Archives for Sales

Ice Cream and the Civil War – The Next Steps for Providing the Value that YOUR Members Want

February 22, 2013

The South attacked from the north.  And the North attacked from the south. What insights from the battle of Gettysburg are there for associations? Consider some basic principles. Transactions grow up into Transformation As business matures, and competition increases, most products and services become more transactional.  Specialized offerings get more competition, which forces everyone to sharpen their pricing, or get some sort of edge.  Eventually products become so generic that the market evolves into a “big box store” or morphs into high value offerings.  Consider the overrun of Sears by Wal-Mart (transaction) and Nordstrom (transformation).  When you want a makeover
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What keeps people from Selling More

February 16, 2013

Their creative nature. . . .”Squirrel!”  They get distracted Time Management (see #1) Lack of coaching (see #1 & #2) Lack of direction and clarity (see #3) Status Quo maintenance – “this is the way it has always been done” Self Esteem issues To little product knowledge To much product knowledge Lack of faith in the product Lack of a Sales Plan (see #4) Lack of Creativity and Innovation (thinking outside the box) Lack of new ideas (see #11) Lack of new prospects (see #10, 11, 12) Using old methods of selling Don’t understand the market and the new dynamics (our
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The New Rules for Branding – Getting Edgy or Getting Lost in the Noise of YOUR Marketplace

January 7, 2013

The biggest enemy to your business these days is being average.  With mass customization, free information, and a tight economy, you need to drive your branding image.  What are the new rules for branding? 1 – It must have a plot or a storyline.  Think Disney.  Chipotle has it’s brown bags with stories on them.  Harley is about terrorizing small towns (see previous blog post) 2. It must be unique to stand out.  Unless you have a BHAC (Big Hairy Audacious Concept) you have beige, average, pedestrian. 3. It must fill a need or create a new mind set for
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Creating Ardent Customer Fans . . . lessons learned from a Coke Machine, Trader Joes, and Frequent Flyers

November 9, 2012

Are your customer’s ardent fans?   Do they tell others about your offerings without your prompting? Consider a recent trip I made to a local hamburger place.  These GUYS (5 of them) recently switched their soft drink dispensing machine to a high tech, complex juggernaut.  You put your glass into one slot and then, by pushing various buttons on a screen, get your drink. After inserting my paper cup, I studied the screen, which  is covered with images of choices.  Water, flavored water, the cola and diet cola offerings along with the various lime, cherry additives and on and on and
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You Are Talking BUT They Are Not Listening . . . Understanding and Connecting with the Three Levels of Business Leaders

June 27, 2012

There are three “languages” in business, which change as you move up and down the organization chart.  Unless you are aware of these, you might be talking, but they may not be listening. To illustrate, let’s make a visit to Ye Olde Table Factory. The Table Builder (the worker) Our first contact is with one of the people who are hammering away at building.  A conversation with this person is about materials and the processes in putting together raw parts to make the finished product.  This person represents the day-to-day tactical work.  They are interested in: Getting things done now
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David fights Goliath VIA the Detroit Automotive Show – a lesson in Contrarianism and Synergy

January 12, 2012

The Detroit International Automobile Show 2012.   Among the hundred thousand square feet vendor booths, and the multimillion dollar backdrops complete with state of the art multimedia, and eye candy models . . . both male and beautifully coiffed women;  sits the center of attention. It is all about the cars.  There are cars.  Each collection is often changed out each day for maximum exposure.  Audi might have a new metallic paint the invites you to touch it’s too-strange-too-be-true finish.  That is OK because some t-shirted youth, armed with polishing rags and dust wands wander incessantly to make sure nary a
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Culture – The #1 Job

December 8, 2011

If your culture has you focusing on the B and C players, then your culture is communicating that you sanction mediocrity. The environment in this organization approves "getting by". The core values scream that you can take your foot off the gas and coast a little here and there.
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Carbon . . . when average is for pencils but with Synergy it becomes diamonds – a sales pitch on the Synergy Selling System

November 16, 2011

Do you want high performance sales people? In it’s simple form carbon makes every pencil useful.  But take the same carbon and add additional forces and then polish . . . and the average becomes extraordinary. Are you sales reps average?  Would you like to develop some diamonds? Our Synergy Selling System© gets your sales people to: Increase Sales with skills that create customer experiences! Develop prospecting plans for explosive sales Move away from “price” and improve margins (teach your people how to differentiate your brand/value) Learn how to leverage time and resources to multiply sales Connect with customers as
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