Periscope Down

Lately I have been working with a number of creative people. When I say creative they range from coaches to salespeople to web designers; from artists to store owners. They are all creative in their own way and they all struggle with the same challenges. Among those challenges is planning. Planning, or lack thereof, can dramatically impact a company or organization.

It isn't enough to be good at what you do; you must be able to clearly define details and plans in order to successfully communicate with, sell to, and maintain a client base. Remember it's that client base that equates to income.

So, we are going to take the periscope down and focus on four areas: defining scope of work, identifying the target market, developing the sales plan, and implementing a client retention program. These are the nuts and bolts of a successful business. They need to be established, monitored, and modified as needed. Without clear planning in these areas you will find yourself floundering instead of sailing.

Scope of Work

This is one of those key areas that many entrepreneurs fail to address effectively. Before you ever make a single sale, you must define what it is you will do for how much money. It may sound obvious but too many people fail to address this topic at the outset. Imagine wanting to contract someone who couldn't tell you exactly what they were going to do, roughly how long it would take, what the process was, and how much it was going to cost you. Would that instill confidence? I don't think so!

In addition, if there is gray space, it's open to interpretation by the client. They may believe that you are going to do more than you intended. Without a clearly defined scope you have no way of combating that belief. You will end up doing more work without receiving more money. Not a great idea.

So take the time to define the work. You can and should have different packages. You can even keep it a la carte if you wish. The point is to make sure you have a clear definition of work you offer along with the corresponding cost to the client. Once defined, put it in writing. You'll be amazed at how much easier it will be to sell your service or product. Moreover, now you and your prospect will know exactly what to expect. No surprises.

Target Market

Do you believe your product or service is good for everyone? Well maybe. I submit to you that this may not be true. And at the same time, it's terribly difficult to sell to everyone. Target marketing keeps things clean and clear. It helps you focus - and that focus will help you market your product or service more effectively.

Whether you sell something that everyone can and should buy is not the issue. The issue is to break down the possibilities into workable pieces. Select a section of the market that you can focus on. It's easier to set up a sales plan when you aren't all over the place.

Focus your time and energy on that one market and go deep. Try to penetrate it as far as you can. Once you've established yourself in that market you can always pick another segment and repeat the process. Now you have a focused, clear road to go down.

You may have noticed that we've been going in order through natural business growth steps. You can't pick a target market until you've clearly defined what it is you offer. Once you have your target market your next step is to structure and implement your sales plan.

Sales Process

You now know what you are offering and who you are offering it to. So, how are you going to sell it? Whatever you decide to do, you have to do it consistently. The worst thing to do in the sales process is to stop contacting people once you've started. Having a plan of action will help you avoid that problem.

There are many ways to develop a sales plan. The most successful will be the one that you'll feel comfortable doing. For example, if you don't like the idea of cold calling (and most people don't), then you have to find other ways of getting your information to your market. It may be an introductory letter; you may decide networking is the way to go; maybe you offer workshops or seminars to share information and become known to your market. Perhaps you hire a telemarketer or try direct mail marketing.

Whatever path you choose, remember that there are always more steps. You can't just send out a direct mail piece and wait for people to knock on your door. You can't send an introductory letter and expect people to call you. You have to craft a plan of action - several steps - that you are going to implement and maintain. Once you've sent out the introductory letter, follow up with a phone call. Create a process for follow up calls. How often, at what time of day, for how long.

Creating a sales plan will help you keep focused on the process. Without a plan, you'll struggle to realize sales and therefore your business will suffer. Keeping your focus on the process and tackling each step will keep the momentum going and the sales coming in.

Client Retention

Now you've acquired clients - congratulations! So, how do you keep them? Too often salespeople and business owners are so focused on the acquisition process that they fail to nurture the clients they already have. Keeping current clients is far less costly than gaining new ones so there is real value in retention.

Having said that, it can be hard to put your energy here when you think you should be working on gaining more clients. That's where planning comes in. Take some time to consider and establish a clear, workable system for nurturing your client relationships. Once that system is in place - stick to it!

When you are clear about where you want to go and how you are going to get there, it becomes much easier to proceed. Planning provides you with the road map and the directions. The most successful businesses are the ones where the people have taken the time to periscope down and think about, investigate, and create the processes necessary to move ahead. Take the time to work with the details at the beginning. It will free you up to be able to effectively head down your road toward success.

Staying Committed

We've all been there. . . that perfect moment in the business life of a sales professional when we've made the sale and turned that prospect into a client. It feels good. We've done our job well. But maybe something seems a little off.

This feeling is something to pay attention to. Commitment is a tricky thing, a loaded word with connotations of "being stuck" and these days it seems many people are terrified of commitment in all arenas.

What should you be watching out for? When a person gives you a commitment the biggest thing to look for is, are they congruent. Is the person hemming and hawing? Do they say things like, "I can probably swing that." The word 'probably' is a dead giveaway. So is the word 'try'. If someone's trying to buy or make a commitment, they're not actually buying or making a commitment.

Were they really congruent when they gave you the 'yes' answer? Or were they less than specific? "Yeah, I reckon so," they might say. Well, 'reckon so' doesn't mean they fully agree to it necessarily.

You might be able to hear it tone of their voice (which is a hard one to describe in writing, but you know . . . they stop and start and um and uh). Does their tone, when they agree, make you feel that they are really not committed?

You need to really evaluate if you've gotten a commitment from somebody, are they congruent? Do they mean it? If you spot any of the things like I just mentioned, the wisest thing to do is to stop and find out what the issue is. It's easier to fix an objection or a problem right then than it will be later on when you gloss over it (and letting the little nagging doubt grow into something larger) and just assuming or trying to convince yourself, well they must have been telling me the truth. After all, all prospects tell the truth, right? Just like all sales people do.

The thing is, we are truth tellers. We tell the truth for all the obvious reasons, not the least of which is, that we want our unconscious mind to believe us.

It's really important if you see any issues of congruency that you stop and say, "Listen, you know, you told me this answer but I'm just wondering if there's anything else going on there that we need to explore." And then at that point, you'll be able to deal with it and it won't become a festering sore that will eventually erupt and lose you the deal.

Baby Steps With Commitment

None of us start out knowing how to crawl, walk, talk, chew, understand language, read or control our bladders. . . but we all learned (hopefully) and we all learned one step at a time. We learned to communicate, we learned to be mobile, we learned to send e-mails, we learned to cook microwave popcorn. . . there's no end to what we've learned in our years on this planet.

And it all started out with baby steps.

The good news is, we continue to learn. We can learn anything that we set our minds to. By parsing anything into small chunks, we can do absolutely anything -- learning a new language (which, incidentally, is something that I'm experiencing at my ripe age and through techniques such as the light and sound machine where I achieve the brainwaves associated with early childhood, I'm excelling in Spanish at an incredible rate), learning a musical instrument, learning a computer program, even learning how to have total congruity and living honestly with ourselves and everyone around us.

Here's what I want you to do. Pick something that you can absolutely be 100 percent in control of and commit to doing it. Let me give you an example. Let's say today, and this is one I like because I can be in control of doing it, I'm going to go out at 3:00 today to the mailbox. So let's say that 3:00 is 10 minutes away from now. I'm going to go check the mailbox and come back. No matter what, I'm going to keep that commitment to myself.

You can do that, can't you?

Here's another one: Tell yourself you're going to go home from work today on a particular route. Let's say it's slightly different than normal, and then force yourself, be vigilant and alert because your normal reflexes will take over and you'll do it the same way you always did unless you pay close attention.
Or maybe you decide you're going to clean up your desk by 5:00 o'clock. Then at 5:00 o'clock, you simply clean your desk. Do it.

I don't care how little it is, but whatever it is, pick something little and do it.

Then when you want to go a little further, extend the time frame. Tell yourself, I'm going to check the mail today at 4:00, so that's three hours from now. The key is that you do not allow anything, no matter what, to get in your way of doing what you committed to do.

The next extension is to enlarge the magnitude of the task. Maybe it is something you don't really want to do -- yard work, exercise, or making an appointment for the dentist -- once you've established within yourself that you can go get the mail, you will be primed to conquer the larger tasks.

What you might find in doing this exercise is that you make all kinds of commitments to yourself and others that you have no intention of keeping. Is it any wonder you're not getting ahead faster than you are right now?

Again, to see how fast you are or are not getting ahead, look into your environment because that will show you really quickly how powerful your will is.

Increase Sales by 25 Percent

All sales people need to have a monthly sales goal for themselves. They also need to know how they arrived at that specific goal. Many times, these goals are based upon their past sales performance, but past results may not be indicative of performance.

You can increase your sales by 25 percent or more. Identify what causes mental barriers that produce limited results and how to overcome them. Many barriers are caused by conditioning, circumstance and emotions. Many people associate money with the following phrases: "Do you think money is grown on trees?" "Do you think we are rich?" "You can't afford that." "Money is the root of all evil." This is why many people have limited and negative beliefs about money.

Examples of the three limiting factors are:

Conditioning.

The US is the richest country in the world. Money is printed every day here. So in reality, what's the difference between it growing on trees or on a printing press?

Circumstance.

All people have negative experiences and setbacks in their lives, these experiences can lead you to let circumstances limit your beliefs about success or money. When you anchor your future to the past, that's exactly what you get. History is meant to be a rudder not an anchor.

Emotions.

Emotions are some of the most powerful sources of energy in nature. Negative emotions are also caused when your conscious mind and subconscious are in conflict with one another. Example: If you set a goal to lose five pounds, it is done in your conscious mind. If later that day, you walk by a bakery and smell cookies and walk in and eat a half-dozen, that action was controlled by your subconscious mind. Can you see the conflict? Your subconscious reacts to information and emotions given to it without regard to your goals. If not properly directed, negative emotions limit actions, habits and results. If rejection dominates your emotions, you have lost the war before the battles began.

What you can do to explode your results. First of all, you must change your questions. Your life and your results are a direct reflection of the questions you ask yourself. Don't ask what you want based upon what you have or what you have done. Ask bigger and better questions. Many trainers who teach goal setting say to make your goals believable. All goals are simply choice. You can make almost any goal believable if you change your questions.

Use this exercise to help you get your conscious and subconscious mind going in the same direction. Write down your goal in a positive present tense paragraph without any limiting beliefs.

Example: I am happily and easily selling 20 cars or more a month without struggle or conflict. My sales and other resources are creating an abundance of money for my family and me.

It's easy to dismiss exercises like this. However, one trait found among massively successful people is their open-mindedness in pursuit of success. Skeptics rarely are successful, let alone happy people. Ask yourself, "What have I got to lose?"

Three things determine your path in life: philosophy, free will and choice. Your own personal philosophy is determined by your questions. Everything is determined by your free will and choice. Ask the right question, and they will lead to the right thoughts. Have the right thoughts, and they will create the right emotions. Feel the right emotions, and they will lead to the right actions. Take the right actions, and they will create the right habits. Having the right habits will create the right results. Your results will form your destiny, and yes, you can increase your sales by 25 percent or more.

You Must Like Your Customer Types If You Are in Sales

If you are in sales, you have to like the types of customers you will be doing business with on a regular basis. This sounds easy enough, but many people who get into sales do not realize the types of customers or prospects they will need to forge relationships with to steady their ship towards a path of success.

I'll explain further. If you enjoy wearing a suit and tie, an industrial sales job will be a poor fit for you (unless you enjoy having to buy suits on a regular basis). If you have a general dislike for doctors and nurses, how in the world will you be able to forge relationships with them? If you don't like dealing with the general public, why in the world would you go into retail sales? If cars don't excite you, how are you going to be able to excite a prospect that shows up on the lot?

Many of your customers should be people that you can be friends with outside of work. Building these types of relationships can take your sales to a whole new level. Friends will always readily help with referrals that turn into new business, and everyone enjoys helping someone they like succeed.

Remember, no amount of money will make you happy if you are continually having to deal with a group of people you don't enjoy being around. Before you accept that next sales position that comes along, think hard about whether or not you will enjoy being around the types of customers for that particular industry.