The Business Journal

Archive for June, 2009

Can you sell or, more importantly, do you want to sell? Very few people, when they were at school or university, chose selling as their future career. My research has shown that most sales people got the job by opportunity or necessity. In the last few years there has been a massive change of emphasis, withnon-sales people actively taking ownership of winning new clients and developing those relationships into new business opportunities.

As a result people who previously would never, not even in their wildest imaginations, have thought that part of their profession would be selling, are in fact doing just that.Through necessity and to keep themselves employed, people have been forced into learning the skills of selling. So can you sell? Of course you can, but only if you really want to. It is probably worth noting, as a motivation and a stimulus, that as you become successful at winning new business you will also increase your income, and for most people this is a good enough reason.

In my group of companies every fee earner has a list of 50 potential customers that we want to win, and that is a good target for all sales people to set for themselves. These can be called your key prospects. The time spent on preparing this detail will reap untold rewards.

As a sales person you have assets and resources available to you. Your most valuable asset is of course your brain, and it is valuable to you if it is thinking positively, expecting to win, expecting to succeed and looking forward to the future. If you are in a negative frame of mind, full of self-doubt, living in the past or lacking confidence, this requires some serious attention.

May I recommend my book Succeed for Yourself, which has made a major contribution to thousands of people’s lives in fulfilment, happiness and success. But I would say that,wouldn’t I? However, this is what my postbag tells me.

I stated above that, for  selling, it is wise to start by building a list of potential customers within a five-mile radius. This may not be pertinent in some instances, and that radius may have to be 10 or even 20 miles, but the principle is important.

I have advised numerous franchise companies over the years, and in most cases a franchisee buys a given territory. This can be based on postcodes, counties or population. Nevertheless, when a new franchisee starts business, they should concentrate on distributing their marketing literature in most cases within a one-mile radius of their base and then gradually move out.

It is often fascinating to see how much potential business there can be within a one-mile radius, and it is so much more cost-effective,as vans with company logos that are continually seen can generate new enquiries. We all know that success in advertising comes from the repetition, not just the one sighting. This requires a much more detailed and planned approach. Every sales person, unless starting with a virgin product or virgin territory, will no doubt have some existing customers.

Proactive marketing and selling are entirely in your control. You will decide how many people you will approach, and by increasing your activity here you will undoubtedly increase your sales. Selling after all is really a numbers game. The more people you talk to, the more likely you are to win business.

In our executive recruitment division, which is probably in one of the most competitive industries, where advertising your services is a complete waste of money, winning new clients is totally dependent on the number of outgoing approaches that are made to prospective customers. It is a very simple formula – the more contacts that our sales people make, the more successful they will be.

I personally recommend that every business should be operating both proactively and passively. Of course, it is essential to have a website, and for any readers who want further advice on this, contact us at allendaleapts.

Marketing encompasses advertising, branding, PR, sales brochures, labelling and packaging – all of which are intended to create potential customer interest, but then selling takes over. Selling involves person-to-person communication, either on the phone or face to face.

Now I do accept that some selling takes place on the internet, which is of course based on words and pictures. With regard to the internet, which is getting more and more sophisticated, not only does it require that you have
an excellent website that within three seconds of customers clicking on it must retain their interest, but it must also be very easy for customers to find what they are looking for.

The real sophistication comes in the marketing of the website and search engine optimisation (SEO), so that the site comes in high on the list selected by the search engines.

The whole process of winning business this way carries high risk, because the seller is dependent on customers finding the website. It also can be dangerous because this is a passive activity where the future is dependent on customers, and you could easily go broke waiting for the phone to ring or the order to arrive by e-mail.

Who do you want to sell to? Or, more importantly, who is most likely to want to purchase your products or use your services? Not identifying the customers is probably one of the major errors that sales people make. This oversight is even more common with people who set up their own businesses.

People can get into business with an enthusiasm and belief in their product or service and then in many cases waste a great deal of money in advertising and targeting too broad a customer base.This is the shotgun approach as opposed to the rifle approach,which is much more targeted.

You must draw up a very clear customer profile. This of course varies according to your product or service. If you are in B2B you must define exactly the businesses that would most benefit from your product or service. If you are in B2C, again clearly define the customer who would most benefit from your product or service. The profile could include age, sex, socioeconomic standing and similar purchases that the customer is currently making.

The real estate major has opportunities for employment with commercial banks, savings associations, insurance companies, mortgage bankers, and private appraisal and consulting firms. Real estate developers, property management firms, and residential or commercial and industrial brokerage offices also offer employment. Students may find employment in corporate real estate departments, franchise organizations with multiple site requirements, and certain government agencies involved with lending. Many real estate graduates eventually organize their own businesses in one of these fields.
There is a continuing need for employees in private firms and government agencies concerned with developing, appraising, financing, and merchandising residential, commercial, and industrial real estate. Career opportunities in real estate are expanded by the urbanization of our population and continued expansion of opportunities is expected.Salaries are largely determined by individual qualifications but are usually competitive with other professional business areas.

Advertising is an important element in our business since it’s the way for us to introduce our business especially our products or services to the public. Advertising can possibly be done in many choices of mass media. The newspaper and magazine are the most common media used by companies to promote and advertise their businesses. These companies surely need the advertisers to provide them the advertisement materials.

The supply of marketing materials can be done by providing the original printed artworks, or sending the duplicate ones or it can also be done by transform such materials directly and electronically into the printing process of the publishers. Among all those methods the electronic transformed advertisement materials might be the best one since this digital system is simple and fast to use. This digital advertisement is basically consisted of two elements which include the texts and pictures. The text is also known as the words.

The pictures element is highly related to the graphic design which may include the illustrations or other components related to it such as logos, symbols or others. When we can make impressive advertisement materials from combined text and graphic elements then we would have a chance to attract a lot more potential customers.