Thoughtful Thursdays - Have You Ever Thought You Were Entitled To An Order?

We do not close every sales opportunity that we work on, and it is always disappointing to not get the order. It is more difficult to accept when you have done everything in your power to close the sale.

You may have been in conversations or overheard phrases like: "we really deserved to get that contract" or "we've got it in the bag - no problem!"

It can be dangerous to have a sense of entitlement. In my experience nothing is in the bag until the order is placed and confirmed, and even then, the train can go off the rails.

It reminds me of my learned colleague's post from last week: Wise Wednesdays - run with it! Did I detect a sense of entitlement to posting on Wednesdays?

As I have said before, there are situations that come up when it does not matter what you do, you will not get the order. Your business is depending on you to to minimize these occurences and be in situations where winning the battle over the competition is achievable.

So my suggestions this week are:

1. Do not assume you are getting the order
2. Do not rest on your laurels
3. Do not assume that if it happened before, it will happen again
4. Always have a rich list sales targets you are working on
5. Know as much as you can about the industry your customers and propects participate in as well as the industry you work in

Good selling,
Richard

Wise Wednesdays - Cash Flow is King (or Queen)

If poor market research is the number one reason why businesses fail to get off the ground then poor cash flow management kills more businesses once they are off the ground.

Simply put, cash flow is the actually money you receive in sales less the actual expenses for each month. The key word is actual. Not what you are owed. Not what you will pay off. But what is going out of your pocket and what is going in your pocket for that month.

This is crucial. For example if you know your basic living expenses are $2,000 a month then you know that is the minimum you need to make a profit a month to continue (don’t forget you pay taxes on any profit you make even if you pay yourself).

Otherwise what happens to many entrepreneurs is they start to panic after their third month when they realize they can’t cover their basic living expenses.

A cash flow allows you to see when it’s best to transition from working on your business part time to making the leap to full time. The cash flow can also help you identify future downturns in profit so you can prepare yourself.

In the end having a sustainable business is what matters. A cash flow allows you to see if this is possible.

Cheers,

Dominik

Thoughtful Thursdays - Listen For The Signs

If you have seen the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, then you will be familiar with Alec Baldwin's speech on closing.

• A - Always
• B - Be
• C - Closing

If you haven't seen the movie, here is a link to You Tube where you can view the scene. Be forewarned that the language is course and may offensive to some viewers.

http://bit.ly/kT79V

Part of the A-B-C is knowing when to close. Listen for the signs from your prospect that the are ready to buy.

When your prospect sends you the signal and you recognize it - stop selling and begin to close! If you continue to sell, you may be putting the sale at risk. I can't begin to tell you how disappointing it is to miss an order because of the failure to hear the signs. Sometimes we get so immersed in our pitch that we stop listening.

Let's not let that happen to you. Here are some examples of the signs your prospect may send you?

• I like your idea
• Do you have a minimum order?
• Your product/service could help us
• I can see the value in your product/service

Listen for the signs.

Good selling,
Richard

Wise Wednesdays - run with it!

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. - Demosthenes

Last week I did not get a chance to write a Wise Wednesday blog. I was just too inundated with other work. I was scrolling on our blog recently and noticed that someone else, a colleague of mine, Richard, had stolen my limelight.

At first I was upset. “How dare he steal my three minutes of imparting business wisdom”, I thought.

Then I realized that this was in fact a reminder to me and to everyone else what it means to be an entrepreneur: When opportunity presents itself run with it!

That is just what Richard did. More than anything else entrepreneurs seize the moment. Not recklessly but with preparation and some fortitude. Richard had been writing Thoughtful Thursdays for over a year that it was easy for him to add to the Wise Wednesdays blog when the opportunity presented itself.

And why not. It’s all part of becoming a savvy entrepreneur and growing your dream.

Wise Wednesday question: What skills and experiences have you mastered in the past that you can use today to create new opportunities for yourself?

Cheers,

Dominik

Thoughtful Thursdays - The Internal Sale

Whether you are a sole proprietor doing it all, or an employee in a large corporation with responsibility for a sales territory there there will come a time when your customers will ask for a product or service you are not currently supplying to the market place.

As a sales professional you want to keep your customer happy, and look forward to increasing your sales. Before you can offer the new product or service you will need the approval from the powers that be. This is the internal sale.

The internal sale is as important as the new sale to your customer. Before saying yes, you will want to know if it is going to be worth it, in other words, will it be profitable.

In the words of Peter F. Drucker: "There is nothing more useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

Here is a partial list of what to think about considering before approaching your business for a decision:

• What is the sales potential at the customer?
• Will sales transfer to your other customers?
• How much will it cost to develop?
• How long will it take to commercialize?
• Will there be external resources required?
• What are the expected margins?
• How long is the pay back?
  

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - "I'm working my website..."

If had a dollar for every time I have heard a new business owner say that they have not been able to achieve promotional or sales targets because they had to work on their website or design brochures... well you know the rest of this line.

I understand that many start-up businesses are on tight financial budgets. I also understand that with the way technology is today, most anyone can design and their own materials.

I have difficulty understanding why it appears, based on their behaviour, so many new business owners feel their value proposition - the reason people will buy from them - is their website or brochure. I am not including e-commerce businesses in this today's thought as it is a given that a website will be in place for an e-commerce business launch.

This is not to say that a website is not important, the point is this: should you be doing the work if it you are not an expert?

Here's a thought: How about having your customers pay you for your products/services and using the profits to hire a professional to design and develop your website?

Allocate your most valuable resource, time, to promotion and sales activities. The sooner you make sales, the sooner you will be able to hire a web firm and get the website you want.

Good selling,
Richard

Is Self-Employment For You?

If you had to make a decision about accepting a project with significant upside and knew the following before making the commitment:

• It was going to cost you more than you estimated
• The return on your investment would not be as high or as fast as you thought
• The project would take much longer to get off the ground than you estimated
• The level of work required would be much more than you thought
• You would have to spend more time on non-enjoyable tasks than anticipated

Would you still take the project on?

If you answered yes, maybe self-employment is for you. Contact our Advisor on Call and find out how TBDC can assist you in all phases of a business start up.

Richard

Wise Wednesdays - Where's the Beef?

I’ve read over 300 business plans to date and counting. My biggest beef is that most business plans don’t have any! Where’s the beef? People write 16 pages on the industry scope, fancy pie charts and complex cash flow and income statements. However, many miss the mark on one key question: How will they get and keep clients?

The first part of the question addresses a comprehensive Marketing plan. In this section many just lack the details. It is far more beneficial to list particulars of a networking strategy i.e. where you will network on a weekly basis, why this makes sense, who you will approach and what follow up system you will use then it is writing out a shopping list of all the 101 marketing activities you will supposedly do.

Less is more. Just be thorough.


The second part of the question addresses value: What the client actually buys. Many business plans skirt the issue. It’s not just about how “different you are”. After all I can put on a purple tiara on my head and be “different” but will people buy from me? Value is a combination of quality, customer service, the perceived value in the customer’s mind, the experience of the interaction and how you meet customer expectations.

What will you do to create compelling value? Be clear. Be detailed. Go deep. I want some beef!

Cheers,

Dominik

Thoughtful Thursdays - Competitive Pricing

Sooner or later we all encounter competitive pricing situations, this is a given for most any business.

How you handle the situation can have a significant impact, not only on your own sales results, but potentially in the market place you are participating in.

What do you do when a prospect tells you that your prices are not competitive? My first recommendation is to accept the information as true and secondly, avoid the temptation to immediately meet the competitive sitiation.

Is your propect comparing apples to apples? Here are a few points to consider:

• Volume of sales
• Delivery times
• Terms and conditions of sale
• Quality and performance
• Customer service
• Who is the competition?
• What is the price gap and is it beleivable?

How else might you validate the claim of lower price in the market place?

• Ask your existing customers if they have heard anything from your competition
• Ask your other prospects if your prices are competitive
• Ask the prospect to provide supporting documentation of the competitive situation

What you do not want to do is be the low price provider if that is not your strategy, especially if you do not have the lowest costs.

What you do want to do is validate the competitive situation before making any commitments. Everyone wants a better price, can you afford to leave money on the table? That can easily happen if you meet a competitive situation without having all the facts.

If you are new to the industry or not yet a major player, an established competitor will outlast you in a price war, so avoid starting one.

There are situations where you may not be able to compete, accept it and move on.

Good selling,
Richard