wilson96   Economy, Politics, and More…

By Hannah du Plessis

Firstly, you need to employ Driver Promoters to sell for you. Where it is true that anyone can sell, ensuring you have a sales staff of Driver Promoters will raise your sales by between 40% and 400%, depending on your training and the other tactics discussed below. Driver Promoters are fast paced, active people who enjoy taking control. They are friendly but firm and assertive. They believe strongly in themselves and their ability to succeed. They are prepared to take risks, and they can be described as tenacious, persuasive and persistent. They don’t give up easily and get annoyed if something doesn’t measure up to their standards. They are success driven and focus on results. They prefer to work with others by inspiring them to achieve goals. They don’t like to dominate. They are inspirational, and come up with good ideas. They are true leaders. They enjoy quick results, and enjoy accepting challenges.

If your sales staff is made up of Driver Promoters, they can each work individually, or as leaders to lead a team of salespeople to success.

Your salespeople will have to employ the following tactics to get even better results:

Select better prospects: Make sure you ask the right questions of prospects to qualify them first so that you do not waste your time with people who can’t or won’t buy.

Don’t lower your prices: You need to find new and innovative ways to lower the risk in the customer’s mind. Make it an easy entry, add value by adding bonuses and a better customer experience will result.

Focus on the customer: You need to ask a lot of questions so that you can determine a need the customer has. You can use this need in your sales presentation to close the sale. The customer will feel you understand him and his needs, and will trust you.

Go on the offensive. Don’t get defensive. Make sure you are in charge of every aspect of the sales process. Set aggressive goals. Do aggressive marketing.

Improve every aspect of the sales process: You can’t sell by using the same techniques that you used last year and the year before. You need to improve your processes, your training, your people, your presentation, your skills and your technology.

Having the right personality styles working for you together with the right training you can have a winning sales force in any economy.

Now What?

Well it’s here, the economy is finally teetering back and forth on the edge of a recession, some months show growth (even minimally) while other month’s reveal a very disheartening down-turn. So what is a cleaning company to do? Do you start to down-size, begin laying off, etc.

THE PURGE!

Well for sure it is a time to purge your employee base, keep the good ones, the respectful ones, the “do as they’re told and follow directions” ones , the efficient ones, those that “go the extra mile” “without being told to do so ones”. Then get rid of the rest! These are the ones that have been difficult to deal with, disrupt the flow of authority, don’t follow instructions, have skipped clients, have stayed longer than prescribed on a particular job site without authorization, etc.

Use the down-turn to refine and then grow your employee base and terminate the rest. You should have an unending pool from which to draw. This is the first and or simultaneous step to growing your business in a down-turn. I don’t mean to bore you with the detail of this facet of growth, but I’ve always viewed current economic conditions as a second chance to restructure for growth.

ADVERTISE, ADVERTISE AND ADVERTISE!

As you can tell I’m big on advertising and a normal schedule of advertising, keeping your name and your services in front of your potential clients on a regular and consistent basis is paramount to survival and growth.

DIRECT MAIL – THE BEST WAY!

Start with you very next mailing by raising the annual income levels of those you want to service. If you’ve been accustomed to servicing say 60k to 80k annual household income (HHI), refine it to say individual annual income. Why? Well in the residential cleaning business, your lower income levels tend to be or become very erratic as their finances become tighter and tighter, as the economy gets slower and slower. Until one day they finally come off your schedule after devastating your income over the time you’ve kept them on your schedule with their sporadic servicing. If it starts to happen, read it for what it is, whether due to a loss of a job, a reduction of disposable income, net worth, etc., these types are going, going and will soon be gone!

DON’T FIGHT THE INEVITABLE

So, don’t wait and get caught up in the inevitable fact that you’re going to lose these lower income level clients, because they can’t afford you any longer and their sporadic scheduling is wreaking havoc to your bottom line. You need to move very quickly and get away from this income base client.

As soon as you get wind of an economic down-turn, begin to see layoffs, closures and commercial vacancies around your town, then IMMEDIATELLY begin planning a more aggressive marketing strategy! Raise the “income bar”, the annual “individual” income levels of those you want to service – those that ideally have the want, need and finances to order and pay for your services. Typically, these are the $100K – $150K individual annual income earners who obviously have the money to even entertain calling for and or ordering your services.

DONT’ SHOOT GUN IT…!

You’ve worked hard for the money so don’t give in to fancy gimmicks or marketing media ploys to have you spend your advertising dollars on those radio or TV ads, unless you’ve gotten the business you want and are at a annual earnings level and are now just trying to build “name recognition” for you company! Doing so prematurely, will break your budget and bankrupt your company.

NEVER PUT ALL YOUR EGSS IN ONE BASKET

A marketing plan that includes a direct mailing to say 30K targeted individuals, and then simultaneously followed up with a two week radio ad campaign FOR NAME RECOGNITION ONLY, might be a good plan and may very well have a profitable end to it. But, don’t bank on it. You don’t know and the radio station won’t guarantee results. For instance, a radio station in Nevada has a 50,000 watt reach, it is heard as far away as California, but we don’t service California or any of the other 13 states that would be reached by our advertisement. Yet, they make up the statistics the radio station will use to sell you on the idea. Oh, you’ll know how many persons in the listening area will hear your ad, but you won’t know how many will call and you won’t know how many listeners are “actually” in your “target” market! Typically, you should expect no less then a 1% response to your advertising, radio typically returns less then 1/4 of 1% of their listening audience and many of those will be absolute “tire kickers” and “time wasters”. So, lets say they have 100,000 listeners that hear your ad over the time it has run, that means you’ll get a whopping 25 phone calls, i.e., responses to your ad and with a close ratio of 33%, which is normal, you’ll have booked 8 new clients and not all of those will book regular service.

Oh, we are sure you’ll get business from it, but ask yourself; “what kind of business” will it be? Most radio shoppers are “impulse” buyers and, in our opinion, are not the “lasting clients” we are looking. Yes, they will order your service, they may even get on your “regular” schedule, but they have consistantly fallen below our expectations. So, we only use the radio to infuse short term capital into the company coffers and continue to highly target our core client base.

PUTTING THE PIECES IN PLACE

First things first, know what you want and want you want to say, design it or at least sketch it out, you need to find a reliable, reputable (not a fly-by-night-er) mail house and printer. Many of these are and can be one in the same.

Many of them can find your list, meeting all your chosen criteria for the best ROI you can hope for in a mailing.

Make sure you use lots of colors in your piece, people react well to color, it’s a real attention getter and that is exactly what you want to “GET THEIR ATTENTION”. Your ad copy should be straight forward and concise, no surprises, “no bait-n-switch” tactics, you’ll lose the prospect forever if you try that nonsense – it’s not fair, it’s unethical and most of all it doesn’t work. Remember the old adage, each person you speak to and or service will tell at the very least eleven [11] other people about you, whether it be satisfactory or unsatisfactory the word is going to get out about you.

 

 

“When the going gets tough, the tough (survivors), get going” as the vast majority of small business owners suffer their ignorance, like deer caught gazing into the headlights of an oncoming truck – imminent death, you can be racking up new, worthwhile business while your competitors poorly chosen client base dwindles and disappears.

 

 

Government land sales fall below ¥100 billion
Sales of government-owned land, a key source of nontax revenue, totaled ¥93.3 billion in fiscal 2009 owing to a shift in policy and reduced demand, officials said Tuesday. It was the first time the figure fell below ¥100 billion in 15 years.

Read more on The Japan Times

Every year federal, state, and local government agencies find themselves with surplus goods that they no longer need. To get rid of this excess stuff they offer it at government surplus sales and auctions at big discounts. These sales and auctions are full of the same items you’ll find at any retail store with the only difference being price.These surplus auction sales can be a great place to find office supplies for new and growing businesses. You can also find household items that you can use around the house. These sales can also be a good place to buy surplus items at a big discount that can then be sold at a profit on auctions sites like eBay.All government surplus auctions and sales are free to the general public. As long as you are 18 years of age or older and have a valid drivers license. You will of course need money as well if you wish to purchase or bid on anything.So why does the government have all this surplus it needs to get rid of ever year? The simple answer is that all these government agencies, from federal to local, buy billions of dollars worth of equipment, supplies, and sundries every year. This leaves these agencies with lots of older, slightly used, goods that still have a useful life outside of government use. Buy selling these items at surplus sales or auctions the government is able recover some of the cost and save the American taxpayer some money.If you are wondering what you can find at one of these surplus sales the answer is just about everything. Cars, trucks, vans, and other modes of transportation can be had at highly discounted prices. Small business owner can find great deals on office furniture and supplies which can help keep operating expenses low.One of the best ways to find government surplus sales and auctions is by using an internet auction website. These sites provide updated lists of times, locations, and the items that will be offered for sale. In some cases you can make purchases and bids right from your computer. It doesn’t get much easier to save money then that.

Sales prospecting in down economies is no different than sales prospecting in up economies. It is still a behaviour, a discipline – doing what we have to do, even when we do not want to do it.
The only difference is that you may have to invest more time in sales prospecting in a down economy.
Sales prospecting can be time consuming in itself, but in a down economy, it is even more time consuming as sales prospects seem to be harder to find.
Therefore, more time invested in sales prospecting is required. If you did ten daily sales prospecting calls before, you may now have to do twenty to get the same results.
However, besides investing time, there is a better way to get the same or better results when it comes to sales prospecting. But first, you have to do your homework.
You need to know what our sales prospects should look like – you need to profile them so that you can take a targeted sales prospecting approach and not a shot gun approach.
It is the shot gun approach that is time consuming and does not get you the sales prospecting results you are looking for.
In a targeted sales strategy you need to define the criteria for three customer levels – A, B, and C.
The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your sales results come from 20% of your customers.
That 20% would be considered as your best customers. They are “A” or absolute customers, because they provide you with 80% of your revenues and without them, you would be out of business.
Answer this question: What criteria best describes you’re A customers? Is it profitability, loyalty, margin, volume, brand, relationship, etc.? Note your answers.
Then you need to proceed with the same question for the next level of sales prospecting – “B” beneficial customers. So, what is the sales criteria for your “B” level of customers ? How are they distinguished from A customers? Note your answers.
You can then proceed with what is the sales criteria for your next level of customers – “C” – convenient customers? How are they distinguished from B customers? Note your answers.
You may find that most of your prospecting activities are probably to “C” or convenient customers, as most sales people invest 80% of their sales prospecting time where they get 20% of the revenues.
So, let’s do the opposite and focus our sales prospecting activities on the A customers.
Once your sales criteria is defined for each level of customer, go to your sales data base and using the sales criteria identify your existing customers as A, B or C.
Separate the A customers and create their profile based on the information on hand. You will find that there is something different about them, compared to the B’s and C’s.
What is that difference? Now map that profile over to the market place for sales prospecting. Who are the A sales prospects out there that are not presently doing business with you?
Do the same with the B customers and identified the sales prospects for you B category in the marketplace. Also, look at your existing B customers who have potential to be come A’s.
Sales prospecting can be fun and most rewarding for sales results when you invest the time and plan your sales prospecting approach.

In a time with so much economic uncertainly, consumers are on the hunt for bargains. And consumers aren’t the only ones tightening up their belts; businesses large and small are scrutinizing purchases more than ever.

Whether your company sells to consumers or business, creative promotion strategies can give sales a much-needed boost to revenues in a difficult economy. To generate ideas, take a look at the big retailers. While the economy is slow, the big box stores are pulling out all the stops to bring customers in the door (and to their websites).

Following is a list of promotion strategies from the real world. Use these to inspire ideas for generating creative promotions for your business. Though many of these are used in retail sales, they can easily be replicated for all kinds of businesses.

Gift with Purchase

One local furniture store frequently gives away substantial gifts with purchase. For example, buy a bedroom set and get a flat screen T.V. or a gas barbecue. The cost of the bonus item can be subsidized by partnering with the maker of the give-away (they offer it at cost in exchange for publicity).

Falling Prices

Many retailers are trimming prices across the board and using the opportunity to advertise: “Check out our new lower prices!” You can bet that they will raise prices again later when the economy begins its recovery, but in the meantime, it gives them an edge over their competition.

A New Spin on the BOGO Offer

The Buy One, Get One offer is a perennial favorite and one retailer found a way to inspire higher-dollar purchases. At the time of this writing, Costco is selling five $20 Starbucks gift cards (a $100 value) for $80. Since coffee is a luxury item that can be sacrificed when consumers tighten up their budgets, offering a discount provides a boost to both Costco and Starbucks.

Deep Discounts on Clearance Items

Instead of the typical 20% to 40% discount on end-of-season merchandise, sales racks at stores are boasting discounts as high as 75%. Some even offer an extra 10% off if you use, or apply for, a store credit card. What retailers lose in deeper discounts they make up for in sales volume.

Group Discounts

Many businesses offer special discounts to groups such as seniors, teachers, students, corporations, members of trade associations and non-profits. Whether offering a percentage off on a certain day of the week or year-round, this strategy can provide a great incentive for buyers. As an added bonus, organizations that receive these discounts will often promote the offer to their members.

The Loss-Leader

A loss-leader is a deep discount on a product sold below cost (at a loss) in order to get people in the door (so they will spend money on other purchases). Grocery stores are famous for offering popular items like soda at ridiculously low prices. Recently, the California Lottery held a promotion that caused a traffic jam in one Northern California city. When customers purchased $10 in lottery tickets, they received $50 in gasoline. Not only did this promotion prompt a huge spike in lotto sales, it was so popular that it ended up getting air time on the evening news.

Discounted Gift Certificates

Retailers love gift certificates because they generate cash flow and a high percentage of them never get redeemed. One local hair salon sold gift cards valued at $50 for just $25 and marketed them to the business community. They sold dozens of cards to business owners and sales people who gave them away as gifts for their clients. As a result, the majority of the cards were distributed to potential new clients.

Gift Certificates with a Bonus

A popular holiday promotion that many restaurants and retailers employ is to offer a bonus with gift certificate purchase. For example, for every $50 in gift certificates purchased, get a special $10 gift card. Typically the bonus is valid only in the following month, giving the buyer incentive to return and make yet another purchase.

Free Stuff

To get new customers in the door, one local computer shop offers complimentary health check-ups on computers. While customers wait, they have the opportunity to shop for add-on products and services. In a similar promotion, a local pool company offers six months of pool cleaning services with any new pool installation. After servicing the pools for several months, the company will likely land contracts for continued pool maintenance services from satisfied clients, thus trumping the competition.

Web-Only Discounts

Smart retailers collect e-mail addresses and send out regular promotions to subscribers. For example, save 25% when you shop online before Friday!

Events: Register with a Friend

A great way to fill seats at events is to offer a discount when you purchase two tickets. For example, if registration costs $100 each, sell two for $150.

Remember, the point here is to find creative new ways to promote your products and services. In a difficult economy, price becomes an important factor when making purchasing decisions. In order to thrive in a marketplace that is becoming increasingly competitive, we must all learn to think outside the box to keep the sales wheels turning.

Making your sales goals in a good year is one thing, but attaining them in a difficult year is an entirely different challenge. Putting aside the common cliché that when times are tough, great salespeople are made, the reality is that making your goals puts more money in your pocket. Therefore, I keep reminding salespeople to think of how many times in the past they’ve watched a customer materialize out of nowhere only to become a major player in helping reach their year-end objectives. If you’ve been in sales for any length of time, you’ve had this happen. I am not advocating that you kick back and relax while you wait for the big customer to appear. I understand that it takes work to make your goal, but, at the same time, don’t lose sight that occasionally nice breaks do occur. The good news is that you can be successful if you’re willing to take the time to work through the following steps, despite the current state of the economy.The first step to help you make your sales goals in a tough economy is to break down your goal into weekly objectives. Keep in mind, however, that these should not be based on closing “x” number of sales, but instead on accomplishing “x” number of activities that you’ve found are critical to your success. When your goals are strictly measured in terms of sales dollars or units, you can easily become dejected by numbers you’re not happy with. Activities to monitor may include making prospecting phone calls, conducting customer presentations, or having follow-up meetings. This breakdown strategy is similar to the way coaches successfully motivate their teams. By dissecting the game into a series of activities that the coach knows the team can accomplish, they will be in a better position to win the game.Second, find a peer with a positive attitude who is willing to take an interest in you. By reciprocating the interest, you will motivate each other. Meet together at least once a week, preferably in person, but by phone or web conference if that’s not possible. Keep your conversation focused solely on the positives of the previous week to discuss the lessons you’ve learned from them and then how you’ll be able to leverage those lessons in the weeks to come. Remember, there’s no point in bringing negative baggage to the meeting. If you blew it, don’t dwell on it. Move beyond it! We all know that it’s very easy for one person’s attitude to rub off onto another. A positive outlook can create a heightened level of energy that will result in both of you being able to think more clearly and foster new ideas and opportunities. At the conclusion of the conversation, make yourself accountable to the goals for the upcoming week by discussing exactly how you intend to make them. Then, at your next meeting, make sure you take the time to review each other’s goals to ensure both of you kept the focus where you expected it to be.Next, use the time in between each meeting with your positive peer to focus on your key activities. At the end of every day, ask yourself what you’ve done toward accomplishing the week’s objectives. By doing something daily to move yourself towards achieving the goal, it will give you motivation for the next day. Try to avoid putting expectations on yourself to accomplish an entire week’s goal in one day. If you can attain it in that short of a time period, you’ve set it too low and you’ll never reach your full potential in sales. At the same time, don’t allow the weekly goal to be so difficult that you rarely achieve it. Remember, the breakdown of the activities must be achievable. Missing your weekly goals too frequently will cause you to walk away from the entire process.Finally, never allow yourself to be influenced by negative voices. Today’s economy has created an incredible amount of pessimism, especially in the news media. If the news is negative, don’t listen to it! This may include not reading the newspaper, avoiding certain websites, and changing the dial on some radio stations. Furthermore, your friends and fellow employees may even contribute to the buzz. Consider cutting them off before their opinions sway you. For those of us in sales, it’s important to remember that people who aren’t going to make their goal are going to do everything possible to ensure their peers don’t either. The last thing they need is for somebody to show them up. Don’t allow anyone to take control of your goals.It goes without saying that achieving your sales goals in a tough economy is not easy. But, like a leaky roof, ignoring it and refusing to take action doesn’t make it go away just because it isn’t leaking on a sunny day. Resolve to stop the problems that contribute to your discouragement. You can’t control what the economy is doing, but you can control what YOU are doing. Take the necessary steps to motivate yourself to achieve those weekly goals, which, in turn, will help you successfully reach your year-end objectives.

Retail sales down, economy still struggling to gain momentum
The consumer pause in May came after seven months of gains in retail sales. There’s some concern about a ‘double dip’ recession, but most forecasters see the economy recovering at a slow pace.

Read more on The Christian Science Monitor

It is believed that last year sales of caravans and camping equipment reached an all time high. The contribution of two billion pounds to the UK economy can be seen as part of the increased popularity of caravan and camping holidays. Now the nation’s favourite holiday pastime; research has also highlighted a perceived link between camping and caravan holidays with the benefits of healthy living.
It is believed that each day camping and caravan holidaymakers spend almost thirty pounds. Included in this figure is petrol, food and drink sales and when considered that there are around seventeen million caravan and camping holidays being made each year this figure is considerable.
Although this does not include pitch sales and fees; it is estimated that if it did the figure would be closer to fifty pounds a day. Considering that pitch fees are used to develop sites and employ local residents the contribution to local economies is also vast.
A survey has further detailed caravan and camping holiday spending. It is believed that fifty seven percent of holidaymakers spent their money in pubs while almost the same number spent money in local eateries. UK tourist attractions have also benefited in terms of ticket sales with almost seventy percent visiting a variety of attractions regularly. An outstanding eighty five percent of camping and caravan tourists walked to their destination highlighting the benefits to the environment this type of holiday has.
Of the seventeen million caravan and camping holidays taking place annually the average stay is estimated to be four days. Over these four days the amount poured into local economies through food and drink sales as well as entry to local attractions is believed to be one of the major factors bolstering rural incomes. Without this steady stream of holidaymakers it can be surmised that the large contribution in many rural economies is a vital element in their survival.
Campers rather than those staying in a caravan are believed to be even more likely to add to local economies. Because of a lack of facilities and storage when tent camping, shops and restaurants around campsites make more sales of subsistence products than those near caravan parks. With the popularity of this type of holiday growing rapidly rural economies will benefit further.
In terms of the supposed link between camping and caravan holidays and a healthier lifestyle the supposition seems to hold water. A survey used data from the general public as well as regular camping and caravan holidaymakers; it found that ninety seven percent of those who camped or caravanned regularly felt that being outdoors had a positive impact on their lives. The research also found that campers and caravanners were more likely to undertake activities such as walking, swimming and cycling than members of the general public.
Comment on the research has stated that it demonstrates what camping and caravan holidaymakers had believed for years. The contribution to the local economy through food and drink sales and local services keeps rural economies alive and provides jobs for those in the localities. The research also showed that campers and caravaners are driven by a desire to explore new places, visit attractions and sample local food.
Camping and caravan holidays are fundamentally about spending time in the marvellous British countryside, so the link between these types of holidays and a healthier lifestyle is unsurprising. This type of holiday not only provides freedom and choice but is also part of a healthy lifestyle. As a result there is little wonder that sales of tents and caravans are skyrocketing as more people try to join the hoards seeking this lifestyle choice.

Maintaining sales motivation in an uncertain economy is tough when we become a product of that environment. As the world is discussing the downturn in the economy more and more, we are also attracting a downturn in our behaviors. We spend less, do less and wait it out. That is the wrong thing to do!
Wake up! Refuse to be part of any negative environment or uncertain economy. It will only bring you down. It will change your beliefs, your attitude, the way you feel, the actions you take and the results you get. You need to maintain your sales motivation and sales results.
You are a professional and have to maintain professionalism in all that you do. That means, to keep doing what you have always done, and when the going gets tough, the tough get going and do more. That is sales motivation.
This is not the time to slow down, or to waste time discussing the economy. It is time to step up and do more! This is the time of opportunity. It is not the economy that will or will not give you the results you are looking for.
It is your attitude towards the economy and the behavior! That you demonstrate on a daily basis. Your attitude and your behavior is your motivation towards sales results.
You attitude stems from your beliefs. What do you believe about today’s economy? How long do you think it will last? How do you think customers will react to your products and services during this downturn? And most importantly, how will you react?
Your answers to these questions above will determine your level of sales professional motivation. If you believe that this is the time of opportunity – opportunity to sell more, as your competition downsizes, opportunity to hire highly skilled labor, as they are being let go, or opportunity to expand as prices fall, you will gain positive results. However, the opposite is also true.
Be aware of your beliefs as they will affect your attitude and behaviors. If you maintain a positive attitude, your actions will be demonstrated in your behaviors and will attract positive results. Sales motivation starts with your beliefs and ends with your reactions to those beliefs
Believe in who you are, and what you do. Believe in your organization, it’s products and services, team members and the market your sell into. Believe there is opportunity out there and you will find it.
Be disciplined, continue to do what you have to do, even when you do not want to do it and you will maintain sales motivation, in certain and uncertain economies.