Last month I met with a group of other speaking and training professionals, just as we have been meeting several times per year, for 14 years now. It’s a mastermind group (if you’re not familiar with this term, I suggest researching it and perhaps finding or starting one, as it will likely change your life, and income) called Master Speakers International http://www.businessbyphone.com/msi.htm

Usually at our meetings everyone shares ideas about what’s working for them in their business, marketing, sales, operations, technology, latest must-read books, etc. At this meeting, one of our members, Mark LeBlanc, http://www.markleblanc.com/, a small business success expert, conducted the entire program. Although I took pages of notes, just a few key points will put a lot of money in my pocket, and might for you as well. Read the rest

If you are reading this, I’m guessing that you will make it through the most depressing day of the year without doing anything drastic.
 
You see, January 18 is the most depressing day, according to Dr. Cliff Arnall, a British researcher from Cardiff University.
 
Dr. Arnall, who studies such things (and does that make HIM feel better or worse about himself personally, just wondering) takes into account factors like post-holiday blahs and debt, failed New Year’s resolutions and, this year, the abnormal bone-chilling temperatures all over and snow.
 
Most of us in sales–inside sales and prospecting in particular–look at this and snicker. Not only do we experience much more possible negativity than the average non-sales type, we PROACTIVELY put ourselves in positions to get it.
 
In fact, if we are NOT regularly getting what most people view as distasteful–no’s– we are not doing our job.
 
That doesn’t mean we are totally insulated from being pulled down. No, it means we have become skilled at taking what happens to us and view it in a different light. (I speak specifically about how to do this in my client training programs and in "How To Sell More, in Less Time, With NO Rejection, Using Common Sense Telephone Techniques"  http://www.businessbyphone.com/HSM.htm ) Read the rest

Did you go through an annual review recently?

They can be very profitable.

Oh, I’m talking about YOU doing an annual review  of your customer and prospect database, and then doing reviews with your customers and prospects.
That’s right. The first place to mine for gold is in the treasure you now possess.

Most people begin a new year with grand plans to increase their new business. Yet many of those same people don’t pick up the easy stuff first, skimming  the cream that already residing in their computer. This is an area we often cover in my training workshops for clients.

Here’s how. Read the rest

With any business, making mistakes with customers is inevitable. Every good customer service training program or expert will agree that the key to minimizing damage and maintaining customer goodwill is in the proactive steps the business takes to recover.

Here is an update to my situation, and some observations.

Todd Goldman, one of the managing partners of Zipps, posted a message to “Customer and Inquisitors” on my blog on Wednesday. You can read it yourself in the Comments section in the original post and form your own opinions. I was not personally contacted  prior to that posting on my blog.

Mr. Goldman did send me a personal email of apology later that evening. He has asked that I keep the gist of that communication between us, and I will honor that. Read the rest

(NOTE: I had originally sent this out to my email sales tips newsletter subscribers earlier today. The response has been overwhelming. I’m posting it here so those of you that want to comment and even share your own stories can do so. Enjoy!)

I wouldn’t fault you if you don’t believe what you’re about to read. It is such an outrageous and bizarre example of customer treatment–I can’t even call it "service"–that I might not have believed it myself. Except I experienced it last Saturday.

First, some background.

Zipps is a local, popular chain of sports bars in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. I have visited several of their locations regularly over the past few years, including their original place, Goldie’s. Their food is a notch above typical sports bar fare, they have lots of TV’s, and a fun atmosphere. My friends and I watch plenty of sports, we enjoy the beverages sports fan typically consume, and have spent a nice amount with them on food and drinks over the years.

Not anymore.

Last Saturday afternoon a friend and I stopped at the Zipps on Via de Ventura road in Scottsdale. We ordered a couple of drinks and chicken wings. We played some shuffleboard, then decided to get a burger. Just one, since neither of us wanted a whole one. I told the bartender/waitress that we were just going to split a burger. She said, Read the rest

A stranger approaches you on the street and asks for some money.

A person wielding a clipboard (or an IPad) jumps in front of you as you’re walking down the shopping mall and asks if you can take 10 minutes for a survey.

A woman at a bar is approached by a man she doesn’t know, who asks, "Do you want to have a relationship?"

What were YOU feeling as you read each of those?

Discomfort. Resistance. Maybe skin-crawling creepiness in the last example. Read the rest

"Sounds like something we might look at, we’ll review it, then go from there." What? What was just said there? It was a Fuzzy Phrase, and how you react determines if you move them forward or, they stall you. See how to handle these in this video.

Here’s a question I received the other day:

"What is the best, quickest way to increase sales by phone?"

At first glance I dismissed this as one of the many questions I often get from people who think there is a simple, easy answer to doing well in sales.

But after pondering this, there is a relatively simple answer:

Sell more to people at the very moment they are buying.

For more how-to info on this, I contacted my friend and colleague, Jim Domanski, the Add-On Selling Guru, He’s author of the book, "Add-On Selling: How to Squeeze Every Last Ounce of Sales Potential From Your Calls." Read the rest

If on a sales or prospecting call, you have ever had a voice mail not returned, been screened out by an inquisitive gatekeeper, got shot down in the first 15 seconds, or did not stimulate rapt attention in your listener, you will learn how to avoid those problems in this NEW two-part webinar I did with Sam Richter, and you can access the webinar and all the bonuses right now.

The basic premise of Smart Calling is having intelligence about the people, companies, and situations you are targeting so your value proposition is relevant, creates instant interest, and gets you into a sales dialogue. This happens because the message is targeted and personalized, and doesn’t come remotely close to sounding like the typical cheesy “cold” call. In this program, Sam Richter, author of the great book, Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling shows you exactly how to get the prospect intelligence you need, and then I show you how to use it.

Check out the details here.

I’m a self-taught cook, and probably own as many cookbooks as sales books. I watch the Food Network every chance I get. For a few years my barbeque cooking team traveled all over to competitions, and we even won a few championships. It’s tough to order at many restaurants, since I sometimes struggle to find something I couldn’t make better myself.

However, there’s still nothing better for my palate than a great slice of pizza. I particularly like thin crust, New York style. Could eat it every day. Normally I don’t go more than a few days without a pizza-fix.

When I was living in Omaha I was a bit limited in my choices of places to get exceptional pizza. One day, lusting for a slice and wanted to try something different, so I went online and was reminded of a place not far from my home. I had tried it a couple of years ago, was not impressed, so they fell off my radar.

However, I read some of the recent favorable reviews and thought I’d give them another shot. After all, right down the street…if they’ve improved, this could become a spot I’d be dropping lots of cash in the future.

So I called, intending to order a pie. After about eight rings, the out-of-breath voice answered–with chaos in the background–and greeted me with, "Can you hold?" Read the rest