Whether you sell

for yourself or

someone else, you

sell for your SELF!

    Top (big) business world muckity-mucks often disregard and underestimate the value of their salespeople. Small business world owners typically think they can handle sales themselves. Both are wrong and neither understand that selling is its own business!  

     If you sell for a living, and haven’t considered yourself a small business owner, you are just as mistaken.

     Regardless of what others may think, when you get up in the morning and head off to your pipeline appointments, you are viewed and thought of by customers and prospects as the flesh and blood representation of the business you represent. You ARE the company in their eyes. And that applies equally to selling a one-man-band or the services of a mega-multi-national corporation.

     It’s easy to lose track of your SELF in the process of representing others, and you must fight this “mind-drift” if you are to survive and thrive in today’s marketplace. Begin to do that by pinching yourself before every encounter, by taking a deep breath http://bit.ly/cMoqHf and by reminding yourself that you are in business for your SELF.

     Of course if you’re a true professional, or aspire to be, you already know you can only sell your SELF by listening hard, by putting your SELF in the prospect’s shoes, by focusing on benefits, and by being 100% honest 100% of the time — “To your own SELF be true” if you’re a slogan/ motto heeder.

     You need to keep records. Do the paperwork and data entry with vigor because every piece of paper or computer entry related to every sales call is a piece of bridge that will bring the business you run for your SELF a little closer to the financial success and goal achievement waiting for you across the river.

     You need to constantly innovate. Rebuild, revise, redirect, re-examine, re-explore, re-visit, re-think. Start with the attitude that everything you do every day can be done better, more efficiently, more effectively, more productively. CHUNK IT UP! Don’t overwhelm your SELF with too much at once. Start by establishing priorities of what can be the most immediately beneficial, second most, etc.

     You need to constantly add value to the products and services you represent. Think about this. It doesn’t mean you have to go begging administrative types or trying to re-invent your wares. And it doesn’t have to be expensive.

     Good small business owners are also good at managing their finances, especially cashflow. I know one industrial sales rep who passes out free online flower arrangement and iTune credits to customers for their families. Another makes charitable donations in the customer’s name.

     And you need to promote your small business. Really top sales pros I know have their own websites and/or blogs, and participate heavily in social networking. None of that has to be expensive either. But, you know what? It pays. It pays back many times over to do it, to keep it active, to include it on your business card, and to include it in your spiel. An educational site related to what you’re doing becomes a value-added situation in and of itself.

Whatever you sell, make it a daily habit

to inventory and adjust your SELF

because YOU are your own small business!  

Comment below or reply direct to Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US  Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day!  Blog FREE via list-protected RSS feed OR $1 mo Amazon Kindle. Great VALENTINE for GRANDPARENTS: http://bit.ly/3nDlGF

“Git yer shovel and

hipboots, Mollie;

that slick sales guy’s

back agin.”

     When did you last encounter a slick, fast-talking salesperson who answered your questions like he was snapping a towel? A car dealership? Discount furniture store? Stereotypes? Sure, but the examples serve a purpose because they bring the worst images of sales to the surface. If we can know the worst case scenario, it’s easier to strive for the best.

     The problem is, it seems to me, that many salespeople who appear to be best case scenario salespeople on the surface are actually worse than the worst underneath. They are the ones who are smart enough to recognize that nobody likes or buys a “sales hustle” anymore, that today’s consumers are more enlightened shoppers, so they blanket the truth with a snow job and hope no one notices the slippery ice below until the check clears the bank.

     These are the same hot-shots who ignore or trivialize prospects’ concerns and create diversions by instead emphasizing the strengths of the product or service being shopped, to the exclusion of the weaknesses. It’s a throwback sales attitude that no longer tweaks the twitter, if you know what I mean. 

     But, hey, doesn’t every one in sales do that? No. True sales professionals treat prospects like family (well, not including the dysfunctional cousins). True sales professionals may not dwell on weak sales points, but they won’t smoke and mirror the negatives into some dark corner either.

     Professional salespeople build high-trust reputations at every opportunity. They are invested in selling as a career. They get the big picture of life. They seek to build a reputation for honesty, not deal-making. They want to be able to establish long-term repeat-sale relationships once the sale is made.

     If you’re serious about sales and you should be… if you’re a rep or business owner or manager (of ANY part of ANY business), or an entrepreneur… because your very existence depends on how effectively you listen to customers and respond to their needs and concerns.

     This includes being as open and honest about your product and service weaknesses as you are about the strengths. Leave the one-sided boasting to the advertising and PR people. YOU are the company! Customers and prospects expect and deserve truth as well as benefits.

     When a salesperson tries to give someone a snow job, he or she is starting out with the assumption that the customer or prospect is stupid. Frankly, ANY assumption is dumb (We can all stand to be reminded that expectations breed disappointment), but starting out with a snow-making machine — and not first handing the prospect a shovel and hip-boots — is particularly self-destruct-targeted.

     It doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes with Bing or Google to learn as much if not more than any sales rep about a particular brand or product or service… and whether snow is in the forecast! 

Comment below or reply direct to Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US  Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day!  Blog FREE via list-protected RSS feed OR $1 mo Amazon Kindle. Great VALENTINE for GRANDPARENTS: http://bit.ly/3nDlGF

Is Your Business

A Headcase?

The word therapy may sound ominous to the business mind. It evokes the specter of illness, or worse, of craziness. That should not be. Therapy is part of education. Therapy teaches us through personal experience about who we are and how we became that way. Therapy teaches us how personal responsibility plays a role in who we are. Therapy teaches us how we relate to others and how important other people are in the conduct of our lives. And therapy helps us claim our freedom and take charge of our lives. These are all elements of growing up and getting a complete education.”

     If this seems like a strange and out-of-place subject for you, let me assure you that it is extremely relevant. Why? Because every business –like every human– has problems to solve that have been created and nurtured internally. And, more often than not, a great many of these are denied and consciously or inadvertently glossed over by the boss.

     If you were to distill down all my years of diverse career experiences into one defining function, it would be that I have been a reality therapist to businesses. Powerful corporate executives, entrepreneurs, sales and healthcare professionals alike have called me in the middle of the night, reduced to tears. They have called on the verge of lighting fuses to blow up their businesses.

     I’ve seen business temper tantrums where filled file folders, office equipment, and even scalpels were flung in rage across offices and into doors. Because businesses that needed therapy, that were being run by owners and managers who refuted the need for it, had no place else to bury upsets but inside the troubled stressed-out minds of their leaders.

     Every person and every business, I believe, can benefit by some degree of professional therapy engagement at some point, perhaps continuously, in their lives. Therapy need not be as threatening or embarrassing as Hollywood would have us believe, nor as intimidating as the naysayers around us claim.

     The truth is therapy can be extremely enlightening, masterfully empowering, and a magnet for improved mental, physical, and emotional good health — the secret keys to increased sales!                  

     It may be useful to pause here and be reminded that the feelings of being threatened, embarrassed, and intimidated –like those feelings of enlightenment, empowerment, and improved health — are all behaviors and all behaviors are choices. Why choose negative over positive? Because of some fear? If the fear is not genuine, realistic, and physical, it is imagined; it is fantasy; it is also a choice!

     Many businesses fail because the leaders operate under a self-fulfilling prophecy that a business is beyond repair and nothing can be done to save it. The economy. The bank. The landlord. Lousy sales. Lazy employees. Products or services without real benefits or competitive advantages. No future. Poor track-record. They fail.

     The fix? Hire an informed, experienced, fresh, outside perspective to shrink out your business and coach your leaders.

     Savvy business owners and managers recognize that the business needs to be considered a living, breathing organism, and treated as if it were a separate individual entity apart from the paperwork, computer files, and physical workspace.

     In this context, business therapy can be a healthy and productive intervention capable of turning problems into opportunities. The distance from survive to thrive is measured in receptive leadership that’s willing to explore and innovate.

Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

“GIVE ‘EM

 THE SCREW!”

CUSTOMER: “Could I please get an extra screw or two for mounting the brackets that go with the sets of decorator shelves I just bought? One was missing last time and I wasted hours looking for an exact match.”

HARDWARE CLERK: “Sure, Honey, but they come in little six-packs, and it’ll cost you an extra buck and a half.”

OWNER/MANAGER (who overheard the exchange): “Give ’em the screw, Hazel!” (Then whispering to her: “The whole packet only costs us 75-cents and this man just spent $300 here!”).

The happy customer leaves with his free six-pack of screws.

OWNER/MANAGER: “Listen Sweetheart, I appreciate you wanting to charge for all our products, but sometimes it’s best to just give people the little extras they ask for, as a courtesy…like the sample cheese and lunch meat slices at the deli. In this case, y’just give ’em the screw and he’ll remember us longer; he’ll send his friends; and he’ll come back again. And, then, maybe you get a raise.”

     Customer Service 2010 means standing on your head and tap dancing on the ceiling if it makes the customer happy! Does YOUR business sport hand prints on the floor and tread marks on the ceiling? Why not?

     What possesses business owners and managers to add “Handling” fees to shipping costs? Isn’t handling part of the job people are paid for… to get merchandise from inventory, and then wrap and ship it?

     And, by the way, why is this service added to the purchase cost and charged separately? And why’s it always a whacked out amount? A $19.95 item I bought recently had $6.95 added for “S&H” so the under-$20 product ended up a dime short of $27! I sent it back.

     I thought car dealers were struggling. So why do only luxury car dealers pick up and drop off cars to be serviced, and go the extra mile to wash the car before returning it after servicing?

     What right do restaurants have to decide what tipping percentage to charge for parties of six or more? If service is lousy, the percentage is the same as if it’s great? Is it just me or do other people believe you should tip routinely for routine service and exceptional for exceptional service? If the party of 8 or 10 or whatever is going to produce X dollars for a foodservice person regardless of whether she or he rates a 1 or a 10, why should the person care?

     “Slop that food on the table, Mable, and don’t waste time being nice; you’re gonna get paid the same regardless. Spend your energy instead with those four old men trying to impress one another; You’ll get more tips out of them if you kiss up enough!”

Does your business give customers the screw?

Comment below or reply direct to Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US  Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day!  Blog FREE via list-protected RSS feed OR $1 mo Amazon Kindle. Great VALENTINE for GRANDPARENTS: http://bit.ly/3nDlGF

No, we’re NOT past the worst,

the job creation plan’s a scam

…but yes, you can still thrive!

Here is The State of Small Business Message:

WORK HARDER, NOT SMARTER!

     Let the giant freshly-bailed-out corporations with taxpayer-dollar-supported operating budgets do all the “SMARTER” stuff. They did, after all, manage to get themselves financially stimulated, so they must be smarter than small businesses.

     And let us, the small businesses of America, simply not be stupid. Let us not be duped by grandiose, self-serving pep-talks that don’t walk the talk. We cannot choose to waste time and energy dealing with those down deep, fraudulent attempts to force-feed us bone-crushing defeats while patting us on the hands and telling us how great everything is going to be.

     Oh, sure, government should be rewarded for creating jobs, even though the jobs to be created are government job creations for government-funded projects being paid for with loans borrowed against our tax dollars? Does that sound like an economic recovery plan to you? It sounds like digging a deeper hole to me. Would you do this with your own business?

     But we can’t fight that without giving up our businesses and our lives to do it. We need to cast this misguided naivete aside and just get on with making our businesses work. Yes, that’s hard. And no, we’re NOT out of economic bad times; we have NOT turned the corner; things are NOT getting better. If you think otherwise, just look around you, and listen…

     But the good news is that, YES, we can survive and thrive. It means doing things differently. We need to not worry about rising above our nation’s financial mess and bureaucratic free-spending incompetence, and instead to concentrate all of our energy and attention on making our own businesses work better.

     That means we must accept the fact that to truly make a difference, we must work harder. Here’s one small example:

     If you can get yourself to work just 15 minutes earlier than usual and leave just 15 minutes later than usual everyday, you will be adding as much as 2.5 hours a week, which equals 10 hours a month, which translates to 125 hours a (50-week) year, which equals more than 15.6 extra full 8-hour work-DAYS a year. Uh ~~~ 3 WEEKS!

     What could you accomplishfor your business with those three additional weeks? How about if everybody in your business agrees to donate just 10 minutes a day of early arrival or stay late time? Hmmm. What else does that make you think about? 

     When you work harder, you lead by example, you attract more sales and referrals, you get more organized, your customers and suppliers will respect you more … and you’ll probably play harder too! You’re already working harder? Keep it up! It WILL pay you back!   

Visit Hal’s Guest Blog Posts

Comment below or Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make Today a GREAT Day for Someone! 

Are You A Cereal Entrepreneur

Or A Serial Entrepreneur?

Special thanks to Doyle Slayton at www.XOOMBI.com for the inspiration   

In case no one’s put their hand on your shoulder and whispered in your ear for awhile: Psssssst! Life (even business life) isn’t about being a serial killer no matter what you do with, for, or to yourself!

     Think you could name a few prominent athletes, a few Hollywood types, a few businesspeople (maybe even a cousin?) who’ve overplayed their killer instincts and thinking they could do whatever they wanted — whenever and wherever they wanted — to the point of crashing their lives into a wall? Daily news reports will help joggle your brain.

     Serial Entrepreneurs are no different. They charge from one venture to another with nothing in the cross-hairs of their sites but dollar signs. And they simply don’t succeed in life. Thankfully, these profiles are not the majority.

     Unfortunately though, when economic times are tough, there’s a mad rush into the marketplace from those who’ve been cut out or cut back at work to think the grass looks greener on the work-from-home side of the fence and they will typically hurry into a venture they’ve convinced themselves looks promising and plunk their savings into a startup.

     Most of these gold-rush fever serial types will end up making their situations worse than when they started. Why? Because growing and running a business is physically, mentally, financially, and emotionally exhausting. It’s a total brain drain (not to mention the slimming of your wallet).

     I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but I’ve learned as most do, the hard way.

     Fortunately, most entrepreneurs act instinctively on their burning desires to achieve something of consequence with the ideas they usher into the marketplace. Getting rich on an idea is not the reason for the pursuit. Making a difference is what counts. Making something happen. 

     If you’ve been fortunate to have inherited entrepreneurial traits, or have learned them from experience, a friend or family member, or through a legitimate hands-on training or academic environment, Bless You! Why?

     Because YOU are one of the people destined to make a difference in both the world and in this economy. YOU are one of the people most likely to build your idea to the point of creating new jobs. And YOU are one of the people who will lead your followers to achieve.

     How can you tell if you’re cereal material or serial material? Do you like to taste a little bit of everything? Experience a lot of different business flavors? Are you challenged by that? Do you thrive on taking an idea and seeing it all the way through to the end?

     Or are you just out to make one quick killing after another? If you answered yes to the last question, be honest in asking yourself if you have a track-record of being realistic.   

# # #

Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

What Kinds of Answers

Do You Give?

     I once had a boss who answered every question with a question. It became so predictable, I hardly ever asked him something without having all the backup information ready … I guess he was more savvy than I first imagined; and I learned from the annoyance factor alone.

     I had another boss who spouted out “Yes” or “No” (mostly “No”) as a response to everything asked of her. And if you tried to ask an open-ended question, she would tell you to rephrase the inquiry for a “Yes” or “No” response! Except for gaining some insight on the management style of a control freak, I never learned much of anything from her.

    When you answer some one’s question, do you elaborate on your thinking? By sharing your rationale, are you cultivating leadership or teamwork? Does this way of dealing with others take more time and effort? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Only you can say.

     The bottom line though would seem to be that when you have a business-vested or personal interest in the individual asking for your opinions, advice or decisions, you will probably be more interested in sharing the reasons behind your answers.

     So then along comes all the great psychological motivational gurus armed with studies which prove that those with whom time, patience and effort are spent will rise to the occasion and outperform those who are ignored or who are not taken so securely under the wing.

     Aha! Does that then mean if you explain yourself to some and not to others, you are exercising bias and perhaps precluding the potential success of those you simply snap at with your “Yes” or “No” verdicts?

     Short of sitting in some corner and chanting “Life is just one big manipulation operation and the chips need to fall where they may!” you might want to consider the following:

A snappy retort that’s not pointedly requested is an insult. It presumes the individual posing the question has no value and is not worthy of your time and energy.

Every question asked of you represents an opportunity to teach, and a chance to demonstrate leadership by example.

The way that you respond to questions is as important as your answer in the lineup of how others measure your leadership value, your trust, and your reputation.

Thoughtful questions and answers form the cornerstone to the building of employee loyalty and exceptional performance. And those qualities are the makings of innovative thinking, increased sales, heightened productivity, and a solid posture in the communities your business serves. 

……….Visit Hal’s Guest Blog Posts………. 

GOT A SICK WEBSITE?> @http://bit.ly/6iYe6g 

WHAT’S YOUR T-SHIRT SAY?> http://bit.ly/7K0s4a

 LEADERSHIP SEARCH?> 12/30 @http://bit.ly/XhN1h

 DOES NO BEAT MAYBE?> 1/6 @http://bit.ly/74qlG5

 # # #               

What Kinds of Questions

Do You Ask?

  [Here are 23 for YOU to answer!]          

Dear Boss: Do you really need some answer you already probably know, or are you seeking some actionable insight about the individual, group, idea, or circumstance you’re questioning?

Did you ever consider that the more disciplined your management approach, the less likely you’ll want to know more than a yes or no answer, and the more likely you are to be a misfit in today’s business world?

Oooh, sorry, are you perhaps one of those exceptions who runs some quasi-military small business? Or you per chance captain a deep-sea fishing boat? Maybe you oversee electrical wiring experts who work on the tops of telephone poles, or workers who paint the top of the Washington or Golden Gate Bridge? You manage a shooting range? [You get the idea?]

Did you realize that the closer you are to the people who are the heart of your organization, and the better you are at exercising leadership by example, the less likely you’ll be to find gratifying results from asking questions that prompt yes or no responses?

Do you think through what you really want to know ahead of time, or simply wing it by firing off rounds of disjointed questions, figuring that  — because you’re the boss — you’ll get answers to everything you ask anyway, and will eventually find out what you want to know?   

Has it occurred to you how much time that wastes? Would you feel aggravated if you were on the receiving end? Do you think others see you this way? Do your family members see you this way?

If you don’t already practice it, did you know that asking open-ended questions will generate much more telling information than yes/no, true/false, and multiple choice questions? What’s a good example?

The best interview question to ask a job applicant is: “If I handed you a million dollars right now, what would you do with it?” Will you learn more from the answer to this question than from 20 questions about what’s on the resume? [Does a bear…?]

Two more examples? “What specific steps would you recommend to solve this problem our business is having?” [Not “WHY did it happen?”] Ask a constantly late employee to drop off a list with you on his/her way home that identifies “what 3 things she/he will do immediately to avoid being late in the future?” [Not WHY the person was late, which only produces excuses.]

Tailor your questions to the situation, the person or group you’re asking, and to generating the kind of answer that will be most productive for you to have. 

……….Visit Hal’s Guest Blog Posts………. 

GOT A SICK WEBSITE? 

WHAT’S YOUR T-SHIRT SAY?  

 LEADERSHIP SEARCH? 

 DOES “NO” BEAT “MAYBE”? 

 # # #               

Step Back From Your Business.

    When’s the last time you clicked your own “Refresh” button? After bursting out of the New Year’s gate, it’s only natural to get a little weary rounding the home turn, headed toward Valentine’s Day! But NOW is the perfect time to adjust your course and your attitude about the course that you’re on (this, btw, is not an endorsement of happy hour).

     You already have your goals. And they’re specific, flexible, realistic and due-dated. Your new value-added products and services are off to a good start. Prospective customers are filling up the sales pipeline.

     Cutbacks haven’t left you with as many disgruntled employees as you imagined and most, in fact, have been rising to the occasion. Your marketing programs are working off sparser budgets and dipping into some unknown territories.

     You’ve innovated the innovations and things feel okay.

     Well, don’t shoot the messenger, but guess what? If things feel okay:

A) That’s not good enough. Maybe “okay” would have put you in cruise control a few years ago, but not in this economy, and not in this supersonic-tech-paced lifestyle. Things have to feel a whole lot better than “okay” to survive and thrive.  

B) A rolling stone gathers no moss (Thanks, but no — I didn’t make that up. Actually, my version has always been “Some action is better than no action”!). The point is to save the lounge chair and iPod for vacations and retirement. 

My friend Kevin Bousquet who runs www.InterlakenInn.com — a GREAT place for meetings — once said about tending to management transparency (as Jonena Relth calls it at www.TBDConsulting.com): “There’s plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead.”  

C) Do the 10-minute escape-to-reality thing, and in all probability you’ll surprise yourself. It’s not hard; in fact, your 3 year-old will help if you get stuck. Ready?

1. Step back from what you’re doing, clean off your eyeglasses (or take a couple of deep breaths http://bit.ly/Bb1Tw while you press gently against your closed eyelids for ten seconds), and

2. Take another nine minutesand 50 seconds to clean up, straighten out or rearrange something in/on/at your worksite that will help you be more effective.

3. One last step back, away from what you’ve just done. Another deep breath can’t hurt. And look at what you’ve just done. Critique yourself. What did you just learn about your self that you can apply to re-energizing and adjusting the course you’re on? Who can best help you?

What are you waiting for?  What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? (Valentine’s Day is on the way!)

Hmmmmm? 

……….Visit Hal’s Guest Blog Posts………. 

GOT A SICK WEBSITE?> @http://bit.ly/6iYe6g 

WHAT’S YOUR T-SHIRT SAY?> http://bit.ly/7K0s4a

 LEADERSHIP SEARCH?> 12/30 @http://bit.ly/XhN1h

 DOES NO BEAT MAYBE?> 1/6 @http://bit.ly/74qlG5

 # # #               

Are You Marketing to

Your “Inner Circle”?

     Besides your mother, there is no bigger fan support base for your business than the market that constitutes your “internal” (or “inner circle” of) customers. Perhaps you never thought of them as a market.

     Perhaps you never thought about who, exactly, makes up this hot prospect / top customer group. Here are some quick thoughts you might want to consider:

     Without exception, the best source of business is existing and past business. Most small business owners and managers realize this, if not overtly, then at least instinctively, and do a pretty decent job of catering to these special people.

     The second best source of business is your “inner circle,” your “internal customer market.” This is comprised first and foremost of your own employees and staff. And many owners and managers also recognize the potential attached to this segment of the internal customer market with things like employee discounts.

(As an interesting side note: In Ben & Jerry’s growth years, every employee was required by job description to take home 7 free pints of ice cream every week, which they of course served to friends and family and gave to neighbors, which became a seeding process to help create a “big buzz”! ), but . . .

     How many small businesses take the next step outside this innermost support ring? When did you last, for example, make special effort to gain customers from your vendor/supplier ranks?

     Think about the fact that at least part of the success of every vendor and supplier to your business (from manufacturing and office supplies, to specialized and not-so-specialized services) is dependent on your business’s continued success.

     Marketing? Ha! It doesn’t even cost anything to hand-deliver or email these people special announcements of special product or service deal considerations. The stronger your alliances with your vendors and suppliers, the more they’ll act as your UNcommissioned, UNpaid sales force as they make their rounds calling on other businesses. It’s like networking the networkers.

     Have you made efforts to similarly (perhaps more quietly) market your wares or services to outside visitors –including sales reps– who call on you in person or by phone? What about other businesses on your block, in your building, neighborhood, community, state or region?

     Internet social networks are not the only avenues for capturing customers from among those who already know of your existence and who may share some common ground. Put on your thinking cap, and keep open-minded. 

     And what have you done for or with the mass or industrial or professional media lately? Not only might those people be prospects for you, they have the ability to influence many others … So do you!

VISIT # # #  Hal’s Guest Blog Posts… 

GOT A SICK WEBSITE?> @http://bit.ly/6iYe6g 

WHAT’S YOUR T-SHIRT SAY?> http://bit.ly/7K0s4a

 LEADERSHIP SEARCH?> 12/30 @http://bit.ly/XhN1h

 DOES NO BEAT MAYBE?> 1/6 @http://bit.ly/74qlG5

 # # #