Do Business Well

What greeted you when you arrived in your office this morning? Those reports, notes, letters and memos that I just have been discussing. By the time you have waded through it all, it’s nearly lunch break.

Did you know that the average person spends 45 minutes a day aimlessly searching for something lost on a desk? Moreover, an untidy desk may well cost you a contract, a new client or a project missed because you fail to react soon enough.

How did you fare? Did you find that you’re losing the battle? If so, you will need to implement all the ideas below to get on top of things. Continue Reading »

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As I write this at the beginning of the year, there are ten taxicabs in San Francisco that are painted bright purple and yellow and sport a big Yahoo! logo. Each has a computer onboard that offers customers wireless Internet access. For no extra charge you can browse the Web, check your email, trade stocks, order your groceries, look up directions to a restaurant or bar you’ll be patronizing that evening, and so on. Within a couple of years, every cab in San Francisco will have Internet access.

Otis Elevators recently announced that it would begin equipping elevators with Internet access. As passengers ride up and down to their offices, hotel rooms, or meetings, they will be able to read the latest news, check the stock market, or take a quick look at the web- site of the company they’re about to visit. Continue Reading »

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I owned and operated a wholesale company with approximately one thousand retailers as my customers. I was completely computerized and sent statements to my customers every month in addition to their invoices.

We offered a 3 percent cash discount for payments received within ten days of invoice date. We charged 1.5 percent per month interest on accounts that were not paid within the standard thirty- day terms. The U.S. economy had enjoyed two very prosperous years. For all of these reasons, the company was collecting its accounts in an average of thirty days.

In addition, we had only needed to write off .5 percent of our total sales because of the bankruptcies or liquidations of our customers. This was excellent, given the number and quality of our customers. Continue Reading »

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Types of Media

1. Direct mail. Direct mail can be very effective, though you’ll be fighting hard for attention in a medium that is saturated with highly sophisticated competition. What follows are some general rules for reaching a list of known customers, whether business to business or consumer:

A. Start with the envelope. Print something intriguing on the outside that will make your target curious about the contents. One mass mailer who sends our company at least two or three mailings per week puts “personal and confidential” on the envelope. It’s amazing, but folks are actually more likely to open that envelope first. Continue Reading »

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‘For people who like peace and quiet:a phoneless cord.’

When you are feeling anxious, the tension can come through in your voice and create problems for you on the phone. Research shows that an anxious man sounds elderly, inflexible, irritable and bad-tempered. Tense women can be judged to be irrational,emotional and unstable.

You can rid yourself of tension before phoning by relaxing yourmind and your muscles. Take a deep breath, tighten up all over, clench your fists and toes, stretch your legs and hold for a slowcount of five.

Relax and breathe out for a count of five. Take another deepbreath, hold for a count of five, breathe out and relax. Make sure your teeth are unclenched by putting your tongue against theback of your top front teeth. Continue Reading »

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‘Most of our future lies ahead.’

We have all seen it: colleagues holding the phone at arm’s length and making winding motions with their other arm. The person at the other end is just not going to hang up.

Being caught on the phone is a sign that you have lost control of the conversation. Ending your call efficiently is as important as starting it correctly.

It is unlikely that you will ever get a long goodbye from Aspirers (the, entrepreneurial type) because they are in such a hurry to hang up. If you do want to say goodbye first, put the reason for ending the call firmly back into the other person’s zone.

Say, ‘Thank you for your time. I won’t keep you any longer because I know you’re busy’ Continue Reading »

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First, let’s address the subject of rejection. All over the world when I speak to groups I ask, ‘Put up your hands if you have ever had a second call from a sales person to whom you first said no.’ About 10 to 15 per cent of hands are raised. Then I ask, ‘Keep your hands up if you have ever had a third call from a sales person to whom you have said no twice.’ Virtually all the hands go down.

Yet we know that it is in the fifth cycle of three-monthly or less call backs that we really get the appointments. ‘So why this fear of calling back?’ I asked myself. Remember as children how you never took no for answer; you simply nagged until you got what you wanted — be it an ice-cream, a skateboard or whatever the ‘in’ thing was at the time.

I now call this the ‘Ice-cream theory’. You ask for an ice-cream and the answer is ‘No’. You nag and keep on nagging and 10 years later you have had 1 000 or more ice-creams. So when did we start believing that ‘No’ meant no forever? When did rejection start to hurt so much? Continue Reading »

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There are dozens of methods of contacting prospects. The following are the most popular methods:

Over the phone

The quickest and most cost-effective way to get around is by phone. Although this has a down-side — you can’t see the customer, his face or his expressions — the phone should be used to obtain interviews where you can sell the opportunity.

Just bear in mind that a telephone call can be unwelcome. You are intruding on the prospect’s time. So make what you have to say short, relevant and of interest to the prospect. Your phone call must, within seconds, convey a benefit which will be of interest to that prospect.

Do not try to explain networking over the telephone. This rarely works. You want a face-to-face interview lasting just 10 minutes with the prospect to drop off material. If you can obtain that, and the prospect is interested, you can be sure that your appointment will last considerably longer. Continue Reading »

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House meetings (or group meetings) can work extremely well, not only to gain distributors but to generate enthusiasm and excitement about network marketing. Make these meetings a lot of fun. There are many pluses about properly run group meetings. You will find that the group dynamics and the spirit and enthusiasm of your team rubs off on the new distributor. If, say, your personality and that of a new prospect clash (she likes talking about her five children, the garden and her home and your interests are largely centred around business growth, travelling and seizing new opportunities) you could find, no matter how hard you try, that the conversation does not flow smoothly. But if you have a large group with varied personalities, the chances are that she will find someone to whom your prospect can relate easily. Continue Reading »

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13. Java portal. This is a different form of portal, where you do not have to visit the portal but instead content is downloaded in line with your preferences. Avant Go! uses this technique to download content while a smartphone is being synchronized with a PC.

14. Mobile search. All the main search providers have mobile (WAP)-specific versions of their search engines. These are now becoming more sophisticated. Google Mobile search (www.google.co.uk/mobile) offers Local search to find a local business, and will then display a map (Google Maps is integrated) or phone number with the option of click-to-call on the appropriate handset. Google Local uses listings from Yell.com.

15. Mobile music. Beyond ringtones, many handsets are now designed to play and store MP3 music files and potentially rival the iPod — although we now have an iPod mobile version. As access speeds increase, tunes may be offered in promotions. Continue Reading »

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