Three Keys to Business Success

Over the past twenty plus years as a business adviser and as a mentor for SCORE, I have had the privilege at looking at many game plans as well as working with aspiring entrepreneurs. I have seen a little bit of everything when it comes to success and helping encourage other entrepreneurs as well as providing essential resources.

Let’s talk about the reality of starting your own business. We hear about the failure rate, which is about 85 percent within the first five years. That does not include mergers, acquisitions, etc, which adds to a more positive perspective. The reasons for failure are many, so let’s bullet a few of the key factors that keep people from attaining their goals and objectives. For the next couple of months I will be adding some case studies of those that have succeeded as well as those that have failed.

·         Is the product or service on the front of the wave? Which simply means are you starting a concept that has built in staying power?

·         Proper Funding – This is the biggie, 80 percent of small businesses are simply under-capitalized. Rule of thumb is to double the amount of money that you think you need as well as the length of time in which you expect it to take.

·         Effective Decision Making – Do you have a well thought out game plan that is do-able? Good decision making is built around the ability to do your due-diligence. You need to look at the positives as well as the negatives. The majority of small business entrepreneurs have the inspiration but they sometimes lack the resources and ability to make their venture a reality.

In the future I will be sharing with you some case studies on why some businesses succeed and why others fail. 

System Selling - Networking

         A few weeks back I was at a networking event, in which a lot of pleasant professional folks that understand the concept of networking were present. Towards the end of the event a young man approached me and aggressively introduced himself. He immediately began talking about himself for about ten or twelve minutes, while failing to inquire my name or what I did for a living. I’m sure my face was a bit flushed by this point. Afterwards he then asked for my business card, I told him that I preferred to not exchange cards. I asked him if he knew who I was or what I did for a living; he sheepishly said he did not. I took a couple of minutes to share with him that what he was doing was severe presenting, which highly annoys people. I could see that when he walked away he was a bit red faced, but I was hoping a valuable lesson was taking place at that moment. When networking, encourage the other person to interface with you. If you discover a possible connection, set up a time to meet and find more out about your respective businesses and how you may complement each other. 

Connecting, Disconnecting

Selling System

            A good system of selling is conceptual in nature. The flow dialogue or interchange between the prospect and the sales person will be determined in the interviewing phase. As a sales professional, our responsibility is to discover if what we bring to the equation is a good match in solving the prospects issues or problems. It either is, or it isn’t. If not, it is perfectly ok to move on. If on the other hand there appears the possibility of the potential fit, we then must decide what we are going to do next. Simply stated, after going through this phase you are either going to stay connected or disconnect. They are both a win-win for all involved. Always remember, people don’t want to be sold, they want to buy for their reasons. You are at your best when you create a healthy buying environment.

Thanks for reading. We will posting our blogs every two weeks, along with our sales tip of week which will be every Tuesday. Sign up today at http://high-performancesales.com/

Presentation

           Presentation is a reality in systems selling but timing is everything. Like I told a client a few weeks ago, why would you want to present anything other than a short overview or value positioning statement to explain why you are here?

            Your job in the short term is to be in the discovery mode. That way you can better determine if you are going to need to extend your visit by determining if the product or service you are representing is a problem solver for your prospective client. First things first, you need to come to an understanding that it is time to inform or present based on whether or not the service  is representative of the cost. Simply said, as a consumer you want the value of the service in which you’ve paid, to exceed your expectations. You want the consumer to walk away knowing “that was a good purchase”. Once again it is important to create a win - win situation. I’m not interested in being a beta tester for anyone, I want my product to work flawlessly as it was advertised and I bet you do too.

Visit http://high-performancesales.com/ to sign up for my Sales tip of the week to learn more information 

Developing an Effective Selling System

Many of our sales tip readers are consistently asking for the answers to developing an effective selling system. First let me restate the issue that people are not looking to be sold. Our job as sales professionals is to discover if a problem exists and whether or not our product or service can solve it. If not, it is ok to move on. If it is not a good match, please take the time to give your prospect advice on what you would do if you were confronted by a similar issue. Selling something to someone that isn’t a good fit is the reason people have such a negative attitude about sales people. Sales is not about earning a commission, making quota, etc. I think you have the idea. If we create a buying environment that gives birth to a win-win purchase, at the end you can probably count on such things as referrals and positive name recognition.  One time sales that have failed to solve their problem will lead to them becoming a former client and shorten your career. Simply said, do not compromise your integrity for short term rewards. Go for the win-win and you will enjoy the long term positive results.

Hope you have enjoyed the blog! However, for the foreseeable future we are going to a blog every other week.

Timing is Everything

Last week I discussed processing and positive movement. Before you can make that a reality, you have to come to terms with what is bothering you. You cannot be thinking positive while you are reflecting on an issue that creates negative feelings. Simply stated, positive and negative thinking cannot coexist. You have to decide what mindset you are going to have and embrace it. Positive thinking brings on positive results. You may feel some redundancy in my message; you need to be ok with that. What I say means very little when you are experiencing a high and things are going well. I find that people can’t say enough good things about what I write when they are on a downward spiral. As we say, timing is everything.

Visit http://high-performancesales.com/ to sign up for my Sales tip of the week to learn more information 

Positive Processing and Movement

As I have mentioned on a number of occasions, the real differentiator in people and those who achieve is a positive attitude that creates a buoyant confidence and an image that others gravitate towards. When we find ourselves around a person who moans and groans and continuously, gets there feeling of importance at the expense of others, you can guarantee that when you are not around, they are taking a few shots at you as well.

                I have been a fan of the book (The Secret) for a couple of years. The whole premise is built around what you think about a situation will probably become a reality. We as people can decide to process a thought or idea in any manner we choose. So in essence, we control the outcome by how we view it. It is only human nature to get ticked off when someone insults your intelligence and takes advantage of you, but it is important to respond positively and constructively. A positive attitude is not a “rah rah” fan fare however. It is the ability to be objective about an occurrence. Get through it, move on, and tackle the next challenge in an ever changing world that we live in.

Visit http://high-performancesales.com/ to sign up for my Sales tip of the week to learn more information