with the message, strategy or tactics but you are the final decision-maker.

Don’t know what works and do not want to spend the money

There are so many choices a small business owner has when marketing his business. Ask yourself this question, “where does of my business come from today?” and do more of that. Don’t look for a social media expert, direct mail expert or SEO expert until you know where you should spend your time. After that continue to add one option until you know that works. Then consider outsourcing.

You comments are welcome!

May blessing come upon you,

Ron Finklestein

For a great system that helps you answers the questions above check out www.akris.net.

About the author. Ron Finklestein called the “Real Deal” by his clients, is the creator of the Business Growth Experience and owner of RPF GROUP INC. Finklestein is a consultant, business coach, international author, trainer and speaker. His eight business books include management and leadership, personal development, operations, marketing, and sales. His latest work: Make a Difference: From Success to Significance” was a 12-year study of 1000 successful small business owners and what they did to be successful.

 

 

 

Do You Have A Unique Selling Proposition?

Do You Have A Unique Selling Proposition?

If I were your prospective customer, why should I do business with you above any and all other options? Why would I be an absolute fool to buy what you sell from anyone else but you? That answer should be clearly articulated in the form of your USP.

What you need to know…

A USP is the single, most distinct and important benefit a business owner provides to their clients that’s different from their competition. It’s absolutely critical to not only create an effective and highly compelling USP, but to use it in every piece of marketing you develop, and in every form of communication you use with your clients and prospects.

Why you need to know this…

Your USP, working in tandem with your elevator pitch, creates a huge competitive edge for your business. Developed properly, it will separate your business from your competition, eliminate them in the minds of your prospects and have them saying to themselves that they would be fools to do business with anyone else but you.

For example, most business owners place the name of their business at the top of their business card. That’s the worst thing you can put there. No one cares who you are or what you do. They only care about the benefits your product or service offers to them.

Instead of a jeweler’s business card saying “John’s Jewelers,” what if it said this…

Discounted Diamonds – Unmatched Quality, Untouchable Price, Unbeatable Guarantee

In just a few words, would you feel like an absolute fool if you bought a diamond from anyone else but this jeweler? That’s the power of a well-designed USP.

The cost to you if you fail to act…

Do you have a Unique Selling Proposition?

Do you use it in every piece of marketing you create?

Do you have it prominently displayed on your business card?

If you don’t, you’re losing market share, a massive amount of potential revenue and the opportunity to dominate your market.

To take a Test Drive on our system visit http://[www.akris.net

To your success,

Ron Finklestein

P.S. Please remember that at any time you feel ready and qualified to move forward and acquire the professional help that can enable you to build the business of your dreams, just CLICK HERE and check out our E-Learning Marketing System™. It’s helping small business owners just like you get the answers and the help they need to build the business they have always wanted.

We created the E-Learning Marketing System™ with the perfect combination of online resources, tools and support to get you out of any financial distress you’re presently experiencing… help you get laser-focused on your highest income-producing activities… and help you develop and then apply the fundamentals that build multimillion dollar businesses. CLICK HERE to see for yourself.

 

The Three Biggest Mistakes Small Business Make When Marketing Their Business…And How To Avoid Them All

The Three Biggest Mistakes Small Business Make When Marketing Their Business…And How To Avoid Them All

It  has been a while since I wrote anything significant. There is a good reason. I have spent the last six months implementing a elearning systems to help any small business get unlimited leads, at no cost for marketing. This article will explain how to do that. I’m going to reveal to you the three biggest mistakes small business make… and show you how you can overcome them all.

Here are the three mistakes. Mistake #1… they fail to get professional help.   Mistake #2… they don’t know the fundamentals required to successfully market their business and attract as many new clients as their business can handle.  And mistake #3… they have no idea how to use their marketing to generate immediate cash flow. Let’s explore these three in depth, and show you how you can easily and systematically overcome them all.

Mistake #1… small business fail to get professional help.  Can you name me just one professional athlete who does NOT have a coach? There aren’t any. Tiger Woods has 9 coaches guiding him in everything from his golf game to his financial investments.  But do small business owners really need professional help? Remember the TV ads we previously discussed? Those ads are created by “professionals.” Unfortunately, those professionals have no clue what they’re doing.  Everything they’re doing in marketing and advertising today is wrong! But let me prove that to you right now.

If you currently use any form of marketing such as a print ad, brochure, postcard, flyer… or for that matter… your company website, take it out and look at it carefully.  And if you don’t have any form of marketing right now, stop this presentation for a few minutes and take out a sheet of paper and sketch out what you think would make for an effective ad for your new business.  It doesn’t have to be anything formal or fancy…  just create a basic outline of the ad and where you would locate the various elements on the page.

Now that you have your ad… or a mock up of your ad sitting in front of you, let me provide you with the little known secrets that produce more leads than your business can handle.  99% of all marketing professionals DON’T know the lead generation secrets I’m about to reveal to you.  This information is so powerful and compelling, it will position you in the top 1% of all lead generation professionals today.  This example will show you why every small business start-up should acquire our step-by-step roadmap as they start to generate leads for their new business.

Here’s what a true marketing professional will know… and help you implement into your marketing.  It’s known as the “marketing equation.” Our marketing equation will make sure you NEVER have to compete on price.  Instead, you will start selling your product or service for what it’s really worth the moment you open your doors for business.  You’ll drive in more leads  than your more established competition… and increase your initial advertising response by 10 to more than 100 times.   You will convert a higher percentage of those leads and dramatically increase your number of sales.  You will get a bigger bang for your marketing buck.  The bottom line is this…  you will literally create a profit faucet that you will have TOTAL control over.

But first, you MUST understand what marketing is supposed to do. Its purpose is actually three fold.  Its first job is to capture the attention of your target market.  Second, it must give them the hope that reading or listening to your marketing will give them enough information to help them make the best decision possible when buying whatever you sell. In other words, train and teach them how to recognize the true value of your product or service… and conclude that you… and you alone… offer the best value versus your competition.  Marketing’s third job is to lower the risk of taking the next step in the buying process… and if necessary… continue to educate the prospect regarding the value you offer.

Marketing that accomplishes these three objectives will result in your prospects and customers coming to one single conclusion…  that they would have to be an absolute fool to do business with anyone else but you, regardless of price. It’s estimated that as many as 96% of all small business start-ups fail within their first 5 years. The main reason for this tremendously high failure rate has to do with the lack of expertise when it comes to generating leads and making your phone ring.

Most small business start-ups don’t know anything about those three things we just discussed that marketing is supposed to do. But there’s also an additional problem to consider.  Most start-ups use a tactical marketing approach instead of a strategic approach. Let me explain.

Running an ad in the local newspaper… sending out an email or direct mail letter… airing a radio or TV ad on a local media station are all examples of tactical marketing. Now don’t get me wrong… the newspaper, radio or direct mail can be successful marketing channels… IF you’re marketing message is powerful and compelling. But that’s the problem… the message is the strategic side of marketing… and yet, it’s the most neglected.

This distinction between strategic and tactical marketing is huge and one you need to be acutely aware of anytime you start talking about generating more leads.  Many start-up businesses mistakenly assume that when you talk about lead generation, you’re automatically talking about tactical lead generation…  placing ads, sending out mailers, joining a networking group, attending tradeshows, implementing a prospect follow up system and so on.

They fail to realize that the strategic side of the coin, what you say in your marketing and how you say it is almost always more important than the marketing medium where you say it. If you fail to make this distinction, then you risk becoming jaded towards certain forms of marketing and advertising that should be a part of your tactical plan, but you eliminate them from consideration because they haven’t worked for you in the past.

When lead generation results are less than optimal, small business start-ups tend to almost always blame the marketing medium… like the newspaper the ad ran in or the postcards they sent out. They blame the tactical part of the plan… without any regard for how good or how bad the strategic messaging in that marketing piece was. New business owners often say things like, “we tried radio and it doesn’t work for our kind of business,” or “we sent out 50,000 pieces of direct mail and only generated 3 orders. It just doesn’t work.”

Just because it didn’t work, don’t assume that it won’t work. Most new business owners don’t have the evaluation skills or the know-how to judge whether poor marketing results from poor strategy or poor tactical execution. This is where our step-by-step roadmap can generate more leads than your new business can handle.

For example, most start-up businesses rely heavily on platitudes in their marketing. They say things like…  we have the lowest prices…  the best service…  we’re family owned and operated…  we offer convenient hours…  and the best value. Look at your own marketing that I asked you about earlier. How many platitudes did you use in your own marketing?

By the way, this is NOT your fault. Most, if not all small business owners have been conditioned to think this is the proper way to market their businesses… since most advertising follows this same pathetic marketing formula… including the Fortune 500 types.

As human beings, we’re all after just one thing when we buy something… the best deal!  Unfortunately, when you use platitudes in your marketing, there’s absolutely no way to tell who is actually offering the best deal. Everyone says they have the lowest prices, the highest quality and the best rates. So who do you believe? There’s only one way to know… and that’s to research every single business that offers what you want to buy. How many of us have the time or patience to do that?

So most of us just automatically assume that everyone is pretty much the same, and therefore we default to calling on the business that offers us the lowest price.  When you can’t communicate the true value your business offers, you’re doomed to forever compete on price.  Our marketing equation will change all of that for you forever. It’s going to be the backbone of your strategic marketing plan right out of the gate. It’s the foundation on which everything else we build for you is based. Let me give you a quick overview and then spend some time going through it with you in detail.

Our marketing equation has four main components.  First, we must interrupt your prospect. We must get your qualified prospect to pay attention to your lead generation marketing. Simple enough to say, but a lot more difficult to pull off in real life unless you understand what you’re about to learn here.  The interrupt is done through your headline if your marketing is in print… or it’s the first thing you say if you’re marketing through radio or TV.  The second component is engage. Once your prospect is interrupted, it’s critical we give your reader the promise that information is forthcoming that will help the prospect make the best buying decision possible. In other words, it must help facilitate their decision to pick you over anyone else.  This is the job of our subheadline.

The interrupt is our headline that highlights a specific problem that your prospects are looking for a solution to… and the engage is our subheadline that promises them that you offer a solution to the problem we mentioned in our headline.

The third component we need to include is educate. Once we’ve interrupted and engaged your prospect, we have to give information that allows them to logically understand how and why you solve the problem they’re facing.  This is accomplished by giving detailed, quantifiable, specific and revealing information.  This is typically done in the body copy of your ad. When we educate, we need to reveal to your prospects the important and relevant information they need to know when making a good decision, and that your business… and yours alone… provides it to them. The interrupt and engage hit the prospects emotional hot buttons. Educate is the logic they need to justify picking up the phone and calling you.

The fourth and final component of our marketing equation is your offer. Now that we’ve interrupted your prospect based on problems that are important to them… engaged by a promise of the solution… and they’ve examined the educational information that makes your solution real and believable…  the last step we need to take is to give them a low risk way to take the next step in your sales process.  We do this by offering a free marketing tool, such as a report, brochure, seminar, audio, video or something that will continue to educate them.  Your offer will allow your prospect to feel in control of their final decision to call and buy from you.

So our marketing equation is interrupt, engage, educate and offer and together they equal market domination. Now here’s the problem.  Most marketing today only contains two of these components.  They interrupt by throwing something at you that’s either familiar like Tiger Woods… or unusual like a monkey or talking pets. Sometimes they like to use both, as in the case of the E*Trade baby.   Then once they grab your attention, they make you some type of offer such as “call now for whatever.”  They have left out the engage and the educate, and marketing seldom succeeds when that happens.

In fact, the only time this type of marketing does succeed is when you can afford to run the ad over and over nonstop for an extended period of time. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz… melts in your mouth, not in your hand… and things go better with Coke have literally been rammed down our throats by Fortune 500 types.  After hearing these slogans thousands of times, of course we’re going to remember them.  But how can a small business start-up like you… that doesn’t have a billion dollar marketing budget… successfully market your business. The answer… you can’t… UNLESS you follow our entire marketing equation. Here’s a simple example to prove this to you.

Years ago there was a moving company that was on the verge of bankruptcy. They were paying $3,000 per month for a full page ad in their Yellow Pages directory. They were averaging just 70 calls per month, and their conversion ratio was only 16%. So out of 70 calls every month, they were only getting 11 moving jobs. No wonder they were starving.

The reason their ad wasn’t working was their failure to follow our marketing equation. In fact, the only marketing equation component they had in their ad was an offer, and that offer was “call us”… and then they listed their phone number. They had no interrupt at the top of their ad whatsoever, just the name of their company.  Then they listed all the generic and “me too” services that every one of their competitors also listed in their ads.  Things like local and long distance, residential and commercial, reliable and careful, fully licensed and insured, free estimates, quality service at reasonable rates, complete packing services, local, regional, national and so on. Then at the bottom of the ad was their phone number.

Again, look at your own marketing that I asked you about earlier.  Does your marketing format look exactly the same as the one this moving company was using? Did you place  the name of your business at the top…   list your products or services in the middle  along with a layer of worthless and meaningless platitudes such as lowest prices, highest quality and best rates?  99% of all small businesses follow this EXACT format, and then they wonder why they aren’t generating any quality leads.

If you want your phone to start ringing… then you MUST follow our marketing equation of interrupt, engage, educate and offer.  So using our equation this moving company redesigned this lead generation ad, and here’s what happened.  First, they identified the biggest problem their customers had when moving.  Without hesitation, it was DAMAGE! 72% of all moves result in something being damaged. That’s the area they need to focus on then, and create what we call a market-dominating position around that hot button issue. But why is damage such an important issue…  since all moving companies listed in the Yellow Pages say they’re “fully insured.”

It turns out that all movers MUST be fully insured…  but that the general public has NO idea what “fully insured” really means. When you hear someone say they’re fully insured, don’t you automatically assume that means that if they break your $5,000 HDTV, they will reimburse you $5,000? I certainly would.

Well, it turns out that in the moving business, that isn’t what fully insured means at all.  Legally, a moving company can claim they fully insure their customers belongings based on “per pound of damage.”  The national average is 40 cents per pound. So in other words, if a mover destroys your $5,000 100 pound HDTV… they’re only legally obligated to pay you $40.  Unfortunately, the poor unsuspecting customer doesn’t find that out until AFTER the damage has taken place… and they receive their miniscule reimbursement. But for this specific moving company this policy was never an issue because they didn’t believe in this deceptive industry practice.

They actually provide their customers with what’s known as “full replacement value” insurance. If they break your $5,000 HDTV, you’re reimbursed $5,000… no questions asked. But how could they afford this much more expensive insurance?  It was due to their extraordinary 3 step packing process that ONLY their company offered, and thanks to this process… their actual breakage and damage totals were below 3%.

And what little damage did occur typically involved a broken dish or plate… relatively minor items that had little to no replacement costs… and certainly no sentimental value that would create an emotional situation with their customers.  Their unique packing process allowed them to carry a $5,000 insurance deductible, and their premiums for this superior insurance were actually lower than their competitors paid for the inferior and deceptive insurance.

Their 3 step packing process… coupled with their superior full replacement value insurance coverage… became their market-dominating position.  All that’s left is to position that information in their ad and follow our marketing equation.

Let’s first create a headline for the top of their Yellow Page ad that interrupts. This must address the main hot button issue or problem that their prospects are looking to solve… in this case… damage!  So the headline should say something like this… “Last Year, More Than 4,000 Damage And Negligent Lawsuits Were Filed Against Moving Companies By Outraged Homeowners!” Think that headline will grab the attention of prospective movers? You bet.

But let’s not stop there. Next, let’s engage the prospect by promising them a solution to the problem we referenced in the headline… in this case, damage prevention.  What do you think of this subheadline? “Ask Any Mover These 2 Questions To Insure You Won’t Be Victimized Or “Ripped Off” By Deceptive Industry Practices.” Now, when a prospect reads this subheadline… do you think they will want to immediately find out what those two questions are? Of course they will.

Now let’s educate them by providing them with two questions that the prospect can ask any mover they choose to contact. What about these two questions…  do you follow a minimum 3 step packing process for every item you place in your truck… and second, do you carry full replacement value insurance? We already know that their competitions answer to both of these questions is no, since this mover had previously surveyed all of them.  This ad educates prospects on the realities of what actually takes place in the moving industry, and highlights this moving company’s market-dominating position that makes them the obvious choice to do business with.

Their offer was a free moving company comparison checklist that highlights the survey they did… showing the prospect that they were the ONLY moving company in town that offered all of these desired benefits. This will make them the no-brainer choice in the moving industry, and the results they generated from this new Yellow Page ad sealed the deal.

Instead of averaging just 70 calls per month… their new ad averaged 955 calls per month.  Instead of a 16% conversion rate, their rate jumped to 68%. Their new ad generated so many new clients asking for their services, they had to partner with 4 of their competitors to handle the increased volume. And listen to this.  Those 4 competitors bought this company out 9 months later for $2.3 million dollars.  All of this from simply changing the strategic message in their Yellow Page ad… and without spending an extra cent.

This is why every small business start-up needs to seek out our professional help. But finding professional help is often frustrating… and at times, a crapshoot at best. That’s why I wanted to teach you our marketing equation of interrupt, engage, educate and offer.

The moving company trained their prospects on the relevant and important issues they needed to know when moving so those prospects knew what to ask for when they sought out the services of a mover. Now you know our marketing equation… and you can use it when seeking out the professional help you need for your new business. A true marketing professional will know this equation, and if they don’t… run away as fast as you can!

And by the way, did you notice that in the information we just discussed we also covertly covered mistakes #2 and #3.  Earlier I said that the second biggest mistake small business start-ups make involved the fact that they don’t know the fundamentals required to successfully market their business and attract as many new clients as their business can handle.  Well, now YOU do know the fundamentals… and you can use them to out-market and outsell your competition right from the start.  First, create a market-dominating position for your business…  and then insert that position into your marketing by following our marketing equation to the letter.

And the third biggest mistake small business start-ups make focused on the fact that they have no idea how to generate immediate cash flow.  When you follow our marketing equation in every form of marketing you do… from your business cards to your company website, the financial results are instantaneous and immediate. Consider the following example.

Consider a recent situation involving Dr. John Smith… a child psychologist who specialized in helping parents with out-of-control kids. You know the kids I’m talking about don’t you? The ones at the store that are yelling, screaming, throwing a tantrum and completely out of control. These kids range in age from 6 years old up to teenagers. Dr. Smith’s original website had all of the classic mistakes that are typical in small business today.  He had the name of his practice at the top of his site.

The only thing even resembling what you might call a headline said “Parenting Advice & Resources From Dr. John Smith.” Does that headline really appeal to a parent who is dealing with a screaming, out of control kid? Would that headline hit their emotional hot button? Do they really care anything at all right now about “advice and resources?” Or… are his prospects looking for a solution to their problem?

Remember, you must always start your marketing with an Interrupting headline that’s focused on the problem your prospects are experiencing.  Then you must have a subheadline that engages the prospect by promising them that there’s a solution to that problem. Remember our first two Marketing Equation components… Interrupt and Engage. That’s the job of the headline and subheadline. And this applies to every form of marketing, including websites.

Dr. Smith’s website headline… “Parenting Advice & Resources From Dr. John Smith” does NOT address the problem his frustrated parents are experiencing with their child.  And to make matters worse, his website has no subheadline whatsoever, so there is no way for him to engage his prospects to keep them interested.

In fact, it’s doubtful that any prospect visiting his site will stay here more than a few seconds. The latest research shows that the typical prospect visiting a website remains on the site for just three to five seconds. If during that brief period of time they don’t find something that looks like it will provide them with a solution to their problem, they’re gone for good.

The third component of our Marketing Equation says to Educate the prospect. This simply means that you must educate them with what it is that makes your product or service so much better than your competition. On a website, this is done with either body copy… or in Dr. Smith’s case, by video. Just make it short and sweet when it’s the point of first contact. You can then offer much more information once you have them compelled to want to know more about what you do.

And the final component of our Marketing Equation is your Offer. A low risk… or better yet NO RISK offer gets them to take a specific action such as request more information, take a test drive, and register for a free thirty day trial, an educational presentation or similar offer. The key here is to make the offer so compelling that it’s literally irresistible to the prospect. In fact, you want them to be thinking to themselves that they would have to be an absolute fool to NOT take your offer.

Dr. Smith’s offer was a white paper titled… The Secret for Parents: a special report on how you can learn the secrets of nurturing well behaved children. Here’s the problem… his prospects don’t have well behaved children. They have one that’s screaming, yelling, cursing, belligerent, back-talking and completely out of control. Nurturing a well behaved child is NOT the solution they’re looking for. Getting their kid under control RIGHT NOW is what they’re looking for.

Can you see why Dr. Smith’s website failed him in every area? This site wasn’t building his business. It wasn’t helping him generate leads, attract new clients… or generate additional revenue for his practice. It simply doesn’t follow our Marketing Equation. So Dr. Smith changed his website so it did follow our proven step-by-step roadmap.

He placed a headline at the top of his site that said… “Are You Sick and Tired Of The Yelling, Screaming And Belligerent Attitude Of Your Child?” Would you say that headline hits the major hot button for virtually every prospective parent that comes to this site? Do you think that these prospects… the moment they read that headline… will immediately think to themselves that they have just come to the right place where they can find a solution to their problem?

In other words, did this headline just Interrupt Dr. Smith’s prospects? Of course it did.  Now let’s Engage those prospects by promising them a solution in the subheadline.  It says… “now you can discover the secrets to controlling your child and instantly restore peace and quiet in your home.” Isn’t that what his prospects want… and will do almost anything to get? Absolutely.  See how the headline and subheadline work closely together to Interrupt and Engage every single prospect who comes to this site?

Now that they’re Engaged,  the video can spend one to three minutes reinforcing the fact that our good doctor has the solution they so desperately seek,  and his offer has been changed so it’s not only more relevant to the prospects situation, but so compelling it’s virtually irresistible. The offer says… “Learn the Secrets To Gaining and Maintaining Complete Control Of Your Child In Less Than 60 Seconds.”

Show me just one prospective parent visiting this site that WON’T download that report. They all will. And when they do, Dr. Smith captures their contact information so he can continue to keep his prospects informed until they’re ready to buy his services.  This revised site exploded Dr. Smith’s business to unprecedented levels. And best of all, our marketing equation can work for your business as well… producing immediate results. So to quickly recap.

The three biggest lead generation mistakes people make when looking to get started in business are #1… They fail to get professional help.  #2… They don’t know the fundamentals required to successfully market their business and attract as many new clients as their business can handle.  And #3… They have no idea how to use their marketing to generate immediate cash flow.

Our marketing equation contains the fundamental components you need to insure your new business is successful from the very start. The marketing equation will make your phone ring and position your new business as the dominant force in your market.   It provides the marketing foundation that will enable you to generate immediate cash flow.  And as you get started, you can use this information as a minimum standard when seeking out professional help for your business.

When you can overcome these three biggest lead generation mistakes, you will generate all the leads your business can handle… and turn your dreams of owning your business into reality. Want proof?

Suppose we could provide you with professional help…  teach you some basic fundamentals that will allow you to market your business successfully and help you to attract as many new clients to your business as you want…  while simultaneously helping you to develop compelling marketing that will generate immediate cash flow for your business?

And suppose we could do all of this for you for free…and do it in just 7 days… just to prove to you that everything I’ve said in this is 1000% true? Go to http://www.akris.net and enter your name and email address in the box on the right, and I’ll send you 4 videos over the next 7 days that will do all of this… and more!

Each video is short and to the point…  but the results you will experience will astonish you.  We’ll even show you how to monetize the information we’ll send you so you can see an immediate increase in your revenue and profits. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

So don’t wait.  Go to www.akris.net and receive your videos today. Ask if you qualify for our $5000 grant to cover the cost of this program. Enter your name and email address right now, and we’ll show you how to out-think, out-market and out-sell your competition.

 

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
info@akris.net

Is Coaching Effective?

It has been a few months since I posted any content on this site. I have been writing but it has been for several other sites. I wanted to share a recent excerpt found in Entrepreneur Magazine.

“A business coach will enable you to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses, and they will help you build a road map for success. This can be absolutely critical for people who have never run a startup before, and it will also give you the necessary tools to properly manage current and future employees. An industry study found that CEOs who consent to business coaching are able to improve their working relations by 77 percent, and this ultimately leads to a 53 percent boost in productivity and increased profits of 22 percent.”

Is this true? Yes…but. The issue is whether the individual will act on what they learn. Here is an example.

Just finished a coaching engagement with a client that had his best commissioned month ever in the sixty years his company has been in existence ($98K). He likes to give me credit but he did all the work. I have clients who learned the same action who did not get the results because they did not implement what they learned. It is all about action.

Here are some of the articles I recently published.

This article discusses how minor changes can lead to massive results.

https://www.hershpr.com/sales/one-degree-difference-become-a-sales-leader-and-grow-sales/

Enjoy and I look forward to reading your comments. Feel free to share these articles and help others.

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

Sale Tip # 8 – Why are you different?

Sale Tip # 8 – Why are you different?

I received a call from my nephew and he asked me this question, “Why are you different?” What is was really asking is, “Why are you different from your brother?”

As I answered the question I realized he was asking a fundamental question about sales and marketing as well.

Each prospect wants to know, “Why are you different than your competitors?” and “Why is that difference important to me?”

Why are you “different” than your competitors?

Most people talk about how good they are and they do not tell the prospect why this is important.

For example, I am a sale trainer and coach. People ask me how I am different than my competitors. I explain to them how everything we do is research based, market tested and results oriented. I then ask them if they want to work with someone who read the book or the person who wrote the book (since I have written six books.) Having written six books on business growth is a powerful differentiator. All my material is in the public domain allowing them to check it out to see if it resonates with them. It also allows them to explore my depth of knowledge.

This makes is easy for the prospect to understand my uniqueness in helping him solve his sales issues.
The next part is just as important because here is what they really want to know: Why is your differentiator important to me?
They are really asking if you will create more value, make them more money, save them money, save them time, make them more productive, make them money or reduce their risk. That is what most business owners want. Can you position your product or service in a way the prospect can understand and act upon?

Let me give you an example.

We help companies (what we do) increase revenues, grow sales and shorten the sales process (why it is important) putting you back in control of the revenue generation portion of your business. (We are different) than our competitors because our program is research based (our books), market tested (proven by existing clients) and results oriented (grow revenues/increase sales) and what we teach will not only help you grow sales and you will use it to improve nearly every type of relationship you are involved in.
We need to stop marking our prospects think so hard about what we do and why that is important to them. In a book called Achieving Sales Excellence the author researched 8,000 business owners and the owners said the most important part of the sales process (39%) is the ability of the sales rep to effectively communicate the impact your product or service will have on the company and help move the prospect through the sales process.

How successful you are in sales is dependent on many things but these are important:
1. How effective you are in communicating your value in a way the prospect understands
2. How effective you are in helping the prospect through the buying process
3. How easy you make it for the prospect to understand why your unique value proposition is important to them.

Be sure to check out the other sales tips at http://www.ronfinklestein.com

To Your Success!
Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788

 

 

Tip # 4 to Grow Sales – Buy on Price – Buy Twice

Buy on price – pay twice!

Many years ago, while I was remodeling a house, I needed a specific tool to finish the job. It was a fairly expensive tool, $99 on the low-end up to $400 at the top end. Naturally I chose the $99 tool and finished the job.

After several uses I realized I purchased the wrong tool – it didn’t do everything I needed it to do. I bought the tool because of the price. Since then I have spent a lot more time and money trying to use the tool for things it was not designed to be used for and decided to buy a higher quality tool more suited to my needs. I purchased the second time, not on price, but on value.

I bought on price and I paid twice.

How do you help your prospect buy your value and not your price?

It starts with a well-defined sales process. Each step in the process is designed to add value to the prospect. Here is the process I use:
1. Rapport strategy
2. Define problem
3. Explore impact of the problems
4. Collaborate with the prospect and jointly create the solution
5. Get the order
6. Ask for a referral
7. Conduct a review of the call to determine what worked and what did not work and make the necessary changes

The rapport strategy is designed to help them like and trust you.

Defining the problem helps you understand the symptoms and cause of the problem.

The exploring step help both you and the prospect understand the impact of the problem and what happens if the prospect does nothing.

The collaboration step allow both you and the prospect to build the solution together. It is very hard for the prospect to reject a solution they helped build.

The outcome of a well-designed process is the order, concerns, or a “no.” It is a natural outcome of the process. Each can be dealt with since each party now knows the issues.

After the order is signed the next step is to ask for a referral. The more specific you can be the better the opportunity to get the referral.
Finally, review the sales transaction and change what did not work and continue doing what did work.

Sales is not an art, sales is a process. When the sales process is both well designed and executed even people who do not perceive themselves as sales representatives can do quite well at sales.

DefinitiveSalesFinal032513You can learn more from our book, The Definitive Sales Play Book: How to Grow Sales and Create Lifetime Customers – available at Amazon.com

Ron Finklestein

330-990-0788

Email me at ron@businessgrowthexperience.com to schedule your free assessment sales assessments.

How to Grow Sales – Tip # 3 – Will they pay for a sales call?

Sales is changing and will continue to change for the foreseeable future.

It has swung back to personal relationships – if the prospect has a reason to meet with you.

All prospects have access to all the information they need on the Internet. If your business is being commoditized they have no reason to meet with you. Just submit your proposal through the web portal or email it to the primary contact. There are no assurances it will be read.

If you add value they will not only want to see you but they will pay for your advice.

So how do you add value?

You add value through your experience.

You add value through your knowledge.

You add value through your contacts.

You add value through your relationships.

Sales used to be an art. Now sales is a process.

The sales rep had all the power because they had the product knowledge.

Now the customer has the power because they have most everything they need because of the Internet. They don’t need the sales representative anymore unless you bring value.

How do you know you are adding value? If the prospect is willing to pay for your visit – you are adding value.

I recently was invited into an account. After one meeting they put their plans on hold and invited me in to do a barrier buster process. They saw the experience come through by the questions I asked. The questions alone provided significant value.

How would you add more value to the sales process so they pay for your advice and support?

Ron Finklestein
info@BusinessGrowthExperience.com

You can start thinking about your value by downloading the free report: Six Questions Your Prospects Want Answered Before They Buy. You can find it at www.businessgrowthexperience.com

How to Grow Sales – Tip 1 of 30

How to Grow Sales – Tip 1 of 30

This is the first of 30 tips on how to grow sales and increase revenues. We will do one a week for the next 30 weeks.

The first tip is to understand the six questions your prospects want answered before they buy. These questions were developed and tested as a result of a sales call I had several years ago where I asked the sales representative these three questions:

1. Why do people buy from you?

2. What outcomes do they experience when they buy from you?

3. Who is your ideal client?

He could not answer any of these questions and after the call I realized I could not answer the questions as effectively as I thought I should. I developed the six questions to answer the questions above and to effectively communicate with the prospect the message that is important to them. I then tested these questions for several years with my client. I knew I was on to something as I watched businesses change; some almost overnight.

Included in this post is both the video and a handout that was used while doing a live training program. Please understand that my clients pay a lot of money to go through this process. This is real training; not a marketing message.

The link below is the handout for you to use as you watch the video. It is best to right-click (to download) on the link below and print this out as you watch the training. Please fill out the worksheet as you watch the video and see how your thinking changes about your product, your service and how you communicate with your prospects. This document does require a PDF reader. You can use Adobe or any other reader that opens PDF files.

Here is your handout: six questions audience handout

Below is a 52 minute video of live training program on the Six Questions and how to answer them. At some places the audio is less than perfect but still very understandable.

For those of you who like to read  (versus watching videos) you can go to the Business Growth Experience and download the Six Questions eBook. All you need do is enter your email address and the Six Question report will be emailed to you. It is not a transcript of the video. It has more content about why the Six Questions are important and a process on how to answer the questions.

If this is of value to you I would encourage you to share this post. You business associates and friends will appreciate you for sharing knowledge with them.

They, like you, will grow sales and increase revenues.

How to Grow Sales – Six Questions To Answer

Six Question Your Prospects Wants Answered Before They Buy from You, or stated another way, “Why Won’t People Buy From Me?”

Please share your thoughts.

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein
info@businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788

Do you care what people think of you?

Do you know (or care) what others think of you?

A few years ago I was meeting with an attorney to help him grow sales. I asked him, “Why did you choose to meet with me?”

His answer, “Because I called four people I know who know you and they say you are the real deal.”

I was surprised by his answer and did not give it much thought.

Since then my client have introduced me to their associates as “The Real Deal.”

I did a speech to a local chamber and the chamber CEO introduced me to 100 business owners as “The Real Deal.”

Several people I met in the audience asked me how I came to be called “The Real Deal.”

I realized I created a brand. I did not do it with intention, but I have a brand none the less.

I went to my mastermind (a group of business owners that support each other) and asked their opinion about being called “The Real Deal.”.

Here is what they said, “If people call you that, it is OK? If you gave yourself that name it is not OK.”

Since we all have a brand (reputation) in our market, whether we created one with intent or not, do you know your brand? If not why not? This missing piece of information could be costing you thousands in new business.

Do you know what your brand is?

Does it support you or hinder you in creating new customers?

How do you find out what your brand is?

And most importantly, how do you market your brand for your best and highest use?

Let me know what you think of my brand and let me know what your brand is or the brand you are trying to create. You can leave me a comment on my website. Here is the link: http://wp.me/p1xMSz-iW

The Real Deal

Ron Finklestein
www.businessgrowthexperience.com
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

To learn more on how to start building your brand download the free report: Six Questions Your Prospects Want Answered Before They Buy at www.businessgrowthexperience.com.

Not making your sales numbers?

If you are not achieving the level of success you know you are capable of achieving, take five minutes and go through this sales assessment. There is no charge and I will not ask for your email address. This will give you an indication of what you need to do differently. If after taking this assessment you want to learn more, just send me an email.

Here is the link. http://businessgrowthexperience.com/do-you-need-us/

Business Growth Advisor

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@ businessgrowthexperience.com

The Definitive Sales Playbook: How to Grow Sales and Create Lifetime Customers

The Definitive Sales Playbook: How to Grow Sales and Create Lifetime Customers

Dr. Tony Alessandra and I are proud to announce our newest book  The Definitive Sales Playbook is now available on Amazon.  Brian Tracy was kind enough to write the Foreword.

The book was the outcome of a sales membership site Tony and I built with the help of TruNorth. The book reflects the different modules available in the site. The book is designed to be help new sales reps increase sales through the use of best practices, remind seasoned sales reps what they did to be successful and help take existing sales reps to a whole new level in their sales performance.

If you are interested in our sales training or coaching program please contact Ron Finklestein. To learn more about Ron Finklestein  or Dr. Tony Alessandra just click on the highlighted links.

I included the Table of Content for your review:

Introduction

Nine Behaviors of Successful Salespeople

The Platinum Rule ®   — Treating Others the Way They Want to be Treated!

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Connecting Phase

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Exploring Phase

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Collaboration Phase

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Confirming Phase

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Assuring Phase

Negative Preparation Leads to Positive Results!

The Power of Testimonials

Lead Generation with Social Media

Blogging as a Sales Tool

What is the number one thing that business owners want from their sales rep?

Behaviors of Non-Performing Sales vs. High-Performing Sales Reps

Why Goals Fail

How to Build Trust Quickly

Why People Won’t Buy From You!

Question #1: “What do you do?”

Question #2: “How are you different?” or “What’s in it for me?”

Question #3: “Why are you the right and safe choice?”

Question #4: “What do you do better than anyone else in the world (in your industry)?”

Question #5: “Why is that important to my prospects?”

Question #6: “Why buy from me?” or “Prove it.”

Sustaining Motivation

Bite-Sized Training

Selling by the Numbers

Identifying Lucrative Prospects

Identifying Your Best Prospects

Incoming Prospecting

Visibility Strategies for Incoming Prospecting

Prospecting

Asking for Referrals

Knowing Your Competitive Advantages

Your Competitive Advantage Statement

Contacting by Phone—Key Telephone Skills

Using the Phone as a Prospecting Tool

Contacting Prospects Online

In-Person Contacts

Common Up-Front Objections

Skills For Responding To Resistance

Three Steps to Successful Sales

Identify Customer Needs

Question Topic Categories

Exploring Important Topics

Ten Tips for More Effective Questioning

Identifying Success Criteria

Ten Commandments of Powerful Listening

Active Listening

Types of Decision Makers—Understanding the Cast of Characters

Features versus Benefits

Five Key Elements of Presentations

Proposing Solutions

Price Concerns

Product Concerns

Postponement Concerns

Product-Price-Postponement Concerns Worksheet

Negotiating Tips

Confirming The Sale Signals

Benefit Summary

Stairs of Customer Loyalty

Commitment To Your Customers

Effective Communication With Customers

Enhancing the Customer Relationship

Thirteen Ways To Assure Customer Satisfaction

Monitoring & Measuring Success Criteria

The Annual Check-Up

Expanding Your Sales

Time Analysis Questions

Return On Time Invested

ROTI Account Classification

Appendix A — Quick Reference Guide

Building Rapport Throughout the Sales Process

About Dr. Tony Alessandra

About Ron Finklestein

 

Click here to purchase the book  The Definitive Sales Playbook.

Click here to learn more about our sales training and sales coach

 

To your success,

 

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788

 

What I learned at my Sales Lunch & Learn

What I learned at my Sales Lunch & Learn

I do a monthly lunch and learn sales coaching program each month. In an effort to reach more people I recorded the session and posted it on YouTube. The link is below. I do not plan to keep this public long so if growing sales is important to you, take some time to watch/listen to this video.

After a short while, I will make this video private and only my client will have access to it via Google Plus.

This video was recorded live as part of a coaching session to private clients of Ron Finklestein and the Business Growth Experience. Ron discusses some challenges sales people must overcome, what business owners expect from people selling to them and nine actions they must take to become more successful. To learn more on implementing these actions please check out our sales training web site at http://www.businessgrowthexperience.net.

If you prefer personal coaching, check out http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com and download our free report: Six questions Prospects Want Answered Before they buy.

If you work in Northeast Ohio and want to attend one of these Lunch & Learn events please click here  http://saleslunchandlearn.eventbrite.com.

 

http://youtu.be/nv_sfMZ8Vz0

The Fuel that Drives the Engine of Your Sales Success

The Fuel that Drives the Engine of Your Sales Success

It is important to identify the prospects that will have the highest need for your product or service.  These are your best prospects—the ones who are most likely to buy, use, and recommend you and your services.

When you have identified your best prospects and know where to find them, you can use your marketing skills to generate leads that will most likely result in profitable sales. Qualified lead generation is the fuel that drives the engine of your sales success.  The techniques discussed here can keep you supplied with highly qualified leads.

How can you identify those prospects that are most likely to want to hear your message? And, once you’ve identified the profile of those most likely to buy—your TOP 20%—where can you find prospects in large numbers who fit that profile?

Begin with an analysis of your sales over the last year or two.

In your analysis, you look at three things:

1.            Who bought what?

2.            How did you find and sell those customers?

3.            Why did they buy what they bought?

Possessing the right marketing skills is crucial in properly identifying the right kinds of prospects for a company. Smart companies accomplish this responsibility by profiling the top twenty percent of their current customers who typically provide eighty percent of their profits.

Looking for new business is very expensive. Therefore, companies need to avoid the wrong kinds of prospects for them.  Just as it is critical in distinguishing the attributes of the right prospects, a company needs to outline the characteristics that make-up the bottom twenty percent of their customer base. Anybody in business can easily recognize who the complainers, price-grinders, and transaction-oriented clients are. By clearly understanding the bad traits of those bottom twenty-percent, companies can much easier avoid the wrong prospects.

This is a review of one chapter from our (Dr. Tony Alessandra and Ron Finklestein) new book. Let us know and we will notify you when it is through the publication process. The book is called The Definitive Sales Playbook: How to Grow Sales and Retain Customers (Soon to be available on Amazon.com.

Ron Finklestein
Download our free report on the Six Questions Prospects Want Answered BEFORE they Buy from YOU. www.businessgrowthexperience.com
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788

 

 

Sales Success is an Inside Job

Do you wonder about the how successful sales person becomes successful?

Tim Connor, in his book Soft Selling, discussed how average sales people spent 2% of their time in self-improvement and successful sale reps spent an average of 10% of their time in personal development.

In this post, Selling is an Inside job, the author suggest lack of time spent in personal development is communicated to the prospects in whys we do not really understand but we all have experience.

What message are you sending to you prospect without realizing it and how is impacting your sales?

 

Ron Finklestein
www.businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788
ron@akris.net

Can being in sales be a true spiritual approach to business and life? Ron Finklestein

Can being in sales be a true spiritual approach to business and life?

Jim Cartcart was recently on our radio program (WELW.com every Wednesday from 4:30 to 5:30 PM EST) and he gave a definition of selling that transformed my view on sales, how I sell and the contribution I make on the lives of others.

Jim Carthcart’s definition of sales is “Changing the lives of others – profitably.”

When I sell the Business Growth Experience Sales Rainmaker program I no longer feel as if I am selling. I know the material I teach will change their lives of people who participate and I am proud to call myself a sales professional. I feel good asking to be paid because of the value I am providing.

But is sales a spiritual approach to life?

Why would I say that?

Most people don’t get into sales because they want to be in sales. They get into sales to help solve a problem and being in sales is a byproduct of accomplishing a larger goal, a higher purpose.

I started looking at doctors, teachers, priests, and other helping professions and I realized I am doing the same things they do: solving a problem to make a persons’ life better.

I like to think of what we teach as using sales skills that you will use in every area of your life. These skills will work with friends, family, children and significant others and you will be a better person for it as I feel I am a better person for teaching it.

If you are a small business owner who is struggling with sales, give me a call. The first thing we will do is help you understand how you can use your product or service to change someone’s life for the better. This is a great first step in realizing the meaning and purpose in what you do.

When I wake up in the morning and I know I am having a positive impact on the lives of others, I am inspired, motivated and compelled to work harder because I know I am making life better for others.

In the business growth experience here is what we do: We tell people to stop selling and teach others to buy. We do that by combining sales and marketing so that our clients know more about their customer then the customers know about themselves. Then we teach them to sell the way the customer wants to buy. That way the product sells itself. When you master this process life gets easier, sales is fun and life is more rewarding.

To a more spiritual approach to selling!

Thanks Jim Cathcart. You changed another life!

Ron Finklestein

330-990-0788

ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

www.businessgrowthexperience.com

Customers Lie

Customers Lie!

We, as sales professionals, are constantly told that customers lie. They never address the reason customers lie nor do they tell what you can do about it.

Customers lie because they do not want to hear how stupid they are if they do not understand how your product or service will help them.

Customers lie because they feel you will take advantage of them if you learn some sensitive piece of knowledge.

Customer lie because they fear you will charge a higher price if you knew how painful the situation really is.

Ok, customers lie because they need to protect themselves. They lie because we, as sales professionals, have lied to them. I cannot tell you how much sales training I have received where the instructor would say something like, “tell them what they want to hear, even if it not true, to get the appointment. You can always fix it later.” We wonder why customers feel the need to protect themselves. I refuse to be party to this kind of mind-set.

As a sales professional, we need to change that. We need to act with the best intentions and the highest effort to do what is in the best interest of our customers. We need to understand their problems and help them solve it.

As a sales professional, we have to assume they are lying to protect themselves and it is our job to act with honesty, integrity, and while having the best interest of our customer in mind at all times so they do not have to (or feel the need to) protect themselves. They understand we are on the same team.

As a sales professional, we must understand how to build rapport quickly and effectively because building rapport is the first step in building trust.

As a sales professional, we must always treat the customers the way they want to be treated so they understand why your product or service is the right and safe choice for them.

If our customers are lying to us we need to stop blaming them and implement actions that allow them to trust us.

If our customers are lying to us we must look inside and see what we are doing they makes them want to lie to us. Then we need to fix it.

To learn more check out www.akris.net

Call me if you are not getting the desired results.

 

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

www.businessgrowthexperience.com

 

 

Eleven Cardinal Sins of a Sales Representative.

Eleven Cardinal Sins of a Sales Representative.

If you are in sales or wonder why your sales are suffering, ask yourself if you are hurting yourself by:

  1. Being desperate. If you are desperate, do not let the prospect see it. It will chase them away faster that junk yard dog.
  2. Being artificial. People are looking for authenticity in their relationships, especially a sales relationship. People want to know you can be trusted.  You do not want your prospects thinking of you as Jerry Springer.
  3. Being unprepared. There is no excuse for not being prepared. With the internet you can find most everything you need to know before the sales call. You can bet the prospect did his homework on you. You are not John Wayne. Don’t try to wing it.
  4. Not planning your sales call. Walking into meeting without an agenda is inexcusable. I was in a meeting where the sales rep did not have an agenda and he did not confirm what he thought was the agenda, and the prospect was not happy.
  5. Being late. Most prospects take being last as a sign of disrespect: of his time. This is a great way to start off on the wrong foot.
  6. Taking longer than you said. If you asked for 30 minutes don’t take a minute longer. Ask for permission to continue if you must or schedule a second meeting.
  7. Not focusing on solving the problem. Most business owners are busy and they do not care to create a relationship with you unless they have a reason. Talking about your hunting trip may be fun for you but your prospect is not particularly interested. Focus on him and his problem.
  8. Talking too much. If you are talking you cannot be listening to the prospect and his problems. A great sales rep is an excellent listener. They listen with purpose: to understand.   Watch Dr. Phil if you want to see how it is done.
  9. Being a liar. Be honest. If you cannot help them tell them. They will respect that and listen the next time you request a meeting. Jim Carey you’re not (I hope)!
  10. Being a liar again. Don’t lie and tell them your product does something it can’t. It takes a short time to destroy your reputation you took a life time to build.
  11. Not be respectful. Do what you say you will do when you say you will do it. Many times a prospect needs something from you to do his work. Deliver what you said you would when you said you would do it.

 

Need help with growing sales, increasing revenues and shortening the sales process? Give me a call for a free not obligation discussion of your most pressing sales issues.

 

Ron Finklestein
Business Growth Experience
www.aboutbusinesssuccess.com

330-990-0788 / ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

 

Can you be Successful at Sales?

Anyone can be successful at sales provided you have the right behaviors and mind-set.

In 2003, Tim Connor published a book called Soft Selling.   In it, he compared how poor salespeople and successful salespeople managed their selling time differently.   He allocated the salesperson’s time into six major categories:

·   Prospecting

·   Sales Presentation

·   Service

·   Administration

·   Travel

·   Self-Improvement

 

He found that when it came to time management, poor salespeople allocated their time as follows:

·   10% on prospecting,

·   23% on sales presentation,

·   15% on service to others,

·   30% on administration,

·   20% on travel,

·   and a meager 2% on self-improvement.

 

These numbers are stunning at first glance if you believe and take Connor’s numbers seriously.

Note that only 10% of a salesperson’s time was being spent on prospecting and a whopping 30% of their time was being spent on administrative duties.    In other words, the salespeople who failed were spending more time managing their paperwork and administrative duties than managing or growing their sales pipeline.

 

10% of a poor salesperson’s time was being spent on prospecting.  It’s no wonder their sales were falling short of their expectations and their sales pipeline remained empty. They were spending more time on paperwork and presentations when they should have been out looking for new suspects to qualify. Contrast these numbers with how well successful people managed their time when it came to selling.  Connor found that good salespeople spent their time as follows:

·   45% on prospecting for new business,

·   10% on their sales presentation,

·   20% on service to others,

·   5% on administration,

·   10% on travel,

·   And 10% on self-improvement.

If you want to learn how to get better at sales and be seen as a partner to your customers check out Collaborative Selling. To learn more go to www.akris.net 

 

Sincerely,

Ron Finklestein
Business Growth Facilitator
www.businessgrowthexperience.com  

 

 

How do we communicate our message?

How do we communicate our message?
Most people think it is through the spoken word. That is partly true. There are three components to effective communication. The words we use only account for 7 % of any message. For an effective communication to take place, of course, we need all three parts of the message and they must be congruent and consistent with each other. If there isn’t any congruency, the receiver will be confused and will have a tendency to accept the predominant form of communication rather than the literal meaning or words.
The second part of the message where meaning is implied is the emphasis and tone of our voice. This is 36% of the meaning of our communications. The emphasis and tone have the power to completely change the message that is being communicated. Often, you will say something to a person and they may become offended. When you express that the words you used were intended to be inoffensive, the other person will tell you that it was your tone of voice that was the issue.
The last component of our message is our body language. A whopping 57% of the meaning is convey through body language. You can dramatically increase the effect of your communication by leaning toward the speaker or shifting your weight forward onto the balls of your feet. If you can face the person directly and give them direct eye contact, combined with fully focused attention, you double the impact of what you’re saying.
If you want to learn more about effective communication please check out http://www.akris.net. Here we teach effective communication strategies to help you build better relationships, increase sales, become better leaders and help you grow personally and professionally.
To Creating Better Relationships
Ron Finklestein,
330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience

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