Sales Resistance: What to do about it and why it’s a good thing

10704372-Sales Resistance-smallIn the sales world there is often resistance from the people we are meeting, they resist what they may not understand. Until I understand the WIIFM - What’s In It For Me – I, like most others, will resist or object to the decision or want to act on it in a different way.

There is a way to help you create a compelling case for your products and services that "DEFEATS" any resistance or objections you may come across. Here is this proven strategy to support your efforts in the profession of selling.

D. Demonstrate the benefits and value of your products and services.defeats-sales-6848

E. Examples of the successful use of your product or service.

F. Facts not claims, will provide substance to your offering.

E. Exhibit is a simple and easy way to support your claim by way of samples.

A. Analogy. Use a story to paint a picture of your clients enjoying the benefits of your products.

T. Testimonials from clients that have enjoyed the benefits of your product.

S. Statistics from your industry or your company by way of an article.

Invest your time and energy by rehearsing your conversation from start to finish including preparing your own DEFEATS examples and making them yours.

-          By FocalPoint Coach Phil Gilkes, Calgary, AB. 587-351-3500 Email

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Zoho, a Brilliant and No Cost Alternative to Google Docs

123rf39110467 smallGoogle Doc's productivity-boosting features have long been found indispensable by virtual office workers. But if you are making an attempt to extricate your digital footprint from the pervasive span of the mighty Google, Inc., then why not go for an equally viable and free document collaboration tool such as Zoho?

Zoho is your go-to Web-based software solution for almost all aspects of your online businesses: marketing, invoicing, expense management, customer relationship management (CRM), and real-time collaboration for your employees.

What's great about Zoho is that it is mobile friendly, so you can access your customer data and interact with your employees through Web-connected Android and iOS devices. File sharing is secure, social-media sharing is possible, and the folder-style organizing of files is so easy to navigate.

Also, Zoho's Dropbox integration makes it effortless to maintain a backup for all your files and there’s even a live chat feature built into Zoho so multiple users can work on a document together in real time.

If you are looking for a secure shared environment for your workers – remote or otherwise – then consider using Zoho as an alternative to Google Docs.

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Is There A Formula For Success In Sales?

YES! …it's called the “Way To Wealth”

dts 35740146 smallYou can use the ‘Way To Wealth’ formula to multiply your sales and, if you sell for a living, commissions ... which can lead you to greater personal and business success.

There are many who are familiar with a conventional sales process of increasing their total target by 10 or 20% on an annual basis but with the ‘Way To Wealth’ formula it’s possible to “Double Your income” in 12 months or sooner.

"Yea right, how’s that possible?" you might be thinking, well that’s a great question to be asking. Let’s take a look at it.

The Way to Wealth formula is based on the ‘Law of Incremental Improvement”. This law says that, if you get a little bit better in each of the “Key Result Areas of selling”, daily, weekly, and monthly, the cumulative effect over 12 months will be a doubling or tripling of your sales and your income.

How does it work?

There are 7 Key Result Areas in the sales process and when you learn these and make them your own you will be able to take control of your sales career and work to doubling your sales. By improving just 10% in each area, you'll double your sales.

Simply put, it means that you are selling at a rate that converts to the doubling of your sales.

Read the complete article and learn what the 7 Key Result Area are and how to use them to double sales - there is a secret to doing it correctly. It's practical and something anyone interested in growing their sales and increasing their profit or commission can understand and apply.

-      By Phil GIlkes –  “Be Great ALL ways,”

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Is There A Formula For Success In Sales?

YES! …it's called the “Way To Wealth”

dts 35740146 smallYou can use the ‘Way To Wealth’ formula to multiply your sales and, if you sell for a living, commissions ... which can lead you to greater personal and business success.

There are many who are familiar with a conventional sales process of increasing their total target by 10 or 20% on an annual basis but with the ‘Way To Wealth’ formula it’s possible to “Double Your income” in 12 months or sooner.

"Yea right, how’s that possible?" you might be thinking, well that’s a great question to be asking. Let’s take a look at it.

The Way to Wealth formula is based on the ‘Law of Incremental Improvement”. This law says that, if you get a little bit better in each of the “Key Result Areas of selling”, daily, weekly, and monthly, the cumulative effect over 12 months will be a doubling or tripling of your sales and your income.

How does it work?

There are 7 Key Result Areas in the sales process and when you learn these and make them your own you will be able to take control of your sales career and work to doubling your sales. By improving just 10% in each area, you'll double your sales.

Simply put, it means that you are selling at a rate that converts to the doubling of your sales.

Read the complete article and learn what the 7 Key Result Area are and how to use them to double sales - there is a secret to doing it correctly. It's practical and something anyone interested in growing their sales and increasing their profit or commission can understand and apply.

-      By Phil GIlkes –  “Be Great ALL ways,”

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Why helping “outsiders” fit into your family business is not only very profitable, doing so may even save the company

“Welcome to the family business. Take a back seat.”

dt 14209032 bothDoes that sound friendly? Maybe not, but too often family business employees with a  different last name hear something similar. Many times, these non-family workers get the short end of the stick.

That's a shame because discrimination against non-family employees can be costly to the company's bottom line. Otherwise good workers start to exhibit low morale, engage poorly with customers, or even jump ship for the competition when they feel under-appreciated and ignored. On the positive side, family-owned operations grow and thrive when they take steps to make non-family workers feel like productive members of the company.

The first step is to assess your business and there are two extremes: One is a “family first” operation that is essentially a support program for family members and the second is a “business first” operation that includes both family and outsiders in key positions.

In a business first, operation, family members must demonstrate their value to earn promotions. Non-family members are equally compensated and family members are never hired unless there is a demonstrated need for the position.

Important for any family business is to be open and honest with non-family member employees and find ways to make them feel valued.

Read this in-depth article to learn what to do - and not do - when bringing outsiders into a family business.

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How lessons from the “Coffee Club” brought success to my life

123rf 744701 smallEarly in my career I was a virtually untrained salesman. One slow Friday afternoon I decided to hang out with some coworkers. The conversation wasn’t very inspiring, but little else was happening.

Suddenly my mentor showed up, yanked me out of the group and asked me if I wanted to be a professional salesman or a loser. I told him I wanted to be the best I could be.

“Then stop hanging around with the Coffee Club – they’ll only deter you from achieving your goals!”

Later, a homeless-looking guy walked onto the lot. The Coffee Club passed on helping him. I went to find out what he needed and found that he was in the market for a new van. We took a test ride and – with no encouragement from the Coffee Club – I eventually made the sale.

I realized that the Coffee Club was really the “Ain’t it Awful Club” and took away two important lessons

  • The people we associate with can have an impact on us, so be careful who you spend your time with.
  • Because I didn’t fall in with the "Ain’t it Awful Club," I was able to earn a very large commission.

But that's not all I learned from the "Coffee Club." What else did I learn about success from this experience? Find out when you read the full article.

By Phil Gilkes, FocalPoint Coach

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DATA U - Introduction to mobile marketing

Introduction to Mobile Marketing

Mobile Marketing is new to many business owners and it can be a powerful customer acquisition, retention and revenue generation tool. But use it wrong, and you’ll find yourself wasting money and alienating your customers. In this video, Steve Snyder, an industry pioneer and highly experienced marketer, will explain where to use it, what to watch out for and give you a thorough introduction to how the most successful organizations are using this marketing strategy.

mobile marketing video

DUAs your business coach, I’ve arranged special access to this video. Companies pay thousands of dollars annually to Data University for access to the information that appears in my newsletter. Their expert faculty and "The Dean of Data," Mark Graham, are well known to the largest direct marketing firms in North America.

Of course, mobile marketing isn’t the only critical topic for your business today. Shouldn’t we talk about helping you grow your business, increase profit and get more time for your family?

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You have to persuade to make a sale. Use these strategies and start closing more immediately

andertoons 6203 smWhen you make a sales presentation, you are asking the customer to engage in a trade. You are telling the customer that, if she gives you her money, you will give her a product or service in return that will be of greater value to her than the money she pays. In addition, it will be of greater value than anything else that she could buy with that same amount of money at the same time.

This law has three important corollaries:

  1. “The customer always acts to satisfy the greatest number of unmet needs in the very best way at the lowest possible price”
  2. “Proof that other people similar to the customer have purchased the product builds credibility, lowers resistance and increases sales.”
  3. “Testimonials of any kind increase desirability and lower price resistance to a product or service.”

Read the full article and discover easy ways you can make more sales with some very simple techniques.

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Five Inexpensive Ways to Market Your Small Business

iS10292520 smallYou don't need a large budget to market your business effectively. In fact, some of the best marketing methods are not expensive. Here are five ways to market your small business without spending a lot of money.

Word-of-Mouth Advertising. This is the most effective way of marketing your business and it’s free. Create a buzz and cause people to start talking about your business. Also, people are more likely to talk about you when your product or service stands out from the crowd. Make it different.

Talk to the Media. An article in a local or national magazine or newspaper can give your business a lot of free publicity. Start by talking to your local newspaper or magazine about your business.

Stay in Touch With Customers. Collect customers’ physical and email addresses and send them time-limited offers. Start an e-newsletter filled with useful news and stories about your products and services.

Online Marketing. Set up a website and register it with Google My Business, so that online searchers can find it. You can create a website either for free or inexpensively by using templates offered by such websites as Moonfruit, and Yola. Just remember that websites can make your business look bad faster than making it look good. It takes skill and expertise to create a "site that sells." Need some help with what to say, let's talk.

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