In order to survive in this new economy of buyers, you need to stop chasing buyers and start attracting them. You need to stop selling them and start engaging them. You need to stop closing them and start empowering them to buy.

Buyers are everywhere. What are you doing to attract, engage and empower them to buy, from you?

To accomplish this you will need to become buyer focused. In other words it is no longer about you, your product or your business. It is about the buyer, the relationship you create with them and their needs and desires, not yours.

Start with creating a personal marketing program – one built by you for you to position you as an expert in the market place, so that buyers come looking for you by name.

One of the greatest opportunities we have in sales, and in business, is to develop our reputation and to build a network. Some people are paid to do just that.

With or without a sale, each and every day you are building, or destroying, your reputation and your network. The key is to build a reputation that will attract buyers through your own personal marketing activities.

People buy from people, particularly people they like, trust and give value . A personal marketing program will separate you from everyone else. You can position yourself as the leader in the field with the most credibility and respect, if you are willing to go the extra mile. The extra mile is simply giving more of your expertise in a manner that is valued by buyers

But first take the time to define your market; Who are they, what do they look like, where are they located, what are their problems, their needs and desires?

Describe your ideal buyer – Profile them. What are their likes and dislikes? How can you be exposed to them as an expert? How do you meet them? How do you start and maintain a relationship?

Consider this – How do your buyers perceive you? How would you like them to perceive you? What are you doing about it?

Remember, buyers need to buy you first, and then they will buy your products or services. People buy whatever you have to sell because of who you are.

How do you need to position yourself to your buyers to attract them?

As an expert in your field!

There are some simple and obvious ways to position yourself for success in your personal marketing program. For example, you can identify the associations that your buyers get involved in. You can become a member and network with it’s members. Better yet, you too can get actively involved in a leadership or executive role within that association.

I have even gone as far as being a founding president of an association chapter. Every member, and buyer got to know me, and when my services were needed, who do you think they sought out and bought from?

Still better, speak at an association meeting giving the members tips on how to save, or make money, increase performance, reduce costs, etc., or whatever benefits the buyer based on your knowledge of the industry you work in.

This is not a sales pitch, not about you, your products or services, or your company. It is about the audience – the buyer and giving them something of value, so that you are positioned as an expert in your industry.

Think of it this way. It may take you 30 minutes to sell one on one, and you end up chasing after the buyer.

Presenting something that buyers value to an audience of say 50 people takes the same 30 minutes. However, at least 10-20% of that audience will end up chasing you for your products and services, providing you did not sell them, but gave them educational value.

Where will you get a better return on your time – one of one, or one of 50?

In addition, consider writing a newsletter, articles or tip sheets for local newspapers or magazines on a regular basis and share your expertise.

I do all of these on a regular basis. I have articles that have been published worldwide with my photo and contact information. I have positioned myself as an expert in my field and have not gone looking for buyers for the past ten years. They look for me.

The more articles that I write, the more I speak, the more I expose myself to the right buyers, the more buyers I attract and the more they buy, from me.

Think of what would happen to your reputation, and your sales, if you publicly shared your inside industry knowledge to benefit buyers in a passionate and sincere way.

The objective behind your personal marketing plan is to position yourself as an expert in your field. You will become known, recognized and sought after, while being supported by a large network, or secondary sales force, referring you through word of mouth. You will never have to chase a buyer again.

So, what will be your first action step to becoming a recognized expert in your field, to the buyers you desire?

Take action today, purchase the book Up Your Bottom Line and Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Sales Velocity System, to Up Your Bottom Line in Weeks, not Months.

To purchase the book or to download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

It is time for retailers to wake up and stop doing what they have always done. If they do not make the necessary changes, they will continue to get the same sales results as in the past.

This is the standard retail sales greeting you usually receive walking into an outlet. “Hello, can I help you?” and you give the standard answer, “No thank you, I’m just looking.” Even if you know what you want to buy and how much you are willing to spend, you still offer the same old reply.

As a retail sales person, if you ask a question and know what the answer will be, as described above, it is time to ask a different question? By doing so, you will initiate a different response.

We must explore “greetings” in general and consider a new approach that will encourage others to buy.

First answer this question: Why did the customer come into your store?

Is it possible they want to buy something? If you intend to make a purchase when you enter the store, how would you like to be greeted? How do you think they would prefer to be greeted?

First of all, isn’t it a privilege to have a customer walk into your store? If so, how should you welcome them and show your appreciation for their visit?

Let’s suppose you walked into a retail outlet and were approached as follows: “Good afternoon and welcome to our store. We appreciate you taking the time to visit with us.” How would that make you feel?

This particular greeting alone will make a big difference in welcoming anyone into your retail outlet, and will certainly make them feel appreciated. But that’s not all.

Most retail sales people follow the client around the store. Stop doing that and give them some space.

Try adding the following onto the improved greeting:”My name is Bob, and if there is anything I can do for you, just call out Bob, and I will be right over to help you.” Then, walk away and allow them some space.

When they do call your name, approach them, thank them and ask them how they would like to be addressed. People will usually give their first name, and you instantly have permission to address them accordingly. People love to be referred to by name and by doing so; it encourages a more personal sales approach with the customer.

Now there are many other things you can do to make the customer feel comfortable with you and to gain their trust, but you will have to read my other articles on building rapport and relationships. In the meantime, focus on your sales greetings and try different approaches to determine the one that works best for you.

Finally, always show your appreciation by thanking them for their visit to your store, whether or not they purchased anything. Never forget, it is a privilege to have someone come into your retail outlet.

Sales motivation supports and contributes to the bottom line and the future growth of your organization.

Which one is more important to you? Which one are you contributing to?

Sales is the blood line to every organization. If there is no sales motivation to sell, then there isn’t any sales activity. Without sales, there are no transactions. The cycle continues and consequently, the lack of transactions leads to no revenue. The fall in revenue leads to the demise of an organization and thusly, the loss of jobs. This downward spiral generally ends in a recession.

Are you supporting sales in your organization? It is imperative that you do and that sales motivation be at the forefront. The world revolves around sales.

Now is the time to accelerate sales motivation, and not to cut back on such an essential sales factor. In today’s economy, sales people have to work twice as hard just to maintain current sales. The order taking period is over for the immediate future.

Times have certainly changed. Management can no longer tell sales people what to do or how to do it. If Management dictates instead of utilizing proven methods of sales motivation, then they own the activity and there won’t be any commitment from the sales team. Sales motivation and positive reinforcement is the key to achievement during this uncertain market.

Enduring sales motivation has to come from within. Managers will have to engage their sales people in the same way they would engage their customers into buying.

No one can motivate others to work hard and to push forward with a positive force. Individuals must motivate themselves. Only you can motivate you and thusly, sales motivation comes from within.

Employee commitment requires trust and valuable time from Management and these factors will lead to personal motivation, to solid commitment and to constant discipline within the sales force.

Do you trust your sales team enough to engage them in the solution, and let them carry out the actions according to their plan and in the best interest of the company?

Let’s conquer the recession by being part of the solution and not the problem. You must fight back with positive sales motivation and a daily dose of personal discipline. This recession is a bump in the road but if we use the right tools and the right mindset, we can move around that bump without damage and arrive at our sales destination well ahead of others.

The buyers are not out looking for you, your company and its products or services any longer. A sales person needs to locate them and there are fewer buyers nowadays.

Previously, you may have made ten sales prospecting calls a day. Currently, you have to double up and, in some cases, triple your prospecting calls doing 20 to 30 calls a day to achieve the same results.

It is recommended you work smarter as you work harder. Take the time to profile your best customers and be assured the ideal profile is the type of prospect you are seeking.

Always take your return on time invested (R.O.T.I.) into consideration when prospecting, as your time is now more valuable than ever before.

Also, the key word today is discipline. Discipline is a commitment to the most important person in the world – you! It means doing what you have to do even when you do not want to do it.

Now step up, get out there and make a difference!

Want to learn more about the ABC, 123 Sales Results System, purchase Up Your Bottom Line and Sales Gurus Speak Out. Want to learn more about Discipline, purchase Disciplined for Life, You Are the Author of Your Future.

We all know that people buy from people they like and trust. We also know that once a relationship has been established, it must be maintained to ensure ongoing business and beneficial sales results. If the relationship is not maintained, it is lost and precious sales results dwindle. The cost of finding a new customer is much more expensive than maintaining an existing customer.

The key in a tough economy is maintaining relationships with existing customers and suppliers. In order to sustain progressive sales results, maintain the “A” – Absolute customers which are the 20% of customers that give you 80% of the revenue. Then, move onward and maintain the “B“- Beneficial customers.

If you are not maintaining those relationships or supporting your sales results, your competitors will be happy to oblige. Money flows in the direction of trusted relationships. Are you maintaining trusting relationships with your key customers and suppliers? Are your sales results on the rise?

In some cases you may want to go a step further than maintaining a relationship. You may want to acquire a partnering approach. Join forces with both customers and suppliers and help each other toward those win-win sales results.

A partnership approach can be a joint marketing and/or sales approach or an after-sales follow-up and support. Whatever approach you discuss and agreed upon, the single objective is to help the sales result growth of each other’s business in a genuine, affirmative manner.

The best method to sustain economic growth and promising sales results is through discussion with your key customers and suppliers. Determine how you can work together as a team to maintain and nurture each other’s business in the days ahead. This is an indication of a sales result oriented relationship and a steadfast, effective partnership.

Remember, none of this will happen while sitting on a chair in your office. You must take action. Step up and step out of your comfort zone. If you want impressive sales results, then be a leader and help your fellow entrepreneurs lead the way out of this tough economy.

Want to learn more about the ABC, 123 Sales Results System, purchase Up Your Bottom Line and Sales Gurus Speak Out.

Begin affecting sales results by dissecting your data base of customers based on predetermined criteria. This should be criteria that you can use to identify your best customers. It could be volume, margins, profits, loyalty, etc, but it must be specific and utilized to distinguish between different levels of clients.

The Plato rule states that 80% of your clients give you 20% of your business. The problem begins when most sales professionals invest up to 80% of their time with these low producing clients. This format is a road block for effective sales results.

The opposite of the above is also true. Statistics show that only 20% of your customers give you 80% of your business and unfortunately sales professionals tend to focus 20% of their time here. This is an ineffective way to get those concrete sales results.

What if sales professionals were to do the opposite and focus 80% of their time on the 20% of the clients who give them 80% of their revenues? Do you think they would get better sales results while better managing their time?

By clearly defining the criteria of your best customers utilizing your existing data base, you will be able to profile what we call your “A” or Absolute customers. They are absolute customers because without them and the progressive sales results, you would be out of business.

What is the criterion which reflects an “A” client in your business?

Follow the same sales results procedure with the next level of clients, the “B” or Beneficial client. What is the criterion which reflects a “B” client in your business?

Next, profile your “A” and “B” clients based on the information you have in your data base such as the company, the size, the decision maker’s age, the gender, the association / club memberships, the magazines they subscribed to, etc.

Finally, map that profile out into the marketplace and identify prospects that have the same or similar profile. They are the “A” and “B” prospects that you must target and invest your time in order to achieve the sales results you need in a tough economy. It will also be your best Return on Time Invested (R.O.T.I.) Now is the time for forward thinking, effective planning and profound sales results.

Want to learn more about the ABC, 123 Sales Results System, purchase Up Your Bottom Line and Sales Gurus Speak Out.

In this blog I would like to share how to engage them into a buying process and how to maintain and advance your sales results.

Partner with clients and maintain a strong relationship with them. Also, engage prospects and create a relationship with them. This advice is crucial to maintain and increase sales results and be successful in today’s uncertain economy.

It is of the utmost importance to invest time and partner however you can with existing clients. Partnering is defined by helping them in their business and they help you increase your sales results. This type of partnering can take place in many forms. The key to successful partnering is creating a win-win situation for both parties while encouraging a long term relationship. Communication and trust are key to maintaining partnering success and unyielding sales results.

Engaging prospects to improve your sales results may require a change in the way you sell. First, stop selling solutions. It is no longer about you, your organization, your product or services. It is strictly about the prospect. Focus on the client’s needs and watch your sales results inflate.

Take the time to engage the prospects. Find out what is happening to them from their point of view. Build a rapport and a strong foundation for a lasting relationship. Ask open ended questions to get them talking. Show concern and gather facts. Understand and feel the issues and problems. Help them discover the solutions for themselves and entice sales results. If they don’t buy, maintain the relationship, ask for referrals and introductions. Before long, they will be buying from you.

Just remember, nothing productive happens by merely sitting in a sales office. It only happens when you take action. When you step up and step out of your comfort zone, your sales results improve. Be a leader and help your fellow entrepreneurs lead the way out of this uncertain economy.

Want to learn more about the ABC, 123 Sales Results System, purchase Up Your Bottom Line and Sales Gurus Speak Out.

Want to learn more about Discipline, purchase Disciplined for Life, You Are the Author of Your Future.

Businesses not only need to clearly define their target prospects but they also need to know where to find them, how to approach them and how to engage them into a buying process in order to maintain and nurture their sales results.

Solid sales results can be achieved primarily by dissecting the data base of customers and by utilizing the ABC criteria discussed in previous blogs and articles. The idea is to identify and profile the A and B clients of the past. Then, maintain and develop the relationships with each of them in order to sustain sales results. Finally, map out that particular profile in the market place for other prospects while meeting the A and B criteria necessary to produce sales results.

Subsequently, find these clients. What organization or associations do they belong to? What sports do they enjoy? What clubs have they joined? Lastly, to fortify sales results, deliver a strategy for meeting and building an optimistic relationship with them.

You can build a relationship by joining as an active member in the same associations, clubs, etc. You can hold an educational talk or seminar. You may write educational articles and tips for the magazines they read. The main idea is to position yourself as an expert or an authority in the marketplace. Your name will signify sales results and will rest at the top of their contact list.

During these down times, this type of relationship building must be done more often than ever before. Sitting in a sales office will not produce sales results. Go after what you want and get the sales results you deserve.

Naturally cold calling requires you to identify yourself my name and organization, and that is where it stops being about you!

Too many cold callers babble on about their organization, it’s products or services and that in itself is not engaging. If you do not immediately engage the receiver of the call, they will not want you wasting their time.

In today’s economy a cold caller needs to engage the receiver of the call. The best way to engage the receiver of the call is first through stating a major benefit statement. Basically, what are the benefits to the receiver of your call in terms of saving money, increasing performance, exposure, their bottom line and so on?

A major benefit statement in cold calling is used to get their attention before requesting permission to carry on. It should capture their attention, without revealing what or how your products or services will do it.

When it comes to cold calling the major benefit statement is your door opener. So, your major benefit statement can be measured. If it is not opening doors for you, in the sense of getting permission to carry on with your call, it is not working and you need to change it. However, a good benefit statement will get you permission to move forward.

Here is an example. Hello, my name is… and I am with… We work with organizations like yours to increase the performance of your sales people while contributing to your bottom line. Is this a good time to talk?

Let’s take a look at this. We work with organizations like yours gives them the feeling they are not alone, part of a bigger picture and gives you the credibility that you have already proven yourself.

The benefits are increase performance and contribute to their bottom line. Who would not want that, even though it is vague? But do note, it doesn’t explain how. It is a tease. Just enough of a tease to get permission.

Is this a good time to talk? That is seeking permission to proceed. Now, one of two things can happen here when cold calling. One, it is really not a good time, or your benefit statement is weak and the answer you get is No. When you get a no, ask, when it would be a good time to call back, and call back at that time.

However, with a strong benefit statement, and cold calling at the right time, the answer would normally be yes, giving you permission to proceed to outline the objectives of the call and to qualify the client.

Cold calling in today’s economy requires you to immediately capture the receiver’s attention through a major benefit statement. One that will get you the permission to carry on with the call.

Most sales and marketing training today still focuses on the products, services, brand, etc.
Sales and marketing people are out their doing presentations and are constantly chasing customers. It is all about them, their product, service or brand!

Today’s customer demands that it be about them, not you!

Therefore sales and marketing training needs to have more of a focus on the customer – their needs and desires, their budget, their timing, etc. Customers also want to buy from experts – people who are known in the market place that they can trust. So, they seek out them out, usually by name.

Therefore for sales and marketing training to be effective, it must help people discover how to position themselves in the marketplace as an expert and be sought out. To do that is best through group interaction and discussion.

Let’s start with some simple facts – You know more about your product, services and company than I do. You also know how you can save me money, increase my performance, and can relate many other benefits to me. Now, what if you were to put these benefits down in the form of tips – The Top Ten Tips to … and get it published with your name and contact information? How would you be perceived?

What about turning it into an educational article, speaking about it in front of your target audience or conducting an educational seminar. How would you be perceived?

You can become a member in an association where your can network with prospects, or still better becoming an active member. What if your were the President of the Association, how would you be perceived?

There are many other methods in which you can be positioned as an expert, as long as you are coming from an educational and credible point of view and not a sales pitch. By doing this sort of sales and marketing activities you are multiplying your value. Where would you get the best R.O.T.I. (Return on Time Invested) – 30 minutes selling one on one, or 30 minutes educating one on one hundred?

Think about it, and think about how you would be perceived in the market place. The first method is a push yourself onto the prospect to sell, whereas the second one is pulling in prospects who want to buy. As a customer yourself, do you prefer to be sold, or to buy?