Information technology is important. It is apparent that technology does not have to be complex or costly to be effective. Technology is probably the most important enabler for change and tracking results that a company can introduce.

This is a very big topic so I am going to ask you a few questions.

Does your company have a plan on how to use technology to grow sales?

Does you company have a plan on how to use technology as a competitive weapon?

If not you are missing some great opportunities.

Information technology should be an asset to a business and support the business through a clear definition of the role technology will play in the business. This is done in the business plan.

Implementing a full technology strategy can have a benefit that cascades throughout the organization.

Let’s talk a minute and discuss how to create and implement an information technology strategy. The approach to information technology must first be addressed as part of the business plan. It must ask and address the role technology will play in the business. From an information technology perspective there are only three kinds of projects:

• Those necessary to stay in business.
• Those necessary to stay even with your competition.
• Those that give you a strategic advantage.

For our discussion we will focus on the third type of projects: projects that give you a strategic or competitive advantage.

But first let me define strategic and competitive advantage. A strategic advantage can be thought of as redefining or changing how the game is played. For example, Amazon changed the rules for bookstores. Books could now be purchased on-line and shipped to your door very quickly and inexpensively. Amazon further redefined the rules by implementing One Click. One Click is the way Amazon allows any product to be purchased with just the click of one button.

A competitive advantage raises the bar in a specific market or industry. For example, if a manufacturer creates an innovation that allows a product to be produced 20% less than the industry average, the rules haven’t changed but the bar has been raised to a whole new level. Another definition of a competitive advantage could be higher quality, lower cost, speed to market, or improved customer service.

What kinds of problems are suitable and can be addressed by the effective use of information technology? This is a broad question and information technology (IT) can be used in many markets, on many kinds of applications and on many different kinds of problems. The challenges generally fall into the following categories:

• Manufacturing & High Tech Firms
• Deregulated companies
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Companies facing financial crisis
• Companies under heavy end user demand
• Highly competitive service industries

IT does not typically generate value directly, unless you are a technology driven company committed to using technology to change the rules. IT adds values by enabling the productive and effective use of existing business processes.

If you have an immediate opportunity and want a way to appraise the opportunity within the organization, the first step in the process is to identify the opportunities and/or threats being felt. Once the opportunities/threats are identified take the following action: Prioritize the opportunities/threats based on impact to the business plan, if a plan exists, otherwise assess the impact to the business overall.

• Determine the seriousness of the threat or the impact of the opportunity.
• Make a decision about the urgency of the threat or the potential of the opportunity.
• Perform problem analysis to validate seriousness, urgency and impact.

Take some time to see if there are any opportunities in your organization where IT can be used to reduce cost or improve productivity. Do your homework and find the right partners and trust their judgment.

We can apply technology in a more mundane environment that provides the same kind of competitive environment for small business. Many small businesses do not have a system that tracks leads and automates the communication between the company and its many customers, clients, and contact. We think of this tracking as part of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application. There are many variants of CRM or marketed as CRM: Constant Contact, High Rise, and Zoho to name a few. I use AddressTwo (http://addresstwo.com) it comes with a 14 day free trial. AddressTwo is easy to use and fully integrates contacts, calendar, email marketing, task management and follow up with post card marketing to simplify my life. I consider this application to be a competitive advantage for me in my business.

Ask yourself what technologies can you use in your business to increase your productivity (when you use it) and reduce your cost. Ask yourself how this technology will grow sales, increase revenues and shorten the sales process. The key to a good technology purchase is knowing what you want to accomplish (we are back to the business plan) and how technology will help us achieve our goal. Ask yourself how technology will help you:

• Stay in business

• Compete effectively with your competition.
• Provide you a strategic advantage over your competition

When you evaluate your technologies purchases against those three criteria it is hard to make a bad technology investment.

Today as business owners we have to constantly evaluate our processes and identify the best practice to stay ahead of not only our competition but the current trends in your marketplace.

Technology allows us to do this and use it as a tremendous tool to make the best and most practical use of our time. As the old saying goes ,time is money.

Make Success Happen!

Dale Stefancic

Today it’s not only challenging to be in business but the question of how do you get more business from the thousands of new companies starting up every day.

With many people losing their jobs or not being able to find new employment, many of these people are electing to start their own businesses.

For many small business owners this presents the challenge of increasing competition and giving more consumers more choices in selections in an ever growing marketplace.

So that brings us to the question of how do we stand out from the competition as well as how can we separate our businesses  from our fellow competitors.

Perhaps you hope to develop a product or service that has not been seen before or may be design a brand with a new expression and distinct values. Perhaps you may even be aiming to be extremely unique in your marketplace.

In reality there a few ideas and products that are actually unique.  More often new products and services solve the same problems or fulfill the same needs as others, but in a slightly different way or with a slightly different twist.

The good news is that an idea does not have to be unique or completely new to the marketplace to be a good business idea.  It is enough for business to be distinctive or just to be better than the competition at what it currently does.

There’s some good ways to accomplish being aware of your competition and what your competitors are doing to address the needs and the value they bring with  products and services as well as price points into the market you serve.

Take a look at the competition

The first activity to being better than the competition is to find out what the competition is doing while keeping informed and doing some simple research.  What you basically want to know is what products are competitors are selling to which consumer  groups and the price of their products and services.  You must also relate to any special characteristics if any and finally, your research should include a look at how others in the market communicate and market  their business.

So how does one do this.

One of the easiest ways I know is it’s as simple as going to Google.  Google will provide you with about as much information as you’ll need about  your competition and finding out how they market, advertise, if they have a website presence, if they have a blog, almost anything you can think of.

The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of having a business in the way that you as a small business owner can gather the information about your competition.

In the past it took  a greater effort to identify the other players in your field or to simply get a sales brochure from the top competitors.  Today, this information is available to us the minute we look for it.

For example, with Google alerts,  which is a free service, it can set up keywords or keyword phrases, that pertain to your specific product or service in your market, and the then  receive  emails when there is news of a product or service from any of  your competitors.

The Internet, however, is not the only source of information to keep up on the awareness in  your marketplace and what your competitors are doing to bring new products or services as well as pricing strategies to capture consumer attention.  Other places may include magazines, professional papers or just local advertisements where other businesses that are similar products for services are addressing the needs and competing for the customer’s dollar.

The important thing is to be a constant student of the game.

How can you be better than the competition.

Knowing what to look for about the market and the customer.  You can take some steps towards becoming better than your competitors.  This entails making a systematic comparison of your own company in the competitors, we look at all the various aspects of your product in or service as well as your company and begin to  make the comparisons.

One of the  simplest ways to do this is to make a chart identifying five key areas  of your business.

1). Your product design or what your service  entails. 2). The buyers experience.  This one is huge and that’s one we talked about frequently.  If you’re not serving your customers,identifying  why they buy from you, what they like most about your product or service, if their experience with your company is positive and what improvements you may make then you’re missing a huge component.  .3). Customer relations.  The relationships and  behaviors you have with your   customers is more than just when they walk in your store or they call you on the phone about  the next order or problem they may be having.  You need to consistently be engaged with all of your customers on somewhat of a regular basis whether they are buying from you at the present time or not.  This can be as simple as making service calls to ensure customer satisfaction or simply sending out a postcard of thanks or reduction of price on their next order of business with your company.  This component alone is becoming more critical as competition in your marketplace becomes fierce.  4).  Brand value and 5).  Price.

In these areas  you can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your company in relationship with two key competitors and identify where your strengths as well as your weaknesses may lie and implement strategies tuned to continually increase on your strengths as well as continually identifying ways to work on the weaknesses of your company.

Setting  yourself apart from the competition can be a challenging way to think in that  are certain risks as well as rewards when moving forward on this very unique idea.  It takes a a lot of resources to be the best of all times, while in the attempt to be the cheapest one might end up with you being the one who makes the least amount of money.

So don’t let price be a key indicator when separating yourself from the competition.

A key strategy in setting yourself apart is make your design,  your products,  and your company in a way that positions you outside the common notions of how a company acts in that particular industry.

One way to do this is to consider whether you can create a whole new market by going beyond the traditional limits of your industry, and maybe become a part of several small industries at the same time.

A few examples to illustrate are, the restaurant that becomes a school for chefs, the fitness center that offers a dietary and nutritional classes in the evening or which commonly we see in bookstores that offers  pastries and Starbucks coffee.

You’ve added value to your customers and identified other markets which you now are part of.  Customers coming  into your store will identify with this and in many cases take advantage of these products or services versus  going outside your company.

To make your company stand out from the competition can be at first challenging. If you start to map the process and ideas of how you can stand out with your company, this will only become easier and provide additional income and resources for your customers to buy more as well as more often from you,

But so let’s start the process by first making a list of your competition or competitive products. Secondly do some research on the competitors’ products and compare them to your own and lastly deciding which areas you want to be like the competitors and which areas you want to stand out.

Remember every day is a changing marketplace, and you, your business, and your products or services need to continually change and evolve with it.

Make It Happen,

Dale Stefancic

It’s 2012 and another new year. What will 2012 bring for you and your business?

I’m sure many small business owners are asking or have already gone through their sales analysis and resolutions for their new  year goals for the coming business year.

Many times already I’ve heard “ I hope things are better this year” or the question “ you think the economy’s going to get better?”

Well, we all know things are tough out there and I doubt much will change in a presidential election year.  So I guess it’s up to all of us as small business owners to do what is a favorite phase of mine , “make it happen”.

I’m sure many of us last year attended business functions such as chamber meetings, trade shows, seminars, and  heard  some excellent talks on some great business topics. Maybe some of us read some good books or listened to some educational CDs.  These are always excellent things to do but here’s the payoff.

How many of us actually took the step of implementation on what they learned and even more importantly took the step of implementation through to the end.  Without implementation it’s like buying a new book that sits on the shelf in your office you never read.  It serves no purpose and has no value to your business.

So many business owners are looking for the quick and easy, jumping to the next shiny object in the room.  Yes, business owners are wearing many hats, you’re overwhelmed, but many times being overwhelmed is the result of little or no planning, having nothing very well organized, or a proper business plan going into the new year.

But here are some simple questions to ask yourself on whether 2012 will be extremely profitable and a much easier year to achieve success, or just another year of the same.

1.  Do you plan your business agenda on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule?

2.  Do you measure what activity in your business is profitable so you can focus on that activity or eliminate completely if it is not.  If you don’t measure it,  you cannot improve on it.

3.  Do you know what your daily, weekly or monthly financials are? Your break- even point.

4.  Do you have processes in place that are easy, duplicatable and provide a clear and understandable path to successful outcomes and profits.

The correct answers to these questions can only improve your bottom line, add time to your day, and provide clarity on what works and what does not work in your business.

Make 2012 your year!

Dale Stefancic

You can be the difference this year and I have put together a list of some of the things to pay attention to and use to your advantage.

1.  The location, location, location.

The location of your marketing message is huge today.  With location based marketing  such as social networks like Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter,  you need to make sure your message is where your potential customers are looking for value in the marketplace.  Foursquare alone pasted ten million users in 2011 and is growing at one million users a month.

2.  Adding personality to your marketing message.

Today it’s more than just advertising your product or service.  Savvy marketers are adding photos, audio and video  to personalize their marketing message. Your marketing  message must become  more human.  Adding video and voice to advertising messages adds the human touch prospects are attracted to.

3.  Design your marketing message for multiple devices.

Smart phone sales recently passed PC sales and the gap is growing. Tablet sales are predicted to nearly double and reach over 100,000,000 users in 2012.  With smart phone technology there could be as many as 25 billion mobile downloads by the year 2015. Make sure your marketing fits all. Emails, web site pages, blogs, and videos need multiple functionality with the viewing consumer.

4. Knowing your customers behaviors

Having a system in place that tracts customer activity, when your customers buy, and how frequently will be critical to increasing sales.  This allows you to measure when to market, how often and to use specials to re-activate customers who have stopped buying or buying less frequently.

So whether your  marketing programs had been adapting to recent changes  quickly or a slower pace. 2012 brings new opportunities for the ambitions marketer to engage their customers and prospects.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed that’s OK.  The important part is to get started in your marketing efforts and see them  through to he the end and then evaluate if they have significant return on your investment of  time and money.

With all the new marketing going on today in the marketplace, it  boils down to knowing where your customers congregate and look for information, and how you will get your marketing message in front of those consumers with extreme value that will attract them to your business.

In conclusion we ask you to take our challenge.  Want if you can get 100 new customers in 100 days.

To find out how, please visit www.GetAmazingMarketing.com  and sign up to watch a FREE 60 minute webinar.  Think what that will do for your business!!!

Make It Happen,

Dale Stefancic

              First lets set the new year for what we must be clear on and decide what your purpose is and if

you  even have purpose. I think you need to truly ask yourself some qualifying questions to

sure you are clear on what your purpose actually is.  If you are not, you will have much

internal conflicts with the actions you are taking, and what your thoughts are.

It’s no wonder so many have trouble achieving their goals.  So first let us get crystal clear on

Is important to us and what our purpose really is.

Two things to keep in mind went going through this process. Is what I am doing moving me closer

To my goals or isn’t it. If is not, simple quit doing it.  So lets get into some of the simple things you

Can do.  

Know what you need to do on a daily basis.

As small business owners we wear a lot of hats, but lets break what we need to do daily with good scheduling and being most productive with our time. The difference here being is productive, not just busy.

Have a Deadline

Having a deadline is extremely important.  This also reinforces the daily activity.  Looking at your                 daily activity shows you your deadline as your view your schedule.

Create Accountability

Ask a or co-worker or friend to help you stay on point. Getting into a small business group where like minded people engage in discussion can provide a huge benefit.

Break Big Goals into Smaller tasks

At times you can break down a large goal into a more manageable task and still have success with the end result. Plus you will not feel overwhelmed in the process.

Take a Break

The time comes went you just have to take a break and go do something fun that you enjoy and return with a fresh mind to move forward.

Reward Yourself

When you have a break through or have made the goal, go have a celebration. Feel good about what you have accomplished.

Merry Christmas and Happy and Successful New Year!!

Dale

We discussed many items and topics this past year in my effort to try and make you better in your business and create some awareness of what needs to be accomplished to move forward and be more profitable.

So what I wanted to do being the end of 2011 and as we think and decide what 2012 may bring is a review that I hope renews some fresh ideas and thinking of how to win the challenges ahead of all of us.

LEADERSHIP:

People identify with leaders. They are well respected and have a strong voice with accomplishments in their field of expertise. As a business owner, you must constantly strive to be the leader in what you do. Some of the points of leadership to keep in mind are:  Leaders should know and understand that people are the core building blocks of their team and/or organization.  To be an effective leader, you need to understand the core building block of your people and their respective values.  Leadership begins from within.  Identify core roles, prioritize them and plan on development and then acting on them.  Any relationship begins with you.  Leadership begins with you.  To be effective, it is dependent on your ability to communicate effectively.

NETWORKING:

This is a great time of the year. The holidays are here and the thoughts of 2012 and what we might expect in the new year with business.

Many of us will be at social and business events meeting  many new people as well as many friends.

For these reasons the topic of networking is very timely.

Today  if you are networking correctly, it’s more than meet and greet with an exchange of business cards and contact information.

You have to network with the intent of turning contacts into connections and eventually business allies or customers.

As you attend your events you need to have a specific game plan in mind.

Make your connections, and then build relationships with these individuals.

The relationships can range from identifying some of the needs of your business or relationships that will bring more business to your company.

The key here is to develop your network with great people and cement those relationships to be a resource for you.

You cannot do it alone. All great businesses have very successful networks in place.

Also keep in mind the relationship is a two way street. Don’t just talk or think about what’s in it for you but lead with a value proposition that will make the person you are connecting with have a reason to develop the relationship further.

Over deliver and your investments of time, money and energy will be repaid ten fold.

TIME AND PRODUCTIVITY:

Time relates to productivity more than you might realize. Time can be as big a loss of profits for your company as almost anything else. When you better manage time you will be more productive. When you are more productive you will make more profit.  

Here are some SMART things to think about. S.M.A.R.T. being an acronym for:

S- SPECIFIC- Being as specific as you can with bringing the reality in site of your goal.

M-MEASURABLE- You must be able to measure your results.  You can only measure your results if you are tracking all your activity that pertains to your business.

A-ATTAINABLE- Is your goal one that is reachable and in the time that you have allotted?

R-RELEVANT- Is the goal relevant to the purpose of your business or

your  personal life?  Is the goal you set bringing you closer to that purpose?

T-TIME SENSITIVE- Does your goal have a deadline?  With a deadline in front of you, your mind realizes it has to accomplish certain tasks within a certain time.

So to be productive, be S.M.A.R.T.

I think as business owners, we all realize what it takes as well as what we need to do.  But, how we measure, track and evaluate the activities we do, will help in becoming better, more profitable and leaves  us with more time to do the things we enjoy.

SELLING:

We may not like it but we have to constantly adjust and adapt to the process and fully understand the needs of the market and the consumer. Here are some points to keep in your selling mindset.  First, people in your target market will first buy you. Also making sure you know your market and the needs and what your market is looking for will be key in this step.

If your prospect has not bought into you, I doubt if you have any shot at a sale even if you are the cheapest price in town.

I’m sure you have heard the phrase that attitude is everything, well if you are in sales, it’s a really big key to your success in sales.

People will pay more for an agreeable, enjoyable experience with a great product than just one based on it’s the cheapest.

The individual that combines a great product with a great attitude can be unstoppable.

Today, many  companies are basing lost sales because of price. Granted some people do just shop price, but in most categories on products and services, price is only a factor in 14%-20% statistically.

Secondly, you need to think more in line with the buyer’s thinking. While your buyer may be objecting to price, here’s what is swimming around in his or her mind.

1.)Is there a better product? 2.) Is the proposal right? 3.) Will this really solve my problems? 4.) Will we use it? 5.) What will others think if I buy this? 6.) Will the company really service me and honor the guarantee?

With this partial list of objections, you need to be going through your prospects thought process and be prepared to present in a more thorough manner making the buying decision safe for you prospects instead of just driving the price factor home.

Too many businesses today are leading there marketing and advertising campaigns with price and not with value, experience, quality, strong guarantee’s and taking the risk out of the buying process.

Many times the sales person is just not totally prepared or has not taken the time to identify the needs of the prospect, as well as what the prospect is truly looking for.

Today as consumers become more savvy and aren’t as willing just to throw their money around without thinking about after the sale, don’t be afraid to lead with the value, expertise, quality and guarantee of what you are selling.

Communicate to your buyer that your service after the sale will be unmatched as you take the risk out of the purchase and make buying a pleasure for your prospect.

If you are leading with price and doing comparisons, good luck. Trying to be successful on the cheapest price is a tough place to live in.

Thirdly, sales for the most part always has the numbers factor.  You can make the numbers work in your favor.

With the correct and precise market analysis, knowing the needs and wants of your market, and taking massive action, you can make the numbers work more in your favor.

In sales, massive action is one surefire way to increase your response and success rate. Take enough action and you will achieve more.

Fourth, know where your prospects are in the sales funnel. Deliver your commitments on time and over deliver. Your prospects may be evaluating you every step of the way. Make sure you have addressed all their needs and have provided the best solution.

Fifth, don’t be afraid and come out and ask for the sale. Lead your prospect with a series of yes answers to what you have delivered in the sales presentation that makes good sense for the prospect to buy.

Have a great Holiday Season and the best 2012!

For many small business owners 2011 was more of a game of survival. Many challenges still face us and the economy as we try to press forward and identify opportunity and how we can take full advantage of it.

We discussed many items and topics this past year in my effort to try and make you better in your business and create some awareness of what needs to be accomplished to move forward and be more profitable.

So what I wanted to do being the end of 2011 and as we think and decide what 2012 may bring is a review that I hope renews some fresh ideas and thinking of how to win the challenges ahead of all of us.

LEADERSHIP:

People identify with leaders. They are well respected and have a strong voice with accomplishments in their field of expertise. As a business owner, you must constantly strive to be the leader in what you do. Some of the points of leadership to keep in mind are:  Leaders should know and understand that people are the core building blocks of their team and/or organization.  To be an effective leader, you need to understand the core building block of your people and their respective values.  Leadership begins from within.  Identify core roles, prioritize them and plan on development and then acting on them.  Any relationship begins with you.  Leadership begins with you.  To be effective, it is dependent on your ability to communicate effectively.

NETWORKING:

This is a great time of the year. The holidays are here and the thoughts of 2012 and what we might expect in the new year with business.

Many of us will be at social and business events meeting  many new people as well as many friends.

For these reasons the topic of networking is very timely.

Today  if you are networking correctly, it’s more than meet and greet with an exchange of business cards and contact information.

You have to network with the intent of turning contacts into connections and eventually business allies or customers.

As you attend your events you need to have a specific game plan in mind.

Make your connections, and then build relationships with these individuals.

The relationships can range from identifying some of the needs of your business or relationships that will bring more business to your company.

The key here is to develop your network with great people and cement those relationships to be a resource for you.

You cannot do it alone. All great businesses have very successful networks in place.

Also keep in mind the relationship is a two way street. Don’t just talk or think about what’s in it for you but lead with a value proposition that will make the person you are connecting with have a reason to develop the relationship further.

Over deliver and your investments of time, money and energy will be repaid ten fold.

TIME AND PRODUCTIVITY:

Time relates to productivity more than you might realize. Time can be as big a loss of profits for your company as almost anything else. When you better manage time you will be more productive. When you are more productive you will make more profit.  

Here are some SMART things to think about. S.M.A.R.T. being an acronym for:

S- SPECIFIC- Being as specific as you can with bringing the reality in site of your goal.

M-MEASURABLE- You must be able to measure your results.  You can only measure your results if you are tracking all your activity that pertains to your business.

A-ATTAINABLE- Is your goal one that is reachable and in the time that you have allotted?

R-RELEVANT- Is the goal relevant to the purpose of your business or

your  personal life?  Is the goal you set bringing you closer to that purpose?

T-TIME SENSITIVE- Does your goal have a deadline?  With a deadline in front of you, your mind realizes it has to accomplish certain tasks within a certain time.

So to be productive, be S.M.A.R.T.

I think as business owners, we all realize what it takes as well as what we need to do.  But, how we measure, track and evaluate the activities we do, will help in becoming better, more profitable and leaves  us with more time to do the things we enjoy.

SELLING:

We may not like it but we have to constantly adjust and adapt to the process and fully understand the needs of the market and the consumer. Here are some points to keep in your selling mindset.  First, people in your target market will first buy you. Also making sure you know your market and the needs and what your market is looking for will be key in this step.

If your prospect has not bought into you, I doubt if you have any shot at a sale even if you are the cheapest price in town.

I’m sure you have heard the phrase that attitude is everything, well if you are in sales, it’s a really big key to your success in sales.

People will pay more for an agreeable, enjoyable experience with a great product than just one based on it’s the cheapest.

The individual that combines a great product with a great attitude can be unstoppable.

Today, many  companies are basing lost sales because of price. Granted some people do just shop price, but in most categories on products and services, price is only a factor in 14%-20% statistically.

Secondly, you need to think more in line with the buyer’s thinking. While your buyer may be objecting to price, here’s what is swimming around in his or her mind.

1.)Is there a better product? 2.) Is the proposal right? 3.) Will this really solve my problems? 4.) Will we use it? 5.) What will others think if I buy this? 6.) Will the company really service me and honor the guarantee?

With this partial list of objections, you need to be going through your prospects thought process and be prepared to present in a more thorough manner making the buying decision safe for you prospects instead of just driving the price factor home.

Too many businesses today are leading there marketing and advertising campaigns with price and not with value, experience, quality, strong guarantee’s and taking the risk out of the buying process.

Many times the sales person is just not totally prepared or has not taken the time to identify the needs of the prospect, as well as what the prospect is truly looking for.

Today as consumers become more savvy and aren’t as willing just to throw their money around without thinking about after the sale, don’t be afraid to lead with the value, expertise, quality and guarantee of what you are selling.

Communicate to your buyer that your service after the sale will be unmatched as you take the risk out of the purchase and make buying a pleasure for your prospect.

If you are leading with price and doing comparisons, good luck. Trying to be successful on the cheapest price is a tough place to live in.

Thirdly, sales for the most part always has the numbers factor.  You can make the numbers work in your favor.

With the correct and precise market analysis, knowing the needs and wants of your market, and taking massive action, you can make the numbers work more in your favor.

In sales, massive action is one surefire way to increase your response and success rate. Take enough action and you will achieve more.

Fourth, know where your prospects are in the sales funnel. Deliver your commitments on time and over deliver. Your prospects may be evaluating you every step of the way. Make sure you have addressed all their needs and have provided the best solution.

Fifth, don’t be afraid and come out and ask for the sale. Lead your prospect with a series of yes answers to what you have delivered in the sales presentation that makes good sense for the prospect to buy.

Have a great Holiday Season and the best 2012!

I think for many of us selling is such a tough and challenging task  because no one likes to be told no for one and  at times it is somewhat adversarial.

Walking into your next appointment after the last three kick you, beat your product and price to death and clubbed you over the head isn’t something that makes you come back for more.

No doubt about it, selling is tough and even more so today with the economic climate as it is.

So with so many not so good things going on, how can we sell better, like it much  more and make it fun.

First let’s look at the word selling. As defined in the dictionary, selling is the action of persuading, influencing, or the acceptance of something.

Many people not in a selling profession do not even realize they too sell.

Parents for example sell their children, trying to persuade them to accept their word as the right way to do something.

The high school football coach trying to get his team to accept his coaching philosophy.

A husband and wife trying to persuade one another. We all sell.  We all just do it a little differently.

Understanding the process of selling might make it a bit more easier and hopefully more user friendly to do.

First, people in your target market will first buy you. Also making sure you know your market and the needs and what your market is looking for will be key in this step.

If your prospect has not bought into you, I doubt if you have any shot at a sale even if you are the cheapest price in town.

I’m sure you have heard the phase that attitude is everything thing, well if you are in sales, it’s a really big key to your success in sales.

People will pay more for an agreeable, enjoyable experience with a great product than just one based on it’s the cheapest.

The individual that combines a great product with a great attitude can be unstoppable.

Today, many  companies are basing lost sales because of price. Granted some people do just shop price, but in most categories on products and services, price is only a factor in 14%-20% statistically.

Secondly you need to think more in line with the buyer’s thinking. While your buyer may be objecting to price, here’s what is swimming around in his or her mind.

1.)Is there a better product? 2.) Is the proposal right? 3.) Will this really solve my problems? 4.) Will we use it? 5.) What will others think if I buy this? 6.) Will the company really service me and honor the guarantee?

With this partial list of objections, you need to be going through your prospects thought process and be prepared to present in a more thorough manner making the buying decision safe for you prospects instead of just driving the price factor home.

Too many businesses today are leading there marketing and advertising campaigns with price and not with value, experience, quality, strong guarantee’s and taking the risk out of the buying process.

Many times the sales person is just not totally prepared or has not taken the time to identify the needs of the prospect, as well as what the prospect is truly looking for.

Today as consumers become more savvy and aren’t as willing just to throw their money around without thinking about after the sale, don’t be afraid to lead with the value, expertise, quality and guarantee of what you are selling.

Communicate to your buyer that your service after the sale will be unmatched as you take the risk out of the purchase and make buying a pleasure for your prospect.

If you are leading with price and doing comparisons, good luck. Trying to be successful on the cheapest price is a tough place to live in.

Thirdly, sales for the most part always has the numbers factor.  You can make the numbers work in your favor.

With the correct and precise market analysis, knowing the needs and wants of your market, and taking massive action, you can make the numbers work more in your favor.

In sales, massive action is one surefire way to increase your response and success rate. Take enough action and you will achieve more.

Fourth, know where your prospects are in the sales funnel. Deliver your commitments on time and over deliver. Your prospects may be evaluating you every step of the way. Make sure you have addressed all their needs and have provided the best solution.

Fifth, don’t be afraid and come out and ask for the sale. Lead your prospect with a series of yes answers to what you have delivered in the sales presentation that makes good sense for the prospect to buy.

Sixth, depending on what your sales process might be, the all important is relationship. Many times just sitting in the office of the prospect and looking at pictures in the office, looking up a website, will give you something to talk about to share some common interests and build the relationship.

Even if your business is more consumer and not business to business, look for some things to talk about. If you see golf clubs in the garage, if they have children, you can talk about things kids do. You have to think and prepare in a broader mind when you are getting ready for the sales presentation.

Many factors go into being good at sales. These are some of them.  Your thought process and your approach to your prospect next time I hope will be more thought out and complete. And look for clues to build the relationship and initially get your prospect to see you as more than the salesman.

Make Success Happen,

Dale

Leadership is a powerful word.  With it, there is an amazing amount of responsibility,  should you decide to assume the role of a Leader.  Often the question of are leaders born or are they made is frequently debated.  I believe both situations exist;  just as someone is born with a gift to be an artist, pro athlete, talented musician, actor or actress.  You can be born with the gifts to be a leader.  Can you become a leader?  I believe you can.

Leadership is reserved for those individuals that have vision, passion, compassion, drive, desire and unending will to attend to a higher level.  It may be as simple as having the leadership for your family.  To have them take the safe path, keeping them out of harms way, demonstrating through actions the correct and best way to get things accomplished.  Leadership is not attained by a title such as supervisor or business owner.

Leadership is a constant demonstration of one’s ability to lead through action with passion and purpose to illustrate the intended result. 

While working in the business world, I have seen too many times  management just delegate responsibility or tasks without knowing first hand what it takes for the desired outcome  they look for.

Leaders are respected and listened to because they have demonstrated time and time again they have done what it takes to overcome and are willing to demonstrate to others through action and gain the respect needed to be valued and listened to.

The majority of leaders should know and understand that people are the core building blocks of their team and/or organization.  To be an effective leader, you need to understand the core building block of your people and their respective values.

Many organizations just look at their people in a professional capacity. This short sighting will miss the mark.  To ensure your leadership fits and attracts the right people, doing the right things take into account all the roles each person comes to work with, within and outside their team or organization.  You may have to address their personal roles outside of work such as parent, little league coach or volunteer.

Many times a person’s role shows up at work.  A leader is no different and you must understand and be aware of it.  The right leader will identify their own growth and development and prioritize them.

Keep in mind, you get the people you deserve.  It is our decision.  For you to attract and lead better people, you need to become the leader that those people need and deserve.  That means you first need to invest in yourself.  Keep improving one of your strengths and make your weaknesses strong.

Leadership begins from within.  Identify core roles, prioritize them and plan on development and then acting on them.  Any relationship begins with you.  Leadership begins with you.  To be effective, it is dependent on your ability to communicate well.

All communication begins with a thought before it is translated into words and messages. How many of us have allowed ourselves to speak first and think later?  What was the result?  In many circumstances, it created some unwelcome ripples in our life and in our leadership.  With sound leadership, our internal and external communication must be open, honest, clear and timely and at times radical.    When our thoughts line up with our words, our actions will follow in alignment.  You are congruent.  You walk the talk.  When you do that, people do what people see.

Be creditable.  This is who you are.  A creditable leader has quality of relationships and has earned the right to lead, versus it being a granted position.  Leaders are authentic, trustworthy, and compelling.

Be competent in what you do.  Leaders are expected to get it correct, which means problems need a proactive approach.  Usually problems will stem from three areas-people, strategy and execution. Your problem will most likely always fall into one of the three categories.  Identify which one and solve it.

Lastly, I want to mention consequences.  How do you do things and what was the consequence of your action?  How did you make your decision?  How did you choose to communicate your decisions and what was the impact on others?

Decide if you are a leader or if you need to work on yourself in some capacity to become a leader!

Make It Happen!

Dale Stefancic

Please enjoy!!! 

The rivalry between Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. has a new front: privacy.

Facebook said it would roll out new controls for sharing personal information on the social network on Thursday, giving its more than 750 million users new tools to manage who can see information about them. The company plans to move a number of privacy controls—which previously required navigating to a separate settings page—to users’ homes pages and profile pages, next to where they view and post content.  

Facebook and other social networks have at times been criticized for designs that lead users to inadvertently share information with a wider audience than they intended. Many Facebook users have hundreds or thousands of friends, and some have have urged the company to make it easier to target smaller groups when posting information.

Google did just that with its competing Google+ offering, which was introduced in June and had amassed 29 million world-wide unique visitors in July, according to research firm comScore Inc. Google+ allows users to build so-called “circles” of audiences for their content, and promises to let users “share just the right things with just the right people.”

Chris Cox, Facebook’s vice president for product, said his company had been working on the changes for the last six months based on longstanding user requests. “It is all about making it easier to share with exactly who you want and never be surprised about who sees something,” he said. Users should “never be surprised about who sees something.”

Mr. Cox said making privacy controls easier is “absolutely critical” to Facebook’s future success, but added the changes weren’t made in response to Google. “We are launching this now because it is ready,” he said.

A Google spokeswoman said in a statement: “We welcome Facebook’s efforts to give users more control over their privacy because it helps to improve the overall web experience. With Google+ we’re creating a new and different approach to make sharing on the Web more like sharing in the real world.”

Google is battling Facebook for several reasons. First, Facebook is becoming the “front door” to the Internet for many people as they use it to discover articles and videos through their friends, and much of Facebook can’t be searched by Google’s search engine. Facebook and other social-media companies have also obtained a slew of personal information about their users that can be used for marketing.

Facebook’s privacy changes include adding icons to individual posts so that users can quickly understand and control who gets to see each post. Users will gain the ability to change their minds about who has permission to see a post after it has gone out. Facebook is also renaming the sharing option it formerly called “everyone” to “public.”

Continued Success,

Dale

This is all good because you have to constantly invest in yourself to gain new knowledge and stay on the cutting edge.

Personally I feel to grow and achieve business success financially you have to grow and prosper personally.

So here are My 7 guiding values to grow and prosper in your life and your business. 

1. life-live it

2. family-love it

3. excellence-acheve it

4. generosity-give it

5. gratitude-show it

6. integrity-have it

7.success-strive for it 

Make it Happen,

Dale