What do Dogs and Marketing Have in Common

What do Dogs and Marketing Have in Common –  how not to get choked

I have two good size dogs (both greater than 50 pounds.) I installed an invisible fence to give them some room to run without hurting themselves.

An invisible fence shocks (via the collar) the dogs when they get too close to the fence. It is not  a harmful shock, just enough to let them know the boundaries.

Yesterday, I wanted to take the dogs for a walk and removed their collars so they could leave the yard. Neither dog wanted to leave the yard for fear of shock. I had to carry both of them across the fence line. One on the other side both had a great time.

How does this apply to marketing?

When to comes marketing many of us wear our marketing collar. When our marketing does not work, the shock we experience is lack of results, spending money, and wasting time. The collar limits what we might try; we say to ourselves, “after all I tried that and it didn’t work” or “what if it doesn’t work and I waste all this money (time)?”

I once had a roofing client and we were planning some marketing tactics. Every  tactic I suggest his response was the same, “I tried that and it didn’t work!” After the 10th suggestion I finally said, “these tactics have worked for thousands of companies but they don’t work for you, what is the one thing they have in common?”

He thought for a moment and said, “me!”

This gentleman was never trained is marketing and he made several fundamental mistakes that, if corrected, could have a big impact on his business. But his invisible fence would not allow him to try something different. His yard was pretty small and his company was suffering.

What is your invisible fence? Is it spending money on marketing or on marketing coaching? Is it trying something you never tried before? Is it fear of failing or not knowing who to trust? What is the shock you feel: shame for failing, embarrassment for not knowing, fear of being taken advantage of or not being in control?

Marketing can be easy and fun when you know what you are doing. And it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money because you can do it yourself. It is not that hard.

Let’s remove your collar or at least provide you the opportunity to remove the collar and learn a proven  marketing system that works to generate more leads, convert more leads to customers, get customer to buy more, sell value – not price, make more money, learn how to build a website that generates leads, learn dozens of up sell, down sell and cross sell strategies that your competition does not know or use, learn how to put your follow-up on auto pilot and so much more – all at your own pace.

For a free trial go to akris.net and download your free report, The Three Biggest Lead Generation Mistakes.

May Blessing be Upon You,

Ron Finklestein
International Author, Business Coach, Speaker
info@akris.net
www.akris.net

330-990-0788

 

 

 

 

 

Five Steps to Grow any Business!

Five Triggers to Transform Your Business

Growing a business is simple when you understand the five trigger that impact growth and profitability.

The five triggers are:

  • Lead Generation: How many leads are we getting?
  • Lead Conversion: The number of leads that convert to customers.
  • Number of Transactions: The number of times a customer buys from you.
  • Average Dollar Value: This is average sale price.
  • Profit Margin: This is the profit I make on each sale.

So we are on the same page let me define marketing. Marketing is simply moving the buyer through the buyers’ journey to achieve specific sales and marketing goals. In our five step (triggers) process, when followed, you’re going to achieve your business goals and reduce the stress associated with growing a business. Going forward I am going to talk about the five triggers as a process I call the five-step process.

The five-step process is a way of doing business.

The five-part formula is so effective because it touches on each and every area of your business. It will improve, increase, generate and sharpen and strengthen everything that you and your employees do.

Once you complete a step, you’ll never go back to your old way of doing things again. This is a program for positive change and powerful results. The change is long lasting and the results are far reaching.

Choosing to begin the five-step process will have an impact on every area of your business:

Lead Generation Conversion Rates Number of Transactions Average Dollar Sale Profit Margins
Any strategy you use to get people to call or walk through the door. Any strategy you use to get people to BUY from you. Any strategy you use to get existing customers to buy from you more often, or stay loyal to your business. Any strategy you use to get customers to spend more money in a single transaction. Any strategy you use to maximize the percentage of the cost of each product/service that is profit.

Let’s get used to working with the basic formula that the five-step process is based on. You’ll want to post this formula somewhere visible, where you can see it on a regular basis.

# of Leads X % Conversion Rate = # of Customers

 

# of customers X # of Transactions X Average Dollar Sale = Revenue

 

Revenue X % Margin = $ Profit

As you can see, each of the shaded lines is a factor that influences the bottom line – your profit. Each of the shaded lines is a step in the five-step process. You will work on each line sequentially, and the impact on your profit will build over time.

A nominal 10% increase in each of the five factors would look like this:

Starting Point Goals (10% Increase)
Leads 4,500 Leads 4,950
Conversion Rate 30% Conversion Rate 33%
Customers 1350 Customers 1633.5
Transactions 1.3 Transactions 1.43
Average Dollar Sale $140 Average Dollar Sale $154
Revenue $245,700 Revenue $359,729.37
Margins 24% Margins 26.4%
Profit $58,968 Profit $94,968.55

If you don’t know, take a guess. The point here is to understand how little increases will have big impacts on your bottom line profits. We’ll show you how to start tracking your results at the beginning of each step in the program.

Starting Point Goals (10% Increase)
Leads (#) Leads
Conversion Rate (%) Conversion Rate
Customers (#) Customers
Transactions (#) Transactions
Average Dollar Sale ($) Average Dollar Sale
Revenue ($) Revenue
Margins (%) Margins
Profit ($) Profit

 

Starting Point Goals (20% Increase)
Leads (#) Leads
Conversion Rate (%) Conversion Rate
Customers (#) Customers
Transactions (#) Transactions
Average Dollar Sale ($) Average Dollar Sale
Revenue ($) Revenue
Margins (%) Margins
Profit ($) Profit

 

Starting Point Goals (50% Increase)
Leads (#) Leads
Conversion Rate (%) Conversion Rate
Customers (#) Customers
Transactions (#) Transactions
Average Dollar Sale ($) Average Dollar Sale
Revenue ($) Revenue
Margins (%) Margins
Profit ($) Profit

Step One / Lead Generation: How can you get more people to walk through your door, pick up the phone, and/or visit your website?

Your leads are your prospects or potential customers. They are people who have taken action in response to your ad or promotion, and have shown interest in your product or service, but have not become a customer because they haven’t purchased yet.

Lead generation is important because you can’t increase the number of customers you have. This is because customers are the by-product of two things:

# LEADS X % CONVERSION RATE = # of Customers

This means that you have to generate more leads and get more of those leads to make purchases in order to increase your customer base. Note; this is a very important step because your ‘cost of client acquisition’ (price you pay to acquire a new client) is the most expensive function of your business. Yours, ours and every business on the planet btw…

So lead generation is about finding ways to reach the people who need or want what you have to offer and getting them to act – to pick up the phone, visit your website or walk into your business. This is what the majority of marketing strategies are trying to do.

Step Two / Conversion Rate: How can you get the people who walk through your door, pick up the phone, and visit your website to BUY something?

Conversions are the second factor in the customer equation. A conversion rate is simply our leads divided by our number of transactions in a specific time period.

# TRANSACTIONS / # LEADS = % Conversion Rate

This is a key focus of your business and your staff’s time. After all, why spend time and money attracting tons of qualified leads if you can’t make them buy when they’re in the store? We call this “confusing being busy… with being successful!” Don’t let it happen to you.

Several aspects of your organization impact your conversion rate:

  • Your business image and the first impression customers have of you/your business
  • The strength and effectiveness of your sales team
  • Your sales process and staff training and development programs
  • The strength of your sales scripts (Do you want fries with that?)
  • The level of purchase risk involved in your product or service

Step Three / Transactions: How can you get your customers to buy from you MORE than ONCE?

The process of attracting and converting a customer is one that costs you money. Customers cost you money. They’re an investment that you need to make the most of to stretch your lead generation dollars.

You can reduce the cost of your customer by increasing the number of times that they purchase from you. This increases the total number of transactions in your business and the amount of money that flows in.

So instead of continuously chasing down leads and converting them to customers, increasing transactions is about keeping our existing customers loyal and coming back to spend money.

Step Four / Average Sale: How can you get your customers to buy MORE from you each time they buy?

Your total revenue is the product of how many customers you have, how many times they purchase from you, and how much they spend.

# CUSTOMERS X # TRANSACTIONS X $ AVERAGE SALE = $ Revenue

Increasing the average amount of money customers spend with you is the final way you can increase the amount of money that comes into your business. It’s amazing how small increases in this value can have big impacts on your revenue. If I were to come into your business tomorrow and you IMMEDIATELY needed to increase profits – this is the first place I would look and the easiest area to make a large improvement in your profits.

You’ll have to show your customer that they needed or want more than what they purchased. The amount that you are able to increase will depend on the type of business you are in – it’s easier to sell gel pens than an additional dishwasher – but generally every business can find opportunities to increase this figure. There are many ways to accomplish this.

Step Five / Margins: How can you make more profit off each product and service you sell?

The last opportunity you have to influence your profit is your profit margin. Your total revenue times your margin as a percentage equals your total profit.

$ REVENUE X % PROFIT MARGIN = $ Profit

Essentially, your goal here is to make your profit margin as high as possible. As the final factor in the profit calculation, increasing your margin is a vital step towards maximizing your profits.

If your margins are too low, you’ll never make any money – regardless of how many customers you have, how often they buy from you, or how much they spend. Your revenue will perpetually go back into your business and be spent on costs.

There are three ways to maximize your margins:

  1. Increase prices
  2. Cut operating and product/service costs (operating costs include rent, leases, salaries, commissions, and office supplies)
  3. Increase gross profit margins (gross profit is revenues minus labor, materials and overhead related to the product/service)

Alarmingly, many business owners do not genuinely know their weekly/monthly/annual profit – you need to go into the business of generating a profit (this will be a paradigm shift for many – it is not about greed, it is about looking after those you care about. The more money you make, the more you can provide for your family, charity, your church etc…) and work towards increasing that profit each and every day, week, month and year.

Now that you have a good grasp on how the five-step formula works, and an idea of the marketing strategies you’ll learn to work with, take a few moments and set yourself up for success.

If this is of interest you can go to www.akris.net and learn more. We have a complete system to walk you through this process at your own pace. Optional coaching is available if you want help and accountability.

The best way to get started is to start paying attention to your current numbers and tracking systems.

Now that you have an idea of what factors and figures you’ll be working to increase, start paying attention to what those numbers look like now. If you have tracking systems in place, run some reports and get an understanding of your current situation. Think about these questions:

  • where do your customers come from?
  • what marketing campaigns work the best?
  • what lead generation strategies work the best?
  • how many of your customers buy from you?
  • how often do they buy from you?
  • how much do they buy from you?
  • what do your existing profit margins look like?
  • what percentage of your items are high margin, and which are low?

Now that you have an idea of where your business is going, let’s start mapping out how you’re going to get there. Contact me if you have any questions.

Congrats for tuning in,

330-990-0788
ron@akris.net
Check out my credibility: http://businessgrowthexperience.com/testimonials/
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Sales Tip # 9 – Stop Thinking

Sales Tip # 9 – Stop Thinking

Stop Thinking

Just stop thinking.

You did the analytics. You did the risk analysis. You know what can go wrong. You know you need to take action but you can’t stop thinking about what can go wrong, about what you may have missed.

You know you need to make that cold call but all you can focus on is the rejection. You cannot stop thinking about all the ways someone can reject you.

You want to call your accountant (financial advisor, friend, business associate) and ask for the referral. You can’t stop thinking about how asking makes you feel weak or what they might think of you for asking.

I could go on but you get the message.

There are things we want to do, we have to do, to get the results we want. Yet we don’t take action. We are afraid. We are afraid of what others might think, what they might do, or a whole host of others fears that are unlikely to happen.

Stop thinking and just do!

When I think about doing cold call I starting thinking of every reason someone won’t talk to me and I make every excuse to not pick up the phone. When I stop thinking about calling and just do it I have no problem picking up the phone.

When you see that beautiful girl, don’t think about it – just ask her out.

When you go to a networking event, don’t think about it – just introduce yourself to someone and find out how easy it is.

Here are some thoughts and beliefs I use to help and you might find them useful:

  1. If I am uncomfortable about something I assume there is a special gift on the other side so I just do it. Be reasonable. I am not talking about jumping out of a plane without a parachute.
  2. If I feel this way others do too. I am not alone. Others have overcome their fears and I can overcome mine.
  3. I surround myself with others who support reasonable risk taking.
  4. I ask for feedback and question the reason for the fear with my coach and advisor.
  5. I try to do something daily that makes me uncomfortable. I take action and when I am successful I wonder what it was that I was afraid of.
  6. I look for reasons it can and will work.

I was recently at a networking event and I received a great testimonial from one of my clients. Shortly thereafter I received a call from a business associate who wanted to know how much it was to join my program. I did not answer the question. Since I know him I asked him this question: You like to think. If you are willing to stop thinking and take action you will do well in my program. Are you willing to stop thinking?

His response was, “That will be hard for me.”

I love his honesty. He is joining and he knows what he has to do.

Can you be that honest?

Stop thinking and answer the question! No excuses!

To your success,

Ron Finklestein
Contact me now for your free sales assessment: ron@businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788

 

 

Sales Tip # 7 – Be Honest!

Sales Tip # 7 – Be Honest!

People need to trust you before they buy from you.

I am planning a big event for September and I was shopping hotels ball room. I found one I like and the price was right and I asked them to give me a formal proposal.

I was floored when I saw the document and was more than flummoxed when I heard their response.

EVERYTHING was 30% higher than what they told me!

The projection screen – a 22% service charge – for pressing a button to lower the screen.

The room – a 22% service charge – not sure for what. I was already quoted a substantial room fee. Was this 22% to turn on the lights?

The food, already 20% higher than the competition – a 22% service charge. Was the 22% to carry it from the kitchen to the room?

I could go on. The 22% service charges was on everything. Why didn’t they give me a price and add 22% to the total price? Why not address it up front?

The other 8% was taxes. I get that. But telling me one price and then delivering a quote 22% higher. Naturally I looked at everything closely because I did not feel they were honest.

Was this good business? Must have been for them since they felt they could do this.

When I asked about this they simply said (my perception) take it or leave it. In addition to the 22%, they were arrogant in how they handled it. I walked away feeling lied to and mistreated.

I felt ES (their initials) was not honest, less than ethical and not forthright.

If marking everything up 22% is an industry standard – they should have told me. It this markup is standard, why not include it in the price? Why spring it on me as an afterthought?

I am a big boy. If I don’t like a prices I will go elsewhere. But why try to hide it? Did they think I would not notice a 30% difference in price?

The only thing we have is our reputation. It we soil our reputation, this damage can stay with us for years.

I should really thank ES for this learning opportunity. I need a topic to write about this week. Thanks ES for providing it.

Be honest. It is far easier than dealing with the consequences of lying.

Ron Finklestein

ron@akris.net

ps. Check out my new site Make a Difference (I call is MAD for short) and learn how to make a difference selling, in leadership and personal development.

Sales Tip # 6 – Are you Likeable?

Sales Tip # 6 – Are you Likeable?

We all know people buy from others they know, like and trust.

If that is true, and I believe it is – are you likeable?

If you are likeable what do you do to be likeable?

Recently, I was meeting with a seasoned business pro. It was our first meeting. He was semi-retired and we were talking how his assessments would help his clients make great hiring decisions. He wanted to see if I was someone he could introduce to others when the need for sales training was identified. We had a very good discussion. I listened as ho told me about his assessment and the positive impact they have when used.

When the time came he asked me how he could help me.

I pulled out my one page document that outlines what problems we solve and who we want to meet and showed it to him. He pushed it back and said, “It is too detailed.”

I pushed it back and said, “I get a lot of business using this document!”

He said, “It is not the document that gets you business.”

Trying to be open-minded I asked, “Why do I get the business?”

He only said “you’re likeable.”

I paused – what do you say to that?

We finished our meeting and on the way home I asked myself, ‘what did I do to be likable?”

I listened. I was interested. I asked questions for clarity. I really wanted to learn what he did.

I was not satisfied with what I was thinking.

I decided to ask a group of well-respected and accomplished business associates how one is “liked” – from their perspective. They are from all walks of life, of different ages (24 – 61) and they all sell into different markets. They included Mike Lemmeyer (home improvement) from K Guard, Tim Plonski (Financial Services) from JK Investments, Dave Kuhner (Marketing) from Team Kuhner, Bob Powers (Financial Services) from Primerica, Paul Stefunek (Retained Search) from Paul Lawrence & Associates and Ron Finklestein (Sales Training/Consulting) from Business Growth Experience.

After a very interesting discussion here is what we came up with:

  1. Smile – Smiling indicates a high-level of trustworthiness.
  2. Listen – Don’t listen to prepare for the next thing you are planning to say but listening to understand.
  3. Eye contact – Making eye contact indicates you are present in the discussion.
  4. Look the part – You must dress as one in your industry would dress. For example, plumber in a tuxedo would raise a red flag whereas a plumber dressed a plumber makes sense.
  5. Communicate effectively – Don’t make others guess at the meaning you are trying to communicate.

It seems so simply and I understand how difficult it is to be effective in all five areas. Please let me know your thought and the actions you take to be likeable so others may learn.

To your likeability,

Ron Finklestein
If you like this article, check out my newest website: Make a Difference. Here we focus on growing sales, leadership and personal development.

 

 

 

Sales Tip # 5 – Don’t be Stupid

Sales Tip # 5  – Don’t be stupid!

Sometimes in our haste we do something stupid.

I received this email, “If you are still in business call me?” That was all there was to the email (I withheld the signature and company name – I will tell you he sold merchant services.)

No greeting.

No first name or introduction.

He did not tell what problem he was trying to solve for me. Was he trying to help me grow sales, increase revenues or reduce my expenses?

He did not tell me who he was or what he did.

No – this is how we can help you – just “are you still in business?”

Was he lazy or just stupid? I really don’t know but the impression he made was less than stellar.

If he wanted to talk to me why didn’t he ask me for a good time to call or the best phone number to reach me or ask me if I to talk to him?

My opinion of this email is that it was the most arrogant email I have ever received.

I, like most business owners, work hard. We have bills to pay, our family to feed and house payments to make. AM I STILL IN BUSINESS???? He did not research on me or my company. He had no idea of the industry I was in or if I even needed his services.

Do you think I called him back? NO!

Do you think I responded in any way? NO! (I did respond to tell him that his email as arrogant.)

Did I think he was either desperate or lazy? YES!

Did I think he had my best interest in mind? NO!

Sometimes we get careless or forgetful of proper email protocol. Sometimes we take shortcuts. Mistakes happen. I get that. But…

In today’s world of social media I could put his name and company name all over the internet as an example of what not to do. Instead I write a blog post.

We need to slow down and remember that sales is about the relationship (as short as it may be.) Basic courtesy is still necessary: Respect is still necessary and people skills are important. When the relationship is there people will buy-it all starts with respect.

When doing email marketing keep it short and to the point. Create an eye-catching subject line. Tell me what you want and WHY I SHOULD TALK TO YOU! Get me a link to learn more if I am interested.

It is about staying focused on the end results. There is only four things business owners like me want from you when you market to me: 1. How to increase revenues. 2. How to reduce expenses. 3. How to increase my productivity. 4. How to add more value to my clients. If your email does not address at least one of those issues – save time and do not sent the email.

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@ronfinklestein.com
p.s. We are launching a new web site that provide high quality training and a very low price. Check it out. WWW.MADPPV.com. We focus on sales growth, personal growth and leadership on this web site. BTW, MAD means Makie a Difference.

Tip # 4 to Grow Sales – Buy on Price – Buy Twice

Buy on price – pay twice!

Many years ago, while I was remodeling a house, I needed a specific tool to finish the job. It was a fairly expensive tool, $99 on the low-end up to $400 at the top end. Naturally I chose the $99 tool and finished the job.

After several uses I realized I purchased the wrong tool – it didn’t do everything I needed it to do. I bought the tool because of the price. Since then I have spent a lot more time and money trying to use the tool for things it was not designed to be used for and decided to buy a higher quality tool more suited to my needs. I purchased the second time, not on price, but on value.

I bought on price and I paid twice.

How do you help your prospect buy your value and not your price?

It starts with a well-defined sales process. Each step in the process is designed to add value to the prospect. Here is the process I use:
1. Rapport strategy
2. Define problem
3. Explore impact of the problems
4. Collaborate with the prospect and jointly create the solution
5. Get the order
6. Ask for a referral
7. Conduct a review of the call to determine what worked and what did not work and make the necessary changes

The rapport strategy is designed to help them like and trust you.

Defining the problem helps you understand the symptoms and cause of the problem.

The exploring step help both you and the prospect understand the impact of the problem and what happens if the prospect does nothing.

The collaboration step allow both you and the prospect to build the solution together. It is very hard for the prospect to reject a solution they helped build.

The outcome of a well-designed process is the order, concerns, or a “no.” It is a natural outcome of the process. Each can be dealt with since each party now knows the issues.

After the order is signed the next step is to ask for a referral. The more specific you can be the better the opportunity to get the referral.
Finally, review the sales transaction and change what did not work and continue doing what did work.

Sales is not an art, sales is a process. When the sales process is both well designed and executed even people who do not perceive themselves as sales representatives can do quite well at sales.

DefinitiveSalesFinal032513You can learn more from our book, The Definitive Sales Play Book: How to Grow Sales and Create Lifetime Customers – available at Amazon.com

Ron Finklestein

330-990-0788

Email me at ron@businessgrowthexperience.com to schedule your free assessment sales assessments.

How to Grow Sales – Tip # 3 – Will they pay for a sales call?

Sales is changing and will continue to change for the foreseeable future.

It has swung back to personal relationships – if the prospect has a reason to meet with you.

All prospects have access to all the information they need on the Internet. If your business is being commoditized they have no reason to meet with you. Just submit your proposal through the web portal or email it to the primary contact. There are no assurances it will be read.

If you add value they will not only want to see you but they will pay for your advice.

So how do you add value?

You add value through your experience.

You add value through your knowledge.

You add value through your contacts.

You add value through your relationships.

Sales used to be an art. Now sales is a process.

The sales rep had all the power because they had the product knowledge.

Now the customer has the power because they have most everything they need because of the Internet. They don’t need the sales representative anymore unless you bring value.

How do you know you are adding value? If the prospect is willing to pay for your visit – you are adding value.

I recently was invited into an account. After one meeting they put their plans on hold and invited me in to do a barrier buster process. They saw the experience come through by the questions I asked. The questions alone provided significant value.

How would you add more value to the sales process so they pay for your advice and support?

Ron Finklestein
info@BusinessGrowthExperience.com

You can start thinking about your value by downloading the free report: Six Questions Your Prospects Want Answered Before They Buy. You can find it at www.businessgrowthexperience.com

I decided to Resign!

I received a call and the first words I heard were, “I just resigned!”

It is not often that I receive a call like this so naturally I was curious. Frankly, I was concerned this may have been an emotional respond and I was hoping he was not rash in making the decision.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE FRONT COVERThe call was from a TV producer who watched an interview I did to promote my book, “Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant.” All he said was, “after watching your interview I realized what I was doing was not consistent with my Enlightened Self-interest, so I resigned.”

It all started several weeks ago when I was approach by a local television producer to do a 30 minute interview on my book. As we were going through the process I wanted to know the person a little better so I asked him why he was doing what he did (TV.) When I asked the question, “what’s in it for you?” he did not answer and skillful redirected the question. We planned the interview and set the date.

After the interview we had lunch and I asked him again why he did what he did. Again, he skillful deflected the question. I decided to let the issue drop. It was two weeks later that I received the call.

“After watching the interview,” he said, “I decided what I am doing is not consistent with my enlightened self-interest and I decided to resign. I have other project that I am more passionate about and I will pursue them.” As we talked I asked him why he made the decision and he said, “You did not try to get an invitation back and you asked me questions no one has asked me before. You seem to have my best interest in mind.”

After our discussion I reflected back and realized he sounded happy and excited as he told me about his plans.

If you want to watch the 26 minute interview, just press the play button. If you decide to buy and read the book please post your comments on Amazon.com as well.

 

Please let me know your thoughts.

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
info@businessgrowthexperience.com

 

How to Grow Sales – Tip 1 of 30

How to Grow Sales – Tip 1 of 30

This is the first of 30 tips on how to grow sales and increase revenues. We will do one a week for the next 30 weeks.

The first tip is to understand the six questions your prospects want answered before they buy. These questions were developed and tested as a result of a sales call I had several years ago where I asked the sales representative these three questions:

1. Why do people buy from you?

2. What outcomes do they experience when they buy from you?

3. Who is your ideal client?

He could not answer any of these questions and after the call I realized I could not answer the questions as effectively as I thought I should. I developed the six questions to answer the questions above and to effectively communicate with the prospect the message that is important to them. I then tested these questions for several years with my client. I knew I was on to something as I watched businesses change; some almost overnight.

Included in this post is both the video and a handout that was used while doing a live training program. Please understand that my clients pay a lot of money to go through this process. This is real training; not a marketing message.

The link below is the handout for you to use as you watch the video. It is best to right-click (to download) on the link below and print this out as you watch the training. Please fill out the worksheet as you watch the video and see how your thinking changes about your product, your service and how you communicate with your prospects. This document does require a PDF reader. You can use Adobe or any other reader that opens PDF files.

Here is your handout: six questions audience handout

Below is a 52 minute video of live training program on the Six Questions and how to answer them. At some places the audio is less than perfect but still very understandable.

For those of you who like to read  (versus watching videos) you can go to the Business Growth Experience and download the Six Questions eBook. All you need do is enter your email address and the Six Question report will be emailed to you. It is not a transcript of the video. It has more content about why the Six Questions are important and a process on how to answer the questions.

If this is of value to you I would encourage you to share this post. You business associates and friends will appreciate you for sharing knowledge with them.

They, like you, will grow sales and increase revenues.

How to Grow Sales – Six Questions To Answer

Six Question Your Prospects Wants Answered Before They Buy from You, or stated another way, “Why Won’t People Buy From Me?”

Please share your thoughts.

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein
info@businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788

53 Things I wish I Knew BEFORE I Started my Business

53 Things I wish I knew Before I Started my Business:

  1. How to write a business plan
  2. How to execute a business plan
  3. How to find a good coach
  4. How to park my ego and ask for help
  5. How to network and build an effective network
  6. How to build effective relationships
  7. How to sell
  8. How to manage money
  9. How to use marketing to build a brand and attract the right client
  10. How to find the right customers
  11. How to ask for the order and not expect them to ask
  12. The value of surrounding myself with others who are better than me
  13. How to be vulnerable
  14. When to say no
  15. When to say yes
  16. How to take calculated risks
  17. The value of ethical leadership
  18. When to hire
  19. How to hire
  20. When to outsource
  21. What to outsource
  22. To understand what people were really saying
  23. How to value my product
  24. How to price my product
  25. Understanding of my ideal customer from both a demographics and psychographics perspective
  26. How to find a good accountant
  27. How to find a good financial planner
  28. How to find a good graphic designer
  29. To set my goal higher
  30. To go for the “no”
  31. Take more risks
  32. Forgive myself sooner when those risks fail
  33. Test for understanding
  34. Learn to say no
  35. Learn to say no again
  36. Reward myself more often when good things happen
  37. The power of a goal
  38. The power of a goal that I have to report on
  39. When to give up on  an idea
  40. When to act on an idea
  41. The power of planning
  42. The higher power of a plan “B”
  43. How to take better care of myself
  44. The power of a great diet
  45. How to get to the feeling of “belief” sooner
  46. Setting up a good filing system
  47. How to write a book sooner
  48. No caring what others would say
  49. Doing what is right
  50. Sleeping better at night
  51. How powerful “brainstorming” is in understanding a problem
  52. The power of having a database of trusted people who can help solve a problem and letting them
  53. The value of being a friend

Sincerely,

Ron Finklestein
ron@akris.net
330-990-0788
www.businessgrowthexperience.com

 

Is there a difference between loyalty and responsibility?

Is there a difference between loyalty and responsibility?

In one of my mastermind groups, one of the members discussed some potentially life changing decisions he would be making in the next few month.

These decisions would impact many people and depending on his decision, some not positively.

When he was asked what was important to him as he decided, he discussed loyalty. As we explored his description of loyalty I realized he was describing my definition of responsibility.

I can be loyal yet not chose to be responsible. I can be responsible and not be loyal.

I am not sure which is more correct – him feeling loyal or responsible.

It was true that he was responsible for whatever decisions he made but was the decisions he made come from a sense of loyalty or responsibility.

Dictionary.com define loyalty as the state or quality of being loyal; 1. Faithfulness to commitments or obligations. 2. Faithful adherence to a sovereign, government, leader, cause, etc. 3. An example or instance of faithfulness, adherence, or the like: a man with fierce loyalties.

Dictionary.com defines responsibility as 1. The state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one’s power, control, or management.

I am thinking he has confused being accountable and being faithful.

This is a hard concept for me. Do you make decisions from loyalty or responsibility and if so how do you distinguish between the two?

Do you have the same understanding when making personal decisions and business decisions?

 

Sincerely,

 

Ron Finklestein
www.businessgrowthexperience.com

Expand Your Box (ESI)

Enlightened Self-Interest.

I created a concept called Enlightened Self-Interest (ESI).  ESI means to understand what is in my best interest with the intent to choose and take action. It allows you to get clear on what is important to you and marshal your resources to focus your time, energy and money to accomplish great things (for you). This concept is documented in more details in the book, Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant, available on amazon.com.

To accomplish anything important in our lives we have to do things have not done before. We need to solicit feedback from others to better understand our impact. We need feedback systems in place to allow us to self-correct. We need to understand how our actions and behaviors impacts others. When we do these things we do not get out of box – we expand our box!

It is impossible to get out of our box. We can only expand our box, make it larger. This expands our visions and allows us to see things differently; to see possibilities where none existed before. This is what a leader does. A leader create the vision (ESI), sells that vision, communicates that vision and helps others to see the bigger picture; whether in sales, personal development, business growth or personal growth. A leader helps others expand their personal box (vision of the world.)

When you embrace your ESI, you expand. Many time your ESI changes and you expand further. You might start out solving a specific problem (I need to grow sales). You might then grow your ESI into a strategy (this is how we will do things.) Ideally your ESI will evolve into your purpose (I will change the lives of one million people.) It is, as most things, an evolution an expanding, a becoming.

So what’s in it for you? The more selfish you become in executing your ESI, the more you expand you personally. You create a larger view of the world.

And…

As you expand yourself you are able to give more to others, to expand their box, to grow their perception. You can do this because you are seeing things differently, thinking differently and acting differently.

As human being we are driven to continually prove to ourselves the vastness of our influence and connectedness. You realize your boundaries are nearly limitless. Every business owner wants to expand his business, every mother wants their children to expand and become all them can be, each of use wants to know we are leaving a mark and our time spent (in business, in life, in a relationship) was purposeful.

Explore your ESI and give yourself permission to expand your boundaries and see who you really are and what you are capable of.  This is about personal leadership, business leadership and community leadership.

Enjoy!

Ron Finklestein

www.businessgrowthexperience.com
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788

Getting Back! Best Sales Training Company!

Getting Back!

I have not written a blog post in a while and I wanted to let you know why. I had a total knee replacement. All is good and I am back at work, more productive than ever.

While I was recovering I was very productive. If you know me, you know I cannot just sit still. Though I was not mobile I was productive.

First, a gift. If you go to www.businessgrowthexperience.com you can download the eBook called, Six Questions Prospects Want Answered Before they Buy! This report has been so well received it will be the baseline for a book of the same name. Expected production date in June 2014. You can get it now before we take it down.

2013 was a good year for RPF GROUP INC and Business Growth Experience. We were named best sales training company in Akron, Ohio. Thank you for your support.

Dr. Tony Alessandra and I have written another book called, The Definitive Sales Playbook: How to Grow Sales and Create Lifetime Customers. The book is best practices of successful sales people. It has 65 short chapters of what successful sales reps do to be successful. For the new rep this is a playbook to show you how to be successful in sales. For the experienced rep, it is a review of what made you successful. For the business owner, this book is a playbook for building a great sales force.

The Definitive Sales Playbook was created as a result of the sales membership site we created. Here is the link if you want to check it out www.businessgrowthexperience.net. It will be well worth your time to check it out.

We are announcing a new product. We believe it is the only one of its kind. We call it Selling You! It is a completely customized sales training program tailored specifically to your needs. If you are interested, send me an email and I will email you an application. We are rolling it out on a limited basis. We assess your sales skills using our proven assessment and we create a sales coaching for you. My email is ron@businessgrowthexperience.com if you want more info. Include your phone number and I will get back to you right away.

Stay tuned for our new Webinar series. They will run quarterly and be 60 minutes in length. They are based on our popular lunch and learn series (http://saleslunchandlearn.eventbrite.com – for you Northeast Ohio readers). We take a chapter out of The Definitive Sales Playbook and drill into the material in details. Each quarter we will address a specific need in growing sales. These programs will be specific – something you can apply immediately.

Michael LaRocca and I released a book called, Make a Difference: From being Successful to Being Significant.  It is a short read about one person who goes from being successful to being significant by implementing the 9 laws of success. This books was 12 years in the making and it is the outcome of what 1000 small business owners did to be successful. We have received many positive review and my favorite is from Dave Young who said, “I like this better than anything Jack Canfield has written!”

Thanks for your support. With you the announcement in the blog post would not be possible.

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788

Ron@businessgrowthexperience.coom

www.businessgrowthexperience.com

10 Lessons Learned in 2013

2013 has been a good year for me. I introduced many new products, created new relationships, and had a total knee replacement. I learned much and as I reflect back I want to share the top 10 learning’s I experienced. As you plan your goals, dreams and aspirations for next year, I thought I would share some lessons early in the hope you will think differently about personal growth, wealth and health going into 2014.

10. Life planning as well as business planning is essential. Create a life plan and get really focused on what is important, what makes you happy, and what provides peace of mind. Life is an experience to be lived and not a lesson to be learned.

9.   I like learning. It does not matter what it is. I realized it is important to me to bring value to every relationship and I give away too much. Not sure I want to change this too much.

8.   People who get both knees replaced (AT THE SAME TIME) impress me, I think. I know how much work it was to recover from one knee replacement, I could not image doing two at the same time!

7.   I now see the medical industry as a customer service organization. The positive service I experienced, at the hospital was extraordinary; from the nurses to the nutritionist to the physical therapist was incredible. Made the whole stay that much more pleasant and I believe my recovery time faster.

6.   I realized the value of good friends. Several stepped up to help out when I was in the hospital. I was amazed and impressed that people would be so open and sharing with their time, talent and money. What was really cool was I did not have to ask!

5.   One of our dogs died this year. The other became very depressed. It is very clear to me they need company and create deep relationships that benefit all.

4.   I love being greeted so warmly by my dog when I come home. I will take time and allow him to greet me when I walk in the door and I will greet them with the same level of love and enthusiasm (this was on the list last year.)

3.   Honesty, integrity and common sense make me tick. I love business and personal relationships with people where I know what makes them tick. I want to know what is important to you. I can always get better at communicating my intent and cultivating valuable relationships. Some people will love you and some won’t. Some feel it is ok to criticize because they can do it anonymously and no one will know. Relationships can be difficult. Always give them the benefit of the doubt and trust that when the time is right, things will be ok.

2.    Nothing is as valuable as your health. Having experienced a number of health challenges with a new knee make me aware of how I value mobility, sleep and activity. It is amazing how my attitude got better when the body feels better. Enough sleep is essential to great health and a positive attitude.

1.    Getting back to “my why.” For years I had a strong spiritual practice. I got away from it due to family obligations, business challenges and other reason. I changed and my spiritual practices did not change as I changed. I will implement practices that keep me grounded and focused on what is important. When the “why” is clear, life gets easy.

Bonus Lesson: The same challenge will keep showing up in your life until you learn the lesson life is presenting to you.  You would have thought that I would have learned that by now!

Another bonus lesson: Be Grateful. Share your gratitude.

Happy New Year,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
RON@businessgrowthexperience.com
www.businessgrowthexperience.com

 

 

 

Half of Success is Just Showing Up!

Half of Success is Just Showing up!

I run Mastermind groups and several clients asked this question, “Why are people late or they don’t show up when they register for an event?”

A variation of that same question is, “Don’t they understand how much time, energy and money we invest?”

We can expend this question to include: Why won’t people return phone call, especially where a business relationship exists? I am not talking about a cold call.

I do not believe these are time management issues. I think they are behavioral issues: lack of focus, lack of clarity on what is important, maybe laziness.

Those questions are legitimate and in my opinion they reflect very badly on people who exhibit this behaviors.

When I have a sales call with a prospect I try to never be late. I believe it is a sign of disrespect when I am late. There are times when I am late. It may be a traffic accident, a call running longer than expected, etc. When I am in that situation, I call the person I am planning to meet and ask them if they want to continue with the meeting or reschedule.

I was on a radio interview promoting my latest book, Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant, and I was on the call exactly at 3 PM. She commented on my time management. I told her if I were not on time it would be the ultimate of disrespect to her and her schedule. She is busy. She has a radio program to run. She is dependent on the time slot the radio gives her. If I am late it puts her in the rough spot.

I was watching 60 Minutes and they were profiling Alabama football coach Nick Sabin.  One of his player was late for a team meeting and Sabin asked him why, “I could not get my earring out,” was his response. Sabin asked him this question, “Do you care more about your earring than this football team?”

Sabin was interrupted by someone who could not get his earrings out? Really. Shows you where his priorities are!

When you are late or do not show for a meeting or event, think of the message you are sending about who you are? Think of what the prospect thinks if you are late: are you dependable, can I trust you to do what you say you will do, will you blow me off again in the future, what will happen when I share with you my problems? They have a busy day and you are negatively impacting their schedule.

There are four rules all (sales) professional should implement daily:

  1. Do what you say you will do.
  2. Do it when you say it will be done.
  3. Don’t be late.
  4. Be a good listener.

As the old saying goes, “half of success is just showing up.”

Ron Finklestein
www.businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

Not making your sales numbers?

If you are not achieving the level of success you know you are capable of achieving, take five minutes and go through this sales assessment. There is no charge and I will not ask for your email address. This will give you an indication of what you need to do differently. If after taking this assessment you want to learn more, just send me an email.

Here is the link. http://businessgrowthexperience.com/do-you-need-us/

Business Growth Advisor

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@ businessgrowthexperience.com

Learn why so many smalll businesses fail! Please join me

DocFred Presents Ron Finklestein-

Why does a small business fail?

                             Sept 20, 2013

 

Friday, Sep 20, 2013, DocFred with Ron Finklestein-Why does a small business fail?You will learn:

1- Why do so many small businesses fail?
2- What are the business issues business owner’s biggest weaknesses?
3- What prevents them from seeking help?
4-  What they can do immediately to start making a difference in their success and much, much more…

The Amazing Women and Men of Power Network and Raven International presents this Friday’s- Amazing Men of Power & Music

This show will broadcast twice Friday, Sep 20, 2013, 10AM and again at 4PM CST.

You can also listen in: Friday, Sep 20, 2013 or any time by going to Visions of Success Talk Radio. All links below:
http://amazingwomenofpower.com/radio/amazing-men-of-power/ (for Friday’s show on ITunes also, AWOP 24.7) or even today at

http://lifecareerbusinesscoach.com/visions-of-success/programs/

If you found this interesting, pass it on to a colleague, family member, or friend.
DocFred would love to hear your feedback on this subject. Email: fredsimkovsky@yahoo.com 

Sincerely,

 

Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky, CMCP
LifeCareerBusinessCoach.com

Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant

Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant

As I get ready to go to Washington DC to testify in a court cases, I received notification that my next book is being released. It is called Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant.

It is short read about a successful business owner who forgot why he is in business.

He lost a major sale and was on his way to the account to save the deal when he is in a car accident. A special teacher shows up and helps him understand that he can be both successful and significant by making a few simply changes in his life.

It is a story modeled after the many clients I had who struggled in growing their business and finally understood there is really no difference when you are successful because you are significant.

I invite you buy this book and incorporate these powerful lessons in your life. My hope is it will change how you think, what you do and how you do it.

If you want to learn more about implementing these concepts in your business please go to Business Growth Experience and download our free report. It is a good start.

Sincerely,

 

Ron Finklestein

330-990-0788
ron@ronfinklestein.com

 

 

Gmail Changes – Warning

Google is at it again. These changes have already been made to my account!

Gmail is rolling out new features for their inbox and they’re starting to automatically filter your email messages for you (this also applies if you use Google Apps for your business email address!).

The emails of many of the people I follow are categorized as “Promotions” and automatically making them skip your inbox and putting them in a separate folder (similar to your spam box now).

This means you won’t see any of our awesome emails (or emails from others you follow) in your main inbox unless you adjust your Gmail settings!

Gmail will implement these changes over time so you may not see any changes to your email yet.

But, it won’t be long before your inbox is going to look much different then it does now.

When this happens all you have to do is change one little setting and save your changes.

Here’s what to do:

Click on and drag one of the emails from us to the “Primary” tab. Then make sure you click “Yes” when the alert pops up.

If you want to completely remove these new tabs simply go to the Settings box in the upper right hand corner of your inbox and select “Settings”. Click on the “Inbox” tab and unselect all categories except “Primary” (remember to save your changes!)

And that is it!

Now you won’t miss out on any important emails from others you follow (including us!)

A special thanks to Joe Polish for make me aware of this! This too important not to share.

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@ businessgrowthexperience.com

If you are in Northeast Ohio on 8/13 I invite you to join me for a sales lunch an learn. No risk or commitment on your part. Here are the details: http://saleslunchandlearn.eventbrite.com –  seating is limited so be sure to register early. I need to know how much food to bring.

Rynd Speaks

This is the first chapter of my next book. It is a parable on how Bob uses  the Nine Laws to solves some very difficult personal and business problems. The Book is called Rynd’s Nine Laws for Personal and Professional Success – Going from Success to Significance. My coauthor Mike Larocca and I are very proud of this book because of the compelling story, the easy read and lessons learned. It will be available on Amazon in shortly!

Please read and enjoy.

Bob’s Drive

 

“Why am I the only person in this office who can do sales?”

Bob is seated in an elegant office, in a luxurious black leather chair at a cherry wood desk, none of which he ever seems to notice. He’s wearing a tailored gray business suit. His jacket is draped over the back of his chair.

Bob is facing Richard, who wears a tailored navy Armani suit despite holding the title Inside Sales Manager and thus rarely leaves the office. Richard begins to formulate a reply, but Bob cuts him off.

“No, scratch that,” says Bob. “Okay, fine, maybe I’m not the only person who can do sales. But I am the only person who will do sales, who does do sales. It’s not difficult. Everyone we contact needs this service. It’s a great service. It’s simple to see this. It’s simple to explain this. But why am I the only person who’s actually doing the work?”

“I –”

“Don’t answer that. I’m not in the mood right now.”

Bob realizes that right now’s not the time for a reasoned conversation. After a brief, almost guilty look at Richard, Bob says, “Let me go calm down first. Then tell me what happened with Greg and the Eastern contract.”

My reaction was unreasonable, Bob realizes as he leaves his office. But being annoyed at this problem is not.

Bob briefly wonders how long it’ll take Richard to return to his own office, and almost smiles, but his amusement quickly gives way to his annoyance.

Bob doesn’t mind doing sales. He’s good at it. It’s not what he would have envisioned himself doing twenty years ago, but he doesn’t mind sales. Or marketing. Or customer service. Or even purchasing, receivables, payables, or payroll.

Well, maybe not payroll.

No, the problem is that he is either doing or overseeing all of them, in too much detail, being pulled in 94 different directions at once. He owns a business that grossed four hundred grand last year and he’s still working harder than he would in a 9-to-5.

It just doesn’t make sense.

Bob enters the break room and is halfway to the water fountain before he stops. The table is cluttered with napkins and plates. On the counter beside the sink are several bottles of soda.

Unfortunately, Bob’s secretary chooses just that moment to open the opposite door and enter the break room. Ella’s smart “office chic” business suit, silk blouse, expensive shoes, and styled black hair make her look almost as efficient as she actually is.

“This is just ridiculous.” Bob throws his hands in the air. “Am I a business owner or a babysitter?”

“Bob, I thought you were –” she begins.

“Am I the only person who is even marginally engaged in this place? I can’t believe I have to tell you to keep the kitchen area clean, to take out the trash, to answer the customer emails on the same day. It’s ridiculous that you don’t know all this. It’s ridiculous that you aren’t already doing all this. Is it ignorance or apathy? No, wait, let me guess – you don’t know and you don’t care.”

Ella knows this isn’t true. She also knows that Bob knows this isn’t true. She enjoys working for him most of the time, but he can overreact on occasion. She suspects it’s the result of keeping such a tight lid on his feelings, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to tell him that.

The atypical situation in the break room leaves Ella stunned for a moment. In that moment, Bob leaves the room. He’s out of the building before she ever gets the chance to tell him that the so-called mess was in fact Bob’s workers setting up the break room for his 45th birthday party.

Bob quickly drives his silver luxury sedan from the parking lot, enjoying its smooth handling and easy power. He always enjoys the first minute of every drive, before his thoughts and plans move to the front of his mind and distract him from his surroundings. The first car he looked at cost more than he was willing to spend, but he likes what he bought instead.

He drives half a block along the access road, stops at the intersection where it meets the four-lane “proper” road, turns left when the light changes, and starts using his hands-free phone.

“Ella, it’s Bob. I’m sorry about that. Really. I shouldn’t have done that, okay?”

“Sure.”

“I’m going to Eastern to see if I can save this contract. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Okay.”

Bob drives his car onto the interstate and accelerates rapidly. He notices that Ella seems subdued, which makes him feel guilty. “I’m sorry I blew up back there. You do a great job. I’d be lost without you.”

“No problem.”

“Okay. Bye.”

Bob ends the call, swerves around someone who apparently doesn’t realize that interstates also have minimum speed limits, and makes another call.

“I’m sorry I blew up back there,” he tells Richard’s voicemail. “It’s not your fault. Since this is a local customer for a change, I’m going down there to save this one in person. Keep pulling those numbers together. I’ll catch up with you later.”

After quickly checking his GPS to remind himself which exit to take, confirming that his memory is accurate, he makes another call.

“Greg,” he says. “Bob. Tell me what happened.”

“I –”

“Give me the short version.”

Greg pauses. “The guy with the title Purchasing Manager does not, in fact, make purchasing decisions.”

Bob exhales.

“Exactly,” says Greg. “All that effort explaining what we do, winning over a guy – and we did win him over – who can’t say yes or no. He’s got to go run it by his boss, and we’ve never spoken to her at all –”

“And he’ll lose something in translation.”

“Right,” says Greg. “That’s exactly right.”

“So we find out who she is and then we start over again.” Bob bangs on his steering wheel in frustration.

“It gets worse. While we were busy with the gatekeeper, Dickson got into the company president. She’s the one making the decisions.”

“Oh… fudge.” Bob breathes deeply. “Dickson. How did they find out who the decision maker is before we –? No, never mind how they found out. The question is, how do we fix this?”

Oh great, he thinks, flipping on his headlights and windshield wipers. Rain.

“Recommendations,” says Greg. “Testimonials.”

“What about them?”

“If we start over now, we sound like salesmen.”

“That could be because we are salesman,” says Bob, chuckling.

“We know why we’re different from our competition, why Eastern should hire us instead. But we can talk ourselves blue in the face explaining that and it won’t be as effective as recommendations from our customers.”

“This is true,” says Bob. “But unless you know how to get our customers to drop whatever they’re doing and just jump in ahead of Dickson right now to tell Eastern just how great we are…”

Ahead of Bob, a car brakes suddenly. The lanes on this stretch of interstate have a way of suddenly ending or turning exit-only and panicking those unfamiliar with it, so he isn’t surprised, but he is annoyed. He swerves left and wonders why he’s so easily annoyed these days.

“We could always sabotage them,” Greg mutters, followed by a noise that doesn’t travel well from hands-free phone to hands-free phone.

“Did you just laugh nervously?” Bob asks.

“What?”

“I’ve read about that in books – oh, how I wish I had time to read books again – but I don’t believe I’ve ever heard it before. Was that a nervous laugh?”

“Um… no… um, I was just joking about sabotage –”

“Of course you were joking. Sabotage would be unethical.”

“It would,” Greg quickly agrees.

“So we don’t do that. We don’t sabotage Dickson. We reframe the job.”

“Reframe.”

“Sure. Reframe. If we’re bidding against an incumbent, we make the old entrenched methods look bad. If we’re the incumbent, we make our insider knowledge critical. If we’ve got a better reputation for data security, we play up the threat and likelihood of compromising a system. If none of our competitors provide a single point of contact, stress that we do and why it matters. If we’ve got a less experienced team, we play down the need for expertise and talk up our ability to do the same work at lower cost. If we’ve got a more experienced team, we play up the value of experience, and the peace of mind they’ll enjoy knowing that our people are all hired, trained, and in place. Make what we do best seem vital and what others do well seem not so important. Stress the critical importance of anything we know that our competitor doesn’t. Reframe.”

“Ah,” says Greg.

“Ideally before they call for bids, of course.” Bob takes the exit that leads from the interstate he’s on to the interstate he wants to be on. “Oh, have they called for bids on this yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Great! We are in there! We can help them decide what to stress in the RFP. If Dickson can beat us on what does matter to the customer, we bid on what should matter to the customer. Can you meet me in –”

Bob is driving in the leftmost of five lanes, which quickly narrow to four and then three lanes, and he needs to shoot to the far right lane within the next mile. This particular stretch of interstate brings out the worst in the lane jockeys, no matter the weather, especially if there’s a slow-moving bus or truck.

Bob is momentarily distracted by his phone call and therefore unaware of the car on his right, in his blind spot. The car veers to its left and smashes into Bob’s car at 73 miles per hour.

The road is newly wet, when the asphalt is at its slickest. Bob’s car skids. Badly.

Failing Forward,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@ businessgrowthexperience.com
www.businessgrowthexperience.com – Download the free report
www.businessgrowthexperience.net – Sales Membership Site – try it today!

 

 

Choice Points!

What is a Choice Point?

A Choice Point is a point in time where you choose – make a decision to do something different.

In one of my mastermind groups, we were on-boarding a new member and each member discussed the value they received as a member:

  • I am lonely because there is no one I can discuss important issues with. My wife doesn’t understand, my employees have hidden agendas, and others simply do not understand the complexity of what I do.
  • I need someone to hold me accountable. I know what to do but many times I won’t do it.
  • When I am making a big decision I ask myself what questions would my mastermind group ask me. I make better decisions as a result.
  • There are no hidden agenda and I know the feedback I receive is real. The members only have my success in mind.
  • And I could go on!

Each member came to a point in their career where they made a decision to get involved, to be committed. They came to a Choice Point and made a decision to do something different.

Choice Points can be the results of external events (the economy, death in the family, divorce, etc.) The can also result from internal events (decision to get married, have a child, change jobs, etc.) A Choice Point comes from the need to do something different. It can be embraced as a positive event and proactively embraced or actively resisted.

One choice suggest acceptance. One choice suggests struggle.

It is a choice – a Choice Point!

Some members join the Mastermind and actively embraced the change. Others joined the Mastermind and resisted the groups’ participation. The ones who resisted are no longer members. The ones who proactively embraced the Mastermind are growing personally and professionally. It is just a choice!

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein

Check out http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com and download our free report: Six questions Prospects Want Answered Before they buy.

If you work in Northeast Ohio and want to attend our Sales Lunch & Learn events please click here http://saleslunchandlearn.eventbrite.com.

 

 

What I learned at my Sales Lunch & Learn

What I learned at my Sales Lunch & Learn

I do a monthly lunch and learn sales coaching program each month. In an effort to reach more people I recorded the session and posted it on YouTube. The link is below. I do not plan to keep this public long so if growing sales is important to you, take some time to watch/listen to this video.

After a short while, I will make this video private and only my client will have access to it via Google Plus.

This video was recorded live as part of a coaching session to private clients of Ron Finklestein and the Business Growth Experience. Ron discusses some challenges sales people must overcome, what business owners expect from people selling to them and nine actions they must take to become more successful. To learn more on implementing these actions please check out our sales training web site at http://www.businessgrowthexperience.net.

If you prefer personal coaching, check out http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com and download our free report: Six questions Prospects Want Answered Before they buy.

If you work in Northeast Ohio and want to attend one of these Lunch & Learn events please click here  http://saleslunchandlearn.eventbrite.com.

 

http://youtu.be/nv_sfMZ8Vz0

Do people trust you?

Do people trust you?

People buy from people they like and trust. I don’t think anyone would argue with that.

So how do you develop trust?

In my opinion, building trust starts with building rapport. Rapport is something we do every day with every person we meet. It is not something that is done the first time you meet someone, it happens every time you meet them.  Some of the more common techniques include:

  • Pacing
  • Matching and mirroring
  • Vocal variety and tone of voice
  • Eye contact
  • The way we dress
  • etc.

Rapport is not something we are taught to do, it is something we do. Some are better at building rapport than others. Some are naturals and others study it and make a decision to master it. One of the less common and more powerful ways to build trust is to take the time and develop the skills necessary to treat others the way they want to be treated. You can learn more in my book The Platinum Rule for Small Business Mastery available on http://www.amazon.com

When people trust you they buy from you and they are loyal to you. This means they return to buy more.

When your employees trust you they will work harder for you and make better decisions.

You create deeper and more satisfying personal relationships.

Did you meet someone that you just liked, you became immediate friends and realized you wanted to spend more time with them, maybe find a way to do more business – that is rapport.

Did you meet someone of the opposite sex and immediately wanted to do on a date? That is rapport.

Did you buy something you never thought you would buy because you liked the person doing the selling? That is rapport.

Rapport building is a skill that anyone can learn and should learn.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Ron Finklestein
Download my free report – six questions prospects want answered before they buy from you at http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com.

My sales membership site has some great material on treating others the way they want to be treated. Check it out at http://www.businessgrowthexperience.net.

Can I invite you to coffee?

Can I invite you to coffee?

I give myself permission to call people I want to meet and invite them to coffee.

Here is my approach.

“Hi Bill, this is Ron Finklestein. I been hearing good things about you and I would like to buy you a cup of coffee. I have no agenda others then getting to know you a little better. Are you open to having a cup coffee?”

I have never been turned down using this approach. It is not unusual for this meeting to be schedule out a few weeks but I have never been refused. I do this once a month and I do it for me. I want to learn what others do to be successful so I can be more effective at helping my client grow, prosper and get results.  

There are some things you need to know when you do this. Be authentic, don’t use it as a ruse to get in front of them and sell them something, be open to what you can learn, and be a good listener.

I recently did this with a gentleman who recently sold his business.

We had a great meeting and he told me why he met with me. “I never had anyone just want to have coffee with me who approached me the way you did. I was curious.”

During our discussion I asked him how I might help him achieve his goal. He said, “I never had anyone ask me that question before.”

I could tell there was something he wanted to share so I waited for him to make up his mind. Finally he told me that he wanted to get into coaching and he was concerned because he had no methodology. We then talk about my methodology and how it was created. I told him I could shorten his process if wanted to license my approach.

He had to leave to catch a plane and told me he would read some material and let me know next week if he wanted to proceed and learn more.

This all happened because I reached out.

I do group sales training and I shared this story with them. None could believe I would set up meeting without the purpose of getting business. I explained to them that you can have different purposes in meeting others: curiosity, networking, referrals introductions, problem solving, asking advice, etc.

The universe works in mysterious ways. I just follow my path and if I like someone I tell them. If I want to learn more I ask them and I never leave a meeting with someone I just met without asking these two questions:

  1.  What are you hoping to get out of our meeting today? I ask this because they are meeting with me for their reasons and it is useful to know what they want.
  2. What is your goal and how can I help you achieve it. People are surprised by this because most do not have goals. This helps bring some clarity to the meeting.

Give yourself permission to call someone you find interesting and ask them to coffee. Tell them you the truth; that you have no agenda and you just want to learn about them.  Watch how both you and the other person change. Be prepared to create some new meaningful relationships and be open to whatever the situation offers.

To Your Success (However you define it)

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
www.businessgrowthexperience.net (my sales training membership site)
www.businessgrowthexperience.com (my consulting site)
www.ronfinklestein.com (about me)

 

 

 

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