Sales Executives

By:  Larissa Ham

Scared of promoting yourself and your business? Don’t be.

There’s no point being coy if you want to run a successful small business, says sales guru Ciaran McGuigan.

“In my experience shy business owners have skinny kids,” jokes the owner of Strike Force Sales.

Marketing Angels founder Michelle Gamble agrees, saying owners need to be “fearless, focused, relentless and consistent”.

Be relentless, says Marketing Angels founder Michelle Gamble. Photo: Supplied

“If you’re in a small business and you want to grow the business you just can’t be shy,” she says. “You’ve got to get yourself out there.”

The sales and marketing experts were part of a panel at Kochie’s Business Builders Boot Camp in Sydney last Friday. Below we summarise some of their best tips.

Rob Hartnett, managing director, Selling Strategies International

“It never ceases to amaze me how many small businesses are happy to spend $45,000 on a company car to get their salespeople around, but won’t spend $4,500 on what they’re going to say when they get there,” says Hartnett.

He says your first sale should be to yourself. “You’ve got to believe in what you’re selling”.

If you don’t like the thought of hiring sales people, or can’t afford it, he suggests investing some money getting your own sales training so you can sell your product or service.

If you are in a position to hire your own sales guru, do some research before signing any contracts.

“Don’t hire the wrong people and then try and train them,” Hartnett says. “Benchmark what you want and then hire against that.”

Lauren Brown, founder and managing director, Pulse Marketing

SME owners should understand how their business plans and marketing plans work together, says Brown, and realise that marketing covers many things.

“Marketing just isn’t around traditional marketing. It’s anything that communicates with someone who might do business with you.”

Brown says business owners should enter awards as a way of proving their credentials. They should also make sure their marketing is relevant and getting through on the right channels – whether that be traditional media, websites or social media.

Targeting your audience multiple times is also the way to go.

“Don’t talk to 100 people once, talk to 10 people 10 times. Very rarely do you see something once and say ‘I’m going to go and buy that’,” she says.

Ciaran McGuigan, CEO, Strike Force Sales

McGuigan is a big advocate of calling 10 potential customers before 10am each day.

But if you’re not comfortable cold calling, he suggests placing the calls at a time when you know the recipient won’t be there. The chances of rejection fall, the challenge instead being to leave a message enticing enough for them to call back.

“It’s a different problem but it’s a better problem if you don’t like being rejected,” he says.

Another tip is to enter your competitors names into Google Alerts – “every single time they do anything on the internet anywhere in the world you’ll be told”.

Carl Bellamy, group sales manager – small business, Yahoo! Search Marketing

Not surprisingly, Bellamy advocates testing all the search marketing engines – not just Google – before investing all your marketing cash. You should also test your keywords to find out what works for you.

“You need to fish where people are biting. Think about how you search on the internet and your keywords,” he says.

Michelle Gamble, founder and chief angel, Marketing Angels

As part of Marketing Angels’ motto of being fearless and relentless, the business’ Facebook site offers a ‘marketing tip of the day,’ which has greatly increased the number of ‘likes’ on the social media site.

Gamble also recommends email marketing – mailchimp.com.au is one such site that can help you craft your own newsletters.

She also says small business should aim for media exposure.

“Don’t be frightened of chasing down media opportunities. The higher your brand awareness is the less it costs to get each new customer through the door.”

By:  Amy Ruberg

Baseball has a term for “can’t miss” talent, those sure to make a huge impact. They call that person the “Five-Tool Player” – an exceptional team member that excels at all five critical baseball skills:

• Hits for average
• Hits for power
• Has base running speed and skills
• Has a strong arm and throwing ability
• Plays defense exceptionally well

This player can transfer these tools to be successful on any team, in either league. He usually brings home a sweet paycheck, too.

In the Job World, Talent Tools are called “Soft Skills”

Soft skills are those you’ve acquired during life experience—summer jobs, internships, sports teams, hobbies, volunteering, classes and much more. Of course, the key is that you can transfer and apply these skills to a wide range of positions and industries.  Soft skills are tremendous assets when you’re just starting your career—especially in a challenging job market.

There are many soft skills coveted by hiring managers and recruiters, but here are my top five:

Communication

A potential employer sees you as a representative of their firm and brand… Show them you’re ready for the big leagues.

The mechanics are your foundation:  proper spelling, grammar and usage of the language. But communication is much more than basic mechanics; it is the ability to be understood and to understand.  Can you converse with a customer group at lunch? Can you give and receive clear feedback? Are you a good listener, and learner?

Ideas for development:  Any All -Star will tell you that practice makes perfect.  Write often, even when you don’t have to in your job. Reading is just as critical as you learn how the communication of others is perceived as effective, or not.

Working with Data and Numbers

Being tech-savvy means much more than posting opinions on Facebook.

Today’s technology allows us to collect and analyze data like never before.  Give yourself a decided edge when you demonstrate the ability to effective use and manipulate spreadsheets, maybe even write a macro, build a pivot table or create an infographic.  Ask any veteran: numbers are very important in today’s workforce (otherwise, how do you calculate your batting average while you sit in the dug out chewing gum?)

Ideas for Development: You may not have to cross over into the Geek collective, but you can’t let numbers scare you. Take a statistics course at college. Perhaps enroll in one of the many available online courses for advanced Excel functions. If numbers and technology trends are very important to your career, keep informed on tech issues via sites like Mashable and Hacker News.

Project Management

You may be responsible for a project with the guy next to you in a cubicle, or the gal halfway around the world. How are you at collaboration? Can you build consensus?  Can you set goals and meet deadlines? Does a Gantt chart make you nauseous?

Ask any new guy grabbing some pine while waiting his turn to shine: you’ll go far in the manager’s eyes if you can keep score, stay ahead of mistakes and spot trends.

Ideas for Development: Become familiar with online project management tools such as BaseCamp or Zoho. Most important, learn by doing… Become involved in campus and professional groups. Volunteer to help with event planning. Get involved with community-based activities or at the next charity event.

Managing Yourself

If a star player is in a slump, no one has to tell him to get to batting practice early.

Let’s be honest:  it is far easier to tell others how to improve than it is to kick ourselves into gear.  Are you self-disciplined?  Do you learn from your mistakes? Do you rely on external motivation – or do you find your drive from within? Most important… are you coachable? In a hyper-competitive job market, this soft skill cannot be emphasized enough.

Ideas for Development: No easy way around this one… Develop good work habits, and practice them daily.  Don’t look for excuses. Accept responsibility for mistakes. Learn from your experiences, positive and negative.

Learning and Change

To help a team compete better, sometimes a star player must learn a new position. He doesn’t gripe; he takes extra ground balls with his sights set on a Gold Glove next year.

Do you volunteer for assignments outside your basic role? Do you initiate new projects? Are you able to tackle a new role?

Ideas for Development: At home, break up your usual routine with books, reading, movies, restaurants and social events. Welcome a diverse group of friends.  At work, a team-player (and positive) attitude is your best advantage. My favorite quote:  “The only constant in life is change.” Be ahead of change, not behind it.

Make a conscious effort to improve your soft skills – and the scouts will discover your talent

By:  Lee Morgan

Direct sales is a challenging form of selling that requires the salesperson to make her case to potential customers away from a fixed retail location. Instead of relying on customers who are interested in a store that sells a product, direct salespeople must cold call or visit customers who do not necessarily have any interest in the product or service — and then try to convince them why they need to buy. It’s a tall order, but following some simple tips may make this seemingly impossible task more manageable.

1. Believe Your Own Hype

   • As a direct salesperson, you must believe the pitch you are giving to your potential customers. If you don’t believe in your product or service, you’ll have a hard time making anyone else believe in it enough to part with their hard-earned cash to buy it. You must showcase your enthusiastic personality, and, to show it effectively, you will need to be enthusiastic about the product and what you are saying.

   Don’t Be Phony

   • You must be yourself as a direct salesperson. Many people make the mistake of getting into a “salesperson” character, which usually comes off as phony — because it is. If you act like yourself, your customers will pick up on your honesty. If you act like someone else, you are likely to give off some dishonest vibes that your customers will also notice. No one wants to buy from someone who seems dishonest.

   No Pressure

   • Pressure selling is a method used by salespeople that can work; in fact, it can be an effective method for getting a sale. However, it is not a way to build a customer base. People do not like being pressured into a sale, and, even if they fall for it, they will be aware of the pressure later and they will not enjoy the experience. When you apply too much pressure to a sales pitch, you will not be gaining a customer even if you get a sale because they will not want to deal with you again unless the product or service is very impressive.

   Don’t Forget to Ask

   • One of the big mistakes salespeople make is getting so wrapped up in presenting the product or service that they forget to ask the necessary question — you have to ask for the sale. All of the techniques in the world and a wonderful pitch may not get your customer to jump up and say, “I’ll take it!” If you don’t ask if they want it, you may not get an answer and end up leaving under the assumption they wouldn’t have bought the product or service.

As we round out the first quarter of 2011, you may find yourself looking for ways to boost your sales in a hurry to reach your quota or beat last year’s results. Never fear – there are plenty of ways to increase sales, and you won’t have to spend a fortune on advertising to do it.

Create a Buzz

One of the easiest ways to increase sales is by creating a buzz of some sort. You can do this via social media outlets (by running a promo for Facebook fans or Twitter followers, encouraging them to spread the word), inventing a contest (name our newsletter, give us your feedback, etc.), offering a reward for referrals (refer three friends and your next visit is free) or giving people some other reason to talk to their friends, family, and colleagues about your product or service.

Get Competitive

If you’ve got sales staff, it definitely pays to create a sales competition and offer a killer prize to the winner. This helps to motivate your sales folks and thereby increase sales. It can be as simple as a one-week closing contest, a one-month highest new sales contest, or even a one-day sales contest (depending on the nature of your business and how sales are conducted).

Incentivize!

One of the easiest ways to boost your sales fast is to give people a reason to buy today. Rather than relying solely on scare tactics (limited time offer, limited quantity available, don’t miss out, etc.), you can use incentives to give people a real and compelling reason why they must by today. Even if you conduct outside sales for a company and have no control over the prices or special offers associated with that company’s product or service, you can give prizes of your own (every new customer who buys today gets a free massage, lunch, consultation, car wash, Starbuck’s gift card, etc.) The prize should make sense both in terms of your product/service (don’t give a restaurant gift certificate if you’re selling a weight loss product, for example) and with regards to your commission (don’t give away a $100 gift card for a sale that only earns you $20 in commissions).

By Melinda Carstensen

Job seekers: If you know a mouse is more than just a rodent with whiskers and keyboards aren’t just for pianos, you’re on the right track. But having just basic computer knowledge may not be enough in today’s technology-driven workplace, experts say.

When applying for a job — whether for a receptionist position or one in a recycling facility — knowing fundamental computer programs such as Microsoft Office is a must, said Jerone Gamble, executive manager of continuing education at the College of Central Florida.

“When we talk about computer skills for the workplace, the Microsoft programs are probably going to be the most prevalent,” Gamble said.

For someone seeking a job in accounting, Quickbooks Pro, a financial software, could also be important to know, he said. And in various professions, workers may need to create a digital slideshow for a presentation, so knowing Microsoft PowerPoint could be beneficial.

Even knowing social networking websites such as Facebook couldn’t hurt, said Lauren Carr, coordinator for continuing education at CF. That’s because now, and more so every day, employers are using these sites to advertise and to communicate with employees and clients.

“People have to kind of know at the cursory level what that is all about,” she said.