When people used to ask me why I wanted to achieve a particular goal in my business or get to a certain turnover, I never used to be able to answer them and I always came away from that interaction thinking the same thing:

Why do you want to know my why?

After all, I thought in my wisdom, it doesn’t really matter why I want to achieve those goals; the fact is that I do want to achieve them. Hmmm. I have to say that I have drastically changed my mind and here is the reason. I found that if I didn’t know why I was doing something, it was pretty hard for me to achieve it.

Knowing why gives me a reason to get up in the morning and a reason to try my hardest to achieve my goals. But…and it’s a big but. The why has to be important to you; it has to matter to you. In fact, I would go so far as to say – if you don’t want your ‘why’, what on earth is it all for?

You see, I think running a business is supposed to be fun. Think back to when you started your business. It was your dream wasn’t it – to be your own boss, to not be answerable to anyone, to be able to set your own hours, to be able to base your business around your family, to make a lot of money and so on.

If you can’t do any of this and if you don’t let your business help you fulfil the dreams that you have, then why are you doing any of this? So, my challenge for you today is to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and really think about five things you would love to have in your business within the next year.

Here are some ideas (in case you’re stuck):

• To fly to somewhere where you’d love to go and stay in a really posh hotel

• To fly there first class

• To buy a holiday home

• To put £x amount in the bank for your retirement

• To hire a language teacher

• To hire a personal trainer

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Is it time to update your employee handbook or manual? Are you wondering if you should handle the task internally or hire a human resource management consultant to work with you on the project? While the matter of how much help you might need is a function of how much time and expertise that you have within your organization, it’s a fact that working with an outside consultant to some extent is something that can benefit virtually every organization dealing with an employee handbook update.

Four Benefits of Hiring an HR Consultant to Update Your Employee Handbook

1. Separating Policies from Practices

When updating or finalizing policies and procedures, it’s always beneficial to get the perspective of someone with expertise specific to both state and federal laws who doesn’t operate under the influence of how things are carried out on a day-to-day basis within your organization. Bringing in someone with an unbiased point of view to review or help with the development your company’s policies can be a great way to make sure that your organization isn’t burdening itself with unnecessary restrictions in some areas while establishing standards that are too lax in others simply because that’s how things have “always been done”.

2. Third Party Perspective

A consultant can provide feedback and insight regarding how policy wording comes across to an “outsider”, which can be invaluable when evaluating your policies for clarity. Those within your organization, particularly individuals who are involved with enforcing policies and who were involved in writing the policies originally, know how the policies were intended and how they are interpreted and applied on an ongoing basis.

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The other day I was speaking at a conference and was inviting delegates to ask me anything they wanted to know about marketing. One of the audience asked an interesting question – “Is Cold Calling dead?” 

They’d been along to a social networking seminar on the same day and the presenter had made this bold statement so the delegate naturally wanted to know what my response to this question would be. So, I’ll tell you what I told him – no, I don’t think cold calling is dead, but like any marketing method, cold calling cannot be taken in isolation and expected to do all the work. Let me explain what I mean. 

Too many business owners choose one marketing method out of the hundreds of different ideas out there and expect it to bring in miraculous results. If it doesn’t, they’re disappointed and tell everyone that that marketing method didn’t work. Rubbish! 

What you should be doing is using a marketing method as part of a strategy. Let’s take cold calling for instance. If you make say 100 calls and get nothing back, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s not working for you. But instead, let’s say you make 100 calls, follow-up with some information by email and then call back to see if that information is of interest, then that is more of a strategy and you’ve combined both email marketing with cold calling as marketing methods. Even better, would be to run an email campaign first; get people to express interest and then call these interested parties to turn them into prospective customers. It’s all in the strategy. 

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I know in my own business that I ALWAYS do better each month if I set some targets for my marketing. If I’ve got goals to aim for, I know where I am and I can try to achieve them. 

So my targets for this month for instance are:

• 1 x meeting in the diary every week
• 1 x new client every week
• 1 x networking event every week

Because I’m clear on what I’m striving to achieve, I can aim for these and know whether I’ve done them. 

To put some meat around the bones on these targets, one meeting each week is with a potential customer – someone who is looking to use our services. This can be over the phone or face to face – it doesn’t really matter. These meetings can also be with past customers too. So for instance this week, I have had a phone meeting with a past potential client and a meeting with a past customer. 

One new client each week means a client who is willing to give us more work. This could either be a new client, an existing one who wants to give us more business or a past client who wants to come back on board with us. 

One networking event every week is pretty self explanatory really. But for me, this isn’t only about going along to the event; it’s also about making sure that you follow up after each networking event too as that’s where the power of networking is. 

As well as these main targets, I also have goals in place that are going to help me to achieve these targets. So other things that I do are things like:

• To follow-up with 2 x potential clients by email or phone each day
• To post 6 social networking posts per day
• Send out at least one piece of email marketing per week
• Contact 5 x past clients each week

And so on…

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Whenever I recruit for a new member of the team, I usually don’t ask for someone with marketing experience, but more for someone who is organised and has good admin skills. 

Why? Because the vast majority of marketing I personally think is admin based and about being organised. Think about it: 

• Making calls to potential clients and following up
• Sending out emails
• Creating newsletters
• Writing brochures, literature etc
• Following up after networking events

To name but a few possible marketing tasks are all admin based, so when you’re doing your own marketing, if you’re good at admin and you’re organised, you’re not going to go far wrong. But, let’s look at when this is a problem. It’s so easy for marketing not to work because of lack of organisation. Imagine going to a networking event and then following up with everyone afterwards. Great job – that’s exactly what you should be doing.  But then imagine in the follow up email saying that you’ve met someone at the networking event when you haven’t – that’s down to organisation. 

Here are some other areas where organisation plays a big part in marketing: 

1. Not having a list of everyone who has expressed interest in your products and services so that you can properly follow them up
2. Not updating your website on a regular basis
3. Missing meetings and deadlines because you haven’t put them in the diary
4. Not sending information you’ve promised to someone who has asked for it
5. Running out of business cards before a networking event because you’ve forgotten to order some more.

Not being organised creates an impression of you and your business which can reflect very badly if someone is looking to use your products and services.

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The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) recently banned radio stations from playing “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits after it received a SINGLE complaint from a ‘minority group about the use of the word ‘faggot’ in the song. People who are familiar with the song know that it was inspired when Mark Knopfler overheard a conversation between two blue collar people in an appliance store as they watched a music video and one of them used the word ‘faggot’ to describe the musician. This song has been played tens of thousands of times in Canada since it was released in 1985 but one person has effectively prevented it from being aired again. Unfortunately, this type of knee-jerk reaction is common.

When I first started writing my newsletter more than eight years ago, I once mentioned a particular company in a negative way and immediately received backlash from ONE subscriber who lambasted me for mentioning the company’s name. Since then I have been cautious how I present information in my newsletter and blog. Here’s how this reaction by a few people affects your sales decisions.

• One prospect expresses concern about your price and you immediately think that price is the sole reason people make buying decisions. Or, you believe that ALL of your competitors are cheaper and that your company is pricing itself out of the market.

• One customer says they are dissatisfied with your product and you instantly start to wonder if other customer’s feel the same way. As a result, you begin to lose faith in the value of your products and services.

• One prospect hangs up after you make a cold call and you automatically believe that every person you call will behave in the same manner. This causes you to rethink the value of cold calling and you scale back your efforts to connect with people using this approach.

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Although you might not think that getting payments from clients is anything to do with marketing, I would completely disagree. Because I think that there is nothing more demoralising that celebrating getting a new client and then finding that they do not pay. It can make you feel very low and be very stressful, which of course is not the ideal frame of mine to do more marketing or get more clients. 

So, knowing how to get payment out of a client is a vital part of your business and of your marketing. How then, do you set up your business to get payments easily out of customers? 

The first thing you need to do is adopt the right mind-set. If clients go into a contract with you knowing that you’ll let them get away with non-payment for a couple of months, they absolutely will take advantage of it. Make sure you set your mind set up so that clients know from the outset that non-payment or a delay in payment is not acceptable. 

I used to tell clients that they had to pay because we had a big dog, but since she sadly died a couple of years ago, I can no longer do that. So, I’ve changed this to “we know where you live”. Although I say this as a joke, people know that I’m very serious. 

I also will address delays in payment immediately because I absolutely hate non-payers and it annoys me if I have to chase someone, which is another mind-set shift too. 

The second thing is to set expectations right up front in writing. Make sure clients are very clear when they will be invoiced and when payment is due. All of our invoices are sent out at the beginning of the month and payment is expected within 14 days. We put this in our emails and a written contract and also say this verbally to a client just in case they decide to read the agreement without signing. 

The next thing to do is to make sure you have good payment procedures in place.

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Prospecting is a key selling skill and a critical skill to develop if you want to increase your sales and achieve long-term success in sales. Yet, most sales people don’t invest enough time to this integral sales strategy. Part of the problem is that very few companies teach sales reps how to prospect. Here are five prospecting best practices for you to consider.

Allot a specific amount of time every day/week or month.
When my wife first started her software training business, our accountant said, “Devote a certain amount of time every week looking for new business.”

Prospecting is not a fun activity, at least not for most people. However, the more time you consistently invest prospecting for new business the more likely it is that you will never suffer from a sales slump. That’s why it is imperative that you block time in your calendar each and every week to prospect for new business.

Do you schedule prospecting time into your calendar every week?

Use a variety of methods to prospect for new business.
Too many sales people take the same approach week after week. Although they may generate good results it is critical that you use multiple methods and approach to uncover new business leads. Here are a few strategies you should consider:

- Cold calling via telephone
- Door to door cold calling
- Asking for referrals
- Networking
- Speaking at conferences
- Writing articles
- Trade shows
- Conferences

Are you using enough prospecting methods to generate ample sales leads for your business?

Develop a powerful introduction.
The majority of sales people fail miserably at this.

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Employment law, let’s face it, is a minefield – an ever-changing tangle of legislation covering all aspects of human resources; it’s hard to keep up if you don’t have an in-house HR team. This is particularly true of the recruitment process. You need to be mindful of where you advertise any job vacancies, be careful about reason for rejecting candidates, ensure your interview questions are consistent and relevant; and treat all applicants the same, fair way – appointing only on the basis of skill, not because of their relationship with the boss.

Is it any wonder that so many businesses these days have decided to leave their recruitment to the professionals, freeing up their own staff to do other, more productive things? Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is fast gaining popularity. Consider this: the maximum payment at an employment tribunal is now £236,000 and it’s possible for rejected applicants to claim for discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, race, marital status and sexual orientation. Even when you thought you’d been so careful.

RPO can take all of this worry out of your hands by managing the entire recruitment process for you. It can assist in putting together job descriptions and advertisements, then recommend the best channels through which to publicise your vacancy. RPO also takes care of the screening process for you, rejecting candidates based on legally-acceptable specifics defined between you, i.e. a minimum grade C in Maths. If assessment is necessary, the RPO Company will administer tests and revert back with the results. They will always be on hand for guidance and, depending on the level of responsibility you wish to relinquish you will be consulted as and when necessary.

RPO representatives can hold interviews for you or wish you, should you wish and relay decisions to all candidates.

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Too many sales people don’t ask for the things they need or that could help them increase their sales and grow their business.  Developing the confidence and ability to ask for the things you need is an essential sales skill. Here are twelve situations that sales (and business) people need to summon up the courage to ask.

1. Ask for help. First and foremost, if you need help it is essential that you ask. Ask the top sales person in your company for ideas, advice and feedback. Ask your boss for coaching or direction. Ask people in your network for insights and suggestions to improve your results.

2. Ask for the appointment. Too many people beat around the bush and don’t ask a new prospect for an appointment. This strategy can result in more meetings which will lead to more sales. Try asking, “Does it make sense for us to meet?”

3. Ask more high-value questions. After 15 years of training sales people, I have found that the majority simply don’t ask enough high-value questions. High-value questions force your prospect or customer to think and will give you insight to their current situation, problems and desired outcomes. It sounds simple but more people feel uncomfortable asking these types of questions because they think they are too probing and they feel that their prospect will be offended.

4. Ask for clarification. When someone says something that is vague or unspecific, seek clarification. Ask, “Can you elaborate on that?” or “Tell me more” or “What do you mean by that?”

5. Ask for commitment. When a prospect or customer says, “Call me next week” pursue that statement by asking, “What day should I call?” If they say, “Anytime is fine” ask, “Does next Tuesday work?” Then ask what time is the best to connect with them. If they respond with, “Anytime is good” ask, “Is mid-morning at 10:15 a good time?”

6.

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Over the years, I’ve worked with many small business owners who are often put off from doing a task because they feel they need to have everything in place before they can move forward. 

Take one client who wanted to run some workshops for her business. Sounded like a great plan, but she didn’t want to do any marketing for them until she had completely planned out the workshop and knew exactly what the presentation would look like. 

Another contact didn’t want to do any marketing for their business until their website was in place – even though it could potentially take months to do. 

If you find yourself stuck on a project because certain things are not in place, there is one piece of advice I’m going to offer you… 

Think Backwards 

You see, while our client could have spent a great deal of time on getting the presentation looking perfect or our contact could have taken months on his website, none of this is going to help you get any business through the door. 

Instead, my plan taking the workshops as an example, would be to concentrate my time, energy and focus on filling the seats for the workshop. Why? Well, you could have the best presentation ever but if you have no-one to deliver it to, then there is very little point spending a lot of time on it.

Believe me, if you know you’ve got a room full of people to deliver that training too, there is no greater incentive to get your presentation up to scratch before the event. 

With the website example, yes I can see that the website is important, but it’s more important to start getting your marketing messages out there as quickly as possible. A website can always be put in place later or worked on slowly over time and is not an excuse for not getting on with things. 

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Hiring the right marketing, sales people is always difficult because success elsewhere may not translate into success for your company, for you. The difference between the right and wrong choice is more than the money it will cost to hire yet another new person. The real cost can be a year’s worth of lost business opportunities, sales. Although you can never be completely sure that person you hire will be right for the job, you can increase your probability of success by following a few simple rules.

The Job Description
Start by writing a detailed description of the job. Make a list as detailed as necessary to ensure that everyone understands the position and what will be expected. Now that you’ve defined the job to be done, make a mental and written description of the person you want. Weigh the attributes that you are looking for.

What to Look for in a Person:
1. Ability to spot essentials
2. Adaptability
3. Aggressiveness
4. Ambition
5. Appearance
6. Community standing
7. Cooperation
8. Detailed product knowledge
9. Energy
10. Enthusiasm
11. Experience with intangibles
12. Flexible
13. Good diction
14. Gregariousness
15. Personality
16. Imagination
17. Knowledge of market
18. Knowledge of competition
19. Maturity
20. Motivation
21. Planning ability
22. Poise
23. Quick learner
24. Quick thinker
25. Self-confidence
26. Self-starter
27. Speaking experience
28. Stability
29. Technical experience

The Hiring Process
You’ve been analytical so far, so don’t blow it now. Set up a new selection guide and use it for all of the people you interview.

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During a recent sales training workshop I conducted with a client, we were discussing the importance of asking the right questions; high-value, high-impact, penetrating questions. One person spoke up and said, “When I’m talking to a new prospect I like to ask, “What do you know about us?”

An uncontrollable groan escaped when I heard this. But it got me thinking, what other lame questions do sales people ask? Here are a few that I’ve heard over the years and still continue to hear.

1. “What are your needs?” Really? You seriously think this question separates you from your competitor? Using this question automatically turns you into an order-taker, not a sales-maker.
2. “Are you the decision maker?” Although there is nothing technically wrong with this question, it usually results in a ‘yes’ response. A more effective way to get this information is to ask, “Who else do you normally consult with on decisions of this nature?”
3. “What is your budget?” Many people haven’t established a budget or don’t know what to budget for a particular purchase. Do them and yourself a favor and focusing on exploring their problems and presenting a solution that addresses those issues. Budget will become less of a concern.
4. “Do you want to save (insert money, time, or other lame benefit)?” Don’t insult my intelligence. Enough said.
5. “Do you want this (whatever the feature might be)?” I don’t even know what that feature will do so how can I possibly tell you if I want it. Oh, wait! If I say that then it gives you the opportunity to start talking about your product. Now I get it…
6. 6. “Would you give me a referral?” I might if I knew what type of person or company you wanted an introduction to. Be specific and help your customer understand who would make a good referral. BTW: Saying “anyone” is NOT an effective reply.
7. 7.

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Time Management is Bogus! We really don’t understand the problem. 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. This little piece may include all the direction necessary.

The problem: We can’t manage time. Smashing the timepiece won’t help. We can manage ourselves, providing we agree that “we have met the enemy, and they is us!” Have a look at this “enemy.” You will manage him, or you will not. You can.

Also:
1. You never have enough time. Or,
2. You have all the time there is.
If you recognize that you actually have this second item as a personal choice, you can move forward.

When we look at how we manage our own time, most of us see a mess.
a. Endless do-lists
b. Broken agreements with others
c. Broken agreements with ourselves.
d. Frustration, anger and a sense of helplessness.

Anonymous: “Time is the currency of our lives. How we spend it tells much about us!” One answer – action.

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-lists. The alternative- some guidelines I’ve cribbed from Peter Allen and his book on Getting Things Done. Remembering what you need to do is critical- obsessing about it is deadly. Yes, I coach on the topic.

2. Identify one thing which is important but not urgent in your world – around your business, your relationships, whatever. Make a space for this opportunity, in time, in your day, on your calendar. One hour a day, 5 days a week.

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For many of us, it could be triple the value of what it is now. Meaning: Your company could be earning 3 x as much money. (We’ll assume your compensation stays the same!)

Ask a CEO or Small Business owner how he divides his time between CEO work, Managing work and “Chief Employee” work (where he actually does work an employee could do.) Most will say “10%, 40%, 50%..” It’s likely that many of us spend even more than half our time on work we could and should delegate. But, taken at face value, in a 10 hour day, many spend:
1 hour on CEO Time (planning, thinking ahead, etc.)
4 hours on Managing – asking/telling others what to do.
5 hours on “Chief Employee” work – doin’ it, doin’ it, doin’ it.”

If you’re a sole proprietor, then, of course, you have an excuse. Or do you???
• “It would take me twice as long to train someone to do it as to do it myself!”
• “No-one can do it as well as I do!”
• “No-one seems to get how big a job this is!”
Right. And how are you going to grow your business?

Let’s suppose that the value of CEO work to the company is $300 an hour, you could hire a manager for $50 an hour, and an employee for $15 an hour. Another CEO does the opposite – spends 50% of his time as a CEO and 40% as a Manager, only 10% doing employee work.. Hires others to do work he doesn’t have time for. Which one brings the most value to his company and himself? And which one are you?

How CEO’s use their time each day!

CEO #1
% Time Day Hours $/hr. Delivered Value
CEO work 10% 1 300 300
Manager work 40% 4 50 200
Employee work 50% 5 15 75
Total 100% 10 575

CEO #2
% Time Day Hours $/hr.

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Accountability is much in the news these days, mostly as complaint. Would you agree that accountability is also much avoided? And “when you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you!” Let’s face it: The solopreneur has no one else to point at! As the business grows larger, accountability is distributed, but it still comes back to the top dog. How can you make yourself more accountable, more effective, more aware of your responsibilities, more active in discharging them?

It’s a challenge for all human beings, but for no-one more than the entrepreneur or small-business owner, who already has too much to do. If we go back to the beginning of your small business, you may have decided you weren’t going to work for a jerk any more, that you were going to “be the man” rather than answer to him, that you were tired of taking orders, or of being given responsibility without authority. Leaders make lots of mistakes, easily and quickly perceived by those who follow them. But, if you’re an entrepreneur, you may have discovered that there is absolutely nothing harder than making promises to yourself, and then keeping them! I don’t know about you, but I personally will give myself any sleazy excuse I can rather than admit failure, or laziness, or carelessness, or unwillingness to look ahead, or (especially) to do something I don’t want to do.

You too? If we have met the enemy, and he is us, then I invite you to consider business coaching. It can open new doors for you. It’s ironic, but after we got rid of the person who held us accountable, we discovered that something may have stopped working in our life. Many of us didn’t focus on strategy.

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When I first started my business, I had a business mentor who told me the following quote. I’ve never forgotten it because it’s so true for many, many business owners. He said:

“Show me an entrepreneur and I’ll show you a manic-depressant.”

How true is that? One moment as a business owner, you can be on top of the world and nothing can go wrong. The next, you’re down in the doldrums thinking that a job could really be great right about now. And all it can take to change your mood is literally a phone call or an email.

The problem is that as a small business owner it’s far too easy to find yourself slipping into the hole of depression and once you’re there, it’s very hard to dig yourself out again. I know – I’ve been there.

The trick is to catch yourself when you start feeling down and put things in place again to lift your mood. Let’s face it, opportunities happen when you’re feeling great and clients start to come through the door. When you’re feeling down, nothing works and no new clients materialise. The hole is not a good place for you.

But, it’s all well and good me sat here saying to you that when you start feeling down you need to put things in place to stop you dropping into that hole. What if you’re already there though?

Well, if you’re already there, you need to try every trick in the book to pull yourself out. Here are my top ten tricks and tips that have worked for me in the past:

1. At the end of every day, force yourself to think of three good things that have happened. You’re not allowed to concentrate on any bad things. The good things can be as minor as you like – i.e. had a good meal with my partner, but they must be good.

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In a meeting recently, a client made a comment to the effect that they were very concerned that “Talent Management” has become just another fad word. Sadly in many circumstances this is already the case. One of the main contributors to this demise is the fact that many limit “Talent” to “professional” occupations or positions usually associated with big offices and salaries to match. While it may included those falling into this description this is not the complete truth.

Talent Management can and does take on a broader interpretation, which includes succession planning at all levels across the organization. Many organizations face issues with aging work forces, once again at all levels within the organization. The consequence of an aging staff compliment is that, when such people do retire, much of your corporate capability (skill) leaves the building, and the gap left in its wake is more like a vacuum. This is not always immediately visible, but over time, as skill sets reduce and tacit knowledge flows out of the organization, eventually business continuity is threatened.

For many organizations dealing with Talent Management takes on what can best be described as the “mercenary approach”.  This “instant” approach to Talent… “We will just go and buy (poach) the skills we need”, hugely perverts ones approach to hiring the best people for the job. The up-side to this approach is one doesn’t need to train up the talent and skills your organization requires (provided that these skills are available). The downside to this approach is that skills begin to attract premium salaries out of kilter with their intrinsic value. Never mind the fact that one never really gets to instil any corporate culture with any level of consistency. That is another whole kettle of fish for another time.

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The best way to launch a successful media campaign is to give the press options. You have a story that you want to tell through the media. Chances are you have one or two main angles or story ideas that you want covered. Those are where your focus lies, they are your primary objectives. But what if you were to broaden your scope a bit? Let’s say you own a cosmetic company. Your primary pitches to the media have to do with your products, your latest line of color cosmetics. Great. But what if you also pitched a story on how inner beauty can enhance outer beauty? You could come up with a pitch on the top four ways to boost your inner beauty. Not exactly the angle you want? Maybe. But what if that leads to more media coverage which gives you more opportunities to mention your new beauty line?

We all have different expressions, different moods, and different topics we enjoy discussing. None of us have one-note personalities, but so many people try to launch one-note media campaigns. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pitch your main ideas, but that you expand them, come up with new angles, think beyond the obvious. Remember, your job is to meet the media’s needs. Broaden your scope. Come up with other ways to pitch your story. You’ll be able to talk about your story, but not until you interest the media. And to do that, sometimes you have to use the indirect or back door approach.

If you are a landscaper, you may have to pitch a story that has you critique the pros and cons of the White House grounds. That’s not the story you probably particularly want to address. You want to tell people that you are a wonderful landscaper and that they should hire you, but there’s no story there. By talking about the White House grounds, you have added another dimension. You have raised the stakes. You’re not just discussing how to landscape Joe Blow’s home, you’re outlining how to best landscape the First Family’s home.

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Selling in today is highly competitive business world requires more effort and energy than ever. However, there are certain things that can work against you, especially when you sell in a B2B environment. Sales people do a variety of things that irk decision makers and prospects and prevent them from moving the sales process forward.

Here are a few things that irk decision makers.

1. Sales people who can’t articulate their value proposition. Far too few sales people can adequately and clearly state the value that their product(s) or service offers. Forget what your marketing department tells you to say. Instead, speak in terms that matter to your prospect and help them see “within 15-30 seconds” how your product, service or solution will benefit them.
2. Sales people who call to “touch base” or “check in”. Decision makers are far too busy to talk to people who donít have a genuine or valuable offer to consider. ”Checking in” is no longer a viable sales strategy. You need to ensure that you are providing some type of value in EVERY interaction you have with a prospect or existing customer.
3. Sales people that go overtime during sales calls and presentations. Most decision makers spend the bulk of their day in meetings and have little tolerance for sales calls that go into overtime. Respect your prospectís time and strive to finish every meeting early or ahead of schedule.
4. Sales people who misrepresent themselves to executive assistants in order to get connected with the decision maker. It boggles my mind that people actually believe this strategy will help them close a deal! Yet, it happens every day. A better approach is to befriend the EA and enlist her help.
5. Sales people that ask basic questions that could be answered by a subordinate or a quick browse through the prospect’s website.

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