Sales & Marketing Consultant, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

Before you can sell a product or service you must be familiar with what is known as the product life cycle. The product life cycle has four very distinct stages:

1. The introduction stage – in which the product is branded, priced, promoted, and distributed.
2. The growth stage – in which the product quality is enhanced, pricing is adjusted or maintained, distribution increases, and promotional tactics are fine tuned.
3. The maturity stage – in which the product is altered to make it differ from competitors, pricing is often lowered to compete, distribution is enhanced with incentives, and promotional campaigns are altered to address competition.
4. The decline stage – in which you continue to enhance or rejuvenate your product, lower the cost of the product in order to keep sales moving, or eventually discontinue the product or sell it off.

No product lasts forever without change so it is important to not only understand this process but recognize when it is time to admit you have moved into the next stage and/or when the product has lived a full life and needs to be retired in favor of a new one.

Remember to ask yourself the following questions:

• Is it time for us to focus on the next stage of the product life cycle?
• Can we estimate how long the next stage will last?
• Is there any way to make this stage last longer?
• Are we prepared for the challenges the next stage will present to us?

Success in sales means being prepared to take on any challenges you find yourself faced with. If your product isn’t selling, you need to be ready to make changes to either the product itself or the way it is presented to the public. Most important, and most difficult, is admitting when it’s simply time to move on.

Are you prepared to move on to the next stage of the cycle or, if necessary, a new product?

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

Now that you know when to call a prospect, I encourage you to take a step back and evaluate your situation before picking up the phone. Do you know who you are going to call?

I’m sure you have some sort of contact in mind. If you’ve never spoken to anyone in that particular office before you’re going to have to make a decision and, in many cases, we feel as though asking for the office or sales manager is most appropriate.

It was, at one point, but may not be as much today.

The problem? The way the economy has shifted has significantly changed the way most businesses are operating. The person who was at one point making business purchase decisions may have lost that power – not due to lack of skill, but because the top CEOs are more closely monitoring where their money goes.

It’s often intimidating for a new salesman to pick up the phone and call a corporation’s CEO. It’s easier to call the guy you can relate to more. Today, however, staying within your comfort zone isn’t going to get you as far as it might have in the past.

You’re simply going to have to get over your fears (or your ego) and call the guy closer to the top of the corporate ladder. He’ll either hear you out because he is now in charge or he (or his secretary or receptionist) will refer you to the person you should be speaking to.

Start too low on the corporate totem pole and you may not experience the same courtesy when it comes to having your call flow upward in the organisation.

Use the people you know lower in the organisation to obtain information and learn about the person you’re going to call. Save the spectacular sales pitch for the person in charge of making decisions!

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

Here’s a quick sales tip to get you started this week.

We’ve discussed the best time of day to call prospects in the past. Usually if you call early in the day you have a better chance of getting the person you really want to speak to on the phone.

But what if you can’t call first thing in the morning?

No matter what time of day you’re making your calls, remember this – call them at the bottom of the hour.

What?! Why?!

Because almost everyone schedules their meetings and appointments on the hour, every hour. It’s human nature. With this in mind, it’s pretty safe to say that the average person will be in his or her office during the bottom half of the hour, either catching up on missed work or preparing for the next meeting.

Busy businesspersons don’t always have 1-2 hour long meetings. They often have brief meetings throughout the day, so the odds of you catching him or her are greater during these times. There will, of course, be times when you call and they’re still in another meeting, and that’s OK. Just try again later on.

Of course, this can work the other way around as well. If you have bad news, call when you think your prospect or client is going to be in a meeting and you will buy yourself some time before you have to deliver that news!

Take alook at your marketing list? Is there anyone you really want/need to reach? Try this theory out for yourself and see how it goes!

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

There are hundreds – no, thousands – of people roaming the streets today and calling themselves salesmen. The problem is that not all of them are successful and, to be honest, I really think there are some defining factors that make it easy to tell the difference between a “salesman” and an incredible “sales professional.”

So how can you tell an amateur from a professional? It’s simple:

• A professional has a clear objective and knows what outcome he wishes to achieve. He isn’t guessing and changing his mind merely because he is unsure.
• A professional is educated and has a proven method for success.
• True sales professionals are always well prepared for any situation. He can adapt his presentation at a moments notice and still achieve his goals.
• Professionals always carry the equipment and information they need to do their jobs. This is as simple as having a business card on hand to as complex as having a formal proposal or presentation prepared on time.
• Professionals know exactly what they need to do in order to impress their clients. They’ve done research and can effectively modify their presentations.
• A sales professional has the ability to determine who he needs to talk to and at what point he should see that person in order to gain optimal results.
• Last but not least, a sales professional always dresses the part and is NEVER late to an appointment.

Do you display all of these attributes? If not, what do you need to change in order to become a more professional salesperson?

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker