The Difference Between Action and Inertia
I was reminded recently, that it is not what we know that is important, but what we do with it that makes all the difference. Over the last few weeks I had reason to speak to a number of people who attended a keynote address I did for a group of insurance agents early in 2004. Most […]
The Dangers Of Humour In Advertising
Advice on Growing Your Business “I don’t think there are any silver bullets when it comes to business advice. The main thing I advocate is to be contemplative about your business. Wake up early every day and go to bed late. Spend the time in between thinking about what’s going on in your business […]
The Critical Skill
The ability, the desire, and the patience to listen are necessary if you want to achieve greatness in sales. Unfortunately, most sales people tend to talk more than they listen. Here are three strategies that can help you improve your listening skills in both face-to-face meetings and when speaking to people on the telephone. […]
The Busy Man Is Never Wise, And The Wise Man Is Never Busy Lin Yutang, Chinese Philosopher
Lin Yutang was critical of North Americans for being too busy. He believed we are too subservient to the business culture. He saw us as slaves to our work, who worry ourselves to death. I have long believed, time away from one’s business is one of the most important ingredients for success. This counter intuitive point of […]
The 80/20 Rule Turned on Its Head
Everyone knows the 80/20 rule. Prevailing wisdom says that 80% of your revenues and profits come from 20% of your customers. That being the case we are advised to focus our attention on this 20% and not worry about the 80%, perhaps even going to the extent of firing them. Matthew Syrett of LinkShare Corp., […]
The 21 Deadliest Spam Filter Violations That Prevent Your email From Getting Through
It is important to know that 40% to 70% of all e-mail, that includes legitimate ones, is getting blocked by spam filters before anyone has the opportunity to read it, according to a recent article in Time Magazine. In my opinion, e-mail marketing is still the killer app., but it takes ingenuity to get your marketing materials […]
Simple Strategy For Getting Past Voice Mail When Cold Calling
Many people are frustrated with voice mail. It seems like an impenetrable wall between you and your prospects. It often seems the harder you try, the more voice mail you get to. You have two choices: 1. Hang-up, dial someone else and try again later. Or… 2. Leave a meaningful message when you hit voicemail. […]
Romance Your Customer By Making The Easy Sale First
When I was a teenager, I had a friend Gavin, who had a very direct approach with the young ladies in the town where we lived. We used to laugh because he got a lot of slaps, and we were also envious because he was sometimes successful. Thinking back, I realize that one of the reasons Gavin got slapped so often, is that […]
Risk Reversal
Bringing in new customers is expensive and often difficult. Here is one effective but frequently overlooked way to reduce the difficulty. Businesses, even the most customer oriented ones, tend to expect the customer to take the risk when doing business with them. The premise is almost: “We have great products, so you can try them if you […]
Richard Branson’s Wisdom
I have always believed that marketing starts with the product, not what you say about it. If you develop an excellent product with value that is right for your customers, then marketing it should not be difficult. We promise value for money, and we try to do things in an innovative way, in areas where consumers are […]