Marketing

Business development is important for every business and refers to the action of bringing in customers or clients that are likely to make positive contributions to a company's bottom line. Business Development is all about establishing relevant and subsisting relationships in the market place. Your existing client or customer base is the number one most important tool to increasing your firm's business. The most important relationships for any business are those that it holds with its customers....

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The Federal Trade Commission has rule that are supposedly in place to protect franchise buyers from fraud from franchisors who might attempt to mislead them into purchasing a franchise. Part of the franchise rules are addressing required disclosure paperwork. In this disclosure document, which is required to be given to franchisees 10 days before any purchase is made are the names, addresses, phone numbers of all franchisees in the system. For smaller home based franchises this means home numbers, addresses and personal information....

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I don't even like saying the word d---------g. I have literally obliterated it from my dictionary with a black marking pen. I'll bite my tongue until it bleeds, before I say the word. Earlier this week Bernadette, my wife, and I went shopping . . . something I love to do. Just kidding! We were looking for a 3-piece plant stand for our deck. We found one in a catalog and went to the store to check it out. Bernadette always asks the sales person if he can do better on his price. You'd be surprised how much you can save just by asking....

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Are you dog tired because of the way you manage your sales team? Many managers tell me that they cannot see a way out of traditional sales management methods that keep them working like dogs, including focusing strictly on revenue goals, staying late, traveling up to three weeks a month, tightly controlling teams, and constantly reacting to emergencies. There has to be a better way. Are you satisfied with the way your life as a sales manager is turning out? Is it giving you all that you wanted? If not, perhaps it's time to make a revolution....

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Last week I got a call from Jose, who was looking for help improving his ads. He'd been running the same ad in four local papers for two months and only gotten one response. He was understandably frustrated. With more than a dozen very satisfied clients, he knows that the residential property management services he and his brother provide should interest more people, but he wasn't having any success getting attention or generating leads. Jose knew that to grow his business he'd need to do some marketing....

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I recently began doing training in the banking industry. Across the board, successful bankers close between 2% and 6% of the prospects they call on, starting from their first prospecting call. Not only are those numbers abysmal, they are considered normal. In other words, bankers are expected to fail at least 94% of their time. The insurance industry has the same odds. In general, every industry closes less than 10% of the prospects they call (first call to close), with over 90% falling in the 7% category....

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In today's 24/7 driven business word, accountability is becoming a more critical issue for every business owner, manager, executive and salesperson. The challenge is to realize that accountability is just not a single issue, but an issue with many supporting elements. To maintain and thrive as an accountable individual first requires overcoming the fear to embrace these elements and then a plan of Action to ensure that YOU are an accountable individual. Action - What action or actions did you take or not take and why?...

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Question: What do the following have in common? - I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels and not getting very much done. - I am continually frustrated with the performance of my sales team. - Why can't my sales team be more independent thinkers? They come to me with EVERYTHING! Answer: These statements reflect people who are continually frustrated with the same problem. They are stuck and their problems can probably be traced back to making Big Assumptions. Making assumptions about yourself or others, without checking them out, can diminish your effectiveness....

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As spring moves to summer, the forecast should be for warmer and sunnier weather. What is the forecast for your business? Is the outlook sunny or cloudy? Do you know what sales you can expect, whether for a team of sales people or within your own business or practice? How do you feel about putting together a forecast? How do the others in your business feel? I wonder why you have these feelings? Forecasting is vital for any business - well, accurate forecasting is vital!! This is true for professional services as well as commercial organisations....

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Performance and behaviour management is by far the most difficult aspect of any manager's job and the reluctance to 'grasp the nettle' when performance or behaviour issues emerge is certainly a concern in many organisations. But at the end of the day that is what managers are paid to do and not doing so will certainly affect service, team morale, sales and ultimately the bottom line. Why does this reluctance exist, why do so many mangers back away from confrontation? The problems and challenges that need to be overcome are many and the common reasons and 'excuses' for not doing so are as follows: It is Risky - There is a worry in the back of the manager's mind that discussions could turn into heated arguments and that they may open themselves up for harassment or bullying accusations....

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