Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Social Media Marketing - 7 Tips For Using Twitter For Business

By Cameron Groth

The mere title of this article may seem deceptive to some after you read the tips below. The idea of social networking isn't to sell or market your product or business opportunity at all. People who use social media for this reason may get some success here and there, but in my opinion they're totally missing the point of it. In the long run, it is the user who employs the following tips that will get the most from their social experience.
  1. Build a relationship with your followers! This is by far the most important tip here. If you forget all but one tip on this page, remember this one. Social media sites exist to enhance the relationships you have with family, friends and associates. Become interested in as many of your followers as you can, people like to feel important. If you have a thousand followers on Twitter but you're still able to form a relationship with a person based on their interests, they're going to follow you wherever you go.
  2. Message people regarding their interests, not your own. If your followers are human (and most of them probably are!) they're just not that interested in what you do in your spare time or what you did on the weekend. Certainly you can tweet about what you're up to and what you did on the weekend, that is the point of Twitter! But you don't want to be directly messaging people ranting on about your business or your roast tonight with Aunt Esther. Talk to your followers about their interests! People are much more likely to talk to you about something they're interested in, and the aim of Twitter is to build a relationship. If you're genuinely interested in the person you're talking to they can feel it and they will respond well to it.
  3. Provide quality updates. Don't overload people with updates. Nobody likes a Twitter-maniac, in fact people will probably remove you from their list if they feel you're overloading them with useless information constantly. Don't spam the same comment either, even if it is used sparingly. Use identical comments twice (max) and then move on. How annoying is it watching the same TV-ad once every ad-break for a whole week? The updates that are most successful are the ones that relate to the common interest of your followers. In use of Twitter for business, 75% of your updates should be about (but are not limited to) network marketing personal development you're going through or interesting facts and tips. Maybe even some inspirational quotes! Anything that relates to the interest shared by the majority of your following. The other 25% should be personal updates, because you want to appear human to your followers too, no-one wants to be friends with a machine.
  4. Group with people who share common interests, not randoms. You don't want to be connecting with people who have no interest in you and share none of your interests. These people are either following you so they can get more exposure for themselves, or they're allowing you to follow them for the numbers (makes them look and feel important). In a way, you could use these random people to get referrals to others who may share some common interests. I think it's probably more efficient for you to only target people who share common interests, let the randoms refer for themselves, don't waste your time chasing it.
  5. Do not directly sell to your followers. Rid yourself of the selling mindset when using social media. This is not a sales pitch, it isn't a huge list of potential customers. This is about you making quality connections with people around the world who may come to value you and help you build your credibility. Sales may come indirectly sooner or later, but focusing just on sales and marketing in the social network will end in failure in my opinion. If nothing else, social media is fantastic practice at building relationships which is so vital in our industry. Without trust, value, common ground, empathy in your networking (in social media and otherwise) all you're doing is plodding along and maybe forcing your product down some peoples throats.
  6. Allow yourself to be taught by others! Just as you are letting people know what is happening in your life (and in your company, in your personal development etc), read and become interested in other people. There are millions of people on Twitter, and most of them will have a fascinating thing they can teach you that you never knew! Twitter is a great social networking tool but it can also be an awesome educational tool for you and your business.
  7. Do not slack off. When you stop microblogging, you are forgotten quickly. Believe me, when MySpace was very popular I had over 27 thousand friends and had no problem making and keeping friends because I was active and engaging. These days I lose between 50 and 100 friends per day because I no longer maintain my profile or my connections on MySpace. The more quality updates you provide, the more exposure you have to people of common interests. So if you're providing captivating updates often, do not slack off; because people will come to expect a certain level of professionalism from you, a certain regularity. Being regular with your updates (but not overbearing) is paramount in making and maintaining quality connections

Cameron Grothhttp://www.cjg.me/ - Free 7 Day Video Bootcamp for Home Businesses And Many Other Quality Training Resources. Fill out the form for instant members only access.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cameron_Groth

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Advancement in Leadership

By Andrea Klee

When we imagine the Stone Age, we immediately think of the principle that the stronger person wins against the weaker person. Have we made any advance since then? Is it possible to have a system in corporations that allows people to be who they are, and not to use their elbows for whatever they would like to attain?

The impression today is that in many places, we are still living according to the Stone Age principle. Especially in the corporate world, people lie and take advantage of others, often in very tricky ways. Should someone who is just more corrupt than another person get a promotion, or should we set other values?

If we really want to say good-bye to the principle of the stronger person, it appears necessary to create or use a vision of very high moral values and standards. Morality is our weapon against the domination of the strongest. Nothing else has ever helped against it. However, high moral values need always to be supported by an attitude of integrity. It is never enough just to recognize what is right or wrong according to our moral values. We also need to behave in a way that will help other people to trust us and to believe that we are doing what we say.

No matter what we will say or try to communicate, the truth is always communicated through our attitude. When we don't behave according to our words, then it becomes obvious that we are not trustworthy. Other will copy us, but they will copy our behavior, not what we tell them about how someone should behave. This is a very crucial point in leadership, since we need to be aware of the fact that we cannot hide our true selves from others.

Other people know more about us than we believe they know, or than we think they can know. Our voices, our appearances, and our attitude in different situations tell much more about us than we want to be true. Another person might even be able to derive from our words and from our attitude whether or not we are a person of integrity. Most of these conclusions are true even though we don't like to accept this fact.

If we really want people to advance from the concept that the stronger person is the more powerful one, then we need to honestly examine if we as leaders behave according to our promises and suggestions. Should we find out that we don't live as we preach, it is time to revise our own lives first before we think about changing the corporate environment. Change always starts with a person changing herself or himself. If we want to advance leadership in the corporate world of today, we will have to cope with our own possible lack of integrity.

Andrea Brigitte KleeAuthor and SpeakerE-Mail: andreaklee@gmx.net

EXPRESS YOUR VOICESupporting you to convey your thoughts, encourage listening and make an impact.http://www.express-your-voice.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrea_Klee

Monday, April 20, 2009

Leadership Coaches - Resistance to Changing Culture

By Jodi Wiff and Mike Krutza

Why is changing a work culture so hard? Why is there so much resistance to making change for the better?

When you break down changing a work culture - think of employees reaction falling into one of the five categories:

  1. no need to change
  2. the timing is bad
  3. cost of the change
  4. they may need information on why, what and how
  5. feel distrust of the new direction

People will have different reactions that is a given. Now is the time as a leader to really listen to their reaction and identify what category of resistance they fit into. Do they question the need to change the company culture? You may even hear conversations that start with, we're making money, why to do we have to change how we interact with customers or employees? Or, everyone is so stressed, why rock the boat, wouldn't it be better to wait until next year when the economy concerns level off before we assess our company culture. Changing a work culture will confront resistance - improve your odds of success by anticipating what the barriers will be and remember just because it is easy for you to see the need and benefits, it won't be easy for others to visualize the positive impact of the change. Think about how the messages get shared to answer all of the above barriers. Try moving forward by engaging the teams you work with - what are they worried about? What do they need to move forward? What feels unclear to them?

Culture isn't the hard number or line item on the bottom of an annual report or productivity report. However it is a key ingredient on how to get that number to look better.

Jodi Wiff, partner Lighthouse Leadership, created the mantra of "Elegant Courage"-- honesty with grace and elegance during good or bad times. Her 28 years as a leader distinguished her special and unique problem solving abilities. Her innovativeness and creativity changed the company culture from ugliness - sniping and lack of hope to a warm, engaging, respectful environment. She believes the employee and customers are special and important to a business and that leaders must create the environment which "feels" hopeful and stirs the inner calling of employees to make a difference. She creates that kind of profound difference.

http://www.lighthouse-leadership.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jodi_Wiff

Friday, April 17, 2009

Should You Hire New Employees in a Slow Economy?

By Shari Roth

Unemployment figures are at an all time high and companies continue on the course of downsizing. So should your company actual be hiring when most organizations are scaling back? If your organization wants to be one of the key players when the economy turns around, then the time to prepare for the turnaround is right now. Three important things to consider are:

• Do you have employees that are not meeting performance expectations?
• Can you capitalize on the abundance of top performers that are currently available?
• Have you considered utilizing interim hires?

Take a good look at the performance of your existing employees? During good times if an employee is not meeting expectations, there's a tendency to look the other way. Can you afford to carry weak employees? It's critical to take a hard look to see if you have under-performers in your organization. If you have employees that are not meeting performance expectations you must take action. Replace weak performers with people that will do what the job calls for.

Next capitalize on the top talent that is currently available. Just like it is a buyers' market in real estate, it is currently a "hiring market" for employers. Company restructuring and downsizing has created an abundance of quality talent available. Short-sighted organizations are looking at survival. Companies that look beyond survival are looking towards the future to see if their current talent pool supports their long term strategy. These companies are hiring top talent now and building a strong, solid organization.

One note of caution; be careful using the same approach that you might use in a real estate transaction, when you are making an offer to a new hire. You may throw out a below market offer on house. And if you are lucky, you may get it. If you do the same thing with a new hire, the new hire may accept the offer; however this strategy could backfire. The new hire may not be happy in the long run. Their dissatisfaction may be reflected in their performance, and ultimately they may leave your company as soon as the market turns around.

Hiring interim employees is the third consideration that often gets overlooked. This is a perfect time to engage top talent for interim employment. Interim employees work for you on a temporary basis, typically for a period of one month and up to one year. Interim employees do not receive benefits, which is huge savings to your organization. With interim employees, you can have top talent work on projects and initiatives that everyone has been too busy to do. The main purpose of the interim hire is to fill a gap and work on a specific project. The organization benefits because they get to address a much needed initiative. The interim hire benefits too. They gain meaningful work that helps them to bridge the employment gap until they can obtain a permanent full time position.

You may be concerned that an interim employee may leave before the project is completed. To minimize the possibility of an interim hire leaving prior to project completion, you can offer a bonus for the successful completion of the project. This approach not only encourages an interim hire to complete the project, it ties their performance to the success of the project as well. Interim employment is a terrific win-win for the company and for the interim hire.

Should you be hiring in a slow economy? First, take a hard look to make certain that 100% of your employees are meeting expectations. Replace under performers with people that will do the job. Look at your talent pool and determine if you have the talent that will be able to achieve your long term strategy. And, can you utilize interim hires on projects that you have been too busy to start. Considering the advantages that this market brings, the question no longer is should I be hiring in a slow economy, the question becomes, how many people should I be hiring right now?

Shari Roth is a managing partner of CAPITAL iDEA. An accomplished performance improvement consultant, Shari's ability to simplify complex problems into effective solutions has driven notable results in the transportation, insurance, financial, hospitality and telecommunications industries. Shari's focus is to create leadership cultures where employees are empowered, engaged, and aligned to achieve the organization's desired results.
With over twenty years of experience in Fortune 500 companies, her clients find Shari's unique blend of financial, marketing and sales expertise invaluable. Shari's in depth knowledge and certifications in Behavioral, Motivator and Hartman Assessments contribute to her clients' success in hiring and retaining top talent. Shari's clients have seen improvements in employee retention, increased profitability, and customer growth.

http://www.capital-idea.net
shari@capital-idea.net
http://www.twitter.com/ShariRoth

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Managing More Efficiently With Results Based Performance Management

By Bill Walsh

Is your company planning on down-sizing staff (or perhaps has already done so)? It's an unfortunate effect of the turbulent economic times. Although many companies decide that the bottom-line will be improved with belt tightening, it doesn't lower or diminish expectations for productivity and profits. So, how can you produce results with less staff? The answer is result based performance management training.

Performance management training is to help managers improve their capabilities and that of their teams. This training focuses on improving clear goal setting and follow up, , performance feedback and evaluation, time management skills and coordinating performance to deliver the best results.

As your company experiences changes from down-sizing or economic stress, it's especially important to retool your supervisors skill sets to address these changes. Bringing training on site allows you an opportunity to remove managers and supervisors from the chaotic daily demands and get them into an environment where they can focus on the most important things: improving performance effectiveness, setting clear goals, and establishing a plan to work towards those goals.

As companies down-size, managers and supervisors are often required to supervise more teams from a distance. It becomes even more important that these managers and supervisors receive remote employee management training in order to have the skills necessary to manage employees when they aren't able to directly supervise employees at the same physical location. Off-site or remote employee management provides many challenges that can be overcome with the proper training.

With proper remote employee management training, you'll learn how to set up an oversight system that allows you to set and track clear goals and improve employee performance without having to be at the employee's work location.

Even when budgets are tight, supervisory training still makes sense. The best way to have fewer employees get the most work done is by increasing the skill sets of our supervisors and managers. They have the greatest influence over the productivity and effectiveness of their employees. Training programs like time management for supervisors, results based performance management and remote employee management training can provide a productivity return on your investment.

With the right training programs, you can greatly improve team and employee productivity and supervisory skills. That means supervisors manage employees more effectively, teams are able to work more efficiently with less, and goals are being met. Can you afford NOT to take advantage of the benefits and returns of on-site management and supervisory training?

Bill Walsh, managing director of Proven Training Solutions, has successfully developed and delivered over 2500 training engagements throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. With over 25 years experience as a management and training consultant, his expertise includes all levels of management and supervisory development, project management, team building, as well as, customer service and time management. He has appeared on radio, television and has been quoted in Fortune Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. For additional information and proven solutions to your training problems visit http://www.proven-training-solutions.com

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Effective Negotiations

By Darin Carroll

In business, effective negotiation skills are of paramount importance. Whether closing the deal, haggling over the price of a supplies agreement, or handling a pay raise conversation with a valued employee, a business owner relies on these skills for a robust bottom line. While you may already be an effective negotiator, you may want to consider some strategies that can help you maximize the chances of achieving the results you desire in business negotiations.

A truly effective negotiator seeks to arrive at mutually beneficial conclusions. Those entering negotiations are each seeking value that wasn't there previously. To ensure successful negotiations, it is imperative to offer that value to the other party. Don't ignore your own self-interest, but enter the discussion having first closely considered what may be needed or sought by the other party. If you initially reflect on upon partner's priorities, it is much more likely that negotiations will work well.

Prior to bargaining on an important deal, be prepared. For example, if you are preparing to offer your product at a certain price level, be prepared to demonstrate commensurate value by offering testimonials about the quality of the your product, and its worth relative to like products in the marketplace, as well as offering information about the price of similar products sold through your competitors. Consider role-play practicing your sales presentation with a colleague, being sure to seek input on how to can improve your skills and approach.

It is wise to learn as much as possible about your negotiation counterpart prior to reaching the bargaining table. This will help you tailor your offer to meet the unique needs of your customer. For many in sales, it is all too easy to allow a sales call to proceed by rote, underscoring to potential customers that the negotiator has not considered their specific needs. Through the sales discussion, it is important to demonstrate that there has been much thought put into marrying product and service features with the needs of the prospect.

As a customer, you will be able to contribute strongly to your company's bottom line using effective negotiations. First, arm yourself with information about the product or service you are considering. Having done your research on competitor's prices and offerings will allow you to ask more pointed questions to gave value for your dollar. Be cognizant of the target price you seek, and the amount to which you would consider drifting from that price in exchange for further value, such as free delivery, or a discount based upon volume purchases.

Pay close attention to what your negotiating counterpart is asking for, and consider what flexibility you can offer to achieve a win-win scenario. As with any purchase, don't feel rushed or pressured. Reserve the right to seek more time to consider any new requests or demands for concessions before you actually come to a final agreement.

In some cases, what you are negotiating may be quite large and have additional layers of complexity. If this is the case, be on the lookout for any hidden agenda, remind yourself of your objective, and postpone further negotiations as soon as you encounter something do not understand. On the other side of the equation, don't unduly pressure your prospects to make an on-the-spot decision if they don't understand. Bygone high-pressure sales tactics are short sighted, sacrificing the long-term profitable relationship on the altar of the immediate sale. At risk is could be your reputation within the business community.

Of course, some negotiations end with neither party being willing to offer further flexibility. Don't burn your bridges! Remain genteel and respectful. Let your counterpart know you appreciate the time invested so far. Use this as a stepping-stone to building a relationship that could yield fruit down the road.

Darin Carroll, AAMS
Family Wealth Advisory Service, LLC

http://www.fwas.net


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Project Financial Management - 10 Key Steps to Streamline Your Business

By Colin McNally

Over the past decade or so we have been constantly bombarded with news about private and public projects that have either delivered scope at well over the expected budget or had to reduce scope to even come near to the original budget. Current thinking within project management methodologies only discuss the financial aspects of a project at a high level, leaving the "student" without any real way of working to greater understand the impact of their decisions on the financial results of the programme. In turn, the business case development is usually given minimal time and is a rushed job in the end. Investing in the correct people and time up front to review feasibility and secondly the business case is a must to ensure the total on target delivery of a project.

In the financial climate we are in, where budgets and costs are being cut, the time is now to ensure that whatever funding a company has available, that they invest it wisely - to do that you need to ensure that the project in the end - budget, costs and benefits are comprehensively reviewed.

With this in mind - using the Pathfinder Project Management Methodology as a basis, below are the 10 key steps to successful project financial management

(1) On new projects - invest time creating accurate feasibility studies and business cases, if this is a rushed job - in the end the results will deliver overspends.

(2) Review your project portfolio - are you carrying out the correct projects, are they nice to haves, are they being done for internal political gain - ensure each business case is robust and adds value to the future of the firm - spend time using previous experienced individuals to review and re-review the business case.

(3) Concentrate reviews just as hard on the benefits as the cost. In 80% of projects, once they are in, nobody wants to go back and review if they delivered as promised. So ensure from the start of the project you continuously check that as well as costs being on budget, that changes to your project have not altered your benefits.

(4) Cost cutting is not always the answer - allocate resource to "added value" projects - in today's world cutting heads is a an easy short term fix, do not throw out the baby with the bath water and leave the firm with projects in-flight with no experience to deliver them. Instead review your project spend and as in (2) concentrate on adding value.

(5) Workforce development - up-skill their financial management knowledge, develop staff in leadership, health and safety, motivation etc - so when you put a non-finance manager in charge of a large project, is it not about time they were given the financial know-how. Don't leave financial management to chance - develop your workforce.

(6) Break down the project into financially manageable sections. Too many projects work on the basis of a "pot of cash" - spend it as per the budget and if luck is with them, great! Instead take the "pot" and break it down into manageable sections - mapped to your project structure, that way you can see where budgets are by "workstream" and what ones are over/underspending.

(7) "one point of contact accounting" - too many managers will lead to budget overspend - following on from (6) above - The overall programme manager is responsible for the budget in total, at the same time each head of the projects parts should then be responsible for managing their part of the budget. This leads to one finance manager dealing with one project manager, ensuring a consistent relationship.

(8) Deliver focused and meaningful financial reporting to enable accurate decision-making. More is less - agree on what reporting is required from the project at the start and continuously improve until it is what the project needs to manage the programme of work. Because an accountant can deliver 20 pages of analysis a month to each project manager it does not mean that it's correct - save the trees - minimise the reporting and improve the decision making.

(9) Communication - have a strong relationship between your project and finance manager. Finance cannot be back office, they need to be part of the project team and be seen to be so, and therefore open and honest communication channels lead to no surprises.

(10) Finance should be made aware of all potential risks / issues and a probable cost - if a problem has or may arise warn finance early, finance will be limited to what they can do to assist "after the event".

Colin McNally is F.C.M.A with over 13 years experience in Blue Chip companies. He has now founded CJM Project Financial Management Ltd, and copyrighted the Pathfinder Project Management Methodology. Pathfinder is a methodology which advances the current thinking on project financial management. You can read more at http://www.project-financial-management.co.uk

Monday, April 13, 2009

7 Confidence Building Business Issues Women Leaders Must Learn to Succeed

By Consuelo Meux

Women leaders need the confidence to keep learning about organizations and being effective in their leadership abilities. Identifying and getting information on some of the issues is not always easy to find. Yet, without this insider information, women leaders can find their confidence remains low when it comes to being able to be a real power broker who gets things done. This article presents 7 business related issues women leaders must learn about in order to build real confidence as a leader.

Organization Development: Leaders must have the confidence to know how an organization is put together in order to be able to lead all parts of the organization. To simplify this concept, think of an organization like an automobile. You might know that you put gas in the tank when it's empty, but if you don't know that you also have to keep the oil clean and fill other fluids your automobile is not going to run correctly. The organization doesn't run by one unit. Knowing how the organization functions as a whole is true organization development. Many leaders are not clear about this concept and find their companies and organization suffering as a result.

Organization Growth: Similar to knowing how an organization is developed, a leader needs to have the confidence to properly grow her organization. Organization growth patterns differ according to the different types of organizations. It's important to design methods to forecast future needs of your organization or company in order to make right decisions for growth. Leaders without knowledge of how growth affects all aspects of the organization will find that some decisions result in dysfunction instead of increases.

Systems Concepts: Another concept that few leaders have strong confidence in is really understanding systems concepts. This lack of understanding is easy to see when a leader seems to get hit by what seems like sudden changes in the economy or society that negatively affects their company. While it sounds complex, the basic explanation of systems in organizations is that every organization or group that exists is effected by what goes on around it. Another concept of systems is that whatever you do to one part of the origination will affect the rest of the organization.

Power Issues: Women leaders must have confidence to know how to use power to get things done. Power can be gained through position or by having resources others desire. One resource is your knowledge base and knowledge really is power in organizations. Having power means being able to reach goals, quicker and easier than those without the power. Gain power by being willing to use your leadership to take on high profile positions. Get your name out and take calculated risks that let you gain visibility.

Politics in Business: Acting politically takes a lot of confidence. It means knowing when to speak and what to say when you speak. You have to understand change of command and when to approach one person over another in a business. Being politically savvy is important to advance your career as a leader. It's important to understand business politics and be able to use your skills to influence others in a positive and effective manner.

Build Networks: Women leaders need strong networks of influence makers who can get things done. This is a part of the power and politics of leadership. Knowing people who have power is a key confidence builder for women leaders to use in order to move ahead. Go to the right gatherings where you can be in the company of people who have contacts and information you need to get your goals met. Be willing to stand out from the crowd and make your mark as a risk taker worth knowing.

Look the part: Your physical appearance is a visual way to show your confidence as a leader. You have to look like a leader to be considered a leader. That means dressing for the part at all times; and even a trip to the grocery store means dressing to impress. That doesn't mean having to wear high heels all of the time but it does mean being well groomed with a style that says "professional." Take time to create a professional wardrobe that you can count on to take you to any occasion at any time of day.

Each of the issues presented above can be quite complex in nature. Some can take years to master when you try to do this alone. But taking time to learn important organization issues will build your confidence to be a leader who gets things done in an effective manner. You will feel less intimidated by others, you will move easier in the high powered world of leadership and your self confidence will greatly increase in your role as a woman leader.

Consuelo Meux, Ph.D., is a Strategic Mentor to Women in Leadership. Her programs assist women to build confidence as a leader and increased effective in their businesses. Learn to use your abilities to develop new streams of income. Get a free 7 lesson ecourse for women in leadership at her website and find a mentoring experience that will encourage your life. http://www.consuelomeux.com

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Critical Skills For Sales Leaders - The 6 Key Elements of Wrapping Up the Sales

By Ian Segail

If you asked the majority of salespeople what "Wrapping Up the Sale" means, they will in most cases say it means to "close the sale". "Wrapping up the Sale" starts at the beginning of the sales cycle - most sales are lost at "Hello!"

Reaching an agreement or "clinching the deal", tying up all the loose ends, and getting to a yes decision is a critical selling capability in the sales process. As a salesperson, even getting a "No" decision is preferable to holding onto a "China egg" (an egg that will never hatch!). However, there is more to "Wrapping Up the Sale" than meets the eye.

The 6 Key Elements of Wrapping up the Sale

Assuming you have laid a firm foundation to the sale by qualifying your prospect, effectively discovering and helping the customer to self-discover their needs, and clearly demonstrating how your product/service meets the needs of all parties concerned with the decision, then there are 6 key elements involved in "Wrapping Up the Sale". These include:

1. Resolving concerns

2. Negotiating

3. Reaching an agreement

4. Implementation Plan

5. Follow up

6. Repeat business & referral strategy

Resolving Concerns

Prospects and customers present concerns and objections when they don't understand or agree with the claims you are making about your products and services. Many salespeople disengage from selling at this point and concede the victory to the prospect. Top salespeople, on the other hand, consider concerns and objections raised by the customer merely as a roadblock and an opportunity to question the prospect further and gather more data about their issue, with a view to further educating them on how they can help to solve their problem or dilemma.

Some concerns and objections may simply be intended to disarm you. However, if you panic in response to a concern that is a sincere obstacle, you may lose the prospect's confidence. The key is to:

First, concentrate on identifying the foundation of the prospect's or customer's concern. Is it a fear of buying something new? A pricing issue? A lack of technical knowledge? A lack of credibility or capability?

Second, because many customer concerns and objections are either covert or unspoken, or based on unclear requirements, further probing can reveal what you need to learn to satisfy their needs and wants. Objections are simply data requests - neither good, nor bad!

Third, when you allow the prospect to express the negative and unfavourable aspects of your offer, it brings the issues out into the open and allows you the opportunity understand the customer's uncertainty and provide the pertinent information to resolve it.

To help resolve issues, a great strategy is to include the customer in the solution process, as they're likely to prefer a solution in which they were involved. When you stop trying to overcome objections and instead work and partner with your prospect as a consultant or coach, you will be far more effective (and less fearful).

Negotiating

How you handle your selling negotiations will determine two key things:

  • Whether you bring home the sale and
  • At what margin you bring home the sale

Many salespeople mistakenly believe that negotiating is something you do at or near the end of the sale. Being an effective sales negotiator begins with your first contact with your customer or prospect. Your prospect is evaluating you; your company and the value of your product/service, right from the moment you make first make contact. Your goal is to be able to clearly demonstrate the value your solution will provide and negotiate a profitable agreement with the customer. There are a number of factors from your customer's perspective that have an influence on the outcome of your sales negotiation:

  • What is the extent of your customer's problem or pain?
  • How much do they want your solution?
  • How do they perceive the value of your expertise?
  • How specialised or unique is your solution?
  • How urgent is their need?
  • How much would they be willing to pay to solve their problem?
  • How much do they perceive your solution as merely a commodity with you as just another vendor?
  • How large is their risk quotient?
  • How much do they like you and/or your company?
  • What is their timing need?
  • How much do they need to WIN?
  • Can they approve the sale?

When you consider the above points, you see that your role as a negotiator proceeds all the way through the sales process. Your role is to constantly probe and seek out information that may be invaluable later should issues like price, terms, quality, delivery, etc. have to be negotiated. Don't wait until you're in the last round to begin negotiating! Remember that as a sales negotiator it is very important for both you and the customer to come away feeling positive about the experience. At the end of the day, the chances are very good that you will want, or need, to do business together in the future.

Reaching an Agreement

Assuming you have laid the groundwork correctly by uncovering and answering the prospect's needs and concerns during the diagnosis and capability presentation phase of the sales process, then "closing the sale" becomes a mere formality as opposed to an overworked and stressful affair for both buyer and seller. If you are struggling to close sales, you will need to examine your current methods for discovering your customer's needs and requirements and the way you demonstrate the value of your product or service.

Before you attempt to "close" the sale ask yourself "Do I know..."

  • The problems the customer wishes to solve
  • The objectives/goals the customer wishes to achieve
  • Company issues that will be impacted by the decision
  • Personal issues that will be impacted by the decision
  • Financial issues - What funding is available to solve these issues? What or who else is being considered?
  • Time frames
  • Buying influences - Who makes and impacts on the decision?
  • Decision Criteria - How are decisions made? What are the Next Steps? and
  • Have I clearly demonstrated my and my company's capability to meet the needs and specifications of the customer?

Implementation Plan - Sell back from the date they need it

When salespeople and their managers get together and discuss where the "sale is at" within the sales cycle, they tend to focus on what the next steps are to bring the sale to a conclusion. Their focus is on the "close date". However, to the customer, what is most important is the implementation or use date. It is vitally important that you work with end users and buyers in a collaborative effort to identify and work towards their implementation date. In other words, find out when your customer needs the product or service you are selling and then work back from that date to make a case for why closing now is important.

"Salespeople sell forward - but buyers buy backward" Skip Miller

The professional salesperson:

  • Works with the customer's buying schedule, which begins from the implementation date.
  • Identifies the activities and actions the customer must accomplish prior to the implementation date.
  • Gains agreement from the customer on the actions they must accomplish prior to the implementation date.
  • Sets their selling plans, scheduling them to align with the steps in the customer's timeline, working backwards from the date of implementation.
  • Uses the implementation date as a means of accessing senior managers and users (to clearly understand their implementation and other core issues).
  • Selling to the customer's implementation date allows you to accurately set your sales milestones and forecasts. It is also a great tool for bringing your proposals to life because it will include implementation considerations when many organisations only consider implementation after the purchase

Follow Up

Much of your success in selling can be attributed to what you do after you've made the sales call or the sale. Constant and persistent follow up is the key.

We work and live at a very hectic pace and the prospect or customer who hasn't called you back might well be interested in your product/service, but they just haven't gotten back to you yet. There is a great quote from Patricia Fripp, which says, "It is not your customer's responsibility to remember you, but your responsibility to ensure they never forget you."

The frequency and amount of follow up required is very dependent on the complexity of what you sell and the lifetime value of a customer in your industry. Research demonstrates that most potential customers or prospects won't buy the first time they meet with you. On average, they have to encounter a marketing or sales message on at least 5-7 occasions before making a purchasing decision. This makes follow-up an essential ingredient in the selling process.

Mark Victor Hansen said, "Don't think it, ink it". When you rely on your memory you are very likely to forget. Imagine for a minute that your brain was like a PC. What happens if you open too many windows on your PC? Eventually the system gets clogged and clunky and in some cases will just freeze! Something as critical to your sales success as follow up, should not be left to your memory; it simply doesn't work. The best and most effective sales and business people have developed their own follow up system to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.

Follow-up isn't just about selling; it's about developing relationships.

Efficient follow-up demonstrates that both you and your company have your acts together and really care about ensuring customer satisfaction. However, a large percentage of salespeople don't conduct sales follow-up. Afraid of what they might hear, they avoid the follow-up, often blaming their busy schedules for not getting to it.

During follow-up, it's important to ask open-ended questions and then listen. Asking open-ended questions gives you an opportunity to gather more information from the prospect to pinpoint his or her needs accurately. Ask questions that begin with; who, what, when or how many. Ask something that will engage the prospect and get them talking. Ask "How did you feel about what was included?" as opposed to "Did you get my proposal?" Or "Did it all make sense?"

Your follow-up should convey:

  • I am still interested in you and your current concerns and opportunities.
  • I have something specific and valuable to contribute that would benefit you and or your company.
  • I look forward to hearing from you soon.

A consistent, well-executed follow-up system that keeps past clients and customers close is the most effective method of ensuring a steady flow of referrals and repeat business. Whatever follow-up system you adopt, make sure it's easy to use or implement. All too often, when the system becomes too complicated or unwieldy it gets sidelined and placed in the "too hard" basket. A good follow-up system is essential for building a healthy pipeline. Take the onus off yourself as far as trying to remember things and build a system to do it. If your company already has an effective CRM system, use it. If not, develop your own. It is up to you as a responsible salesperson to drive the sales process; therefore, you must drive your own follow-up system.

Repeat Business and Referral Strategy

Today the best salespeople, selling to both Business-to-Business and individuals, are constantly looking to increase their focus and effort on attracting repeat and referral business. Most astute business people understand that customer loyalty is the most vital aspect of their business because their organisations will live or die from repeat business. No company can exist without customer loyalty and retention.

Customer retention is well known to be much cheaper than customer acquisition. As a result, top salespeople place a big focus on their customer retention and customer relationship management strategies. They constantly look at improving the share of business coming from their existing customer base.

Information technology helps both companies and their salespeople to achieve customer loyalty by providing tools for analysing customer data. This assists with making informed decisions, as well as managing the customer relationships from the sales process all the way through to fulfilment and ongoing follow-up support.

A customer's repeat business is earned by the salesperson that continually provides their customers with what they want. Without effective strategies or processes for consistently offering customers more of what they want, repeat business is earned less frequently. When you communicate news and offers frequently to both past and present customers via telephone, mail or email, it generally increases the frequency of repurchase and is a powerful step salespeople must take to grow their business.

Effective referral strategies

Referral marketing is a vital part of your sales strategy that you cannot afford to do without. Every salesperson knows that one of the most effective ways to grow their business is through referrals, yet most salespeople do not have a means of generating an ongoing source of referrals.

Referrals work because they come from a trusted source that has already benefited from your product/service and yet has no vested interest in your business. The recommendation is independent and unsolicited. In sales terms this means a rapid conversion rate. The sales process is rapidly accelerated because the service or product has already been tried and tested by a reputable third party.

As a salesperson asking for, and getting, referrals is a powerful and low-cost way of building or developing your career. It is a simple approach, which feeds on its own success, but has to be built on secure foundations. Most salespeople don't get enough referrals because of one obstacle - they don't ask for them! An effective referral generation program will take care of this problem by creating a system that generates a steady stream of referrals from your network.

Referral marketing is simple: if you provide excellent products or services that people need, they tell others of their experience. Those others will trust you and want to do business with you because of the recommendation of the original, satisfied customer.

As one of Australia's leading authorities and coaches in sales management, Ian Segail has been involved in the coaching, training and development of sales managers and salespeople for over two decades.

Drawing on 25 years of experience in sales, sales management and leading an HR and training team, Ian brings a strong dose of fiscal reality and practicality to his works as a Sales Performance Coach.

Engaging directly with business owners and both novice and experienced sales managers alike, across a wide variety of industries and selling disciplines, the focus of Ian's work is to transform sales results for companies by improving sales management practices.

Ian is the author of "Bulletproof Your Sales Team The 5 Keys To Turbo Boosting Your Sales Team's Results" and a number of business articles, business reports and white papers including "The fish stinks from the head!" and "Why Sales Training Doesn't Work."

Ian has an insatiable hunger for studying selling and people management and has passionately pursued answers to the question "How come some people can sell and most can't?"

Download Ian's latest white paper on how to recession proof your sales team in the next 90 days from http://www.salestutor.com.au/Content_Common/pg-Salestutor-Tools-and-Resources-Articles-and-Whitepapers.seo

Monday, April 6, 2009

Top 10 Mistakes Managers Make

By Kerrie Espuga

10. Ever have those Managers who consistently give the "corporate line" instead of the truth? Employees see right through the facade.

9. Over promise and under-deliver. With any sales job, customer service and customer relationships are solidified through under promising and over delivering.

8. Brag about others on the team (implying that they are better and we should follow their lead)! Everyone is unique and their strengths should be capitalized by leadership (not minimized).

7. Say "It's not in the budget" when an Employee asks about professional development and/or team building. There are also plenty of free/cost-effective seminars out there which could be recommended.

6. Leading by Fear does not work! Think back to your favorite/most effective boss. Weren't they emotionally intelligent? Most likely they did not use fear as their #1 priority.

5. MICRO Manage- There is no need to continuously follow up if Employees give their word. Trust Employees until they've broken that trust. The more you follow up, the more the trust factor is slipping away.

4. Expect a lot from New Hires and give them little direction- Chances are, they need lots of support. Whether it's you or a Mentor, New Hire habits need to be set early.

3. Treat New Hires the same as Tenured folks-This one's common sense, but you'd be amazed how many Managers favor one or the other. Don't communicate to the "Lowest Common Denominator" on the team.

2. Repeat yourself on voice mail-Some Managers think the team will not understand unless it's repeated 3x on voice mail. The shorter the voice mail, the more impactful and the more Employees will respect you.

1. Start coaching with a negative comment. Employees will tune out unless Managers start the conversation with something positive to say. ALL Employees want to feel more appreciated for all they do!

Kerrie Espuga is Founder and Managing Director of Corporate Trendsetters, LLC, a professional training consulting company, based in NY. Her expertise includes Public Speaking, Team Building, and Sales/Management Training. Kerrie has extensive experience in Corporate America at Fortune 500 companies, including facilitating/training, selling, and coaching/managing in the Pharmaceutical industry. She is an exciting innovative Facilitator, who enjoys keeping groups engaged to enhance the learning! http://www.corporatetrendsetters.com

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