Category: Sales & Marketing

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

Knowing what to include in a bio can be intimidating for business owners, but it doesn’t need to be. Just think, the last time you read someone’s bio, what was going through your mind? Did you think “Wow, I still don’t know what this person does” or did you say, “Hey, what’s with all the fluff? I don’t care what your cat’s name is!” The gamut runs from skeletal to overflowing with details. It’s hard for some people to know what to put in and what to leave out, so I have some very simple questions for you to ask yourself when you decide what to include – for both long and short bio pages.

Who is my Ideal Client?

This question should be first and foremost in your mind. Think about it: the bio is like a party invitation for your business – and there are certain clients who you really want to connect with. These are the clients who share your philosophy, who are looking to work with someone with your credentials, and who want to take their business where they know you can lead them. I love who my bio attracts. What would your Ideal Clients care to know about you?

How long should my bio page be?

Well, kind of like an evening dress, it depends on the occasion. You can make your bio as long or as short as you want, as long as it includes everything you want it to. Have a couple of versions prepared, a “long” and a “short” one, that you can switch up based on the situation.

For instance, if you’re preparing a presentation for a client you’d really like to work with, an Ideal Client, you might want to bring out the big guns and include your “long” bio. This would be about the size of a one page Word document. I’d also include this version right on your website, so potential clients can get a good feel for what you can do for them. This is where you get more detailed in your experience and credentials, and sprinkle in some personal details that show you as a whole person.

A “short” bio would be about 1 paragraph long, and would focus more on a few of your highlights. You could use it at the end of your articles or emails, on your Facebook page, or in a program for a speaking engagement.

Should I have my tag line in my bio?

In short, no. A bio is about you, it’s not for you. It should sound professional but soft, not like a sales pitch at all. You don’t have to include a laundry list of everything you’ve ever done in your life – just your most important accomplishments, the ones you feel best represent who you are and what you’ve done – and this will lead them to what you can do for them. And feel free to list your past clients, if they fit your Ideal Client profile.

Should I include personal information in my bio?

As much as you are comfortable with. Tell people your story! Not just who you are now, but how you got there, especially if it’s why you’re doing what you’re doing. The last line in my bio talks about my greatest accomplishment – having the kind of business that gives me the income to have a 3 day workweek, giving me 4 days to spend with my daughter!

So you see, your bio is really a tool that weaves your professional life with who you are as a person. People connect with your passion, they see you have a skill that they need, and they get a feel for your values and abilities. There is a certain cadence in a bio that goes back and forth from business to personal, so that the reader can see you have balance in your life and work. This is a chance for you to introduce yourself, and for the reader to “meet”you. Make a good impression!

About the Author

Lisa Cherney, a.k.a. the Juicy Marketing Expert, founded Conscious Marketing 12 years ago to help small business owners find their authentic marketing voice, attract their ideal clients and increase their sales. Following her own Stand Out & Be Juicy program, which centers on owning your unique self and laser-focus marketing, Lisa has tripled her income while working part-time.

Prior to Conscious Marketing, Lisa worked with many Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Lipton, Nissan, Blue Cross and Equal. She is a highly sought after speaker and often shares the stage with experts such as Jack Assaraf (The Secret), Jack Canfield and Jill Lublin. Learn more about Lisa at www.consciousmarketing.com or call 887-771-0156.

Article Contributed by Jeremy Ulmer

“Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose–a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” -Mary Shelley

1. Get Inspired Everyday. Inspiration is one of the best motivators, and it can be found everywhere. Sources of inspiration can include, but are certainly not limited to:sales blogs, sales articles, sales online success stories, sales forums, peers, friends, sales books, and motivational quotes.

2. Hire A Sales Coach. Working one on one with a sales coach has proven to be one of the most effective methods to truly achieve breakthrough sales results. However, be sure to ask these questions of any sales coach you interview before hiring a sales coach.

3. Have Compelling Reasons For Your Actions. Write them down and know your reasons for wanting to achieve your goals and stay motivated. When you clarify why you want to accomplish certain goals, and what it will mean to you to accomplish them, it will help increase your motivation and keep you on track.

4. Be Ready For Negative Self Talk. Become very aware of that inner voice that says you should just quit and give up. One of the most powerful things you can do is to simply raise your awareness and recognize when it is happening. Just by naming the negative self talk alone, it will help you consciously decide what you need to do.

5. Get Back On The Horse If You Fall Off. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip up one day, but make it a rule to get back into your routine the next day. Don’t wait any longer. You don’t need to be perfect all the time, you just need to brush yourself off, and get back on the horse.

6. Visualize Your Sales Goals. Visualize the successful outcome of staying motivated in great detail a few times for 2 minutes each day. Close your eyes, and think about exactly how your successful outcome in sales will feel. Form as clear of a mental picture as you can.

7. Create A Daily Journal For Your Sales Goals. If you can become consistent about writing notes in your journal, it can be a tremendous motivator. You should focus on writing about what you got done that day and how you felt about the things you did or did not do.

8. Get Competitive. Many sales people are driven by competition. Take advantage of this natural drive by using it to fuel your sales goals. Take a look at your peers around you and see where you are ranking on new clients per month, revenue, or appointments set. Aim to be #1, or stay on top, if you are already #1.

9. Make A Public Statement About Your Commitments. Make a statement on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or announce to your friends and family that you are going to achieve a certain sales goal by a certain date. You will get support and accountability automatically with this method.

10. Think Positive. Monitor your thoughts and become more aware of your self-talk. If you hear negative thoughts, notice them, and then choose to replace them with a positive mind-set.

About the Author:

Jeremy Ulmer is one of the most dynamic and requested sales experts in the country. His company specializes in working with sales management, individual sales performers, and sales organizations to transform their sales results. They deliver customized sales coaching programs and corporate sales training. Sign up for free sales tips and free sales webinars at: http://www.SalesCoachingHabits.com

Article Contributed by Mark Hunter

Have you ever really considered how price affects your customer with regard to their perceived benefit?  Too often, we use a simplistic approach to determining a price – figure the cost to produce a product or service, tack on some arbitrary percentage, and call it good, right?

Price, though, is consequential in ways we may not initially consider.  The price a person pays for something goes a long way in determining the perceived benefit they expect to get from it.  The perceived benefit cuts two ways. First, the expectation of service goes up the more a person pays for something. Second, the perception of what they’re gaining also goes up with the amount they pay.   The two are not opposites; they work in tandem, and in nearly all businesses, this tandem relationship can and does work to your advantage.

Many companies, hopefully including yours, are known for delivering incredible service.  This quality service may be what your customers comment upon and why they are willing to refer you to other customers.  This level of service comes at a price. One of the things you always should be doing is explaining to and showing your customers how your level of service helps them.

The more you share this type of information with your customers, the more comfortable you become in seeing the value of what you offer.  Having confidence in your service allows you to increase your “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR). This all has to do with what you expect customers to pay.

For the customer, the PIR is revealed when you help frame their expectations.  To help explain this best, let me refer to what I call the “IBM paradox.” This is the belief people have that although you will pay more for anything you buy from IBM, you will never be fired for using IBM.  What this means is there are plenty of companies that sell the exact same items and services as IBM, but at a less expensive price.  Although other vendors will be less money, there is a level of safety and confidence in using IBM – so much so that it translates to a premium price that customers will pay.

The “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR) is the amount over the minimum amount a person would have to pay for something. They are willing to pay it to feel confident in what they are buying.   You might say the PIR should really be the CP – the “Confidence Premium.”

There are no two ways about it – when you have great service but do not reflect it in your PIR, then you are underselling.   If you are underselling, you are not making the profits you could be making.

I can hear some of you at this point thinking, “What if we don’t have a solid sense of how good our customer service really is?”   In other words, maybe your company receives very few complaints, but at the same time, you are not sure if your service is at a higher caliber than what your competitors bring to the table.

In order to find out your “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR), you must do a deep dive with your existing customers to get them to tell you what your service means to them.  Once you do this, you can then match up what existing customers are telling you with what prospective customers are asking you to do.   When you grasp this, you begin to understand what the PIR really should be.  How much “investment” is the customer willing to make in going with you instead of your competitor?

As I have often said, in the B2B arena, companies don’t buy anything, they only invest.   If your customer can’t see the return on investment, they won’t invest – they won’t pay the price you want to get.   When they do see the value, though, then you can feel very confident in charging a price above what your competitors charge.  Don’t settle for a lower price when doing so is detrimental to your bottom line.

About the Author:

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability.  For more information, to receive a free weekly email sales tip, or to read his Sales Motivation Blog, visit www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also follow him on www.Twitter.com/TheSalesHunter, on www.LinkedIn.com/in/MarkHunter, and on www.Facebook.com/TheSalesHunter.

Article Contributed by Mark Hunter

I’ll never forget the first time it happened to me.  The presentation with the customer was going well. I had prepared extensively. In fact, I had not just spent more time than normal, I had stayed up nearly all night to make sure I had every element covered perfectly in my presentation.  For me, this sales call was going to be a huge success. My boss had told me this was going to be a difficult quarter, and that’s all I needed to hear to motivate me to close this particular sale.

The customer I was meeting with was tough. In fact, using the word “customer” was simply too nice. This customer was the ultimate professional buyer who would routinely drive salespeople crazy with questions, bold accusations and flat out rejection.

For this sales call, I was prepared. The program I was presenting to him that day included a new item that I knew in the back of my mind he didn’t need and would most likely flat out reject with some very colorful language.  Shortly into my presentation, I noticed him giving me a high level of attention and agreeing with what I was saying.  Before I was even half way through my presentation, he said he wanted what I was selling.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I couldn’t believe it!  I began to wonder if he knew what he had just agreed to.  Yes, he did know and yes he said again he would take it.  At this point, we all know as a salesperson that it is wise to take the sale and leave.  Yet, I was a bit hurt.  Remember, I had spent nearly the entire night preparing an incredible presentation, and suddenly more than half of it was never going to see the light of day.  My ego took control and I felt that if I had spent hours preparing it, he was going to hear it, so I continued on.

Go ahead and say it – BIG mistake!  You’re right – it was a big mistake. The more I continued on with the presentation, the more the buyer was becoming upset; however, he was not upset enough to throw me out without the order.  He listened, and honestly, I’m still not sure why. That’s when I made the final mistake. I shared with him some information that I never should have had in my presentation, and suddenly he began asking me questions. It’s not hard to imagine what happened next, as he decided not only to NOT buy what I was selling, he also went into a tirade about how I and the company I worked for didn’t know what we were doing.

My mistake was very basic. I kept talking after the buying signal was given and in so doing, I lost the order and I lost credibility. The reason I’m sharing this is not to say this has happened to me only once in my more than 25 years of selling. I’m sharing it because it’s one of many situations where I’ve unsold something. It’s just that on this particular occasion I saw it coming like a slow-moving train and still didn’t do anything to get out of the way.

When the buyer gives a buying signal, close the sale and leave. It’s simple, yet we as salespeople allow our egos and our pride to get in the way. Let me share two rules I have regarding sales presentations. They’re not complicated rules, but many times are overlooked.

Rule 1: Close the sale as early in the call as you possibly can. The only exception is if the price or quantity the customer wants is not within the range of your objectives.  If the buyer’s requests are in your range of expectations, then get the order.

Rule 2:  Close the sale before you run out of presentation. I tell salespeople with whom I am working that the measure of success is to not have to go through your entire presentation to close a sale.  This rule is extremely important. You always want to have information and questions you can share with the customer. I like to view it as always having a “back pocket” presentation – information I can share with a customer, but only if it is necessary. This gives me more flexibility and helps me close the sale earlier. My ego is saved and the buyer is not subjected to information they don’t necessarily want to hear.  Final benefit of keeping some of your presentation in your back pocket is it subconsciously gives you confidence and determination.  You will have confidence in knowing you have more information if you need it, and you will have determination to close the sale with the initial round of information and questions.

It seems crazy that a salesperson could unsell what they have already sold, but it can happen.  Do whatever you can to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.

If you’re wondering what happened to me and my relationship with the customer, here’s the epilogue: He never did take the new item, and although he did continue to work with me on other activities, I never did get our relationship back to the level it was before my mistake.

About the Author:

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. Since 1998, he has consulted nationally and internationally with thousands of salespeople and global companies. You can follow his Sales Motivation Blog at www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook www.facebook.com/TheSalesHunter, Twitter www.twitter.com/thesaleshunter, and Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/markhunter.