Jun

18

Networking at Kids’ Sporting Events

June 18, 2007 | 2 Comments

Gene Marks writes a monthly Penny Pincher Tips newsletter for small businesses.  This month’s newsletter outlines 10 places or ways to network for business, quoted courtesy of Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Sales Bible.
The list contains many of the usuals.  Chamber of commerce events and organizations like Rotary are on there. 
But one unusual networking tip one caught my […]

May

15

Get Their Attention Fast By Getting Right to the Point

May 15, 2007 | 3 Comments

All too many sales pitches involve someone who wants to come in and spend a few hours of your time to “explore your needs.” 
If I have an overwhelming problem, then I may want to have my needs explored.  But like most small business owners, I have so many needs that I couldn’t possibly afford to […]

Apr

8

Developing Sales Prospects in Social Settings

April 8, 2007 | 1 Comment

Back in November 2005 we conducted an online survey at my Small Business Trends website, about selling to small businesses.  One of the findings highlights a challenge so many businesses in the business-to-small-business space have:  finding someone to sell to is sometimes the hardest part.
Thirty-three percent (33%) of sellers in that survey said that their #1 challenge was […]

Mar

27

Eliminate Lingo for Small Biz Owners

March 27, 2007 | 1 Comment

Technology products and services are famous (or infamous) for all the barely decipherable technical terminology.
Technical, legal, scientific and financial terminology — all can be confusing to the very people you are trying to communicate with:  business owners. 
The thing is, most small business owners are not subject-matter experts in your industry.   When you use insider lingo it makes your company harder to […]

Jan

6

It’s Not About Logic

January 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Jonathan Farrington is a sales professional whose excellent blog I just discovered.  You’ll find lots of interesting stuff there, but one article caught my eye in particular:  The Twelve Golden Principles Of Selling
I especially appreciated number 7: 
Principle 7: – You Cannot Rely On Logic

84% of all buying decisions are based upon emotion - not logic

What […]

Nov

12

Use Retirement Benefit Education as a Marketing Entry Point

November 12, 2006 | Leave a Comment

A survey released today by ShareBuilder401K (conducted by Harris) says that more than half of U.S. small business owners plan to retire AFTER age 65 — or never.  
And it’s a good thing, because almost half (47%) say they are not confident they are saving enough for retirement.  And even more (63%) offer no retirement benefits […]

Sep

22

Make Partnerships Information Based

September 22, 2006 | Leave a Comment

A lot of companies that want to capture the loyalty of small businesses have the right idea.  They understand that small business owners are more likely to consider a vendor to be adding value if that vendor provides access to complementary products and services from partners.
But what usually happens is this:  the vendor links to some partners in the footer or side column of […]

Jul

16

Help Small Businesses Close a Sale and They Will Love You Forever

July 16, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Perhaps this story will sound familiar. 
A technology entrepreneur leading a tech company wanted to jump start sales, which had fizzled.  New sales were next to non-existent.  A competitor had come out of nowhere and was proving a formidable challenge.
This particular entrepreneur did what many CEOs who are comfortable with technology do:  he spent most of his time focused […]

Apr

26

Determine Lifetime Value of Small Business Customers

April 26, 2006 | Leave a Comment

In an article at B2B Marketing Trends, Lloyd Corder says there are seven questions to ask to measure the return on your marketing investment.  Among them is this question: 
7. Lifetime Customer Value (What is the value of a new customer over the lifetime of its business with our organization?)
A lot of marketing focuses on finding new […]

Apr

18

Sales Tips - What Selling is Not

April 18, 2006 | Leave a Comment

“Selling used to be about closing.  But it isn’t anymore.  It used to be about handling objections or about preventing objections from coming it.  *** And selling isn’t about being confrontational.”
So starts a short audio file (podcast) by Greg Balanko at the Business Performance Coaching blog.  I’ve paraphrased his words a bit, but those are […]

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