I am re-publishing this article today for several reasons.

Most importantly is that I want people to have an opportunity to make 2011 a really great year and that starts by building a plan.

The 90 day plan format is perfect for so many reasons, not least it is manageable and achievable for pretty much anybody.

The vast majority of business owners (over 90%) will go into 2011 exactly the same way they went into 2010, but will expect and hope for different results.

By taking just a few hours out of your business and concentrating on planning and strategy for the first quarter of the New Year has the potential to make a massive difference.

This Friday (10th December) I have just two spaces available for my last and best 90 day planning day of the year.

If you really, truly want different results in 2011 then you really, truly need to do something different. Building a great plan is the best place to start.

These workshops have been going on all year every 90 days and we have returning business owners at each event. They have an edge over their competition – you can too.

Join us this Friday 10th 12 noon through til 16:30 with lunch provided.

• Small group
• Planning workbook to complete
• 121 time with the coach to help you find some goals and objectives
• Help with building your very own plan
• Work together with like minded local business owners

It’s not too late to book, simply go to www.iandickson.biz/events

It’s that time of year where we begin to evaluate how well we did and start to develop new plans for this year. This year I’d like to suggest that you try something new, rather than creating a one-year marketing plan or a five-year marketing plan, why not try creating a 90-day plan?

While it’s important to always monitoring your marketing it is vital in this economy to be diligent and watch where you spend your marketing pounds as well as track how effective your marketing campaigns are.

Why a 90-day plan?

• You can use it to clearly track progress in the short-term.
• You can use the data you gather over the 90-days to create a baseline that you can use to track your grand plan.
• It enables you to re-direct your plan if something is not working and do it quickly without worrying that it will affect your annual plan.
• Using 90-day increments enable you to stay in tune with change and meet the market demands, without detouring from your master goal.
• Your master plan will not become irrelevant, because your 90-day goals will continue to drive you the finish line.

What better time to get started than today? I’ve always noticed when working with companies to redo their marketing plan and build out a workable strategy that it ignites a new excitement about the business and the potential that may have been lost in the paperwork and busyness of day-to-day duties.

Are you ready to get started? Find a quiet place, sit down and spend some time evaluating and answering the following questions:

• What marketing worked well for my business in 2010?
• What marketing worked well, but could have done better in 2010?
• What marketing did I do in 2010 that didn’t work well at all?
• The marketing that I did in 2010 that did well, performed well because:
• The marketing that I did in 2010 that failed, failed because:
• In the next 90-days, I define my target market as?
  • Will I change the geography I target?
  • Will I target a different income level or demographic of consumers?
  • Will I target product-oriented users, service users or both?
• In 2010 my consumers could be defined by target market as?
• What marketing vehicles will I use in the next 90-days and why?
• I really need to work on enhancing, concentrating or revising my marketing message by:
• In the next 90-days my marketing budget will be?

Now use the answers to these questions and chart them on a 90-day timeline. Set your start date, your end date and what you will do in between. Evaluate weekly how your plan is working, make changes where you need to and adjust when necessary. When you list out what has to happen in the next 90-days, you’ll have a clearer picture of priorities, a realistic working plan, and the results you’ll generate.

Ability to Listen
Along with speaking, a great salesperson knows when to stop talking and listen. They never cut someone off while they are talking, because in doing so they would fail to hear a key element in identifying what that person’s needs might be.

Asks Great Questions
Salespeople are naturally inquisitive and know that in order to isolate what the real need or desire is in the buyer, they need to ask questions that will lead them to the answer. They naturally ask questions because they have a desire to help solve their problem.

Problem Solver
Another natural skill is the desire and ability to solve problems. Great salespeople are always solving problems. The ability to hone in on what the buyer’s problem is and offering suggestions that will effectively solve the problem with respect to what products or services you sell, generally results with a sale.

Well Organized
I am not necessarily speaking of your personal surroundings, but more with your thoughts and methods of planning. Sales people have a keen ability to break things down into smaller steps and organize a plan of action. They know how to analyze what their goal is and in what order the steps need to be in in order to reach that goal.

Self-Starter and Self-Finisher
A successful sales person moves forward on their own. They never need anyone to tell them when it is time to go to work because they know that if they do not work they will not earn. They are also very persistent to finish what they start. They achieve their goals, even if they are small ones.

Positive Self Image
Having the attitude that they can do just about anything that they put their mind to is usually very common among sales people. They do not cower from meeting or talking to people or trying something new. They rarely allow negatives that are either spoken to them or about them to effect what they are trying to accomplish because they know who they are and what they are capable of doing.

Well Mannered and Courteous
The best sales people are very well mannered. You may not realize it, but good manners is a way of showing respect for others. People are attracted to those that respect them and mutual respect is fundamental in building lasting relationships with people..including buyers.

Naturally Persuasive
Another very common inherent skill with great salespeople is that they are very persuasive or know how to get what they want. They focus on what they want and they are persistent to keep chipping away until they get what they want. They almost never give up or give in.

Person of Integrity
A salesperson without integrity will have many struggles which will often include hopping from job to job. Honesty in sales is so important and it is almost impossible for this skill to be taught. You or the person you are looking to hire is either a person of integrity or are not. Be as analytical as possible on the evaluation of this skill.

Without doubt one of the most rewarding and cost effective ways to generate leads for your business is through a referrals program. When done correctly it has multiple advantages for you and your business.

1. It saves you time
2. It saves you money
3. It has a high conversion rate
4. It ensures you are keeping your existing client base happy
5. You generate a higher number of grade A customers.

1. Set A Target: In business, measure the results to improve performance. Set a clear goal with a time line. Example, 10% increase in referral business over the next 10 weeks.

2. Timing: Conventional sales wisdom claims the best time to ask for the referral is immediately after the close. This tactic is far too aggressive. Give your clients time to experience your service or product before asking for a referral. Ask for the referral at close only if your client is already delighted with your business.

3. Top 20: Not all customers are referral candidates. Find the top 20% that are ecstatic about your business and ask them for referrals. Make sure their network is the type of client you want.

4. Give and You’ll Receive: Give your clients extra service and follow-up support before asking for referrals. When you give willingly to your customers, they will return the favour.

5. Type of Customer: Inform your referring clients of the type of customers you can help. Provide a clear picture of the customer demographics will help your referral marketing.

6. Rewards Program: Provide special rewards to your referring customers on a regular basis. If a customer provides you with 5 sales, offer them something special, e.g. discounts.

7. Thank-You: You need to establish trust to build referrals. Create a basic thank you letter that can be personalized and sent to each referral you receive. Treat your referral sources with the utmost of care and you will not only build a foundation of trust but keep hot prospects coming to your door.

These tips are simple but when executed on a regular basis they can drive your referral business and build sales revenue. Start today and watch your referrals grow.

Then here are a few questions you should ask yourself to ensure you get the very best advert working for you…..

Does the advert:

• Have a strong headline to catch attention?
• Does the layout follow the A.I.D.A. princinples? – (Attention – Interest -Desire – Action)
• Mention the benefits of your product or service?
• Have ‘you’ appeal – will it appeal to your target audience?
• Answer questions the reader might ask?
• Include a Call to Action (CTA) telephone number, website address and/or contact details? The size of the CTA needs to be relative to the size of the advert use typefaces and logosin a consistent way? This will help form your company image
• Have short sentences and paragraphs and use simple and clear language to avoid confusion?
• Make sense? Will it to your target customer?
• Include quotations from happy customers as proof that your product or service is worth purchasing (if applicable)?
• Have an image or picture appropriate to the purpose of the advert? (if applicable)
• Break up the copy with sub-headings that tell the story (if it is a large advert)?

Finally:

• Is the advert being placed in the most appropriate place?
• Is it legal, honest, decent and truthful?

These simple questions will help you to create a business generating advert for your business.

I am running a workshop in the next few weeks where we will be applying these rules and building adverts for those attending. Contact me for more details.

Even if you are not directly involved in sales in your day to role, you may be surpised to read we are actually involved in selling  nearly every day. We are constantly selling ourselves, whether that be formally or informally, at work or at home, we are constantly vying for attention, understanding or priority. Even as a buyer we are selling… Consider this – In every single sales meeting a sale takes place. Either they sold you YES, or you sold them NO. So, understanding the sale and what makes people good at selling is a learned behaviour. Knowing some of the secrets to closing a sale might help you in both the work place and in life generally…. Enjoy.

Key Concepts:

1. By asking questions, there is no way you can get unhappy with me about the answers you give to those questions
2. There are five basic reasons people will not buy from you.  These are:  no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, and no trust.
3. People buy what they want when they want it more than they want the money it costs.
4. You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
5. You must believe in what you are doing, that you are interested in serving your client and that you do feel you are offering the best product or service at the best price which will do the most for your client and their needs.
6. The prospect is persuaded more by the depth of your conviction than he is by the height of your logic.
7. I am glad you are concerned about the price….because that’s one of our most attractive advantages.  Would you agree that, as a practical matter, a product is worth what it can do for you and not what you have to pay for it? Our company has the choice between providing coaching as cheaply as possible and selling it as a get by service, or providing coaching that teaches you how to create long-lasting results, profits and growth.
8. Selling is essentially a transference of feeling….believers are closers…c stands for conviction.
9. A calm, confident, positive, reassuring salesperson working from a base of honesty and integrity is the most effective tool to calm the fear of the prospect and get the sale.
10. Take the reason why he could not buy and use it as the reason why he must buy.
11. Move to the prospect’s side of the table, identify the problem, get involved in the solution, and your closing percentage will increase.
12. Your business is never really good or bad out there.  Your business is either good or bad right between your own two ears.
13. Improve your self-image and you will improve your sales performance.
14. The high performer is sensitive to the value of the customer’s time and is able to spend more quality time in front of the customer because he spends more quality time planning strategy and preparing for the call.
15. The high performer is able and willing to explain service drawbacks, builds relationships and provides a valuable service.
16. Professionals are counsellors who identify the prospect’s needs and then fill those needs through his services.
17. Since your integrity is the most important factor in building customer loyalty and career stability, the practicality of a totally honest relationship becomes even more obvious.
18. Have a booster week….a total-effort week during which you give your maximum effort from early in the morning until late at night.
19. Positive mental preparation in advance will help absorb the impact of dealing with negative experiences.
20. You build your mental reserve by reading the good books, by listening to motivational and sales training recordings and attending professional training sessions.
21. Build your reserves, get your thinking right, get your spiritual values in order, get your body in good physical condition, and you will have the key steps toward building an exciting and successful career.
22. People believe more of what they see than what they hear. – use testimonials
23. Logic makes people think, but it is emotion that makes then act.
24. Use emotion and logic in a presentation, chances are excellent you will end up with a sale and a happy customer for the future
25. High performers – involve others by soliciting opinions, sharing information and establishing trust relationships inside the organization…they are total, well-balanced people with integrity who are knowledgeable and aggressively caring in their creative approach to solving problems….He is so other-people conscious he never lets his ego hinder his efforts…is inspirational and motivational….he believe in his ability to make the sale on a specific call…the professional is the one who has an assured competence in a particular field or occupation.  It is a quality performance….school is never out for him….he studies his prospects…
26. He know his prospects will make their decision based on what they understand and believe so he undersells, keeps it simple and makes it believable
27. He is a thinker, but he clearly understands it is better to emulate genius than to create mediocrity, so he evaluates materials and procedures on the basis of results. Tests and measures.
28. The professional possesses conviction, concern, confidence, and courage.  His confidence is strong that he can persuade the prospect to take action, and his courage enables him to ask the prospect to take action now for his own best interests.
29. In the final analysis he understands that his career will depend on what he does with what he knows, not just on what he knows.
30. Drop a note to all prospects and clients at least once a month
31. The professional is skilled at communicating and reading the prospect’s communications back to him.
32. When you are talking with a prospect, please remember that in most cases he’s delighted to give you pertinent information if you will just ask for it!
33. Always think as a seller and a buyer
34. If there are any objections, it is infinitely better to bring them out early so you can deal with them as part of the presentation rather than at the end of the interview.
35. Don’t argue, get defensive, or try to justify the price.  Quietly and with an almost casual confidence put the ball back in their court.  I.e.  Is it too much?  What do you think would be a fair difference to give in exchange for increasing your profits?
36. The best way to get a prospect to make a favourable new decision is to make him happy with an old decision.
37. Break down costs and frame with similar costs per month or values
38. You make the sale when the prospect understands that it will cost more to do nothing about the problem than to do something about it.
39. Do you carry the marble?  Do you carry the baseball? Or do you carry the beach ball?
40. Words that sell: your clients name, understand, proven, health, easy, guarantee, money, safety, save, new, love, discovery, right, results, truth, comfort, proud, profit, deserve, happy, trust, value, fun, vital, security, your, advantage, positive, and benefits.

I know you understand the value of planning. Unfortunately, in today’s busy business environment, most business owners never manage to put the time aside to get the essential planning done that will enable them to take their business to the level they desire. Because of this, far too many business owners – just like you – end up feeling frustrated and trapped with no end in sight.

So, during 2010 I am going to provide 2-3 afternoon sessions throughout the year where I will help you put together a plan that you can actually take away with you. ON THE DAY….

FIRST ONE  – Friday 26^th March 2010 – 12.00 noon to 16.30

For just £50

I’ll give you ALL this…

• Goals for the next 12 months to aim at.
• A clearly defined plan for the next 90 days.
• A marketing plan to support the delivery of your goals.
• A step by step guide to keeping you on track.
• Some marketing strategies to help you build your profits right away.
• The skills and tools to get more done in less time.
• A list of your top 5 goals for the next 90-Days.
• Help & advice from an award winning performance coach.
• Network with other like-minded business owners.
• Lunch, tea and coffee throughout the afternoon!
• My personal guarantee that if you don’t feel you have had  good value for money I will refund your £50 (no questions asked)

This is a workshop environment, fewer people, more 121 time with the coach and a hands on experience for you and your business plans.

For just £50+VAT you will go away with a clearer understanding of your destination for 2010 and how you plan to get yourself there.

These workshops are designed for smaller groups. Consequently they SELL-OUT fast… So don’t delay book today and reserve your place, before the competition does!….

To book your place today BOOK HERE – OR – Call me on 02392 423218

How important is it that your services are easy to sell? Wouldn’t it be even better if they were easy to buy?

Why is selling a service so different from selling a product? In some ways, the principles should be the same. The objective is to get the prospect to agree that the way to solve their problem is to use your product or service.

• The element of trust: It’s never possible to know exactly what will be received until the service has been given
• The sales person as part of the service: The product sales person can never be part of his or her product. The product has its own dimensions and specifications which are self contained and unique. But a sales person selling a service is often part of the ‘package’ – especially if it is you, selling your own service.
• A service can’t be stored: You can’t make it in advance and stock it for selling later. And each time you deliver a service, it’s going to be slightly different.

So, how can you make the process of selling a service that much more effective? Here are a few quick ideas for you to experiment with, adapt and adopt

1. Make the Intangible Tangible: Services are intangible–you can’t see them, touch them, take them out of the box or demonstrate them. Yet this is exactly what you need to do to make them easier for your customers to buy them. So how do you accomplish this?

The answer is to “productize” your service. Make it tangible. Think like a product manager. Here are four different techniques you can use to package your service to act more like a product:

• Turn your service into a product.
• Package your different service levels.
• Combine your services and create a new offering.
• Package your process.

Each of these techniques will help you create a distinct (tangible) advantage over other service providers and make your services easier to buy.

2. Use testimonials: These can be concrete evidence that your service has worked for other people. And if your existing satisfied customers don’t volunteer testimonials, ask for them. You’ll seldom get a refusal.

3. Make your service offering  different: Product manufacturers try to make their products different from their competitors. It’s even more important to show how your service offers something different. And make sure that the differences are ones which are important to the prospect.

4. Don’t sell your time: If you are selling a time-based service, try not to sell it on the basis of so many hours worked. Sell it on so much per solution or project. This way, you remove the fear barrier that you might be trying to spin the project out  and you’ll be offering a firm outcome for a fixed price.

What all these techniques have in common is the opportunity for you to present all the value you deliver. Often, we make assumptions that our customers understand everything we do for them. But this just isn’t the case: You need to pull out every piece of value you provide over the course of a project and present that to the client in order for them to completely understand what a terrific job you’re doing for them.

Then here are a few questions you should ask yourself to ensure you get the very best advert working for you…..

Does the advert:

• have a strong headline to catch attention?
• Does the layout follow the A.I.D.A. princinples? – (Attention – Interest -Desire – Action)
• mention the benefits of your product or service?
• have ‘you’ appeal – will it appeal to your target audience?
• answer questions the reader might ask?
• include a Call to Action (CTA) telephone number, website address and/or contact details? The size of the CTA needs to be relative to the size of the advert use typefaces and logosin a consistent way? This will help form your company image
• have short sentences and paragraphs and use simple and clear language to avoid confusion?
• make sense? Will it to your target customer?
• include quotations from happy customers as proof that your product or service is worth purchasing (if applicable)?
• have an image or picture appropriate to the purpose of the advert? (if applicable)
• break up the copy with sub-headings that tell the story (if it is a large advert)?

Finally:

• Is the advert being placed in the most appropriate place?
• Is it legal, honest, decent and truthful?

These simple questions will help you to create a business generatin advert for your business.

01. Test & Measuring System – for everything
02. Improve Conversion, Use Phone Scripts – Incoming and Sales
03. Put Prices Up
04. Add on Sale – Cross sell & Up sell
05. Public Relations Article
06. Direct Mail to existing Clients with telemarketing backup
07. Cold Phone Call – Use script
08. Extend Supplier Credit – or any other creditors
09. Pre paid sales
10. Use Debt Collection Agency
11. Closed Door Sales – bring a friend
12. Packaged offer – Quick moving line with slow moving line
13. Product Range add on sale – limited campaign (this week only)
14. Reverse Host Beneficiary (sell other peoples product for % )
15. Increase stock turns – stock rationalisation (slow stock out )
16. Events – novelty events to generate publicity
17. Sell excess assets
18. Small ads – classified – spot ads – for lead generation
19. Sales Team Incentives
20. Split level Pricing
21. Referrals – Have a referral or non referral price

Features and Benefits

Commonly accepted marketing wisdom suggests that customers like benefits. They don’t give a damn about features. A classic Marketing 101 exercise suggests that you take a piece of paper, and on the left side, write down a list of your product or service’s features. On the right side, list the corresponding benefit(s).

Heaters Feature: It comes with a timer.
Benefit: Your house will be warm when you get home from work.

Lipstick Feature: Fancy-pants patent-pending co-enzyme light-diffusing blah blah blah.
Benefit: Your lips will be glossier.

Trousers Feature: Lycra panels at the waist
Benefit: You will look 10 pounds slimmer.

It’s a little harder to demonstrate when you’re selling a service. Features and benefits tend to look alike. Here are a few:

Phone service Feature: Call forwarding
Benefit: You’ll never miss another important call.

Internet service Feature: 7 megabyte per second download speed
Benefit: All those mp3s you’re stealing come much faster.

Web design Feature: Knowledge of PHP, AJAX, JavaScript, etc.
Benefit: You get a pretty website.

What if you can’t figure out if something is a feature or a benefit?

If you don’t know, drill down. Ask why whatever it is you’re thinking about is important to your customer. When you arrive at an answer that even a three-year-old could understand, you’ve found your benefit.

For example, let’s say you run a freelance writing business. You have a network of other writers to whom you can subcontract. Is your network a benefit or a feature?

You: I have a team of freelancers available to me.
Customer: Why do I care?
You: Because you can have your stuff done 5 times faster.