I got this via email from Dale Limes. I thought it was great whether you are in sales or not. Check it out!
Become A Selling Machine
10 Great Tips to begin the New year
Selling superstars aren't born, they are made. The truth
be told, they are self-made. They are selling machines.
You can become the quintessential salesperson if you stay
focused and work hard.
Here are 10 steps to follow if you want to become a selling
machine.
1. "Yes I can!" Begin everyday thinking and saying aloud
"Yes I can!" The choice is pretty obvious here. You're either
thinking "Yes I can" or "Yes I can't."
You have to believe, truly believe that you can do anything
you set your mind to doing. It's an attitude and attitude
determines your destiny.
2. "I will" versus "I'll try." Trying accomplishes nothing,
nada, zippo. Doing - gets things done. Begin every day
with the intention of doing instead of trying. Once again
this is an example of an appropriate mindset if you want
to become a selling machine.
3. Becoming rich is a state of mind and so is becoming poor.
Which do you prefer? Put a crisp $100 bill in your wallet. Not
many people have crisp $100 bills in their wallets.
The $100 bill won't make you rich but it will make you feel
good just knowing it's there. It's also a great way to rid your
mind of any negative thinking about money.
4. Establish daily written and prioritized goals. Begin each day
with purpose and passion in the pursuit of your daily goals.
Push aside all interruptions and distractions until your written
goals are achieved. Purpose and passion elude most people.
If you doubt me, make note of all the people you see in a
single day that strike you as having purpose and passion.
It might be days before you spot one. With purpose and
passion you'll standout from the competitive crowd - and
that's a good thing.
5. Don't complain and don't explain. Just go about your
business energetically and enthusiastically. Your enthusiasm
will fuel your purpose and passion - so don't leave home
without it.
Complaining and explaining creates negative energy. Just
stay focused on your daily goals and you'll stay on track and
accomplish more than ever.
6. Go buy a composition notebook. Call it your success or
idea journal. This is the place to keep all of your good ideas.
Make your life your laboratory and keep tabs on what works
and what doesn't work.
Write down your thoughts and action steps. Include words
of wisdom. Include everything that inspires you. Include
everything that's noteworthy. This is the place to also keep
your favorite quotations.
7. Take chances and don't fear failure. I didn't always think
this way, but now that I do I realize it's a much better way
to live your life. Our country is what it is today because of
the cumulative risks taken by all the generations who came
before us.
Every once in a while some radical thinking is needed to
shake things up in your life - personally and professionally.
Of course this is easy to say and hard to do.
Just think "Yes I can."
8. Become a student of selling. Read good books. I just
finished reading "The Dip" by Seth Godin. It's an excellent
book. It's short and sweet - only 80 pages. Read articles.
Turn your car into a classroom and listen to CDs everyday.
The quickest way to become a master of selling is to become
a student of selling first.
Establish a written goal to invest $1000 every year for your
personal development. Most people don't recognize and
appreciate that the size of their library influences the degree
of their success.
9. You can become a master of change or a prisoner of change.
Time in your territory doesn't make you an agent of change.
Only the acquisition and implementation of new ideas can. I
know salespeople who have been in sales 20 years. Yup - one
year repeated 20 times. This is no way to live your life.
Once a month ask yourself what can you start doing, stop
doing, or change what you are doing? And ask this question
at the end of every selling day. "How can I do it better?"
10. Have an attitude of gratitude. Be thankful for everything
you have. Say thank you to everyone who buys from you.
Say thank you to everyone who helps you make the sale. And
it wouldn't hurt to say thank you to your Creator.
We live lives of abundance in the United States. It's always the
right time to show your appreciation for what you have.
You'll sidestep all the Willi Lomans "Death Of Salesman" when
you stay focused on becoming a selling machine!
Don't settle for the ordinary when you had the opportunity
to become extraordinary!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Four Tips for a Holiday Strategy
Great article here from Multi Channel Merchant! Check it out!
If you’re like most retailers, you depend heavily on holiday to generate the bulk of your sales for the year. So it needs to be a good season.
To make the most of your holiday, it helps to map out the season’s marketing and merchandising plan well before it occurs. Here are four tips to get you started on this.
1) Don’t forget a good holiday idea
Hopefully you had a hindsight/brainstorming session with a cross-functional team as soon as holiday finished last year. That’s when the season is still fresh in everyone’s mind and ideas are flowing. “We shouldn’t have done…” “We should have done…”
You need to have this hindsight meeting in a timely manner and document the results, findings and recommendations for next year. You don’t want to repeat the same costly mistakes or miss out on those great opportunities that were thought of during the season. Those memories and ideas become more vague with time.
Keep a holiday folder where you put the prior year’s hindsight and ideas, as well as any new ideas that pop up throughout the year. That folder will be invaluable when kicking off the brainstorming and planning for this holiday season.
2) Maintain a promotional calendar
This sounds so obvious, but too many companies do not maintain a promotional calendar of all planned and actual promotions. Without the calendar, you can miss promotional marketing opportunities because of different lead times and different teams working on various marketing efforts.
For instance, you may find that the Website team isn’t talking to the catalog team or visual merchandising team for the retail stores or vice versa. The Internet lead time is so short that those folks don’t always think about the site’s promotional strategy far enough ahead to leverage the marketing efforts of the catalog.
You should coordinate and leverage promotions across many different media to experience the full revenue potential of the offer. There are always last-minute promotions added that, if not memorialized, will not be considered for next year.
Suddenly your sales are down 20% and you can’t figure out why--until someone reminds you that there was a last-minute promotion of 30% off those three categories this week last year. Document each event with not only what the event was, but marketing collateral, overall results and recommendations for next time.
Include public relations on your promotional calendar. You should track what products were promoted and where. That can affect your sales and provide opportunity to work with those editors on this coming season's products. Magazines work on their issues well ahead. Have you been promoting your new and exciting 2010 gifts to gain additional exposure?
3) Properly allocate circulation between catalog drops
Have you made sure your allocation of circulation between the various holiday mailings is optimal? Most catalogers use a strict matchback process that analyzes the names mailed and allocates orders to whichever mailing came last.
This strategy will artificially inflate the results of the last drop, typically a late November, early December mailing. By looking at promotion codes and source codes captured, you can gain a better understanding of which mailings actually drive the holiday sales.
4) Create a holiday gift guide
A holiday gift guide to that showcases great or unusual gift products is a good way to boost seasonal sales.
This is an obvious choice for a category on your Website, but consider creating a gift guide within your catalog. You could do this within the current pages of your book or even increase the size of your book slightly for the holiday season and increase product offering.
You could also insert a slightly smaller gift guide into the catalog. Restoration Hardware does this with its Baby & Child insert.
The gift book could then be pulled out and kept by the consumer. You could also use it as a direct mail piece or package stuffer, or even a store handout.
Next time we’ll look at leveraging your Website marketing and key operations areas to look at for the holiday.
Michelle Farabaugh is a partner with Lenser, a multichannel direct marketing firm.
If you’re like most retailers, you depend heavily on holiday to generate the bulk of your sales for the year. So it needs to be a good season.
To make the most of your holiday, it helps to map out the season’s marketing and merchandising plan well before it occurs. Here are four tips to get you started on this.
1) Don’t forget a good holiday idea
Hopefully you had a hindsight/brainstorming session with a cross-functional team as soon as holiday finished last year. That’s when the season is still fresh in everyone’s mind and ideas are flowing. “We shouldn’t have done…” “We should have done…”
You need to have this hindsight meeting in a timely manner and document the results, findings and recommendations for next year. You don’t want to repeat the same costly mistakes or miss out on those great opportunities that were thought of during the season. Those memories and ideas become more vague with time.
Keep a holiday folder where you put the prior year’s hindsight and ideas, as well as any new ideas that pop up throughout the year. That folder will be invaluable when kicking off the brainstorming and planning for this holiday season.
2) Maintain a promotional calendar
This sounds so obvious, but too many companies do not maintain a promotional calendar of all planned and actual promotions. Without the calendar, you can miss promotional marketing opportunities because of different lead times and different teams working on various marketing efforts.
For instance, you may find that the Website team isn’t talking to the catalog team or visual merchandising team for the retail stores or vice versa. The Internet lead time is so short that those folks don’t always think about the site’s promotional strategy far enough ahead to leverage the marketing efforts of the catalog.
You should coordinate and leverage promotions across many different media to experience the full revenue potential of the offer. There are always last-minute promotions added that, if not memorialized, will not be considered for next year.
Suddenly your sales are down 20% and you can’t figure out why--until someone reminds you that there was a last-minute promotion of 30% off those three categories this week last year. Document each event with not only what the event was, but marketing collateral, overall results and recommendations for next time.
Include public relations on your promotional calendar. You should track what products were promoted and where. That can affect your sales and provide opportunity to work with those editors on this coming season's products. Magazines work on their issues well ahead. Have you been promoting your new and exciting 2010 gifts to gain additional exposure?
3) Properly allocate circulation between catalog drops
Have you made sure your allocation of circulation between the various holiday mailings is optimal? Most catalogers use a strict matchback process that analyzes the names mailed and allocates orders to whichever mailing came last.
This strategy will artificially inflate the results of the last drop, typically a late November, early December mailing. By looking at promotion codes and source codes captured, you can gain a better understanding of which mailings actually drive the holiday sales.
4) Create a holiday gift guide
A holiday gift guide to that showcases great or unusual gift products is a good way to boost seasonal sales.
This is an obvious choice for a category on your Website, but consider creating a gift guide within your catalog. You could do this within the current pages of your book or even increase the size of your book slightly for the holiday season and increase product offering.
You could also insert a slightly smaller gift guide into the catalog. Restoration Hardware does this with its Baby & Child insert.
The gift book could then be pulled out and kept by the consumer. You could also use it as a direct mail piece or package stuffer, or even a store handout.
Next time we’ll look at leveraging your Website marketing and key operations areas to look at for the holiday.
Michelle Farabaugh is a partner with Lenser, a multichannel direct marketing firm.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Business Hiring Forecasted To Increase
Here is a study from Counselor Magazine.
Nearly one-third of U.S. businesses added employees during the second quarter, according to a new survey released by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). Data also shows that 39% of respondents expect to hire more workers over the next six months, the largest display of optimism since January of 2008. “NABE’s July 2010 survey confirms that the U.S. recovery continued through the second quarter, although at a slower pace than earlier in the year,” said William Strauss of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
According to NABE data, manufacturers reported the strongest increase in demand and profitability between April and June, while the finance, insurance and real estate sectors had the slowest growth. More than half of respondents reported sales increases in the second quarter, with 25% reporting higher profit margins. “Industry demand increased for a fourth consecutive quarter,” said Strauss. “Price and cost pressures were contained, allowing profits to edge higher.”
Additionally, about 20% of economists surveyed by NABE believe gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by more than 3% this year and 67% believe the economy will expand by at least 2%. During the first quarter, GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.7%, according to government estimates. Following a recent policy meeting, the Federal Reserve now expects GDP to grow between 3% and 3.5% this year, down from its earlier expectation of growth as high as 3.7%.
Nearly one-third of U.S. businesses added employees during the second quarter, according to a new survey released by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). Data also shows that 39% of respondents expect to hire more workers over the next six months, the largest display of optimism since January of 2008. “NABE’s July 2010 survey confirms that the U.S. recovery continued through the second quarter, although at a slower pace than earlier in the year,” said William Strauss of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
According to NABE data, manufacturers reported the strongest increase in demand and profitability between April and June, while the finance, insurance and real estate sectors had the slowest growth. More than half of respondents reported sales increases in the second quarter, with 25% reporting higher profit margins. “Industry demand increased for a fourth consecutive quarter,” said Strauss. “Price and cost pressures were contained, allowing profits to edge higher.”
Additionally, about 20% of economists surveyed by NABE believe gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by more than 3% this year and 67% believe the economy will expand by at least 2%. During the first quarter, GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.7%, according to government estimates. Following a recent policy meeting, the Federal Reserve now expects GDP to grow between 3% and 3.5% this year, down from its earlier expectation of growth as high as 3.7%.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Focus on Packaging to Make it Premium
Just saw this great article that echoes what I tell clients about packaging their promotion.
A consumer’s perception of a promotional product can have everything to do with the packaging. A T-shirt rolled and wrapped with a ribbon as a thank you will be more well received than one passed out at an office gathering.
Jay Deutsch, CEO and co-founder of BDA offers some tips on packaging to make sure what’s inside will be fully appreciated.
1. Don’t be afraid to get creative! Packaging a premium is literally the perfect opportunity to “think outside of the box.” For a FedEx promotion, BDA worked with Build-A-Bear to create a small replica of Danny Hamlin’s fire suit (this was more of an accessory than a package). It was fun, whimsical, and for this particular audience, it was right on message.
2. Don’t dress down. Putting a high-end premium in a cheap, no-frills package can defeat the whole purpose of a given campaign. Think about the context of the promotional item and make the effort to coordinate the package with the item. Apple recognizes just how important this is to creating a compelling consumer experience — every product they sell is meticulously packaged in a way that matches the perceived value of their brand.
3. Be careful to stay on-brand. Creating a brand experience starts with a consumer’s perception. And that perception starts from the moment a consumer first makes contact with a brand. Thus, it’s critical that a company apply the same brand standards to the packaging that contains an item as it does to the product itself. Nike is a great example of a consumer brand that truly gets this and always seems to go the extra mile to ensure all of its packaging reflects its brand standards.
"A plain white box doesn’t create anticipation or immediate engagement,” Deutsch said. “But a custom box that is fully integrated with the premium inside, that’s a different story. We strongly encourage our customers to think creatively about their packaging choices and not let it be an afterthought."
A consumer’s perception of a promotional product can have everything to do with the packaging. A T-shirt rolled and wrapped with a ribbon as a thank you will be more well received than one passed out at an office gathering.
Jay Deutsch, CEO and co-founder of BDA offers some tips on packaging to make sure what’s inside will be fully appreciated.
1. Don’t be afraid to get creative! Packaging a premium is literally the perfect opportunity to “think outside of the box.” For a FedEx promotion, BDA worked with Build-A-Bear to create a small replica of Danny Hamlin’s fire suit (this was more of an accessory than a package). It was fun, whimsical, and for this particular audience, it was right on message.
2. Don’t dress down. Putting a high-end premium in a cheap, no-frills package can defeat the whole purpose of a given campaign. Think about the context of the promotional item and make the effort to coordinate the package with the item. Apple recognizes just how important this is to creating a compelling consumer experience — every product they sell is meticulously packaged in a way that matches the perceived value of their brand.
3. Be careful to stay on-brand. Creating a brand experience starts with a consumer’s perception. And that perception starts from the moment a consumer first makes contact with a brand. Thus, it’s critical that a company apply the same brand standards to the packaging that contains an item as it does to the product itself. Nike is a great example of a consumer brand that truly gets this and always seems to go the extra mile to ensure all of its packaging reflects its brand standards.
"A plain white box doesn’t create anticipation or immediate engagement,” Deutsch said. “But a custom box that is fully integrated with the premium inside, that’s a different story. We strongly encourage our customers to think creatively about their packaging choices and not let it be an afterthought."
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Why Good Service is Good Marketing
I was turned onto this article from Jim Brown (thanks Jim!). It is in Multi Channel Merchant Magazine. Very interesting information about tying Customer Service to Marketing!
Orlando, FL—Marketers who see no need to concern themselves with operational or customer service issues, take heed: Good marketing cannot compensate for a bad customer experience. Or as Debra Ellis of Wilson & Ellis Consulting put it during her Wednesday session at the National Conference on Operations and Fulfillment, “Customers remember the experience more than the marketing that leads to the experience.”
Which is why the marketing and operations teams need to, at the very least, communicate on a regular basis. Case in point: When Ellis was the COO of furniture cataloger Ballard Designs, the company order several hundred Star-Struck Santa decorations for the Christmas season.
Several months prior to December, Better Homes & Gardens magazine decided to feature the product in its December issue. The marketing team didn’t bother passing this information to the ops team, so when the magazine hit the stands, and instead of receiving several hundred orders Ballard Designs received some 2,000, it was unable to meet demand.
The marketing staff also needs to realize that in this era of social media, the order-takers, service reps, packers, and other back-end staff, all of whom are critical to ensuring a positive customer experience, are also critical to ensuring positive word-of-mouth.
Originally, Ellis said, the goal of the marketing department was to get the order. Now the goal is to get the order and get others in the marketplace to talk about the order positively.
“They’re looking at the product. They’re looking at the service. That’s what gets people talking,” Ellis said. “The marketing department is just like the operations department: You’re both packaging things. Marketing is packaging ideas. Operations is packaging products.”
To prove just how effective good service was as a marketing tool, Ellis shared some statistics from one of her clients. For its top customer segments, the company enjoyed a 10.7% response rate, a $73.47 average order value (AOV), and a $663.43 average lifetime value (LTV). Of those customers who’d had multiple problems with their orders that were not resolved satisfactorily, response, AOV, and LTV were, not surprisingly, significantly lower.
Among these top customers who had had no service issues, the response rate was 9.4%, the AOV was $72.38, and the LTV was $534.16. But of those who’d had issues that were resolved, the response rate was 12.9%, the AOV $82.54, and the LTV $1,125.02—all appreciably higher than the averages for even customers who had not had a problem with the company in the first place.
The point: By taking care of problems quickly and to the customers’ satisfaction, the company had proven itself trustworthy to those customers while making them happy. “And it’s really hard to get people to change [companies] when they’re happy,” Ellis said.
Orlando, FL—Marketers who see no need to concern themselves with operational or customer service issues, take heed: Good marketing cannot compensate for a bad customer experience. Or as Debra Ellis of Wilson & Ellis Consulting put it during her Wednesday session at the National Conference on Operations and Fulfillment, “Customers remember the experience more than the marketing that leads to the experience.”
Which is why the marketing and operations teams need to, at the very least, communicate on a regular basis. Case in point: When Ellis was the COO of furniture cataloger Ballard Designs, the company order several hundred Star-Struck Santa decorations for the Christmas season.
Several months prior to December, Better Homes & Gardens magazine decided to feature the product in its December issue. The marketing team didn’t bother passing this information to the ops team, so when the magazine hit the stands, and instead of receiving several hundred orders Ballard Designs received some 2,000, it was unable to meet demand.
The marketing staff also needs to realize that in this era of social media, the order-takers, service reps, packers, and other back-end staff, all of whom are critical to ensuring a positive customer experience, are also critical to ensuring positive word-of-mouth.
Originally, Ellis said, the goal of the marketing department was to get the order. Now the goal is to get the order and get others in the marketplace to talk about the order positively.
“They’re looking at the product. They’re looking at the service. That’s what gets people talking,” Ellis said. “The marketing department is just like the operations department: You’re both packaging things. Marketing is packaging ideas. Operations is packaging products.”
To prove just how effective good service was as a marketing tool, Ellis shared some statistics from one of her clients. For its top customer segments, the company enjoyed a 10.7% response rate, a $73.47 average order value (AOV), and a $663.43 average lifetime value (LTV). Of those customers who’d had multiple problems with their orders that were not resolved satisfactorily, response, AOV, and LTV were, not surprisingly, significantly lower.
Among these top customers who had had no service issues, the response rate was 9.4%, the AOV was $72.38, and the LTV was $534.16. But of those who’d had issues that were resolved, the response rate was 12.9%, the AOV $82.54, and the LTV $1,125.02—all appreciably higher than the averages for even customers who had not had a problem with the company in the first place.
The point: By taking care of problems quickly and to the customers’ satisfaction, the company had proven itself trustworthy to those customers while making them happy. “And it’s really hard to get people to change [companies] when they’re happy,” Ellis said.
Monday, June 14, 2010
New Arena For HMC
We are extremely excited to announce a new business venture at Hasseman Marketing that will now allow us to do video events live! What does this mean exactly? It means that Hasseman Marketing will now be able to provide video services for live corporate events, band competitions, dance competitions, recitals, etc. and we can do so LIVE!
We are very excited about this new opportunity to serve our current clients, and attract new business opportunities as well. There will be more details to come on this exciting project. Please contact us if you have any quesitons about this new venture!
We are very excited about this new opportunity to serve our current clients, and attract new business opportunities as well. There will be more details to come on this exciting project. Please contact us if you have any quesitons about this new venture!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Small Business Optimism Increases
As 2010 nears its midpoint, a new survey shows small business owners are becoming more optimistic about their future prospects. According to the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey, respondents reported improving sales and economic conditions at the start of the second quarter. “As consumer and business spending appeared to pick up pace, this bolstered small business owners' optimism around their current situation,” said Scott Anderson, Wells Fargo senior economist.
In April, the survey’s Small Business Index optimism score rose by five points compared to January, yielding a 10-point improvement compared to July of 2009. A separate measure, called the Present Situation Index, also improved in April, jumping seven points. The Present Situation Index is based on six variables, including capital allocation spending and credit availability. “In our latest survey, we see more small business owners describing their cash flows and current financial situation as good and higher percentages seeing an increase in revenues over the last 12 months,” Anderson said.
While most index factors improved consistently throughout the first quarter, the survey shows job hiring still lagged behind. According to survey data, 53% of business owners have recently maintained current staffing levels, only hiring as many employees as needed. Additionally, 67% of business owners say they have not increased weekly employee hours, with nearly 20% saying they continue to decrease hours. Business owners cited several reasons for not hiring more workers. Most notably, 65% of respondents said they had concerns about the potential cost of health care.
“Small businesses are critical to the health and strength of our economy, as they employ about half of the private sector workforce and create more than 60% of net new jobs annually in the U.S.,” said Doug Case, small business segment manager at Wells Fargo. “This has been a challenging period for small businesses. They are looking for assurance of an economic rebound before staffing for growth.”
In April, the survey’s Small Business Index optimism score rose by five points compared to January, yielding a 10-point improvement compared to July of 2009. A separate measure, called the Present Situation Index, also improved in April, jumping seven points. The Present Situation Index is based on six variables, including capital allocation spending and credit availability. “In our latest survey, we see more small business owners describing their cash flows and current financial situation as good and higher percentages seeing an increase in revenues over the last 12 months,” Anderson said.
While most index factors improved consistently throughout the first quarter, the survey shows job hiring still lagged behind. According to survey data, 53% of business owners have recently maintained current staffing levels, only hiring as many employees as needed. Additionally, 67% of business owners say they have not increased weekly employee hours, with nearly 20% saying they continue to decrease hours. Business owners cited several reasons for not hiring more workers. Most notably, 65% of respondents said they had concerns about the potential cost of health care.
“Small businesses are critical to the health and strength of our economy, as they employ about half of the private sector workforce and create more than 60% of net new jobs annually in the U.S.,” said Doug Case, small business segment manager at Wells Fargo. “This has been a challenging period for small businesses. They are looking for assurance of an economic rebound before staffing for growth.”
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