Sales: Establish the decision-maker Prepare properly...know the needs of the decision maker...know your product, service, and the benefits. Show how your product, service, and benefits are customized to the customer's needs. Be ready for the obstacles, contingencies, and objections to completing the close. Before capitulating, tell the customer you would like to get or give more information, and that you would like a time to get back to him or her. Let the customer know that you will be there to effectively resolve any problems that may arise in doing business with you...immediately. Establish reliability by providing availability through direct follow-up. Close the sale by knowing that you are providing a good solution at a good price. Be a trusted consultant, keep commitments and your word...do what you say you are going to do within the agreed time. Never be late or with task uncompleted with excuses. Always call the customer in advance to give reasons for an inability to meet your appointments or commitments, at least 24 hours in advance, to get justification for your reasons with the customer. Service: Type One...A beginner, trying to learn, has to be told what to say or do, focuses on his/her needs instead of the customer's, insecure in customer presentation. Will get better with practice. Type Two...Goal-oriented, seeks to solve problems, independent thinker, able to multi-task effectively, produces results...thus profits. Type Three...Creative, personally motivated toward spiritual fulfillment, sees the sale as a means of truly enhancing the customer's life, establishes a long-term-relationship based on trust. A notable quote: "Money and material things don't fulfill a truly motivated person; it must be a sense of self-worth and personal gratification that you are truly doing something important which helps others." Making a lot of money just becomes a natural talent for this type of salesperson and those affiliated with him/her. Security: Your initial phase will be that of trying to survive. You will be cash/credit short. Your business must be adaptable/changing the format as needed, but keeping your eye on your business mission, becoming an effective consultant. Be entrepreneurial; take reasonable risks, but most of all, establish consistency in work habits. Don't allow setbacks or depression prevent you from rising to the task each day, like the sun that provides the life of day. Your eventual phase will allow you to start seeing some success. Build on this success by being efficient as well as effective. Apply with consistency, the rules and personal drive that got you to this point. Find good people to help you to grow your business. Be an efficient manager as well as an effective leader. (Copyright, 2005) |