Turning your do-list into a game.
Posted by: craigj under Productivity, To do list
A special coaching process provides a new way to motivate yourself.
The purpose of this exercise is to find a new way to motivate the marvelous machine called “you.” I offer it in surprise and delight, after the sometimes balky machine called “me” found himself working far more effectively, and enjoying it hugely.
Call it “Playing to Win!”
While few of us play to lose, it’s amazing how little the concept of winning figures in business or personal conversations.
Most of us prefer winning, although many are concerned that we not win at someone else’s expense. And, if you’re risk-averse, where the idea of losing is really frightening, then going for a win could seem like a pretty dangerous game. The pure entrepreneur expects occasional losing – if you don’t lose any, you’re not taking enough risks. But frequently, both winning and losing are sacrificed before the altar of comfort. And some of us will fudge the win in order to avoid the loss. Would you agree?
Now comes Dave Buck, president of Coachville, who has decided to turn coaching on its ear! His definition is that, if coaching isn’t about winning, it’s not coaching.
And the idea of winning is curiously rewarding. It really talks to me. Here’s an example which has hit me where I live – at the dreaded do-list!
(If you don’t struggle occasionally with your do-list, this email is not for you!) I have long had a theory that the guy with the longest do-list loses! And now and again, I think that could be me. (see below) As employees in business, most of us work our butts off trying to shorten up the list, and then our boss pours some more “do” on us. Or, as entrepreneurs, we set tasks for ourselves and then address them – with elation, with resignation, with a sense of duty, with whatever motivation we’ve been able to generate at the moment. Sometimes we attack with enthusiasm, sometimes with gritted teeth. I won’t say anything at all about procrastination or avoidance.
This is what my do-list usually looks like.
Do-list- Craig Jennings
Week of 2-20-2006
Lift weights
Call Karen Curry re Kleinfelder
Create new schedule for 310
Call Marc Solomon - resked
Complete Mohan’s Team Calls
Find where register business in Manhattan
Michael Ottaviano
Kimberly referral
Kim George flyer
Sussle referral
Appointment with Tiger
Jan Jasper
Check Beth - MDQ
Reinstate Backup, new drive- mitch
Repromise - do’list = put it in time.
Blog research
Call Stacey Morris re Public Speaking
Names and addresses to Study Groups.- Niches, Triads, Proficiencies
Communicate with LA group re: Manhattan recipient of business registration
Create program for Gordon
Discuss proposal w Maryann
Create Newsletter
Naomi at SR
Ed Kleinfeld - schedule appointment
Arber - protest
Arber – solution
More below???
I delete things off the list as they get done. Damn, I sure have a lot to do. Where do I start?
I start by turning it into a game!
Can we entrepreneurs get our butts more quickly and fully in gear if we create a game? Could your employees get into action if there were a scorekeeper, and daily winners? Before we’re done, I’ll show you how I transform this very ugly do-list, but first, what kind of a game do we have in mind?
Coachville uses the pattern language of sports to re-interpret what we often see as drudgery.
1. It’s a game you can play and win, every day.
2. It’s a part of a schedule – a series of games set out before you.
3. Your schedule is part of a season – which ends with a change in focus, and rest.
A human factor, entitled Periodicity, comes in here – and I’ll save it for a later newsletter.
Putting yourself in a game includes challenge, reward, and fun. It models business practice and human practice pretty nicely- you’d rather win than lose, and winning is very nice indeed! Not only that, but losing is permitted, practically essential.
This is really important: If you win the game today, great. If you lose today, no big deal. There’s another game coming tomorrow, and you can play full-out the next time, without shame or guilt or punishment (either self-administered or otherwise.) When each day is a game in itself, there’s little opportunity to spiral down into depression or inaction – to paraphrase blithe Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With The Wind” – Tomorrow Is Another Game!
Most of us enjoy games, particularly if we think we can do well in them. So here’s a game where you set the rules! You define what a “win” looks like. you’d think you could do well if you made the rules? Of course you could. So let’s go for it.
Game-building practice.: First, assign a point score to each of the items you might tackle this week.. Most of them will be worth 1 point. Items that take a lot of work, or items that you’ve put off for a while, might carry extra points – I’ve set a maximum of 5 for myself. Next, set a total number of points to strive for, and declare that a winning game. Then, play to win! Here’s how I structure it for myself.
First, I build a scorecard. (Example below.) I take my “do-list” and cut and paste it into Excel. I put it in the J or 10th column. That leaves me 9 columns to the left of my line-by-line do list.
1. The first column is for titles
2. I label the next 6 leftmost columns Sat/Sun, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and Friday.
3. I label the 8th column: Points. And I leave a narrow column for execution – when I’m complete on a task, I insert an “x” there.
4. I set the 6 day columns to total at the top using the =sum or ? sign. Now, any time I put a number anywhere in those columns, it adds to my total at the top.
5. I decide that I want 15 points for a win. If I get 15 or more in a given day, I have a Win – under 15 will be a Lose. BTW, if you’re not Excel-friendly and would like a little help with the setup, I’ll be happy to give you a hand – just call.
Here are the top 10 lines on my spreadsheet:
Now you’ve probably noticed that I only lost two games that week. And you probably know who was keeping score! Did I cheat? Was I a little generous with points on Thursday? Maybe, but I got a great deal of work accomplished, and I had a great time doing it! You also might notice that I didn’t complete Mohan’s Team Calls – bottom row. No “x,” no points assigned. So, the following week, I started out by listing all the incomplete tasks, and doubling the points for each of them, including Mohan’s calls.
I invite you to try this game. My experience is that it’s totally positive. I’m setting up my coaching clients with this, one at a time, and using this concept for my speaking gigs as well.
What’s yet to come?
Maybe a weekly game made up out of the totals for each day. I got 109 points that week, thanks to a Kick-Butt game on Monday. Should I set up a monthly game for 400 points?
Or maybe 500 points? How about financial outcomes? Want an income measure to be part of your game – figure how 1-5 points might be awarded if you had sales of $X,000 to $Y,000.
The long-range implications are really outstanding. Whether you’re self-employed or employed by someone else, the do-list is where the drudgery begins. Making a game out of it completely changes the process – it’s light, it’s fun, and you get more done!
If you were a business owner with a bunch of employees, you might want to set up games like this – games for everyone. Would you create the scorecard, or leave that to your employees? (Things to be said for both sides of this practice.) What kind of a scorecard would you set for yourself? Could you set a monthly prize for top score? Could you keep it light and fun?
Imagine how transformational this might be – you and your co-workers or employees competing to get the most done!
Imagine working in a place where everyone is trying to get the most work done they possibly can! And having fun doing it! And acknowledging themselves for being winners!
Should you take this on? Well, the price is right! And the flavor seems really positive. If you do, I’d love to hear the outcome.
I’ll report back to you – in a month or two – whether we can create a new class of player – the corporate athlete. (There’s an article in the Harvard Review by Jim Loehr which pursues this idea.) The corporate athlete leaps tall do-lists in a single bound! Wins a lot, smiles a lot, doesn’t complain about stress or lack of fulfillment. Work is good. Life is good.
Here’s my request of you. If you try this, will you let me know the results you get? Will you tell me how you changed the game to suit your own purposes? If you decide not to continue doing it, will you drop me a note or give me a call, and tell me about that? And, if it gives you a new freedom, and a new way to motivate that marvelous machine called you, I’d really like to hear from you.
Call Craig Jennings, at 516 944-6454 or email to craig@craigjennings.com.
Intentional Referrals
Posted by: craigj under Referrals
Referrals – we love to get them, we hate to ask for them!
And yet, almost nothing can be more beneficial to the entrepreneur or small business man. Referrals provide new business at almost no cost, and frequently provide a new customer who’ s pre-sold.
This newsletter focuses on the value of referrals, and some methods for avoiding the stops we encounter around a asking. Bob Burg wrote an excellent book called Endless Referrals , from which much of this material is taken. Burg’s book goes deeply into networking practice, and is a great advisor. In this news letter, we’ll focus on the specific practice of getting customers and colleague s to provide referrals for your business.
Isn’t it true that our good friends and customer’s are the best informed and probably the most enthusiastic support groups we have? I’m assuming that most of us need training on seeking referrals in order to train your customers and colleagues . It’s not hard to do, they’ll love you for it, and you’ll love the results .
Small-business owners usually describe their advertis-ing as “word-of-mouth.” They occasionally get a referral from a friend or client, and occasionally turn it into business . These are wonderful moments – a client has affirmed you, and you have a new client as well.
However, “word-of-mouth advertising” i s not deliberate. If a large business needs as seasonal emphasis on sales , they revert to advertising to simulates sales activity. If a car manufacturer has too much inventory when the new models are coming out, what does he do? He reverts to advertising to stimulate sales activity – a half-a million invested in spot TV might do it nicely. Paid advertising is a resource for business – properly handled, it represents an investment that produces a return. And it can be controlled, so that you get what you want when you want it. Isn’t there an alternative process available for the solo entrepreneur or small business person?
Generating and directing referrals comes from a focused approach to networking – which Burg definesas “cultivating mutually beneficial, give-and-take, win-win relationships. The end result [is to] develop a large and diverse group of people who will gladly and continually refer a lot of business to us , while we do the same for them.”
Then there’s Girard’s Law of 250. It suggests that there are about 250 people in our “sphere of influence” who would attend our wedding or our funeral. That’s where we networkers start. We network with them, we send them newsletters and thank-you notes, perhaps buy them lunch. We attend networking meetings, exchange business cards, do one another favors. We invest energy and money in networking. The investment we make is hard to quantify, probably just as well, since we may have a tough time evaluating Return on Investment.
Meanwhile, we shy away from our best sources of business –our satisfied customers, the people who have had the most recent experience of our products or services. And right up with our customers are our colleagues, those we trust and who trust us.
We reason that it’s inappropriate to train our customers to be powerful referrers — we’re supposed to be working for them, not the other way around. And we wouldn’t want to coerce or manipulate a friend, would we?
We’ve forgotten Benjamin Franklin’s dictum — “If I want a friend, I let him do me a favor.” In fact, your customers are not only the source of your current business - they can be a superior source of new business as well. And colleagues would be delighted to help — if only they knew how.
When a referral says: “What can I do for you now that you’ve been such a help to me?” what do you do?
What would you say?
First, let’s have a look at what you really want. You want an introduction to a few of the people the client knows. You’re willing to follow-up, particularly if he’ll pave the way for you.
Now here’s how NOT to ask for what you want.
“Do you know anyone who might benefit from my products or services ?” Actually you may have tried thi s already, di s covered it doesn’t work, and firmly resolved never to do it again!
Here’s what happened: Your respondent concluded that “anyone” meant “everyone.” He ran his mental search engine over a blur of 250 people, (Girard again!) couldn’t single out a soul, came up with zero, and promised to think about it more in the future (when he had more time.) Predictable outcome = 0
Alternative: You must provide them with a frame of reference. If client is a golfer, ask if there’s a foursome he plays with regularly. Then, ask –
a. “Does anyone in that foursome need ….?”
Not a golfer? then ask:
b. “How long have you been involved with your local Rotary club? Are there one or two people who …” You won’t say “is there anyone…” because you don’t want just anyone, you want to set a frame of reference for your friend, and, with his help, pre-qualify the referrals .
c. “How long have you been: sailing, bowling, flying, collecting stamps. Are there one or two people you know who share your hobby and might be potential referrals for me?”
Key points for generating referrals from customers.
1. Train customers how to network for you.
2. Know the difference between feature s and benefits in what you do.
3. Develop a benefit s tatement for the product or service you provide.
4. Teach people how to know if someone they are talking to is a good prospect for you.
5. “Frame” or isolate people in the referrer’s mind s o that the referrer can “see” them. You do that by providing them a frame of reference.
6. Help them “see” your referrals within that frame.
Exercise: I dare you to try this three times, on client s or colleagues .
1. Think about one of them. How could s he be a referral s ource for you?
2. Find out if s he i s willing or not. Be prepared to accept “not!” without resistance, and move on.
3. Help her under s tand what i s a good referral/client for you.
4. Explore one or more of her per s onal frame s of reference.
5. Ask her to try your referral requirement s on the people in her frame(s) of reference.
6. Ask her for 2-3 names, and if s he’s willing to speak with them before you follow up.
Expectation s :
* Expect to feel a little awkward on the first one.
* Expect to feel more comfortable on the third.
* Expect some new business from your three calls .
Will you tell me about your results ? Call Craig Jennings at (516)944-6454, or email craig@craigjennings.com.
Time Management is Bogus
Posted by: craigj under Goal setting, Time management
Mission: To release the handbrake, remove the obstacles to your success, whether you are responsible for your own results, planning a personal venture, or are now self-employed.
Time Management is Bogus!
We really don’t understand the problem.
1. You don’t have enough time. Or,
2. You have all the time there is.
In fact, time is unmanageable – it just keeps tickin’ along. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Time should be manageable, but it’s not!
Thousands and thousands of pages have been written about “time management.” The trick, of course, is not reading but doing. We think that this comparatively short little piece includes all the direction necessary.
The problem: We can’t manage time. We can manage ourselves, providing we agree that “we have met the enemy, and they is us!” Have a look at this “enemy.” And focus on answer #2 above.
When we look at how we manage our own time, most of us see a mess.
1. Endless do-lists
2. Broken agreements with others
3. Broken agreements with ourselves.
4. Frustration, anger and a sense of helplessness.
Quotation: “Time is the currency of our lives. How we spend it tells much about us!”
One answer -. Consideration vs. action.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet points this out as a dilemma in his famous soliloquy. I was struck by its pointedness when I revisited it today.
“To be, or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end them.”
And, from more modern times, this quote from Conrad Hilton:
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
So, what can we do to stop thinking and get into action?
1.
Bag the endless do-list. We construct them with the best of intentions, but they’re hugely disempowering. What does a do-list really mean? To me, it means that I’m giving myself permission to put it off until later! Can you smell the BS? Here’s a rule: INCLUDE ON A DO-LIST ONLY WHAT YOU PROMISED – TO SOMEONE ELSE OR TO YOURSELF - TO ACCOMPLISH TODAY. DO THAT ONLY. DO IT RIGHT NOW.
2.
Surprise! When we follow this TODAY rule, we’ve now solved problems a, b, and c. above and maybe d.
3. Identify one thing which is important but not urgent in your world – around your business, your relationships, whatever. You might call it an opportunity, and you know how many times opportunity knocks! Make a space for this opportunity, in time, in your day, on your calendar. One hour a day, 5 days a week, is outstanding.
4. Give up detailed prioritizing if you’ve been having self-management problems. Just make a commitment to yourself and the world that you will keep your promises and tackle one “Important, not urgent” opportunity item each day.
5. Be like steel about this. The whole world will try to keep you from managing this! Watch this happen. Your own demons, and the forces of disorganization will attack. Here’s how you strike back.
· Don’t answer the phone(s).
· Close your door or take your laptop to Starbucks.
· Promise yourself you will not end the day without completing this process and the actions associated with it.
· Keep that promise.
· Give yourself an Attaboy when you do.
· Tell someone else how you kept your promise.
· Discover how great you feel about your business and yourself.
When you discover that you’ve put something off, just slot it in tomorrow’s “Important But Not Urgent” time slot, and tackle it a second time with renewed energy.
We’ve addressed “how to do it.” But we haven’t addressed “what to do.”
In the next newsletter, we’ll tackle Goal Setting. Here’s a preview.
Imagine you’re riding a bicycle. You’re sitting on the seat, pedaling like mad. But no-one has control of the handlebars! And no-one is looking down the road ahead.
Many small business owners will tell you that they’d like to spend more time guiding the business, but they just don’t have the time. They just try to pedal faster.
If you’re an entrepreneur, you need a strategy – one which runs over years, not day by day.
For a more powerful focus, I offer classes on running a business, about starting it, about keeping it going, about making it work. Check out my business bootcamp which meets in April and May. Click on this URL http://www.craigjennings.com/classes.html and have a look at the options – some free and some not.
Suggestion: Do It Now!
If you’d like to see how your business would work if you got a little help now and again, explore the possibility of coaching by calling 516-944-6454 or email to craig@craigjennings.com
About Sales
Posted by: craigj under Sales
About Sales
There are as many different ways to do sales as there are salespeople! This installment of the Build-Your-Business newsletters will try to focus on some of the best and most effective techniques. Is sales really important? There are a lot of aspects to running a business. I suspect that sales is the only one which, if ignored, absolutely guarantees failure! On the other side of it, businesses with a successful sales program can have a lot of other things wrong with them, and still work!
We’d like to acknowledge our indebtedness to Elizabeth Kallen, of Exceed Associates, www.exceedassociates.com, who provided the resources for this roundup of sales techniques. Any mistakes or misstatements are my responsibility, not hers.
Self-assessment.
Let’s start with a self-assessment - what you need to know about yourself before you begin. Click here for a one-pager.
Now that we’ve got some more insight about your favorite salesperson, let’s explore sales. What is it? It’s the process whereby a prospect becomes a customer. Most of us have plenty of the former, not enough of the latter. Sales is the conversion process.
In fact, there’s a four-step selling process which should be your guide. It helps the salesperson avoid short-cutting the process out of hurry or fear, and it allows the customer to get the full value of the upcoming decision.
Process. We’ll call it SCAN
1. Situation
2. Challenge
3. Affect
4. Need
Explanation:
Step 1 - Situation: is where you and the prospect have a look at what’s going on for him, right now. Cheesy Example: He lost his watch, he’s a candidate for a new one. Is there a Situation in his business or his life that you two might explore? Is it important for him to be on time? Many salespeople rush ahead to identify need and fulfill it with their product. Resist the impulse, give your client an opportunity to appraise the situation thoroughly.
Step 2 - Challenge: - when he has no watch, what problems, challenges, concerns does that raise? what are the choices before him? Buy a watch, not buy a watch? Spend the money, keep the money? In real life, it’s more complex. Ask questions that will help him see that this poses a real discomfort and problem. Help him understand the details of the Challenge. Take your time with him. You’re building a powerful structure for agreement.
Step 3 - Affect: - If he doesn’t have a watch, how will that Affect his business? What are the impact would “not being on time” have on him, on his work? Does the value of the Affect overshadow the cost of the watch?
Step 4 - Need: - At the beginning of this conversation, your prospect might have agreed that he Needed a watch, but he’d get around to it sooner or later. Now that he’s been through the first three steps, it’s totally clear to him that not having a watch is a major problem with a very simple solution. He “Needs” a watch, and he shouldn’t wait any longer to handle the problem. It’s important, however, that your prospect come to this realization because of the questions you ask, not the answers you give. This is vital, because people believe what they say, not what you say!
While the “watch” as sales target is a bit trivial, have a look at the first three steps. Can you see the value they bring to your conversation? Would you be willing to try this structure in your own practice, and see how it worked?
Remember SCAN - Situation, Challenge, Affect and Need. If you’re willing to work through this little process, and practice it a bit, you’ll find that it fits almost every selling situation you find yourself in. Also, you will find that it adds an extra dimension to your selling efforts that shows up in more customers, and happier, better served customers as well.
Features vs. Benefits
This is an oldie but goodie, and it traps the most effective salespersons over and over again. Your product is a handy-dandy knife, fork spoon and oyster-shucker. Your owner is excited that it’s 100% stainless steel, mirror-polished, shiny. He’s proud of his dream tool. You think that the primary selling point is the benefit of convenience, one tool does all. Which will your customer value most highly, and close more easily with? Answer: The benefit, not the feature.
Your owner, however, points out how difficult it is to make the device out of stainless steel. He wants validation - the customer should respond to all the effort and expense he’s gone to, and he needs your commitment to this end. You’re sympathetic. You may even try his approach on a customer or two. Odds are, however, that anyone who actually buys your product does so because they want the convenience of a combination knife, fork, spoon and oyster-shucker, not because it’s steel or shiny.
As you work with your customers, listening and questioning are by far the best techniques for finding out what it is they really want to buy. Simply let them buy it, and remember why when you present for the next customer.
Sanity = SW, SW, SW, MO
My compliments to John Hajisava at Global Results Unlimited for this little treasure - a salesperson’s sanity tool. Whatever your relationship to rejection, try John’s reminder after each sales call. The letters translate as follows:
1. Some Will
2. Some Won’t
3. So What?
4. Move On!
Repeat this little mantra after each sales call that doesn’t result in a sale.
Difference is everything!
One of the most extraordinary time-savers available to the salesperson is describing your ideal client. Many hesitate to do so for fear they’ll be limiting their marketplace. In fact, defining your ideal client is a first step towards focusing your efforts where they will do the most good (and put the most money in your pocket. Here are some useful questions on identifying your ideal client.
1. What distinguishes your ideal client from everyone else?
2. Where are your ideal clients located?
3. What are their perceptions?
4. What are their attitudes?
5. What are their feelings?
6. What are their preferences?
7. How do they decide to make a purchase?
Getting the answers: First, answer these questions yourself. Second, survey your past and present customers. Some will, some won’t, so what? Move on! And you may be surprised by what you learn.
At the corporate level
1. What organizations do you most want to work with?
2. What organizations are most likely to want or need your services?
Take on getting really clear about who you want, and what you want to say to them.
In the next newsletter, we’ll cover the following:
1. Prospecting for leads
2. Networking
3. Asking for referrals
4. Follow-up planning
5. Setting agendas and generating customer qualification
6. Objection management
If you’d like to see how your business would work if you got a little help now and again, explore the possibility of coaching by calling 516-944-6454 or email to craig@craigjennings.com
About Sales II
Posted by: craigj under Uncategorized
About Sales II
In our first installment on this worthy topic, we covered:
1. A self-assessment
2. The SCAN technique
3. Features vs. Benefits
4. The sanity check - SW, SW, SW, MO
5. The ideal client
If you want to refresh your memory, go to my website at craigjennings.com, and have a look at the newsletter archives for October. And, if you need a little motivation to set out on this journey, remember that, next to you, sales is the most important issue in your business. This newsletter should continue our objectives with:
1. Prospecting for leads
2. Networking
3. Asking for referrals
4. Follow-up planning
We’ll end this installment here, and go on to the 5 items below in about 10 days.
5. Setting agendas and generating customer qualification
6. Objection management.
7. Closing the sale.
8. Managing your pipeline
9. Call resistance - fear of rejection.
Once again, I’d like to acknowledge Liz Kallen, of Exceed Associates, who provided much of the material for this newsletter. She teaches sales techniques, and can be reached at liz@exceedassociates.com.
Should you do everything I propose here? You might, or might not. But I talk with a lot of small businesses - and the ones who have sales problems haven’t taken these on. If you want there to be a lot of money around your business, sales is the key.
What’s a lead?
Imagine you’re a shark, cruising the depths, and beginning to feel a little hungry. A school of tasty fish swim by, but you perceive the school, not the individual fish. It’s not until one of them separates himself from the school that you smile, accelerate, and wham! Lunch is served!
And today, the people who might be customers are schooling too. Whether they travel in packs or not, the problem is not lack of leads. It’s making a connection with individual customers on a personal level.
So, a lead is not all the people who might use your product or service, any more than the phone book is a useful tool for finding customers. A lead is the identification of an individual or a group of specific individuals as potential customers. It’s a decision which takes place in your mind - just as it did for the shark!
Where do you go to make these decisions?
1. Identify some Networking groups - they’ll be advertised. Create a short description of what kind of solution or outcome your product or service provides, and be prepared to share it. Whether your outside interests are political, social, or just business, be on the lookout for an affinity group where you believe that members can benefit from the product/service you provide, and separate a few fish from the school. Again, ask friends or customers where they have identified useful groups which might interest you. Could you create a group on your own?
2. Networking groups contain leads. An enterprising shark will cruise the group, tasting gently, one-by-one, exploring possibility. Simple questions: Tell me about your business; what made you decide to attend this function. Set yourself a target of having a good, probing conversation with just two or three people, one of whom might turn out to be a customer. Find people you think you might be able to help. And don’t worry about giving out your business card. Just get theirs! Put a note on their card when you get it to help you identify the prospect later. Give them your business card if they ask for it!
3. Referrals from clients produce leads. Since your clients have already experienced the benefits of your product/service, most will be comfortable to make referrals. Make it easy for them to do this by being specific about the type of person/industry/income level and so forth that you want to meet. To the response - I’d love to refer you, but don’t know where - ask them if there’s a place they go daily - Starbucks, for example. “Do you see anyone there you might speak with for me?” Ask if they work with any small business or social groups. “Who do you know in that group that might benefit from my services the way you have?” Invite your clients to do as much of the work as possible. Ask them to call the prospect, and suggest the prospect take the initiative and call you. You may have to ask more than once. But most clients will be happy to do it, (they just need reminding and encouraging.)
4. Cold calling. Any direct-mail house will sell you a list of 1000 potential customers, with phone numbers, sorted by zip code, income, or any of a dozen criteria. Then you plan an inquiry or create a script, call, collect your no’s, and keep at it until you connect. If you don’t want to do the work yourself, professional cold-callers get a fee for setting up appointments for you. Check with Norma Siciliano at (212) 472-2650 - she’s one of the best.
5. Centers of influence. Someone or some group of people in a related field. If you sell insurance, a stockbroker could be a C of I. Your approach - how can you bring value to the stockbroker - e.g.. refer him to some of your customers. If he’s any good, he’ll quickly find a way to reciprocate.
6. Newsletters - like this one. Publish regularly, and topically. First, create a list of names of people you’d like to communicate with. If you don’t already have one, see Direct Mail, below.
7. Direct mail. Create a letter or postcard. Try it on a small group first. You can buy names for about 10¢ a piece, mail a postcard for about 25¢, etc. etc. You can create a paper mailing, or a digital mailing. You’ll also need to create a record-keeping process so that you can follow up the maybes a week later
8. Public speaking. When you speak in public, you present yourself as an expert to a group of people, and some of them will want to know more about your service or product. At the very least, have a clipboard at the back of the room, or generate a raffle to collect the business cards of the interested.
9. Public Relations. Write articles for publication for media talking to client groups, or send press releases to these publications.
10. Advertising - Consider all the “bad” commercials you see on TV. Could you do better? Even if you’re not going to have a great Superbowl commercial, get professional help around Radio, Newspaper, Billboards, TV, even give-aways and leaflets.
Funnel your leads. Your leads go in the top of the funnel, sales come out the bottom. First, have a look at the people you’ve identified as leads. Do a little math, and figure out what each of them cost you. $1? $10, $100? Now that you know how valuable they are, make a plan to keep track of them - an ACT database, an Excel spreadsheet. Call that the top of the funnel. Then make a plan to stay in contact with them - one sales professional says that it takes 6 “no’s” to get to 1 “yes”. Count how many leads you put in your prospects “funnel” each month. Count how many sales come out the bottom of the funnel. Yes, there’s a relationship. Over time, you may learn that it takes 10 prospects to make 1 sale. You need 10 sales a month to keep afloat? Plan on generating 100 leads a month, then the sales will take care of themselves. Simple?
About Sales III
Posted by: craigj under Uncategorized
Mission: To release the handbrake, remove the obstacles to your success, whether you are responsible for your own results, planning a personal venture, or are now self-employed.
About Sales III
This is the third installment of the same topic, picking up where we left off last month. If you’re committed to becoming more powerful in the area of sales, you may want to go back to my website, tag “Newsletter Archives” and read the first and second installments - I know I had to!
10. Setting Agendas and gaining agreement.
What’s your prospect most afraid of? That you will make him uncomfortable by persisting in an argument he wants to end. It’s called “being sold to.” It’s the old-style sales approach, where you browbeat the customer into saying yes. Solution: Set agendas and agreements at the outset - what you plan to cover, what you will be asking of him, what kind of responses you’re looking for.
One salesman I know proposes an up-front agreement something like this. “Towards the end of this conversation, most people will either say yes, no, or I’ll think about it. Some people are worried that they’ll hurt my feelings, or perhaps they have unanswered questions, so they say ‘I’ll think about it’ or ‘I’ll have to talk with my wife, my boss, etc.’ But no is really a good answer, as is yes. Would you be willing to just say yes or no?”
Here’s another. A client of mine called a prospect he didn’t know. “I’m not interested” said the client, even before my client had introduced the proposition. He repeated “I’m not interested” several times, while my client suggested, in a friendly and reasonable way, that the prospect might at least like to find out what was at stake before he made the judgment. My client persisted where many of us might have just hung up - and the client ultimately listened, and made a key referral. We later decided that, when your client says “I’m not interested” and stays on the phone, he’s still interested! You also might agree that it was a super piece of salesmanship!
11. Handling Concerns.
When a prospect senses they will need to make a decision about something, what concerns come up for him or her? Here are some.
* Making a mistake
* The unknown
* Becoming embarrassed
* Your honesty
* Owing money
* Failing at something
In each case, your prospect is asking for you to help him to get past the concern. If you can, he may access another concern, or he may go straight on to the close.
The Trap.
Responding with denial - “No, it’s not too expensive!” Prospect interprets this response as “You’re wrong, I’m right.” Not many sales get closed by people who are right! Recommendation: Handle each objection the best you can, make the customer right for having brought up the objection, then show him or her a way around the objection. “We have a payment plan.” “I can see where you’d think so, but…”. It may take you a number of sales calls to learn all the objections that are likely to come up, and devise ways around them. If you’re like me, you’ll think of what you should have said after the call is finished! Too bad, but write it down and you’ll be prepared next time. It won’t take you long to become very effective at handling concerns. Remember, each stupid, unreasonable, argumentative concern is a hidden request for solution and a closing.
Here’s a structure for handling concerns.
1. Hear them out, all the way.
2. Feed it back, just the way they said it.
3. Question it.
4. Respond to it.
5. Confirm that they understand your answer.
6. Find out if they’ve gotten completion on the concern. If no, go back to #1; if yes, go to 7 below.
7. Change the direction and move on.
12. Closing the sale.
No matter how desperately your customer wants your product or service, he probably won’t take it until you invite him to. And the biggest single reason why sales don’t get made is that the salesperson doesn’t ask the customer for the business. If you don’t ask you don’t get. Ah, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get rejected! Of course, you don’t get the business either. Call reluctance and closing reluctance are a whole ‘nother conversation, coming later. Let’s assume you can manage them - here are some closing processes you can try.
1. How does this sound to you? Would you like to try this? When do you see this getting started?
2. Would you like to try this?
3. When do you see this getting started?
4. Which would you prefer - A or B?
5. Pro’s and Con’s. Ask the prospect to write down a list of each. Help with the positives. Don’t help with the negatives.
6. Point out someone who’s in a similar position, and how your product or service is benefiting them.
7. Address the concerns raised, consider each as a buying signal, and then go back to #1.
Closing traps.
* When you’ve asked the closing question, shut up! Let the customer answer it. Your customer has to make a choice, and most customers will look for ways to avoid choosing. Let there be silence after you ask the customer for the business - honor the fact that your customer is choosing. (If you feel the need to clarify or explain, don’t! Consider the possibility that your own anxiety about the sale might prompt you to sabotage the customer’s decision process.)
* Beware of feeling tense, upset or angry when a sale doesn’t take place. Diagnosis: This sale was about the wrong person. It was about you and your concerns - it should have been about the customer. Allow yourself to be disappointed that a customer can’t or won’t accept your proposal. But it’s the customer’s responsibility to choose for him/herself. Feeling badly, perceiving a no as rejection, or being angry is an emotional process you shouldn’t indulge in. You may want the sale and you may have worked hard to generate it, but it’s up to the customer, not you, to create the buying action. If you’ve done your best for the customer, and they won’t accept the outcome you offer, recite our mantra - SW, SW, SW, MO - Some Will, Some Won’t, So What, Move On!
13. Managing your pipeline.
At this point, perhaps you are developing your own system of keeping your pipeline full. Your prospects go in your “funnel,” you keep a regular measure of the traffic, and you begin to see how this contributes to your personal income. You may wonder whether all the work is worth it - maybe you’ll just skip this step. I confess to listening closely to that temptation myself. But, there is no motivation like the sure knowledge that what you are doing will produce results that you want. If you want control of your own motivation, there’s nothing like keeping score! You can’t win without success, and you can’t succeed without failure. If you avoid keeping score, then we know what’s going on, don’t we!
14. Call or Closing Resistances.
They exist! They probably exist in you. The first trick is to unmask them. What are the masks? Each of us has our own.
Here are a few:
1. I’m too busy.
2. I need a cigarette break, bathroom break, any other break!
3. I can’t find the address, the file, the phone number.
4. This prospect is too ??? - stupid, poor, dysfunctional, unfocused, annoying.
5. (Loudly) “Oh, I’m so disorganized!” (Intended to generate pity and sympathy.)
6. What excuses do you find for yourself?
And the conversation behind the question is the mother lode.
* I really don’t want to be successful.
* Maybe a different job?
* I’m Un??? where Un is completed with: worthy, focused, successful, organized, acceptable, and so forth.
When we make excuses for ourselves, we do our best to make them stick and we defend them almost to the death! We will hold as true stuff we know to be untrue - “I’m unsuccessful” is a favorite - just to keep the excuse working. This is a place where a coach can make an enormous difference and help you give up the excuses that stand in the way of the success you really want to be. Hint: 516 944-6454 or craig@craigjennings.com.
15. Resolve to be a sales master!
Consider what would be possible if you took on becoming a sales master. You’re good at it now. And you can get by the way you are. But Mastery is where the money is! As you’ve read through these newsletters, you’ve seen that there are two simple issues - take on some processes you already know how to do but don’t do, and give up some processes which don’t work for you. Would you like to have your business awash with money? You don’t have to be the biggest shark in the ocean - but wouldn’t it be nice to be the fattest one!
If you’d like to see how your business would work if you got a little help now and again, explore the possibility of coaching by calling 516-944-6454 or email to craig@craigjennings.com
Small Business, Legal Structures, Part 1
Posted by: craigj under Uncategorized
To Incorporate or Not to Incorporate, Part II
Posted by: craigj under Uncategorized
The Corporation. Corporations come in three flavors, C Corp, S Corp and LLC. The three have much in common
1. The major virtue that the Corporation brings to the table is its “persona.” Whether it’s General Motors Corp. or “You” Corp., it stands as a legal entity or person, protecting its owners and participants from personal exposure to legal liability as a consequence of activities of the Corporation. The U.S. Supreme Court calls it “an artificial being, invisible, intangible and existing only in contemplation of the law.”
This is a great vehicle for that Skydiving venture we spoke about before - let’s now call it Skydiving Inc. If one of your clients has a dysfunctional parachute and ends up a splotch on the pavement, his grieving relatives will find it difficult to collect from you personally. They can sue Skydiving Inc., and, if successful, take all its assets, but you have interposed this legal entity between them and you. Skydiving is an extreme example - but if someone slips on your stairs or drops your hot coffee in their lap, and you have to answer in court, it’s preferable that it’s your company’s assets, not your own, that are at issue. This protection has been called “the corporate veil” and allows the entrepreneur to compartmentalize his risk. He is not personally liable for debts and obligations of the corporation, beyond the extent of his investment in the corporation. (Oh yes, the IRS and State Tax authorities can come after you for certain unpaid taxes, including payroll. But if the business fails or loses a lawsuit, the general creditors cannot attach your home, your car, or personal property.) My attorney-reader points out that this doesn’t make you totally safe in all circumstances. What it does mean is that the path to your assets is much more difficult for a creditor than it would be if you were running a sole proprietorship.
2. The Corporation has the ability to raise capital by issuing shares of stock, either publicly or privately. Public stock offerings are highly regulated by federal and state governments; but private transfers must simply follow the rules of the stockholder agreement. If someone wants to give you $60,000 for a 30% interest in your company, you will have to issue him enough shares so that he has 30% of the total shares issued. Then you can put the $60,000 in the bank.
3. Incorporated businesses allow their owners to deduct certain fringe benefits such as pensions, retirement plans and other profit-sharing plans. These deductions can reduce the amount of taxable income that the business declares, and increase the net benefits to the owners
4. Unlike the sole proprietorship, the corporation’s life can exceed yours. This may produce an asset for your heirs which could be lost under the terms of the sole proprietorship.
1. The C Corp.
The C Corp. provides all the useful features listed above. However, there are also some liabilities:
1. “Double taxation” is uniquely a liability of a C Corp. Since such a corporation generates its own profit, it is taxed independently of its members. If the C Corp. passes funds on to its owners as a dividend, profit sharing or other distribution, the recipients must pay taxes on the receipts. So the dollar that ends up in your account has gone through two separate tax machines first.
2. The corporation is a fountainhead of bureaucracy and governmental regulation. Corporate activity is limited and described in law, and the directors must abide by strict regulations. If you overlook the record-keeping regulations or fail to fulfill other requirements such as maintaining separate bank accounts, it’s possible for the courts to set aside your corporate status, “piercing the corporate veil.” Editorial note: You can get Articles of Incorporation from an attorney, accountant or from internet resources. You’ll receive the “Black Beauty” including binder, stock certificates, documentation and corporate seal, and the internet version is usually substantially cheaper. However, the lawyer or accountant should spend some effort on your setup, and provide you with the methodology for maintaining the corporate records successfully. This could turn out to be the far more economical course in the long run, possibly a business lifesaver.
3. What does the state have to do with it? First of all, the corporation is governed by the laws of the state you’re incorporated in. Delaware has been the choice of large corporations for some time. Nevada has become a more interesting choice as the state of incorporation for small businesses recently. For details, your attorney should interpret.
4. One other “state” issue - corporations have to “qualify to do business” in states where they are not incorporated. How important is this if you have a business in New York and you expect some business from Connecticut or New Jersey? Check with your attorney or accountant.
5. Finally, closing down a corporate existence, or even changing the structure, can be complicated, and, where lawyers are involved, complicated usually means expensive and time-consuming.
2. The S Corp. An alternative to the C Corp, the S Corp is frequently preferred by the consultant, sole proprietor, or other small businessperson.
1. Taxation. Do you recall that in the Sole Proprietorship or partnership, income went straight to your personal tax return? Same for the S Corp, so there’s no “double taxation.”
2. The “corporate veil” is maintained.
3. The structure is far less complex; you simply pay taxes on what you make. Paperwork and bookkeeping requirements are less stringent.
4. In addition, there’s another special benefit - you can “carry forward” losses from prior years to offset current earnings. Since most small business startups are not immediately profitable, it sounds as if this structure was made to order for us.
3. The LLC or Limited Liability Company. Finally, the LLC or Limited Liability Company may provide you the best of both worlds. While it is not, strictly speaking, a corporation, it provides similar assets, particularly if you’re planning an organization with more than one owner.
1. Taxation. While the LLC is designed to serve multiple owners, it allows the pass-through tax status of the simple partnership - the members pay the taxes, the company does not.
2. Liability protection. Also, members enjoy limited liability protection - each member’s risk is limited to his/her investment in the business. And a barrier akin to the “corporate shield’ is in place, so personal assets are protected.
3. Some disadvantages - with this structure, you must make public notice before you start, by advertising your intention in the news media.
4. Also, you can’t offer stock to employees with an LLC, significant difference from a C Corp or S Corp. Other advantages and liabilities of the LLC are arcane, and best explained by your lawyer.
5. Cost. Your lawyer will also explain why it may be 3-4 times more expensive to set up an LLC for you than an S Corp or C Corp.
To summarize, we’ve looked at Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships, the C Corp., the S Corp and the LLC. The first is absolutely the quickest and simplest way to get your venture open for business. The second is designed to give multiple owners an equally fast start. The last three offer some important safeguards, are more time-consuming and expensive in setup and in ongoing maintenance, and should not be chosen without some legal counsel.
(If you missed the prior installments, you can access them on my website, www.craigjennings.com under Newsletter Archives. Look for them.
And, if you’d like a little help now and again to get your small business started, or moving forward more powerfully, I’ll talk with you a while (516 944-6454) for free.
That summarizes the available legal structures for our beginning business. Pick one, and let’s get on with it. In the next installment, we’ll talk about sales, a subset of marketing.
We’re tackling sales next for one important reason - without sales, you have no business (or at least, not for very long!)
If you’d like to see how your business would work if you got a little help now and again, explore the possibility of coaching by calling 516-944-6454 or email to craig@craigjennings.com
Tricky Truths in Small Business
Posted by: craigj under Uncategorized
Tricky Truths:
If you own a small business or are planning to, there are a few tricky truths you may be looking at.
The enthusiasm for small business startups is high and getting higher – but the success rate is low – 4 out of 5 are gone in 4 years.
So why do so many small businesses fail?
The SBA offers three reasons:
- Inadequate capital
- Inadequate experience
- Inadequate planning
For the next year, I’d be writing a small-business newsletter designed to meet conditions #2 and #3. (Sorry I can’t help with the capital!) I’d be looking at all the issues around building a small business that bedevil the entrepreneurs Why can’t you get good help? Why is everything urgent? Why are you working twice as hard and making half as much?
And there are the other issues’s should you incorporate, write a business plan, hire your dumb brother-in-law because he’ll work for next to nothing, and so forth.
Here’s an abbreviated outline’s the real deal runs 5 pages.
- Envisioning the business – plan no small plans around mission and vision.
- Creating the business – goals, corporations and incorporation, finance.
- Marketing- strategy and tactics.
- Writing your business plan – not easy, not hard either
- Building your human resources – choosing, training and managing
- Using experts – accountants, attorneys, consultants, coaches
- Market research – should you?
- Protecting intellectual property – copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets
- Setting up your office - computers, phones, other equipment, people-needs
Are you still with me? Here’s a bonus – I’ll send you an idea for a self-assessment that surprises most entrepreneurs, and helps small businesspeople decide where to do it themselves, and where to ask for help. Just send an e-mail to craig@craigjennings.com.
Invitation to the Dance
Posted by: craigj under Uncategorized
An invitation to a New Year’s Dance
How do you get you going? How do you commit to a plan or set of tasks, get them done, and then move on to the next steps? How do you avoid the “I’ll do it later” syndrome, or the “I’ve gotta deal with these emergencies first” where the former is probably nothing but a stall, and the latter possibly an avoidance.
So let’s have a look at how you get yourself moving this New Year. I’ve identified two little dances, and you can choose between them.
Dance #1 - Let’s call it the Failure Fandango!
I have a picture of an elegant woman in a red dress with castanets, Spanish guitar music, and a dark shadowy partner that I can’t quite make out. They’re dancing around in a circle and they’re doing the Failure Fandango. And I know the dance! Have you ever done it? It goes something like “Darn, that really wasn’t good at all. I’m really awful. I’ll never get it right. I need to look at how dysfunctional I can get and kick myself in the butt so I can drive myself forward.”
What’s powerful about this approach is that every time you fail, you can use this to drive yourself away from the failure point. And you’ve probably done it many times before. You may have been taught to “learn from your mistakes.”
What’s insidious about this approach is that it works only when you fail! It doesn’t work at all if your last effort was pretty successful, unless of course you find the one thing that didn’t work according to plan, and slam yourself for that! Does this ever happen for you? What happens if you do something well, and someone compliments you for it? Can you just say thank you, or do you have to deprecate your way out of it?
Summary: In order to employ this “kick in the butt” motivation technique, you must fail or identify something you did as a failure. Each time you try to move forward with success, professionally or personally, you take yourself out of the reach of the “kick in the butt.” Therefore, if that’s your primary motivation technique, you just don’t dare get too successful. You have to create failure somewhere in order to get yourself going! What a strategy!
Consider that this is kind of a cyclic process - and here are the career steps.
- The kick (ouch!).
- The move forward, one or two steps Olè!
- The full stop. (Discovering that your favorite motivational technique is no longer available)
- The move backward (failure).
- You’re ready to begin the cycle once more.
I have to admit that this sounds a little absurd - why would we do something so elaborate, and something so inconsistent with our best interests?
OK, then try this on. Have you ever heard the lyrics to the Failure Fandango?: “I’ll never get it right”,” I’m no good at that”, “I always mess upÖ”. Have you ever heard this coming out of your mouth? Do these conversations put you back into the Failure Fandango?
Dance #2 - Future Foxtrot!
First, blow off the guitar and the lady in red. We’re going to need some cool jazz, or maybe the choral piece from Beethoven’s Ninth. Now, on a metaphorical chalkboard, draw yourself a picture of a future where things are working well for you. Let it include money, relationship, career, etc. - all the issues or values that are important to you. Leave ancient history out of it - just imagine a spectacular future, and write it down. Call it your vision. Write it down in detail.
The steps to the Future Foxtrot..
- Imagining a desirable future.
- Writing it down.
- Setting up long and short-term goals, waypoints or milestones.
- Getting in action around some of them.
This can really be a fun experience. If you find yourself leaning back towards the Failure Fandango, catch yourself as soon as you hear that music, and see if you can really create a great possibility, a future for yourself that’s spectacular, your own personal “I have a dream”.
We both know that if you create a dream there’s no guarantee you will achieve it; but if you don’t create a dream or possibility, there’s every guarantee you won’t achieve it!
So this is my New Year’s offering to you - creating a future so compelling that you can avoid the Failure Fandango, cavort with the Future Foxtrot and finally achieve what you always knew you could
Ahem! I’d like to offer my coaching services here to those who want to tackle this project but aren’t sure they can make it on their own. I have 2-3 slots open for people in this kind of inquiry - if this makes sense to you, send an email to craig@craigjennings.com and we’ll talk. If you are a little cautious, first go to my website at www.craigjennings.com and check it out - please check out the testimonials while you’re there, and call the people who’ve used me successfully in the past and left you telephone numbers for that purpose.
And finally, my very best wishes for your amazing New Year. Mine’s going to be great, and I hope you’ll dance with me!
