Top Secrets Of Promotional Products Sales

When I think in terms of building a client base proactively, to me, that means deciding in advance, what type of clients do I want? What types of clients do I not want? And then really going about putting together the processes and strategies that are necessary to attract exactly that type of customer. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the topic of growing your client base proactively. Welcome, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you for having me on. I'm super excited about today's topic. David: It's great to have you here. Jay: Yeah. And I know this is a big question for businesses. I've heard the phrase. "If you're not growing, you're dying" So growth is a constant thing that you have to be thinking about. How do you do that proactively? Overcoming the Day to Day David: It's a great question because so often we get caught up in the day-to-day of what's going on. Particularly in the early stages of a business, when you don't have as much business as you need

When people think about becoming an entrepreneur, they're not thinking about working 24 hours a day. They're thinking about getting to some point where there is quality of life. "Be my own boss. Decide what I want to do." But how many entrepreneurs ever get there? And what does that have to do with breaking free? David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the topic of Breaking Free of Your Business. Welcome, Jay. Jay: Wow, it's good to be here. Welcome. Thank you. David: So we've been talking about this topic now for a few weeks. And I was wondering, what are your thoughts when you think of that as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, as it relates to entrepreneurs, business owners and salespeople? What's your initial thought that comes to mind when you hear a topic like that? What Does Breaking Free Mean to You? Jay: Well, it's funny. I think most entrepreneurs aren't thinking of breaking free of their business. I think it's exactly the opposite. I'm go

Last week I mentioned that we're addressing the topic of Breaking Free of Your Business in our Inner Circle group. And a question came up about how solopreneurs can start to make this happen, or even if they should. The quick answer to how sole proprietors delegate is entirely dependent upon the type of business you want to build. Hi and welcome back, in our recent discussions about how to break free of your business a question came up about how this topic applies to you if you're a sole proprietorship or one-person business. Over the years I've had people tell me that as a solo practitioner, they can't afford to hire anyone. Recently, that idea has picked up a lot of traction based on the fact that people feel that it's difficult, if not impossible, to hire people. If you watch the news for any length of time -- which I strongly recommend you do not do -- you'll hear stories about businesses struggling to find people willing to come to work. And while that may be true for many people, it is not true of

Michael Gerber and David Blaise speaking at The ASI Show (many years ago!) One of my earliest business mentors, Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited and other business classics told me that "many people leave their jobs because they're tired of working for a jerk. Then they start their own businesses and end up working for a maniac!" This is so true. No other person on earth could force us to put in the time, energy and effort required to build and sustain a successful business. No one else could force us to give up a steady paycheck, work unreasonably long hours, and deal with the unpredictable income associated with most small business startups. If anyone else tried to do that to us, it would be illegal! But those of us who choose it, do so willingly. And we often start at a point where we lack both the knowledge and the skills necessary to do it successfully. The scenario is similar for commission salespeople. We eat what we kill. So if we kill nothing this week, we don't eat. And many of the

There are many decisions you will need to make when building your business. But your biggest business decision is often how you plan to grow your sales and profits. Today, business growth expert David Blaise explores the options and their pros and cons. Whenever I ask, "What is the biggest business decision you need to make when getting started?" I get a lot of answers: Some say "Which customers to target." Others say "Whether to register as a corporation, sole proprietorship or LLC." Still others say "Where to locate my business." All valid. All important decisions. But from my standpoint, not nearly the most important. To Me, The Biggest Business Decision We Need to Make Upfront is How We Plan to Grow Our Sales and Profits. Because without a solid answer to that, the rest of it has very little value. The decision on how to grow our sales and profits is an intensely personal one. Because we each have our own strengths, weaknesses and preferences. Some of us are great at direct, one-on-one sales: Kic

We get a lot of comments and questions from people asking "how can I get it all done?" There seems to be so much that has to be completed on a given day. We have to follow up with clients, put together quotes, get pricing together, bring new clients through the door. Many people say they rarely have time for that type of thing. But more is never the solution to too much. So we need to leverage prime thinking time & prime selling time. So what are some tips for planning your work to accomplish more each day? Here's an important consideration. If this is something you're struggling with, don't just ask "how can I get it all done?" Instead, it's more important to ask "how much of this needs to be done at all?" So the first question I recommend you ask yourself is "can I reduce the number of activities that I'm engaged in?" Can I reduce the number of things that I need to do on a daily basis? Because the answer to having too much to do is not to add more stuff. More is never the answer to too much. I know th

There is a huge disconnect in business today -- one that wastes enormous amounts of time and causes salespeople and business owners to miss out on enormous opportunities. While it's common in many businesses, it's rampant, even among those who might be great at everything from social media, to content marketing to traditional selling. It's the disconnect between digital and physical, between content and conversion, between social media and your sales funnel. Over the years, one of the biggest disconnects in business that I've been complaining about is the disconnect between marketing and sales. In many organizations, marketing makes promises that sales struggles to keep. And sales says things that are completely inconsistent with marketing. Sales complains about marketing and marketing complains about sales, because there is very often little communication between the two departments. That is not the disconnect I'm talking about today, but it's pretty similar! Today, it seems to me the biggest disconnecti

Ready to Dominate Your Market? Read or listen to the blog/podcast below, then enter your questions in the box at the bottom of this page. Visit any city in the world and you will find a slew of businesses and salespeople, each virtually indistinguishable from the next. Same approach, same products, same pitch -- dull as dishwater! If you don’t want this to be you, you better figure out how you’re going to differentiate yourself quickly and dominate your market! So let's talk today about one of my favorite topics: Total Market Domination. That sounds like it would be tough to accomplish, doesn't it? But it’s really not as difficult as it seems, primarily because of the apathy, lack of knowledge and laziness of much of your competition! The fact is, many businesses are just so busy simply trying to stay alive, it never even occurs to them to try to dominate their markets. Of course, there are exceptions. I know that, because many of my clients ARE the exceptions. But here's the thing... If market dominati

If you don't hit the sales goals set by either you or your employer, that's a problem. In this podcast, business growth expert David Blaise explains why. If you're just starting out and you're not yet hitting your sales and profit goals, maybe you're lucky. Maybe it's just a timing thing and eventually, you will. But if you've been in the industry for any length of time and you're STILL not hitting your desired levels of sales and profit, that indicates a real problem. In fact, it indicates a problem that time is unlikely to fix. Because as the saying goes, if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting. Let's look at the reasons we set sales goals in the first place. Very often, businesses set at least minimal goals for their salespeople. They know how much the salesperson needs to generate in order to just pay for himself or herself. And that's before they're ever profitable to the company. Some companies are more patient than others. But let's face it, when salespeople ca

Tired of having your presentations derailed? In this podcast, business growth expert David Blaise reveals his simple, three-step RPR method to regain control of the sales process. As salespeople, we all know that if we want to be effective, we need to maintain control of the sales process.  We also know that generally speaking, whoever is asking the questions, controls the conversation. But the way we do that -- the way we ask questions and maintain control of the conversation and the selling process is also important. We can't always just flip things around on our prospects and expect them to sit still for it. Back in the early days of sales training, many people were taught to answer customer questions with questions. Some people still subscribe to that philosophy. So if the prospect said, "Does it come in green?" you might respond, "Would you like it in green?" If the prospect asks "How much for your mugs?" you might respond, "What's your budget?" To me, this is downright painful. If you're dealin

Is it really true that in business, everyone is replaceable? In this podcast, business growth expert David Blaise discusses this uncomfortable truth. Today, I'd like to call your attention to an uncomfortable truth. In business, everyone is replaceable. The person in your organization you think is replaceable? Replaceable. The person that person thinks is replaceable? Replaceable. The people in your organization you think are not replaceable? Replaceable. You, Me, All of Us. We're all Replaceable. The reason I tell you this is not to make you feel sad or hurt or inconsequential or unspecial or irrelevant. In fact, quite the opposite, because, while we're all replaceable, some are harder to replace than others, and I believe it should be the goal of each and every employee to work to become as hard to replace as possible, because the easier we are to replace, the more likely and the more quickly it is to happen. I'm sure there was a time when people thought John D Rockefeller, Henry Ford and JP Getty were

Some people have trouble achieving because they’ve never really outlined their goals and when you fail to define what you want, it’s nearly impossible to get it. But maybe you have outlined your goals, you know exactly what you want, you’ve written it down like a good goal setter and you review it regularly. If […] The post Goal Setting vs. Goal Achievement first appeared on Top Secrets.

Happy St.Patrick’s Day! This morning, I woke up, jumped on the treadmill and thought about the story of how St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. And it made me think, “what are the snakes in your life?” What are the snakes in your business? What are the mental snakes? The physical snakes and […] The post Driving the Snakes Out on St. Patrick’s Day first appeared on Top Secrets.

How are you at selling remotely? Are you okay with the idea of selling less in person and selling more via phone, email, and text? And if not, what’s that likely to do to your income? David: Hi and welcome to the podcast today cohost Chris Templeton and I will be talking about using phone, […] The post How are You at Selling Remotely? first appeared on Top Secrets.

Many businesses can start out and plod along for years without making any serious inroads in their marketing. But those who want to grow more quickly, need to take a different approach. For years, I’ve been training my clients on a strategy I’d like to share with you today. It’s about moving from stealth mode […] The post From Stealth Mode to Intimidation Mode first appeared on Top Secrets.

A lot of sales training focuses on the idea of maintaining control of the sales process: Directing attention, leading the conversation, deferring questions about price until the end. Essentially it’s about getting clients to go along with your agenda rather than following their own. Is that realistic? David:                   Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, […] The post Maintaining Control of the Sales Process first appeared on Top Secrets.

It would be great if we were able to close every prospect we ever targeted, but that’s just ridiculously unrealistic. So how many prospects should we have in our pipeline? And how many do you have in there right now? David:                   Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, cohost Chris Templeton, and I will be […]

Everyone knows that it’s generally easier to sell to your existing customer base than it is to sell to new clients. Still many salespeople and business owners focus a lot of attention on getting new clients. But what are some of the best ways to earn more from your existing customer list? David:                   Hi, and […]

Most value-based businesses hate the idea of price-cutters — those who go into a market, offering a low price (often for an inferior product,) while pretending it’s all the same. But price-cutters have always existed and there’s always been a market for them. So what place do price-cutters really fill in the current economy? David:                   […]

David:                   In our last podcast, we talked about how adversity reveals a client’s true colors. This week. I’d like to take it a step further and explore the idea of rebooting your customer base. With everything that’s happened in business over the past few months, it may be the perfect time to do it. Hi […]