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It Is How, Not What You Say By : Kurt Mortensen The words we use and the way in which we use them can have a huge impact on how we are perceived by our audience. As Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the wrong word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." The airline industry has some good examples of creative packaging, too: “delayed” instead of “late” and “flotation device” instead of “life preserver.” If we examined other industries, the list could go on and on. You can take ... Getting Your Foot In The Door By : Kurt Mortensen One aspect of the law of dissonance is the urge to remain consistent with our commitments. Even if someone begins with a small request then follows it up with a larger request, we still tend to remain consistent in our behavior and answers. This technique of capitalizing on such a principle has been called by several names, including "foot-in-the-door," FITD, self-perception theory, or the "sequential request." Basically, it is a means of using a person's self-perception t... Choosing The Best Sponsor For Your Direct Sales Company By : Stefanie Fauquet So, you have found the perfect direct sales company to join. But before you sign up, you’ll need to decide who is going to be your sponsor. First, the basics: When you sign up with a direct sales company, you will most likely sign up underneath someone who in turns becomes your sponsor. This person will receive a percentage of your sales, and should be the one to help get you started and give you any training you may need. It is to their advantage to get you motivated and ... Like And Risk. If Your Customers Don't Like You, They're Not Going To Buy From You! By : Julia Hyde You probably went to a lot of parties and social gatherings over the holidays. And, like me, I expect you met quite a few people you hadn’t met before. And, it’s probably fair to say that some of the people you met you liked immediately, some you weren’t sure about, and some…well let’s just say you’d be quite happy if you never came into contact with them again. Strange, isn’t it, that we so readily make up our minds about someone in one brief meeting. We rarely stop to co... Branding Your Customers By : Jason Collins What is Business Branding Branding your business is simply giving the public and your customers an image of your company. By knowing how your company is perceived by the rest of the world, you can use your image to instill trust, loyalty, and stability within your customers. When you think of Lowe’s Home Improvement you should think of a hardware store that focuses on low prices. When you think of Home Depot you should think of a hardware store that focuses on customer ser... Finding Sales Candidates With The Right Talent By : Derrick Moe How many times has this scenario played out in a company? The candidate’s resume indicated that he had extensive success in our market and had progressed in each of his positions. When we brought him in for an interview, he was a good communicator, likeable, well-groomed and focused on our industry. We hired him and he was an absolute stiff. He wouldn’t call leads, he couldn’t qualify prospects and he never closed a significant deal. We fired him 12 months later. The on... Close More Sales By Not Allowing Your Prospects To Think It Over By : Kurt Mortensen People put off until tomorrow only those decisions they lack the confidence to make today. We live in a society where no one has time. How ironic is that we don’t have time to do the things we want, but your prospect is going to spend time to think about it? Sure there will be times when your prospect will have to think and ponder about this decision. Most of the time it is a knee jerk reaction, and the prospect is feeling a need to buy and they feel the pressure to buy, ... Increase Sales And Emotion With A Professional Voice Over Talent By : Jeremy Daley Most TV commercials you see, radio commercials you hear, training films, and more use the voice of a professional announcer. In the media industry, these much sought after voice pros are called Voice Over Talent. A fine voice over talent can give you a warm, friendly read that not only entices prospects to take an interest in you, but effectively urges them to buy. A good voice can accentuate just the right words, stress the right phrases, and literally create an emotion ... Foundational Principles Of Persuasion By : Kurt Mortensen Central to understanding persuasion is the concept of neutrality. The laws of persuasion are neither good nor evil. They simply exist. Just as nuclear power can be used to create electricity or an atomic bomb, persuasion can be used to create unity or to force compliance. Whether the outcome is good or bad depends on the person using the laws and how that person applies the techniques of persuasion. Some people desire to win at any cost, using any available tactics includ... Power Of Persuasion By : Kurt Mortensen Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for better income and having a better income. Ask yourself, how much income and money have you lost with your inability to persuade and influence. Now, I'm sure you have seen some success, but think of the times you couldn't get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? You were unable to convince somebody to do something? Have you reached your full potential?... The Psychological Aspects Of Closing The Deal By : Kurt Mortensen The call to action is the most important part of your presentation. This is where your audience understands exactly what you want them to do. It's where you define yourself as a persuader instead of a presenter. This conclusion should not come as a shock to your audience. Throughout your presentation, you should have gently led them to the same conclusion that you are now giving them. You should have already prompted them to want to do what you are about to tell them to do. ... Telling Stories By : Kurt Mortensen Paint the picture for your audience. The more you can create the setting—the sights, the sounds, the smells, the feelings—the more your audience will be drawn in. Remember, you want the experience to become their experience—something they can readily identify with. As a persuader, you’ve got to take them there. As you prepare yourself, keep in mind all the ways in which you can really produce a mental and emotional imprint. You want your prospects to see your story in the... Rhetoric Selling By : Kurt Mortensen One’s ability to persuade meant great social prestige in the ancient Greek world. Homer regarded the rhetorical skills of Nestor and Odysseus as tremendous inborn gifts. It was Aristotle who first introduced persuasion as a skill that could be learned. At that time, rhetorical training became the craze for citizens of Athens, especially for the politically elite. The first book ever written on persuasion was Aristotle’s The Art of Rhetoric. The book’s basic principles e... The Impact Of Suggestion By : Kurt Mortensen Expectations influence reality and create results. Individuals tend to make decisions based on how others expect them to perform. As a result, people fulfill those expectations whether positive or negative. Expectations have a powerful impact on those we trust and respect, but, interestingly, an even greater impact on perfect strangers. When we know someone expects something from us, we will try to satisfy him or her in order to gain respect and rapport. You have probably ... Stirring An Audience By : Kurt Mortensen Are we rational human beings? Do we follow all forms of logic? Do we only act if it feels right? Do we even want the facts all the time? Have you ever tried to persuade an emotional person with logic? We generally think we make decisions based on facts, but truly this is not the case. It has been found that when people agree with a particular message, they tend to perceive it as being more logical or rational. On the other hand, when people disagree with the message, they ... Assume The Sale By : Kurt Mortensen The power of suggestion can also be extremely effective when you engage the emotions in your tactics. For example, when your car salesman says, "You're really going to love how this car handles in the mountains," he is shifting the focus away from the sale and creating an exciting image in your head. He is also speaking as though you had already agreed to the sale because you wouldn't be driving it in the mountains unless you were going to buy it. He's acting like it's a done... Common Errors Of Sale Which Will Destroy Your Business! By : Mike Francis The errors occur independently of “which type” of industry of businesses you actuate. The employees make errors criticize daily. It is often due to the size of the company, the number of employees, and the incapacity so that management reviews departmental progress. To avoid some of the critical errors of sale which occur, you must identify and evaluate your strategies. To lack a plan of sale It is rare that an owner of small company will make really a plan of sale. It ... The Benefits Of Retail Sales Training By : Mark Woeppel Retail sales training will not only you you survive in the retail market, but retail sales training will give you effective results to beat the competition. Many people think that price is what controls the retail market, however with retail sales training you will learn that price may attract customers, but it may not necessarily keep them. The retail market is slit up of several different divisions. Retail sales training can assist with you running each of these divisions a... Save Money And Support Your Community - Buy And Sell Local By : Andy West Gone are the days when local sellers ruled the local market, but that doesn't mean that you can't bring them back. When you buy and sell local, you can still find the things that you need without having to deal with larger retailers and the ways that they drive up profits. There are a number of reasons that buying and selling locally makes more sense. The definition for how to buy and sell local is simple. The products or services that are being exchanged are created an... 3 Reasons Why Sales Professionals Need A Life Coach By : Hal Elrod No matter how well you’re doing in your sales career, I guarantee that a life coach can help you rise to an even greater level of success – a life coach could probably even double your income this year alone. That may sound like a bold statement, but I’ve seen results exactly that dramatic time and time again. So, if you’ve never heard of a life coach, or are familiar with the concept but aren’t really sure how they can help you grow as a sales professional, let me fill you i... 7 Tips To Recruiting A Downline In Direct Sales By : Stefanie Fauquet If you are in direct sales, it is extremely important that you grow a healthy downline. Not only are you building a relationship with your customers through sales, but you should build a healthy relationship with your sales team. Here are 7 tips to generating a strong downline and keeping your direct sales business growing every day. TIP #1: GET PERSONAL Your downline wants to know who they are working so hard for. Send a monthly newsletter will sales tips, monthly numbers... Sales Team Psychology By : Kurt Mortensen Goal setting is powerful way of keeping sales psychology on the up-and-up. We all know that goals dictate future performance by giving team members a sense of purpose and direction. I can think of nothing less motivating than not knowing why I’ve been asked to do something. Instill in your team members what the end objective is and explain to them the necessary steps to get there. It is much easier to put forth the effort when we can answer who, what, where, when, why and how... Psychology Of The Sales Professional By : Kurt Mortensen One’s attitude has a lot more to do with the level of her/his success than one’s aptitude, ability, IQ, education or other factors do. I’d like to get into the details of a salesperson’s psychology so that, when it comes to building your team and individual team members, you are equipped with the knowledge of what’s really going on in there. As a holder of a management or other sort of leadership position, you may have already experienced being a salesperson yourself. However... The Obstacles That Keep You From Closing The Sale By : Kurt Mortensen The very first obstacle that many persuaders experience is prejudging a prospect. They set up an appointment, hang up the phone and then immediately say, “Oh, great. This lady’s looking for a product we don’t even have. She’ll never buy.” It could be for any number of reasons, but basically the salesperson decides, based on one scrap of information, that the lead isn’t going to go anywhere before s/he has even met or spoken with the prospect. This is a common but huge selling... Salesboom SLA-MS Competition By : Gretchen Philips Oh, the irony. Online CRM Services shy away from offering customers a Service Level Agreement. Why the reticence when Customer Service is the bread and butter of CRM services? CRM services push the envelope for eBusiness activities, and as a result businesses are dependent on background technology services like never before. CRM brings information technology into the front office via Internet and 3rd party services at both the customer and business end. To mitigate serv... Selling Is All About "Lowering Risk"... By : John Hirth Selling is all about getting people to change and change always involves risk. Generally, when given a choice, most people will always choose to not change. People are creatures of habit and change requires them to break old habits and create new ones. What makes selling difficult is the fact that it requires you to work against human nature by getting people to change (and you thought this was going to be easy!). If you think about it, much of the resistance (objections, ... Developing A Unique Selling Proposition: Consistency Between Online And Offline Marketing By : BizAtomic This month’s articles hammer home the importance of synergy and consistency between your online and offline marketing efforts. Within this context this month tip addresses what may well be the most important and overriding marketing consideration you can make, online or offline --- Developing your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). When companies are trying to determine how to market a product, they focus on the Unique Selling Proposition, the one thing that makes that prod... Effective Client Communication By : Paul Mccord - Whether you know it or not, your database of current and past clients is your best source of new clients. “Prospecting” for a new client is time consuming and expensive. If you can find a way to increase your sales without the time commitment and expense of cold calling, mass direct mail, advertising or purchasing leads, would you be willing to implement it? Of course, you would. Taking the time and effort to keep in contact with past clients will grow your business throug... How An Attractive Backend Can Stimulate Growth By : Jason Collins There is no need to waste time and money to locate new customers to increase sales. Your sales can be increased easily once you apply the tricks of backend marketing to your existing sales campaigns. Backend marketing, also known as suggestive selling, is simply trying to make another sale to a customer who just bought from you. Once you have made a sale to your customer, they are more willing to hand you even more money because they have already made the decision to spend... The Need For CRM By : Chris McElroy What priority would you put on the need for CRM (Customer Relationship Management) in your company? If you understood what CRM was that would be an easy question to answer. After all, what is the most important part of every business – even your business? What’s that aspect of your whole operation, without which the whole kit and caboodle would fall down like a house of cards? The answer is, as you are probably aware by now, your customers. Without customers you have no bu... Meeting Your Client's Expectations Isn't Enough By : Paul McCord One of the current buzz phrases in business is “exceeding the client’s expectations.” This is a laudable goal, but one that is seldom met. And then to top it off, it isn’t enough. If you manage to exceed your client’s expectations, you still have only succeeded in meeting half of your obligation to the client. Clients have more than simply the expectations during the sales, they also have product or service priorities. In order to have consummated a quality sale, you must ... Vocal Techniques That Attract By : Kurt Mortensen How we say the words we choose is just about as important as the words themselves. Our voice is a powerful instrument that can motivate the troops or lull them to sleep. There is a huge difference between presenting and persuading. Your voice is a complete arsenal of persuasive techniques in and of itself. For example, you can say the same thing but mean five different things, depending on the tone of your voice. You can say "Thank you" laden with sarcasm, love, hate, anger, ... The Power Behind Understanding Resistance By : Kurt Mortensen Do you want to know why your prospects aren’t buying from you? There are three R’s or three things you need to understand if people walk out that door and don’t purchase from you. Most people are wearing a badge that says convince me, help me make a good decision. They need and want help. They want to be confident in making the right choice. That is what a great persuader does. The first R is reason. You didn’t give them a reason to buy. Maybe you didn’t generate enough in... Sales Is Like Flirting: Open The Kimono Just A Little, Then... By : Kim Klaver "Sales is like flirting: open the kimono just a little, then walk away. Let the ones who would, hanker for more." - Kim Klaver 1996 Do you agree with that? What if you saw your initial customer approach as more like flirting than scoring - i.e. open the kimono just a little, then step back? The right prospects don't need anything more than a peek at first - for anything. Isn't that true for you, too? It's thumbs up or down within seconds. OK ladies, if you buy tha... They Laughed At Me Until They Saw Me Sell By : Chris Angus Selling is one of those arts that you can’t quite explain, you either have it or you don’t, if you can sell, you can do almost anything. A few people in life are born to sell, they are usually successful people that can practically sell ice to Eskimos. If you are like me, you are not a born sales person. You have to will have to learn to sell; the key to successful selling is communication and trust. Good sales people always ask questions and to understand what the p... What To Do When Customers Complain By : Trevor Marshall The ability to manage customers is one defining factor that separates your average worker from someone with management potential. Regardless of how careful you plan to operate your business, customers will always complain. So what can you do to help meet or exceed a customers expecations? 1. Don't Lose Customers Losing a customer is a big deal, even if you already have a million of them. Not only will all of the money you spent on advertising go to waste, but that custo... Create A "Non Selling Posture..." By : John Hirth People love to buy, they hate being sold. You've heard that before and know it's true, yet many salespeople still go in with the objective to "sell" the prospect. We often start by asking questions but when we see that first opening (need)...bam, we're sellin'! Often, unintentionally, the "feature benefit machine gun" comes out and were blasting the prospect with our "best stuff." They feel pressure and ironically so do we! One of the great challenges that face all of us i... Major Obstacles To Selling By : Kurt Mortensen One of the largest obstacles to selling is that the sales person is not living congruently with their cognitions. I have noticed many attributes that contribute to a successful sales person. I will outline good attributes to have and common areas that will cause you to lose the deal. Powerful closers do all of the following: -Accepts 100% responsibility for their results. They realize the importance of ownership. -High levels of empathy and they really care about their... Perfecting The Art Of Closing By : Kurt Mortensen Everyone sells for a living. Whether you’re a sales rep, a parent, a leader, a manager or a coach, on a daily basis we all find ourselves in situations where we must sell others on our way of thinking. The more closing skills you have under your belt, the better equipped you will be to land a sale. In sales, this process is referred to as “closing.” Since “closing skills” derive themselves directly from the sales industry, I’m going to discuss them within a sales context, ... ...How Much Do You Charge For "X"? By : John Hirth This is a question that comes up a lot on sales calls and one that you want to handle with care. As I've stated in other posts, questions are always driven by thoughts and never happen by accident. There is always a "context" from which the questions come and your ability to understand the context will improve your odds in developing the right answer. When I suggest that we work to create the "right" answer I don't mean that we are trying to fool anyone. Frequently, when we a... Does This Mindset Lead To The High Pressure Sales So Many Of Us Hate.. By : Kim Klaver On my newsletter sign-up at my Banana Marketing website, I pose this question: What's the # 1 thing you wish you could offer a customer or recruit? Here's a response I got two days ago. "I want them to really get how great our products and business opportunity are." - Melanie K. This is understandable, right? What sales person who loves her products and business opportunity doesn't want everyone to "get" how great they are? This attitude though, when it's activ... "...what Makes You Better?" By : John Hirth Sales people are frequently confronted by this question on sales calls, along with some others like "why should I buy from you/your company?" or "what makes you different?". In fact, as identified in my last post, they have probably spent a lot of time at "Product Knowledge U" learning exactly how to answer these questions. In reality, answering questions like these usually end up putting you on the defensive and will not give you the advantage you are hoping for. Think ab... Don't Take My Word For It... By : Kim Klaver When a new sales rep talks to someone about their product, invariably what comes out of their mouth is: "These are the best candles..." "This is a one-of-a-kind nutritional product..." "This is based on the best research anywhere..." "This is the greatest, the next iPod, the next Google (for the business), etc." While the rep may believe that and while she feels a tremendous urge to repeat that as often as possible to anyone who will listen, such self serving p... Get A Buyer's Attention - Top 10 Secrets To Winning First Impressions By : Garry Edwards Just like making a first impression is important when meeting someone for the first time, making a good first impression on a prospective buyer is just as important to giving your house the best chance of being sold. What is a first impression when it comes to your house? When a prospect first drives by your neighborhood and sees your house, that is a first impression. When a prospect arrives at your house for the first time for an appointment after seeing your ad in th... A Good Cheap Product That Can Be Sold At Twice Or Trice The Cost By : Chris Angeles Were you looking for a good product which you can buy cheap and sell double the price? Well then, you are in luck because this article will tell you how you can use these customizable rubber silicone wristbands for profit. I have stumbled upon this great product called rubber silicone wristbands. These wristbands are highly customizable and can be bought wholesale or retail. They can be bought in large quantities or small quantities, depending on your market. The more y... How To Keep Customers Loyal By : Edward Bryce Business analysts know that it costs a company much more money to get a new customer than to keep doing business with their existing ones. Thus, to be as profitable as possible companies are urged to have loyal customers that keep coming back again and again. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, and focusing all of your efforts on keeping existing customers is a sure way to ruin your company as truth be told people don't live forever and companies have to look to the... Increase Sales By Thinking Beyond Your Standard Trade Show Display By : Matt Kelly The most incredible, cutting-edge, innovative product or service in the world is not going to generate revenue without a valiant marketing effort. Attending trade shows is a smart initiative to get exposure for your company – but if you are not paying close attention to the details of your trade show display, you are missing an opportunity to showcase your company above the competition. Your trade show display creates a backdrop for you to meet new prospects and hopefully ... Sales Hire Misfires By : Derrick Moe There is no tougher position for a company to hire than sales. The majority of sales candidates are affable, engaging and interesting in an interview format. However, sales clearly is the most difficult position in which to predict the future success of a candidate. If you have ever hired salespeople, you understand why. What is the disconnect between the resume/interview process and successfully placing the right salesperson in the right position? A few of the major hurdl... The New Consumption Patterns By : Jonathon Hardcastle Contemporary economic models present the typical consumer as deliberative and highly forward-looking, not subject to impulsive behavior. Shopping for a product or a service is seen as an information-gathering exercise in which the buyers look for the best possible deal for products and/or services they have decided to purchase. Consumption choices represent optimizing within an environment of deliberation, control, and long-term planning. Whether such a picture is accurate it... Hierarchy Of Persuasion By : Kurt Mortensen Obviously, the attributes at the top of the diagram are more desirable, but you cannot hope for instantaneous respect and rapport on this level if it is not something you’ve taken the time to cultivate all along. Let’s imagine you are the sales manager for a large company. You are in line for a vice president position, and you feel things are running well. The CEO invites you in for a meeting about the company’s goals and future. You feel excited because you smell a promot... The Psychology Of Closing By : Kurt Mortensen I’m going to share with you what I believe are some of the key components of sound closing psychology. One of the most crucial of these components is conscientious and undeviating attention to getting your prospects to open up and reveal their psychology, if you will. What’s really going on in their minds? This psychological technique is absolutely fundamental to a successful close. What is one of the most obvious ways to get inside your prospects’ minds? It is actually a ... The Art Of Listening By : Kurt Mortensen Good listening is not just looking at someone and nodding your head in agreement. You have to acknowledge what is being said and let the other person know that you understand. The more you can acknowledge what is being said, the greater ability you have to persuade and influence. Why? Because the person speaking with you will feel important and understood (Law of Esteem). Why is listening so difficult for most of us? Why is it that when two people get together and talk, they ... Paint The Picture And Get Your Prospects To See What You Want Them To See By : Kurt Mortensen What can you say to paint the picture to your prospects and create the right persuasive emotion in your presentation? Analyze your stories. Are you stores vivid? Can you audience taste, feel, touch, and identify with your story? Do you use silence in your presentations? Should you? Where should you implement a good pregnant pause? A utilities company, trying to sell customers the advantages of home insulation, sent auditors to visit homeowners and point out the ways they w... How To Turn Off Someone With Your First 10 Words... By : Kim Klaver Here are a few openers reps gave us in class. No results so far, they reported. "Would you like to know about the dangers of EMFs?" "My Arbonne products are just amazing! Can I show them to you?" "I have just found this unbelievable Enfuselle, and you really must try it!" Anyone going, "Oh wow, I'd like to hear more!" yet? Other people do not care about our the names of our company, our products, or our fancy scientific techno-babble. They want to hear words sp... Would You Use Your Product If You Weren't Selling It? By : Kim Klaver So, you can't get people to buy your product or service? Before you go forward another minute with your business, ask yourself: Would you use your product/service if you were not selling it, yes or no? Be honest with yourself. If yes, ask for and find people in the right niche - those who feel like you do already or who know those sorts - like looking for a tennis partner in a new town. If not, look for a product line or service to market that you DO love and that... Magazine Subscriptions Sales Affected By The Internet By : Lisa James While it may be unfair to blame the internet for the decrease in sales for a whole other medium, it is probably fair to say that there is some correlation between the decline in paid sales for magazines and the increasing popularity of the internet. Though magazine newsstand sales and yearly subscriptions have been declining for years the internet has provided a different way of providing information that readers may prefer. Magazines, a much older medium, perhaps comes ac... 5 Tips On Getting Your Customers To Love You By : Kimberly Dillon Yesterday, I received a letter in the mail and it was not a bill or a fake advertising letter. It was a genuine letter with a label and a sticker and a handwritten address. I was a little surprised, as I have not received a written letter in years. As I opened it, I realized the name looked vaguely familiar, but I could not place it. As I scanned this beautifully written letter, I realize it was from a difficult customer who 2 months early was writing something of a different... The Secret To Building Good Customer Relationships By : Trevor Marshall While it may be your first reaction to make new sales or pursue bigger clients, the truth of the matter is that you should be paying attention to your existing customers as well. The secret to getting sustainable repeat business is to follow up with every customer, and an effective follow-up begins immediately after the sale. You should give the customer 24 to 48 hours and then phone them up just to say thank you and find out if they are pleased with what they purchased. 1... Planning The Expenses Your Home Business Will Have By : Edward Bryce When you first start out with your home business, chances are one of your major concerns was how much it was going to cost you to start it up. If you make a budget containing items like startup costs, one-time costs, payroll costs, etc, you can break down how things are going to be organized quite easily. Unfortunately, no matter how much you budget unexpected things will always crop up and cause your business woes. Regardless, here are the top things you need to worry about ... Turning Objections Into Sales By : Kurt Mortensen When you become a Master Persuader, you will learn to love objections. You will come to understand that when people voice their objections, it actually indicates interest and shows that they are paying attention to what you are saying. The key to persuasion is anticipating all objections before you hear them. Fielding questions and handling objections can make or break you as a persuader. Such skills will help you in every aspect of your life. Four different times to handl... Top 10 Attributes Of Successful Sales Managers By : Kurt Mortensen Characteristics and attributes you can seek to cultivate as a sales manager. In my mind, there are two broad influential categories: trust and presence. Under each category are five specific characteristics that every effective sales manager must possess. I call them the Five Cs of Trust and the Five Points of Presence. The Five Cs of Trust 1. Character 2. Competence 3. Confidence 4. Credibility 5. Congruence The Five Points of Presence 1. Charisma 2. Enthusi... Effective Rewards And Incentives By : Kurt Mortensen The first place to start when developing an incentive program is to identify exactly what you want to accomplish. You can’t just spend money and then hope you see results. You’ve got to have a game plan. You’ve probably gotten a pretty solid feel for the personality types that formulate your team. You’ve probably also uncovered what your team’s strengths and weaknesses are. Based on where your team is at, you can start designing rewards and incentives to produce exactly wh... How To Promote Goods Sold From Your Home Business By : Keith Kingston Advertising is a key component to any successful work from home venture. If you are going to open an auction store, eBay or otherwise, then you need to maintain a well-organized system to allow you to be as successful as possible. Organization is actually mission critical for any work from home business, but is particularly important for an auction store, eBay or otherwise. If you intend to run an eBay work from home business, then there are plenty of things that you can d... Three Sellers Tell What Works In Direct Sales By : Karen Moehr According to Direct Selling Association statistics, 85 percent of direct sales people spend fewer than 30 hours per week working their business. Working part-time is the reason many people go into the business of direct sales in the first place. But what are some proven methods that will help you work smarter, not longer? A top-level producer with one company has worked with her company for over seven years. A mother of three and an elementary school teacher, she’s taking ... Customer Says No Money? Make The Sale Anyway! By : Karen Moehr "Wow, I wish I could because I love it, but I can't afford it right now" Sound familiar? Or maybe they want so many items they cannot decide and end up leaving the party with nothing. Yikes...there must be a solution! One idea is to use a well-tested program used by many department stores: A gift registry. You've used them for weddings, baby showers and many other events. Why not for your business? Be sure to let all your party guests know about it so during the party t... Non-Fiction Salesmanship By : Scott Lindsay The research you have conducted has been exhausting, yet the first draft of your non-fiction work is complete and you are in the midst of revisions and personal editing. Your plan is to send it on to a publisher soon. Are you really finished with the work at that point? You can take satisfaction in the fact that one of the harder elements of your experience in writing is over, but there are many details yet to attend to. You will need to write a cover letter and provide... Being Nice May Not Always Be The Best Way To Win Customers By : Douglas Titchmarsh We spend a lot of time being nice to our customers. Why not, it's how we have been taught to behave towards our customers. Treat them with respect, massage their egos and they will reward us with their business. So we carefully craft our newsletters, and adverts, emails and websites to keep them happy, and on our side. Then suddenly something comes along which turns this on its head. If you missed "The Rich Jerk" then you must have had your head in the sand, it was big new... Remembering David Ogilvy By : Kadence Buchanan July 21 this year marks the seventh death anniversary of David Ogilvy, the renowned "Father of Advertising," whose original thinking and insistence on certain basics rocked Madison Avenue in the sixties and seventies. It is a great tribute to the man that the four basic principles he started in his day - a dependence on research, professional discipline, creative brilliance and a preeminent regard for delivering results to clients - still form the blueprint of today's adve... Setting Realistic Goals For Sales By : Jordi Shoman When you get started in business, you need to have a realistic goal in mind for your first year of sales. The first year will basically be a learning experience, so you may have to work hard to break into the market depending on what it is you are selling. Setting up a new business, especially if you are in a specialty niche, may be difficult or easy, depending on your location. This is why you need to have a business plan in place and lower your expectations so you won't be ... 6 Signposts Of Successful Product Selection And Selling - How To Build A Winning Ebiz By : By Chris Malta & Robin Cowie Getting started on eBay can be overwhelming for the newcomer who has no idea where to begin. That’s why it’s helpful to look at those who have built successful businesses in this venue. To get to where they are now, there are six things these accomplished entrepreneurs all learned to do. All six require willingness to study and learn—but then, so does being a successful online retailer. 1.Identify Emerging Markets An emerging market is one in which the bid rate is growi... How To Make The Perfect Sales Pitch By : Jordi Shoman In order to make the sale, you need to have the right sales pitch that will make the customer want to buy. This means that you really have to know the product and make it exciting as you persuade customers that this is something that they need to buy. The perfect sales pitch will persuade customers to buy something even if they know deep down that this is a product they don't really need. While it is important to have a good sales talk when you have a showroom, it is not a... Selling Or Recruiting Objections? Great! By : Vicki Miller We’ve all talked about how to ‘overcome objections’ in our business. When I think about “overcoming” something, it sounds like hard work. It sounds like a struggle to convince the other person to see my position. I would rather take a different approach and look at objections as a wonderful opportunity to learn. Instead of “overcoming objections”, shift to “seeking to understand”. Seeking to understand the other person and what’s behind their objections, removes the struggle ... How Sales Visibility Will Help You Close More Frequently! By : Colin Duffy The end goal of any sales rep is to close, close, close. From initial contact to making that call to seal the deal, a good salesman/woman should have little else on their mind then moving forward. Although selling different products and services require you to alter your approach, vary your efforts and adapt to different interests and questions, a good salesman/woman must be able to interpret and record customer feedback and funnel it into a structured and clear pipeline in o... Making Your Customers Partners By : Joe Torrence Take a number, press 1 for technical service, all of our service reps are busy…sound familiar? If your like me I’ve had to succumb to the inevitable world of technological advancement but somewhere along the way I (a person) have got lost in the shuffle. Having to deal with auto menus and robotic web sites to place an order or ask a question has become a matrix of sterile graphics and personless decision making. I do need the product or I do need the technical question ans... What Does Passion Have To Do With Results? By : Vicki Miller My husband and I have property at a lake resort community not far from our home. The interesting thing about this Resort Development Company is their high percentage of sales closings. It’s really pretty amazing. You see, the company does an excellent job of attracting people to the property and then the sales staff does an exceptional job closing them once they get there. Let me tell a short story about it that I think can make a difference for YOU and YOUR BUSINESS. ... Selecting And Changing Your Product Lines - What Should I Sell Now? By : By Chris Malta & Robin Cowie Product Sales Tracking Everyone’s constantly after new products to sell, but it’s just as crucial to recognize how your current products are selling. In order to know your best business move, you need to ask the right questions: What’s selling? Why is it selling? When does it sell best? How frequently do my customers buy from me: Just once? Weekly? Monthly? Ruth King, CEO of http://BusinessTVChannel.com, an internet TV station focused on small businesses, stresses the i... 6 Common Product Sourcing Questions Answered By : By Chris Malta & Robin Cowie If you’ve got a question about your eBiz, someone else has probably already asked it. Matt Hedges, customer support manager of http://www.worldwidebrands.com- a leader in the product sourcing industry, answers the 6 most common product sourcing questions he gets from customers wanting to start an eBiz: 1. Will suppliers care if I’m a new online retailer working from home? Generally no. Says Hedges, “They want to get their product out to consumers as much as possible, so t... 5 Quick Tips To Beat Sales Slumps By : Douglas Titchmarsh Sales slumps, quiet periods, business lulls, call them what you will, but they can still be a serious threat to your business, and in some cases will even bring the business down completely. There are ways to overcome these sales slumps, but they may mean taking some time during your busier periods to prepare for them. We have compiled our 5 quick tips to help you beat sales slumps and profit all year round with your business. 1) Build a mailing list. Online or offline, al... Sourcing Customer Returns - Buying Retail Returns At Wholesale Prices By : By Chris Malta & Robin Cowie Retail overstocks and customer returns can be an excellent product source—as long as you understand what to expect when purchasing this kind of merchandise. A Mixed Bag of Goods Typically, returns are sold as pallets of assorted, dissimilar items—you’ll find everything from snow boots to toy cars to staplers. Most likely, you’ll also find some damaged goods among a pallet’s wares. A portion of these items were returned because the customer damaged them, or they didn’t w... Who’s The First Person To Greet Your Customer? By : Helen Robinson Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.” I spent an interesting hour at the dentist’s office yesterday and the time actually flew. I found it fascinating and almost entertaining watching the young woman at the front desk. I guess I’m accustomed to being greeted by a receptionist with a smile and an attitude that conveys ‘thanks for coming to see us, not them’. I approached her sliding glass window and stood in back ... The Price Is Right! - How To Arrive At The Best Price For Your Products By : By Chris Malta & Robin Cowie Avoiding Common Mistakes A trap many eBiz owners fall into is trying to set their prices by simply adding a percentage or flat amount to an item’s cost—they buy a watch for $20, slap another $20 on the price tag, and pass it along to their customers. The problem with this type of pricing is that your costs aren’t fixed. For example, your costs for buying and reselling 100 blow-dryers will differ substantially from your costs for buying and reselling 10,000 of the exact sam... Retail Management – Identifying Each Salesperson’s Lowest KPI Can Boost Sales By 30% By : Steven Lipschitz Stick with me here for minute – its not hard math. There are five retail KPI’s worth tracking at the individual Salesperson level: Sales per hour; items per sale; average sale; conversion rate; wage to sales ratio. If you add them all up (individually) and divide by the number of staff you get the ‘store average’ of each KPI. You can now compare each Salesperson’s five KPI’s to the ‘store average KPI’ instantly revealing the MOST deficient statistic or undersupplied ...

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