The JF Guest Author Spot

Rochelle Togo-Figa

Now is the time to become a “smart” entrepreneur about your business by doing more not less. What I mean by “doing more” is increasing your sales and marketing efforts. Instead of pulling back as many entrepreneurs are currently doing, beat out your competitors by finding new ways to stay visible.
An economic slowdown can be a problem for your business if you allow it to be. Or, it can be an opportunity to gain new clients and boost your sales if you know and have mastered the marketing and sales methods that work best during these times.

Right now, many successful entrepreneurs are rubbing their hands together in eager anticipation of new opportunities because they know many of their competitors are pulling back. With less competition, it makes it easy for them to go after business.

Consider that although people may be more cautious in spending money, they do still need services. The person they’ll do business with will be the one who provides the best value and finds creative ways to stay in front of them.

Here are 6 sales and marketing strategies to maintain and even increase sales, no matter what’s going on around you.

1. Follow Up. I’m amazed to hear entrepreneurs say they only follow up one or two times and sometimes never at all. People may not be ready today to buy from you but if they expressed interest, they’ll probably be ready to buy in the next several months. They say it can take 7-10 or more touches to move the client to making a buying decision. You want to come up with creative ways to stay in touch, so when they’re ready to buy they’ll remember you.

2. Reactivate dormant accounts. Reaching out to past clients can make customers for life. Let them know you’re there for them and be generous by offering some ideas to help them in their business. One phone call can make a huge difference. Think about it. When was the last time a past vendor called you with some ideas for your business? When you go the extra mile and show them you’re there to help them, they’ll appreciate you and remember that when they’re ready to do business.

3. Make special offers. Offer a product or service at a special low fee for a limited time. Give catchy names to these special offers. Some examples are: Close-out Sale, Scratch and Dent Sale, Half Price Sale, Birthday Sale, My Dog Maxx’s Birthday Sale, Xmas Sale, Coupon Sale, Free 30-Day Trial. You’ll need to put a time limit on the offer to encourage people to buy now and not later. Also, it helps to explain why you’re having the sale, so they know you don’t just drop prices whenever you feel like it.

4. Up sell to generate additional revenue. When a client purchases your product, you can offer other services at a nominal fee that will compliment the product they’ve just purchased. This is done in many places. For example, at many hotels they now charge you a ‘resort fee’ of $20 a day. And for that fee, they list a series of amenities you receive. Although this is a small fee, with the volume of customers, this fee adds up.

5. Add value to your existing service. During times when your customers may be concerned about pricing, another way to win them over is offering the best value for their dollar. You can do this by enhancing your service with “extras.” An extra might be faster delivery than your competitors, a larger selection, easier payment options, or a better guarantee.

6. Be positive. I’m a big believer in staying positive. Now is the time to surround yourself with positive people, say positive affirmations daily, read books that make you feel good, listen to people who share their secrets for achieving success, take time to nurture yourself, and most of all believe in yourself and stay in action!

Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity.  To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit www.SalesBreakthroughs.com.

If you liked what you’ve read and want help in applying these steps to your business, I invite you to take your first step by signing up for a Breakthrough Strategy Session with me. If you’re stuck in your business or frustrated you’re not bringing in more sales, there is a solution!  Call me and I will walk you through a step-by-step process that will give you clarity about the direction of your business, create a 180-degree turn around in your thinking about sales, and move you forward quickly. I will personally give you my one-on-one breakthrough strategies that fit you and your business. Click here to learn more.

Today’s News: And of course, Rochelle has a very exciting event coming up – just click on the banner below.

Tomorrow: I have a real treat for you from the Top Sales Experts team – see them as you have never seen them before!!

“Born great” has two possible meanings: either being born to a great position, such as that of an hereditary monarch, or possessing natural talents and/or virtues of an exceptional kind. Clearly not everyone born to a great position is worthy of it, and relatively few have the qualities of a great leader. But the greatness of certain offices can rub off on their occupants, who may not otherwise have qualities out of the ordinary.

“Some achieve greatness” denotes, above all, those whose greatness is self-made. But all of the really great leaders must be regarded as achievers, whatever their advantages of birth and training. Alexander the Great was born to kingship and inherited a strong army. With Aristotle as his tutor, he was perhaps the most privileged person, educationally, that there has ever been. Nevertheless, what he achieved in his short life was beyond anything that could remotely have been expected of him.

Much the same is true of Julius Caesar. He was a young Roman aristocrat whose career began as a demagogic politician, but who turned out to be a military commander of genius. The trajectory of his career could never have been predicted.

Napoleon is the supreme example of the utterly self-made leader – the man who “achieved greatness” by his own unaided efforts. When he was on his way to St Helena, he was still slightly younger than John F. Kennedy at the time of his assassination. And Napoleon was not a millionaire’s son. Of course, he was privileged in another way, having the good luck to be born in a revolutionary period, when opportunity beckoned to a man of his phenomenal talents. But luck is a precondition of most human achievements. Natural leaders know how to exploit their luck.

Most of those who achieve anything in the world are ambitious, and some have very exalted ambitions which they have never the chance to realise. A few rise higher than they or anyone else could have imagined, and then prove equal to the challenge. Like those born to great offices who prove, against the odds, worthy to hold them, such people have “greatness thrust upon them”. A case in point was Harry S. Truman. He was not born great, and seemed unlikely to achieve greatness beyond the level of a US Senator. Only Franklin D. Roosevelt’s incredibly casual, last-minute choice of him as running-mate for the 1944 election, soon followed by Roosevelt’s death, precipitated him into a situation where, as he said, he felt that the moon and stars had fallen on him. But he grew in the office of President and achieved a stature that surprised everyone, including probably himself. He was a man who seemed to be over promoted, but was not.

Churchill and de Gaulle, two of the greatest leaders of modern times, also depended upon chance for the fulfilment of their potential. But they had formidable talent and limitless self-belief. Destiny seemed to wait on them. They were manifestly above the ordinary run of humanity, and made no attempt to conceal the fact.

By contrast, Mahatma Gandhi, though no less extraordinary a person achieved his appeal to the Indian masses by seeming to identify with them. His style was studiedly anti – charismatic, yet it gave him a charisma that was quite unique. Like many effective leaders, he used dress (or in his case relative undress) as a weapon. His loincloth was the PR equivalent of Napoleon’s black hat and grey overcoat, or Churchill’s boiler suit. (When Gandhi met George V at Buckingham Palace, and was asked afterwards if he felt at a disadvantage wearing only a loincloth, he replied cheerfully: “Oh no, His Majesty was wearing enough for both of us”)

Leadership is partly a confidence trick, and those who practice it cannot afford to be too predictable. Some have alternated ruthlessness with generosity. (This was one of Caesar’s trademarks). Others have appeared at times to be listless and drifting, only to spring suddenly to life. (This was Stanley Baldwin’s style).

Democratic leaders have the difficult task of both guiding the people and seeming to respond to the popular will. Autocrats  are obviously freer to exercise leadership, but among them the most successful have been aware of the need to be loved and admired as well as feared, just as many of the best democratic leaders have been natural autocrats, restrained only by conscience and realism. The essential qualities of a good leader are much the same, whatever the environment.

Of all the qualities needed for leadership, only one is indispensable – courage. Without it, all the others are more or less useless. Courage has been shown by all who we recognise as true leaders, from Alexander to Thatcher. A leader must have the ability to take hard decisions and calculated risks. This rule applies at all levels and in all situations – in school, factory, boardroom or sporting arena, no less than on the battlefield or in the council chamber.

Leaders have to give courage to others, while creating the illusion that they know exactly what they are doing. In Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra, when one of Caesar’s officers says something intended to lift his spirits, he replies witheringly: “Do you presume to encourage me?” Shaw knew what leadership was about.

Greatness and leadership are so closely akin that the words give us a useful point of departure.

Today’s News:

Places are still available for THE online, interactive sales event of the year, but don’t leave it to the last minute – is my advice! Just click on the banner below.

Over at Top 10 Sales Articles, we have posted the final ten weekly nominees – from next week, we move to monthly, and you will have the opportunity to vote for your favourite (favorit) Want to see this week’s finalists? Again, simply click on the banner below.

Tomorrow: To finish the month strongly on the JF Guest Author Spot, I welcome back Rochelle Togo Figa, The Breakthrough Strategist - “6 Ways To Increase Your Sales NOW”

Here is a taster:”Now is the time to become a “smart” entrepreneur about your business by doing more not less. What I mean by “doing more” is increasing your sales and marketing efforts. Instead of pulling back as many entrepreneurs are currently doing, beat out your competitors by finding new ways to stay visible.

An economic slowdown can be a problem for your business if you allow it to be. Or, it can be an opportunity to gain new clients and boost your sales if you know and have mastered the marketing and sales methods that work best during these times.”  Be sure to join us!

To some, networking means simply meeting or calling someone new for what might be a one-off discussion or event. In this limited sense, networking is only a trading relationship in which two parties seek to discover whether they have anything of mutual interest to talk about. They either make some sort of exchange or quickly move on. This makes networking a highly ‘transactional’ subject, much like buying and selling or negotiating with someone.

My view is very different because I believe that networking has a much wider definition. In fact it can be a major social and life skill to be used in both a business/organisational and personal setting.

Network & Relationship Building

The ‘relationship building’ aspect of networking is a long-term commitment to knowing more about yourself and others and what you may be able to do together that you couldn’t do (or couldn’t do as well) alone.

The reality is that anyone can systematically adopt effective networking as an individual strategy. It can play a key part in linking you with a wider range of people who can help you to achieve more – whatever ‘more’ means for you

The Benefits Of Networking

The benefits of effective networking are many. Some of these are:

• It is the most cost effective marketing tool available

• Networking referrals will typically generate 80% more results than a cold call

• 70 – 80% of all jobs are found through networking

• Every person you meet has 200 – 250 people with whom they connect who can potentially assist you

Anyone that you might want to meet or contact in the world, is only five to six people contacts away from you

As if these reasons were not enough, a healthy and active link to a network is a vast resource available to every individual at a low personal cost. It can help you to achieve a range of goals that otherwise might be too hard or out of reach.

A key point to understand is that networking is achieved at low personal cost not no personal cost. I am not suggesting that networking is a quick fix or fad idea that can be easily adopted to make things better for a while. However, it can provide immediate results for those prepared to invest their time and energy.

The Concept Of Networking

Many of the definitions of networking highlighted in the next paragraph may surprise some people, in as much as they suggest that networking is an altruistic activity involving giving and sharing, rather than taking.

In Summary: Networking Definitions

• A power that comes from a spirit of giving and sharing

• A willingness to honour ourselves, our relationship and our connections with the universal flow

• A way of sending out into the system what we have and what we know, and having it return to re-calculate continually through the network

• An organised way of creating links from people we know to people they know for a specific purpose

• Giving, contributing to and supporting others without keeping score

• People caring about people

• Fostering self-help, and the exchange of information; seeking to change society and work life and to share resources

• Ensuring the right to ask a favour without hooks.

Today’s News: Fellow sales blogger Shaun Priest ( www.closerq.com) has a new novel out, and it’s about a sales executive – here is a taster:

“Jack ‘Fitzy’ Fitzpatrick gets the promotion of his career to regional vice president of sales at his publicly traded company as his gambling addiction increases exponentially. Fitzy is trying to win a twenty-eight million dollar healthcare software sale, the biggest of his career.  At the same time, he is putting his career, wife, and son at risk as he battles his gambling addictions of sports betting, craps, blackjack, and proposition bets.  Jack travels back and forth from Boston and Nevada, as he navigates the steps of winning a complex multi-million dollar sale, is in-debt, is being threatened by a big time Boston bookie, and being followed by the FBI.  All while trying to keep his job, not go to jail, avoid physical beatings, and save his marriage.  See if Jack makes the right ‘Decisions’ as he uncovers a company secret.”

For more details or to place your oder, simply click on the banner below

Some of my friends and I have been having some fun over at The Customer Collective this week – Dave Stein describes it all very well here and you can update yourself with the latest comments here

Tomorrow: I am back on my travels again and preparing for a very big week in the UK, let’s hope the weather improves, because Paris is cold, damp and very depressing – so much for “Paris In The Springtime”

Have a great weekend – and do make it back on Monday.

The JF Guest Author Spot

Nancy D. Solomon

Sometimes life provides us with character-defining opportunities that remain with us forever. If we’re lucky, that is. These events, which occur in both our professional and our personal lives, are significant not for their particulars, but for what they say about who we are and who we are not. It is who we become as a result of these experiences-not the experiences themselves that is most important. This is because these “choice points” articulate our values, clarify our character, and define our integrity.

I had one such experience many years ago when I first relocated to Seattle. It’s an experience that has stayed with me because it was so profound and because, to this day, I am still both humbled and humiliated by it. I had had business cards printed, and there was an error. I called the owner of the print shop and she agreed to reprint them right away. But I never returned to the printer. My finances were very tight and I’d decided it was “better” to distribute the “bad” ones rather than pay the several hundred dollars I owed her for the new version.

My tainted integrity nagged at me for more than a year before I finally phoned the woman to apologize. I never got that far. Oh, she remembered me all right. So clearly, in fact, that during our brief conversation she recounted the entire ordeal and then concluded by telling me (with not a trace of anger, I might add): “Now I’m going to hang up because I’m not going to do business with you again.” Click.

I remember putting the phone back in the cradle and staring at it, mouth agape, for quite some time. The sting of her words was minor compared to the swell of respect and admiration I felt for this woman who so succinctly, so effortlessly, demonstrated who she was and how she stood in her business. She had no reason to prove herself. She had no need for a well-polished mission statement, a finely crafted public relations summary, or a perfectly rehearsed elevator speech. Her actions neatly defined her. When she hung up, we both knew who she was.

Author and educator Benjamin Shield once said, “We vote with our actions.” I would add that it is ultimately our intentions behind those actions, not the actions themselves, that announce to the world whether we are courageous or cowardly, whether we are leaders or merely the boss, and whether we will make a positive impact or simply take up space.

If we’re going to “do the right thing” in business, we need to ask ourselves exactly and precisely why we’re doing what we’re doing—what our intended outcome is. Is it to win, to look good, or maybe to decimate the competition? Or is it to redefine excellence, showcase exceptional skills, or create positive change? Are we trying to prove who we are, or demonstrate it? The former will result in ego-minded banter while the latter will produce camaraderie, pride, and outstanding performance. Doing the right thing requires that we permanently disengage the “autopilot” in our businesses while recommitting to the core values of our decision-making processes.

The ethics scandals that have peppered the papers for the past few years have pitted the “little guy” against the “big, bad corporations.” It’s easy for us to forget that those corporations are made up of individuals just like you and me. Had I not shared my business card story, then I’d be able to tell you that I’d never do anything like commit insider trading, manipulate my accounting books, or lie to my employees. Of course now you won’t believe me. If I could avoid paying a debt, you ask, then what else am I capable of?

Truth be told, it is likely that we are all just one little circumstance away from doing anything. With money dangling before us (or a promotion, or a big break, or adulation), it’s easy to forget who we are, to discreetly shift the line between right and wrong, and to make some shortsighted decision because the sheer pleasure (joy, greed, ego) of it looks too delicious to pass up. The question is, “Is it the right thing?”

A few weeks ago one of my coaching clients, a senior executive with one of the country’s premier retailers, told me that her company, following an enormously profitable year, decided to distribute raises and bonuses to almost all of its employees. The only people in her group not to receive additional cash were the receptionists— perhaps the people who needed it most. The reason? Under a technicality the company didn’t have to give them the funds. My client loudly protested this travesty for two reasons: a) it was the wrong thing to do, and b) the bonuses would amount to a whopping total of $6,000-a mere 0.0024% of the company’s $250 million budget. But why risk the wrath of her colleagues? Why jeopardize the celebratory climate of the executive offices? Because it’s the only thing this leader could do and be able to look at herself in the mirror the next day. Because it was the right thing to do and she knew it. And so do you.

What does doing the right thing have to do with doing business, you ask? “Everything,” I answer. Doing the right thing defies-no, ignores-the status quo. Unless you have a seriously deteriorated character, you know when you’re doing things just because you can vs. because they’re the right thing to do.

So what does it take to do the right thing? It takes courage—the ability to do something different, something outrageous, and something that’s outstanding. It takes self-trust—the ability to hear and respond to your executive intuition—to lead from the inside out because, to date, your gut reaction has never led you down the wrong path. It takes chutzpah—the ability to jump and earn your stripes on the way down. It takes character – the thing you know you have because you have never, even once, questioned whether or not you do.

So, the choices have been made, the decisions decided, the outcome awaited. Now, how do we know if we’ve done the right thing? It’s simple. It feels good. We’re proud of ourselves. Our heads are held a bit higher, our shoulders a bit straighter, and our step a bit lighter. When we’ve done the right thing, we offer others explanations, not excuses, for the decisions we’ve made. When we’ve done the right thing, we don’t get defensive and look for someone else to blame. When we’ve done the right thing, our minds are free of embarrassment, humiliation, shame, and regret. When we’ve done the right thing, we don’t have to ask ourselves if we’ve done the right thing. We just know it.

By the way, if you know the printer who taught me that lesson in Business Ethics 101, please tell her how grateful I remain and that I said thank you. Whatever price I paid wasn’t enough.

“How do we know if we’ve done the right thing? It’s simple. It feels good.”

As a nationally recognized human potential expert Ms. Solomon provides training, keynotes, coaching and consulting for executives and their organizations seeking to improve their personal and professional standards of success. For more information, visit www.nancydsolomon.com

Be sure to look out for Nancy’s new book - “Impact – What Every Woman Needs To Know To Go From Invisible To Invincible” – in the stores from September.

Today’s News:

Over at Salesopedia Clayton Shold is in conversation with TSE Sponsor, Craig Klein of SalesNexus

“Craig Klein spent 10 years selling multi-million dollar, multi-year contracts to energy companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron. Trained as an engineer, he combined his sales expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to form his own company.  Craig is the author of an eBook entitled “Double Your Sales in 2009.” A bold statement to be sure but he adds a subtitle which is even more eye catching; “Supercharge your sales engine in five steps that won’t cost you a dime.” This podcast walks you through the sales process changes required to double your sales. At the end of the podcast Craig will tell you how to get a copy of the eBook for free. SalesNexus.com , a leading online contact management system for small business sales teams.”

Just click on the banner below to listen in

Tomorrow: A lot of business people I know are riding out this financial catastrophe pretty well, and one of the main reasons is that they are working and using their networks. So tomorrow, some tips on how to network well - here is a taster:

“To some, networking means simply meeting or calling someone new for what might be a one-off discussion or event. In this limited sense, networking is only a trading relationship in which two parties seek to discover whether they have anything of mutual interest to talk about. They either make some sort of exchange or quickly move on. This makes networking a highly ‘transactional’ subject, much like buying and selling or negotiating with someone.

My view is very different because I believe that networking has a much wider definition. In fact it can be a major social and life skill to be used in both a business/organisational and personal setting.”

When it comes to looking after our customers, quite often there’s a gap - a huge gap between theory and practice. There are books about customer relations, there are videos about customer relations, and there are Gurus (mostly self-appointed) about customer relations. None of them actually have to deliver customer relations. That chore is left to what was known in the last two World Wars as the PBI – as in “Poor B….y Infantry”- the foot soldiers. The front line people – your front line people. So what do they make of it all?

You know about Pareto’s Law – I discuss it often enough – yes that one, the one that says 80% of the business comes from 20% of the customers? Well, it (almost) applies in this case. More than 80% of front line staff haven’t yet totally bought into the idea of effective customer relations. The other 20% have discovered a very enriching way of achieving a satisfactory outcome from interactions with customers.

In other words, most of the time, they succeed! And when they succeed, the customers actually thank them!

This can’t be about you – can it?

Let’s find out! Just click on the banner below, to download my latest Free Ebook for you.

Today’s News:

Fellow Top Sales Expert and really all round good egg Diane Helbig, is a contributing author to a brand new book focussing on a very brave and ever-growing group of women, who sacrifice so much in order to balance their lives, whilst still pursuing their dreams. There are not adjectives in the Oxford Dictionary to describe the respect that I have for Diane, and the thousands, if not millions of women like her.

If you are looking for inspiration, this is a book you really must read – just click here to grab your copy of “Chicken Soup For The Soul – Power Moms” now.

In fact, Diane is the guest over at TSE Dailies today, so you can catch up with her by simply clicking on the banner below.

Tomorrow: Talking of inspirational women; my guest tomorrow on The JF Guest Author Spot is right up there – she oozes chic, intellectual band-width and so much more …..  we can all learn from her. Join me tomorrow and enjoy the words of wisdom from Nancy D. Solomon

The JF Guest Author Spot

Great sales execution will not do a thing for your top line if you don’t have a continuous flow of qualified leads. There is little question that one of the biggest challenges for sales leaders is dealing with an inconsistent flow of leads coming into the front of their funnels.

There are a multitude of approaches, solutions and tools which, if employed correctly, can make a real difference in your company’s ability to generate quality leads. Some areas to consider:

* A dedicated in-house or outsourced telemarketing function

* Monthly e-newsletters to a nurtured list of opt-in subscribers

* Event marketing, such as breakfasts, seminars, webinars, etc.

* Media relations work resulting in press placements (raising your company’s credibility and perhaps generating inbound inquiries)

* Partner programs

* Customer referral programs

* Trade shows

* Sources of leads for outbound calling, e.g. a purchased database

* Targeted direct marketing (e- or snail-mail)

* Advertising and other branding mechanisms

* Web marketing, including SEO of maximum exposure, affiliate programs, downloadable value, e.g. white papers

* Tools and processes to assist with qualification and monitoring when prospects are buying

* Active participation and contribution to industry events and publications

* Cold-calling by sales reps

With all this in mind, the biggest contributor is not technology, tools, or people. It’s a strategic, funded, measured and comprehensive approach to lead (and demand) generation. If you or your marketing team doesn’t have a documented, up-to-date and realistic plan, you are not going to execute well in this area and you’ll leave your sales people high and dry.

One of our clients depends only on trade shows for leads. The reason is that they feel they must attend the key industry shows and doing that, in their words, leaves them with no funds left for any other type of outbound marketing.

Another client has a small inside telemarketing team. The team isn’t effective for a number of reasons. The people making the calls aren’t motivated, partially because sales people often don’t follow up on leads, and since there is no formal feedback mechanism, no improvement is ever made. Also, there is no integrated marketing support to enhance their efforts, such as website landing pages, where the telesales team might direct potentially interested parties.

The bottom line here is one of business philosophy. Lead generation is a critical component to sales effectiveness. It is not something you do when you have a few bucks or when you’re getting panicky because your pipeline appears to be anemic. It must be managed and funded strategically.

Dave Stein is the founder and CEO of ES Research, an organization that provides on-line, membership-based analyses of, and recommendations about, the sales training and sales performance and consulting marketplace and the companies that serve it.

NB: Don’t forget that you can join Dave, Jill Konrath, Linda Richardson, Nigel Edelshain and myself for THE most significant online sales event of the year so far – just click on the banner below for full details.

Today’s News: I don’t do an awful lot of self-promotion on here, but reading the feedback from Kendra Lee of KLA Group - fellow Top Sales Expert and trusted business partner - I realised that I have not mentioned ASP Profile for so long.

So let’s change that today, because I really cannot understand how any sales leader can engage with a training company, without first profiling their team and understanding the specific requirements – here is what I think:

“How good is your sales team when benchmarked against the best in their industry? Do you really know?

Until now, sales leaders have not had access to an effective and purely objective sales team audit tool; As a consequence millions, if not hundreds of millions of pounds world-wide, are wasted every year on irrelevant, unnecessary, or inappropriate sales skills development.

Furthermore, at the front-end – i.e. the recruitment stage – decisions are often made with the aid of generalised psychometric testing at best, or totally subjectively at worst. Poor decisions can cost a company thousands, even hundreds of thousands of pounds in salaries, expenses and, of course, underachieved revenue – unfortunately it can take months to discover an error.

ASP Profile is the most accurate and sophisticated sales competence assessment tool available and represents the culmination of fourteen years ongoing research and experimentation. It has involved consultation with hundreds of individuals, including: captains of industry, psychologists, professional buyers and front line salesmen and women from every industry sector. The end result is that we are now able to recognise the three levels of selling that exists – four in fact, if you include sales management – and as a consequence, we have produced a model at each level that accurately profiles the characteristics and working styles of the very best performers. It assesses existing strengths, limitations, and ongoing development requirements in three specific areas: – Attitude, Skills, and Process.

ASP Profile is totally interactive and reports are generated the same day, enabling you to make rapid decisions.

To discuss your personal requirements please e-mail: aspprofile@jonathanfarrington.com“

Or simply click on this banner to educate yourself –

Tomorrow: Yesterday, I discussed the five main drivers for success and you will have gathered that I passionately believe in first class customer care: With that in mind, my gift to you this week, is a FREE ebook called – “Isn’t Time You Focussed On The customer Imperative?”  Here is a snippet:

“You know about Pareto’s Law – I discuss it often enough – yes that one, the one that says 80% of the business comes from 20% of the customers? Well, it (almost) applies in this case. More than 80% of front line staff haven’t yet totally bought into the idea of effective customer relations. The other 20% have discovered a very enriching way of achieving a satisfactory outcome from interactions with customers. In other words, most of the time, they succeed! And when they succeed, the customers actually thank them!”

This can’t be about you – can it? Find out tomorrow!

During one of my senior management coaching sessions last week, I posed the question: “So just what is it that makes a company successful?”

I had the group whiteboard the exercise and brain-storm around it, with some interesting results.

Unsurprisingly, the finance orientated managers talked about healthy cash flow, strong financial foundations, low debtor days, controlled stock levels and robust management reporting systems.

Sales and marketing people, highlighted strong customer relationships, reliable products, good people, who were fully developed and understood their place in the grand scheme of things.

All, however, highlighted strong leadership as being the most obvious commonality, when identifying consistently successful companies – and of course, they are right.

Success permeates downwards and whatever happens in the boardroom, affects every single employee: As leaders, we have to accept the huge responsibility that we have to our people – they have given us their trust; their loyalty; their commitment.

I believe that there are in fact five main drivers that determine our success, but first let’s consider some other fundamental facts:

Change is continuous and will become more rapid as we move forward over time. Senior management must be capable of reacting to those changes and be prepared to take advantage of them and yet stay within the overall framework and agreed strategy.

The role of strategy is fundamental if the people within an organisation are to be enabled to make the level of contribution of which they are capable. Strategy, based on a good grasp of the core competencies of a business, is an essential precursor to achieving optimal shareholder value.

The world’s leading organisations continuously seek to improve their performance. There may be unlimited potential for achieving accelerated improvement but if this potential is not being realised, good change agents must line up and mobilise all the forces (or drivers) for improvement.

So what are the five main drivers for improvement in organisations?

• Strategy

• Lean operations

• Balanced culture

• Customer responsiveness

• Leadership

Strategy sets direction, and gives focus to improvement. It must however be deployed throughout the organisation to be effective.

Processes need to be mapped and analysed in a methodical way; projects must be managed; problem symptoms traced to root causes; data must be collected before decisions are taken; trends in customer preferences detached and fed back; improvement activity of any kind reported on and coordinated; improvement action measured. Just about everything should be done to a discipline.

A balanced culture means effective, creative management of people. Customers are served by people; processes are managed by people. Only people can deliver quality improvement. For them to work well they must be empowered, given direction, measured, and reviewed and success recognised.

Customer responsiveness keeps the organisation focused on customer needs, reactions and changing requirements.

Finally, leadership ensures that everyone is enthused and supported to work on the strategy, improve processes, served customers and active team players.

Today’s News: If you didn’t make it over here at the weekend, you will have missed the launch of the first TSE Roundtable, which is on Tuesday April 14th.

“The Future of Professional Selling” promises to be the most significant online interactive event of the year so far and lining up with me are: Jill Konrath, Linda Richardson, Dave Stein and Nigel Edelshain.

Do please scroll down to the last post, for full details, and then register as soon as you possibly can, as places have to be limited.

Over the weekend, we took the decision to make some significant changes to the way we manage Top 10: As the site approaches it’s second anniversary, we feel it is time change the ground rules and encourage greater reader participation.

So, from next week, we will no longer have a “Top Sales Article Of The Week” Instead, we will simply have a “Top Sales Article Of The Month” and the twelve winners will battle it out for the “Top Sales Article Of The Year” title in December.

We are also going to change the way we allow articles to be nominated, and I will let you have all the details, once I have spoken to all the current participating article sites.

Finally, we will be introducing a reader poll, to allow you to vote for your favourite article each month – your votes will account for 50% of total marks, the other 50% will be awarded by the expert panel.

Tomorrow: On the JF Guest Author Spot I welcome back Dave Stein – “10 Ideas That Will Increase Your Flow Of Qualified Sales Leads”

TSE Roundtables

The TSE Roundtable Program will deliver the best sales practices of some of the most successful and globally recognized sales gurus in the world.

Each roundtable is just $99.50 for non-members. Members attend for $74.50. You can still…….

Kick Off Event: The Future of Professional Selling

Tuesday April 14th 2009 1.00 PM EASTERN

THE Most Significant Interactive Online Sales Event Of The Year

Join the debate, as five of the world’s leading sales gurus, discuss what professional selling will involve in five, ten, and even twenty year’s time

- Does professional selling as we know it have a future?
- What impact will Sales 2.0 have on the way we sell?
- How will organisations train and develop their sales teams?
- Today, what is the relative value derived from sales training courses versus coaching?
- Will “one-size fits all” classroom training, be consigned to the annals of history?
- Which industries are more likely to witness the death of selling as we know it today?
- What can front-line salespeople do to protect themselves from possible extinction?
- After this current financial meltdown, will lost jobs be re-created?
- Will the rapid growth of online sales training and coaching continue?
- Ongoing research shows that sales performance has been declining year after year. Why is that?
- Quite simply, will selling ever be the same again?

Join us now ……..  hurry, places are limited!

Speaker:

Jonathan Farrington - Chairman of The Sales Corporation and CEO of Top Sales Associates based in London and Paris. He is also the author of the upcoming “So You Really Want To Be A Top 5% Player In The Game Of Sales?”

Speaker:

Jill Konrath - A leading-edge sales strategist … author of the instant sales classic, Selling to Big Companies … an in-demand sales speaker who provides a much needed wake-up call to sales organizations.

Speaker:

Linda Richardson - is the Founder and Chairman of Richardson, a global sales training business. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence for 2006.

Speaker:

Dave Stein – is the founder and CEO of ES Research, an organization that provides on-line, membership-based analyses of, and recommendations about, the sales training and sales performance and consulting marketplace and the companies that serve it.

Chairman:

Nigel Edelshain - is CEO of Sales 2.0 Companies use Sales 2.0′s telesales and consulting services to take their sales to the next level, typically boosting results 3 – 10 times.

Host:

Paul Simon - is communications director for Top Sales Experts. Through TSE, and as contributing sales editor for AllBusiness  and content manager for CanDoGo, he works closely with sales experts throughout the United States and in other countries.

All professional salespeople have to be involved in a presentation at some time in their sales career and Top 5 % players present their proposals every time.

Presentations allow us to: -

• Influence a group of important people.

• Gain consensus and commitment.

• Find out who the real players are and their real status.

• Set the ground rules for a major sale.

• Make a lasting impression of professionalism.

When it comes to the enthusiasm that sales professionals have for making a presentation, they broadly fall into four categories:

The Avoider:

An Avoider does everything possible to escape from having to stand in front of an audience; in some drastic cases salespeople may seek positions that do not involve making presentations.

The Register:

A Register is also extremely hesitant of speaking in public, however Registers may not be able to avoid speaking as part of their job but they never encourage it. When they do speak they do so very reluctantly.

The Acceptor:

The Acceptor will give presentations as part of their job but does not seek opportunities to do so. Acceptors occasionally give a presentation and feel they did a good job. They even find that once in a while they are quite persuasive and enjoy the experience.

The Seeker:

A Seeker looks for opportunities to speak. They understand that anxiety can be a stimulant which fuels enthusiasm during a presentation. Seekers work at building their professional communication skills and self-confidence by speaking often.

In Summary:

The reality is, that making presentations is an essential sales skill and as I highlighted earlier, Top 5% achievers are very good presenters. Any salesman or woman, who has ambitions to become the best in their sector or industry, will need to ensure that they can deliver dynamic, convincing and professional presentations, whenever they are called upon to do so.

Becoming a Seeker is a pre-requisite for success!

Today’s News: What a superb set of interviews we have had already this week over at TSE Dailies:

You can catch them all here

Tomorrow: I am heading home to France, after a pretty hectic three weeks, (Yes, I really do love Paris in the springtime!)  I’ll be back here for you on Monday, so be sure to join me. As ever, have a great weekend wherever you are – JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

Paul Cherry
When I started out in sales, I worked for a manager I’ll call “Larry.” One of my goals at the time was to find a mentor, to learn from someone with experience in the industry. I thought I’d found that mentor in Larry, until I learned his goal was to retire in three years. Nothing wrong with that, except that Larry focused all his time and energy on his impending retirement in a nice house on a golf course, not on his job.

When I asked for advice on approaching clients, he shrugged. “I really don’t have the answers, Paul. You figure it out.” At that moment, I knew I had to find another job. Much as I liked Larry, our opposing goals made it impossible for us to work together. Mentally, he’d already clocked out of the working world, so there was no way he could motivate me.

When it comes to inspiring your employees, ask yourself, “What motivates me?” How passionate are you when it comes to achieving your goals? Such passion is infectious: your employees are sure to catch it. Discover your motivation by identifying your own professional and personal goals while helping your employees achieve theirs. If you and your employees aren’t on the same page where goals are concerned, you might soon find you’re not even in the same book.

What’s the definition of a goal?

You might think it’s silly to even try to define a goal, and that’s okay. I thought I knew the definition of a goal until I spoke with motivational coach Michael Wickett. Mike told me that only 2% of the population has goals. With that, a debate began.

I told Mike, “When I ask salespeople at my seminars, ‘Who here has goals?’, they all raise their hands.”

He shook his head. “No, Paul, they don’t have goals. They have dreams.” That puzzled me. “What’s the difference?”

“Dreams are in your head. Goals are written down,” Mike explained. “In order for something to be a goal, you need to write it down.”

Mike was right. Many people have dreams about how their lives will end up, but few people take the time to sit down and form detailed plans to make those dreams a reality. For instance, how many people do you know who want to lose weight? The older we get, the more we think about getting healthier, and losing weight is a giant step in that direction for many of us. Now consider how many people have made losing weight one of their life goals. Sure, plenty of us want to lose weight, but how many of us really put that dream into action in the form of a solid goal with specific steps?

How to turn your dream into a goal

1. A goal must be written down.

The process of writing down our goals forces us to transform our vague desires into concrete objectives.

2. A goal must be specific.

Specific goals help us focus our energy and make the most of how we spend our time. Rather than saying, “I want to make my life better,” set specific goals such as, “I want to purchase a condominium on the beach,” or “I want to have two kids.”

3. A goal must be measurable.

If our goals aren’t measurable, how will we know when we’ve reached them? Examples of measurable goals include “I want to lose 15 pounds,” or “I want to sell $2 million worth of products.”

4. A goal must have a time frame.

We must put our goals in terms of time, otherwise we might put them off indefinitely. The time frame for one of your goals could be anywhere from one week to twenty years or more. The important thing is to have a deadline—and stick to it!

Here are examples of personal and professional goals that meet all four requirements:

* My goal is to lose 15 pounds in the next six months.”

* “I have a goal to produce $2 million in the next fiscal year through sales of my new product.”

* “My goal is to own a three-bedroom vacation home at the beach by the summer of 2010.”

* “I have a goal to open up 15 new franchise locations of my business in the next five years.”

* Now that you know the difference between goals and dreams, do a personal inventory.

What are your goals? You need a picture of where you want yourself and others to go. At work, this will help maximize your efforts and determine what you need from your employees.

Questions to help you deliniate your goals

* “What’s my vision of the future?”

* “Where do I picture myself three years from today?”

* “How will others perceive me in the future? My boss, my peers, my family?”

* “What has to happen in the next two years for me to be happy with my progress?”

* “What visual image do I have for my team? What visual image do I have for my company?”

* “How do I want to be perceived by my customers? My employees?”

* “How would my boss define me in one sentence?”

* “What excites me most about my job? What do I want to do more of/less of/stop doing altogether, so I can achieve what’s important to me? To my team? To my company?”

* “Which mountain do I want to climb?”

* “What’s my definition of success?”

* “What benchmarks do I need to achieve in order to feel successful?”

* “What actions do I need to perform on a daily/weekly/monthly basis to achieve my goals?”

* “What areas of my job should I focus on in order to have the most impact on my staff?”

* “Where do I need to prioritize to insure my success? My team’s success?”

If your employees’ goals aren’t aligned with yours, you’ll find yourselves working at cross-purposes. Think about your own personal and professional goals, then write them down and turn your written words into actions. Once you know what you want, you’ll be better prepared to help your employees figure out what they want, putting all of you on the same page and the fast track to your happy ending of choice.

Paul Cherry is the Founder of Performance Based Results, an international sales and leadership training organization. He has over 20 years of experience in performance improvement strategies. To date he has helped over 1,200 organizations in every major industry from newly formed start-up companies to leading Fortune 500 corporations.

He is also a and you can read more about him here

Today’s News:Over at Salesopedia today, Clayton Shold is in conversation with Keith Rosen: “Who Stole Your Sales Mojo?” and you can catch the entire interview by simply clicking on the banner below as usual.

Tomorrow: All professional salespeople have to make a presentation at some point in their careers and the very best are what I call “Seekers” Join me to discover the characteristics of “Seekers”