Sales
Consultant’s Corner: Motivating Salespeople
Question: We are a base pay + commission compensation company that has been in business 5 years. What is an effective way of motivating employees to understand that they are not cost effective until they generate 5 times their pay? While it is important for workers to experience transparency in their company and understand where…
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Consultant’s Corner: How Do Government Contracts Work?
Q. What does it take to win government contracts? Government Contracting Pros and Cons Government contracting can be a reliable and profitable revenue source for a business; however, there a various considerations with government contracting. For example, the paperwork and other administrative burden and extended payment terms are unattractive to many businesses. To help determine if…
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Enlist Vendors for Marketing Help
As a small business owner, you’re always looking for an edge. When it comes to marketing, you look for efficiency and effectiveness—whatever will bring you the highest return on investment. There’s one area where many businesses don’t think to look, though: vendors. Getting marketing help from your vendors can dramatically help your business and bring…
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You Don’t Need Super-Salesmanship
For years, ever since I played football, people have come to me to say, “I’ve got this great idea, if only you would be willing to sell it for me.” But the honest truth is, I’m not a great salesman. That doesn’t stop people from coming to me and telling me we could make millions…
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The Challenges When You Grow
When you’re running a successful business, you run into a variety of challenges that accompany growth. But these challenges can be particularly difficult for business owners who, while they have great passion for what they do, didn’t exactly go into business so that they could manage HR and cash flow. A recent survey found that…
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Developing Your Sales Team
The salespeople that will put you on the map are hard to find. You want to build a sales staff of greats. They do 80% of the business. They usually number no more than 30% of your force — preferably more. Fire or Train? You should recognize that not every hire will work out and…
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Consultant’s Corner: Planning a Price Increase
Question: I’d like to re-evaluate my pricing schedule, but I am not sure how much to increase my prices. Where can I get a start on understanding the pricing game? Competitive prices are critical in order to maintain customers and market share; however, you still need to maintain adequate profit margins and profitability. We do…
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Consultant’s Corner: Cold Calling Techniques
Question: What is business etiquette concerning cold calling and how often to follow-up with a prospect if they do not give you a time? How should you toe the line between checking in and being annoying? Cold calling can involve phone calls to set appointments or cold call visits to prospects to have a sales…
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Let Your Customers Expand Your Business
Adapted from One More Customer by Fran Tarkenton and Scott Miller Businesses often get funding in order to expand. The great Sam Walton certainly did that, but he didn’t do it until he had proven his business model and proven he could get a lot more people to come back more often to buy more. Many others…
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Keeping Customers After Losing a Sales Rep
When you run a business, things are going to change. It’s inevitable. Your products and services, technology, and even your marketing strategies and personnel will all change over time. But one of the biggest challenges you will face in the midst of these evolutions is finding ways to retain customers when you lose a sales…
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