How to make appointments that stick.

It is a major let down to make an appointment with a reputable sales rep and when you trying to connect this person through the phone and you hear a voicemail when it is the time to meet this person.

There are even worse situations such as having to connect with them and never come to the moment that they answer your call when it is the time to meet them.

It is important to make solid appointments to connect with prospects and sales reps because it can save you lot of your valuable time. These 5 steps will help you to get there.

Step 1: Just sending a request to meet is not enough and do not expect to sales rep or the prospect to show up. That is a way too passive manner. What needs to be done is to test if these people are well engaged and also if they are well coopertive. 

You can test them saying, "Let's take a look at our schedules rights now to check out what date and time it the best, are you front of our calender right now?"

This can be an important moment. You need to get the prospect to execute a task. ( That is get this prospect to open their calender) and while you can discuss a date and time. Give them the instruction to put in their calender. And wait till they do this.

Okay, sure, Tell them that you will send them a meeting request well. Maybe they might give you the same reaction first. Wait until they are saying this. When they try to dust you with a "Please send me a meeting request" and you might know that they did not took the time to open their calender. That is a major let down.

Step 2: While you are still on the phone send them a request for a meeting. You can tell them that you will send them a meeting request, that you will do it right now. Then instruct the prospect to open their e-mail and to accept the e-mail for a meeting request while you are still on the phone with them.

This is another way to test the prospects if they work with you. If they hesitate to do this then you will know that you got 50/50 chance that they will come to the meeting.

There is no chance that all the propspects will do this. I give the direction many people to do it. It can be sort of a "pre-qualifier" for the meeting.

Step 3: After you pick a date and time for the appointment, and you are still on the phone with the propect, request them if they to reach back to you if something might come up through the e-mail or the phone. 

It might sound kind of a let down to the prospect to let them know this. They already know this. If something comes up they can cancel.

Here is the best way to say it:

"(First name), That you got propspects confirmation for date and the time and that the prospect is in your calender. Ask the them if you are in theirs.

There might be some situations that something come up for both of you. That is the sales person and the prospect. Deal with this situation by making agreements that if something comes up that you send an e-mail or pick up the phone to contact each other. Respect each others time and the effort you have to put in to show up for a meeting.

"Thank you, If I do not hear from you. Then I will be looking forward to meet with you"Confirm the date and the time. And ask for what the direct phone number is that you can reach the prospect. 

Step 4: Do a follow up with an e-mail stating the same thing as the above mentioned script.

Make sure that you do this soon as possible after hanging up the phone...

Step 5: Make sure that you call and confirm the appointment the day before the meeting. 

It is unbelievable that so many do not do that, but when you do. Some things can happen.

A) They might not be available at the moment, so leave a voicemail remembering them about the appointment to meet the next day and how you look forward to it.

B) They will come to the phone and you can make the sales call one day earlier.

C) They might tell you that they are not interested at the moment. You can give your best shot overcoming the objectives and pitch.

It is wise not to underestimate this eassential step. There are less amount of sales professionals do this. It is quite nice effect to pitch one day earlier.

There is only the first 5 seconds to make a good impression.

I can remember that experts use to say that when it came to selling over the phone you had about 2 to 3 minutes to make a good impression.

As the Internet won terrain and e-mail lost it's soft glow, the experts said that you had the first couple of minutes to grab someone's attention when you pitch a product to be sold.

Sending text messages became the new hype and the personal communication became this new mode. That the first couple of minutes to making a good impression became about 30 seconds.

Right now the hype of text messaging is not that of a new mode. Nowadays you have 5 seconds to make an impression because there are plenty of others that can call you to pitch another product. You can experience the emotions what they have in their voice. The customers do not need to pick up the phone to hear you pitch them a product. They are easily irritated. Sales calls can be a pain in the ass for the customers. Some people show their anger and some can become aggressive. 

There are some situations people react pleasantly towards salesmen. Some people do not have any problem with salesmen calling to sell them a product or a service.

The success factor of making a good impression is what your reaction is to the tone of the customers' voice-and the final emotions in the first 5 seconds. 

Do not do this:

The well known mistake is that sales persons make is not acknowledging is that a customer is not in a good mood. They are also annoyed that you know that they are in a bad mood. You as a sales person can hear in your prospects voice that they are irritated but you have no other option than carrying on with your sales pitch. 

This is not a good option and never can be a successful sales pitch.

Worse situation is when a prospect is in a proper mood and have no problem to connect with you then you have the moment to live for and make a good impression. In a certain case when sales reps can not wait to pitch and do not care about the prospects mood. Then this can be not a successful sales pitch.

Try to avoid these types of situations. If you pitch to people in bad moods you are missing a real big time opportunity. This means that the prospect feels left out.

Consider these things to do:

Take the advantage to react to what the prospects have to say. Give him the ears they deserve. There is a saying in football says an offense should be always "take what the defense gives you." In sales it should be "Do not ignore what the prospect gives you, take it."

So, once you remark that they are annoyed or in a bad mood then try to react to that in this manner:

"If you are busy at the moment, I'll keep it short....

Once you got to know that some prospects are willing to talk to you, for example, they ask how you are doing? When they response to your question, for example when you asked how the prospect is doing. Always take time to have a moment to build a first impression before pitching the client. React in this way:

"Thanks for asking, I really got to tell you that I am having a great day today. By the way, and how is the weather at the moment where you reside?

By taking these steps you will make the connection to lay the foundation to for a successful conversation. 

So, how do you leave a good impression behind in 5 seconds or less?

Listen close which way the prospect repond to your call and take action by creating a good atmosphere to have a successful sales call

Original article source: EzineArticles.com

Work harder to get luckier.

I read this story that the writer of a business article was working with a sales manager who managed  team of 20 of indoor sales reps. They have a direct report manager who manages half of that team. The writer asked what they were selling and what their products are.

He answered that he was number one.

" If you take a close shot at your team members right now, how many team members do not reach their targets? Can you explain why you are the number one and what others do not do to reach their targets?"

"That be a simple answer he answered. I had the urge to succeed. So I worked at my desk steady. The desire was not to write down or say in words. "It was immense" he said.

"And what seems to be the main objective that you are facing right now?" The writer asked him.

The manager answered: "The team members who are not performing well do not spend enough time making calls. They are too busy with other things. They do not go hunting for sales and they do not contact enough prospects or do not follow up with clients". 

The manager stated: They should pick up the phone and dial phone numbers to make sales and collect commissions. Then they would prosper," He came to the conclusion.

This is a fact. There are sales persons working their behind off and those are the top sales persons who make the most calls and get lot more commsissions than those who make less calls. The team members who are performing well do not need any directions that they need to get on the phone to make calls. 

Those who perform well do not any need advice that they need to take a break so that they do not burn out. ( And if you are a manager then you will know what I am talking about).

I am not going make any friends with this statement, but sales is a well known as a number game. With the coming of social media and artificial intelligence and so on, we came to a stage more than just "calling for dollars".  Social media and artificial intelligence should make us even more successful with sales.

If you just pick up the phone and dial....

Here are some quotes, me as a top salesman. I used to chant:

"If you got the urge to make the most calls that other salesmen do not do then actually making the calls in the office. Then no way you can go wrong. Once you make this a habit you will experience a pleasant feeling what other sales reps who underperform will not know.

Things like: Working from a tropical destination. Taking your family to the best vacations spots on this planet. A reliable retirement plan and a piled up savings account that makes you sleep well and driving some of the hottest cars that neighbourhood is ever seen. 

"Generating sales through calling prospects is the only way to live a lifestyle of no worries about finances. If you need something like a new bike then you will have to make money through calling the prospects and getting that commssion to pay that bike".

"The problem solver is the sales. 

"Making more calls can increase the luck and this means that there will be more buyers.

"Whenever I have doubts if I should call a client or prospect. This means that I should pick up the phone right now and call them...."

"Prospecting a client is a piece of cake once I give it my best shot. I am ready for set backs and objectives. The change is not coming. I am used t this.

"The only way to no worries and not being broke is making more calls and sales."

"Riding on the bus sucks." A Tribe called Quest ( Still one of my favorite bands.)

"Some will buy, some don't, who is next?

"If anyone can become a top sales person then I am able to do it too with the proper effort"

It is for sure that more people you speak to on the phone more people will buy who you connect with. More effort you put in more conversions. If you are able to make 10 more calls today then yesterday. This will become a powerful tool to convert prospects.

10 more phone calls a day= 50 more in a week=210 calls per month (4.2 weeks avarage in a period of one month), = 2,520 more in a one year! That is just what some sales persons will make in a single year. 

Just get this through your head by thinking how much more sales and commission you will make if you did that. What does these numbers tell you?

And double that and triple it then.

So do you have the urge to double or triple your sales and commissions this year? 

The conclusion is: How harder you work more luckier you will be. The question is: How eager are you to earn more this year?

Original article source: EzineArticles.com

8 tech tools to make your business succeed.

Not every business is the same. Every business needs different tools to generate profits. There are many tech tools available and when, what tool to use is also an issue and what tools are the best for your business.

If you are that tech geek and you breath digital marketing then you are no stranger to these tools. There are various tools on the market and if you know what tools are the best for what task then you can prosper online to make money. It can be hard to choose out of many tech tools that is available.
Here are reviews of eight tools available to make your business prosper.

Canva.com.

If you have a business then a website nowadays is inevitable. If you want to get prospects online to your store or from a landing page to your sales store online then creating a website will give you more potential to generate more sales and eventually make more money online. The canva design tool online gives you the opportunity to design and publish. It a similair to Photoshop. Even without any design skills you can design and publish what you like for your business. If you need graphics for your website then go to Canva.com and design. It is a drag-and-drop format and gives access to over one million photographs, fonts and graphics.  Either you are professional designer or not you can use Canva.com to create great graphics for your website.

Clickfunnels.com.

If you want an online marketing business started then go to Clickfunnels.com. If you want sell, market your brand to prospects online. Then you need to check this site out. If you are an affiliate, freelancer, sell informtaion products, own an e-commerce website, if you are a consultantant that gives people informtion how to do something. Then this site will give the opportunity to create great sales funnels for your business. If you want a chatbox intergrated then this option is avaialble. There are hundreds of marketing templates and a wiki of free instructions how to do what. Give it a shot.

Zoom.us

If you want a prominant video conferencing software to communicate with prospects or your team members. Then go to Zoom.us to explore what this video and audio conferencing cloud platform has to offer. There is the possibility to chat and hold webinars. If you need to connect with your clients 24/7 and stay connected then check out zoom.us. If you need to give technical support, hold meetings with your team members or prospects then do not hestitate to check this site out. It is free to join and you can sign up with your mobile, desktop or tablet. 

Google G-drive.

If you need to store your files on a cloud online then you have the option to choose from google.com/drive. You can store your videos, photos, files such as content for your website you wrote. Sync and share documents and data on the Google.com/drive. This is a perfect tool to make it easy for you to access your files from any computer anywhere online. Google drive offers 15 GB of free space to store your files

Trello.com.

If you like to have the access to a collabration tool that takes care of organizing your projects into boards. Trello gives your information about what's being worked on, who's working on what project. This is like a whiteboard in your office with stickynotes. This is a great organzing tool to give access to informtaion about what your team members are doing. This tells you with photos, attachments and links from data resources. You can comment and work along with your team members. It is like a portable whiteboard in your office you can access it from any computer from anywhere.

This tool called Trello.com is visual, web-based project management tool for your company. The innovators of this tool created this tool online to solve problems of businesses that  top-level plannning issues face of everyday. This tool you should check out.

Vimeo.

If you own a business then you know that to market your products you also have to do video marketing. Take your business to the next level with this marketing and analytics tool called Vimeo.com This is a video sharing site. You can upload your marketing video to generate sales. You also can view videos of other people on this site. This was the first video site where you can share high-definition videos. For the growth of your business this site can be essential. 

Transferwise.

Does your business needs to deposit and withdrawl money from or to bank accounts from oversea bank accounts. The banks charge high fees when you make a deposit or withdrawl money from oversea  bank accounts. Transferwise does not do that. Transfer money without any problem quickly and easily with transferwise. The recipient does not have to pay but the business which funds. The conversion rates change and payments too. The banks do not process the payments in the weekends and try to stick to weekdays.

Powtoon.

If your business needs a animated presentation to attract customers. Powtoon.com is one of the options. If you need to make videos to give product information to generate more profits. This tool is worth checking out. They provide library of styles, backgrounds, characters. The you can create videos with this software online to upload to your site or social media page.

Original article source: EzineArticles.com

Let changes be made to gain more profits.

I read this story that an etrepreneur was at the tipping point that many business people can relate with. Her income from sales was growing. It grew rapidly after couple of years of scaling it up.

This person working hard for 6 years but the income came not as she expected so the patience was getting low and she was very dissatisfied. Working hard and putting time and effort into it but she was ignoring family and friends. There was no time to eat lunch or even no time to go the bathroom.

She could not face the situation that occured. She needed to make changes to gain more profits from her business.

This person was at a situation that skills and knowledge she had obtained was not enough to keep her business moving forward to make more money. This can happen and seems not to grow beyond the start up stage. If you facing such a moment. You need to realize that you are alone on this journey of making money with a business.

You have certain choices to consider and tasks to undertake. Here are some of the matters that you can explore for your self to pump some life blood into your business.

It is just not possible to be stressed over running a business and not getting sufficient rewards for your time and effort. When you face this moment. Then soon or later you will realize that you can not continue to run a business when you look at the factual situation of unsufficient profits. If you feel that there is no other option. Then you need to realize that there always a second chance.

You can not fill up a full cup. To grow your business and be more profitable with your business then you have to change to create new things that add more value to the products you sell. This can change of the quality of the product, price, logo of the products or colors of the packaging.

Ask your self this question, are you working IN your company or ON it? This brings you really home. If you are so involved in your business then you will not be able to do anything else. This mean that you are killing your social life over your income. This will slow down the targets you want to reach with your business. You may want to find out if there are tasks that you might want to outsource. Also there might be things that can leave out.

What types of essential turns can you take on the road to the riches. This can be changes you can make to responsibilities, it can be let employees getting more hold of the situation and not involving you to help them out getting direction from you. Be ready to let go of your desires of being a control freak. In the initial situation when you have the job interview to hire people to work for you, you need to make reliable decisions. Then you can switch your role from mentor or coach to help your employees build confidence to act in a role where they will work without depending on you. Give them the space to get a hold of being independent.

If you ready to change at this tipping point of the company.  This command you need to follow if you want to succeed. There must be a collective change including you. You can proceed to change and do things in an other manner. Being a control freak will not get you out of the stress you are facing. There is the option you can choose from to change. Learn how to let go to change and grow. You can give direction in your company. When you ready to change then you can clear your head.

You also need to ask your self this question if the essential changes enough. This means you have to put time and effort into making changes. You will face some issues of your own when you go through changes. You need to ask your self if these changes made is my valuable time and effort rewarded. It might give you a idea that these essential changes are not putting any fear into your head. That might sound comfortable but they are might not be. These essential changes might not be enough.

Is you cash flow sufficient? The growth stage requires a steady cash flow. If the cash flow is not sufficient you will be not able to move to the next level of generating profits. So get the cash flow sufficient. Get advice from the accountant and the consultant to move towards further progress. Keep a close eye on the expenses of all the departments.

Check out if there are the qualified employees in your company to move your business to the next level. You will depend more and more on your staff as you set up bigger plans to grow your business. Give clear directions  about what they need to do to make more profits. Spread the tasks to the qualified department. Do they own the proper knowledge and can they handle instructions given to them.

When you are about to make changes give the staff needed responsibility. It is also important to give them authority over discrete areas. Enchant a mantra of pride and ownership over the responsibility you give out. Talk about future expectations and targets to reach in a certain period of time. And discuss the matters like time, resources and if what type of support they need to get the job done. And paint a clear picture how the success will be rewarded and measured.

Realize that not everybody have to give directions or an idea innovator. If you own the capacities to lead then you are no stranger to this one. Keep in mind other qualifications you own are valuable too. Some work can be done by someone who as usual do this job.

Make sure that you will be clear. You have the responsibility to create a soothing culture of your company. You need to create a culture of empowering the employees that attracts the qualified people. Also build loyalty and trust within the company. Sharing needed information within your company can accomplish that. This will make the staff follow your instructions and they will share information too. That is what brings inspiration and innovation.

Original article source: EzineArticles.com

How much does a franchise going to cost you.

If you were planning to get a franchise in the near future then you are at the right spot to get more familiar with the issues that considers purchasing a franchise. There are many people who want to own a franchise but they need to calculate the cost of the franchise first. It can be risky if you overlook some factors. Not every franchise is the same and there are many companies calculate various types of cost for each and any. If you are interested in buying a restaurant franchise there are some companies who charge you common costs for a franchise. This is first of all franchise fee, contractor fees, all build-out costs, professional fees, your inventory and the signage. It is important to know that there must be sufficient working capital to open and do business until the company is running to maintain the costs for it self. Let's take a moment to talk about common costs that come along with buying a franchise.

Franchise fee is one of the costs. 

If you buy a franchise then the franchise giver will ask you for a franchise fee. The fees are for the training, site selection and support. The included benefits or items are for paying the franchise fee is different from one franchise giver to another. In some cases these are only the licensing fee which offers the owner to use the name of the company. It is wise to calculate what the return on investment is when you pay a franchise fee.

Usually the fees can cost you around $20,000 to $50,000. If you want a McDonald's franchise the fee is around $45,000. There are some cases the fee can be lower than $20,000. Home-based franchise or mobile franchise can be lower.

Accounting fees and legal fees.

First of all if you are thinking about buying a franchise then getting advice from a professional franchise attorney can be a good choice to lower the risks. This person can help you to give you a review of the Franchise Disclosure Document. This is better known as FDD. They can help you to understand the franchise agreement better. There are no fixed fee to pay the attorney, in certain cases you have to pay $1,500 to $5,000 to get help from a franchise attorney. The fee amount depends on how much time you need to talk to the attorney.

It is essential that you keep a clear and proper record from the very first start. If you hire an accountant then you can track how much a meeting is going to cost you. This will ensure you that you do not pass the budget boundaries of your legal fees. Hiring a professional accountant can give you a secure piece of mind when it comes to having enough working capital. 

Working capital.

The money you have is called as the working capital. This money amount is you will need to cover for a certain period of time. The time period can be two to three years until the business start to return on investments. If you want to buy a McDonald's franchise it requires a $750,000 working capital amount.

The franchise giver will calculate the amount you need to open your own franchise business. It is wise to do your own research based on your market and not based on system averages.

Build out costs.

Build-out costs vary from one franchise to another. When the location is found and you decide to go for it then once the franchise company approves it then you can calculate the build-out costs. This includes equipment, furniture, signage nd fixtures. It also include the fees for architectural drawings, contractor fees, security, landscaping and insurance. The home-based franchise does not require any build-out costs.

Supplies.

Without proper supplies you can not run your franchise. That means that you have to have the right supplies like everyday things to have your business running properly.The franchise giver will give you a clear list what you need to run your own franchise business. This amount depends on what type of franchise you want. You might think that this will cost you around $100,000 is most cases.

If you are set to buy a retail franchise or any other franchise type that sell products then you need an inventory to stock up. Not every franchise is the same and it has various requirements such as different stock. You will be needing around $20,000 to $50,000 worth of inventory depending on the franchise type.


Training expenses.

Franchise giver organizes training for franchise takers and at least one employee. Attending a training is one of the requirements. This training is mostly covered by the franchise fee. If there are traveling and living expenses then you as the franchise taker have to pay for it. These costs depends on the location and what the needs are of the specific individual.

As you now might know that taking a franchise is a long journey that need to set up properly. If you want success then you need to realize that there are many factors that involves taking a franchise. There are many financial factors that come into play. If you want to buy a McDonald's franchise then you will need an amount of $900,000. With proper research and realistic goals you can ensure a franchise of your choice if you are interested.

Original article source:EzineArticles.com

These three special business plans you should know about.

Business plan is unbeatable and not going to leave out of the heads of the starting businessmen and women. This is essential because you need visions about your business you are starting. You need to map out correctly what the targets are and what the assets are what you have to utilize. The business plan used to be 12-15 pages and written. You might realize how useful a business plan can be for businessmen. It is the planning out and collecting insights to reach goals.

It is a fact that there are many types of businesses and many types of entrepreneurs so each business in need of a matching business plan you can choose from these 3 types.

The "I am a businessman by accident" plan:

Without knowing there are many people who turns their hobby into a business or just a thought of making money and becoming financially independent or without any background knowledge or future vision of a business. Some become successful and others give up. This can be the case for some of the head over heels entrepreneurs. One day you are buying shoes on e-bay and the other day you own a webstore with brand name shoes like Nike, Adidas or Puma. One day you might write a blog about your personal life and the other day you are making money with sponsored reviews on your personal blog. 

When you are in a situation that you have realized that you need to write a business plan then you need to think about carefully about some issues what the intentional entrepreneur has thought through before making a decision. You need to think about if the business needs to a big time ,passing the idea stage and what it is going to reward you. It is pleasant to feel that there is a market value for something you were already executing. But this does not mean that you might be ready to start a business. The accidental entrepreneurs can not gain lots of profits because there is a too quick set up without prevision of the factors like "Am I going to double or triple investments within a year or two years or three years.

You need to research correctly what you are going to offer and how much this is going to cost to produce. And what are the production hours per day to make those products. And how many hours to make 1000 products. For example how much time you are going to put into researching how you are going to set a website for your business. Producing products like baking cakes need space to produce. This part might look simple and how are you going to fund this. You also need to find the targeted market. You need to find out who your end users are.

For the "accidental entrepreneurs" can a business planning process very useful because then you can make a choice what ideas you should realize and what should be considered pulp. This means what is it that you going to make money with and what is not.

The "piece of paper" plan: 

This is just a myth that you wrote a million-dollar idea on a piece of paper at the local coffeeshop. This is just a good old fashion fantasy that you might reach goals by writing a business plan at the local coffeeshop on a piece of paper. However back in the days when people were lower educated and did not have the access to public education or if your father was a farmer or fisherman then in many cases you might become one too. Nowadays in the western countries the tables turned. If you willing to work that will get you somewhere.

Do not rush to go with the flow. You might fall into the nowadays trends such as get rich quick schemes online. I read stories that some people bought for more than $10000,00 of information products about making money online. This can bring you into financial trouble. If you have an established business then you might go with the flow to keep up with the competition. 
If you have the needed knowledge and skills to set up a new business then piece of paper from the local coffeeshop will do. This means that you do not need any experts that advice you how to start a business. If you have a the proper skills for example  about IT or social media. Then you can start right away with your team members with coding. In this case you do not need a detailed plan to get started. If you got the skills and knowledge and you have the experience then you might delay the process of detailed and formal planning for later.

When it is the time to find investors and lenders you will move further than basic starting steps. Sketching a plan based upon your own or partners expertise means that you can quickly get started and gain profits even you have created a minimalist plan. Depending on the demand of the market and competition you can start without a detailed business plan because you have the vision by knowing the market.

The "only pressing issue" Plan:

You might think business plan is only for a new business or once you are open for business you do not need a business plan. To get the idea how your business is running and if you have reached the goals you set you need to look at the business plan once or twice per year. If the market is changed for example the demand or the competition is ahead of you with new technologies then change your plan and find new directions. This can not be bad.

There can be moments that your business does not generate enough profits. That some parts of the business is not working properly. That marketing department is not generating enough results or cash flow is just down. If one product is well sold and others are just not generating enough income. This can be the moment to take a look at the business plan. Then ask your self what you need to do to improve this. That can be changing the products or price need to adapt to quality. There can be lots of factors.

Just take a glance at the previous assumptions you wrote in your original plan. The changes need to be done to reach goals and are the insurance rates the same? or how many hours did you put into accounting?. Is changing the products or website a real issue? Are the sales done online same as in the store? These can be trigger factors that can be considered if you need to gain more profits if one product is selling well and others do not.

In some cases things can go wrong no matter how many long hours you put into researching. This is not a sign that you are not an entrepreneur who can be successful. Just like life the markets can not be predicted accurately. The business plan needs to be smooth and responsive. The "Only pressing issue plan" can be seen as a reflection of a normal evaluation process.

Original article: EzineArticles.com