As a business owner like you, I have learned that time and money are very important. Hiring a business coach is one of the best investments you will ever make in your company’s bottom line. An initial, one-hour, consultation will give you an opportunity to “think about tomorrow, TODAY”. One hour + you + me + your goals = $50!!
One of the problems people often have when they establish a referral network is that once they feel unsatisfied with their referrals, they blame people in the network for not doing their job.
The truth is that if your network isn’t working the way you expect, it’s your fault …. So… what are you doing to compel them to refer you? Do you follow up on a regular basis? Are you interested in what they do or are you more concerned about how interested they are in what you do? In other words, are you helping them in the same way you want them to help you?
Remember: if your referral networking isn’t working, it’s your responsibility to make sure it does!!!
The 3 M’s of successful mail marketing:
The Market – the number of people who need or desire the product or service enough to be willing to make a purchase.
The Message – The words and images and special offers used to get attention and get customers to take action now.
The Mailing List – The people who receive a mailing and how closely these people match up to the types of people who are known to have a need or desire for the product or service.
To get good results from a mailing, you need to send a compelling message to a carefully selected list of people who need or desire your product or service AND have the means to acquire it now.
The marketing budget of your company is often treated as an unnecessary burden that does not add anything to the bottom line, but that is simply “bad logic”. While the sales department only meets the demand for a company’s product, it is marketing that creates that demand in the first place. In a competitive world, good marketing gets your product noticed out of the clutter of dozens of similar products and creates a preference in the mind of the customer.
A good marketing strategy is direct and focused. It concentrates NOT on the products but on the customer – their needs, their tastes, their aspirations and their feedback.
*Carol’s Confident Comment: “A thing does not go wrong because of some perverse fate. It is more than likely that you lack the proper approach.” - Norman Vincent Peale
You can increase the likelihood of your voice mail being returned by remembering these basic tips:
*Carol’s Confident Comment: “A thing does not go wrong because of some perverse fate. It is more than likely that you lack the proper approach.” - Norman Vincent Peale
Sales is a lot like dating and the secret is paying attention to the details – just like you would on a first date.
Some tips for attracting-and keeping-new clients!!
*****If you would like to receive additional tips on how to attract AND keep clients, call for an appointment today!*****
People-pleaser’s often say “yes” quickly without thinking it through. Use these guidelines before taking on a commitment in the future.
******If you are always saying “yes” and are over-committed and find that you don’t have time to run your business, call for an appointment and learn how to effectively say “no”.
When you think you should give up on your business idea or the business itself, think about these people who overcame serious handicaps!!
*Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless.
*Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Walt Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.
*Inventor Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. When Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2,000 experiments. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, “I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000-step process.”
*Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was encouraged to find work as a servant or seamstress by her family.
******Before you give up on your dream or business, call for an appointment and get some direction.
An elevator speech is a short description of what you do that is told to someone else in the time it takes an elevator to go from the bottom floor to the top. Good elevator speeches last about 10-15 seconds and contain enough creativity and information so they’re remembered long after they’re given.The worst thing you can do – When asked “what do you do?”, the worst answer you can give is “I’m an ______________ (accountant, lawyer, consultant, etc.) Answering like this only tells your listener what you are, not how you help others. When you label yourself this way, you forgo any discussion of the benefits you provide to others and leave this up to the listener to figure out on their own.
A great elevator speech is made up of three (3) distinct parts; the hook, deliverables and benefits, and finally putting it all together. Follow these steps to develop an elevator speech that turns heads.
Step #1: Develop your own hook. A hook is a catch phrase whose sole purpose is to get someone’s attention. Here are some examples:
Occupation —- Hook
Landscape Gardener —- I turn the world green
IRS Agent —- I’m a government fund-raiser
Nutritionist —- I teach people how to behave in front of food
Each one of these statements begs the question, “how do you do that?”
Step #2: After being asked for more information, explain your deliverables or in other words, explain what your service or product provides.
I specialize in ______________________ (action verb followed by your deliverables) for the _______________________________ (your target market).
Step #3: Practice, practice, practice your own personal 10-15 second elevator speech until it becomes as comfortable as your shoes.
NOTE: If you need assistance with making your business stand out with a great “elevator speech”, please contact Carol Birkey.
We all have times in our day when we feel productive and other times when we feel sluggish. Use these highs and lows to your advantage. Get complex and mentally challenging tasks done during your energy highs. During the lows, take care of low priority, routine or non-challenging tasks.
Carol’s Confident Comment – “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot” – Michael Althsuler
