If you’re still unclear about how to approach sales success strategies in a social and mobile world, picture your office water cooler going global, enabling B2B sales conversations in real time, 24/7. Here are the numbers:

• 175 million users log on to Facebook every 24 hours. 
• 65 million access Facebook through a mobile device and they share 30 billion (billion!) pieces of content every month and that number includes 3 billion photos and videos. 
• 84% of Internet users watch videos online. 
• YouTube visitors watch 2 billion videos every day. 
• LinkedIn attracts one new member every second. 
• Econsultancy reports that over 25 billion tweets were sent last year.

Source: http://blog.sellingpower.com/

One more time: if you succeed with social media, it won’t be because of the platform; it will be because you acknowledge that culture and consumer expectations can change. You are more adaptable and flexible than your competitors. If you apply social media correctly, your customers will buy more, they will be more loyal, they will spread your message, and they will defend you should you ever need them to. All of this adds up to your increased chance of surviving and flourishing

Vaynerchuk, Gary (2011-03-08). The Thank You Economy (p. 37). HarperCollins e-books. Kindle Edition.

Though girls ages fourteen to seventeen can still out-text anyone, averaging about a hundred texts per day compared to boys of the same age, who text about thirty times per day, texting isn’t just for kids anymore. As of May 2010, 72 percent of the adult population were texting, at a rate of about ten texts per day. What do you think the number will look like by 2013?

Vaynerchuk, Gary (2011-03-08). The Thank You Economy (pp. 37-38). HarperCollins e-books. Kindle Edition.

If you are currently renting (leasing) a space in a multi-tenant building and a vacant space adjoins your space, you are vulnerable for an undetected entry into your space. The scenario is something like this: The bad guys break into an unoccupied space, there is generally no alarm. The bad guys cut, kick, hammer through a common wall with an occupied space somewhere towards the middle of the common wall. The bad guys enter the occupied space, not setting off any alarms because they are on the doors and windows and rarely a motion detector in the middle of the facility. The bad guys gather your stuff, the stuff they want, and out through the door or window, setting off the alarm.

See full story to find out how to protect your business assets: Ezine Articles

For assistance with security needs:

Thal Dixon - Dixon Security Cameras

Andrew Russo - On Guard Alarms

While sitting in a Chamber of Commerce meeting the presenter, a very good salesperson, implied that success in sales was based on having the “right” personality. As the mind began to digest the statement the ears turned off and although she kept talking the question was, “Do you have the right personality to be in sales”?  Is there a right or correct personality that makes sales easy and guarantees success?

If you have an aversion to sales for whatever reason then you are probably convinced that yes, indeed, there is a personality type that does better than any other and that personality type is not yours. If, on the other hand, you like sales and find it to be an enjoyable and rewarding experience, most of the time, then you are probably convinced that there is a personality type that does better at sales than any other and it is yours. If you believe that marketing and sales is the life blood of business and you recognize that every type of business has the full spectrum of personalities then your answer would probably be no, there must be some other factor or factors involved.

Perhaps it can be explained in the psychology used by the person rather than the personality. It is not to say that psychology is used to manipulate prospective customers. Psychology is used to understand the prospect, looking for clues, adjusting to the natural style of the prospect, matching and mirroring to be congruent. After all, people do business with those who are most like themselves, because they are generally comfortable with people who sound and talk (tone, speed and verbiage), move and pose (body gestures, clothing) like themselves.

A true sales person uses insight, understanding and perception in building trust and rapport from the very beginning.  (Note - Rapport is NOT talking about the pictures on the wall, the trophies on the self of the clubs in the corner.) The rapport being discussed helps the prospect to feel comfortable, positive, trusting and confident. Engage a prospect framed according and the likelihood of a positive result increases, proceeding to the next step.  

Other factors that effect ones ability to sell are behavior, attitude and techniques. Talking about the correctness of the order, which comes first, is a little like the chicken and the egg. Behavior has huge impact on attitude. It is said that if one goes and does, the attitude will correct itself. An example that has been seen many times is in the performance of service projects, often youth avoid service, but when strongly encouraged, they find the experience enjoable and uplifting. The same can be said of many activities, change the behavior and you change the attitude. Techniques can be as simple as understanding what your sales process is and using it. If you don't have a sales process you will be defaulting to the buyer's process which is generally and no sale for you. 

Other writings can be found at: Ezine Aricles

It seems so simple to follow directions when baking, the recipe is provided and altering or deviating is known to change the expected outcome. Add too little salt it may taste flat, add too much and it tastes salty. It is all in the measurement. So you follow the recipe to get consistency in the foods you enjoy.

What about business? What does measuring do for your business?

In a recent engagement I stated, “What gets measured gets done.” I do not know the source. I can tell you for sure that I did not coin the phrase. My client took it seriously, having a goal for a certain activity within the retail establishment, they began to measure. It was made known to all the employees that they were measuring it and comparing it to last year. The goal was a significant stretch. Six months have passed and the goal seem like it may have been too small. The client has not hounded the employees about the goal but does question them a couple of times a week. The client also tied a relatively small financial reward to the achievement.

If you want to make sure something gets done in your business, measure it.

At Executive Advisory Services we provide guidance and orientation to business owners helping them achieve the success that they desire. Call TODAY for a free consultation – 801-664-0426.

The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Showcase 2010 will be held on July 9th and 10th at Lone Peak Park in Sandy, UT.   The showcase has expanded to include a five-field complex!! These teams are separated into divisions based on first round of pool play. RMLS is a fun, competitive environment. In addition, it is a great opportunity for players to display their talents to college coaches. A large percentage of coaches attending represent Western region NCAA and MCLA programs.

This is  a great opportunity for high school boy's lacrosse players to make a connection with a college program.

You can come as team or as a FREE AGENT and be put on a team!

PLEASE ACT QUICKLY!!!  Don't miss this opportunity to play some competitive summer lacrosse and start connecting with college teams which might be your future.

All participants will:

• Create a free online recruit page via CaptainU, one of Americas leading recruiting services company.
• Connect with college coaches before, during and after the event.
• Play with talented players from across the Rocky Mountain Region.
• Qualify for the RMLS All-Star game Friday night (Two grade divisions: 9/10 & 11/12).
• Receive a unique # so coaches can single you out (reversible provided).
• Play 5 games.  If playing in the Championship you will play six, and if an All-Star you'll have a shot at 7 games!

Go to www.rmlaxshowcase.com for more details and registration.

Rocky Mountain Showcase sponsors:

Harrow Sports
Westminster College
Tribal West Lacrosse
MCLA

Be sure to go to http://www.marketingsuccessinstitute.com/ and sign up for Bryan’s Monday Morning Marketing Minute . The following is from his newsletter dated 10/5/2009:

In my last installment, I talked about making sure you can deliver on the promises made in your promotions. Now let's look at how to run a successful promotion. I've broken the 12 steps into thirds so you can digest them slowly over the next couple of weeks.

  Step 1: Find the holes in your revenue net

  Every business has areas in which it could be capturing more business if a little focus was placed on those areas. Maybe it's a time of day, week, or month that revenues could be increased. Perhaps it's an increase of sales of a given product line, or more sales from a certain demographic. Whatever the case, take a look at your business and, with the help of your marketing team, identify those missed opportunities.

  Step 2: Decide what to fill the holes with

  Is it more patrons or clients that will fill the holes? It may be the movement of idle inventory that will take care of the problem. And maybe its as simple as increasing the amount of your company's average transaction.

  Step 3: Identify your audience

  Given the holes you've found and what you want to fill them with, are you going to approach a new audience with your offer? Your known prospects? Existing clients? These are three distinct and different audiences that need to be approached in different ways. Is one more suited to be the solution to your need than other?

  Step 4: Create an offer

  This is where most people begin thinking about a promotion. "What will we offer?" is the typical starting point. Now that we know where we can increase revenues without adding to overhead and we've looked at who the best audience(s) is/are to help us meet our revenue goals, we can do a much better job of putting the best offer in front of our specified audience.

  I'll go into more detail on creating the offer in the MSI blog. Just click here to read the rest of the story, and I'll see you next week with the next four steps to running a successful promotion.

  Here's to your promotional success!
 
Bryan Waldon Pope
Founder
Marketing Success Institute

David G Thompson, Coach

801-938-6965

A concept that I address when beginning to work with new clients is focus. Many business people are barraged with pictures, sounds, and words (“PSWs”) designed to catch their attention and focus for a variety of reason. When the other PSWs of our lives are thrown in, it is a wonder that we can focus intently enough to get anything completed.

Those who accomplish their goals have learned techniques to focus their minds on “What Matter Most” (“WMM”). A key tool is to separate at the outset those things that you can change from those things that just occupy space and time in your mind.

Those things that just take up space are in your Circle of Concern. I’m concerned about the war in . . .  I am concerned about the unemployment rate. I am concerned about the water quality in a local river. On and on and on. I have no direct influence or method to resolve my concerns. That does not mean that I can be involved, it just means that YOU can’t resolve the issue today.

Those things you can change are in your Circle of Influence. Focused effort in this area, this goals, produce results. I am concerned about my sales.  I am concerned about my company’s morale. I am concerned about my child’s education this year. These are all things that with planning, coordination and effort can be changed by your direct action.

Why would I address this issue? This week I asked a client if he ever gets side tracked while on the internet. His answer was, “All the time.” “Why?”, I asked. “Well I’m concerned about the what President Obama is doing or not doing. And then I get lost in all the commentary on the web.” “Do you have the political clout to change his course of action?” “No, but I do vote in all the elections.” As we continued our discussion I could see from his body language that he is truly concerned about city, state and national issues, is active politically. He could also see that the lack of focus on more immediate things in his Circle of Influence were costing him in declining results and that precious asset of time.

What are you going to focus on today? Do you have the courage to shut off messaging, email, cell and use DND on the land line to focus on WMM?

Try it.

David G Thompson, Coach

801-938-6965

Clients often get tired of hearing a mantra “If you can’t measure it, don’t do it.” Or “You only do that which you can measure.” It is not always easy, sometimes systems need to be changed, employees need to be trained and customers may need an explanation of why you are requesting certain data from them. Think back to a time when someone asked you your zip code before ringing up the sale on the cash register, they were measuring something.

Understanding the correlation between what you do (marketing, advertising, social networking, volunteering, etc.) and the results helps business owners make wise future decisions. Can you define where every customer came from? Do you know what your prospective customer to client conversion rate is? Do you know your rate of customers entering your facility to sales? What is the average sale? Have the measurements increased or decreased? Do your employees know why the numbers are so important?

Example – While working with a client recently, who measure how customers came to chose his service, the numbers told us that the vast majority of the customer base were referrals and repeat business. He is spending thousands a month in the local yellow pages where he received one customer in two months, a negative ROI. Two months does not a year make, but by collecting the data for a year or two he will be able judge where is effort and money should be placed.

I was once asked to make 10 contacts and a minimum of 10 presentations per week. I thought that I was being asked to produce numbers, and only numbers. Little did I realize that with the increase in contacts, the presentation numbers were relatively easy. A side benefit of giving the presentation so many times was that the delivery of the presentation got better and overcoming objections became easier. Success followed.

There are a few interesting stats:

48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect

25% of sales people make a second contact and stop

12% of sales people make a third contact and stop

 Only 10% of sales people make more than 3 contacts

2% of sales are made on the first contact

3% of sales are made on the second contact

5% of sales are made on the third contact

10% of sales are made on the fourth contact

80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

How is this known – It is measured!

David G Thompson, Coach

801-938-6965