Building Business Relationships

No matter what industry you’re in, building business relationships helps you increase sales, develop innovative ideas and discover new ways to grow your company. Here are 10 tips for building business relationships. 

          

1. Join the club. Industry trade associations, niche organizations such as groups for minority or women business owners, groups your key clients belong to and your local chamber of commerce are all great places to make new contacts.         

2. Join the group. Know what you are hoping to achieve from a particular organization. Do you want to meet prospective clients, potential partners, job candidates or suppliers?

Setting goals will help you assess whether an organization is right for you.         

3. Be prepared. In any situation where you’re meeting new people, bring an open mind and a friendly attitude. Also bring business cards and be ready to describe what your business does in simple terms (“We help small businesses save money by preparing their taxes”).

Greet everyone with a smile, eye contact and a handshake.     

4. Mingle. Never spend all your time at an event talking to one person or group. Think of several ways to politely end a conversation and move on. (But first, get contact information from those you’ve been talking to so you can follow up later).         

5. Follow up. When you meet someone you’d like to get to know, follow up. Use social networking tools to link up on LinkedIn, become friends on Facebook or follow each other on Twitter, and you’ll also be exposed to the person’s network of contacts.                   

6. Take it offline. Connecting on social media is a good start, but to truly foster a business relationship, you need to spend time face-to-face. Suggest getting together for coffee or a meal to share more about your businesses and how you might work together.        

7. Keep in touch. Business relationships are like flowers—without nurturing, they wither and die. Make it a point to regularly connect with your key relationships, whether it’s re-tweeting their tweets, mailing a card or meeting for lunch.      

8. Harness technology. Contact management software can help you track information about your contacts so you don’t have to remember birthdays, children’s ages or hobbies. The software does it for you and sets up reminders for actions like emailing or sending birthday cards.

9. Be patient. Business relationships take time to pay off. It may take years of talking and planning with someone before you actually end up working together or seeing any results from one of their ideas, referrals or suggestions.           

10. Aim to give, not just get. Of course, you want to benefit from business relationships—but that’s more likely to happen if you have a generous attitude. Focus on how you can help your contacts, and you’ll find that you get more than you give.      

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How Big Are You Thinking

How Big Are You Thinking?
I strongly believe that most people-including sales people-don't think big enough. They succumb to small thinking and don't believe they can achieve big, audacious goals. Yet, thinking big is one of the keys to success. The other day I had a conversation with my business partner and we both agreed that we could achieve more and elevate the business to a new level. Will it be easy? Of course not. But anything worth achieving is worth working for. I'm not sure who originally stated that but I firmly believe that we owe it to ourselves to set big, challenging goals. Goals that scare you. Goals that make you sweat and cause you to wake up in the middle of the night and ask yourself, "Can I really do this?" If you settle for average, mediocre results you will never discover what you can actually achieve. When you set your sights on achieving great things, the universe opens up and creates opportunities that will help you get there. Stop settling for second-best or average results. Set big goals. Make a pact with yourself that you will do something that you didn't think was possible. Even if you only get half or two-thirds of way, you will still achieve more than the average person. And let's face it...you aren't average...are you?

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How To Manage Your Tasks

Manage your tasks by taking these 5 simple steps...

Step 1: Consolidate
You probably have tasks written down on your desk, in your calendar, in documents and email and maybe even on your mobile phone. The first step is to consolidate all of these tasks into one simple list.

Make sure your task list is easily accessible because if it's not, then you'll end up with a splattering of tasks around your office within no time. So you can share it with others and access it from anywhere, anytime.

Step 2: Prioritize
With all of your tasks in one place, prioritize them by moving the most important tasks to the top and the least important to the bottom. In this way, you can work from top to bottom in your list knowing that you are always working on the right thing at the right time.

Make sure you prioritize your tasks based on the right criteria. Don't always put the easiest ones at the top. The “highest priority” tasks should be the ones that either deliver the most value, are critical to the project or must be done before others can commence their work.

Step 3: Schedule
With a clear view of all of your tasks and their priorities, you now need to estimate how much time it's likely going to take to complete each task on the list. So write down the effort needed for each and try and make it as realistic as possible.

Then create a schedule so that you know which tasks you are going to work on and when. Having a schedule is great because it allows you and your team to forecast the workload ahead.

Step 4: Update
At the start of every day, update your schedule by marking the tasks you've completed and re-forecasting the tasks you still have ahead. Only then will you know if you're on track.

If your schedule gets out of date, it will quickly become useless. However by keeping it up-to-date, it will become a powerful tool as it will give you and your team a roadmap ahead.

Step 5: Communicate:
Your team will want to know what you are working on and when it's likely to be completed. So share your schedule with them, helping them to keep informed along the way.

By creating a task schedule and updating it daily, you'll become much more efficient with your time.

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Regulator issues 21 new power licenses

Regulator issues 21 new power licenses

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How to Build Trust

• Hire and promote people, who are capable of forming positive, trusting interpersonal relationships with people who report to them, to supervisory positions. The supervisor's relationship with reporting employees is the fundamental building block of trust.


• Develop the skills of all employees, and especially those of current supervisors and people desiring promotion, in interpersonal relationship building and effective interpersonal skills.


• Keep staff members truthfully informed. Provide as much information as you can comfortably divulge as soon as possible in any situation.


• Expect supervisors to act with integrity and keep commitments. If you cannot keep a commitment, explain what is happening in the situation without delay. Current behavior and actions are perceived by employees as the basis for predicting future behavior. Supervisors who act as if they are worthy of trust will more likely be followed with fewer complaints.


• Confront hard issues in a timely fashion. If an employee has excessive absences or spends work time wandering around, it is important to confront the employee about these issues. Other employees will watch and trust you more.


• Protect the interest of all employees in a work group. Do not talk about absent employees, nor allow others to place blame, call names, or point fingers. Employees learn to trust when they know that their names are not being taken in vain.


• Display competence in supervisory and other work tasks. Know what you are talking about, and if you don’t know — admit it. Nothing builds trust more effectively than a manager saying that he doesn't know and will find out so that everyone is informed. The worst reaction occurs when a manager pretends to know and offers faulty information. Employees forgive a lack of knowledge - they never forgive a liar.


• Listen with respect and full attention. Exhibit empathy and sensitivity to the needs of staff members. Trust goes out of a belief that you understand and relate.
• Take thoughtful risks to improve service and products for the customer. When you demonstrate that risk-taking is promoted, you demonstrate that employees may do the same - especially if there are no consequences when a thoughtfully considered risk goes awry.


• If you are a supervisor or a team member, set high expectations and act as if you believe staff members are capable of living up to them.
The Human Resources professional has a special role in promoting trust. So do line managers. You coach managers and supervisors about all of the appropriate roles described above in building trust relationships.
You also influence the power differentials within the organization by developing and publishing supportive, protective, honorable policies. You are influential in building appropriate social norms among people who are doing different jobs in your organization.
Engage in trust building and team building activities only when there is a sincere desire in your organization to create a trusting, empowering, team-oriented work environment. Engaging in these activities for any but honorable reasons is a travesty and a sham. People will know the difference, or they will find out, and then, they will never trust you.
Build a Trust Relationship Over Time
Trust is built and maintained by many small actions over time. Marsha Sinetar, the author, said, “Trust is not a matter of technique, but of character; we are trusted because of our way of being, not because of our polished exteriors or our expertly crafted communications.”
So fundamentally, trust, and here is the secret I promised in the title of this article, is the cornerstone, the foundation, for everything you'd like your organization to be now and for everything you'd like it to become in the future. Lay this groundwork well.
Trust is telling the truth, even when it is difficult, and being truthful, authentic, and trustworthy in your dealings with customers and staff. Can profoundly-rewarding, mission-serving, life- and work-enhancing actions get any simpler than this? Not likely.

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The Real Secret to Closing More Deals

                              The best ways to improve deal closing percentage

You can’t close an unqualified prospect. For many salespeople this advice falls on deaf ears. Instead, they live by the motto that any prospect is a good prospect. Unfortunately this way of thinking hampers their success and holds them back from the big commission checks they deserve.

Don't Waste Time

I hear the same sad stories again and again. Deals lost and time wasted on prospects who were not the decision makers, who were already under long-term contracts, who were just shopping for price to keep their current vendor honest, or who were not in the buying window. Each working day salespeople across the globe are surprised to find out that after investing blood, sweat, and tears, and of course promises to the boss, the account they have been working on won’t close. And to make things worse, many of these salespeople were completely blind to all of the signs that were blinking like neon lights saying – “this prospect is not qualified, move on!”

The Sales Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Qualifying Prospects

Over my twenty year career in sales, one of the common attributes I have found in top producers is that when asked why they have such high closing rates they almost all say, “because I only call on prospects who are going to buy.” In other words, they only spend their time with qualified prospects. You see, these top performers clearly understand the value of time for Sales Professionals. Time is the great equalizer. Every Sales Pro is given the exact same 24 hours each day – no more and no less. The difference between the top performers and everyone else is how they use that time. Top performers know that the real secret to improving their closing percentage is the self-discipline to fully qualify every prospect before investing valuable time and emotion. In doing so they work less, earn more, and they close more deals.

#1: Uncover the Decision Maker

I cannot over emphasize how important this first step is. There may be multiple people in every account who will influence the deal, act as coaches, or even have the authority to say no. All of these people are important and should not be ignored. However, there is only one person who has the authority to write the check. You must uncover who this person is. Don’t be afraid to ask direct questions. Do whatever it takes to cut through the smoke screens created by influencers to keep you from the decision maker. Far too many deals have been lost because the salesperson was talking to the wrong person. Here are some qualifying questions to ask:

“How did you make the decision to buy this product or service last time?”

“What is your buying process for this kind of service?”

“How does your organization make decisions?”

“Who is ultimately responsible for this decision? Are there others who need to be involved?”

And after asking these questions, if you are unable to get answers you are comfortable with, walk away.

#2: Know The Buying Window

Many salespeople work on accounts that never close. They provide samples, do demos, give proposals, jump through hoops, and get their hopes up but the deal never seems to get done. The reason is, because the timing was wrong. Perhaps the prospect was under contract and unable to change even if they wanted to. Maybe there was no real urgent need. Maybe the budget had already been exhausted. Whatever the cause, the buying window was not open.

 

For every prospect there is a buying window during which there is high probability that they will make a decision to buy a particular product or service. Part of qualifying is uncovering this window of opportunity because working on the account at any other time is a ticket to certain failure. It may take a number of questions to uncover the buying window, including questions on budget, urgency, buying process, contractual obligations, inventory positions, and business climate. As a Sales Professional you must take the time up front to understand clearly if the buying window is open. If it is not, make a note of when it will be open and move on to another prospect.

#3: Understand The Competitive Environment

Top Sales Professionals have learned to uncover who they are competing with so that they know how to position themselves to win. To get this information they may go to multiple sources when asking questions. The bottom line though is that they develop a solid understanding of:

o    The number of bids/ quotes their prospect is considering

o    Which competitors have the best relationships or reputations with the buyer

o    Long-term embedded incumbents who will be hard to leverage out

o    Alternative solutions and potential landmines that could take their product out of play

By gathering the answers to these questions and others, top performers are able to analyze the probability of closing each prospective customer. And top performers have developed the discipline to walk away from low probability deals because they know that they can’t close an unqualified prospect.

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Creating a Mission Statement

Information About Creating a Mission Statement       

Whether you're a large company or an entrepreneur, it's important to communicate what your business is about to employees, to customers, to suppliers, and to the community.

Steps for Creating a Mission Statement

First step - round up the troops. Choose a team of people to help create your mission statement. Five heads are definitely better than one. And be sure to choose people you feel are personally invested in the mission statement of the company.

Now that you've gathered your team, it's time to ask the right questions. Some of them may seem simple - for example, what is the business? Why are you in this business? And what services do you provide? And some of them make you think a little bit. What are some of your goals and objectives? What are your short terms and long terms plans? What level of service do you expect to provide? What are your relationships to outside entities, and how will you provide these services?

Now it's time to condense and get to the point. Take those large ideas and tighten it into just a few sentences. Some companies' most successful mission statements are just one sentence. You might use one to three, or even a bulleted list. Google is famous for this. A mission statement should be well thought-out and may need to last the lifetime of the company. Be sure you take the time to make sure every word is exactly what you want it to be.

More Tips for Creating a Mission Statement

Now that you've gotten that mission statement down on paper, it's time to proofread it. There's nothing worse than making a bad first impression. And a good first impression of your mission statement bodes well for your company. Take your time to make sure that every word is exactly what you want it to be. Creating a solid mission statement tells your customers that you mean business.

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Gain Your Prospects Attention

10 Ways To Gain Your Prospects Attention Using Your Picture Alone

1. Use an uncommon hair style. You could style your hair to stand straight up like you're scared or     use a wig to wear a Mohawk or huge fuzzy hair.

2. Color your hair a bright color. You could color it pink, blue, purple, green, etc. You could even make it match your web site's colors.

3. Draw a line on your picture. You could draw a black eye or mustache on it before you scan and upload it to your web site.

4. Put on silly glasses. You could put on spring like glasses, oversized colorful glasses, spinning glasses, or even 3D glasses.

5. Wear uncommon clothes. You could wear a super bright suit, a costume outfit, a weird tie or a bathing suit.

6. Make a weird facial expression. You could stick your tongue out, push your face together, make your eyes big, look like you're angry, etc.

7. Wear an unrelated hat. You could wear a cowboy hat, a bowl on your head, straw hat, a sports helmet, a rain hat, etc.

8. Paint your face. You could paint your own ideal character or paint a typical character like a clown animal, plant, etc.

9. Wear a mask. You could buy one or make one out of a paper bag. Just cut the nose, mouth    and eyes out. You could also add other facial features.

10. Use an uncommon background. You could use an outside background, funny wallpaper, a prop to look like you have a cartoon body, etc.

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COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

A competitive advantage exists when a firm has a product or service that is perceived by its target market customers as better than that of its competitors. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs are often confronted with two myths surrounding the creation of a competitive advantage. One is that most good business opportunities are already gone. The other is that small firms cannot compete well with big companies. Both of these ideas are erroneous! Nevertheless, existing companies, large and small, do not typically welcome competitors.

As one well-respected author, Karl H. Vesper, puts it:  Established companies do their best to maintain proprietary shields… to ward off prospective as to attack them needs some sort of “entry wedge,” or strategic competitive advantage for breaking into the established pattern of commercial activity.

Before choosing such an entry wedge, the entrepreneur needs to understand the basic nature of the competition he or she faces in the marketplace. Only then can a competitive advantage be developed properly. The Basic Nature of Competition The following strategies of three entrepreneurs show the simplicity of many successful competitive advantages:

• Dale Dunning and his two partners started Wall Street Custom Clothiers in 1986, with    suits selling for $700 to $2,000. Dunning targets upscale consumers by traveling to their offices, instead of waiting for customers in a retail shop.

• Ron Sanculi spent two years developing the perfect salsa recipe before packaging it in an ordinary mason jar with a generic label and seeking shelf space along with many other brands. Since 1991, Sanculi has sold nearly 500,000 bottles of Mad Butcher’s Salsa.

• Allen Conway, Sr., is the founder of Discount Labels, a company launched in 1980 to meet the needs of customers who require small quantities of printed labels quickly- a market of little interest to established companies. Because of its ability to fill orders within 24 hours, the company is the nation’s largest short-run manufacturer of custom labels.

These entrepreneurs compete successfully within their respective industries. Each understands the nature of competition and follows a simple but sound strategy. But what are the basic factors in a competitive market?

A number of factors determine the level of competition within an industry. Several typologies have been developed to categorize these competitive forces. For example, Michael Porter, in his book Competitive Advantage, identifies five factors that determine the nature and degree of competition in an industry:

1. Bargaining power of buyers

2. Threat of substitutes

3. Bargaining power of suppliers

4. Rivalry among existing competitors

5. Threat of new competitors

To a large degree, these five market forces collectively determine the ability of a firm, whether large or small, to be successful. Obviously, all industries are not alike; therefore, each force has varying impact from one situation to the next. Porter identifies numerous elements of industry structure that influence these five factors. Detailed explanation of them is, however, beyond the scope of this discussion. Briefly stated, these factors influence the creation of a competitive advantage as follows:

Buyer power influences the prices that firms can charge, for example, as does the threat of substitution. The power of buyers can also influence cost  and investment, because powerful buyers demand costly service. The bargaining power of suppliers determines the cost of raw materials and other inputs. The intensity of rivalry influences prices as well as the costs of competing in areas such as plant, product development, advertising, and sales force. The threat of entry places a limit on prices and shapes the investment required to deter entrants.

The more completely entrepreneurs understand the underlying forces of competitive pressure, the better they will be able to assess market opportunities or threats facing their venture. Obviously, which forces dominate industry competition depend on the particular circumstances. Therefore, the challenge to the entrepreneur is to recognize and understand these forces so that the venture is positioned best to cope with the industry environment.

Porter has identified several fatal flaws that plague entrepreneurs’ strategic thinking regarding their competitive situation. Three of these flaws are

1. Possessing no true competitive advantage. Imitation of rivals is both hard and risky

and reflects a lack of any competitive advantage.

2. Pursuing a competitive advantage that is not sustainable. The entrepreneur must make sure that the competitive advantage cannot be quickly imitated.

3. Misreading industry attractiveness. The most attractive industry may not be the fastest-growing or the most glamorous. 

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Growing A Business

Growing a business is similar to tending a vegetable garden. Knowledge, careful planning, organized systems, use of proper tools, continuous care, and dedication give you the very best chance of producing a beautiful and abundant garden that brings forth fresh veggies for years to come.

The same is true when it comes to growing your business. By following a specific sequence of steps, just like growing a garden, you can succeed. Neither can be accomplished with a haphazard approach.

Discovering how other businesses are growing, thinking through your marketing strategy, taking an organized approach, using the proper tools to get the word out and focusing on achievement will help you reach your business goals and set you on the right path towards accomplishing your greatest success.

1. Prospecting
For most services and products, it is imperative to first generate qualified prospects. Only then do you work on converting those prospects into first-time buyers, repeat customers, and finally, life-time customers. If you're trying to generate an immediate sale, chances are, you're going to be disappointed with the results. You will make most of your sales by following up with your prospects repeatedly.

2. What is a Prospect?
A person is a prospect only if they:

a) have a genuine interest in the particular service or product you provide

and

b) have responded to one of your offers

and

c) they have provided you with contact information (name, e-mail, etc.)

and

d) they have the authority to buy your service/product and can afford it.

Everyone else is a stranger. Not a prospect.

3. Target
You can't try to market to everybody. When you do, you're marketing to nobody. Pick a niche market and focus on your main audience. Target them in all of your marketing materials.

4. Offers
To get people to respond to your marketing, develop an enticing offer and get it in front of as many people in your target market as you can. Perhaps, a free tips report, free e-zine, or free sample. The best offers are generally the FREE offers.

5. Getting the Word Out
There are a multitude of ways to get the word out about your offer. You can try traditional marketing, such as direct mail, press releases, networking, ads, etc. Or, you can use the Internet, such as online networking, joining in discussion forums, submitting to search engines, link exchanges, affiliate programs and so on.

Whatever you choose, schedule time each day to market your business. Write it on your calendar. When it's written down, it is more concrete, and there is a better chance that you will do it.

6. Follow-Up
Once you begin to generate prospects, it is imperative that you get their contact information (i.e., name, e-mail address, and any other pertinent information) into an organized database. Why all the work? Because follow-up is the key to successful marketing. Once you have contact information, you can continue to make enticing offers for your product and/or service (discounts, gift certificates, 2 for 1 deals, etc.)

7. One Service/Product
Choose ONE product or service to market at a time, or you're liable to confuse your prospects. You can have more than one product listed on your website. However, when you contact your prospects, it's best to focus on one product at a time.

8. Guarantee
Guarantee your products or services. Offer, at minimum, a 100% Money-Back Guarantee. When it is clear that you stand behind your services/products, you will have accomplished a trust-factor. This is called risk-reversal.

9. Proactive
Don't use the Passive Marketing technique. That's when you distribute general information, verbal and written, about your company, and then just sit around waiting for the phone to ring, or for your e-mail inbox to fill up with orders. In the real world, it doesn't work that way. You have to be proactive.

10. Track
Track. Track. Track. I can't say this enough. Keeping accurate numbers will help you make good marketing decisions. If you don't know what's working, you're going to waste a lot of time and money. However, if you do know exactly what's working for you, 

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