Looking ahead to 2010

I would like to thank my loyal readers for your support in 2009. I would also like to thank the various associations and companies that invited me to speak and train their groups.

2009 was a challenging year but I think we have seen the worst of the recession. I believe that the difficulties of the past 2 years will have a lasting effect on the way people buy. The recession has forced consumers and business people to focus on value. To be successful, sales people must become expert at demonstrating the value of the programs they offer. Sales people must use their skills and knowledge to add value to every transaction and every customer contact. In the coming year I will endeavor through this blog, my other writings and my training classes to help sales people and their managers become better at what they do.

I wish you a prosperous New Year. Please contact me if there is anything I can do to help you achieve your goals.

Keep Smiling in 2010, Keep Selling in 2010!

Thanks Jim Busch

The 1st step to a happy New Year

This is the perfect time of year to talk to customers about their plans and goals. "Mr. Customer, I want to wish you a happy New Year and ask you about your plans for 2010. What are your goals for the upcoming year. My job is to help you achieve your goals, so I'd like to know what you want to accomplish." This question not only helps you formulate a marketing plan for the customer but also positions you as someone genuinely interested in the customer's business.

This is the 1st step toward a happy New Year for both you and your customer.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Sales Resolutions

This is the time of year to think about resolutions. Here are my choice of five resolutions that if followed will put more money in any sales rep's pocket.

1. Listen more than you talk
2. Ask more than you tell
3. Don't prejudge any prospect
4. Always think about how you can help the customer
5. Ignore at least the first 4 "NO's"
6. (Bonus) Always ask for referrals

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

"Scratch their back"

As sales people we are always looking for leads. In addition for looking for leads for ourselves, we should also keep our eyes open for leads for our customers. If a client tells us that he is planning to remodel their store, hook them up with your electrician, contractor, plumber etc. customers. This provides a benefit for both the store owner and the contractors. These clients will remember you when they need to advertise. Like they say "You scratch their back, they'll scratch yours."

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Sales lessons from Santa

Here are Santa's top 10 sales tips:

1. Keep working when everyone else quits and goes to bed
2. Maintain a positive attitude, you have to believe in yourself even when a lot of other people don't.
   
3. Keep your sense of humor-HO HO HO
4. If you manage your time right, you can cover a lot of territory
   
5. Make lots of calls--hit every prospect
   
6. Quality your prospects (Naughty? Nice?)
7. Make sure you have everything you need in your bag.
8. If they won't let you in the door--try the chimney
9. Everyone loves you when you deliver as promised.
   
10. When you work is done, then you can enjoy the milk and cookies.

Have a great holiday.

Keep Smiling! Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Carve your goals in stone

There is an old saying "May your troubles last only as long as your New Years resolutions." The key to making goals real is writing them down. Write down what you want to accomplish, when you want to achieve your goal and why it is important to you. I also recommend recording what you know about your goal, what you need to learn and where you can get the information you need. I also like to write down the steps you need to take to get closer to realizing your goals. Look at your goals often, at least weekly, if not daily. Keeping you goals in front of you greatly increases your chances of making your dreams come true.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim B.

Clear the decks

Try as we might, business naturally slows down in the last few weeks of the year. This is a good time for you to "clear the decks" By taking the time to clear out your files, both physical and digital, and review your sales material, you will be ready to dive into January. A little bit of time spent in organization will pay big dividends in the new year.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Weekly Quote

Here's one from master sales trainer Joe Bonura:



Three Rules of Success in Sales:

1. Make Calls


2. Make More Calls


3. Make Many More Calls

This makes great sense to me.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Feed your creativity

Creativity is the stock and trade of advertising salespeople. Creativity is simply taking several different concepts and putting them together in a new arrangement. The more pieces you have access to, the larger number of creative combinations you can make. For this reason I advise sales people to read widely and collect ideas from as many sources as possible. The U. S. Marine Corps has a required reading list for every grade of enlisted man and another for officers. This list includes novels and essays as well as military texts. They understand that a well rounded person will have a better understanding of his fellow men and will be more creative. This is just as true for sales people as for our Leathernecks.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Photos inSpec Ads

When I am trying to land a new account, I will often visit the business without introducing myself before making the 1st sales call. I look around and talk to the employees. I also try to take a digital photo of the business. I give this to my artist to use in a spec ad. By using a picture of their business I virtually ensure that the owner will look at my spec and will discuss it with me. This helps them to visualize advertising in my paper.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Wave your "Magic Wand"

This is a oldie but goodie. This sales question may seem a bit cheesy but, if positioned right in a call, it provokes interesting responses. After I have built rapport with a prospect, I will ask them "If you had a magic wand and could change anything about your business, what would you change?" This is a great way to uncover customer concerns and learn about their goals. I am a firm believer that anything that gets the customer talking about their business, puts you that much closer to closing a sale.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Now is te time to run "resolution" ads

January is traditionally the time to run "Resolution" ads. Health clubs, weigh loss firms etc. who want to cash in on this desire to remake oneself in the new year should begin running now. By running in December this firms create top of the mind awareness. By running regularly their business will be the first place shoppers turn to when people are ready to remake themselves after the first of the year. If they wait until after New Years Day to advertise they will lose out to firms who have established themselves in the mind of the consumer.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling

Thanks Jim Busch

Weekly Quote

"Chance favors the prepared mind"--Louis Pasteur

This quote has become my personal motto. I truly believe that working hard to develop your skills opens up opportunities. Because you are more knowledgeable you see opportunities that others may miss and you are ready to handle them. This is why the old proverb "The harder I work, the luckier I get." is so true.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Start at the beginning

One of my favorite questions to ask potential customers is "What led you to get into this business?" This simple question can reveal a lot about the client. You can learn what makes them tick and about their vision. This is often an emotional thing for a prospect and allows you to tap into what motivates them. Sometimes in the day to day grind of operational details they forget their dreams, by reminding them of their original motivation you can leverage their passion for their business to close a sale.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Anchoring a broadcast program

When a customer tells me that they do not need to advertise in print because they are on TV or radio, I see this as an opportunity. I do not try to argue with the client but rather praise them for understanding the importance of marketing their business. I talk about the advantages of broadcast, the ability to create an image and tell a compelling story. I then ask the client if they want to get the maximum benefit from their TV or radio dollars by "anchoring" their program. Electronic advertising is by its nature ephemeral, it is in front of a consumer for 30 seconds and then it goes, hurtling into space to be lost forever. It may create a desire for their product but it is unlikely that the listener/viewer will remember the advertisers contact information. By creating a print ad that ties into the broadcast program, you give the consumer the info they need to follow-up. They look in the paper and see an ad "This is the place we saw on TV last night, it looked very nice and look, here's a great coupon. Let's go out for dinner tonight." This will greatly enhance the response to the broadcast ad.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

"Angling" to get your ad read

People notice things that are out of the ordinary. When you scan a page of any publication, most of the elements on the page are either perfectly horizontal (Lines of Copy) or perfectly vertical (Columns). If you want to standout break this pattern. Try placing a major element of an ad on an angle. Place the headline through the center of the ad, angle an illustration. This takes a little more work but will really make your ad stand out.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Its, "Like" , a good idea

Maintaining a like ad file is one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to help close sales. This is simply a file of sample ads from your publication. I file mine by category (Plumbers, Restaurants etc.) so that when I am going to meet a prospect I can easily pull examples to show them. As they say "A picture is worth a 1,000 words" so this is much easier than describing what you want the customer t do. Like ads also serve as a de facto thrid party story, seeing ads that other businesses ran in your publication helps prospests to see the value of running. This is what psychologists call "social proof", if others do something first, it is easier to accept doing it yourself. I also keep files for things like "good half page ads" or good use of color" to use when selling these features. These files also help when formulating good questions or designing spec ads.

Try it you'll "like" it.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Weekly Quote

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it"
General Norman Schwartzkopf

As a trainer my job is to give the people I work with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. Long ago I gave up the illusion that I can make anyone successful, at most I can help them. Success has to come from within, taking action and making it happen. Like "Storm'n Norman" said, this is the hard part and the only thing that matters.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Make It Easy on the Reader

Here are some tips from Steve Cone's 2005 book Steal These Ideas--Marketing Secrets That Will Make You A Star.

Cone suggests following these rules to make you ads easy to read:

1. Always use serif type. Serif type means the each letter is finished off with a little foot that helps the eye literally finish seeing the letter
2. If you must use sans-serif type, apply it to bold headlines only
3. Always refuse to use reverse type, it is simply too difficult to read
4. Always imagine that your readers are 55 or older and choose a type size that is kind to their eyes.

Mr. Cone's book is well worth reading and packed full or valuable ideas. I would add a couple of points to his comments on "readability". I think a lot about contrast. The easiest thing to read is black type on a white background because of the great contrast. I recently saw an ad with purple type on a light red background, very artsy but almost impossible to read. These two colors are much too close on the color spectrum. Also small type that is clear on white bond paper from your computer's printer may blur when printed on newsprint.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks--Jim Busch

When they love your competitor

What do you do when a prospect tells you "I am very pleased with my ad in your competitors paper" ? You can't disparage the other paper without offending the client. Like most sales situations, the answer to this is a question. I ask the prospect "Why do you think your program is working so well?" Listen to the customer to find out what they are looking for. Think about the advantages that your product offers. If you cover areas that the competitor does not reach follow up with "If the competitor paper could reach x number of additional readers, do you think you would get even better results?" and then say "My paper could give you that extra circulation."

Instead of trying to change the customer's mind, build on the beliefs they hold. Present your solution as "more of a good thing" rather than as something different. Once you get a share of the business, win a bigger share by giving the customer superior service and some great ideas to build their business.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling

Thanks Jim Busch