Sales Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

New Book Removes Fear From Sales With Practical, Easy-To-Implement Techniques

As a small business owner, I found Greg Andersen’s Small Business Sales, WTF (Without the Fear) full of practical advice, new ideas, and down-to-earth common sense to help me rethink my sales approaches. Andersen has been in sales for many years in the printing business, but the advice he offers is applicable to anyone in sales, especially small business owners who may be wearing all the hats themselves or unable to focus on sales because they’re too busy looking after everything else.

Small Business Sales, WTF is divided into two sections: Pre-Sales Planning, in which Andersen discusses products, going to market with products, creating a sales environment, and then The Sales Process, in which he explores how to find customers, make contact, get the opportunity to sell to the customer, execute the sale, and then follow up with and retain the customer long-term. Andersen walks readers through each step of the sales process, providing practical and personal examples of what has worked for him that readers can easily model or put their own spins on.

Andersen writes in a humorous but tell-it-like-it-is style to dismiss myths about the sales process and cut through sales jargon to get to what the reader really needs to know. For example, early in the book, he has a list of “Words/Phrases you will not hear in my book.” Among the phrases included is “Belly-to-Belly” to which he responds, “Gross. How about face-to-face.” Another phrase is “Low Hanging Fruit,” which he says does not really exist, and still another is “Hook,” which he finds insulting because it assumes customers are suckers or fish. Instead, Andersen prefers to treat his customers like human beings and rather than “close the sale” come to an “agreement” between two parties who trust and respect each other.

For most people, sales can have a bad name. No one likes being sold to, and people who reluctantly take on a sales role are aware of that and often fearful of selling. Andersen teaches readers how to remove the fear of sales by rethinking what sales really is. Most people dread the “cold call,” so Andersen talks about instead viewing sales as “demand generation.” It’s about looking for where there is a demand for your services and then providing the product or service to fulfill that demand. It’s also about listening to customers.

Andersen states: “When all is said and done, only a few methods of outreach will really get you in contact with a prospective new customer-the phone, letter writing, a trade show, and email. What really counts is the technique you employ.” He then provides creative examples of how to handle sales through each of these approaches, as well as discussing social media as a sales strategy. His examples are drawn from personal experiences, from his days as a shoe salesman at Nordstrom to his current sales role in the printing industry. Best of all, he even includes copies of letters he has sent to clients. His techniques are simple and straightforward, so anyone, no matter how scared of sales, can implement them.

Of course, there will be difficult clients or people who don’t want to hear how you can help them. Andersen provides strategies for getting past the gatekeepers to the decision makers. He reveals his research techniques, which are quite clever and even include looking at prospective customers’ job postings to determine who in a company is or will be in a buyer position for his product.

When facing resistance from a potential client, Andersen realizes it’s not always about him, his approach, or his product. I loved the following invaluable point he made: “Another way I like to approach these challenging situations is to remind myself that all these excuses mean the customer is probably protecting his current vendor. If he is being loyal to his current vendor, some day he will be loyal to me. Stay positive.” Personally, I know this is true as a business owner. If I have a vendor providing me with a good service at a good price, I feel loyal to that vendor and am not willing to change. Such clients may be resistant to change, but they are the ones you want because they are loyal. Andersen shows how persistence pays off in these situations. Sometimes he makes contact with customers who are not in need of his services right then, but years later, he secures business with them, and even if at first he doesn’t get the level of business he wants, they often will give him some business as a trial and then he can work his way in to larger sales with them.

Perhaps what I liked most about Andersen’s approaches is that he truly believes in being responsive to clients. I cannot stress enough how frustrated I feel when I send an email to someone who does not reply to me for several days. I am personally always very responsive to my clients and usually reply within hours if not minutes. Andersen points out that even if you don’t have an answer to a client’s problem or you can’t take the time to respond to a question at that moment, a simple response like, “I’m on it,” lets clients know you will get back to them and then they can quit worrying about their problem and go on to the next item on their to-do list until you do get back to them. In other words, Andersen is always in favor of reassuring the client that you will do what you say and provide reliable and quality service.

Altogether, Small Business Sales, WTF does take a lot of the fear and stress out of sales. I believe most readers will be pleasantly surprised by this book; they’ll read Andersen’s stories and examples and say to themselves, “I can do that,” and even find ideas of their own popping into their heads as they build off of Andersen’s advice. Whether you are a small business owner with absolutely no sales experience, are just starting out in sales, or have been in sales for years, there are plenty of nuggets of advice here that can make your sales process easier, more lucrative, and all around more enjoyable.

Frame Control: How to Bust the Power Frame in Business and Sales Situations

The definition of a frame is a set of emotions and desires that you bring to the table anytime you are communicating with another person. Now the interesting thing about frame control is that whenever two or more people are interacting one person’s frame will overcome the other person’s frame and this person will usually get their way.

Example: Think about a courtroom, you have a judge, two attorneys and a group of jurors. The two attorneys both have their own desires and emotions, the attorney who’s frame is adopted by the jurors will win the case.

Technique: busting the power frame.

This is a technique that you could probably use in a variety of situations but the best examples for it are ones that are relevant to the business situations.

If you are in the business world you have had the experience of dealing with someone who had the power frame because of their massive ego. This is person who is used to getting their way, they are used to people acquiescing to their desires, this is a person who usually does whatever the hell they want to do regardless of the information or how it effects other people. Power frame types tend to be oblivious to what others think. Their ego is rooted in their status. These are usually people who have big titles or feel some kind entitlement.

If you are communicating or negotiating with a power frame a lot of times they will only listen to the first few seconds of what you have to say and then make a snap judgment about what they will do. Inevitably in business and in life we have to deal with these kinds of people coming from this kind of ego driven a power frame. However, the good news is that they are vulnerable to your power busting frame because they do not expect it. They expect your difference & obedience. You will take them by surprise with this technique:

To bust a power frame, use a mildly shocking but not unfriendly act. Do or say something that is slightly defiant but at the same time be humorous.

When you are defiant and funny at the same time, a power frame personality is going to be pleasantly challenged by you and instinctively knows that they are in the presence of a pro.

Example: Let’s say you are a sales person and you are in the boardroom making a power point pitch. While you are in the middle of your pitch you realize that one of the key decision makers of the deal gives you an objection to doing the deal.

Since you are true sale bro you are say: “Hey Chris, that’s a great question, I would really like to finish this presentation because I think when you have the total picture of what I am proposing it will make sense to you” then you go on with your presentation.

A few minutes later you notice Chris is playing on their blackberry and not paying attention to your presentation. Anyone who’s been in sales or negotiates deals for living is familiar with this kind of situation, now say: “Hey Chris, I would just hate to have to use my Jedi powers to take your blackberry from you while I finish my fascinating presentation” While you do this make sure you are smiling big at Chris and roll your eyes a little when you say fascinating presentation.

This line accomplishes a few things:

It’s slightly shocking because you are calling out Chris for not paying attention.

You are being funny saying that you have Jedi powers.

Using positive and body language and joking about your presentation being fascinating you are building rapport between you and Chris.

Chris is now going to be super focused on you for the duration of your presentation.

So when you encounter the power frame be a little defiant or deny them what they want from you while at the same time being funny and friendly and you will win frame control of the situation.

Great Plains Sales Commission Report – Highlights For Consultant

Microsoft Dynamics GP serves vide spectrum of industries, and likely that very large percentage of Great Plains customers deploy Sales Order Processing module, especially if they also carry Inventory control and need Invoice or Sales Order itemization. In out-of-the-box Dynamics GP you should be able to setup basic commission schema for your sales persons and even sales territories, however real life is often different and requires commissions to be accrued on very complex rules. We would like to come through some commission calculation formulas and give you technical highlights:

1. Credit Card related Sales commission calculations. As credit card processor has in turn its own commission, you likely are trying to discourage your sales reps to sell on credit card. Instead, you probably encourage your sales folks to incline customer to send overnight checks or do wire transfers. However in eCommerce scenarios credit cards are often the only way to work with walk in customers and you got to accept credit cards. Complications with credit card acceptance business might be related to the gradation on preferred and less desirable credit card networks. In this scenario you would like to build sales commission report with credit card fees subtracted from the sales amount, subject to commissions

2. Project completion commission schemas. These are when you are having your sales people to be responsible for the project delivery, including manufacturing overhead and associated purchases. In this scenario you would like to calculate commission for delivered projects, meaning invoices, which are not yet delivered in the sense of production orders and drop ship purchases should be placed on hold

3. Other sales commission schemas. These might be related to sales quota for the quarter or month, discounted items versus cash cow items differentiation, just to give your real life scenarios, which would be difficult to implement in standard Dynamics GP functionality

4. How commission logic might be implemented. In our opinion, Dynamics GP, being targeted for mid-size and smaller businesses makes it feasible to do commission on reporting level with following reports results data entry into either AP or Payroll module for commission disbursement

5. Technology insights. Commission reports should be based on complex commission calculation SQL stored procedure or view. Reporting tool might one of the industry standards: Crystal Reports, SQL Server Reporting Services, Excel, Microsoft Access, Great Plains Dexterity, C# or VB.Net report web publishing

How to Reprogram Your Voice To Be Effective in Business and Sales

As the famous American song says, “Make someone happy and you will be happy too!” Happiness is conveyed in the sound of your speaking voice and it is amazing how quickly that sound affects someone else. Your happy sound can give the momentary gift of hope and it is a powerful way to communicate confidence and inspire others to be confident.

It was previously written that neuroscientists have established that 95% of our behavior is subconscious and habitual and that 5% of our behavior is consciously determined. The good news is that we can use that 5% to change our subconscious programming and the sound of your voice is a powerful tool for effecting that reprogramming both in ourselves and in others.

For the past several years many have been in very challenging economic times and it is very easy to fall into the “victim response” and to sound flat, frustrated, depressed and even angry without consciously realizing it.

I believe that none of us survive alone and that together we can create a world that supports all life including the earth itself. I also feel that if we believe we can create the world we want, we need to start sounding like it.

We can begin by consistently sounding energetic, confident, caring, and persuasive when speak. For me this is the sound of hope, the sound that moves another person to feel better about them self. “Yes we can” needs to sound consistently powerful, caring, and confident.

I realize that we can’t all sound like professional speakers; however, projection and speech melody are two voice skills that will help you to sound more confident, positive, and persuasive in everyday conversation.

Projection is the ability to throw your voice into the ear of the listener. The amount of projection and the degree of loudness in your voice depends on how far away your listener is. Even if you are talking on the phone with a relatively quiet voice you still need to project. When you project you are sending the signal to the listener that he/she needs to open and pay attention.

Try this exercise, put your index finger and thumb together and make the OK sign. Pretend that the “O” that is formed by your fingers is the opening of a megaphone, like the Dallas cheerleaders use. Now put the “O” or the opening of your megaphone up to your mouth and speak into it. You will find that you will take a big breath and use the breath to throw your sound and words into your imaginary megaphone. This is called projecting a well-supported and focused sound. Now combine projection with speech melody.

Speech melody is the ability to change pitch either higher or lower in order to emphasize the words you feel are important and to create a melody to your speaking voice that is pleasant, engaging, inspiring and motivating.

A simple phrase we say all the time “Hello! How are you?” Try going from a low pitch to a high pitch in the word “hello” to more easily engage your listener. Then start on a low pitch for the word “how” and a little higher for the word “are” and a little higher for the word “you”. The reason you are going from a low pitch to a high pitch throughout the 3 word sentence is because you are asking a question and inviting a response. One always goes up in pitch at the end of sentence that asks a question.

At a lecture by Bruce Lipton, PhD, celebrated cell biologist, a warm human being, the forerunner in the Science of Epigenetics and the author of the Biology of Belief, he began by stating that 95% of our behavior is controlled by subconscious programs acquired before the age of six and that neuroscience has established that the conscious mind is in charge only about 5% of the time.

The subconscious programs such as walking, eating, speaking, etc. function outside the conscious mind and therefore they are making our everyday decisions without us even noticing. These subconscious programs originate from our parents, family, and community and often are limiting and many times disempowering. The good news is that the subconscious programs can be rewritten by the conscious mind putting you back in control.

Many business professionals say that they don’t like the sound of their voice. They want to change their voice and change the way people feel about them. In fact, a college student recently wrote that he has “a soft spoken voice and others think of him as weak and unassertive.”

When people want to change their voice, it says to me that their conscious mind has decided to reprogram their subconscious speaking behavior. They have decided to take control of their subconscious by asking it to become aware of the speaking skills needed to speak easily and clearly and confidently. Given a new awareness and the time to practice the speaking skills, the subconscious is perfectly willing to get on board. You can reprogram your speaking pattern and habits permanently.

Another example is a male whose voice tone is very easily affected by his mood of feeling totally overwhelmed on a daily basis, he stated that it is very difficult, almost impossible, for him to sound continually engaging when dealing with co-workers and clients. I told him that his belief that the content of his message was more important kept him from placing much value on being engaging. I suggested he should start by using voice inflection and modulation in his daily speech, making him sound more engaging even though inside he may be feeling overwhelmed and stressed out.

The speaking skills of inflection and modulation were the tipping point for him to change his long-standing speaking pattern and the associated disempowering belief that it wasn’t really necessary for him to connect with the person to whom he was speaking. He started to realize that connecting with people by using his voice inflection and modulation made both his professional and personal relationships more meaningful, enjoyable and productive.

We all need to get serious about taking hold of our subconscious programs. The programs that no longer serve us and were given to us before we could consciously chose for ourselves.

Ethics, Morality and Cut Throat Sales

Ethics and morality used to be used interchangeable in business. I do not believe this can or should be the current practice. Many businesses, including the DSA – Direct Sales Association have defined a Code of Ethics. Those business ethics basically say be forthcoming and not deceptive, don’t use false claims, etc.; pretty cut and dry stuff.

Yet when it comes to morality in business, some would argue that definition to be a bit subjective. But is it? Shouldn’t we all have a general sense of right and wrong? Or is it a matter of what’s right to one independent sales consultant would be highly taboo to another? If it’s not exactly illegal by company policies and procedures, does that mean anything goes in independent sales?

It’s a dog eat dog world. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s a cut-throat economy out there. True or False? First let’s take a look at what is meant by “cut-throat sales”.

According to one responder on Yahoo Answers: “If you work in a “cut throat sales” environment, it means that the reps are all either starving, lazy or greedy. They will “cut your throat” by stealing your customers/prospects the minute you turn your back.” The same responder continued, “If you have the stomach for it, you can make great money. If you have morals and ethics, you may get ulcers and stress – I did.”

Headlines of a Nov. 26, 2008 Newspaper read: “The cut-throat Christmas: Stores in price-slash frenzy as battle for shoppers gets desperate.

Most of us would agree that Cut Throat Sales is much more than being keen and aggressive – it’s more about being desperate. But does it work?

Some Direct Sales companies have a policy about territories. It’s my understanding that Mary Kay Cosmetic independent consultants are required to ask potential customers if they already have a Mary Kay consultant. If so, they must back off. Other companies have a clause that reads something like: No Territory Restrictions – There are no exclusive territories granted to anyone.

Take this scenario for example: A Direct Sales company consultant has a display set up in a local business to generate leads. A consultant from the same company also happens to patronize this business; sees the display; and still tries to infiltrate the business and make those customers and employees her own customers. Assuming there are no territory restrictions, is this practice acceptable or no? What if the second consultant is from the same company but is on a different team? Is that free enterprise or is that an immoral business practice? Does your response change at all if both consultants are on the same team?

How do you feel about this second example: A consultant attends a family celebration and gives her direct sales products as a gift. Other guests admire the item; yet the consultant who gave the gift merely responds, “I’m glad you like it.” Then within the confines of this same conversation, another guest, who also happens to be a consultant with the same company, whips out catalogs and starts a sales pitch in the middle of the family celebration, declaring, “oh I sell that too!” Morally wrong or all is fair is business? Does it matter if both of these consultants are on the same team?

Here’s my feeling on both of these situations – take what you like and discard the rest: They’re both wrong, no matter if the consultants are on the same team or not, but it makes it even more immoral if they happen to be on the same team. In the first situation, if the second consultant didn’t think to request a display first, then she should move on to another business. There are plenty of leads to go around without needed to be cut throat about it.

In the second scenario, I’m shocked and disgusted that someone would even under cut the first consultant who quietly gave the item as a gift. The second consultant did nothing but create awkwardness and cause herself to look like a real buffoon. The second consultant will self-destruct with that kind of desperate cut throat sales tactics. It does not work and it’s just plain wrong.

Here’s the rub – anyone who doesn’t see these two above examples as immorality in business probably partakes in those kinds of activities. He or she likely sees cut throat sales as the only way to be successful. My wager is that if there are temporary sales successes in this type of behavior, it’s short lived and the perpetrators will continually need to move on from company to company once bridges are burned and the self-implosion is finalized.

To those folks – I wish you well; you’re going to need it. To those direct sales independent consultants who see something fundamentally wrong with this type of activity, try not to let the choices of others consume you and steal you of your joy. Keep running your business with authenticity and integrity – you’ll soar among eagles!

How To Communicate Your Sales Message So Buyers Take Action Now!

Wouldn’t it be great that every time you made a sales presentation, write a letter, send your sales literature or place an ad that you knew, with some certainty, that you could get your prospects to take action and respond to your offer?

Well, to put it bluntly, it’s not that difficult if you simply apply the basics of marketing. Unfortunately, marketing is one of the least understood and arguably one of the least underutilized, course of action, in business today.

Marketing has and will continue to make the difference between the survival and extinction of a business today. Treading our way into the future with the overwhelming velocity of day-to-day change in this wildly unpredictable changing marketplace, with shorter product life cycles, require businesses, small or large, to have an edge or lose share of market to the competition.

Having the edge today will involve refining your marketing with a holistic approach and razor-sharp strategies that accelerate your business growth. The more I research and study how businesses stay alive and well — the more I am convinced and respect that strategic marketing is the forerunner to optimizing our selling performance.

Think of it this way: Visualize an umbrella – and label it “marketing” and “strategy.” Next, under the umbrella see advertising, branding, public relations, etc. Label those items, “selling” and “tactical processes.”

“Marketing,” — the strategy — is what favorably positions your company products or services in the mind of the customer and is aimed at stimulating a desire and demand on the part of the customer to make a purchase.

“Selling” — the tactical processes — are tools used to educate, inform, influence and persuade purchasing actions from the customer.

Both marketing and selling must lead the customer to action. For example: Advertising is salesmanship in action. Radio, television, newspaper, direct mail (electronic or paper) and magazines should all be constructed in the same demanding way that a salesperson makes a presentation to a prospective customer.

The same skills, habits and attitudes that are required of a salesperson for influencing action, on the part of the customer, should be directly aligned with all your various tactical processes.

For example — The successful salesperson must:

1. Develop and build rapport

2. Understand customer needs

3. Emphasize tangible benefits

4. Skillfully move a customer toward a purchase

5. Keep the prospective customer “engaged” in the purchase process

6. Strategically link a product or services to a customer’s most important needs and issues

7. Detail the product or service to motivate the purchasing action of the customer

Each advertising piece that is used in your marketing arsenal – newspaper ad, magazine ad, direct response mailing, public relations campaign should make a complete and compelling case for your products and services in the same way that a salesperson would do in person.

1. Do your ads (metaphorically) talk to your customers – do they build a rapport?

2. Are your brochures, letters, newsletters, ads and public relations material believable and emotionally peak the curiosity of people to want to learn more?

3. Is your marketing targeted toward perspective customers that have a real need for your products and services – have the money and willing to spend it?

4. Does your marketing materials educate and emphasize all the tangible benefits to keep the prospective customer engaged and motivated to take a purchasing action.

Today is not the time to be timid in your marketing. People need a nudge in making decisions. They want and expect to be told how to take action to obtain your products and services.

Take an assessment of your strategic marketing and selling action mentioned above and in addition see if you are:

1. Educating your customers about the unique advantages your products and services offered:

a). Service guarantees

b). Technical or manufacturing support

c). Warranties

d). Durability and dependability

e). New product developments

f). Upgrades and product enhancements

g). Delivery

2. Asking strategic questions for:

a). Linking products or services to customers needs

b). Providing solutions for their problems

c). Manage customer relationships

d). Keeping your customer and prospective customer engaged in the buying process

3. Active Listening for:

a). Emotional triggers

b). Logical reasoning

4. Handling objections to:

a). Minimizing concerns

b). Overcome obstacles

5. Presenting benefits that:

a). Motivate your customer’s loyalty and purchasing action

b). Advantage your products and services over your competitors

Now is the time to pull out all your marketing materials, ads, sales scripts, brochures, presentation materials, marketing channels, and yes, check your attitudes, habits and skills – it’s time to be innovative, nontraditional and bold in your thinking and business endeavors.

A Proven Method to Cut Advertising and Marketing Costs and Increase Sales Revenue

When it comes to advertising your business, you have an unlimited number of choices: newspapers, yellow pages, online, in magazines, through direct mail, on television, on the radio, etc. As the marketing director for a national company, I receive countless advertising solicitations each week. Like you, I want the best return on my investment. I want to reach my target audience, for the lowest price possible, and be rewarded with a significant increase in my sales revenue. Here is, by far, the most cost effective way to accomplish this goal: an LED sign.

Now, you might be thinking that a sign is a big investment. Aren’t we in a recession? Why should you make a big investment during a recession? The answer is simple. The US Small Business Administration has done the research for you. They report:

“Businesses who added an outdoor LED sign enjoyed typical sales increases of 15% – 150%. Not only does an LED Display produce a great return on investment, it costs very little compared to other types of advertising. With an LED sign, the average cost to achieve 1000 impressions (CPT) on consumers as they pass your business is less than 10% of the cost to reach them using any other marketing medium, including TV, radio or newspaper.” That’s right. They are saying that if you begin using an LED sign to advertise your business, you can reduce your advertising costs to less than 10% of what you are paying for traditional mediums, and increase your sales by 15% to 150%! Does this sound too good to be true?

Sonic Restaurants across the United States have been installing LED signs. A Sonic Managing Partner reports, “Since my LED sign was installed, my night time business has increased about 20%.”

It isn’t just big businesses that are reaping the rewards. Pastor Fred Garmon of Harvest Temple Church of God purchased an LED sign for his church. He was “paying between $250-400 per month in newspaper ads. With our sign, we do not even use the newspaper anymore…which saves us money…” Churches see an increase in visitors when using LED signs, just as businesses see an increase in customers.

If a proven method of slashing you marketing costs and increasing your sales revenue has not caused you to leave this article to search out an LED supplier and get your own LED sign ordered, there are other benefits.

With an LED sign, you own the media and you control the content. With traditional advertising, you have to pay each time you run an ad. If you have a change or a new product to promote, you have to wait for the next issue to come out. With an LED Display, you are in control. You can change the message as often as you like. You don’t have to wait to advertise your special offers and there is no cost involved.
The US Small Business Administration reports that approximately 85% of a company’s customers live or work within 5 miles of the business location. These are the people who are passing by each day. An LED sign allows you to reach 100% of these potential customers. Moving messages capture people’s attention. In fact, LED signs often become community landmarks. The owner of Dairy Queen in Nocona, Texas says that “I cannot go anywhere in town that someone does not stop me and make a positive comment about my sign.” The bottom line: Everyone who drives by will notice your messages advertising and promoting your business.
LED signs provide immediate results. LED sign owners report that the signs have an immediate and significant impact on their sales. Warren Croft, Owner of Croft Lumber Company in Sayre, PA, purchased an LED sign for his business. The sign was featured in the local Sayre Times newspaper and when interviewed, Mr. Croft told this story: “Five minutes after the sign went up, a customer came in looking for an items we had advertised on the sign. He didn’t know we sold it. He drove by on his way home, saw it on the sign, turned around and came in and bought it.”

There may be a recession going on out there. It may also be a good time to invest in your business. Many LED suppliers offer easy lease options. Buyers experience the immediate benefits of LED sign ownership and the essentially pays for itself.

Business Banking Sales Strategies – How to Choose and Attract More of Your Best Customers

Think about fly fishing for a moment (bear with me – I do have a business point here): A fly fisher’s success is based on alignment of three elements: 1) the fish they want to catch, 2) the fly they use and 3) the cast, or the way they deliver the fly to the fish. The better the fishers define these three elements, the more success they’re likely to have.

You face a similar challenge. Your success is tied to your ability to choose and attract more of your best customers. Like the fisher, you must choose the fish (target customers), select the fly (the benefits they want), and develop your cast (your sales system). Then, you must communicate these to your salespeople. Why? Because, you’re not fishing alone. Unless you’re careful, your salespeople will be tempted to sell to anyone with whom they can connect, pleading for larger territories, price concessions, better terms and giveaways that drive down your profits.

Step #1 – The Fish: Define your most desirable customers.

Your ideal customers are your most profitable, lowest risk, lowest cost to serve (relative to prices they pay), most reliable, most predictable, and most loyal customers. When you define your ideal customer, you’re saying “Here’s who we’re set up to serve best” and “Here’s who we’re not set up to serve well.”

How do you define your ideal customer? First, assess profitability and growth of your current customers (divided by location, industry, growth rate or other criteria that make sense to you). Then, look for the common characteristics of the most profitable customers:

Demographics – This is who they are in terms of age, gender, location, family characteristics, ethnic group and other indicators.

Psychographics – This refers to their decision-making:

What challenges are they facing? What problems are they seeking to solve?
How do they recognize it’s time to address the challenges? What are the circumstances?
What benefits or outcomes are they seeking when they buy?
What’s important to them about how they seek solutions or how the solutions are delivered?
Why do they buy from you rather than from competitors? (For example: Less time required, the experience of doing business with you, unique products or services, price?)
Why do you lose sales? At what point in your sales process do they typically stop?

As you define your ideal customer profile, avoid the trap of choosing the usual demographic markers of business type, age, income, and zip code (e.g. successful middle-aged dentists in zip code 02109) just because you can obtain the information easily or because they seem obvious. Push yourself and your team harder than that – ask how and why you’re choosing particular characteristics.

Look at the alternative direction as well: Do you know why your prospects don’t turn into clients? At what point in your sales process do people drop out? At what point in connecting with a business banker or walking around your branch do most prospects go away? At what point in your discovery and proposal process do you tend to lose people? Rely on your hunches and develop specific, quantitative data to test your hunches and provide a basis for comparison over time.

Step #2 – The Fly: Develop and tell a compelling value story.

Like a fly fisherman choosing a fly based on the type of fish, time of day, time of year and specific characteristics of the stream, choose your value story to entice your ideal prospects. Your best prospects, hearing the story for the first time, should see themselves revealed in your story and hear the benefits they want so clearly that they are called to bank with you.

To achieve this effect, you must craft the story carefully and say it consistently, even down to the same words, so you attract the prospects you want and so you can tell whether the story is working or not. There are many possible ways to construct the “why should I bank with you?” compelling value story. Here’s one example:

Script template: MyBank is in the business of giving target prospect group a specific benefit #1. And what I mean by that is, almost all the target prospect group members we’ve ever met find themselves experiencing problem or pain experienced by target prospect group members and not having benefit #1 or a related benefit. Have you ever wished that you could have that but you simply don’t know how to do it? Well, that’s what we do at MyBank; we give you the opportunity to have benefit #1 or related benefit when you want it.

Example: MyBank is in the business of giving small business owners the freedom and ability to check on their businesses from any place in the world, at any time. And what I mean by that is, almost all small business owners we’ve ever met worry about how they cannot just monitor but do something about customer receipts being deposited promptly, paying their vendors at the right times, and ensuring that there’s enough cash in the bank when they’re on vacation (if they ever take one) or tied up in a customer job somewhere for a few days. Have you ever wished that you could do that but you simply don’t know how to do it? Well, that’s what we do at MyBank; we give you the ability to see and manage what’s going on in your business when you need to be away from the office for a few days.

Of course, this story may or may not appeal to you or your ideal customers. You need to develop and test your own stories. The question is: Do you have a story? Does each member of your staff know how to tell the story in the same way? And do you have ways to test the story to see whether there might be other ways to tell it that would work better or faster?

Step #3 – The Cast: Define your sales system.

The last step in our fly-fishing story is the cast – how the fisher offers the fly to the fish. Serious fly fishers practice their casting techniques for hours, seeking to deliver the fly to exactly the right spot at exactly the right moment, with a motion that looks to the fish exactly like the real fly or bug they want for breakfast. You and your sales team must practice, too-polishing and refining your casting motion until it becomes a reliable, dependable and predictable method of drawing your fish to the surface and prompting them to bite down.

This means translating your knowledge about your ideal customers into steps, tools and activities that communicate to the prospective customers that “we’re the ones for you” and then testing them until you’re sure your approach works consistently. The successful practices become your sales system for catching your ideal customers.

Your purpose in defining the sales system is not to drive your salespeople crazy, although it may. It is to increase your revenue and profitability by consistently and predictably attracting more of your best prospects and retaining more of your best customers. If you find that asking certain questions leads to better results than other questions, or other sequences of questions, the questions and the sequence become part of your system. Likewise, if certain displays or a certain conversation while you’re ringing up the sale produce better results, they become part of your system.

Remember: No detail is too small provided you can test it and your tests show that the detail makes a difference in terms of attracting and selling to your ideal customer.

How to Make Money Consistently in Direct Sales

Being successful in Direct Sales does not have to be a mystery. Direct Sales is a wonderful avenue to make a good income or a supplementary income, depending on your needs.

In order to guarantee success, the first thing that you absolutely must do is ensure you have leads.

You might be wondering where you get leads?

Well, if you are shy, you can use draw boxes in local businesses, you can use on-line Social Media to find leads and even advertise your business, or you can talk to friends and family and network through them. However you find your leads, you need a lot of them, so that you have names to call at all times to ensure that you always have bookings.

In order to stay successful in the Direct Sales Business, you must be sure your books are filled at all times. No bookings – No Business. Some people find this to be the most difficult part of the business. In my observation, it is often procrastinators who have the most difficulty with this aspect of the business. They avoid getting bookings like it is the plague, then they don’t get any bookings, cannot sell their product and in the end decide that Direct Sales is not for them.

If you plan to make a large income in Direct Sales, you need to book accordingly: the more parties, the more money. And this rule is steadfast – it must be followed consistently.

There are three reasons that this rule is so true: 1. You can garner more clients by being out and meeting people all the time. 2. You will inevitably sell more. 3. You will have more potential team-members if you meet more people.

The bottom-line in Direct Sales is that you must be consistent in your business. You must also not be too greedy. It takes time and steady energy to get what you want – the big bucks! If you think you will be making a great income overnight, then this business might not be for you. However, if you realize that if you work this business properly, you will be rewarded tremendously in due time: you will have a life-style that is balanced and that you chose, rather than was chosen for you; you will have a steady income that you would not see in your day-to-day J.O.B.; and, you will have succeeded at the endurance test when so many fail.

There’s no reason to not succeed in this business. The only catch is you.

Don’t let you be what stands in your way!