Divorcing Clients - When It's Time to Say Goodbye

“The secret to winning is constant, consistent management.” – Tom Landry, Legendary NFL Football Coach

In a recent sales training session, we started talking about the issue of difficult customers and the strain they place on a business. One of the participants stated that his high-maintenance clients took up about 80% of his time but contributed only 20% of his revenue. That’s the old 80/20 rule in reverse. He was frustrated that his high-maintenance clients kept him from doing his job but was fearful about losing them.

I believe that especially in these tough times, you need a client base that will yield as much profit as possible and not be a drain on company resources. Here are some actions to help you develop a desirable client base:

The first step is to identify who your ideal clients are. Make a list of at least ten characteristics of an ideal client – consistent payer, a certain company size, a likelihood of repeat business, a minimum order amount – whatever makes sense for your company.

Next, go through your existing client base and see what percentage of your customers fit this profile. What percentage of your sales do they represent? What percentage of profit? Then look at your clients who fall outside this profile. What percentage of your time do they take up? What percentage of your profit do they represent?

Year end is a great time to do this kind of analysis. You can always institute new terms of agreement with your clients at the beginning of the year. Do you need to rewrite and enforce payment terms? Do you need to make your contracts more stringent as to what types of customer service you provide?

Once you know what kind of client is best for your company, work hard to find more of those kinds of clients. Where do they network? What kinds of associations do they belong to? Who are they buying from now, and what can you offer that they might not already be getting?
Don’t waste time pursuing prospects that don’t fit your definition of a good client. Sure they may pay a little, but in the long run, you stand the chance of losing out on getting good clients that pay regularly and are nice to deal with. I firmly believe there are still a lot of possibilities for doing business with good people in this marketplace.

Finally, what to do about those problem clients? Be professional and polite as you show them the door. If you have clearly stated your conditions for working together, and they have repeatedly abused the privilege, then explain that you can no longer service their needs.
It makes no sense to be spending 80% of your time on the worst 20% of your client base. Let your competitors put up with high-maintenance, non-paying clients. You go after the cream of the crop. You will soon find that this strategy frees you up to be more productive and work with people who pay. And that’s a winning strategy in any economy.

Are you ready to win?

Gratitude is a Winning Business Attitude

"Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." Lou Gehrig, Hall of Fame Baseball Player

It's that time of year when we all sit back and count our blessings. That's usually easy to do on the personal side where we are thankful for family anf friends. What about being thankful for your business? Have you thought about the things in your business that are creatying abundance in your life? Or are you constantly focused on the things that aren't working?

Let's do an exercise geared toward identifying what's working in your business. Are the lights on? Is the rent paid? Is most of your machinery working? Di you have some loyal staff who show up on time and do their jobs? make your own list, but be sure to jot down at least ten things, no matter how minor you think they are. the list is designed to illuminate where you are doing things right as well as to inspire gratitude for those things.

Are you surprised by some of the things on your list? Maybe you wrote down "Shipping Department." The unsung mailroom may not seem like a key part of your operation, but if it's humming along, working efficiently and cost effectively, and the staff show up and do their jobs well, you should be grateful!

Next, you should think about how to translet the mailroom's success to other parts of your business. Are there systems and strategies that the mailroom uses that could be translated to the production floor? And by the way, if the mailroom is your only high-performing department, be sure to acknowledge their contribution.

This next week, pay attention to where your business is winning. For one week, make this the most important thing you notice, rather than what's broken. Workplace gratitude is an idea worth the effort, and the results will show up throughout your business. You may find yourself re-energized and full of new ideas based on what you learn. Those ideas can be incorporated into your business plan for 2010.

At Possibilities Unlimited, we are grateful for the opportunity to work with clients who want to win in the game of business. We can help you design an abundant future for your business and coach you on how to achieve it.

Are you ready to win?

Your Business is a Reflection of You

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play." Mike Singletary, Hall of Fame Football Player and Coach

One of the fundamental principles of my work with clients is the idea that your business is a reflection of you. That may sound simple, but when you dig into that concept, it opens up a wealth of ideas that help people design the businesses they really want.

Your business is as much a part of you as your family or your outside interests. When you start a business, you have a vision as to what that business can bring to your personal life. We desire success in business so that we can enjoy a fulfilling and abundant life. The two go hand in hand.

When you are worried about everything that's going wrong in your business, and that worry becomes your focus, your business will suffer right along with you. If you go to work every day knowing that business is a series of circumstances and actions that can all be handled, and with the attitude that there is always a way to win the game, your business will be a reflection of that mindset.

The way you carry yourself in your business shows up in your relationships. relationships are the essential building blocks of any business. You have to have relationships with your employees, your suppliers and, of course, your customers. If you being the best of yourself to these relationships, you will enjoy more productive and profitable responses from those who do business with you.

A coach can help any business person recreate how he or she is occurring in the business. If you are unsatisfied with your business, and your relationship to it, give us a call. We can work with you to redesign your relationship to your business so that it reflects the positive, fulfilling attitude of a winning entrepreneur.

Are you ready to win?

Time Management 911

“Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter.” Dan Reeves, American Professional Football Coach

Even the best time managers have to deal with the unexpected. As far as I know there is no system available on the market that prevents emergencies from happening. Call it Murphy’s Law or bad luck, you can be sure that something will come up to put a wrench in your calendar, just when you least expect it. The key is knowing how to handle the unpredictable, and accepting it as a regular occurrence.

We’ve talked a lot about putting things in time. At Possibilities Unlimited, we train our clients to put all their business and personal activities in time so they can get real with what they have to accomplish. It’s also an accountability system that keeps important activities like sales from falling off the radar screen.

This topic came to me yesterday while I spent upwards of six hours taking my dog to two different vets, one of which was a doggie ophthalmologist forty miles away from my house. Needless to say, this was a pretty big wrench in a day that I had already planned out.

I looked at my calendar and started ticking off the things I could postpone, or not do at all. We call those, respectively, “Not Happening Now's" and “Never Happening Now’s.” There were a couple of things that I needed to keep in the schedule, like an important client call. This blog could wait until the next day, as could the time I had set aside for updating my client database and working on some accounting issues.

I also delegated a few tasks to other people, and recruited some backup on the home front from my husband. At the end of the day today, I will reassess my calendar for next week to make sure I have integrated the things I needed to postpone.

Your calendar should have a couple of hours each week open for handling the emergencies that arise. Leave yourself some wiggle room to move things around to accommodate the fire drills that inevitably occur. If you find yourself with extra time on your hands (and I want to know who you are!) go back to your list of “Not Doing Now’s” and pick on to work on.

Accepting the fact that emergencies are a predictable part of doing business and life, and having a system for working them into your calendar will alleviate the stress and worry of trying to get it all done. You will sail over hurdles instead of letting them stand in your way, and you will be better prepared to win the game of business.

Are you ready to win?

CRM - More Than Just a Business Card

“Now, on the St. Louis team, we have Who’s on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know is on third.” – Bud Abbott
“That’s what I want to find out!” – Lou Costello


At Possibilities Unlimited, we believe that relationships are the essence of business. You have to have relationships with customers, suppliers and employees. And as your business grows, it becomes harder and harder to manage those relationships, and keep track of every time you talk with someone.

CRM – Customer Relationship Management – is the system that you can use to capture all the data you have about your clients, your vendors, and your prospects. Typically it is a software program that you update every time you have a conversation with someone, or you sell them something. Depending on the data that is important to your business, you can customize the CRM system to give you up-to-the-minute reports on your target market and your existing clients.

The days of keeping business cards in a rolodex are vanishing. With all the affordable, entry-level CRM systems available today, there is every reason to get on the bandwagon and start making effective use of the information you collect on a daily basis. Even social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook can be valuable tools for getting your marketing message across to a managed group of prospects.

There are a multitude of CRM applications available. So how do you choose the right one? The important thing is to sit down and analyze what information is going to speed your sales process, your reporting, enhance your marketing initiative, and be easily shared by all those in your company who need to access the information. Start with your information needs, and then shop for a system that provides those needs. Too many companies attack CRM from the opposite direction. They purchase a product because someone recommended it, and then they try to make the product bend to their needs.

So take the time to analyze your needs and to learn more about CRM and what it can do for you. One of my favorite resources is CRMAdvocate, a daily e-newsletter that really has its finger on the pulse of this ever changing industry. It’s a good jumping-off point for any business that wants to improve their results.

The age of the rolodex may be over, but the handshake is still important. Make sure you’re up to speed on your customers and your relationships with them so that each time you meet, you’re ready to provide solutions to their needs. Because relationships are the essence of winning in business.

Are you ready to win?

Your Relationship to Sales

“Nobody is a natural. You work hard to get good and then work hard to get better.” – George Halas, Legendary Chicago bears Football Coach

I just got off the phone with someone who wanted tips on how to raise money for a non-profit organization through…telemarketing. The mere thought of someone calling me during dinner makes me cringe, and I admit, I am not the most receptive or pleasant person when I get those calls. Why? It’s an intrusion. It’s someone I don’t know who got my number and is trying to sell me something I never expressed a need for. It’s everything we hate about sales.

At Possibilities Unlimited, we train people to examine their relationship to sales. Sales should be a process of problem solving. We sell our product to people who need to solve a particular concern. There will always be someone who needs your product, the key is to find that person and focus your sales efforts where you fill a need. Don’t try to sell handbags to people who need paper supplies. I’m not saying you won’t ever sell a handbag, but your chances of success are much greater if you sell to people who want handbags. And your relationship to this concept of helping people solve problems will strengthen your confidence to sell.

Back to my telemarketing friend. When she first spoke to me she had no specifics about what she needed or what her organization was about. She was calling people in desperation, trying to get them to donate. Her relationship to the situation was one of begging, and she understood her calls were an intrusion.

First, I advised her to seek other ways to raise money that might have more bang for the buck. But as for her phone pitch, I explained that she needed to change her relationship to the situation and be ready to tell the benefits. She needed to be specific about how much money she needed to raise and by when. And she needed to tell people why they were being called. She was calling people in a group of neighborhoods raise money for programs for at-risk teens. The goal is to keep kids occupied after school and teach them work ethics skills. The benefit for her “customers” is a safer, more productive community with less crime. She defined a specific fundraising goal, and is now able to tell people what their donation will buy in the way of putting kids through the program.

By changing her relationship to the sales process, she is now equipped to confidently speak to people who can support her. She can solve a problem for the community. She understands her relationship to sales and is ready to win the game.

Are you ready to win?

Coaching for a Proactive Business

"I learn teaching from teachers. I learn golf from golfers. I learn winning from coaches." -- Harvey Penick

There are millions of people worldwide that dive into the excitement of entrepreneurship. It is a powerful feeling to have your own business that you control and grow based on your hard work and ingenuity. It seems though that entrepreneurship is synonymous with long hours, hard work and almost no vacation.

Business owners who are successful find themselves with a quickly-growing enterprise that does not give much opportunity for proactive activities. Instead, there is a flurry of fires to be put out as each action is a reaction to the business that needs to get done.

How can you create a business that is proactive instead of a daily fire drill?
This is the $1 million question that every entrepreneur would love to know the answer to. A business coach can provide the solution to having your cake and eating it too. But how would a business coach help you with your dream? Business coaches focus on helping you achieve baby steps. In weekly coaching sessions you identify specific problems or areas of concern, and the coach helps you develop strategies to overcome these issues.

What kinds of problems can be resolved?
Any problem that effects the efficiency, productivity and profit of your business can be helped by a business coach. For example, at Landau Design we had many issues tracking our sales leads and making sure we followed up in a timely fashion. We attempted to managed this information through Outlook, but still pieces were getting lost in the cracks. We put white boards up in our office, but they got smeared and weren't usually up to date. We tried a CRM, but this did not allow us to assign quotes duties and client meetings at the level of detail desired.

How are solutions found?
We brought our concerns to the Possibilities Unlimited team and together we discussed the details of our problem. By working with them each week, we devised a system for managing leads through a project management system. Before talking to our coach we had not considered a lead a project, and it never would have occurred to us to use this tool, but once the solution was found, it made perfect sense. Each week of using the system we discussed and refined our implementation, and within a couple months we had an effective lead management tool which kept us abreast of every single lead, quote and pending contract on our docket.

But how does that make my company proactive?
Before putting in our lead tracking system, we dropped balls. Customers would call asking for quotes, and we weren't always sure what stage they were in. So then we would all scramble around, hold an impromptu meeting, and try to put the pieces together. Meanwhile the client did not get an answer when they called, and instead we had to call them back. We were reacting in a panicked fashion because we were not organized. Now we get email notifications when a quote is complete, and the client is usually called before they call us. We do not have panicked responses, and instead we can focus on quality customer service instead of stressed-out responses.

How long does it take for a coach to help my business?
There really is no set amount of time for working with a coach. As long as you want to grow your business, a coach will be of value to you. As an objective pair of eyes, with extensive experience in business development, a business coach can help you see paths that you may never realize on your own. So while you might want emergency coaching for a specific challenge, to truly grow a successful business, a coach is a key player.

Coach or Consultant - Understanding the Distinctions

“I learn teaching from teachers. I learn golf from golfers. I learn winning from coaches.” – Harvey Penick, Legendary Golf Teaching Pro

Whenever I am working with a prospective client who is unfamiliar with our services, I like to spend time making the distinction between a coach and a consultant. People have expectations around both of those words, and if our relationship is going to be productive, we have to be clear about coaching as opposed to consulting.

Business coaches function much like sports coaches. They are there with you in the trenches, meeting with you consistently to support you in creating results. The key concept there is that the client is creating the results. The coach’s job is to elicit ideas and actions that will move the client forward, and then provide the accountability to make sure the client delivers on his own intentions. The client is doing the work of the business, the coach is monitoring the progress and keeping the client focused on what needs to be done.

Consultants typically solve specific problems. They are hired as specialists to come in to a company and do the actual work to rectify situations that are not working. Consultants bring an expertise that may or may not be shared with the client. They are working from the past, that is, the consultant strives to fix a problem that was standing in the way of past performance. Once finished, they provide recommendations and leave the client to his own devices.

A coach is focused on future results, future thinking and future possibility. A good coach causes a shift in how the business owner perceives the future of the business and keeps the company moving toward the intended outcome. A coach is not an expert in the client’s line of work; a coach takes more of a generalized view of the business as a whole and its role in whole life of the client. At Possibilities Unlimited, we believe people go into business in order to enrich their lives. What often happens is the business becomes a ball and chain around the life of the owner, robbing him or her of the fulfillment they sought. We coach people to balance their business and their life so that business once again becomes a catalyst to fulfillment.

It’s also important to note that business coaches are not therapists or counselors. Therapists and counselors work on important issues embedded in the client’s past that stand in the way of them being able to function in the present. Business coaches stand firmly in the future, beckoning their clients to realize their full potential.

Does your business need a coach to keep you winning the game? Give us a call and we will help you design a future for your business that has you taking home the gold.

Are you ready to win?

Handling Objections - Clearing the Hurdle

“You can’t make a great play unless you do it first in practice.” - Chuck Noll, Hall of Fame NFL Football Coach

Every salesperson knows that handling objections is an important skill to master if we want to close the deal. It sure would be nice if customers bought from us without hesitation, but in fact, that would reduce us to being order-takers, and where’s the fun in that?

Price is the source of most customer objections. They say they can’t afford your product or service. What they are really saying is that they haven’t heard that the value of what you’re selling is worth the price. When they say “no, I can’t afford it,” that is a cry for help that you need to answer. Give them more benefits and reasons that there is value in working with you.

Always be open to objections; it’s there that you can distinguish yourself and show that you will provide good customer service. In fact, ask for the objections up front, because there will always be some. You don’t want to leave the sales call not knowing where the prospect’s hesitation lies. If you don’t know what’s standing in between your customer and the sale, you can’t address the problem.

It’s important to acknowledge the objection so the client knows he’s been heard. Then be clear about how you will solve the issue. Anticipate common objections and be ready with answers. If the client presents an objection you don’t know how to answer, don’t panic! Again, acknowledge the objection, make sure you’ve heard it correctly and tell the client what you will do to handle it. Follow up so the client knows you can be counted on to respond. Your attitude in handling these objections does a lot to show your prospect how you will handle the future relationship.

Learning how to effectively deal with objections takes practice. In our Sales2Win course, we will spend time talking about objections and practicing what to say when they arise in the sales conversation. You must be able to fly over the objection hurdle if you want to close the deal. Register today for Sales2Win and learn the skills that will get you to the finish line every time.

Remember, objections are your chance to shine. Instead of dreading the questions and doubts your prospects have about your product, shift your thinking into how you can beat the competition and be the best person to buy from every time.

Are you ready to win?

Managing stress

"Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow." - Swedish Proverb

The ability to manage stress can make the difference between success or failure of your business. Stress has an impact on performance and interactions with others. The better you are at managing your own stress, the more you'll positively affect those around you and the less other people's stress will negatively affect you.

How do you know when stress is affecting you physically? Do you feel:
· Anxious, irritable, or depressed
· Uninterested in work
· Unable to get a good night sleep
· Unfocused and unable to concentrate
· Physically ill: tension headaches, stomach problems, high blood pressure, heart issues
· Withdrawn socially
· Loss of morale and drive
· Lack of control when drinking, eating or smoking

Some causes of stress:
· Fear of losing job or business
· Increased work demands due to downsizing
· Fear of not being able to perform at optimum levels at all times
· Guilt over having less time with family
· Lack of time for yourself

How to Reduce Stress:
· Begin a fitness program – walk, jog, bike, yoga – just make sure you make time to get in some cardiovascular activity to recharge your batteries and get the adrenaline flowing through your body
· Eat a balanced energizing diet, low in sugar and salt and high in dietary fiber and protein and low in saturated fats and trans fats
· Get enough sleep – eat a healthy night time snack with tryptophan and calcium
· Reduce alcohol consumption and nicotine
· Get organized – reduce bad habits and time wasters
· Get emotional, psychological, and/or physical help
· Take vacations and recharge

As a business owner, you can help reduce your employees' and your own stress by offering a support network, education, and reminders to keep stress at bay. Design a wellness program which provides stress management. Endorse and encourage physical fitness activities to help with stress. Talk to your employees and give them the ability to express their work-related issues so you can have a basis on which to make change occur. Putting programs in place can lead to reduced stress, improved productivity, and ultimately can help reduce your own stress about your business. When you are feeling good, you can be the leader your business needs you to be and you will be poised to win.

Are you ready to win?

Qualifying Prospects & Opportunities

“In business you get what you want by giving other people what they want.” 
by Alice MacDougall

The early prospectors were looking for gold. The current prospectors are looking for golden opportunities to win relationships and make sales. The important thing is to make sure you are looking in the right place.

Two important distinctions to make in qualifying.

• 
  
  The first distinction is that you need to qualify the prospect by answering the following questions: Are they the right buyer for your product or service? Do they have the ability to make a buying decision? Can they influence a buying decision? Do they have the ability to get you information on how buying decisions are made?

• 
  
  The second distinction is that you need to qualify the opportunity. So now that you have found a prospect who is the "ideal buyer" of your product or services, you need to make sure that the opportunity is the right one. What is the prospect's expectations on the outcome? Is the project just right for your company to handle? Is it too large or too small; can the prospect afford your pricing? Is their timing for your type of service a 3-month or a 12-month decision making process?

Once you have answered these questions, you are ready to begin the selling process. It's crucial to make sure you "hear and listen" to all their needs. Spend time learning how they want the relationship to proceed once they have engaged your company, how they want issues to be resolved, and how often they want to communicate on the progress of the project. get a clear understanding of these relationship issues during the qualifying process. Even if your price is higher than the competition, if you structure the delivery of the service as they envisioned it, you will win the sale.

Are you ready to win? If so, register for Sales2Win, an eight-session sales and marketing training course designed to increase your sales by 20% to 30%! Each one-hour telephone session will unlock the mysteries of successful selling and teach you how to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

Hiring a Winning Team

“…the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” – Mia Hamm, Hall of Fame American Soccer Player

One of the biggest challenges business owners face is hiring employees. It’s essential to get the right people working at the right jobs so that you can move the company forward toward its stated objectives.

Interviewing candidates takes time and effort, but better to invest the effort up front than to deal with someone long-term who is not right for the job. Many of our clients have told us they put off hiring for positions because they just don’t have enough time to wade through stacks of resumes.

Here are some tips to streamline the hiring process and help you find the cream of the crop:

1. Take some time to write a questionnaire about the available position. Include all the skills that the perfect candidate will need to be able to hit the ground running, such as computer software experience, sales experience, managing people. Be specific, and ask for what you need.
2. In the questionnaire, ask the candidate to rate him/herself from 1-10 on each of these specific skills. Be sure to make this questionnaire very comprehensive. You want your candidate to put some thought into the answers.
3. Place an ad for the position in publications or on networking sites where you are likely to get the attention of the candidates you want.
4. This is key – in your ad, ask them to email you to request the questionnaire. If you can attach the questionnaire to the ad via a link, that will save you some time. Instruct them to fill out the questionnaire and fax it back to you along with their resume and cover letter. Provide a deadline for this action to be complete.
5. See who can follow the instructions! We have heard from many clients who have asked candidates to follow simple instructions for submitting resumes. They will receive hundreds of resumes from people who neglect to complete the questionnaire or who don’t fax it back by the deadline. Those people have already de-selected themselves from the process because they didn’t follow instructions. If they aren’t listening to you before the interview, chances are they won’t listen on the job.
6. Only review the resumes of those who correctly followed your instructions in the ad. Of those, select the ones you want to pursue. Read their questionnaires to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie and be sure to discuss those topics in your interview.

When it comes to hiring employees, spending a little time up front will save you headaches later. With all the talent in the marketplace today, be sure that your business is hiring the best of the best. From there you can work with your employees to build the winning team that will help your company win the game of business.

Are you ready to win?

Why Do I Need Sales Training?

"The key is not the 'will to win' - everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important." Bob Knight - Former NCAA Basketball Coach

Our company works with a lot of experienced salespeople who sometimes don’t see the need for additional training. We understand the thinking – why should I do a sales training program if I am already a successful salesperson?

Here’s why – because the game is always changing. There are always new rules, new techniques and new resources. And if you are not willing to spend time every year refining your skills, I guarantee you, your competition is!

Sales is a game where each month you start over with a zero as a score. Therefore, you always need new motivation to generate a new game plan to keep you in the winner’s circle. Just like an athlete who must consistently train in order to compete, business people have to train to stay sharp to effectively play the game of sales.

How you perform in sales is very much related to how the situation occurs to you. Through sales training you have the ability to develop different views or perspectives on how the sales world occurs to you. Those perspectives generate different action plans and when you implement disciplined action plans you will have different results.

Possibilities Unlimited is offering a cutting-edge new sales course called Sales2Win. Beginning October 7th, Sales2Win is an eight-session program open to anyone interested in creating better results. The course is conducted via conference call and webinar, so you don’t have to take time away from your office to attend.

Sales2Win is designed to give you a new view of your sales world. From that view you will see many more possibilities for sales. And when winning business people take advantage of possibilities, they create incredible results.

Interested? Contact us today to learn more about Sales2Win and to register for the course.

Are you ready to win?

Winning Points for Commenting on Blogs

If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score? ~Vince Lombardi

According to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere, 184 million people in the world have started a blog. With that many people engaging in regular posting, blogs have become a standard way of discussing topics of interest. Regularly commenting on blogs can be a valuable tool for building relationships and gaining SEO links in the major search engines.

How do comments build relationships?
When you regularly read and comment on the same blog, that blog’s owner is likely to take notice. In many cases, this can establish a relationship between you and the blog owner, almost in the same way that having regular discussions with a coworker might. This connection can be established in as little as a few weeks, and can lead to offline discussions and networking opportunities for each of you. If there is a person you want to make a business connection with, but they are a stranger, seeking out the person’s blog and regularly posting comments is an excellent way to open the door.

How can comments build SEO Links?
The more links you have to your website, the higher your page rank is going to be. Comment on blogs is a great way to increase your link count.

When commenting on blogs, you don’t have to use your real name when you post. Instead, using your name followed by a keyword will help gain some search engine indexing (for example: Bonnie the Web Designer). Most blogs will give you the option of linking back to a web site when you leave a comment. Be sure to take advantage of this option by entering your URL. It even better to link to a specific page in your site that you’re trying to get indexed using the keyword you've chosen.

How do I find blogs to comment on?

• Word of Mouth
• Blog directories
• Following on Twitter
• Using keywords in search engines

Does the topic of the blog matter?
It is going to be considered a more relevant link if the topic of the blog relates to your business. But even blogs that are unrelated give you a link back to your site. So if you've chosen to comment on a blog for your hobby, let's say, still use the strategy of your name + keyword to gain a link back to your site.

Are you ready to win?

Planning Effective Meetings

"Football combines the two worst features of American Life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings." George Will, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist

How many meetings have you attended this week, this month, this year? How many of those meeting added value to your day? How many did you consider to be wasted time?

Meetings are a necessary business function if we want to keep people informed and provide a forum for questions and problem solving. But who hasn’t sat through a meeting that went on too long, was not well-organized, or didn’t pertain to your particular job?

Here are some keys to planning an effective meeting:

· Have a clear purpose, and only invite those who have a vested interest in that purpose
· Choose to cover 3-5 key points.
· Create an agenda and publish it in advance so people are prepared
· Have an intended result with which people can align
· Start and end on time!
· Stay on topic! Save other topics that come up for future meetings.
· Keep minutes of the action items, assignments, and delivery dates. Make sure everyone gets a copy of the minutes.

If you hold regular meetings with a group of managers, rotate the meeting leadership every week. Give everyone a turn to lead and develop the meeting agenda. By rotating leadership, meetings become more cohesive and efficient. People listen differently when they know they have to lead the next meeting. Everyone becomes more invested in the process and respectful of each other’s time.

Ask questions to provoke thought and group involvement. Call on specific people instead of just asking for general questions or input. Lead with enthusiasm for the topic and be committed to a result that works for the group. Give everyone an opportunity to participate in the decision making that arises from the discussion.

Use these tips to shift your next meeting into a powerful, effective experience. Good meetings build good teams, and good teams win the game of business/life.

Are you ready to win?

Strategic Account Management & Planning

"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan." - Tom Landry, NFL football coach.

Strategic Account Management and Planning is a concept large corporations use to zero in on decision makers at high-profile companies with whom the organization is interested in doing business. This process of planning and managing key accounts enables companies to build strong, productive ties to their most valuable targets/clients.

Strategic Account Managers: This approach requires a sales team to transform into strategic account managers. Salespeople typically need additional training to acquire the skills they need to successfully manage accounts. Strategic account managers must be visible, have senior level leadership abilities, and be able to direct the company's response to selling or service delivery opportunities. These situations require Strategic Account Managers to sell both internally to these cross-functional teams and externally to senior-level clients.

Senior-level buyers have a different perspective to the buying process than lower level contacts. Your Strategic Account Managers must build credibility and understand executive issues and values to be able to sell to senior-level contacts.

Strategic Account Planning: Questions to consider when determining if an account should be considered a strategic account:

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  What are the keys to getting in the game?


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  What is the potential for doing busienss with this buyer?


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  Are we equipped to handle this level of selling?


• 
  
  What will it take to get us there?

Strategic accounts are targeted as follows:

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  Size of company


• 
  
  Demand for your type of product across multiple lines of business


• 
  
  Large global footprint


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  Financially healthy


• 
  
  Executive sponsorship

Each Strategic Account Manager must evaluate each account's long-term revenue potential, as well as strategic importance. This way, you can invest the right level of resources to serve them profitably.

Each account plan requires a significant amount of homework including:

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  Research background and overall strategy


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  Identify key business issues


• 
  
  Research overall company direction


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  Build and know the org chart


• 
  
  Determine opportunities to make executive-level contacts and touch points at every decision-making level with each department within the buyer's organization for which your products or services are a fit


• 
  
  Understand how your value proposition provides a perfect fit for their business


• 
  
  Determine high level tasks and activities


• 
  
  Track progress – how many opportunities in the pipeline


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  Measure progress against plan goals - how many real sales and in what timeframe

Account Plans contain the overall objectives such as revenue targets, account goals, and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis. Strategic Account Managers must define how they plan to achieve their revenue targets and allocate them appropriately by division/department for each account. Account plans should:

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  Define goals and qualitative objectives for each account


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  Align account goals and compensation with corporate objectives


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  Identify critical success factors for reaching goals


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  Outline the value proposition required to meet the customers’ needs

Strategic Account Management and Planning is not just for the big guys. Even the smallest company will benefit from strategies for finding and servicing key accounts. Take the time to plan for the big game, and you will see your efforts pay off on the bottom line.

Are You Ready to Win?

How Could Website Hosting Be Green?

"Other people may not have had high expectations for me... but I had high expectations for myself."
~ Shannon Miller, Olympic Gold Medalist, Gymnastics

With so much talk about saving energy, the idea of being green has moved into every aspect of life. We think of the web as an electronic device run by millions of computers worldwide, but people rarely consider the environmental impact this huge energy drain has on our environment. Well hosting companies are waking up and have come to realize that being green applies to the Internet too!

What is a Green Host?
A green host focuses on three aspects of energy savings:
1) Saving energy by reducing usage through modification of data center design and technologies used
2) Utilizing renewable energy sources to ensure the electricity they use was generated in an environmentally friendly manner.
3) Saving energy in the manner they run their company.


How do they reduce energy usage?

• Purchasing servers that are more power efficient.
• Installing more memory into servers to make them run more efficiently.
• Raising the room temperature of their data center so not as much cooling is required.
• Designing the layout of the data center so air flow is maximized and cooling is kept to a minimum.
  

What renewable energy sources do they utilize?

• Electricity generated from solar panels
• Electricity generated from wind power
• Creating a green roof on the data center to naturally reduce inside temperatures
• Collecting rain water for use in air conditioning systems
  

How do they run an eco-friendly company?

• Renting in an office building that uses solar or wind power to generate electricity
• Purchasing carbon credits to offset their energy consumption. These credits are used to invest in the creation of renewable energy sources and reforestation.
  
• Allow employees to telecommute
• Creating incentive programs for carpooling
• Becoming a paperless office
• Plant a tree on behalf of every customer who signs up for hosting
• Doing an office energy assessment and turning off or unplugging unused electronics.
• Renting offices that use renewable energy sources for heating/cooling and electricity
• Recycling all paper and plastic waste
  

Who are these green hosting companies?
There are dozens of them out there, but these days the most talked about include:

• Dreamhost
• Rochen
• AISO.net
• SuperGreen
• GreenGeeks

If you care about the environment, it is very easy to switch your site to a green hosting company. It's a 1-hour project that can contribute years of positive impact on the environment.

Who is ready to win?

Keys to Effective Business Prospecting

“Never mistake activity for achievement” - John Wooden, Legendary UCLA Basketball Coach

Prospecting is separate from sales. Prospecting is discarding all the unqualified leads and retaining the qualified leads that are likely to buy your product now or in the future. Selling begins after this process is complete.

Prospecting takes time. Commit to prospecting two to eight hours every week, depending on your pipeline. Lock in that time in advance and build the rest of your schedule around those regular sessions. Work smarter, not harder - focus only on qualified leads and your sales should follow.

Lead Generation:

1. First, ask every existing satisfied client or customer for ideas on where you might find new business opportunities. Satisfied customers will often give you recommendations, leads and introductions if you ask for them.

2. Develop a pool of partners who share common prospects with you, but perform different or complementary services. Cultivate those relationships to stay “top of mind” and gain the most from your partnership.

3. Obtain a list of participants from key industry seminars, symposiums, and conferences. These participants may either be good prospects for you or they may become potential partners.

Other lead sources can include: webinars, seminars, third party reports, conferences, and podcasts. Use these tools to offer industry updates in which you can work synergistically with your partners. That way you share the cost and get access to their clients and prospects. You can also buy lists from many industry sources. They are usually harder to qualify, but you may be able to get a bigger pool of prospects.

Qualifying Criteria

Key criteria in qualifying your leads are: identification of decision makers, current supplier situation, their financial situation, decision timeframe, and price issues. Research every company and key executive on your target list.

Even if they’re not yet ready to buy, cultivate all long-term qualified leads. When they're ready, they will remember that you stayed in contact and offered good solutions to their needs. You will have already gained credibility. This persistence pays off when they are ready to commit to and buy your product.

Follow Up Activities:

1. Send out key information that provides value to the prospect and demonstrates your expertise in the marketplace. Provide white papers, case studies, research reports, press releases, or invitations to trade shows. Follow up with a phone call or email to make sure they received it, and schedule a time to discuss the material.

2. Have your follow-up materials at hand and make sure you record next steps into your calendar, CRM software or contact manager.

3. Your messages and talking points should include value statements that will provoke interest or action at each level of contact you have with an organization. Be familiar with your script it so it does not sound as though you are reading it. Have responses to all the common objections posed by your potential customers. Turn them into benefits wherever possible. Take notes and record key points, so during the next call, you can recite what they said last time and show you were listening.

Work with a coach to help you plan, prepare, network and hone your skills in the area of prospecting that lead to new opportunities.

Shape Up Your Accounting System

“If winning isn’t everything, then why do they keep score?” – Vince Lombardi, Legendary Head Football Coach, Green Bay Packers

Your accounting system is the eyes and ears of your business. Accounting systems are essential for reporting profits, expenses, sales, income, and more. The trouble is, many small business owners neglect their accounting systems. If you are not regularly managing your accounting system, you may have tremendous exposure to problems you are not even aware of. A good accounting system can be your best business partner, alerting you to issues that need to be addressed and keeping you apprised of your successes.

Just like any business activity, accounting needs to be an action that you schedule in your calendar and spend time on every week. Depending on the size of your business, you may need to hire someone whose full-time job is managing the accounting for your company. You may need only a part-time bookkeeper, or you may need a full accounting staff, dividing responsibilities into payables, receivables, cost and inventory accounting and reporting.

If you run a small business, you may be able to use an accounting service. There are plenty of part-time bookkeepers out there who will visit your business on a weekly basis to keep track of your books and make sure that you are current on paying bills and depositing receivables.

If you do your own bookkeeping, make sure to invest in software that can do a lot of the work for you. QuickBooks is the best example of bookkeeping software that can provide reports such as income statements, balance sheets and general ledgers and have tremendous flexibility to track any number of bank accounts, vendors, transactions, receivables and payables.

It’s important to understand the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant. A bookkeeper does just that. He or she manages your books, writes checks and deposits money into your bank accounts. The bookkeeper can generate reports that tell you where you stand. A good bookkeeper can analyze those reports and alert you to potential shortfalls or expenses that are out of line. Remember, your accounting system is the most important diagnostic tool you have to analyze the health of your business.

Your accountant, who should be a CPA, will file your taxes, handle any government regulatory filings and produce annual statements with analyses. Your CPA should also be a business analyst who can be straight with you about the financial health of your business. CPA’s can be expensive, which is why if you are a smaller business, you are often fine using a bookkeeper for day to day accounting and save your CPA fees for annual reporting and tax filings.

So if you are still stuffing receipts into coffee cans and scribbling notes in your check register, and the bank statements are piling up in your office, make a commitment today to get your accounting system under control. Once you make the effort to implement a good accounting system, it’s easy to keep up with it, and you will have the information you need to make good decisions about the future of your business.

Are you ready to win?

What Does Your Online Presence Say About You?

"What you are seeking is also seeking you."
~ anonymous zen master

Have you checked your web presence lately? You have one you know. Or didn’t you know? If you have an account with any of the popular social media sites, or your name has ever appeared in an article, website or offline phone directory – you have an online presence. And since your name is already out there, sites are compiling information on you for others to view.

How do you check your online presence?
It’s a good practice to do a monthly check to assess your online presence. Sites are always indexing information so they are constantly adding new information.

Google Search
The quickest way to find out where you’re mentioned online is to do a Google search for your name. If you have a common name, say Karen Smith, then be sure to put your name in quote (“Karen Smith”) plus do searches on keywords that describe you. For example, “Karen Smith” + “Accountant” + “Los Angeles”. This will help narrow the search and find information on just you.

People Directories
You should also do a search on some of the popular people engines. These are sites that crawl the web gathering information on specific individuals.

• ZoomInfo
• Pipl
• PeekYou

PeekYou adds to your search capabilities by allowing you to search by usersame as well as given name. ZoomInfo allows you to claim your personal profile so you can update it yourself.

Phone Directories
To further investigate your online presence, search for yourself in online phone directories. Here are some of the most popular:

• Switchboard
• Zabasearch
• White Pages

Don’t like what you see?
If you see information online that you find erroneous, sometimes you can have it fixed. All the directory sites have procedures for correcting listings. Usually you can find the information if you click on FAQs or Customer Support links on the site. If you see information in an article, blog or website that you feel is erroneous, you need to contact the author of the piece. They may or may not change it, but it’s always worth asking.

Are you ready to win?

Business Relationships - More Than Just a Handshake

“Make sure the team members know they are working with you, not for you.” – John Wooden, Legendary College Basketball Coach


The value of your business is a function of your relationships. Your relationships with your customers, employees and vendors determines the true worth of your business. The more customers you have, the more employees you will have, and the more vendors you will have. You have to have relationships in order to have customers. The better you are at creating affiliations, the better you will be at growing your business.

Building personal connections begins early in life. First with family, then friends, and then co-workers. We are all trained in relationships throughout our lives. The skills we develop, listening, interacting, speaking and supporting, are the very skills we need to attract clients and sell our products and services. If you are willing to hone those skills, your business and your life will be exponentially enhanced.

People who succeed at relationships are those who have a strong sense of self worth and self confidence. They are willing to suit up, show up, and put themselves out into the marketplace. They are willing to risk rejection and not take it personally. They have the ability to pick up the phone and make the calls that will result in sales.

Part of this confidence comes from a knowledge that we are all already connected. We share this planet, we share this connection called business. It’s not about intruding into someone’s space, it’s about my business helping your business. It’s about my service solving your problem. And the only way we will be able to work together to solve that problem is if we have a relationship.

Take the time to work on your listening and communication skills. Work with your business coach on how to develop better relationships with employees, customers and vendors. Good relationships are a win/win for you and your business.

Are you ready to win?

Biggest Money Mistakes Series - Home Equity vs. Credit Card Debt

"I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures." - Earl Warren, Former Chief Justice of the United States.

The money mistakes series deals about attitudes, beliefs and values versus specific tips

Mistake # 7: Getting a home equity loan to pay off credit card debt is a good idea. No, it’s a terrible idea. The excuse is that you have converted a non-deductible high interest debt to a lower interest tax deductible debt. I mentioned in an earlier post in this series that paying off debt by borrowing more money is not a solution to staying out of debt. Learning how to pay off debt is the way to stay out of debt. Learning how to stay on a spending plan can keep you out of debt. Converting unsecured debt to one that puts your home at risk if you default is a bad idea.

Solution: Follow the 12 steps in Wealth On Any Income and set aside 10-15% of your income to handle emergency spending. Set aside 10% of your income to create financial freedom. Establish a spending plan based on goals that reflect your values and principals and you will have a spending plan (or budget) that will work for you.

Rennie Gabriel – Rennie@RennieGabriel.com
Author of Wealth on Any Income: 12 Steps to Freedom

Talking the Talk Part I - Getting the Appointment

"You miss 100% of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky, Hall of Fame Hockey Player

We’ve written quite a bit on this blog about how to sell. At Possibilities Unlimited, we train people how to identify prospects, do research and get up to speed on social networking. We work with people to manage their time and schedule sales calls into their calendars. We do everything we possibly can to prepare people to sell.

What’s next? You still have to pick up that phone, or knock on that door, and talk to your prospect. You have to know what to say in order to get an appointment, make your presentation and close the sale. You can do all the preparation in the world, but if you don’t pick up the phone, you will not sell anything.

The first phone call is usually to introduce yourself and set another time to talk when you can present your product. We often call this the pre-approach, or the warm call. You want to create enough interest so that the prospect is willing to make time for you later. Typically they are not expecting your first call, so you want to be considerate of their time.

I think it’s good for the first few calls to have a script handy to support you in case you freeze up. You never want to read directly from the script, but have it there in case you need help. Practice with a colleague a few times before you pick up the phone. It’s very helpful to hear your own voice saying the words, so that you feel comfortable talking the talk. Actors have to rehearse before they go on stage. You should rehearse too. It takes a lot of the anxiety out of the situation.

Here are some suggestions for what to say when you want to set up an appointment with a prospect:

1. State clearly your identity. “My name is Lee Ann Farmer, and I work for Possibilities Unlimited.” Be sure to use your first and last name. People know a lot of Joe’s, Laurie’s and even Lee Ann’s.

2. State what you have in common – have you met before? Did someone refer you? Do you belong to the same professional association? Do your kids go to the same school? “Ralph White knows you from the local chamber of commerce. He asked me to give you a call.”

3. State what you have to offer. “Our company works with businesses like yours to create results in sales.”

4. Ask for the conversation. “I’d like to set up a time to talk about how your sales department is doing, and discuss how we’ve been able to increase sales at other companies like yours.”

Once you’ve got a few of these calls under your belt, you’ll become more and more relaxed and confident about selling. I always try to make every call personal, but not take it personally. Do your research, be friendly and engaging, but move on if the prospect is a dead end. Use your script, but only as a guideline. Find something unique to say to each prospect, and just keep going. Before you know it, you will have appointments booked weeks in advance, and you’ll be winning the game of sales.

In a future blog, we’ll delve into sample conversations for presenting your product or service.


Are you ready to win?