When it comes to promoting your service or product (whether it be by ad, sales letter, or direct contact) there are 6 major ways to improve your chances at a sale.  

#1 - Make an offer that is too good to refuse.   Be sure to add bonus gifts or discounts (especially to first time customers.)  

#2 - Grow your business by taking the risk away.  
Always have a risk free offer.  Make sure your potential customer understands that you offer a money back guarantee, or store credit, or something of that sort.  The ability to return a product or receive a refund will vastly decrease the prospect's fear of "buyer's remorse."  

#3 - Write powerful money making headlines.   The most important line in any add or sales pitch is the first line, or hook.  Spend some time crafting your opening statement into a concise attention grabber.  If you're having trouble with this refer to magazine headlines.  Magazine covers are full of great hooklines.  

#4 - Be unique.   What do you have over your competitors?  What sets you apart?  What is the #1 reason your clients do business with you?  

#5 - Hand write your adds.   Even if you are modeling your adds after an already existing add make sure to write it out for yourself.  This will create a deep neurological imprint on your brain.  Now you will find the information more readily available when creating new adds or in a direct sales situation.  

#6 - Hire a professional.   If you are still concerned about creating a successful add campaign look to a pro.  Every SalesPartner has the ability to help you create powerful, attention-grabbing, money making adds.  Contact your local SalesPartner for a free consultation.   If you use all of the tips above when you create your adds, your response rate will increase guaranteed.   For more in depth analysis of these topics with copywriting professional, Alexi Neocleous please refer to our Automatic Lead Generator Training kit.
 
 
10 Steps To Make Your Business Boom  
 
You may have heard the phrase "Teamwork makes the dream work" before.
 
This quote is absolutely true.  The best way to ensure the success of your business is to make sure that your team is functioning together efficiently.
 
The best way to do this is to create a Code of Honor.
 
A Code of Honor is a set of rules that everyone in your business has agreed upon in order to shape employee conduct in an organized fashion.
 
Some sample rules are as follows:
 
"Never abandon a teammate in need."
"Celebrate all wins."
"Be on time."
 
Note:  For many more sample rules please refer to Blair Singer's book The ABC's of Building a Business Team That Wins.
 
There are several steps in creating a Code of Honor:
 
1.  Find a sane moment in which to create the code.
 
2.  Find recurring issues that repeatedly interfere with the performance of the team.
 
3.  Everyone participates!
 
4.  Talk about various instances of behavior, and how everyone felt about them, both positively and negatively.
 
5.  As soon as you are able to decide on a rule, write it down!
 
6.  Be specific.
 
7.  Don't try to legislate moods.
 
8.  Make sure that the rules are somewhat of a "stretch."
 
For the remaining two steps as well as an in depth explanation of each step please refer to Singer's book The ABC's of Building a Team That Wins.
 
For help with drafting, establishing and implementing a Code of Honor please contact your local SalesPartner.
 
All SalesPartners are thoroughly trained in developing a Code of Honor custom fit for your company.
 
 
When it comes to promotions, your marketing process should be graduated in such a way that each level of the process gets those that are interested in your product or service slightly more committed.   In other words don't go for the big sale right away.  You want to start by just isolating those that are interested in what you have to offer.   Don't waste your time and energy trying to close someone that is offering heavy resistance.  You do this by writing an enticing headline that will interest people that are looking for what you have.   Once you have their attention then you should offer them something for free.  People are more likely to try something new if they feel there is little at stake (nothing lost if they don't enjoy the experience.)   After the free sample, then you can proceed with a sales pitch for a larger sale (we recommend that you offer a "new customer" discount or deal, again to ease them further into your web.)   "Remember, the best word in sales is the word 'free.'  Make your offer a free offer."  Blair Singer   Here is the basic formula:   The first three steps in your marketing strategy.  
  1. Enticing Headline
  2. Free Offer
  3. Sales Letter
  Headlines catch attention and lead to free offers, free offers generate interest from your target market and qualify members for your database.  Once you have collected qualified names in your database you are ready to send out a sales letter or e-mail.   Remember the rule of thumb in sales is:  Give First.   "A great entrepreneur knows that you have to put something out there first in order to get something back."  Blair Singer   The most favored word in the sales process is FREE.   When you are preparing an add ask yourself, "What can I give away for free that adds value to, or best defines my product or service?"   For help with writing enticing headlines, creating a free offer and drafting a bulletproof sales letter please refer to our SalesDogs Training Kit Eight Sales and Marketing Steps to Financial Freedom
 
 
 The following is titled "How to Be Totally, 100 % Present" (an excerpt from Blair Singer's book, "Little Voice" Mastery.  Techniques courtesy of Jayne Johnson.  

"This little voice management technique is very powerful.  It takes two people, or you could do this in a mirror with yourself.  

Sit knee-to-knee (you don't have to touch each other) and look at each other, eyeball-to-eyeball, without talking.  

I know it seems weird, but the purpose of this is to get you present and centered when you're feeling scattered, overwhelmed, or frenzied, or if you simply need to be totally focused when approaching a challenge.  

The rules, as you face each other, are no talking and no flinching for at least three minutes.   

If you can do it for longer than that, great.  The little voice in your brain will start going crazy.  

"This is nuts," it will say.  "What does this person think of me?  I don't want to do this.  I've got other things to do."   That's okay.  Just let your little voice run on.  Do your best to stay in the present.  

If you can do this, you'll find magical things happen.  All of a sudden your brain will become very quiet.  You'll be able to listen to yourself.   You can connect with the other person.  That doesn't mean you have to be in love with that other person - you don't need to find him or her attractive, or even like that person.  You just have to remain present.  

After a while of practicing this, your ability to connect, listen, and stay in the moment will be incredible.   

The next time your spouse talks to you, you will really hear it.  

The next time your sales prospect tells you something, you'll feel connected, instead of listening to your little voice on overdrive as it scrambles for answers.  

You will find people attracted to you because somehow they feel connected, understood, and acknowledged."  

For the rest of this technique, one of 21 techniques for reprogramming your mind for an amazing life, please refer to technique # 10 in Singer's book, "Little Voice" Mastery.
 
Post Title. 07/29/2010
 
How to Create Interest in Your Business in Less Than 30 Seconds
 
 
You never know where you are going to meet your next customer.  It could be anywhere, the coffee shop, a department store, an elevator, etc.  These fleeting interactions are great opportunities to spread awareness of your business or product.
 
Since you may have a very limited window of time and attention you need to be ready with a quick explanation of what you do.  We call this an Elevator Pitch.
 
The purpose of an Elevator Pitch is to create clarity about what you do and to compel somebody to take immediate action on some small step.  It is not necessarily about making a complete sale.
 
Start by stating who you are and what you do briefly, clearly, and concisely.
 
Remember:  An Elevator Pitch by definition is short:  Something you would say in a very brief period of time, preferably so short you could write it on the back of a business card.
 
When writing your first draft imagine that you are writing what you do on the back of a business card.  Limit the description to 10-15 words.
 
To familiarize yourself with the benefits you provide clients, make a list of what you do and the benefits those activities create for other people.  Keep this list handy.
 
Ask yourself now, "What do I do to benefit others?"
 
Now refine your pitch even more by combining the elements.  Follow this format:
 
"I help others...(fill in what you do)... so that they can...(fill in benefit to others)."
 
An Elevator Pitch compels people to take some immediate action on some small step of the sales process.
 
List three different actions you might want someone to take as a result of your elevator pitch.  (Example:  appointment, survey, analysis, phone call, etc.)
 
Make sure you fashion your pitch with your desired outcome in mind.
 
It is important to honor the person with whom you are speaking by asking for permission to talk to them.  It is also critical to get them to open up to you right away.  You do all of the above by asking a few key questions.
 
For these questions and more on creating an elevator pitch please refer to our Powerful Sales Presentations Training Kit.
 
If you would like some help with the development of your Elevator Pitch please contact your local SalesPartner today.  Your first consultation is free!
 
 
Or rather misbehavior.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen this:  a manager berating and or talking down to a young (probably new and improperly trained) employee over some trite mishap that most likely doesn't have anything to do with the success of the business.   This happens most often for one or more of the following reasons:  

1.  The manager is bored.
2.  The manager is on a power trip.
3.  The manager wants to "look good" in front of others.  

Do you notice a trend here?  When an employee messes up who's fault is it?  Most often the blame rests on the shoulders of the person responsible for training them, i.e. the manager.  Just as the business owner is responsible for the manager's actions.  

Don't ever reprimand an employee in front of customers and staff.  This will only make you look bad and lower employee morale thus resulting in a lack of energy and respectively a loss in customer loyalty.  

If a staff member doesn't do something correctly, wait until they aren't busy and ask them to join you in private.  

Once you are in a private setting simply ask them why they did what they did.  There are really only three legitimate responses:  

1.  I didn't know - Great!  This one is easy.  Simply take the time to explain what they did wrong and retrain.  Then go promptly to the person responsible for training them, pull them into private and repeat this process.  
2.  I didn't understand - OK.  Misunderstandings happen all the time.  No problem, spend some time with them and clarify the procedures.  Now this problem should not happen again.  If it does then corrective measures are warranted.   3.  I didn't want to - Now we have a problem.  If someone cannot perform the duties that they are hired to perform for any reason (no matter how noble their intentions may be) then their services are no longer needed.  You may consider a write-up as a warning or even termination.  

Remember to be honest with yourself.  If an employee doesn't want to do something because it seems extreme or slightly immoral then they are in the right.  Ask yourself, "Would I do this?" "Is this really necessary?"  

The best way to get your staff to do what you want is to lead and inspire them.  Encourage them, reward them, step into the fire with them.  If you have your staff's respect you will rarely have problems.  The best way to get respect is to extend them the same courtesy.   For more on this topic refer to our Lead, Teach & Inspire training kit.
 
 
What is a team?  Blair Singer defines it as a group of people with complementary skills who are committed to:

    •    A common purpose and vision
    •    A set of performance goals
    •    A set of personal performance standards
    •    An approach and strategy
    •    Demonstrating a commitment by all members
    •    Exhibiting trust and trustworthiness between the players
    •    Holding all mistakes as "learning experiences" and takes the time to "debrief" what was learned in all cases

Now is a good time to ask yourself, "do I have a staff, or a team?"  Chances are good that you only have a staff.  What's the difference?  A staff works independently and requires you to prod them individually.  A team holds each other accountable for their actions and challenges one another to take their performances to the next level.

A Code of Honor is what you need to turn your staff into a team.  Create a set of rules with your staff that they all feel invested in and responsible for.  Now your team will become more motivated to work together and achieve your goals.  For help with this refer to our Code of Honor Training Kit.
 
Once you have established a team the key to keeping it working is trust.  Here are some elements required to build, maintain and restore trust:
 
    1.    Create brightness of the future or clear and beneficial goals that have an ending in sight
    2.    Maintain frequency of interaction between the members
    3.    Purposely make and keep agreements to form a track record of trustworthiness
    4.    Build and maintain rapport based upon use of language, tonality, behaviors and understanding other's points of view

This topic and many more are more thoroughly explored in the training kit.
 
 
In business, you are going to make mistakes.  If you teach your team to expect them, and even how to laugh at them, you will be giving them a lifelong skill that will make them winners, no matter what.  Note:  If you can do this with your kids they will grow up to be strategic risk takers and great problem solvers.   The key to learning from mistakes is asking the right questions.  Debriefing a situation teaches someone how to look at any situation as a learning experience, not as a tragedy.  As a leader, it isn't about correcting, advising, lecturing or even consoling.   It's about asking good questions.  It's about getting people to understand what happened and to take responsibility for learning something as a result of the experience.    Here are five important questions that you should use in any debriefing situation:
  1. What happened?  We only want facts here, not opinions.
  2. What worked?  Keep this brief and opinion free, if possible.
  3. What didn't work?  Notice the language here.  It's neither right nor wrong.  It either works or it doesn't.  You have to answer both of these questions, because they always co-exist.
  4. What did you learn?  (This is the most important question.)  Look for patterns of behavior or results, not a single isolated incident.
  5. What can you do to correct (if it was a mistake) or leverage it (if it was a win)?  You have to answer this question last.  Otherwise you may put something into action that could create more problems than you had to begin with.
 To learn more about debriefing your team please refer to Blair Singer's book The ABC's of Building a Business Team That Wins.  
 
 
Michael E. Gerber is the founder and CEO of E-Myth Worldwide.  He is also the bestselling author of The E-Myth Manager, The E-Myth Physician, The E-Myth Contractor and E-Myth Mastery as well as a highly sought-after speaker and small business revolutionary.  

In his book The E-Myth Revisited, Gerber describes the E-Myth as the entrepreneurial myth:  the myth that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs and as a result they fall victim to the fatal assumption.  

The following is an excerpt from Gerber's book:  

The Fatal Assumption   "It is an assumption made by all technicians that go into business for themselves, one that charts the course of a business - from Grand Opening to Liquidation - the moment it is made.  

The fatal assumption is:  if you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work.  
 
And the reason it's fatal is that it just isn't true.  In fact it's the root cause of most small business failures.  The technical work of a business and a business that does that technical work are two totally different things!  

But the technician who starts a business fails to see this.  To the technician a business is not a business but a place to go to work.  

So the carpenter, or the electrician, or the plumber becomes a contractor.  The barber opens up a barber shop.  The technical writer starts a technical writing business.  The hairdresser starts a beauty salon.  The engineer goes into the semiconductor business.  The musician opens up a music store.  

All of them believing that by understanding the technical work of the business they are immediately and eminently qualified to run a business that does that kind of work.  

And it's simply not true!  In fact, rather than being their greatest single asset, knowing the technical work of their business becomes their greatest single liability."  

For over two decades E-Myth Worldwide has been helping "technicians" rekindle their entrepreneurial spirit and relocate their original vision.  SalesPartners shares this passion for helping by training "technical" business owners to become entrepreneurs, thereby saving their businesses from failure.
 
 
In Blair Singer's book SalesDogs, Singer categorizes all salespeople into five different breeds of dogs.  Each SalesDog has a different set of strengths and weaknesses.
 
Identifying your breed can help you to better understand your sales process, so that you may set up your sales pitches to play to your strengths.
 
Here are brief descriptions of each of the breeds (excerpts from Singer's book SalesDogs.)
 
Pit Bull:  The most aggressive and probably the most stereotyped salesperson is the Pit Bull (this breed is mostly responsible for people's acquired distaste of used-car lots!)  They will attack anything that has even the remotest scent of "Eau de Prospect."
 
Golden Retriever:  This breed is everyone's favorite.  These slobbering, goo-goo-eyed, shaggy balls of love will do anything for someone who is willing to pet them.  They are the salespeople who sit attentively panting with big smiles on their jowls waiting for the next command from their prospects.
 
Poodle:  On the more sophisticated side of sales, there is the Poodle.  They are highly intelligent, albeit a bit highly strung, and very conscious of "looking mah-ve-lous!"  Whether it's reality-based, or only in their heads, these salespeople live and thrive in a world of flash and class.  They judge books by their covers and prospects by their cars and spend more time at the mall then they do at their desks.
 
Chihuahua:  These SalesDogs are usually incredibly bright.  They are technical wizards and are probably the most intense of all of the breeds.  Chihuahua SalesDogs have to be careful when they get excited because unchecked they may talk continuously, and their high-pitched "yipping" can give everyone a headache.
 
Basset Hound:  With his wrinkled brow and drooping ears the Basset is hard to resist.  This sad-eyed companion will stick by you through thick and thin.  You could try to chase this dog away, scold and threaten him, but he'd just roll over and take it.  Minutes later he'd come cowering back looking at you with those droopy eyes asking for forgiveness.  Bassets are never ruffled, never stressed; they are constant and dependable.
 
Want to know what breed you are?  Click here to take Singer's online SalesDogs test.  This comprehensive analysis only takes five minutes and it's completely free!
 
After you've established your breed check out Singer's book SalesDogs for more about your strengths and weaknesses, plus tips on how to increase your sales.