Linda Bishop, President at Thought Transformation

Do you want to sell more? Stop spending time trying to get water out of wells that have run dry. By that, I mean stop spending time on customers who have communicated one of these common messages repeatedly.

1. We no longer buy what you sell. The customer stopped spending money on printing one or two years ago. So far, they’ve seen no compelling reason to start investing in these marketing materials again—or they are still suffering from the effects of a tough economy and they have no money to spend on these products.

2. We found a cheaper source and we’re perfectly happy with them. When people are happy with their current situation, they’re hard to sell. Move on! There are plenty of dissatisfied buyers in the market place.

3. We found a cheaper source. Their quality/service is not as good as yours, but we don’t care. Your competitor is good enough. This may be an opportunity—if you can find an new angle to approach the customer. If the new angle isn’t obvious right now, look elsewhere but stay in touch.

Spend your time wisely. Remember, time is money. Stop visiting customers where sales have dried up hoping for something to miraculously change. Figure out a way to make change happen or look for new wells.

Check out Linda’s blog at www.salesisnotforsissies.com.

VP, Winters Group & Associates

Ask a group of business executives how they define marketing, and you get a wide array of answers. Ask them about successful outcomes of marketing and you get even less positive feedback. Marketing today is widely miss understood. And, as we continue the drive toward making marketing more accountable and scientific, it is important to look at what has changed and what remains the same. While marketers enjoy new media and technology enabled tools, the fundamental marketing model itself has not changed. People and businesses still want useful products and services and relevant and entertaining messages.

Marketing is still about identifying needs so that people line up to buy. The change is in how consumers learn about products and services and receive the messages. We are entering a post-mass media marketing world.

Consumers have always wanted to avoid poor or overpriced products and intrusive messages, but now they are empowered to act on those feelings in unprecedented ways. These consumer-empowering technologies promise to eliminate the concept of ‘mass markets’ once and for all.

Marketers are also finding that reaching the younger consumer segment offers new challenges because they don’t easily relate to marketing. They have few favorite brands, very little brand loyalty; they fast forward through television advertising, and they view most commercial messages with cynicism, something to be avoided Reaching and influencing this wired generation with advertising messages over the course of their consumer lifetimes will be more than a challenge, it may be impossible. Forrester reports that more than half of young consumers rely on their friends and families for purchase advice, and 65% tell others about products they like.

From a marketing perspective, what’s the benefit of having 20,000 followers on Facebook, if you can’t identify and segment your audience into prospects, influencers, and casual observers. If can define them, do you have the means to communicate with them when and how they want to be reached? I think we stop modeling the financial impact of advertising, and start measuring the brand equity impact of marketing activities.

With discussions on the horizon about “do not follow” legislation (next phase of “do not call’), we need to begin to plan for marketing that reaches our audience, that invites them to want to communicate and learn more.

What remains the same now and forever – nothing can replace face-to-face selling.

For more information on The Winters Group & Associates, please visit http://wintersmg.com/.

Craig McConnell, President of PrintGrowPro, Inc.

Have you ever stopped to consider what really makes you happy? Happiness must be pretty important because everyone from Socrates to our Founding Fathers to Bobby McFerrin felt we had the right to pursue it.

I’d be willing to venture a guess that much like the percentage of adults who have taken the time to create written goals (that number is 2), very few of us have ever really given the happiness question very much thought. We all want it, but we don’t take the time to ask ourselves what it really looks like.

If you relax and close your eyes and think about your favorite things, I would be very surprised if you were able to keep a big smile from materializing out of thin air. Give it a try.

SPECIAL NOTE: before you become concerned that today’s missive is going to be purely esoteric, altruistic, and sound like the hundreds of self help books at Borders, I want to stress that today’s discussion is ultimately about one thing – increasing sales.

Here’s my basic premise:

Happy (Sales) People = Smiling (Sales) People = Friendly (Sales) People = People Who Sell More = People Who Make More Money

Consider this concept as we close in on Super Bowl Sunday: It is the sales person’s responsibility (along with senior management) to set the tone for the entire company. No one, other than sales, can prevent layoffs and headcount reductions (think “selling 105 seats on a 100 passenger plane”). No one, other than sales, can lighten the mood, make things fun and bring positive stress free energy into the building. No one, other than sales, can provide the aura of emotional consistency that is so important to a company’s overall level of friendliness and commitment to customer satisfaction.

So beginning immediately, do something every day that will raise those endorphin levels; be more aware of what makes you happy; and share that feeling with others.

I doubt there’s a sales trainer in existence that doesn’t encourage his or her clients to ’smile into the telephone”; but how many of us really do it?

Want to sell more? Be happy! Be friendly! Smile more! Lighten up! Don’t take yourself so serious!

Remember, if you want to increase your commi$$ion$ you can become more active (more calls, more opportunities, more lunches, more networking, more touch points, more hours) or more effective (ask better questions, become a better listener, adopt a selling system, become a prospecting ‘pro’). Becoming more effective only happens over time, but increasing your activity (like being happier and friendlier) can begin immediately.

Want to be happy? Want to sell more? Want to make more money?

Just like you can become healthier, you can become happier, but it has to be a conscious decision and something that you work at every day.

I know – easy to say, hard to do – but certainly worth a good old ‘college try’.

Start with these: be healthy, be thankful, stop worrying, count your blessings, celebrate the successes of others, give more than you get, volunteer, be a lifelong learner, be near nature, compliment others, meditate, believe in yourself, set goals, and pay it forward.

To read more from Craig, please visit www.printgrowpro.com.

Peter Ebner, President at Ebner Seminars

Do you have a beautifully designed company brochure that outlines your expertise and tells the prospect all about your extensive services? Well this brochure is probably costing you sales. The only time to hand out a brochure is ….

To hear the rest of Peter Ebner’s weekly sales tip, please click here.

Brian Sullivan, President PRECISE Selling

Are you the type that needs empirical evidence of the effect of negativity on the body and mind? Well look no further than volume 72 of one of my favorite all time classic journals called Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (my wife believes I should be a case study). The journal contains a recent study that has linked negative emotions with lower immunity in the body. In short, negative people’s bodies don’t fight disease as well. Which means if you are grumpy, you probably get sick more than that “always happy guy” at work. And while I don’t have an ounce of evidence on this one, I bet would say that it’s easier to be a top performer.

And if you think you can’t do something, your brain will actually make it hard on your mind and body to do that “something.” Life is difficult enough without any help from your head!

So if your listening skills diminish, you stop learning. You stop learning in business, and you DIE! So my conclusion is…if you want to stay alive as a leader, keep a positive attitude. And here is another scientific conclusion not found in the journal:

Negative leaders with negative companies also have a lower immunity against the competition.

While a positive attitude does not guarantee success against the competition, it does assure many things. It assures that you can face rejection and overcome countless obstacles that are unavoidable in business. No doubt, there will be times when “the worst” happens. When those days come, when you are experiencing “the worst,” just don’t make “the worst of it.”

For more information from Brian Sullivan, visit http://www.preciseselling.com/.

Noah Knoble, Account Executive

1. I am your print salesman, your friend, consultant, educator, and therapist. Thou shall have no other print salesman before me.

a. Don’t ever forget about your clients! In the Sales Playbook group on LinkedIn we have had many discussions on being the hunter vs the farmer, finding that balance is key not only prospecting new business, but also retaining your clients. There should be no other sales reps that they should be getting information from, you should be the one they turn to first when new regulations come out, cost savings ideas, etc. It us up to you to cultivate these relationships, trust me, retaining business is far more fruitful than gaining new business. It tells a lot about you!

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol.
Don’t be consumed by greed. Let’s face it, we all want to make as much money as possible, and if you are saying you don’t care about that then you are a liar! However, how you go about achieving your desired income is what will make you successful. Don’t let money become the idol that you worship, look for ways to reduce your customer’s costs, in the end you will only gain more loyalty and maybe a few good referrals!

3. Do not take the name of Digital in vain.
Let’s face it, digital is here to stay, whether you want to argue about it until you are blue in the face or not. Adapting to our new “lay of the land” is going to be instrumental into the long term success of not only you, but also your company. Get to know digital, from digital mags, ipad apps, to social media and the like. The more you know about these things, the more you will utilize them, and the more potential clients will want to speak to you. Look at digital as a friend and not a foe, another arrow in your quiver.

4. Remember the weekend, and keep it holy.
We are all working harder now than ever before. If you are like me, then you enjoy the increased competition and see it as an opportunity to better your skills. However, it is far too easy to bring the work home with you. Remember the most important thing in your life is your family, keep the weekends as much about them as possible. You will burn out far too quickly if you don’t, and will miss out an important part of you and your families’ lives. Always make sure your priorities are in line.

5. Honor your clients.
Show your clients that you appreciate them. It is the holiday season; send a gift, a card, something to show that you are thankful for their loyalty! Better yet, make sure to do this throughout the year, not only around the holidays, and do it “just because you were thinking of them.” You don’t need a reason, you just need a feeling.

6. You shall not kill.
Don’t burn bridges. You lost a client to a competitor, you’re upset, the first thing you should do is take a walk, do not pick up the phone and scream at your lost client. You never know, they may realize they had it much better with you, and come running back. Also, many publishers know each other; the last thing you want is a bad recommendation and reputation. Handle yourself with professionalism at all time. I will repeat it again, don’t ever burn bridges, and do not kill that relationship!

7. You shall not cheat.
I have been in far too many bid processes where the customer sends an RFQ with specs that don’t match up to the sample magazine they have sent me to go along with it. If you are printing them cross grain to win the bid, but the customer clearly stated wanted correct grain Shame on you! If the customer was told they are being printed on a 87 bright paper stock, but you really are printing them on an 82 bright paper stock, Shame on you! If the customer was told they are being printed on a 60# paper stock, but it really is a 50# paper stock, shame on you! Don’t cheat; it will catch up with you.

8. Do not steal.
If you find a potential lead is on a contract with a competitor, don’t ever suggest to the lead to attempt to break the contract. This is not up to you, you are not a lawyer and should not give them council, you could find yourself into a heap of trouble if you do. Instead, continue follow ups, be persistent, that way when they come off contract you will be one of the first ones they contact.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Do not talk badly about your competition to your clients or potential clients. This only makes YOU look cheap. If you feel the need to point out something that you do better than your competition, there are ways of saying this is what we do and how we do it better. Spreading rumors and trash talking about your competition will only drive more customers to your competition and away from you.

10. You shall covet everything that belongs to your neighbor.
Yes, you shall covet everything that belongs to your competition. Through this market we are in, we will find out who is strong enough to adapt to the changes and come out stronger than ever before. Like Darwin said, the strong will survive and the weak will fall prey. Competition is a good thing, and after all this is business, I hope you covet my clients, because I can assure you I covet all of yours! How you go about it is what you will set you apart from the rest.

Dale Rothenberger, VP The Winters Group, LLC

I recently had the opportunity to speak in front of a group of Small Business owners and key executives on the topic of how to get in front of larger companies. The biggest issue, of course, is the self-imposed perception that “I can’t approach that company, what will I say, what will they think about me?” After we get over this hurdle, the next issue is, how do I find out what they need so I can offer my product or services. (Most of us still want to tell about our product rather than learning what the prospect is looking for in the first place.)

One of my clients launched a “senior care” services business a few years ago, and is now successfully in franchise mode. The interesting thing I learned as we built out the brand and message drivers was that a significant portion of the senior population have eyesight issues. And that less than 10% of visually impaired people know how to read Braille (which implies a functional illiteracy of 90% for a swath of the public that is needlessly marginalized).

As I relate this to our business world, how many of our business owners and executives suffer from blindness? Blind to new ideas and new ways of operating? Blind to changes in the marketplace and customer preferences? The inability to recognize that if we don’t change how we go to market and what we offer to the market, our sales will continue to decline. Blind to realize that selling in today’s world is vastly different than selling even three years ago (eg; are we using Social Media effectively – to drive qualified leads to our sales funnel?)

The group of small business owners saw a vastly different way to approach selling in 2011. The question is, how are you changing your sales approach and process in 2011? I have been with companies that are growing consistently 30% year over year, even during the slow economy of the past few years. Are they any different than your business? Probably not, they just see and do things differently and react appropriately.

Reluctance to the economy continues to struggle to sustain growth and the job market continues to see more folks in unemployment, and I agree that running a business these days is a daunting task. In the corporate world today, the focus goes to the Marketing Executive for getting brand awareness and good quality leads, and to the Sales Exec on increasing close ratios on those leads.

Technology today is capable of qualifying leads, nurturing the selling cycle, and increasing close ratios using Voice of Customer and 1:1 relationships. We have improved every area of business operations, to run more smoothly, more effectively, and ultimately, more profitably. What more can we do to get more accomplished with fewer resources – principally, time, money, and energy. Today, real growth is about better ways to serve your clients.

For more information on The Winters Group, please click here.