How to Rise to the Top of Your Game!
This week once again proved my theory of how to you may rise to the top when you were originally at the bottom of the pyramid.
Step One: Simply stated, when you are at ground level, learn as much as you can by asking appropriate questions. Recognize what works and what does not work and only implement the best advice that is consistent with your personality.
Step Two: Once you have the information you need, take the unusual leadership stance by going it alone for a while to experiment with what you believe will work best. Avoid nay-sayers. Trial and error as well as persistence will get you on the right road. Continual education will help you leapfrog over where you began.
Step Three: Do a return check to the original group to see if you still belong. Most likely you will be in a position at the top of the pyramid able to offer a helping hand.
As the economy tumbled last year, I knew i had to change my business model. So with a leap of faith, I joined WhisperingEnergy, (two of us at the time) which grew into an international online collaboration and social media university. I learned how to collaborate. Soon Sharon Hooper and I joined forces to bring a complete author program to the public, WEeBooks4U. My part is teaching authors how to write a book and sell more copies online while Sharon helps the author secure the right graphic design, format the book for digital readers, and upload the finalized book to Amazon and our site. We foresee our site becoming the go-to-site for buying and selling ebooks given the power of our collaboration and knowledge of social media!
After a long quiet period, I returned this week to a group convention where I was once at the bottom level. We soon recognized I was the only one who is conversant with social media! Many of the high paid business coaches were not familiar with the basics. It appears I have a new opportunity for business where none previously existed.
My motto: “Believe in yourself, envision what you want and pursue it.”
Believing helps you to communicate clarity and confidence which aids your business development. When you listen to your intuition and heart, you will attract more prospects, clients and sales, and enjoy the Smooth Sale!
Attract More Sales: Sales Tip #321
Attract More Sales: Sales Tip #320
Do you prepare for business?
I was in disbelief when encountering the following saga. A known resort accepted business from two conference organizers a year ahead of time. Both conferences were to be well-attended. The arrival date for hundreds of people was to be on a Sunday. The town of this resort cherishes Sunday as most would respect a holiday, and herein lie the problem. Money was accepted upfront from the conference organizers yet the hotel was not able to arrange for staff to be on hand to greet or serve that day.
Most guests arrived about 4:00 p.m. with the expectation of first relaxing and then enjoying a nice leisurely dinner. Instead, as the guests entered the restaurant they were asked to return 45 minutes later. Upon returning, being seated and ordering food, the guests were then required to patiently wait another hour to receive their food. Only one chef and two waitresses were on hand to wait on all of those people. Guests received the marketing message that management did not value their business.
In my opinion, the hotel should have known ahead of time to either not accept Sunday business or do everything in their power to make certain their clientele that day was properly served. There was a clear communication breakdown, management neglected to take a leadership stance and they destroyed any chance of further business development. Although it was a nice resort, there are plenty of others that will provide superior service. The competition will thus be the ones to attract new prospects, clients and more sales.
Whether you are a student, a job-seeker or an entrepreneur, you must research, plan and prepare to make a lasting impression and encourage further interest. When you prepare properly, you will be headed for a Smooth Sale!
Share on FacebookAttract More Sales: Sales Tip #319
…When you say nothing at all…
Allison Krauss sings the words above. Her carefully chosen words speak of the “look in your eyes, the smile on your face and touch of your hand…” what she receives from watching facial expressions and body language of her significant other even when he says nothing at all. I find it beautifully sung and the lyrics may be applied to every part of your life including building business and interviewing.
You are your brand. When people meet you and begin to get to know you in succeeding meetings, it is the consistency between your words, actions and deeds that will attract your prospects and clients. Listening intently and smiling at stories of others will do much to further the potential for gaining the sale or job as will credible answers.
When your mindset is focused on paying close attention to others with sincerity, it is equivalent to excellent customer service and will accelerate your business development. This practice makes for a very Smooth Sale!
Share on FacebookAttract More Sales: Sales Tip #318
A Tale of two dentists; one detracting and the other attracting more sales!
Early in my sales career, I learned that people buy from people they like and trust. Sitting in the first dentist’s chair in my new town, I was astonished to learn that a product I needed was $100 more than just 45 miles away. Dr. Sue seemed very capable so I continued with her service. However, each time, I felt she was trying “up-sell” her services. This means adding extra fees and services to an a la carte menu that were not really needed but implied they would “help”. Distrust crept into my mind.
The next time, I visited the practice of a different dentist. He was old world, gentle and also capable but did not try to up-sell. I then found I had a need for the apparatus for which the first dentist wanted a premium.
Here is what set the two dentists miles apart:
I entered Dr. Bill’s office asking to purchase the apparatus. He refused to give it to me stating my problem was related to something over which I have control and should observe. My money was not his object, instead, good dental health was his concern. On the way out, I asked to pay. The receptionist responded by saying, “Oh no we are concerned about your health and only want to monitor you. There is no charge.”
The strong sense of ethics experienced at Dr. Bill’s office will have me returning for many years as well as recommending him to his prospects and future clients. While he did not make money that morning, he will make up for it by the referred clientele. This is business development at its best. To prove the point, it was our neighbor who recommended him to us and she found out about Dr. Bill through her friend. It’s a marketing-communication chain reaction of good word of mouth spreading around the community about his practice.
As entrepreneurs, what can you do to mirror similar customer service to develop your returning and referring clientele? This is what makes for an extraordinarily Smooth Sale!
Share on FacebookAttract More Sales: Sales Tip #317
The murals told many stories relating to art, struggle and collaboration.
We were privileged to join a group in San Francisco for the day viewing a city tour of murals painted on buildings. The themes of the murals are many and the colors vibrant. Many of the murals filled the side of an entire building. Some portrayed mystical themes, others the history of the Mexican people and others of hope and inspiration. One of the artists provided detailed information on the background of each mural.
Our walk ended with enjoying the site of a children’s playground where creative animals meant for climbing were designed by the same artists. Enamel, glass, paint and many types of elements were put together in the most creative play structures I have ever seen.
What struck me was the fact that these murals are painted or created in collaboration. Sometimes as many as 10 artists will work on one project. These projects help keep young people and adults working, deter grafitti and bring beauty to the Mission District. It also provides a marketing-communication message that they care about the population currently living in the area.
The tour reminded me of previous blogs where I proposed working in collaboration to extend your prospect and client reach. The artists have attracted much attention including famous artists that sometime visit to help out. Grants are being provided and grafitti is diminishing in the area.
You might say their mindset is focused on building relationships with everyone they touch with those who touch the community. By so doing, the artists are building their own businesses in the way of a very Smooth Sale!
Share on FacebookAttract More Sales: Sales Tip #315
Do you pay attention to different points of view?
When you are able to analytically listen to a difference of opinion you might learn something new or, at the very least, you will know how to communicate better with others to attract more prospects, clients and sales. Taking this stance, it is very important you only use what is consistent with you inherent personality. Lisa is obviously enjoying a very
Smooth Sale!
I received a very nice note politely disagreeing with me which I wish to share today as today’s blog:
Dear Elinor,
I just found your website and so far I’m extremely impressed! In your article “Turn Cold Calls into Warm Calls” 95% of what you say is spot on in my experience and I really like the idea of sending a duplicate email when leaving a phone message.
The only difference for me on messages is that I actually leave quite long messages, especially if it’s to a prospect that I’ve never spoken with before. (Basically a cold call message.) Cold call messages for me have been extremely successful, sometimes getting as much as a 10% return rate and even if they don’t call me back, I often get a response like “Thank you for calling me back. I wanted to call you but just got very busy” when I do reach them by phone or email over the next few days.
The reason I leave a long message is this – in 10 seconds I can’t say anything that has any value and will really interest the prospect. My message very specifically says:
1. Who I am and the company I represent. I’m not trying to play guessing games or create false mystery.
2. What the situation is. I try to offer value with every contact, so I’m always calling because of a new product, a free learning event, something.
3. What the benefit is for them. If there isn’t a clearly definable benefit for my prospect, why would they call me? So I do my best to give them a reason how this product, event or whatever will benefit their company. (This is based on what I know of that company or the industry. Sometimes I’m wrong but on a one way conversation, as a message very much is, you have to do some guessing.)
4. Sign off politely, thanking them for their time with clear information on how they can contact me.
I would say my average cold-call message is between 60 to 90 seconds. An eternity as far as most sales people are concerned. What I’ve found is that my prospects appreciate the detail and not being left with a mystery of who I am and why I called. I even get calls from people thanking me for calling even if they can’t use my services!
I thought that you might be interested in hearing another perspective. Keep up the great work and I will be keeping your link on my dashboard!
Lisa Kratzmann
Business Training Representative
Lisa@ChamberLearningNetwork.com
www.ChamberLearningNetwork.com/
P.S. If you have a different point of view from anything you have seen posted today or previously, please share your thoughts!
Attract More Sales: Sales Tip #314
Continued relationship building does get the results that attracts more sales!
To help you, I’m listing what I did and then I will explain the results:
1. Kept in touch with almost everyone I met through the years
2. Checked in on occasion with past clients to hear their news
3. Treated everyone with respect
4. Ignored nay-sayers and kept on going with what I knew to be true
5. Continually reinvented Smooth Sale moving closer to my passion with each step
6. Translated my passion into compassionate selling
This morning I was told both of my book titles will be translated into Chinese. Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results not only sells well in the United States, my home, but also particularly well in entrepreneurial countries. China has become one of the leaders. My new book, HIRED! isn’t even published yet and that too will translate into Chinese! I then picked up conversations with people in the media industry and undoubtedly will have exciting news to announce in the near future.
When you are of the mindset to work for everyone’s benefit you automatically attract more prospects and clients, and increase your sales. You communicate you care and can be trusted to do the right thing. This last sentence produces the magic.
These strategies all translate to putting your business development on auto pilot and enjoying a truly Smooth Sale!
Attract More Sales: Sales Tip #313
Are you on the path of coming full circle?
Sharon and I were discussing that having lived long enough, we have both come full circle. Our fondest moments of childhood, were that of being a comedian and making others laugh. The two of us still enjoy the lighter side of life and put it into our work. We find our humor attracts more sales!
For Sharon and I, our humor relaxes our prospects and clients. It’s our marketing-communication that we are easy and fun to work with and of course we always work on building our relationships. Our clientele then becomes our business development team by offering referrals and testimonials. A word of caution: it is very important that whatever your style is, it must be consistent with everything you say and do. If you are a serious minded person, then attempting to crack jokes would not be a good idea. Likewise, trying to tell jokes to someone without a sense of humor will fall flat (speaking from recent experience).
A great exercise to boost your future business or success with interviewing for a job you will enjoy is to reflect back on your happier moments in childhood, school, early career, family, travel, hobbies – everything you undertook in your past years. Are there elements that call to you which you may implement in your business or your job hunt? Sharon and I are doing just that and will be incorporating our finer moments into our Sharon and Elinor Show to be announced in the Fall – stay tuned!
Bringing your life’s story full circle will help you here-on-out enjoy a Smooth Sale!
Share on FacebookAttract More Sales: Sales Tip #312
What is your opinion on the following quote?
“I never take advice from someone more messed up than I am.” – Tom Hopkins
The quote put a smile on my face while scanning Twitter so I thought I would share it by re-tweeting. The quote found its way to Facebook only to find many opinions regarding this! When you scan these comments, you will quickly realize the use of social media definitely attracts attention and with it more prospects, clients and sales.
- That is a good plan. But I find my level of messed up-ness and that of others varies by day and topic.
- Only take what you believe will work well for you and leave the rest behind! (me)
- Yes! Your rephrase has caught the essence.
- Who was it that said he would never join a club who allowed him in?
- Lol!!!
- It looks like our humorous Friday was a great start to the weekend! Maybe we should start #HF on Twitter! (Me)
- LOve It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Come on, it is always good to listen to what people have to say, it identifies an opportunity to educate not only the person in front of you, but you as well.
- Oh those who teach usually learn much more than the students…
- Interestingly, this quote received the most discussion of any other I put out on the internet! (Me)
- Only problem is: you don’t always know ahead of time if they’re messed up! ;-)
- What I have learned from Jeannie Whyte is your intuition is always correct! (Me)
- I understand. But my experience is that there are times when we are not so tuned into our untuition – and there are other times when, to put it simply, we can just be “snowed”. But yes, generally our intuition is where we need to put our focus – agreed.
- Great discussion – I’m going to write a blog! … it’s true one can be snowed. However, when I dare say most of the time this is when we are close to 50-50 about something and take a chance. I’ve learned to only act, in particular when it involves money, when the percentages are in a much higher favor on my side. Accordingly, when it’s 50-50 or even 60-40, I wait 24 hours to analyze from all directions and many times after “sleeping on it” know precisely which action to take. (Me)
- Within the last year I took a chance on an acting teacher and spent $270 to spend two days with someone I’d never met. I went on intuition. And it was fabulous! He was fabulous! But then six months later he returned and he had changed, and the workshop was NOT fabulous. Emphatically not. So from that perspective you could say I was fooled…
This is business development in the easiest form I’ve found to date and when you moderate with judgment, it puts you in the leadership position. By working it in this manner, you also provide a wonderful marketing-communication message that you care about listening and clarifying, and helping others. I would think job-seekers could use a very similar format for their job hunting process to produce similar interest. The main ingredient is to give helpful tips and/or food for thought.
Coupling social media with building relationships you will be on the sea of a Smooth Sale!
Share on FacebookAttract More Sales: Sales Tip #311
Are you putting the Power of 10 into action?
Yesterday we spoke about the meaning of the Power of 10 and the impact it has for attracting many more sales. Today we will examine how you may begin to easily put it into action.
How you use Twitter is the perfect example for getting less than desired or better than desired results.
1. Thank people who mention you and those who Re-Tweet your tweets
2. Participate in Follow Fridays – return the favor to those who RT your messages and who mention you plus take the lead for those you admire
3. Scan favorite quotes and RT those
4. Provide helpful tips without any links attached
5. When providing a link on occasion, include a helpful tip
6. Be a helpful thought leader by offering wise advice
Helping others is a major element for developing your Power of 10. Accordingly, you may find these of interest:
A. TheWIN (Women’s Information Network) – Summer Celebration in San Diego CA July 16; Click the link for Details & Registration
B. Whispering Energy collaborative is offering a trial membership for one month – only $.77 – no risk!
C. Job-Seekers: For insider strategies on how to interview best, “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews” published by Career Press, is available for pre-sale now! Or copy and paste into your browser: http://tinyurl.com/Get2HIREDNow
When you follow the above etiquette tips on twitter, you will attract a much larger audience of prospects and new clients. In addition new opportunities will come your way as they did for me. This is a quick and easy way to build relationships online and watch your business development grow exponentially as in the Power of Ten. Begin making your business a Smooth Sale!
