Over the years I have visited many entrepreneurs and business owners. Have you ever thought why it is that one business can do so well and another is so mediocre when they are both in the same line of business? Well one insight that I want to share with you as to why this may be the case is to do with the psychology of you, the business owner.

How true it is that if you think big then chances are you will make it big…conversely if you think small then chances are you will remain small. Similarly if you think your business won’t succeed then you are likely to fail and your business will fail. On another level it is interesting that if you don’t value yourself and your business highly enough then you will undercharge for your products and/or services. This may be OK in the short term but it will mean that you will have to sell more products/services to make the same level of profit to your competitor that is charging a higher premium. In addition, the psychology of the customer often says well if that company is charging X and that other one is charging Y, then X’s product/service must be inferior to Y’s. Therefore I will buy Y’s. So not only are you selling less because your pricing is less but your margins are also lower. Plus in the long term when you wake up and realise that you need to raise your prices in order to survive your client base wont accept the huge price rise that you need to make in order to put you on a par with your competitor that started off charging higher and has been able to make small regular price increases along the way without alienating his client base.

So be bold, think big, think confidence, think value – your value and that of your product and service if you want to give your business a better chance of success!

About the author: Paul Stanford http://www.paulstanford.co.uk/blog has provided practical advice to hundreds of entrepreneurs for the past 5 years helping them to successfully start-up, transform and sell their businesses. Get in touch to see how his business http://www.4momentum.co.uk can help do the same for you. You have full permission to reprint this article provided this box is kept unchanged.

Copyright 2009 Paul Stanford

Part of the appeal of customer-centricity is that it takes very little business acumen to grasp its core concept. Focus intensely on customers, align your products or services with their interests, and voila: a customer-centric culture is born. Simple, right? Not quite. Becoming a truly customer-centric organization is perhaps one of the most difficult transitions an organization can make, fraught with hidden obstacles and unanticipated challenges. Here are three potential roadblocks on the path to a customer-centric strategy, and how to get around them.

Failing to understand your most valuable customer A customer-centric strategy is only as good as its customers. You cant let the average customer dictate what you do, says Robert Duboff, CEO of Hawk Partners LLC and coauthor of the book Market Research Matters. Generally speaking, Duboff says, 20 percent of a company’s customer base generates 80 percent of its profits. Given that split, its imperative to put your most valuable customers at the heart of your approach.

Identifying those customers need not take exhaustive research and complicated measures. It can be a fairly straightforward process, as it is with the Net Promoter Score, or NPS, a metric developed by Bain & Co.s Fred Reichheld. As set forth in The Ultimate Question written by Reichheld and published by Harvard Business Press the NPS approach consists of one simple question: On a scale of one to 10, would you recommend us to your friends?

Based on the answer to that question, customers are segmented into three categories: promoters, who actively champion a particular product to their friends and colleagues; passives, who are lukewarm about the product; and detractors, the opposite of promoters. A given company’s score is simply the difference between its number of promoters and its number of detractors.

NPS has proven to be a powerful tool for such companies as General Electric Capital Solutions, which has used it not only to identify customers that are already valuable promoters but to gain insights into how it can convert detractors. For a business like GE Capital Solutions, which serves more than 1 million very diverse customers in many different industries, NPS helps us better understand what our customers are feeling and how we can improve their experience with us, says Stephen White, a spokesperson for GE Capital.

Failing to support your external customer-centric strategy with an internal customer-centric strategy Speaking of valuable customers, what about that most priceless customer of all your employee?

While most companies aren’t in the habit of regarding their employees as customers, those seeking to instill a customer-centric culture should rethink their stance, argues Elaine Berke, president of Westport, MAbased EBI Consulting, which specializes in helping organizations develop customer-centric strategies. Customer-centricity needs to come from the inside out, says Berke. Leadership must avoid a double standard that makes it OK for managers to argue with or demean staff while still being courteous and considerate to external customers.

Consider the case of the world-renowned Johns Hopkins University Hospital. In developing a comprehensive Service Excellence initiative aimed at boosting its level of patient care, the hospital included employee satisfaction as a core component of the program. The hospital conducted an extensive survey to gauge employee concerns that turned up such simple, actionable insights as making it a point to compliment co-workers and instituting criticism-free no negativity days.

Customer-centric organizations value and respect internal customers as much as external customers, says Berke. Like the old saying goes, If you’re not serving a customer, you’re serving someone who is.

Failure to identify the moment of truth Companies spend considerable time and resources developing metrics for processes, execution and other day-to-day functions but often overlook defining their moments of truth those points at which a customer interacts with a company’s product or service and forms an impression. Companies are usually very good at creating metrics around [such procedures as] production deliverables but have a much harder time knowing how to create and measure standards relating to the quality of customer service being delivered, Keith Bailey of Sterling Consulting Group says.

In defining a company’s moments of truth, Bailey suggests looking at three different angles quality of product, quality of procedures and quality of relationships. Taking a hotel as an example, the quality of the product would be the cleanliness and comfort of the rooms. The quality of procedures would be such factors as how it long it takes to check in or how long customers wait for room service. The quality of relationship would be the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff.

Considering each angle separately allows a company to isolate the negative moments of truth within each and develop a game plan for turning them into positive experiences. Procter & Gamble, for example, identified its moment of truth as that instant when a shopper picks up one of its products and decides whether or not to purchase its decision the customer makes in an average of six seconds. The company has overhauled its marketing with that insight in mind, creating a global First Moment of Truth business team designed to win over the customer in that moment.

There are as many different customer-centric approaches as there are customers, and each has its own unique challenges, but the road to a truly customer-centric strategy always begins with the same steps.

1) Know Your Call’s Goal

Before you even pick up the phone, you need to have a clear idea of your intention and goal for the call. Do you have a direction that you want your prospect to head in after speaking to you? If you do not have a vision for your call, you are unlikely to achieve the end result that you want.

2) Don’t Give It All Away Too Fast

This goal is simple. Do not give away all of your goods without knowing if the person will even take the time to look at them. If they want you to just send them the information so that they can get you off of the phone, don’t do it. Do some digging to see what their level of interest is, or if they’re just trying to get rid of you.

3) Bad Telephone Etiquette

Good phone etiquette seems simple enough to achieve. However, when you are in a stressful situation, you might not even realize what you are doing. Do not chew gum, snack, or attempt to multi-task while you are making a call. Your prospect will be distracted by your poor manners and they may get the wrong impression of you.

4) Listen To Your Prospect

If you are struggling to get a read on your prospect, just listen to them. It is easy to monopolize a conversation without even knowing that you are doing it. To get the best insight into your prospect, listen to them. If you don’t, you are unlikely to be successful.

5) Don’t Make Your Fears Theirs

Although you might think that someone is pushing you off because they are busy at the moment does not mean that they don’t want to speak to you. Request a better time to reach them and then call them back at that time.

6) Not Asking Questions

There are certain things that you want to find out about a person to know whether or not you would even want to do business with them. So ask some questions. People love to discuss themselves, their families, and other areas of interest to them. People will respond more favorably to you if you show an interest in them.

7) Be Prepared

You would never dream of speaking to a room full of people without having prepared ahead of time. The phone is no different. You really need to take some time and go over what you have to say. Ask a friend or family member to do some role playing with you. There’s nothing worse than fumbling over your words when you are talking to a prospect.

Request What You Want

You need to give your prospect a call to action. You want them to follow up with what you’re telling them by having them do their own due diligence. By asking them to do something for you, you can then follow up with them and see what their own research turned up.

The following strategy has probably helped more companies double their sales faster than any other single concept. The Ultimate Sales Machine will always look to be as efficient as possible. In a sentence: There’s always a smaller number of “best buyers” than there are all buyers. That means that marketing to them is cheaper than marketing to all buyers. But it’s how you market and sell to them that determines whether or not you will ever get them.

When Charlie Munger put me in charge of ad sales for one of his magazines, they had a database of 2200 potential advertisers. I did a market analysis and found that 167 of them bought 95% of the advertising in the top four magazines. This was especially important because these four magazines were getting all of the really valuable advertising in this market. None of these advertisers were in our magazine and we were all the way down at number 15 in terms of market share in our field.

By focusing intently on those dream 167 buyers, I was able to get 30 of them into the magazine in the first year. Suddenly executives who had never heard from us before were now hearing from us so intensely from every direction that within six months we had 28 of them in the magazine. That alone doubled the sales of the magazine. These were the big advertisers. When they came in, it was for premium positions-full color spreads, the inside front cover, back cover, etc. Up until that point, we had been scraping by on revenue from quarter-page, third-page, and a few half-page ads. We doubled the sales the next year by keeping those best buyers in the magazine and bringing in another 30. We doubled it again, a third year in a row, by bringing in the rest of the 167 the best buyers. When I doubled sales three years in a row, Charlie Munger said, “Are you sure we’re not lying, cheating and stealing because, in all my years, I’ve never seen anybody double sales three years in a row.”

Naturally, we weren’t doing any such thing. We were just marketing and selling better than any of our competitors. That, and we truly had built the ultimate sales machine with procedures and policies for selling that all the salespeople had to follow. This book will cover every aspect of this in the ensuing chapters.

Best buyers buy more, buy faster and buy more often than other buyers. These are your ideal clients. No matter what else you are doing, you should be making an additional effort to capture them. I call this strategy the Dream 100 effort. It is your program for targeting your 100 (or whatever number is appropriate) dream clients constantly and relentlessly until they buy your product or service. The goal of the Dream 100 is to take your ideal buyers from “I’ve never heard of this company” to “Who is this company I keep hearing about” to “I think I’ve heard of that company” to “Yes, I’ve heard of that company” to “Yes, I do business with that company.

When you understand your visitors, the problems they have, and how they want to solve them, you are on your way to having a successful marketing plan for an online business. But even more important is understanding the steps your prospects go through before they actually buy from you. After all, it’s the money from the sales that we are all seeking.

This plan I’m going to reveal to you covers everything from the very first stages of your visitor’s thoughts all the way through checkout making sure you know how to create a seamless buying process for your future customers.

Step 1: Recognizing what your prospects want or need

The buying process always starts with acknowledging a specific need or want that your prospect has. Whether they have a problem and need a solution or it’s just some frivoulous desire, your customer will need to see a personal benefit before they are interested in your offer. They will most concerned it what’s in it for them.

With all the options and web sites that are online today, your prospect is in total control of what they want to buy and who they are going to buy it from.

As an online marketer, you need to create this desire for your prospects so they can relate to it. This will get them interested in getting more information about your offer and building a long-term relationship with you.

Step #2: Researching the Product or Service

A potential customer is now searching to see what products are out there to fulfill their need and who’s offering them.

They are looking for product features, pricing, and other options so they can match it to their needs.

This would be an opportune time to discuss what your product or service does and answer your prospects questions so you can direct them towards the right product for their particular situation.

Step 3: Refining and Evaluating.

Once a prospect completes their research, they start to narrow down their choices by eliminatin out the options that won’t work the best for them. They will consider the benefits and the merchants to make sure they know what they are buying and who they are buying it from.

Offering a bonus or incentive for buying the product from you. You can assure them that your company will provide them with great service if they even need any help. Any skepticism or lack of trust at this point can often turn your visitor away and they might go elsewhere.

Step 4: Reach Out.

This is one of the latest steps in the online buying process. It has become easier for people to interact with each other as your prospects are surfing the web and they want to take full advantage of this new option.

They’re going online and asking others about their experience with a certain product, service or business before they ever make any purchase. The better the word your product or company has out there, the more at ease your future customer will feel.

It has been determined that as much 80% of people who read online product reviews believe them over your own sales material. This will either secure your sale or eliminate it so make sure your company has a good reputation online.

Step 5: Resolution.

The prospect has narrowed their choice down to a specific product or service and decides what they are going to buy and who they are going to buy from. This doesn’t mean the deal is sealed though.

The customer has almost reached their final decision but still needs to feel confident about the security of their purchase. Place logos on your purchase page that give you credibility and let the buyer know that his or her transaction is secure on your website. This can often increase sales and help retain customers longer.

Step 6: Purchase- Order is Complete Now Give It to Me

After evaluating all their options, your prospect has now decided to choose your company for their needs. They are no longer a prospect; they are your own personal customer now which is every entrepreneur’s favorite person.

To show your appreciation, the next page should be a “Thank You” page. Also, it is a good idea to send them an personal email confirmation for their order, thanking them again, and reassuring them of all the awesome benefits they’re about to receive as well as the support you offer.

Step 7: Reconsider- Did I Really Make the Right Choice?

Time for every company’s worst enemy, buyer’s remorse. It’s when all the questions and doubt really hit your customer. But all they really need is assurance that they actually can get their money back if needed.

This is the time to show your customer that you really believe in your product by reviewing the benefits and offering a money-back guarantee. You need to reassure them of your comittment. They see it as a positive; if you’re willing to risk the sale, then the product must be worth it. You can reassure them that you are there to help should any questions or concerns arise.

Be sure to review each step thoroughly so your visitor’s buying process is very easy for them. Make it enjoyable and they will return again and again!

Can you believe that your customers can increase by 1400%? Get a phone word and see for yourself.

Hm What are phonewords? And do they make money? Oh. Yes. They do. But know what phone words are first. Phone words are the alphanumeric equivalent of a numeric telephone number. Phone words are made up from the various letters of the alphabet that correspond to particular numbers on a telephone keypad. These letters can form a word, a partial word, an acronym, abbreviation, or an alphanumeric combination.

Let’s step back a little. What the top priorities of business? They want a top of the mind recall for a product or a service. E.g. Burgers McDonalds wants people like you and me to remember it the moment we think of burgers. How cool will it be if 1800 BURGER rings in McDonalds? That solves two problems. The first is remembering the number. The moment you remember “BURGER,” you want to dial 1800 BURGER much better than 1800 345543 or some such number.

The other problem is of “association”. The combination 1800 BURGER has associated Burger and McDonald’s. So it also increases the brand association that is required by your business, by many folds.

Let us tell you about some other advantages now. When you buy a phone word, you become the exclusive owner of that particular phone word in the entire country. You can have customers from a single postcode, multiple postcodes, an entire city or even the whole country. You select a territory and all calls coming from there are put through to your existing telephone line. The online business also finds it useful, as their huge geographical reach doesn’t get wasted since you service only a small area.

Phone words communicate what you do in a punchy and economical way. When you say 1800 BURGER, they know what you do. You don’t have to explain anything. They KNOW it. But the crispiness that comes with it is fascinating. Somehow, with so few words, it conveys about quality.

Not just that, Phone words are an easy way of projecting your business as being bigger and more professional than your competition. Add to that, a phone word is an easy way for you to enable word of mouth marketing. 1800 PENCIL or 1800 RENTAL is easy to convey and easy to remember.

Many businesses find it difficult to get the recall for their product or services. Phone words are indeed a simple and interesting way to remember it. And the best part is that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars in creating ad campaigns and burning all your profits in billboards etc.

When people do remember you, they are more likely to call you than any one else. Phone words increase “stickiness” of your product or service and can save and make lot of money for you. Every new call that a phone word brings you increases your profits, utilization of your assets, your people and does many more things to contribute to your business. Research has shown that a phoneword can increase your lead generation by 14 times. That means getting 14 times more customers than you have right now. What are you waiting for? Get a phoneword now!

Business to business telemarketing can be a challenging profession. It takes specific skills to be able to close sales over the phone and to relate to customers in a way that instills confidence. Top telesales people often use the same techniques to be successful.

Many telesales people are looking for ways to increase their conversions, subscriptions, or other sales goals. If you are one of them you can use the common tactics of top telesales people to increase your telesales success. Before you make your next call, review this list of top telesales preparations.

The first thing successful telesales people do before a call is review their script or call plan. Even if you are not using a conventional script, top telesales people go over what they are going to say and how they will respond to questions before they make the call.

The next thing you should do before the call is to think about your target market’s point of view. Successful telesales people appeal to the way their customers think by relating to their customer’s specific demographic.

Before you make a call you should also analyze your customer’s needs. Knowing what products or services your customer is likely to need will help you to suggest the best solutions for them.

Before you make a call record the date, client or customer name, and any other pertinent information that will make it easier to keep track of the call. Recording times, dates, what was discussed and follow up plans will make it easier to manage your many customer accounts.

It is also a good idea to review your goal before you make a call. Remind yourself what you want to do during the call, whether it is closing a sale, getting more information, or setting up an appointment, so that you will be more likely to meet your goal.

Something that you should do before making any calls after you make changes to your script or call technique s to test your new sales script or dialogue technique. Make sure your new way of communicating will be effective with a test call before you contact customers.

There are many things you should do before making calls to ensure that you will have the most success. Business to business telemarketing can be challenging, but if you remember these tips of top telesales people you will find greater success with your calls. Before you make any calls be sure to review these important steps.

Sales training is the act of developing a agent in the act of sales. Sales, which can be done individually or as part of a team, is where a person sells a goods or service to a buyer. It is often believed that selling is the same as marketing but there is a distinct difference – marketing exists to advocate a product by making it of use to a prospective customer and, through this, may inactively generate a sale. On the other hand, a sales agent actively speaks with a prospective customer, demonstrating directly how their product or service can assist the customer by offering them detailed information. The best sales team is someone who works together with their customer and acts to meet the client’s wants and goals with the goods or service to be sold.

Sales is an important part of contemporary work models. Not only does the sales agent sell a company item or service, they also labor to generate new business prospects and generate buyers for their business, thereby sustaining and growing their company’s client base and reputation. Sales is often the community face of a company so it necessary that correct new business development training is provided to the sales agent so that they can do well in their selling role but also know how to be the best promoter possible for the goods and the corporation.

There is a plethora of approaches a corporation can use to connect with their client. Direct sales – where the company interacts directly with their client – is probably the most familiar. The most well-known direct selling approaches are door-to-door selling and telemarketing; in both cases the corporation directly connects with the buyer at home or at their place of business to tell them about the goods. Another form of direct selling is ‘consultative selling’ whereby the company interacts directly with the buyer but initially starts by consulting the client about what merchandise or services they need and developing answers in collaboration with the buyer. Companies also traditionally sell merchandise through retailers – so called ‘middle men’ – and through mail order, while the rise of the web has given companies a new medium in which to deal with potential buyers. As can be seen, there is a large variety in the way companies contact, connect and potentially sell to a buyer, which has increased the necessity of sales training.

Sales training concentrates on the range of methods a sales agent can use when directly dealing with the customer, so important in these days of direct selling. Although there are a range of particular approaches tailored for different ways of selling, the main thought behind exceptional sales practice is five-fold: analyze a client’s needs, offer solutions to the buyer, discuss the benefits of the goods, overcome any questions the buyer may have and close the sale. This practice can sometimes be condensed to a three-part methodology: discover the customer, present to the customer and finish the sale.

Sales development courses are extensively available with many training schools and specialist businesses offering courses that you can take in person or via correspondence or the internet. Many large businesses have also developed their own in-house sales training programs. There are also a plethora of books available on the topic.

Exceptional sales development will always stress the need to ask customers questions in order to better provide them solutions, will always stress the importance of understanding your product and will include motivational material, as selling is a high-pressure occupation that not only needs a lot of self-motivation but also deals with a lot of rejection as well.

Incentive programs, what they’re for and how to use them are also included in a lot of sales development. These ’sales incentive programs’ or SIP’s, are a method used to encourage a sales agent and sets out specific goals for achievement, which aims to concentrate selling activity.

Sales development will show you self-motivation, focus and great communication skills and, as such, would stand any person in good stead for any managerial role outside of sales, as well as within.

Advice for Trade Show Achievment

Trade shows are a waste of money … unless you know how to do them accurate! while face-to-face selling is definitely the fast road to gaining sales, whats many times missing is the little known details and opportunities.

The hush-hush method to maximizing results in this business is to learn from the masters – experts whose everyday focus is on developing trade show products and campaigns that earn large significant amounts of money for their clients. The goal of this article is to ensure your success, whether you’re making a safe orvery big investment in trade shows and events.

Did you know? Most trade shows offer some combination of advertising opportunities in all price ranges. Here’s some that can provide a significant increase in your results: 13 Tips for Better traffic explain Results:

* Inside and outside banners

* Floor decals – put in aisle ways on major traffic aisles

* Hotel keys – sponsor hotel keys so everyone who stays at the event hotel sees your ad daily

* Turn down service – your ad or promotional item is placed on every guests’ pillow

* Trade Show bags

* Lanyards

* Advertising in show guide and show dailies – a newspaper published each day for show attendees

* Sponsorship of directional signage

* Sponsorship of coffee breaks or luncheons

* Cab signage – light boxes on tops of cabs

* Shuttle bus signage

* Literature displays (kiosks) in lobbies – you restock literature yourself

* Inserts for show badges – every badge has your name on it

Stay away from the standardized look of other rental exhibits. Get an expert look and a unique style that will make a statement.

Consider renting an exhibit booth. Purchasing an exhibit booth is a long-term commitment. If you rent your booth you escape all of the ownership costs like storage, maintenance and exhibit house prep charges for each show you attend. As well you can have a new look every year when you can refine your look, and your booth.

Currently there are lightweight and flexible booth walls that can be packed up into small shipping containers and be easily and economicallyshipped anywhere in the world. These types of exhibit booths make a fantastic starting point for those new to trade shows and exhibitions, as well as quick setups for any tiny or large business ventures.

The main thing is to get people into your booth and catch their attention in your products. Be creative. Think creative. Why not set up a whole little office where you can sit with people for short courses, seminars and be able to present a show. Don’t limit yourself to a simple booth when pushing the envelope can provide you with new customers who will remember your corporate image and products.

There is a lot more to consider in gorwing traffic at your trade show show booth. From pre-show direct mail programs to business worthy giveaways, drawings, advertising in show guides, show site banners, etc. All these things will come together to make your show booth have a great deal of impact.

ExpoMarketing.com – Expo Marketing works with 100% of trade shows and similar convention exhibition booths sales, rentals, setups and tear downs.

Sales development is the act of educating a agent in the act of sales. Sales, which can be done individually or as part of a team, is where a person sells a merchandise or service to a customer. It is often thought that selling is the same as marketing but there is a distinct difference – marketing exists to promote a item by making it attractive to a prospective customer and, through this, may by default generate a sale. On the other hand, a sales agent actively communicates with a prospective customer, showing specifically how their goods or service can assist the customer by providing them tailored data. The best sales agent is someone who works in conjunction with their customer and works to answer the customer’s needs and goals with the merchandise or service to be sold.

Sales is an important part of modern work models. Not only does the sales agent sell a company item or service, they also act to create new business prospects and find clients for their business, thereby sustaining and growing their business’ client base and reputation. Sales is often the community face of a business so it necessary that correct sales training is provided to the sales agent so that they can do well in their selling role but also know how to be the best promoter possible for the goods and the company.

There is a plethora of methods a company can employ to connect with their client. Direct sales – where the business deals directly with their client – is probably the most recognized. The most familiar direct selling methods are door-to-door selling and telemarketing; in both cases the company directly connects with the client at home or at their place of business to inform them about the goods. Another way of direct selling is ‘consultative selling’ whereby the business deals directly with the customer but first starts by asking the client about what products or services they require and developing answers in consultation with the client. Corporations also often sell products through retailers – so called ‘middle men’ – and through mail order, while the rise of the internet has given companies a new medium in which to work with future clients. As can be seen, there is a huge variety in the way companies contact, connect and potentially sell to a customer, which has increased the necessity of sales development.

New business development concentrates on the range of methods a sales agent can use when directly interacting with the customer, so integral in these days of direct selling. Although there are a range of particular techniques tailored for different varieties of selling, the main methodology behind outstanding sales practice is five-fold: analyze a buyer’s needs, offer solutions to the buyer, discuss the advantages of the goods, overcome any objections the customer may have and close the sale. This methodology can sometimes be condensed to a three-part methodology: find the client, present to the client and close the sale.

New business development courses are widely available with many training academies and specialist businesses offering courses that you can take in person or via correspondence or the internet. Many large companies have also developed their own in-house new business development programs. There are also a plethora of books available on the subject.

Exceptional Sales training will always stress the need to ask clients questions in order to better offer them solutions, will always stress the necessity of knowing your product and will include motivational material, as selling is a high-pressure career that not only needs a lot of self-motivation but also deals with a lot of rejection as well.

Incentive programs, what they’re for and how to use them are also included in a lot of sales development. These ’sales incentive programs’ or SIP’s, are a method used to encourage a sales person and sets out specific goals for achievement, which aims to focus selling activity.

Sales development will show you self-motivation, direction and exceptional interaction abilities and, as such, would stand any person in good stead for any leading role outside of sales, as well as within.