It was 4:45 p.m. on a warm Friday afternoon in Traverse City, Michigan. The owner of Ferguson Lawn Supplies and Equipment, Ken Ferguson, and his son Chuck, were just about ready to close for the day. The phone rang and as Chuck answered it, he was greeted by a very desperate voice. It was Bob Jenkins, the general manager of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, one of their customers. The reason for his call to Ferguson Lawn Supplies and Equipment was that they had a very big problem. As Bob Jenkins explained, the Grand Hotel was getting ready for a very prestigious golf tournament that was scheduled to start the next morning. Their one and only Jacobson greens mower, the one that they used to trim the putting green on each hole of the course, had broken down. A few of the spring-loaded spreader fingers that actuated the pressure plate of the clutch assembly had been shattered. The golf course needed to have it repaired immediately, because the greens had to be mowed the next morning at 5:30 a.m.

In the extremely competitive business of lawn supplies and equipment, the Fergusons had a large area to cover. It included the upper half of the state of Michigan and the upper peninsula. Mackinaw City was 110 miles away, not including the ferry boat ride across the straits to the island. In addition to that, no motorized cars or trucks were allowed on the vacation island. It was going to take a minimum of four hours for them to reach the golf course via service truck. Chuck knew they needed to act fast if they were going to help solve this dilemma. After briefly conferring with his dad, Chuck asked Bob Jenkins if he could have the mower loaded onto a horse-drawn wagon and hauled over to the small airport that was located on Mackinac Island. The general manager answered yes, but asked Chuck to explain. Chuck replied that in an emergency like this, the Fergusons could use their family airplane to fly the repairman with the parts necessary to repair the mower.

After Chuck hung up the phone, he quickly called down to Larry, his top mechanic, to see if he would be willing to work a little overtime. Larry eagerly agreed. As an extra measure of service, they decided to pull out the back seat of the airplane and load up a brand new Jacobson greens mower to take along as a loaner. Chuck and Larry took off, and when they landed, they were greeted by a very worried Bob Jenkins. Chuck’s mechanic, impeccably dressed in his dark blue uniform, shining tool box in hand, went right to work on the disabled mower. It was repaired within 15 minutes. Bob was ecstatic. Then, in a grand gesture, Chuck and his mechanic unloaded the brand new Jacobson greens mower. They explained that they wanted to leave it as a backup (free of charge) just in case anything else went wrong with the repaired mower. They would pick up the loaner on the next service call. The general manager was more than satisfied. The next morning, the greens were mowed and the players commented on how beautiful the golf course looked. The prestigious golf tournament was a success. As it turns out, the brand new Jacobson greens mower never left the island. The general manager thought it would be a good idea to have a back- up mower just in case they ever needed it again.

The story doesn’t end there. A few months later, Ken Ferguson and his son attended the Annual Turf Grass Conference at Michigan State University. As they were sitting at their table finishing their dinner, one of their main competitors walked over and said, “Ken, I don’t know how you do it. I don’t know how you keep the Grand Hotel golf course account. We’ve been calling on that place for years. We buy that general manager the best steaks, bring him the finest scotch, and we still can’t get any of his business! How do you do it?” Ken Ferguson looked up at him and replied “Uhh, I don’t know, it sounds like you’re doing everything right to me. I wouldn’t change a thing.” Through this lesson, the message is clear. By going the extra mile for our customers, by being there when they need us, we will keep them as loyal customers for a long, long time.

About the Author:
Tom Borg is president of Tom Borg Consulting Development & Training. He is a small business consultant, trainer, and author.

Over the past 27 years, he has worked with his clients and helped them to change their business paradigms. Tom shows small business owners how to “think outside the box,” tap the potential of their managers and employees, and take action to help make their businesses more profitable and successful.

He is author of two books, Making Service Count – Leveraging Customer Satisfaction to Make Your Small Business More Profitable and his second book, How to Keep a Positive Attitude in a Sometimes Negative World. His business articles have been published in over 47 countries and have appeared in local publications such as Crain’s Business, the Detroit Free Press.

When businesses decide to move forward on a purchase, they base their decision on a value assumption of what they feel they’ll get out of the product they buy. While there are those businesses that always purchase the cheapest available option, there is no way to consistently get good value and quality by always going for the lowest possible price. Eventually, they’ll get burned.

Understanding how price is linked to value can help your company position its products and services to garner the attention of prospective customers.

Increased Competition from a Global Economy:
We’ve all heard about the global economy. While we know what it means, sometimes we are not fully aware of its impact. We tend to operate in our own little world, and see our competition as being closer to home, or at least relegated to whom we know and see.

In truth, your competition is but a few clicks away; if customers can find a product they perceive as being a better value, your company will lose business.

A global marketplace brings global competition — customers don’t lack for options to select from, and they no longer have to accept the status quo. Your company has to be faster, smarter, and better at everything in order to keep your customers, and sell to new ones.

Case Study Analysis:
Does your product last longer? Does your product offer more benefits to customers and allow them to save money? If you’ve ever had a product that does these things, but not been able to turn these selling points into sales, then you’ve failed at putting these product attributes front and center in the eyes of your customers. Effective supporting documentation about your product or service can help you address this.

Now, we’re not talking about infomercials — you need solid, substantiated data that illustrates the benefits of the product or service your company is offering. It’s not enough just to say it does what it does. Customers hear that same pitch from everyone. Instead, give them proof. Keep it simple and provide them real case study analysis on how the product works.

Social Proof in the Form of Testimonials:
Anyone can get a testimonial from a customer. A company could sell the worst product in the world and still find someone, somewhere, to say it’s the best thing since Wonder® Bread. Therefore, forget about the simple and straightforward testimonial that says the product does what it does. Been there, done that.

What you need is to provide your customers the ability to speak directly with other customers who’ve benefitted from working with you. Perhaps you conduct a teleseminar with a client, and allow them to share their results — and field questions directly from other prospects during the call. If you have an active forum or community within your website, this provides an excellent platform to allow customers to share their results. Focus on developing excellent customer service both before and after the sale, and the raving fans and product evangelists will follow.

Product demonstrations that matter:
Forget the controlled demonstration. Take it a step further and perform a product demonstrate at your customer’s facility. Being able to show the product is one thing, but having the ability to troubleshoot problems for your customers is something else entirely.

Customers need to feel taken care of — if they see your product and your sales people as the solution to their problems, they’ll come to see your company as a valued and trusted partner. Your sales team must be seen as experts in their field. If they are seen as experts, they’ll have the ability to make your products shine.

Selling products and services is all about solving problems — alleviating the concerns and apprehension of customers. While your company may be both professional and reliable, your customers may have dealt with companies that were less than dependable. Focus on addressing those concerns and providing proven solutions, and you will consistently turn more prospects into customers.

About the Author:
Traci Hayner Vanover, aka The Promo Diva®, is a business consultant and publicity expert specializing in working with small businesses, authors and startups. Drawing on over twenty years experience in the fields of marketing and promotion, Traci’s blog, located at http://www.PromoDiva.com, blends helpful tips and resources with a healthy dose of humor. Traci is the founder and publisher of Entrepreneur & Self-Employed Business Journal.

The other day I walked into a national grocery store in my hometown of Canton, MI. I picked up a few grocery items and decided to treat myself to real service and go through the check out lane and have my order rung up by a live person – the cashier. Quite frankly, I was a little disappointed. Here’s why. After he rung up my purchase and I gave him the correct change, I thanked him. His response: “No problem”. Excuse me, I didn’t know my purchase was potentially classified as a problem.

A few weeks later I was making a purchase at one of the local discount stores that sells everything for a dollar. This time the clerk’s response after I thanked him was simply the word “yeah.”

Here is where a small business owner can set him or herself apart from the rest of the competition at the point of sale and can clean up big time. What they must do is train all employees to consistently use the magic words “please” and “thank you.”

By having employees look the customers squarely in the eye and sincerely thank them for doing business with them, they will sell subconsciously to that customer’s built in expectations of being appreciated and valued. Charles Lamb, the great English essayist said it best when he was quoted, “Damn it, I like to be liked.” Your customers like to be liked, so why not teach and expect your employees to treat them with care and respect. It will help your business become more profitable.

Of course it cannot be forced.  For example, there is another very well-known retail chain that has a small printed sign by the cash register that reminds the cashier what to say to the customer when the sale is completed. At one time, this retail chain even had a campaign giving the customer five dollars if the cashier didn’t say “thank you.” Unfortunately, it didn’t work. The result was a cashier who sounded like a robot and avoided making sincere eye contact with the customer at the close of the sale. What the management of this retail chain did not understand was that it was not possible to force its’ cashiers to be sincerely courteous to the customer.

Since you can’t force your staff, co-workers and managers to treat the customer courteously in person or on the telephone, what do you do to get that kind of consistent behavior from them? One way to make this hope a reality is to hire people who have three important qualities:

1. They like themselves.
2. They like other people.
3. They have a sincere desire to help and serve other people.

You have to hire people who have some of the above qualities. From there you educate, train, and reinforce them positively for consistently demonstrating sincere courtesy to the customers.

What we are talking about is helping staff, co-workers and management learn how to be more authentic; helping them develop their self-confidence to the level where it is easy for them to treat others with courtesy and respect. The example you set is the most important aspect. The way you treat your staff, co-employees and managers lays the groundwork for how they will treat the customer.

Therefore, in summary, hire the right people, teach them how to be consistently courteous and watch your customer retention and purchase rate go up. You will be glad you did, and so will your customers.

About the Author:
Tom Borg is president of Tom Borg Consulting Development & Training. He is a small business consultant, trainer, and author.

Over the past 27 years, he has worked with his clients and helped them to change their business paradigms. Tom shows small business owners how to “think outside the box,” tap the potential of their managers and employees, and take action to help make their businesses more profitable and successful.

He is author of two books, Making Service Count – Leveraging Customer Satisfaction to Make Your Small Business More Profitable and his second book, How to Keep a Positive Attitude in a Sometimes Negative World. His business articles have been published in over 47 countries and have appeared in local publications such as Crain’s Business, the Detroit Free Press.

You can contact him at 734-812-0526 or visit his website at http://www.tomborgconsulting.com.

Perhaps you’ve heard the buzz surrounding the launch of Fiverr.com — a marketplace where buyers can obtain a variety of products and services for the flat rate of just five bucks.

Jay Conrad Levinson, the Father of Guerrilla Marketing, has hailed this new ebook as “positively brilliant.” In it, Traci Hayner Vanover details not only how to improve your Fiverr gig listings, but how you can also be using this new venue as a creative networking and promotional tool for your business.

Users simply create “gigs” listing what they are willing to do for $5. The listings are limited only by your imagination — you’ll see everything from offers to be a Virtual Assistant for a day to offers to become your “fake girlfriend” for a week.

There are a handful of marketers that are quietly leveraging Fiverr.com to generate leads, drive site traffic, and create a tidy little side business.

And you should be, too.

“Traci Hayner Vanover has a positively brilliant idea which she masterfully describes in her “Five Dollar Fortunes” ebook. Her idea stands most old notions of the economy on their heads as she blazes new economic trails. I recommend what she has written to anyone alive in the 21st century.”

Jay Conrad Levinson – The Father of Guerrilla Marketing
Author, “Guerrilla Marketing” series of books
www.gmarketing.com
www.guerrillamarketingassociation.com
www.gmarketing.com/intensive

Discover how you can dramatically increase your conversions and earnings on Fiverr.com.

Even as the economy hints at making a rebound, markets are becoming more competitive and products are rapidly commoditizing. As customers cautiously begin to spend their tightly held dollars, companies are realizing that re-establishing their previous customer relationships isn’t enough.  The success of their growth strategy depends on increasing customer acquisition and loyalty.

Traditionally, sales organizations were charged with executing successful growth strategies.  However, in today’s upside-down economy, all employees are being asked to contribute to achieving revenue goals by upgrading their sales capabilities as part of an overall commitment to growth. Therein lies the first dilemma: how to acquire new customers and increase the number of products and services purchased per customer, while maintaining the high level responsiveness customers have come to expect. Despite the economic downturn, customers still demand high levels of service.

If you can identify ways to transform your employees’ service best practices into “service-selling” behaviors, you can expect to increase your customer base and your bottom line. That’s the second dilemma: convincing your service employees to integrate selling practices into their customer interactions. It means getting these employees to move beyond their current perception of what sales is, and to how their use of ethical principles in selling can be a service to their customers.

Understanding Service-Selling
In a pure service culture, organizational and employee behavior is contingent on their knowledge and skill in responding to customer questions or concerns.  However, in a service-selling culture, employees practice the attitudes, beliefs and skills to proactively seek to understand customers’ wants and needs that will increase the value created in every customer experience. Service organizations that have not made this transition will find organic growth difficult. In fact, research has shown that a positive customer-service reputation does not guarantee you will be the first choice by consumers.

In order to achieve significant growth, everyone in an organization must enhance their commitment to identifying the specific wants and needs of their customers and demonstrating how the organization’s products and services can fulfill them. By helping your service-selling teams to develop the attitude, beliefs and skills to provide more value to customers, they will build stronger emotional bonds in the relationship, a key prerequisite for customer receptivity and loyalty.

Overcoming the Barriers to Change
Many organizations serve their markets and their customers with a high level of personal “touch”. Even in today’s troubled economy and despite more aggressive competition and little differentiation, most committed service organizations can maintain their reputation for providing a high level of customer focus. At a time when most consumers feel “like a number”, this has great appeal.

But the successful transformation from a service culture to a service-selling culture can have many barriers- and most of them have nothing to do with knowledge and skill. Many employees struggle with the concern that embracing a sales philosophy may not be in the best interest of customers.  As a result, they are resistant to adopting a service-selling philosophy.

To make matters worse, this negative view of selling has created a cynical perspective with leaders in many organizations. Although non-sales leadership may still be committed to growth, they will resist a strategy that may force superior service to take a back seat.

A successful transformation must engage the hearts and minds of employees and their leaders. To accomplish this, they must learn to embrace the definition of selling and service as two sides of the same coin. In our experience, employees will change their perceptions if they discover that selling, like service, is focused on identifying and fulfilling needs to create value for customers (rather than pushing products).  In fact, if selling can be redefined as ‘doing something for someone’, your team will give themselves “permission” to ask the extra question or provide the added benefit that increases value. Once this is achieved, you will be on the path to transformational change.

Building a Bridge between Service and Selling
Organizations that encourage their employees to practice ethical principles while selling and serving customers, will find their people willing to reach beyond their traditional roles and establish a foundation for deeper, more productive customer relationships. Here are ten ethical Principles that, if consistently applied, will assist your employees build their service-selling relationships with your customers:

• Service and selling are an exchange of value.
• Service and selling are not something you do to customers; it’s something you do for and with them.
• Developing trust and rapport precedes any service or selling activity.
• Understanding a customer’s wants or needs always precedes an attempt to offer a solution.
• Service and selling techniques must give way to values-driven principles.
• Truth, respect and honesty provide the basis for long-term success with customers.
• Service and selling pressure is never exerted by a service team. It’s exerted only by customers when they want or need the solution being recommended.
• Dealing with customer concerns is never a manipulative process.
• It’s a strategy to overcome problems … when customers want to overcome the problems.
• Getting agreement to a solution is a victory for both the service team and the customer.
• Ethics and values contribute more to sales and service success than techniques or strategies.

Service Selling — the Great Multiplier
Most organizations understand that customer loyalty is a key factor in achieving profitable growth. If you define loyalty as the willingness of a customer to repurchase or provide referrals, than building high-value relationships is mission critical.  Today’s challenging landscape has forced us to look beyond the sales team as value creators. Unless everyone in your organization is willing and able to contribute to your growth strategy it is unlikely that you will achieve your revenue goals.

By engaging your employees’ buy-in to ethical service-selling behaviors you will not only increase your sales per customer, but also retain the service atmosphere your customers have come to expect. Service-selling is a value multiplier, as it increases sales, retains your customers, and drives more referrals from your client base. Dilemmas solved.

About the Author:
Walt Zeglinski is the CEO  & Chief Client Advocate for Integrity Solutions, a performance improvement company that helps its clients to create value for their customers. Walt has over 20 years of successful experience in the corporate performance industry, applying his expertise to successfully diagnose, plan and implement practical solutions for complex business challenges. He has worked with executive teams and frontline sales and service teams across most industries including financial services, healthcare, technology, hospitality and manufacturing. Contact Walt at http://www.IntegritySolutions.com.

How many times have you heard a person say, “it wasn’t my fault” or “I can’t believe someone did this to me” to news of down or lost sales? News flash: everything is your fault (or phrased differently-your responsibility to own). If we truly take responsibility for ourselves and as a leader to our sales teams, everything is our fault, because ultimately we are the only things we can control.

A great leader can never be a victim and just as important a great leader cannot allow people on their team to be victims. We have all heard the phrase “crap happens” (or a variation of it), but how we respond to it (crap) determines whether or not a person is a victim. The same goes for your business, the economy is not causing your business to struggle; rather, how your business is responding to the economy is causing it to struggle.

For those looking for motivation, there are many sayings or famous quotes talking about taking control and not being a victim, for instance, Winston Churchill quipped a favorite, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” However, it takes a lot more than reciting famous quotes and great ideas to be a successful and victorious sales leader. It takes a true commitment, time, strong coaching, a willingness to learn and to take calculated risks and most importantly a refusal to be a victim blaming “the economy.” Despite the economy you can motivate your sales team by taking responsibility and placing the correct emphasis on logical sales goals and market share.

No Room for a Realist in Sales
Sales people don’t need to be realists; they need to be a blind optimist, it is finance’s job to be realists. The finance department needs to be realistic in setting budgets and expenses based on current trends and forecasts to ensure the financial safety of the company. On the other hand the sales people need to only think of how they will achieve their sales regardless of the situation.

When a sales person says “I am not a pessimist, I am realist”, I know one of two things are true: 1) whatever goal or obstacle is causing them to make this statement will stop them from being successful, because they have already accepted it, 2) maybe they accidently came to the sales team from finance, and perhaps they need to go back to finance. This is not a punt on finance by any means; rather it is an understanding that each role and responsibility has its place for a team to be successful. In sales there is no room for realistic goals and realists. This does not mean that a goal should be a pipe dream, it does mean a goal or result should be logical. The difference between logical and realistic is that realistic has limitations based on someone’s experiences and fears and logical deals only with the action and the allotted amount of time.
The question every sales team should answer when they are faced with an obstacle is “what can we do, that does not require any other departments or things we cannot control, to overcome this obstacle, then do it and do it again?” If your life depended on it, could it be done? Great salespeople are visionaries who live a dream and find a way to make things happen.

Market Share vs. Industry Status
There are a lot of companies in today’s economy blaming the economy and the their industry down turn for their results. This year it is the economy effecting sales, 3 years ago it was the competition cutting the prices of their product or service and before that it was the competition had a competitive advantage with something they didn’t have or the customer had no need. The economy is just another reason (excuse) why our sales are not where they need to be. This is not to say that the economy or budget restraints are not a real issue, but they are, and will always be an issue. The goal is the same, to increase sales, but the obstacles have changed. That does not mean there are more obstacles, just different reasons for not closing sales.

Unless a company has over 50% market share, the amount of market share will effects a company’s bottom line more than the industry’s down turn. The solution is to understand how the game has changed and change your game plan to make sure victory is the only solution. For most businesses the solution is to increase market share and that can be done by adding a new market segment or by taking customers from the competition. This requires a different skill set than getting current customers to buy more or account management. This skill set is not new, but it may be a skill that many veteran sales reps or top sales reps have not used in a long time.

The sales leader’s job is to help get the top reps past their egos and back into skill development and training of getting new clients. Watch for the fatal sales team mistake: when a sales leader relies on their top sales people to know what to do because they have been doing it for xx years or because they have always been on top. They will find themselves waiting for the market to change (and perhaps end up closing down completely while they wait), because they don’t change their sales people. To win in sales is to take control of your top sales reps and veteran reps and develop a sales plan and practice.

Victims blame others and situations for where they are in life or their performance and results. Victors and great leaders know that they cannot control every situation; rather they can control their response. We can prepare our best and change when our best is no longer working. Success and failure, both, are just a result of what a person or team does, and not a permanent state unless you chose it. The economy and belief between your ears will affect your success more than any stock market, government or competition.

About the Author:
Nathan Jamail, president of the Jamail Development Group and author of “The Sales Leaders Playbook,” is a motivational speaker, entrepreneur and corporate coach. As a former Executive Director for Sprint, and business owner of several small businesses, Nathan travels the country helping individuals and organizations achieve maximum success. His clients include US Army Reserves, Nationwide Insurance, Metro PCS, State Farm Insurance, Century 21, Jackson National Insurance Company and ThyssenKrupp Elevators. To book Nathan, visit http://www.NathanJamail.com.

Make no mistake, sales can be a noble and rewarding profession. The sales professional is the face of the enterprise, the first point of contact, and the ultimate solutions provider. A successful salesperson can determine success or failure, and the difference between business won and lost. Even the best product or service is sure to fail if represented by an unscrupulous sales representative. Deciding to pursue a career in sales requires some essentials and a solid understanding of their importance.

Start with yourself:
Understand that you will have to learn how to handle rejection. Be prepared! They are saying no to your offer. It has nothing to do about you and it is not personal. Even if you were to have everything covered, the best option, you may still not secure the business because of something completely out of your control. Learn to deal with setbacks, but always have a long term goal when dealing with a customer. You do not have to win all the business immediately. Perseverance will pay off. Make it your greatest asset.

Allow your customer to do most of the talking:
Sales is less about what you know, and more about allowing your customer to advise you of what they know, they need. Do not spend your time trying to convince your customer that your knowledge is greater than theirs. Being a knowledgeable representative is important, but expanding on your knowledge to the point of it overtaking the discussion, is not. Besides, the customer may have a unique application. One in which you have next to no experience in. Have the intestinal fortitude to allow your customer to do all the talking. Allowing yourself to appear as someone already understanding the situation will bestow a quiet confidence to your customer. Bottom line, they will let you know what they know, and what they need you to get them. That is of course
if you let them.

Ask leading questions & listen carefully:
Use questions to allow your customer to expand and explain their position. You are not the deciding factor in whether a sale is successful or not. Your customer has information that you need to know to do your job properly. Explain to your customer that you are ultimately interested in servicing them and can only do this if you have some understanding of their situation. This will open the door to questions about their preferences and beliefs and allow them to open up about what they truly need – not what you think they want.

Use pauses when answering or asking questions:
While this may seem rather odd, it is very impactful. Pausing when answering or asking questions shows sincerity and real interest in providing a good answer or making sure your question is clear. It demonstrates that you want to answer or ask the right question and that you think about what you have to say. Don’t go overboard, but use this tactic wisely to show your ability to think through the process.

Use the information provided properly:
It is not just about asking questions for the sake of asking them. It is about asking questions in the context of the conversation, and what you do with the information once you get it. Writing down answers in front of the customer, or on the phone, demonstrates real initiative. You are trying to make sure you have it right. If the information is unclear, ask again. Remember, your customer is the deciding factor. If they have information that decides how and why they make a decision, make sure you know what that is. Once you have it, use it properly.

Professionalism:
There are enough salespeople out there who will do and say anything to get the sale. This approach may work a couple of times, but eventually, it will become a problem. Your ability to distinguish yourself versus your competition will win out in the long run, if you remain professional in appearance and business approach. You represent your company, so do so with pride and do not sell yourself or your employer short by succumbing to the temptation to do or say anything needed to close the deal. Establish some basic guidelines by which you will not allow yourself to break.

The sales profession often carries the image of a used car salesman or a pushy salesman interested in an easy sale. While it is true there are always people out there that have a short sighted view towards sales, the ones who have a long term approach that puts the customer first, will always differentiate themselves. Understand that quiet confidence, professionalism and information gathering are simple tools to excel in a profession that directly impacts the enterprise’s bottom line.

About the Author:
Traci Hayner Vanover is an author, publisher, consultant and publicist, with over 20 years experience in the fields of sales, market research and promotion. Traci’s work has been featured in national magazines, books, ebooks, and websites. She is the publisher of Entrepreneur & Self-Employed Business Journal. When she’s not working on ESBJ, Traci works with private clients as a publicist, copywriter and consultant. Find out how Traci can help you position your brand and take advantage of social media by visiting her blog at http://promodiva.com.

Consultants and coaches often come from a corporate background where they have honed their skills over time, and had excellent training and mentoring.

Their expertise is high. But skill and interest in selling that expertise? Not so much! It can be one of the most disheartening aspects of the business for someone with passion, creativity and a big vision to do the tedious work of marketing themselves.

Don’t wait until you’ve spent years and gone through multiple sales people before you figure out that as a solopreneur or micro-firm you are the best salesperson for your own company. Once you have the experience of being in total alignment with your strengths, passion and purpose, it is very hard to shift into the much less appealing sales mode. What so many of you say out loud is: “clients tell me I’m great at what I do; I just need someone else to sell it.” Underneath that is the message: “when I try to sell my services I feel sleazy, manipulative and inauthentic; and since I’ll never be able to do it well, why waste time on something I’m terrible at? Why not let someone who is good at sales do that?”

All good points. One valid solution is to work for a company that sells the kind of service you offer. You get to do what you love and someone else does the marketing and sales. But that means fitting yourself into their vision, and being satisfied taking the clients they assign to you — you may have already decided against that. If so, and you are a coach, consultant or spirited entrepreneur intent on pushing the envelope in your industry, what it takes to market your own company is as unique as the vision and creative approach you put into founding it. This may be the antithesis of what you want to hear, but wait! Don’t touch that mouse! There really is hope! The good news is that the challenge of learning to market yourself will make you better at what you do well. The trick is in getting the creative,visionary right brain and the pragmatic, numbers and systems-oriented left brain to play together.

Marketing is like a tango or salsa dancing. Flowing with the music, knowing intuitively when to sway, where to step, connecting with your partner — when you and the music are in harmony you can touch your greatness, feel your grace, more of the amazing person you know you truly are. But it starts with learning the steps, counting to the beat, figuring out the system.

Not a dancer? What makes you feel your greatness — golf? Swimming? Playing guitar? Gardening? Sudoku? Preparing a great meal? How did you align your left and right brain — your orderly, able, “follow the directions” side with your creative, inspired, “color-outside-the-lines” side — to get to where you could do it well?

Choosing to align the capacities of your left brain and right brain will jump you up to the next level in your business, too. That means the more skilled you are at routine chores like marketing yourself, the better you will be at the things you instinctively do well. Someone else can articulate your vision so that others totally get who you are and what you can do for them — but only you can sell “brand you.” So find mentors and skilled experts who can help you implement the marketing, but accept that you have chosen to lead this dance, and the unappealing discipline of learning the steps. Set aside time on your calendar. Work on your mindset. Read and listen in on tele-classes. Value the challenge to get better at marketing yourself. Your choice of work has already taught you that the payoff when you experience that left brain in harmony with the right is worth it!

About the Author:

Maggie Anderson Words That Work is a marketing communications firm that works with executives, consultants and coaches on effective communication strategies to stand out so they attract more opportunities and prospects using speech writing and presentations, email marketing, web content, blogging and other communication tools. Find out more at http://www.maggieanderson.com.

Increasing the effectiveness of marketing is the goal of every salesperson.

Fred Raley, author of the article “Followup or Die” is releasing the “Triple Whammy” marketing strategy — a tip that incorporates the time-proven principle of follow-up with two powerful techniques that will increase results by 10 to 50%.

Over the last year, Fred Raley interviewed six million-dollar-per-year earners in the sales industry. Each one had very similar marketing models that brought their success. But, each one had one or two unpublished tips that really boosted their sales. These are integrated and incorporated in Fred’s 20 page report as the “Triple Whammy” marketing strategy.

“These techniques are powerful… and easy to implement. Every business will benefit from the increase in sales.” ACE Edwards, ACE Crusade LLC

The “Triple Whammy” marketing strategy is an integrated set of simple tools and techniques that connects the reader/prospect to the key points of the marketing campaign. It includes follow-up with simple personalized messages via different means that are targeted to the prospect for maximum effectiveness.

To get Fred’s “Proven Success System” 20 page report that outlines the Triple Whammy” marketing strategy , go to http://www.ProvenSuccessSystem.com or call 1-800-809-1583 to receive a copy by mail.

Search marketers in growing numbers are improving their landing pages and increasing conversions by using Engine Ready’s free online landing page analysis tool, ConversionCritic.

Worldwide over 1,000 eCommerce and lead generation companies have now signed up for the free app which both analyzes and makes recommendations on how search marketers can improve the conversion potential of their landing pages.

ConversionCritic is a perfect resource for search marketers to see exactly which on-page factors can contribute to higher conversions and what improvements are needed to further increase their online ROI.

ConversionCritic scores a marketer’s landing page effectiveness based on 37 criteria, providing vital feedback on suggested modifications for increasing conversion. Marketers receive both summary and detailed reports on the 4 primary components that impact how well a landing page will convert: Marketing effectiveness, Offer clarity, Readability, and Engagement (MORE).

“With the intense focus on ROI (return on investment), marketers understand that optimizing pages for conversion has become a top priority”, reports Engine Ready’s CEO Jamie Smith. “ConversionCritic is a perfect resource for search marketers to see exactly which on-page factors can contribute to higher conversions and what improvements are needed to further increase their online ROI.”

For a limited time Engine Ready will be making this tool available to the public at no charge. To access ConversionCritic, visit http://www.conversioncritic.com.