What is Your Cost?

Sales Strategies for Success
Strategy #36

Recently I’ve been having a ball working with my long time friend, Jane Deuber, who also consults with entrepreneurs. While I specialize in sales and launching and re-launching businesses, she is brilliant at strategizing to discover and create multiple streams of income, including passive income, as well as amazing online marketing strategies.

In June Jane and I presented a live event, the Profit Builder’s Summit, in Monterey, CA and the response was amazing! Jane shared quite a bit about her struggles in building several million-dollar companies. I too had my share of challenges building my million-dollar business and it’s one of my goals to help our clients avoid those pitfalls. To that end, Jane offered strategies to help entrepreneurs reach their goals more directly.

But with all that, do you know what we learned is an even bigger concern for our clients? The challenge of living the life they want while building their business to reach their goals.

When we start our businesses it’s often all-consuming. Like a child, we want our business to be brilliant, self-sufficient and successful. So we pour ourselves into it. Then one day (hopefully) we wake up to discover that we want a great quality of life just as much. And there’s the challenge.

How do we do that? Many of us didn’t plan our businesses to support our own lives, along with our employees and customers. We were simply in survival mode. And for any of you who have hit this wall, you know the difficulty in trying to put proper processes and procedures in place to give yourself a break from the overwhelm.

So I ask you – what is the true cost to your life of running your business? If you can’t answer, right now, that the cost is completely worth it, I strongly recommend that you take a hard look at where you can make the changes necessary to incorporate your life into your business plan. If you don’t do it now, you will one day when you least expect it because your life tends to move forward whether you acknowledge its existence or not.

My friend Jane and I can help you get your business and yourself organized so you can live the life you want while you build your business, not after.

Let’s start transforming your business and your life this summer!

Lost Your Focus?

Sales Strategy #35

What do you do when you’ve lost your focus? You know, those days when you just can’t concentrate and get things done?  Am I alone in this?

I think the word “alone” is the key to the problem.  When we work alone, either in our own business or when we work for others but in a solitary capacity, we tend to get caught up in our own mind “scripts”.  We hear only what our inner voice is telling us and frankly, it’s not always as supportive or helpful as it could be.

The first step to the solution is to recognize the cause. If you’re feeling stuck and unfocused, take the time to acknowledge it. We often try to push through. While the work ethic is admirable, it’s not always very effective.

We’re not at our best when we’re unfocused and that will come through in our written materials or in our voice. When that happens, our message is not as compelling as it needs to be and that can be adversely reflected in our bottom line.

Instead of spending a lot of time forcing yourself to concentrate, take 15 minutes and do something completely different. If you primarily work alone, call or visit a friend or colleague. Go outside and take a walk. At the very least, get up and move from where you are to another location. Find a different spot and do something else for a few minutes.

You’ll often find that simply thinking or doing something else for a brief period allows your mind enough of a break to refocus on the task at hand.

Taking a short break when you need it can result in a huge difference in the quality of your work performance. Don’t underestimate the value in what many of we A-types think of as wasted time. It’s not wasted time when it makes us more money!

Remember to visit my website at www.SecureYourSuccessInc.com for help in fine-tuning your business building skills.

Let’s Be Real!

Success Strategy #34

I often think it’s important to present a perfect image to a client or potential customer. I say “often” because as much as I’d like to always present that perfect image, there are times when real life happens and perfection is simply not possible. But even so, you still must make a presentation or court a new prospect.

Have you ever had “one of those days”? Your allergies flare up, one of your kids has to be picked up at school unexpectedly, your spouse remembers to tell you about that bounced check. I think you know what I mean. Sometimes it’s hard to appear perfect as you feel your facade begin to crumble.

I say, be real! You are not perfect and neither is the person you are talking to. It’s OK for your clients to know you are human, and therefore, approachable. When you are honest, apologetic, and not whiny about an issue that creates something less than a perfect presentation, your prospect will not fault you for being “real”.

I believe you must always be professional, but I think you can be real at the same time. You can let people see the person behind the professional. Just remember, they want to meet the you that your friends know and love, not the you your spouse gets to see on your bad days.

People buy from those they know, like and trust. I think that requires that you let your prospects get to know some of the real you.

Put some of your real self into your sales meetings and presentations and you’ll find your prospects more likely to do business with you.

Call me at 831-241-1545 and we’ll review your sales process and see where you can make small changes that produce BIG results. Remember to visit my website at www.SecureYourSuccessInc.com for help in fine-tuning your business building skills.

just released this week’s Business Success Strategy to make more $ in YOUR business. Sign up for free: http://ping.fm/gy60h

is at the Monterey Farmers Market tonight. In front of Green’s Camera. Get your Instant Portrait. http://ping.fm/8Uxux

is making friends & helping people. See how at http://ping.fm/gy60h

Ask My Mother? Never!

Business Success Stratgies
Strategy #32

I’ve worked with several clients who have been unsure about talking with friends and family about what they do. In fact, some of them are very successful in their businesses, and yet their friends and family don’t work with them. Why? Usually it’s because they never thought to ask their family for the business.

We make assumptions about our prospects every day. We assume they understand exactly what we do, that they will work with us “when they’re ready” and that we’re doing the best we can at any given time. These assumptions are usually not all true.

If that’s the case, and our assumptions may be wrong, how do we let our friends and family know precisely what we do? How do we tell them that we can assist them. That we want to help them, and at the same time not feel as though we are “imposing” our business on them?

Like everything else we’ve taught ourselves to do in business – we have to learn to ask.  One way to talk about your business with family and friends is to simply ask them for their help.  Here’s why this works.

Friends and family are the people who love and support you the most. They are the ones most invested in wanting you to succeed (especially those parents who would love support as they get older – are you reading this dear daughter?).  When you give them an opportunity to help you, they will.

How do you ask? Rather than asking for their business, if it makes you uncomfortable, ask them for help with your other clients. Specifically, ask if you can practice your presentation with them. Ask if they will read over a proposal you’ve written.  One thing is certain, you’ll always get a straight judgment from a family member! This will help you better your performance and provide the opening to tell your friends about your business – without “selling” them.

Remember, if what you do is valuable to others, isn’t it at least as valuable to your family and friends? And if that’s true, why would you leave them out? Now, go call your mother!

Then, call me at 831-241-1545 and we’ll talk about other ways to improve your business profits. Remember to also visit my website at www.SecureYourSuccessInc.com for help in fine-tuning your business building skills.

Standing on Common Ground

Sales Strategies for Success

Strategy #31

Have you ever tried to talk with a potential customer and you couldn’t get them to “warm up” to you? It’s frustrating and can lengthen your sales process exponentially, or even result in no sale and no follow up opportunity. Sometimes it seems as if you are each speaking a different language!

If you have not found some common ground on which to relate to your prospect, you ARE speaking a different language. Until you can find something to which your lead can relate, you have no common language. If your prospect isn’t immediately interested in your product or service, or you are meeting them at a networking event and not within a sales call setting, it can be particularly difficult to find that common ground.

You need to be observant to the clues you are being given. Who did the person come in with? What do you have in common with that person? Do they have an accent you recognize? Clues may be subtle, but they are always there. Train yourself to recognize and react to them.

Of course you need to practice your skills in asking leading questions. The kind of questions that draw out the information you seek. “Chatting” is not the same thing. You may appear to be only chatting, but in fact, you are leading the conversation in the direction you desire.

There is always one sure-fire way to relate to any prospect. It’s powerful and it works. I’ll tell you what it is, but you MUST be sure that it is always a true statement and that you are sincere when you offer it. Ready?

Find something about the person that you can compliment – and then do so. Everyone has something about themselves that you can admire or appreciate.  This sometimes requires being extra observant, but if you practice this skill, you can always find something.

Why is this so powerful? When you compliment someone on their appearance, style, accessories, manners, etc. you are demonstrating to them how smart you are. Think about it from their point of view. If you compliment me, you are observing something about me that I have purchased, worn or in some way created about myself. If you notice and appreciate it, I’ll agree with you (of course!) and think you’re brilliant for noticing. And now we have common ground.

Sometimes the best business building skills are subtle. But subtle is no less powerful. If you don’t make the connection, you never get the opportunity to get the business.

Call me today at 831-241-1545, or visit my website at www.SecureYourSuccessInc.com for help in fine-tuning your business building skills.

How to NOT Sell

Sales Strategies for Success

Strategy #30

I was excited at the opportunity to present my Business Building Through Sales program for a client’s company retreat recently. Wait! Don’t stop reading!

I know that to many of you “sales” is a dirty word. I’ve practically stopped saying the word because I watch your eyes glaze over when I do.

Sales are absolutely necessary if you expect to make money in any endeavor. Whether you offer a product or a service, if sales don’t happen, you don’t make money.

This does not mean you have to make the sale, but it does mean you have to provide for sales to take place.

Now that you’re off the hook personally, may I continue?

There are a number of ways you can position your business to make sales without doing it yourself. The first is obviously that you can hire someone else to do it.

I believe those who excel at sales are entrepreneurs, even if they work for someone else. A true sales professional must maintain his or her own prospects, motivation and follow up in order to succeed. They are also competitive – with others and with themselves. If you need someone to sell your product or service, talk with a “real” salesperson. Negotiate how you can compensate your salesperson when they perform and you don’t have to be out of pocket from the start.

You can make your business sell for you. This takes some imagination and creativity, but those are characteristics that make others want to do business with you, so they are worth pursuing. For example, if you have an office or a storefront, can your prospects easily and completely understand what you offer if they walk by and you are closed? If you only have a sign with your name on the front, they probably can’t tell.

Suppose you are an attorney or a CPA or a doctor. Your expertise might seem obvious. Unfortunately, your name and credentials alone don’t guarantee that your potential customer understands in which areas you specialize.

Why is that clarity important? Two main reasons are that (1) a person who sees your specialty may realize that it is important to talk to someone who truly understands their issue and call you and (2) neither you nor the client wastes time making an appointment to discuss something you can’t or don’t handle.

Talk with me and learn more ways you can make sales without “selling”. It’s a great year to make more $$$! Call me at 831-241-1545 and visit my website at www.SecureYourSuccessInc.com for more information about building your business profits.

What REALLY Happens in a Business Success Mastermind Team Meeting?

I’ve spoken with many of you recently about masterminding and the most frequent question I am asked is, “What happens in the meetings?” I know you want to know the actual process of a meeting, but I’ve also discovered that you really want to know what “happens”. Specifically, what do you get out of the mastermind process?  I am going to answer these questions for you here, in detail.

First, if you’ve never masterminded before, here is a definition:

Masterminding is an effective process to provide solutions to challenges and maintain motivation through powerful tools such as creative brainstorming, strategy sharing and accountability structures.

In our teams, I facilitate the meetings rather than participate. I lead the team in remaining focused on the goals and challenges of the members on each call. There is no extra “story-telling”, no “chit-chat”. Simply full member participation, strategy development and high-level brainstorming.

Each team has no more than five members who are not in competitive businesses. Your team may be all men, all women or a mix. You may or may not already know your other team members. You all agree to respect the privacy and confidentiality of what is discussed within your team. Your calls are recorded in case a member is missing and wants to stay current, and only your own team members ever gets access.

Let me give you a general overview of the agenda our teams follow.

•    A review and acknowledgment of your accomplishments since the previous session. Most entrepreneurs concentrate on what they didn’t get done, rather than on their successes.

•    A review of your goals set at the last meeting. If there are items you didn’t accomplish or goals you couldn’t meet, let your team know if you’d like assistance.

•    Requests for brainstorming. If you’re working on an issue or challenge, even if you’re not clear where the problem is, your team will work with you to figure it out and overcome it.

•    Brainstorming. The “meat” of your call is to create solutions for yourself and your team members. You quickly discover that while you’re brainstorming for another member, an insight appears that solves something you’ve been working on as well.

•    Business building strategies. Not only do these come from your teammates, but also from me as your coach and facilitator.

•    Goal setting for the next session. This is your accountability team and we will keep you focused and working toward the goals you have set.

As you can see, a lot is accomplished in the time we meet. This investment in time and in yourself keeps you clear on where you’re headed, how you’ll get there and how to make money while you do so.

That’s what we do in our mastermind meetings. But your question is, “What happens?” Well, that’s different!

What happens is you leave your team meeting with new ideas and new strategies to implement in your business. You are energized and re-focused on the goals you have set. You are once again ready to face your clients, your customers, your employees and your prospects with a positive attitude and a willingness to try new ways of doing things.

In a word, you are positive. And your positive attitude, along with the specific strategies you’ve just helped to create, do propel you to more success and more money in your business.

Come join us and make your business more profitable. Call me at 831-241-1545 to talk about your mastermind team. And please visit my website at www.SecureYourSuccessInc.com and sign up for my free weekly email Sales Strategies for Success.