The Secret to Turning a Crisis Into an Opportunity.

Looking for an open door of opportunity in your business realm? You may not have to look as far as you think! In fact, it may be right under your nose disguised as a real “pain in the neck.”

The Chinese have the right idea. Their symbol for trouble and crisis is the same symbol that represents opportunity. That’s exactly what we’re talking about… those troublesome problems that seem to haunt you can be turned into triumphs!

One of the greatest problems facing many businesses – both small and large – is a long list of outstanding customer bills. How many customers do you have that gone financially AWOL? You’ve spent countless hours telephoning, sending letters, and may even have filed charges to try to recoup some of the bucks they owe you.

Let’s face it; a sale isn’t really made until you get paid. Yeah, and the longer it takes, the less profit you actually make. So just what is the secret to turning this “bad news” situation into a golden opportunity?

Plan ahead! Discounts and premiums that reward upfront payment both inspire customers to pay now, and keep your books clear of unwanted nonpayment numbers. Use this idea as a marketing technique, and watch your profits climb!

When you do find yourself facing an unwanted confrontation about an overdue account… remember that the customer is less likely to pay up as time passes. Jump right on it – no procrastination!

Amazingly, failure and success seem to go hand-in-hand. If you’ve found yourself swept along in the tide of outstanding customer debts, learn from it and adjust your current policies to keep it from happening in the future. You’ll be amazed at the amount of additional profit you’ll net, without expanding your customer base… just by implementing a plan that keeps customer payments current.

What type of advertising will deliver the best results for your money… every time? Stay tuned and find out!

Dedicated To Your Further Success.

All the best,

Allyn Cutts

PS To contact me via email, Click Here

About the Author

Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers.

Allyn consults personally with clients to design and deliver offline and online direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://AmazingMarketingStrategy.com or you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays

You may reprint or distribute this article as long as you leave the content and the resource box at the end intact.

Marketing… Is it the Job for your Sales Team?

We’ve been discussing the sales force, and how to make it more effective. It doesn’t matter how you look at it, the fact remains that creating a powerful sales team is… well, a lot of hard work!

Deciphering who are the poor performers, mediocre performers or high achievers… coaching… demanding accountability… creating a self-motivated environment… all of these things take a lot of time and effort for the entrepreneur who desires to lead his team to success.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could kick back and relax after all your hard work, and just leave everything in the hands of your sales team? BIG MISTAKE! Don’t forget that your marketing plan and your sales force are two different things. Yes, you can use your sales force to market, but marketing goes much farther than that.

Your company needs direct communication with consumers in addition to your sales team. I know, it sounds like a lot more work, but it doesn’t really have to be.

A company newsletter is a great way to stay in contact with your customers and potential customers. It’s interesting, non aggressive and keeps your customers in contact and ripe for your sales force to find success with the next time they walk through your doors!

A toll free customer hotline keeps customer relationships on the mend by giving dissatisfied customers a way to communicate without attacking your sales team’s spirit.

Warranty cards are wonderful tools to get contact information for later promotions, and to provide information about your customer base.

A good marketing plan that includes a successful sales team is sure to send your business over the top! Don’t allow yourself to be lulled by the misconception that a powerful sales team is all you need.

Do you have a large number of customers who owe? Next time we’ll talk about ways to get them to pay up!

Dedicated To Your Further Success.

All the best,

Allyn Cutts

PS To contact me via email, Click Here

About the Author

Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers.

Allyn consults personally with clients to design and deliver offline and online direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://AmazingMarketingStrategy.com or you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays

You may reprint or distribute this article as long as you leave the content and the resource box at the end intact.

Armed for Success: Tools to Prepare Your Sales Force for Success

If you were a general and your business the battlefield, would you know what was happening in the trenches? One of the toughest parts of management is REALLY knowing what’s going on in the field.

We’ve been talking about increasing the performance of your sales force. One of the greatest causes for low production is wasted time. Let me ask you… how much time is being wasted by your sales force? Hey, don’t take it personal! Most of them just don’t know how to manage their time – even their own time. As a leader, you’ll be effectively arming them for success by teaching them to be accountable with their time… not to mention the benefit your sales numbers will reflect.

Are your sales people discouraged by rejections and refusals? You can spark the morale and success rate of your sales team by supplying them with pre-qualified prospective customer leads. That doesn’t mean they get off on easy street – require accountability for what they do with the leads you’ve presented.

Now for the big question, “Where do I get the leads?” Lead opportunities are everywhere, and an amazing number of them are never followed up on! Direct mailings, telemarketing, trade shows, exhibits, space advertising… you name it. There are a lot of ways to obtain info about prospective customers – information that could make a drastic impact on your sales volume.

If you take a few minutes to reflect, you’ll probably come up with sales leads that you already have, but have never followed up on. Use them to get started! Lead your team to success by teaching them to be accountable, and effectively arming them to meet the challenges of the job.

Is marketing the job for your sales team? Next time we’ll talk about why you shouldn’t leave marketing in the hands of your sales force!

Dedicated To Your Further Success.

All the best,

Allyn Cutts

PS To contact me via email, Click Here

About the Author

Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers.

Allyn consults personally with clients to design and deliver offline and online direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://AmazingMarketingStrategy.com or you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays

You may reprint or distribute this article as long as you leave the content and the resource box at the end intact.

Identify the Three Types of Performers on Your Sales Team!

A winning sales team spells success for your business! Putting together a winning sales team may not be as hard as you think it is. First, let’s take a look at the three types of sales people you may have on your staff.

1. The poor performer 2. The mediocre performer 3. The high achiever

Poor performers bring a lot of baggage and trouble to the work force. Do yourself and everyone else a favor – get rid of them. Yeah, it sounds heartless, but think of the negative influence they have on those with potential to be an asset. Why allow a poor performer to keep them from reaching their full potential?

Mediocre performers are often satisfied with their performance, which can make it tough to coach them to real success. The key to truly motivating the mediocre sales person – or any salesperson - is to spark an inner motivation that will inspire them to do it on their own. Sure, external motivations work for a while, but sooner or later you’ll wear yourself out just trying to keep them motivated.

A good leader will create an environment where self-motivation is encouraged and rewarded. Don’t forget that someone who needs to learn self-motivational techniques won’t be likely to go looking for the tools!

Accountability may be the greatest tool you can implement. Frequent reports, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the salesperson, and reviewing performances can help the performer see for himself where he needs to improve. He’ll also see the improvements he’s made over time… and that, my friend, is a great way to spark inner motivation.

High achievers already understand the inner drive for excellence, and are a lot of fun to teach to reach even higher levels of performance. Give them the tools… and they’re off and running. Unfortunately, they’re rare gems in the work force. If you’ve found one, don’t take it for granted!

One word of caution: whenever you implement incentives, be sure to focus on action rather than results. A contest that rewards the number of sales presentations will be a much more effective motivational tool than one which focuses on the number of actual sales made. Remember, inspiring motivation will pay more in the end!

Next time, we’ll take a peek at some things you can do to increase the performance of your sales force.

Dedicated To Your Further Success.

All the best,

Allyn Cutts

PS To contact me via email, Click Here

About the Author

Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers.

Allyn consults personally with clients to design and deliver offline and online direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://AmazingMarketingStrategy.com or you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays

You may reprint or distribute this article as long as you leave the content and the resource box at the end intact.