"Friday’s Are Free" Coaching
03/13/2009Friday's Are Free Coaching is temporarily expanded due to demand to include, Monday's from 9am to 11am.
Friday's Are Free Coaching is a program where anyone can call me with a business related question (only 1) and I will help to provide a solution to the issue. There is no cost for this, no sales pitches given to the caller, just help. So, if you have an issue and need help, call. 505-271-4522
Below are the coaching
questions and my response. It is posted
here to act as a resource to you in your business. I hope you find it of value. (This is an
abbreviation of actual calls)
January 8th, 2010
One question that I found
rather significant I share here with you along with my response. It is a question I hear far too often, but
due to the economy, and no we can not ignore the economy as some are teaching,
business can be and is more difficult to come by. Retailers, service businesses, sales people
are all feeling the impact.
Q: How do I overcome the
actual and perceived effect of the economy.
It seems that no matter what I do or how hard I work I just can’t make
any headway.
A: As much as I wish I had one, there is no
magic bullet. You have to go back to
your fundamentals of training. I presume
that you have sufficient product knowledge and the workings of your industry.
Q: I use the sales tools that I have acquired,
is that not enough?
A: No. No it is not. Today prospects and existing clients that we
are looking to sell/provide our goods and services to have an unlimited amount
of information available to them at the speed of broadband. It does not matter what you sell, information
is easily available to them. They do not
need you to sell them on the features.
You need to presume that every prospect has already done research and is
validating you on the information you are providing.
I suggest you always ask what research they have done and
what they have learned from it.
Compliment them on their research and knowledge. By knowing what they know you can more easily
adapt your presentation and perhaps find out what their primary interest
is. You can now more effectively focus
on what is important to them in a consultive sales approach.
Again, falling back on the fundamentals of sales to move
the process forward. You mentioned that you have aquired sales
knowledge, do I take that to mean that you have no formal training? They advised that they had none as the
companies they had worked for never provided any. My recommendation to start of with some self
learning.
I recommended several books
on sales to help set an understanding on the foundation of selling. I also recommended the getting of information
on establishing a business and running their sales day as if it were a
business.
Talking with the person I
asked the following questions.
Do
you have a daily Action Plan with step by step actions to be
done each day
Do you have a personal marketing plan
Do you have a Business Plan of sorts, something to your
road map
of success
Do you have a mentor-coach-teacher
Have you taken any self help, or self improvement courses
Do you have a vision of what you want your success in
your field
to be
The answer to each of the
questions was a resounding, NO. It never
fails to amaze me that companies hire people and don’t invest in training or coaching. Companies teach their product or service with
a smattering of sales training, marketing training or anything. What a waste.
New hires into a profession
that the person relies solely on their ability to sell, these people are too
often treated like cooked spaghetti, put it in the pot, boil it up when done
take a hand full and through it up against the wall. What sticks, sticks. What does not stick falls to the ground and
swept into the garbage. There is a
better way, a much better way.
We ended the call with my
giving them 3 objectives to complete within the next week and for them to call
me with how they are doing. That is, as
long as they have been working on the objectives, if not, don’t call.
I leave you with this
thought. Times are changing, even if you
don’t see it yet. You need to be
prepared to greet the New Economy as it is ushering itself in. Train-train-train, I can not emphasize that
enough. Sales training, networking
training, marketing, social marketing (which really is not for everyone), read
self-improvement books, continue to educate yourself, even to the point of doing
so at a higher level than what is required.
Those that do, will win,
those that don’t…
An
investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
~Benjamin Franklin
January 29th, 2010
A call came in at 9 AM promptly. The voice on the other end said straight away, "I need help, I am drowning, I hope you can help me." This person, I will call him Joe was at the end of his rope. he advised that his income for 2009 was only 40% of what it was in '08 and 33% of what is was in "07. His question was, how does he revive his business so to prevent his going under. Needless to say, this is a big question and easily addressed in one phone meeting that lasted an hour.
Here is a partial list of a series of questions I asked Joe along with his reply.
1.How long have you been in business---5 years
2.Was your background in the same field---Yes
3.Did you seek advise before going into the business---No, only from friends
4.Have you taken any courses on running your business---No
5.What books on business have you read in the past 5 years---None
6.What currently is your biggest challenge---Not enough new clients & sales
7.What plan to you have in place for getting in front of more people--No plan, I do it when I can
8.Do you have money to invest in a marketing plan---No, not any more
9.How many hours per week do you work at your business---45
10.How many hours per week will you work in order to save your business---what ever it takes
I advised Joe to do the following.
1.Work 60+ per week with a new set of processes
2.Join or participate in some form of networking groups-alliances, or what ever.
3.To start 'data mining' his current and past clients
4.To develop a prospecting system that he does every week, including telemarketing.
5.To ask for referrals from everyone, friends, family, current and past clients
I wish I could say that his experience is unique to him, but it is not. More people than you think are in the same circumstances. There are ways to overcome the situation, but they are not going to be successful for everyone.
The lesson to be learned from Joe is this. Invest in yourself with training, books, seminars and so on. Invest in the many programs offered by several agencies for the advancement of business. Invest in a business coach, a mentor, a business manager, something to help give you the guideance and support you need. Develop an action plan that you work each and every day.
No one ever said being in business for yourself would be easy, it is not. It takes thick skin, discipline, and motivation. A person must be willing to do what ever it takes to succeed, to do what others are not willing to do, and to "eat that frog" every day.
Joe left with some hope. Now it is up to him to follow through, contact the people I gave him and employ a couple of the strategies that I shared with him. I hope he makes it.
***March 12th, 2010
I received a call back from Joe. He reports that he is seeing a steady climb in his business, and for the first time in a long time, he and his wife are confident that they will endure this deep recession, and that success is within their reach. I can't tell you how excited and happy I am for them.
I Love My Work.
March 26th, 2010
One caller faced the following delima. She advised that her lease was coming due soon and was concerned about the rent increase and the personal guarantee required by the landlord. Her office is barely large enough for one so adding a renter is out of the question.
Discussion: After some talk, it became obvious that she needed a cost effective way to maintain an office so she could meet clients there. I suggested that she consider three possibilities.
- Find a new location where the landlord would accept short term lease (1yr) or month to month. There is plenty of vacant office space at this time, something to her advantage
- For her to use her business and social network to help her find someone who too is looking for office space and take someone in to share the new office with, or find someone who is looking for a person (her) to share a space.
- Talk with the SBA about a 504 loan to purchase a business condo or small building.