What's Your 90-Day Plan?

• Are you twisting in the wind?
• Are you reacting instead of acting with intention and purpose?
• Do you sit, exhausted and confused, at the end of your day, wondering what this all means and when it’s going to end?

If you don’t relate to those images, chances are you know someone who does.

It’s hard to plan ahead right now. The world is changing moment to moment. (View this clip“Did You Know?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY) The floor has fallen out from under many of the approaches that have always worked. Even some companies and individuals who have money are cutting back on their spending, postponing plans, and taking a “wait and see” approach to buying items that are already in their budget.

Now is your perfect opportunity!

I know what you’re thinking—"Carol’s on glue!"

Stay with me here.

We are living in a world of No and Not Right Now. Many clients and prospects are stressed and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d, doing more for less and completely unsure of the future. They say they don’t want to talk right now.

If you leave your clients and prospects alone at this time,
you are making a HUGE mistake!

Your clients actually DO want to talk to you.
They do NOT want to be SOLD and they do NOT want to WASTE your time or their own.

This is a gigantic opportunity to build lasting mutual trust that will pay off for you and your clients in future—and with their referrals, too!

With whom do YOU want to do business?
• People you know, like, and trust.

How do you feel about people who do things like:
• Drop off a card or note of encouragement to you?
• Take a few moments to say “Hi”—personally or by phone or email?
• Clip and email an article or something that is relevant to you and your clients?
• Connect someone to you who can help you or your business?
• Invest a bit of their precious time to let you know they care about YOU—not just the money you spend with them?

Right now, with every other corporation, business, and individual scrambling to focus on sales and marketing to the people who are still spending, you need to create your 90-day Action Plan to:
• retain the clients you already have;
• ensure your prospects stay interested in you for the future;
• establish great word-of-mouth referrals; and
• DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF FROM THE COMPETITION!

You can set yourself apart—as a person or a company that truly cares and is willing to take the time to get to know your clients and prospects.

What happens when you are perceived to be different from everyone else out there?

Price becomes an afterthought.

Clients may try to bring down your price, but they’ll connect with you and be willing to consider your reasons for not dropping your price.

“But I need some contracts and sales RIGHT NOW!” you say.

Okay.

These steps will help you build current AND future business within the next 90 days.

Step 1: Always ask your clients and future clients to refer you to people who need what you have to offer. If you are genuine and your clients and future clients like you and trust you, they will LOVE to recommend your services to someone who can help you succeed. Why? It’s a very nice thing to do and it will lighten their load of nonpurchasers’ guilt.

Step 2: Do a fantastic job of following up with those leads. Make the people who recommended you look like heroes! You will be the first person they call when they are in a position to use what you have to offer!

Remember Carol's Three Customer Building Commandments.

1. Woo thy prospect constantly and genuinely.
2. Love thy customer as thyself.
3. Ask for referrals and ye shall receive.

What’s in your Action Plan for the next 90 days?

The Rules Just Changed . . . Forever

Searching for direction and answers?

You are not alone.

There's a big trend toward "What does it all mean?" and never before have so many "experts" claimed to be able to help you . . . for a fee.

Have you noticed them?

Some are parrots, regurgitating (plagiarizing) something they read in another blog, on another Website or from an obscure book written ten years ago no one bothered to read . . . or worse yet, from a book just released that was poorly researched and based on what might have worked two years ago.

Others have jumped on a trendy wave of twitter/facebook/linkedIn . . . it all sounds good and if applied the right way can be very powerful, but they are asking for your money, claiming to be "experts" who will show you the right way. It's hard to know just who to trust and buy into.

Still others are loudly proclaiming the "same old same old" from twenty years ago, broadcasting their lengthy experience in the field and hooking a segment of baby boomers who want to believe there's no need to change.

I'm here to tell you,
the rules HAVE changed . . . forever!

In fact, they changed many years ago, but business was great, people were buying, everyone was too busy to notice.

The change has been gradual but never hidden and it's called . . .
women.

Before you click away from my blog, I assure you I love men dearly. I wish I had their ability to focus on one thing at a time and move in for the kill. I wish I clicked with the "Take no prisoners" attitude. But I don't. I never have.

Neither have the other women who are now making 85% of the buying decisions in North America.

Yes, you heard me right. 85%!

How did that happen?

Well, there's no one single factor. There's several:

• The single income family is a dream long gone. More women than ever before in North American history have to work. Notice I say "family". I'm implying kids in that mix. Kids need daycare. Women either work in high-level positions that pay very well, work shifts opposite their spouses or create work arrangements or businesses that fit their life. In all these situations, women no longer need to consult the other bread winner on key buying decisions. They feel quite entitled and qualified to call the shots.

• Divorce is now normal. When I went to school, it was rare to find a child in a one-parent family. When my kids went to school, it was rare to find a kid in a two parent family, especially one that contained his or her original parents. Sad, but true. Women have had to shoulder a lot of responsibility and make all decisions . . . and juggle raising a child alone with making enough money.

• Fewer women bother to marry at all. Many of us just keep working. We waited for the right relationship and it never quite happened . . . or we were just too busy to look for it.
  

With women making:

• the majority of business starts in North America
• the majority of family buying decisions
• the majority of buying recommendations and decisions within businesses
• all their own buying decisions in their divorced or never-wed lives

women have become THE target market.

Who has most of sales copy been geared toward for the past 80 years?

MEN!

• Picture the last car commercials you've seen.
• Think of the last fax you received for some great speaker guru coming to town.
• Consider the realty ads that appeal to you and those that don't.

I've recently hooked into Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero's "She-Factor Copywriting Bootcamp". She latched onto this concept a few years ago when she rightly realized that the sales copy she was writing was repelling women and yet, most of the decision makers she knew were women.

The light bulb flashed to life and her research began.

Even ME, as a woman in sales and marketing, have been afraid to "exclude" men by writing toward ... well, myself! Lorrie's research showed that
female oriented sales copy still works on men!

Who knew?

So, by marketing toward men, you lose your woman audience
BUT
By writing to women, you gain the attention of 85% of buyers, PLUS you don't lose your men.

It doesn't take any marketing guru or trend expert to tell you what you need to do here:

• We know that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
• Look at your website and all your marketing. Does it build trust with women?
• What can you do to speak directly to the concerns of the women in your target market?
• What benefits will women gain from using your product or service . . . that women truly care about?

If you do a lot of sales writing and want targeted tips, I highly recommend Lorrie's help.

Simply looking for help on a specific project? I'm happy to give you a hand. Leave a comment on this blog and I will respond ASAP.

SALES ... the Big White Elephant in the Living Room

A friend of mine is a creative genius. Every thing I think of creating he has either done, attempted or "could probably do it pretty easily". He should be a multimillionaire with all the talent, brilliance and inherent skill he has. His portfolio of past projects is impressive and diverse and his desk is plastered with sticky notes, each with creative and viable ideas "to work on".

So why isn't he rich?

One BIG reason is he keeps saying "I'm no good at sales."

Sound familiar?

So many entrepreneurs struggle in the sales department. Many who do their own sales become very discouraged at results versus effort, while feeling like fish out of water the entire time. Other business owners complain that sales people they contract or hire promise the world and don't deliver. So many sales courses have great information, but few seem to make a real difference besides sparking renewed confidence for a brief period of time.

What is the secret to the sales factor?


Here's the #1 key:

Sales without a proper marketing plan in place is like walking uphill on rollerskates ... a whole lot of effort with little or no progress and much exhaustion and frustration.

If you hire a sales team and have no solid marketing in place for them, you cannot fault them for struggling, losing momentum and eventually disengaging. Your marketing should be aimed at your perfect customer to attract the right kind of leads to your sales team, who then do what they do best, leaving you free to do what you do best.


Here's the #2 key:

Marketing without a proper sales plan and follow up structure in place is like buying a new wardrobe, taking a lovely picture of it and throwing it away.

Your marketing MUST be followed up be consistent and targeted sales effort by people who CARE and believe in the value of what you are selling or it will simply be a permanent reminder of money and effort that amounted to nothing.

• Most sales leads are the result of marketing.
  
• Marketing enhances and authenticates your sales efforts.
  
• The two go hand in hand and one without the other is dead or very weak at best.

People will buy from who they know, like and trust.

• Marketing creates awareness (know),
  
• attracts people who identify with your message (like) and
  
• creates the impression that you have been successful enough at what you do to broadcast your abilities to the community (trust).

Follow that up with a personal and caring sales approach and you have the recipe for customer engagement, followed by tremendous word of mouth ... your least expensive and most successful advertising method.

By the way, if you've created a satisfied customer,

• ALWAYS ask for a testimonial and a few referrals.
  
• Ask your customer if you can contact them at a later date to see how your product or service is working out for them and then
  
• MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW UP! Emails or snail mails should always have an easy way your client can supply feedback and a reason to. I guarantee the phonecall is more effective at creating customer relationships, loyalty and even more positive word-of-mouth. It also gives you a chance to ask for MORE referrals!!!
  

Anyone can sell as long as they CARE about what they are selling, who they are selling to and have consistent and caring follow up. With the right marketing methods in place and a targeted sales and follow up plan, you will have more time and budget to concentrate on developing all of your other BIG IDEAS for your business!!!

Want quick, effective and inexpensive sales skill development?

• Find out how you show up when you are in your own "Sales Mode".
  
• Identify your customer's "buying style".
  
• Learn to "style shift" authentically to serve your client more effectively.

Purchase CRG's Sales Style Indicator and unlock your Personal Sales Potential.

Online Sales Style Indicator (SSI)