Sales & Marketing Consultant, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

Losing focus happens to us all. The field of sales and marketing is fast paced. With the benefit of being on social media networks, networking in person, contacting new leads and following up with current customers can quickly become overwhelming. There are times that a whole week will fly by and you have been caught up in everything but your overall objective. With all of these moving parts, how can you stay focused?

Make A List
Do you have a list of the specific goals that you want to accomplish in a certain amount of time? If you have clear cut objectives for the month, the quarter or the year, you need to have those written down. Keep this list of goals in a place that is easily accessible. For some, it’s a hand written note. For others, this list is kept online for easy access. Regardless of how you keep track of your goals, keep them written down. This allows you to reflect on the goals that you have achieved. This also allows you to evaluate what strategies and methods are working and which ones need to be changed up to see optimal results. Make a list and check it twice.

Keep A Tight Schedule
It is impossible to keep your schedule or calendar organized in your mind. If you are depending on your memory alone to keep your details straight, you can guarantee that things will slip through the cracks. Therefore, you must have a system for your schedule. Google calendar is a great way to keep track of everything on your daily to-do list. Google calendar also sends you a reminder to let you know when an appointment or deadline is approaching. If you prefer to keep your calendar in a hard copy format, make sure the system works for you. Before you call it a day, make a note of the first few things that are on your agenda for the next day. This will mentally prepare you for the day, giving your brain a chance to get a jump start on being focused and productive.

Third Party Objective
When we are immersed in our business, our viewpoint becomes similar to that of being in a fishbowl. We don’t always see things in an objective manner. By asking someone outside of our business to give us their observations, we are given a well-rounded view of our business. This shows us what is working and what is not working. We may not see our marketing efforts as being too aggressive, but an outside view may show that we are being too aggressive. This is a great way to see your business as a whole.

Maintaining focus is critical for all sales professionals. By keeping a list of our goals/objectives, having a great calendar system and getting outside observations, we will be able to remain focused.

Happy Marketing!
Sean
(Image Creative Commons)
Sean McPheat
Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Have you told yourself that you must be humble in order to be a great sales professional? It is important to show your authentic self and to be honest, but all too often in our attempt to be transparent we neglect to show off our achievements. You have worked hard to achieve success and there is nothing wrong with bragging, as long as you keep your feet on the ground. How can you brag about your business and your achievements without appearing as if you have a large ego to your audience?

Give Credit
Have you written an article or a blog post that was featured on a prominent blog or website? Being featured on respected outlets is a great reason to let your customers know that you were given that honor. You want to be thought of as the authority and the expert in your field. Nothing validates your statement of being an expert more than being respected by blogs and websites that are considered great resources in your industry. When you are published online, take the time to let your customers know by posting links to your article or blog via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. They do not want to search to read what you have written, so make it easy for them to find.

Testimonials
Asking satisfied customers to provide a testimonial is a must. You may find it intrusive to ask them to give a testimony but the majority of satisfied customers will gladly take a few minutes to provide positive feedback for your business. You should have these testimonies on your website. Potential customers will have an easier time trust your business if they see that prior customers have been happy with your work.

Awards
Have you won awards of received acclaim, either due to professional or personal achievements? If you have been given an award of achieved special accolades, you will want to have those on your website as well. Most industries have some form of achievement that one can be awarded. It is a good idea to see what awards exist in your niche business and strive to win them.

Showing off your achievements is a good form of bragging. You are showing your current customers and your potential customers that you are taken seriously in your field. You should not hesitate to broadcast when your content has been published on well -respected sites. Your customers can’t read what you have written if they don’t know where to look. The same applies to any awards and testimonies you have received. If you want to be taken seriously as an expert in your field, it is in your best interest to acquire these elements and have them visible on your website.

Happy Marketing!
Sean
(Image Creative Commons)
Sean McPheat
Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert – Motivational Speaker

Some of us have been in the sales business long enough to remember having our leads and contacts listed in a Rolodex that sat on our desks. While the Rolodex has evolved into an online address book or the address book on our smartphone, the idea behind how to leverage your Rolodex remains the same. We invest a great deal of time and energy into obtaining contacts information. We have their phone numbers, their email addresses; their Twitter handles and are friends with them on Facebook. We may have all of this valuable information, but how many of us let our hard earned list sit and collect dust? We need to leverage our contacts and here are a few ways to do just that.

Organize Your List
Sales professionals can have hundreds or even thousands of leads and contacts on their list. If these leads are not organized in some fashion, these leads will be of little use. When you are networking, online and offline, have some type of system when you enter in their information. A great way to organize is to have specific subjects and place the leads in the appropriate section. Keep your sales leads separate from your possible joint venture contacts. Keep a list of current customers under one heading and keep a list of individuals your current customers referred to you under a different topic. Sometimes it helps to have your contact list entered into a spreadsheet. This allows you to move your contacts around, find your contacts easily and keep track of any notes that pertain to a specific individual. Organizing your leads will save you a great deal of time.

Start Contacting People
The main function of a list of contacts and leads is to actually pick up the phone or click ‘compose email’ and start a conversation. Business rapport and relationships do not happen overnight. Reach out to your list and begin engaging. This could mean that you utilizing email marketing or that you are following up on potential sales. Find out where your list members spend their time and take the time to get to know them. As you continue to build your rapport with your list of leads, you will quickly determine who should stay on your list and who should be removed. This is a great way to narrow down your contacts to those that you can build a great business relationship with.

Track Your List
This goes hand-in-hand with organizing your list. You should keep very detailed notes on each conversation and interaction that you have with the members of your list. If you reached out to them via a phone call, make a note in your spreadsheet indicating the date and the gist of the conversation. If Jane Smith is interested in a joint venture, make note of this so that you can get in touch and see if this would be a successful venture.

Your contact list can be your lifeline. Take the time to organize and start engaging with the contacts and leads on your list.

Happy Marketing!
Sean
(Image Creative Commons)
Sean McPheat
Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert – Motivational Speaker

We are in the business of marketing and sales. In this business, we work very hard to attract the ideal client, have this client purchase products and/or services and have this client be satisfied with their purchase. We invest a great deal of time in learning the right sales techniques, discovering what marketing strategies are optimal and utilizing every skill set we have to bring in a constant stream of new customers. One area where many marketing and sales professionals do not devote a lot of time to is the area of repeat business. You have invested so much energy into getting that sale, isn’t it worth the time and energy to maintain that client for years to come? Repeat business is directly related to your style of follow-up. Here are a few ways to provide flawless follow-up.

Be Committed
You should be extremely committed to your current clients. They have invested their money and trust in you. By continuing to provide great service, you are showing them that you care about them as a person, not just as a paycheck. Being committed is a key part of the follow-up process. You will know right away if they are unhappy with their product or if they are beyond thrilled with their purchase. Either way, you are investing time in building a relationship with your client. By taking this time and investing this energy, you will reap positive results. Your client will continue to purchase goods and services from you and they will refer you to new clients.

Offer Incentives
Everyone likes to get a great deal or a kick-back for their investment. Customers like to feel valued and one of the easiest ways to accomplish this is by offering exclusive incentives to your current customer base. You can keep these incentives simple. For example, 10% off their next purchase with you or offering something for free if they refer a new customer to you are popular ways of achieving this. You don’t want to make the incentive seem like a gimmick. Show your customers respect by offering them exclusivity and quality as a thank-you for their support.

Communication
Communication is important in all aspects of sales and marketing. Make it a priority to be honest with all of your communication. If your customers are unhappy with something, fix it. If your customers are referring people to you, reward them. Take the time to get to know who your customers are and value them as individuals. Remember things like their birthdays and their anniversaries. Take a pro-active approach and send them cards on these important days, and on special holidays. You will find that many of your customers will become lifelong repeat customers if you treat them well.

Sales and marketing all come down to building a relationship with your customers. When you build a good relationship and value each customer you have, you will find that many more are waiting in line to do business with you.

Happy Marketing!
Sean
(Image Creative Commons)
Sean McPheat
Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert – Motivational Speaker