Boost Your Sales

Give your marketing and sales strategy a boost, by re-evaluating the following objectives and activities for your business:-

Sales Targets

• Define your sales targets for the week, month and year?
• What gives you the confidence that your sales targets are achievable?
• Does the income from these sales targets adequately cover your costs?

Marketing Activity

• Do you have communication tools prepared?
• Do you have a clear strategy for which marketing channels to use?

Become an Expert

We recommend you become an expert in a particular area that fits with your services and products. New clients will come to you if you build your reputation as an expert. Your expert profile should be backed up on by your previous track record, work history, training or learning.

You need to sell yourself as an expert in your field by undertaking the following steps:-

1. Emphasizing and demonstrating your expertise in your Bio and CV and make sure they are on your website and social media profiles.
2. Write articles for media and the web that demonstrate and raise awareness of your expertise
3. Communicate your expertise on your social media profiles – linked in, twitter, facebook, and talk about the topic regularly.
4. Collate case studies of clients you’ve worked with that demonstrate your expertise and impact. These can be used in marketing material or in articles as examples.

At some point whilst running a new business you’ll probably have to stand up in front of a room of people and say what you do.

For many people this can be a terrifying experience. Minds go blank. Palms go sweaty. Often there’s a sleepless night at the thought doing it in the first place. Even if your reaction to public speaking is more muted, and it’s simply that you dislike it, imagine how your life would be different if you could reframe your perspective and make speaking publicly something that you actually enjoyed!

We have a 3 step plan to share which will support you when you getting ready to speak publicly:

My husband loves to negotiate. So much so that whenever I need to buy new running shoes, he always buys a pair, too, with the hopes that he can swing a "deal" with the store by buying two pairs at once. Of course, he never gets a discount, but what I find fascinating is the number of times he asks for a discount, doesn't get it, and still buys the item at full price anyway.

I started thinking about this from the seller's perspective, by analyzing my own negotiation techniques, and those of my clients. The questions I wanted to answer were: Exactly what makes a successful negotiator? And what do they do differently from the rest of us to get the price they want, while still leaving their customers feeling that they're getting a good deal?

The following simple five-step process can help maximize your results each time you negotiate. Even better, I find it works wonders at every stage of the sales process, from negotiating price to discussing delivery, added product features or any other terms your prospect is looking for a break on.

 Step 1: Get into the right frame of mind

The first thing you have to do when negotiating is make sure you're in the right frame of mind. Do you really believe that your products or services are worth the price you're charging? If the answer is no, then you won't be able to negotiate successfully. Period.

If you implement the next four steps of this plan, I can guarantee that those readers who truly believe that their products are worth the price they charge will walk away with more deals at full price. Those of you who think your products are too expensive, on the other hand, will continue to sell at a discount.

These steps aren't necessarily easy, and in fact may take some discipline to implement. But for those of you who are willing to put in the effort, I promise that they will help make negotiation easier, and more natural.

2009 was an interesting year for many salespeople and business owners I've been speaking with recently. Whilst some had a successful year, many others were grateful for making the sales they did, and some were grateful to make it through the year at all!

2009 had some interesting lessons in terms of sales and sales tactics, things we should all learn from whether we're a salesperson, sales manager, director or business owner.

Follow the tips below and watch your sales soar in 2010!.....

Sales Lesson Number One - Prospect Continuously

If 2009 taught you nothing else, it taught you that you can't always rely on your existing customers to hit your sales targets! 2009 was the year that existing customers were looking for ways to cut costs in their businesses - and maybe you and your product or service were one of those costs?

Prospecting should be done on a continuous basis, not just when you're quiet!

There are a lot of myths surrounding negotiating which don't help if you are faced with handling such a session for the first time. But as with any myth, there is usually a very different reality.

Myth: It can be a daunting ordeal

You mention to your trusted partner or member of staff that you are off to negotiate next year's big contract. What do they say? "Good luck!" The majority of people think that negotiating is a dirty and tough task, a necessary evil.

Reality: Not if you plan

As with all things in life, we fear the unknown, especially if we are unprepared. The reality of negotiating is that with adequate preparation comes confidence. Before your meeting sit down and ask yourself the following questions:

1. what do you want out of this negotiation?
2. what is your lowest, acceptable and best price?
3. what are you prepared to 'give away' if necessary?
4. what do you know about the other company's position in the deal?
5. if you don't know much, what questions can you ask to improve your understanding?

Thorough preparation is a great confidence booster. See the negotiation as a presentation and plan your approach and questions before hand.

Myth: Negotiators are born

There is such a mystic surrounding negotiation and the skills needed to be good at it, that most people think you either have it at birth or you don't!

| BBC Two

Entrepreneurs, inventors, designers - Britain's high street wants you!

Do you believe you've invented the next Dyson? Concocted a successor to Innocent Smoothies? Discovered the next Protect and Perfect face cream? Then the BBC wants to hear from you.

In a groundbreaking new series with retail expert Theo Paphitis, some of Britain's biggest and best loved high street stores are clearing some shelf space for you - the great British public - to sell your products.

Influencing skills are often hailed as the key to success and we are sometimes lead to believe that there is a ‘trick' to being a successful ‘influencer'. The truth is its simple .... Listening.  The art is actually in knowing how to listen.

The reason why the simple art of listening is one of the strongest influencing skills is because it develops and enhances trust and rapport faster than anything else. In the world of sales, the more your client is telling you about themselves, then the more they build their trust in you.

Words are powerful things. The best salespeople are blessed with the gift of the gab. A three-word slogan - The Real Thing, Just Do It, Every Little Helps - can help generate vast global sales.

Small businesses tend not to pay much attention to the words they use. They should. Good writing can make a huge difference to your company profile, the way people relate to your business and, ultimately, whether they buy.

While your business can't hope to match the marketing clout of the multinationals, you do have one huge advantage: you're actually doing something worthwhile. That means people are more likely to be receptive to your message.