Top Secrets of Marketing & Sales

Success requires self-discipline. Every day in our lives, there are things we must do. Sometimes we feel like doing those things and sometimes we don't. But one thing is certain. If you rely on discipline alone -- forcing yourself to do things you don't want to do -- you're probably making things harder on yourself than you have to. Being in business for yourself is not for the faint of heart. Neither is sales. Neither is any career or human effort that carries with it the possibility of significant rewards or great success. If you're functioning in a low risk, low reward environment, then high performance may not be required. But for most of us who want more, we need to perform. And sometimes that takes more time, focus and energy than we may feel like putting in. But, of course, we need to put it in anyway. One of my very favorite quotes of all time comes from Albert E.N. Grey who said, "The successful person has formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do." Wow. That is tough... and harsh! But it is also incredibly true. By their very nature, those who achieve success do things that those who fail never do. Too often, we tell ourselves that things can't be done. There isn't enough time, there aren't enough resources, it's just not possible. But here's a hint, if others have done it, it's possible. The question is not if, the question is how? When it comes to getting ourselves to do things that we don't feel like doing -- the things Grey refers to as the things failures don't like to do -- there are two primary approaches: The carrot and the stick: reward and punishment. The stick is self-discipline. It's when we force ourselves to take the necessary actions, even when we don't feel like it -- when we're tired, when we're unmotivated, when we'd rather do something else. The stick is the force that drives us from behind, pushing us forward, even when we don't feel like going. And while the stick gets results, it's not the only tool we have available, and it's never as effective as when it's used in combination with the carrot. The carrot is the promise of future reward. It's the goal for which we strive. It's what lights the path for us and keeps us moving forward. When we lose sight of the goal -- when it feels too far off or too elusive or too hard to reach -- it becomes difficult to move forward, regardless of the power of the self-discipline stick. But the real power of any goal is usually not the goal itself, but rather in what accomplishing the goal will DO for us. How it will make so many things better going forward. For example, we want to achieve a level of education, not for the achievement itself, but for our ability to use that education to increase our value in the marketplace. We want to achieve a specific designation or milestone in business, not because of the milestone itself, but because of how that milestone will impact our earning potential going forward. We want to reach a particular financial goal, not for the sake of achieving it, but for what it will do to the quality of our lives once we have achieved it. So when the stick is not enough... when you're struggling to push yourself forward, look farther ahead. Look not just to the goal, but past the goal to the better, brighter future the goal will help you achieve. Time goes by, whether we're moving at full speed toward our goals, or whether we're standing still, paralyzed with fear and inaction. So look ahead to your brighter future, the goals and experiences that make the work worthwhile. Picture that future often, and use your mental image of it to overcome inertia, reorganize your priorities and form the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do. If you rely on self-discipline alone,

Would you believe that some people thought from last week's episode that I was saying not to cold call? However did you get that impression?   :) As expected, I got a lot of passionate feedback about last week's episode. Some were passionate about how right I was, some were passionate about how wrong I was, and some questioned how I could even SUGGEST that people not cold call. Well here's the thing... I did not say that you shouldn't cold call. Yes, I said that cold calling has probably stopped many potential salespeople in their tracks and killed sales careers.  I then further said that it's not actually cold calling that killed those careers, but rather fear of cold calling. In other words, they were so scared they just quit. They couldn't bear up under the pressure. Or refusal to take action. They were so scared of the idea of cold calling that they were genuinely paralyzed into inaction. I also mentioned that more likely it was the mistaken notion that there are no alternatives to cold calling. It's like the desperation of a person who feels there's no way out. You think I'm exaggerating? Then you haven't talked to nearly as many salespeople as I have. In any event, I did NOT say you shouldn't cold call. I said it's not always necessary and I went on to say that beyond that, it's NEVER actually necessary. Then I said it doesn't often lead to a successful sales process. Guilty, Guilty, and Guilty. But that's not the same thing as saying you shouldn't do it.  Now if you have listened closely to the last episode, you might also have heard me say that I don't recommend that you cold call.  I will concede that while it's not the same, it is pretty close to saying don't do it. But did I say don't do it? No, I did not. Each form of first contact says something to your prospect about you. If I call you on the phone completely out of the blue, that says one thing. But if I meet you at an event because we're members of the same networking group, it says another. And if I send you a high-quality self-promotion item through the mail, then give you a call to make sure you received it, that says something else. So if I'm not actually saying that you shouldn't cold call, am I saying that you should? No. What I am saying is that cold calling is one method of First Contact, and it's not always the best method. I still maintain that it's often one of the worst from a positioning standpoint. However, some people are great at cold calling and have a lot of success with it. If you're truly successful at cold calling, then you possess a very rare and very valuable skill. If that's the case, I would not recommend you stop it. I would recommend you continue doing it. But I would also recommend you test it against other forms of first contact that will very likely work a whole lot better for you. Because if you're able to do well with a really tough approach like cold calling, just imagine how much better you might do with a warmer approach! So here's what I would encourage you to do if you cold call... If you are cold calling, track your results. Track how many cold calls you made and how many of those calls turned into sales within 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. Compare that with other forms of first contact you might have initiated. What's the conversion percentage, for example -- over the same period of time -- for those you personally were referred to? Determine the conversion percentage of those you meet at networking functions. Identify the conversion percentage of those you meet via social media? Consistent follow up If you follow up consistently and effectively to every form of first contact you initiate and track your results,

Some people hate even the idea of cold calling. Other people swear by it. But generally, at least once a month, someone will either talk to me about the problems they're having with their cold calling efforts, or ask me my thoughts on it. So today, here's my two cents. Cold calling. Just saying the words makes the blood of some salespeople run cold. And there's probably a lot of good reason for that. Cold calling has probably stopped more potential salespeople in their tracks and killed more sales careers than any other obstacle. But if I'm going to be accurate, I'd actually have to say it's not cold calling that killed those careers. It was fear of cold calling, a refusal to take action or more likely, the mistaken idea that there are no alternatives. Of course, there are.  But let's back up for a moment. Many people think of cold calling as the necessary first step in a successful sales process. But it's not any of those things.  It's not always necessary, it's not the first step, and it doesn't often lead to a successful sales process.  Wow, am I going to get emails about that. But it's true! Let's review: First off, cold calling is not the first step. The first step is targeting: Deciding in advance who I'm going to approach. Obviously, it's impossible to make a cold call until and unless we first decide -- as the old Ghostbusters theme used to say -- "who ya gonna call?" So targeting always comes first. Second, it's not always necessary. In fact, I'll take that a step further and suggest that it's never actually necessary. I can hear it now, screams of "Sales blasphemy" echoing around the industry from all those who have never bothered to explore any of the alternatives to cold calling. But I'm on a roll, so let's see who else I can offend today... Average performing sales managers are going to be grabbing their torches and pitchforks and getting ready to storm my castle when they hear this one... Third, cold calling doesn't often lead to a successful sales process. "How can you possibly tell my salespeople that?" I don't have to tell your salespeople that. The numbers will tell your salespeople that. Make 100 cold calls and see how many of them go on to become clients? Great clients.  All of them? No. Most of them? Probably not. Some? If you're lucky! Certainly, much of anyone's success in cold calling starts with targeting. If you manage to target a lot of the right people and also, somehow manage to avoid alienating them with your cold calling approach, you will certainly get more people to buy from you than if you target the wrong people, in the wrong businesses and the wrong industries.  Or if you don't contact anyone at all.  So yes, I will concede that cold calling is a better alternative than doing absolutely nothing. Even when you do targeting and cold calling right -- even when you do it as well as it can be done, you're still likely to have a lot more failure than success. And the primary reason for that is positioning. When you cold call someone, how does it position you with that person? Above them or below them? As a professional or as a nuisance?  What does cold calling tell that person about you? You may think, it tells them: * I'm a professional with a solution to offer. * I care enough about them to reach out personally. * I am committed to their success and I want to help them. All noble and lovely sentiments. But what else might it tell them? * You're a typical salesperson? * You have nothing better to do? * You're stuck with too much time on your hands? * You are totally fine with interrupting their day? * You haven't bothered to figure out a better a...

Can you really program clients to choose you? How many of the people in your market, who need the products and services you offer, can you pre-program to go directly to you, without considering any other options? Or perhaps more telling, let's look at the flip side. How many people in your market can't buy from you right now, because they don't even know you're alive? Just a few of them? Or a lot? You know, it's not their job to find you, right? It's your job to find them. And if you're really good at what you do -- better than your competition -- then you owe it to the best prospects in your market to let them know you exist and you want to help... and to get them programmed to choose you first. Right now, people in your market are actively looking for the solutions you provide. Maybe they haven't identified someone they plan to use. Perhaps they did identify someone, but they're not happy with their current vendor. Or maybe they just need a fresh start, some new ideas, something better or different, or just another set of eyes to look at their situation more clearly and recommend better solutions for them. In any case, the people who need your solutions the most can't get them from you, if they don't know you exist. So first, you must make that happen. I refer to this as creating Entry-Level Awareness, and it's the bare-bones minimum level of awareness you must create before someone can even consider buying from you. But, of course, just knowing you exist isn't enough. After that happens, they need to know why they should choose you over every other option available to them. I call this Comfort-Level Awareness, and you need to achieve this next, because no one will spend even a red cent with you until they feel comfortable and confident enough in you to do so. Then, if you do a good job for them the first time, they might come back a second time. If you do a good job the second time, they might come back again. And if you continue to do a good job for them, you might eventually achieve Top of Mind Awareness with them. That's the level of awareness at which they default to you, every single time they're in need of the products and services you offer. You essentially get them programmed to the point where they don't even consider other options. Don't believe you can program clients? Well, just think about who has you programmed. Do you have a family doctor you've been seeing for years? A grocery store you buy from each month? Do you have a search engine you use consistently? What about all the purchases you make every single month on auto-pilot for utilities like oil, gas, electric, telephone and internet. Do you even think about these purchases anymore? Probably not. Because you're already programmed. Now. Who have you programmed YOUR prospects buy from? You? Someone else? Or have you not yet programmed your prospects at all? Are you sensing any opportunity here? When you achieve Top-of-Mind awareness with the very best prospects for the products and services you offer, you dominate your market. And as we discussed in previous episodes, leaders always dominate, while followers are left fighting for the scraps. The bottom line is that you can't program clients by accident. You can't just cross your fingers and hope it will happen organically to your business instead of someone else's. It won't. So rather than just waiting and hoping that it will happen, why not go to topsecrets.com/call to schedule a call with us today and start making it happen? Tired of flat or declining sales and losing business to your competitors? Then go to topsecrets.com/call and book an appointment for a complimentary strategy session today.

Quick question for you today: What if there were prospects in your market whose attention you absolutely HAD to get, in order to make your business as successful as it could possibly be? In fact, what if reaching them was so critical that NOT reaching them was no longer an option for you? Other than getting more referrals, what would you have to do better and differently? Because, guess what, people like that exist in your market right now, and it's highly likely that you're not reaching them! I was talking to a financial adviser the other day, whose story could apply just as much to any small business or salesperson. His company was doing okay, but not great. Meaning, he could handle a lot more business than he currently had, and if he had that business, he would earn a lot more money. Prospects Create Clients I asked where most of his clients were coming from. He told me the same thing that many business owners and sales professionals tell me: Word of mouth, referrals. "People just love me!" That's awesome! Referrals are fantastic. They're some of the best leads we can ever get in our business. But one thing I've noticed, time and time again, is that those who rely on referrals alone, or even primarily referrals -- without having additional, more proactive methods in place to grab the attention of the very best prospects in their market, position themselves as the expert with those people and then convert them into sales -- often struggle. Referrals Alone Won't Always Cut it Like many people I talk to, he's great at what he does. He's smart, personable, well-informed, knows what he's talking about. He's great at being a financial planner. But he's less great at creating the level of awareness he needs in the market. As a result, many of the very best prospects for his products and services don't even know he's alive. I started this podcast by asking you, "What if there were people in your market whose attention you absolutely HAD to get to make your business as successful as it could possibly be? And what if reaching those people was so critical that NOT reaching them was no longer an option for you?" Well, these people exist. They are the very best prospects for YOUR products and services. And if you don't have a plan, a strategy, a system or process in place to first create an entry-level of awareness about who you are and what you do... If you don't have a process in place for moving them to a level of comfort at which they would consider buying from you... And if you don't have a process in place to create an environment in which the very best prospects for the products and services you offer, know who you are, know what you do and can make an intelligent, informed decision about whether or not they want to buy from you... then your business will ALWAYS struggle. Because... A high percentage of the best quality prospects in your market won't know you're alive, unless you do something to change that. Many business owners and salespeople spend the bulk of their day putting out fires and lamenting the fact that they don't have time to do the work that they KNOW would help them grow their businesses. That level of excuse-making is epidemic. It infects businesses like the plague, and keeps them from reaching their true potential. It doesn't outright kill them. But it does kill their spirit, drain them, and keep them barely alive in a perpetual state of unfulfillment and discontent. I'm not trying to get morbid or depressing here. But many businesses struggle unnecessarily, simply because they're unwilling to take the very specific actions that would fix it. If you'd like to get details on how you can create an environment in which the very best prospects for your products and services know who you are and know what you do,

Very often in business we know just where we want to go. We know just what we need to do. We have the tools, resources, supplies and know-how. But if you're not yet moving in the direction of your goals to grow your business, it's time to get an oar in the water! Imagine if you could get your business or sales career moving the same way you'd get a canoe or rowboat moving. Before you get in, you need to know where you want to go and what you have to do to get there. You need to gather all the necessary tools and resources. If you're lucky, the weather conditions will make it easier for you to travel, but either way, if you're determined to get there, you won't let that stop you. You are ready. fired up and motivated! But your boat is not moving. That's because no matter how prepared you are, at some point, you have to get an oar in the water. What does that mean? It means getting started. Initiating your journey. Until you get an oar in the water, you're not going anywhere. And it's exactly the same in your business and sales career. When Ross Perot sold his entrepreneurial company to General Motors, it is said that he described the culture of GM as "Ready, aim, aim, aim." And that approach doesn't work too well for entrepreneurs and sales professionals. Our approach has to be ready, aim, fire, fire, fire, fire! If you're in a small boat, initiating first contact with the water is what gets you moving. If you're in a small business, initiating first contact with your prospects and clients is what gets you moving. But in many organizations, that activity is put on the back burner. Some salespeople spend the first few hours of their day getting ready to get ready. They're looking over their prospect list, checking their email, skimming the news, having a cup of coffee. And of course, these actions don't move your boat at all. Not only do they get you nowhere, they keep you from getting anywhere. So the earlier in the day you get an oar in the water, the more productive that day is going to be. To grow your business, you need momentum. Sure, when we first start out it's slow. But as we build momentum, we start to go faster and faster. The more we practice, the better we get, and each day we take consistent action builds those muscles, so it gets easier. As a result, we can go farther and faster. We see new horizons and we're able to reach new destinations much more quickly. Getting an oar in the water early will benefit anyone. But the clients who participate in our Total Market Domination course learn the skills and tactics that make it far easier to overcome inertia, take action and produce results. Instead of starting out each day exhausted, and dreading the idea of picking up an oar, it's like they get to start the day with a motor boat. Push a button and go! You see, when you spend your days creating top of mind awareness with the very best prospects in your market, instead of just annoying unqualified prospects with sales calls, the best clients start to come to you. They see you as the expert. They think of you first when they need the products and services you offer. It's far more powerful and far more proactive than the typical, dull-as-dishwater, 70's era closing tactics practiced by all the unfortunate salespeople who have never been trained on how to do it better and differently. So ask yourself this question. What percentage of the very best prospects in your market, for the products and services you offer, even know you're alive? And if you don't like your own answer to that question, what will you do to change it? How can you ever create top of mind awareness with the very best prospects in your market if you've never been trained on how to do it?

When I say the word "predictable." How does it make you feel? Is it a positive term or a negative term? Today I'd like to ask you a question about predictability, and the question is this: Are you predictable? Hi and welcome to the podcast, so today's question is this... Are you predictable? To some, the idea of being predictable may sound dull, or routine, or boring! "Oh, you're so predictable!" But in business, predictability can be good. In fact, it can be great!  And when it comes to getting customers, predictability is awesome -- at least it is when you can consistently attract and convert them... predictably. Now if the only thing predictable about your sales process is that you have absolutely no idea how, when or where your next client is coming from, that is the WRONG kind of predictability. We don't want that. But the opposite -- being able to attract and convert new clients consistently and predictably is highly desirable. But it's anything but common. Most businesses can't do it. That's not to say they can't attract clients. They can. They just can't do it predictably. But it's an absolute fact that until and unless you get an element of predictability into your customer-gathering process, you will struggle. You know, I talk a lot about market domination and creating the top of mind awareness that's necessary to achieve it. And there's an important reason for that. It's because these things are all designed to serve a purpose. The purpose is to make client-getting predictable. Not everyone we approach is going to be ready to buy the moment we approach them. That's why we need to have a large enough group of qualified leads in our pipeline. So if person one isn't ready to buy today, it doesn't matter, because maybe person number 30 is. But having enough qualified leads in our pipeline doesn't happen until we've created the level of top of mind awareness necessary to dominate our chosen market. Remember, market domination is not about control. It's simply about being able to create an environment in which the very best prospects for our products and services know who we are so they can make an intelligent, informed, up or down decision on whether or not to do business with us. But that can't happen if they don't know who you are. Hence the need for top of mind awareness. If you haven't already done so, be sure to check out our 3 part video series on how to create top of mind awareness and dominate your market. You can access it now at topsecrets.com/tmd. That's topsecrets.com/tmd. Are you ready? Whenever you’re ready… here are the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors: * Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. * Need Clients Now? If you’re already grounded in the essentials of promotional product sales and just need to get clients now, click here. * Want EQP/Preferential Pricing? Are you an established industry veteran doing a significant volume of sales? If so, click here to get End Quantity Pricing from many of the top supplier lines in the promo industry. * Time to Hire Salespeople? If you want to grow your promo sales by hiring others, click here.

If you've been in business for any length of time, you've run into your share of poor quality prospects. But who comes to mind when you think of your worst prospect ever? No matter what business you're in, there are people who are qualified to do business with you and there are people who are just not qualified at all. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. so we end up wasting enormous amounts of time trying to convince or persuade poor quality prospects to do business with us. When I think back over my rather lengthy career in sales and business ownership, one guy stands out in my mind as the worst prospect ever. In truth, it's very likely this person was not actually the worst prospect I ever encountered in all my years. But he stands out in my mind because he was the person who caused me to change my way of thinking to say, "That's it, no more, I'm done! I am finished with pursuing poor quality prospects!" Fortunately for me, this happened fairly early in my career... many years ago. I can't even tell you how many, because I just don't remember -- probably blocked it out. I can't even remember what I was there to sell him. But it doesn't matter, because the point is exactly the same. I'm pretty sure I met him at a local networking function. Maybe a Chamber of Commerce event or something else where there's a lot of schmoozing and boozing, but not necessarily a lot of business being conducted. Arrogance Does Not Equal Affluence In any event, I met this guy and he was an insurance agent for a nationally recognized company. He was well dressed, he spoke well, and he projected an air of confidence, bordering on arrogance. I mistakenly interpreted this as a sign of affluence or success. After all, what would a struggling, unsuccessful, dead-broke insurance dude have to be confident or even arrogant about, right? To this day, I still don't know the answer to that, but it doesn't matter. In any event, we talked about whatever it was he was doing and it sounded like he needed whatever it was I was selling at the time. So we scheduled an appointment to meet at his office a few days later.  I arrived at the address he gave me, ten or fifteen minutes early, so I wouldn't keep him waiting. I walked in, immediately spotted the receptionist, walked over to her desk, introduced myself and let her know that I was there for a 10 AM appointment with her boss. The Perfect Gatekeeper for the Worst Prospect Ever She had a look on her face that made me think she might have just eaten something that didn't agree with her. She told me he wasn't there, but that I could "sit over there" and wait. She gestured to a dirty-looking, hard plastic chair. I made my way over to it, trying to quiet the disgusted look that started creeping across my own face, and I sat down.  As I waited and looked around, I realized the entire place was a dump. The neighborhood was fine, but the way he kept his office made it clear that he just didn't care, and her attitude indicated that his receptionist shared his apathy. When 10 AM rolled around, I asked the receptionist what time she expected him. She said she didn't know. I asked if there was any way for her to reach him. She said there wasn't. And while this event took place in an age before cell phones, I suspect that even if they had been available at the time, her answer still would have been the same. Ten Minutes to Freedom I figured, "okay, I'll give this guy ten minutes to show up. If he doesn't, I'm out of here." I may have been young and a bit naïve, but fortunately, I wasn't totally lacking in self-respect.  As the seconds ticked on and I became more and more uncomfortable sitting there, I realized that this was not a good prospect for me. Not because he couldn't buy from me -- I had been around long enough to know that even if he was operatin...

Prospecting is not cold calling, and prospecting is not selling. When you realize that these are different functions, it allows you to treat them as such. Cold calling may be one method or one potential aspect of prospecting, but that's not all there is to it. So when you think in terms of prospecting and bringing new clients through the door, it doesn't have to mean cold calling. Just the words "cold calling" sound unpleasant and hard to do, don't they? "Cold calling." Who wants to do cold calling? I mean, it just doesn't even sound great. There's a lot more to prospecting than just cold calling and we'll be talking about that. Prospecting is not selling. When you realize this... when you realize that these are two different functions, it allows you to treat them as such. When you mistakenly view poor prospecting as a reflection of your selling skills, you do yourself a disservice. Because you may be a great salesperson. Some of the most successful salespeople I know don't consider themselves to be salespeople. "Hey, I'm a salesperson." You know, like that approach. They're just people who like to help other people... people who want to connect... people who want to provide solutions... people who want to create value in the marketplace, and people who want to be paid handsomely to do that. And you don't have to take the mindset of "I'm a salesman." What are some negative connotations you've heard associated with salespeople? What typical negative connotations do you hear? Pushy, dishonest, annoying... but you keep coming back, don't you? But when you realize that true consultative selling -- the people who really want to help you do something -- for example, if you need a new car, if you want a new car and somebody helps you find exactly the car you want based on your needs, your wants, your desires, your budget and doesn't try to get you to do something that's not in your best interest. Those are the kinds of people you actually like interacting with. If we're talking about selling conscientiously, selling based on helping the people you actually want to work with, that's a good foundation to start with anyway. But we need to understand that prospecting is not selling. Prospecting is not about persuasion. There are persuasion aspects involved in sales, but persuasion does not apply to the prospecting process. When you prospect, you don't have to persuade anyone to do anything. When you prospect, you just have to to determine whether or not the person is qualified. This is one of the biggest mistakes we make. We talk to someone who is not qualified to do business with us, and we're trying to convince that person to want to do business with us, and that just doesn't work. Tired of flat or declining sales and losing business to your competitors?  Check out my latest web presentation entitled Programming Clients to Choose You. Who are your very best prospects currently programmed to buy from? Is it you? Or someone else? If you want it to be you, visit topsecrets.com/choose and register for the free presentation now. That's topsecrets.com/choose. Are you ready? Whenever you’re ready… here are the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors: * Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. * Need Clients Now? If you’re already grounded in the essentials of promotional product sales and just need to get clients now,

Sometimes in sales we like to hold out hope that just because someone hasn't said "no" to us, they'll eventually turn into a "yes." And sometimes that happens. But in nearly every case, it's probably better to get the hard no now, instead of taking "maybe" for an answer -- for months or years -- and never knowing if or when things will change. Here's a news alert that reeks of the obvious. Not every prospect is going to buy from us. Some will buy now, some will buy later and some will never buy from us. I mean never, at all. Ever. This is reality. And it's not even a harsh reality or a bad reality. It's just reality. When we realize this, we can focus on selling those who want to buy now, scheduling those who want to buy later, and eliminating those who will probably never buy at all. Get the hard no. It's not permanent. People can change their minds and so can we. But when we get a hard "no," it means we're not calling. We're not "following up." We're not "checking in." When you're able to eliminate -- whether temporarily or permanently -- the uninterested, indecisive, non-buyers, you naturally free up your time to interact with the interested, decisive buyers. But it goes way deeper than that. When I talk to a prospect, and I know I can help that person, I tend to become emotionally invested. I want them to succeed. I want them to achieve the results they want in their lives and in their businesses. I want to help. But it doesn't matter what I want. If they don't see the value or can't see the value... or if they don't think it's worth the money, then I can't help them. And I can be okay with either of those scenarios -- whether they decide to move forward or whether they decide not to move forward. But, I need them to make the call. If they don't, I'll be thinking about them. "I wonder if they're going to do this, I know it would help them, but I can't want it for them more than they do." And they'll be thinking about me "I wonder if I should do this, it sounds really good, but I'm not sure if I should spend the money." As a result, we both have unfinished business, which clutters the mind and distracts focus from the most important work, for absolutely no reason at all. So lately, to get the hard no I've been asking people for it more directly. "Look, if you want to work together, let's do it. If not, you need to give me a hard "no." Because otherwise, we'll both be thinking about this and that's not good for anyone."  In my experience, the reason most people don't want to go for the hard "no," is that they don't have enough leads in their pipeline. They're afraid if they turn a bunch of those who said "maybe" into a "no," they'll have no one to sell to.  Actually, the opposite is true. When you clear out all the mental and emotional baggage associated with talking repeatedly with people who are either unwilling, unable or totally incapable of making a yes or no decision, it's incredibly freeing. Talking to the indecisive on a consistent basis is both exhausting and unfulfilling, because you get no closure. And while you may not like hearing "no" from a prospect, you're far better off hearing "no" once than hearing "maybe" fifty times in a row, over an extended period of time, from the same person. So the moral of the story is: get the hard no. If you’re tired of flat or declining sales and losing business to your competitors, go to topsecrets.com/call and book an appointment for a complimentary strategy session today. I’ve set aside some time over the next few days to speak with you personally, and help you get crystal clear on three things: First, identifying exactly the market you want to dominate. Second, looking at where you are now vs.

No time, no money... When businesses are running into trouble, these are the two most common excuses they give for a lack of action. They don't have time to address the problem. Often because they're too busy doing the same things that got them into the problem situation to begin with. Or they don't have money to fix the problem, because their time is being spent on activities that are not profitable. The No Time, No Money Trap is a catch-22, and it's deadly to business. Many business owners and salespeople fall into the "no time, no money" trap and don't even realize it. Someone asks if you want to do something. Maybe it's a friend or a family member. And maybe it's something you really want to do, but you say no because you feel like you really don't have the time. Maybe you have an opportunity to do something that you know could have a tremendous, positive impact on your life or business. But you tell yourself you don't have the money to do it.  If you ever notice yourself falling into either of these two scenarios, consider this your wake up call. It's a red flag that something is wrong. Most jobs involve trading time for money. We invest time to get money. In business, if you actually have no time AND no money, that's a screaming indication that you're either doing things wrong or you're doing the wrong things. Stop complaining Some people complain about trading time for money. "Yes, I'm making a lot of money," they might say, "but I have no time for anything else." And while that may sound like a problem, it pales in comparison to those who are working like crazy, still have no time, and also have no money to show for it! Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. In the early stages of a business, there can certainly be time invested that doesn't immediately correspond to an influx of revenue. Some think of this as "the learning curve." Others refer to it as "paying their dues." In any event, that investment, by it's very nature, should be entered into strategically and temporarily. It's not something you should just wander into like a black hole and tell yourself you'll figure out a way to fight your way out of it once you're inside. It's not going to happen.  You don't enter it without a plan, and you don't just wait for to pass or for an exit to magically appear, because it won't. It takes very specific action to get yourself out of the no time, no money trap. The goal is to shorten the learning curve, pay your dues and get on with the work of generating profit as soon as possible, so your time generates adequate money. Adequate meaning enough to pay you and eventually enough to pay others to do the work that you're either not good at or don't want to do. So if you're investing your time, but you have no money or not enough money to show for it... if you've wandered into a black hole of "learning curve" or "paying your dues" and you don't know how to get out, don't convince yourself that it's either normal or acceptable. If you find yourself falling into the "no time, no money" trap, take a moment, clear your head and ask yourself why you're in this situation to begin with and more importantly, what you're going to do to get out of it as soon as possible. Snap out of it. Also, if you're in this situation and you've convinced yourself that there's nothing you can do about it. It's a lie. Stop lying to yourself. Think Cher and Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck. "Snap out of it!" It's a trap. You don't have to stay there. If you’re tired of flat or declining sales and losing business to your competitors, go to topsecrets.com/call. Book an appointment for a complimentary strategy session today. I’ve set aside some time over the next few days to speak with you personally.

In every business and even in a non-profit, someone is responsible for bringing in the money. Who is it in your organization? And are they up to the task? In every organization, there is a person or persons responsible for bringing in the money. That person could be the pastor of a church. In a nonprofit it could be an Executive Director or Development Director. Inside a small business it could be the business owner or a salesperson. And in larger companies it could be a combination of advertising, marketing and salespeople working in unison to create the same common goal: Getting people to exchange their money for what the organization has to offer. In a church that might be salvation. In a nonprofit, it's very likely the mission... the benefit it's delivering to the community. For a business it's products and services. It's important to understand that whenever any voluntary exchange of cash takes place, there is a corresponding exchange of value. The person giving the money is getting something out of it. Something the person believes to be of equal or even greater value than the money they're giving. People often think of charitable giving as a one-way street, but even in that situation, there is an exchange of value. Whether a donation is given in order to get a tax deduction or just to get the satisfaction of knowing that he or she is helping an organization they care about and wish to support, value is exchanged. So while some people look down on the profession of selling, know that at it's core, it's just humans exchanging something they have, for something they want more. It's the engine that drive the commerce of the world. So who is responsible for getting the money in your organization? Is it you? Someone else? A combination of people? Whoever it is, how are they doing? Are they up to the task? Because if you don't have people in your organization who are capable of bringing in the money, consistently... you have a serious problem. And if you don't fix that problem, eventually, you no longer have an organization. Something interesting I've noticed is that some of the very best salespeople in the world don't call themselves or even consider themselves to be salespeople. They can be technicians, hair dressers, yoga instructors, medical professionals, retailers, restaurateurs, business owners, coaches, consultants, service providers or anyone else who is truly passionate about what they do and who wants to share it with the people they think would benefit from it the most. I personally think that's very noble. So if you're passionate about what you do and you need to do more of it -- meaning you need more visibility, more customers, more donations, more sales or just more awareness, then be sure to check out my latest web presentation entitled Programming Clients to Choose You. You can access it now at topsecrets.com/choose. That's topsecrets.com/choose. Whenever you’re ready… here are the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors: * Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. * Need Clients Now? If you’re already grounded in the essentials of promotional product sales and just need to get clients now, click here. * Want EQP/Preferential Pricing? Are you an established industry veteran doing a significant volume of sales? If so, click here to get End Quantity Pricing from many of the top supplier lines in...

Last week, I gave you an example of how poor customer service kills sales. And while the example was retail, it applies to all businesses and industries. So today, I thought I'd give you an example of the exact opposite. How good customer service can help save business, including retail. In our last episode, I told you about part of my recent, retail shopping experience, and how it could really discourage someone, particularly someone like myself who is not a big shopper to begin with, from ever wanting to go back. But in the interest of fairness, I'd like to point out how the opposite is also true. My shopping excursion started because my wife's iPhone was acting like it was possessed. She'd be sending a text, and all of a sudden, it would just start typing a combination of gibberish and actual words, all by itself. It was creepy. A quick online search told me this was a known issue, and that Apple would provide a fix for it, if you brought it into an Apple store, or if you called customer service and then sent the phone in. In the interest of time, I opted for the store. So while my wife and daughter went shopping for dresses for various weddings they'd be attending, I ventured into the Apple store in search of a fix for my wife's possessed iPhone. The first thing I noticed when I went in, was that unlike many of the other stores and kiosks in the mall that I passed along the way, (which ranged from abandoned ghost town to sparsely trafficked,) this store was packed. I thought, "Oh boy, this is going to take a while." Customer service begins immediately Contrary to what I thought, a greeter immediately approached me, asked how he could help, and I explained my issue. He typed my name and information into an iPad and told me someone would be available in about ten minutes -- much better than I was expecting, given the number of people in the store. About eight minutes later, I got a text asking me to proceed to the Genius Bar. OK, at last a store that recognizes my inherent genius! This is the kind of place I could get used to! At the Genius Bar, I was greeted by Alec, who asked about the problem I was having with the iPhone. I lucked out. It was still in full possession mode, spitting out letters and numbers the same way Linda Blair spit out pea soup in The Exorcist movie. The clock is now running Alec made a few notes on his iPad, ran a diagnostic on our phone, told me the repair was covered, printed out a sticker, and asked me to come back at 2 pm to pick it up. It was 1 o'clock. Okay. This could work. So I found a place to sit down, checked my emails, scoped out an Auntie Anne's pretzel shop. Got a soft pretzel and some lemonade. Texted my daughter to see how her dress shopping was going, and wandered back into the Apple store around 2 pm. The customer service experience ran like clockwork I gave the greeter my name, he told me which table to go to and within a few minutes, a member of the Genius Bar approached me with our fully repaired iPhone. I signed my name, digitally, on his iPad and I was on my way. Now this may sound like a completely unremarkable experience to you. I brought in my product for service. They serviced it and sent me on my way. But given the truly pathetic state of customer service in many businesses and industries these days, it represented much more than that to me. It demonstrated that companies, and retail in particular, CAN get it right. And that much of success is simply about doing what you say you're going to do. So here are a few takeaways that any business can apply from this experience: * Be attentive to your prospects and customers. By having a greeter approach me as I entered the store and take my information,

In today's podcast, I recall a memorable shopping experience which reminded me there is a right and wrong way to do customer service. It provides a clear example of how customer service is killing sales -- especially retail! And five things any business can learn from this experience. I'm Not a Great Shopper This weekend, I went shopping -- which is pretty unusual for me. Occasionally, if I need something, I'll stop in a store and buy it, or just order it online. But from the time I was kid, I've always found shopping boring! But this past weekend, I found myself at the King of Prussia Mall, with my wife and my daughter, shopping for dresses. Now, the first thing I have to tell you is that I missed the bulk of the actual shopping experience. I was busy at the Apple store taking care of a required repair on my wife's iPhone. I'll fill you in on that experience next week. After successfully completing my mission, I met up with my wife and daughter in the dress section of a well-known retail store, which will remain nameless. They had picked out a total of three items and were about to check out when I arrived. Customer Service Done Wrong The first indication of trouble came when the clerk rang up the first dress at full retail. My daughter mentioned that the sign said it was 30% off. The clerk asked her to show her. When we walked back to the display, there was a sign that said 30% off, but the clerk explained that the 30% only applied to a certain section of the rack, and not the entire rack itself. "That's kind of misleading," I muttered. But rather than risk embarrassing my daughter, we walked dutifully back to the cash register to pay full retail. When ringing up the second dress, we ran into a similar situation. It came up as full retail, but was supposed to be 50% off. This time, a manager overheard our conversation, so we got to walk the manager over to the area where the dress was being displayed. This time, it was obviously in the 50% off section, with no possibility of confusion. The manager said that it was in the wrong place, but that she'd honor the price anyway. Okay. Nice of them to honor what their advertising was promoting. Let's Do the Math So now we get back to the cash register. The clerk has to manually adjust the pricing. "Let's see, 50% off of 238, so that's 140." "I'm sorry," I said, "half off of 238 is not 140." "Well, I did take math in school," she said. I didn't rise to the bait. Instead, I merely pointed out that half of 238 is 119, not 140. When she confirmed it herself with a calculator, she made the correction without apology or further comment. It was about that point when my wife decided that the third dress, the one she had picked out for herself, might not be worth the trouble, so we just ended up getting two. Next round of fun. "If you register for our store credit card today you can get an additional 15% off your purchases." "Okay, it's not the 30% off we thought we'd be getting on the first dress, but it's something," I thought. "Sure, sign us up." After what seemed like ten minutes of intense, probing questions, we were approved for the new card. But when the clerk rang up the order, it didn't reflect the 15% savings. "Oh, that will show up on the bill," she said. But nothing we received in the store indicated that would be the case. I guess we'll find out when the bill shows up. When Customer Service Focuses on Discounts Now, here's the interesting part. I didn't go into that store looking for discounts. All I wanted was to buy the dresses my wife and daughter were looking for, for the weddings they're planning to attend. I wouldn't have cared about the 30% off the first dress, or the 15% off if we signed up for the new card. But the way the store personnel approached pricing, made it seem like a really big thing.

Members of our Total Market Domination course focus on initiating contact with markets worth dominating -- this means reaching the specific people in their markets who are likely to spend the most money with them. It's not about dominating everyone in a market, because many don't have two nickels to rub together. Instead, it's about totally dominating the segment of the market where all the money is... where all the value is. Markets Worth Dominating: An Overview One of the biggest complaints I hear from people who are not members of our Total Market Domination course is that they just think it's impossible to dominate a market. They think it will cost too much or take too long, or that it just isn't possible at all, and so they dismiss it. Well naturally, this is music to the ears of those of us who already know, without a doubt, that market domination is not just a possibility, it's a necessity. Because if you're not dominating your market, it means that someone else is. Or that someone else could. And that "someone else" would much rather that you just continue to think it's impossible and not take any action at all to change it. The truth is that maybe 2% to a maximum of 10% of ANY market even considers the idea of leading or dominating. Most are content to just be in business... do the day-to-day... and just exist. Well maybe they're not content, but they're also not motivated enough to change their behavior. So they tread water, paddling around in circles, in a blissful state of unawareness and business as usual. They fail to take any of the actions necessary to lead or dominate, because they don't think of it, and even if they did, they wouldn't know what actions to take. That's why it's only ever a choice few who actually do the work and dominate their markets. Market Domination doesn't mean you're targeting everyone. In fact, far from it. Many market segments are unworthy of domination. One of the skills I teach my clients is identifying markets that ARE worthy. Much of the world mistakenly targets unpleasant, unmotivated, low value, low karma, non-buyers -- the people you don't want anyway. Deadbeats! Why do they do that? Because they don't know there's a better way. That's why members of our Total Market Domination course target the specific people in their markets who are likely to spend the most money with them. They focus on dominating the segments of the market where the money lives. Because that's where the value of the market resides and it's the only segment worth dominating. Want to Know More about Markets Worth Dominating? If what I'm saying makes sense to you, and if you'd like me to help you accomplish it, then you should register now to check out my web presentation Programming Clients to Choose You, and schedule a complimentary strategy session where we can talk about your plan for market domination. Go to topsecrets.com/choose. If you're tired of flat or declining sales and losing business to your competitors, be sure to check out my latest web presentation entitled Programming Clients to Choose You. Who are your very best prospects currently programmed to buy from? Is it you? Or someone else? If you want it to be you, visit topsecrets.com/choose and register for the free presentation now. That's topsecrets.com/choose. Whenever you’re ready… here are the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors: * Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help.