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I sure am ready for Spring!

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Copy the list. Hang it by your phone. Leave copies where you’ll see them often. Carry out these actions. Your sales manager will thank you. Your checkbook will thank you.

1. Establish a give-and-take relationship.
2. Sell. Don’t tell.
3. Stress features – benefits – differences.
4. Act. Don’t react.
5. Ask open-ended questions.
6. Keep “SO WHAT?” in mind.
7. Be interested.
8. Ask for referrals.
9. Cement the sale.

1. Establish a give-and-take (Quid-Pro-Quo) relationship
Selling is about relationships and every successful relationship, regardless of its nature, must have a give-and-take aspect to it.

2. Sell. Don’t tell.
Stay on track and in control by demonstrating only what the prospect needs to see in order to convince him to buy your product.

3. Stress features – benefits – differences.
These statements simply point out a feature of your product, service, or company, and explain the benefit of the feature as it relates to the prospect’s personal or business situation. Simply point out the differences and explain why, based on all the information you’ve gotten from the prospect, your solution is different and offers a better alternative.

4. Act. Don’t react.
One of the keys of Quid-Pro-Quo Selling is staying in control of the prospect throughout the sales cycle. This means you should act, not react.

5. Ask open-ended questions.
If you’re having trouble getting your prospects to open up and talk with you, then you’re not asking enough good, open-ended questions.

6. Keep “SO WHAT?” in mind.
Picture “So what?” written across everyone’s forehead. The point is, prospects are always asking, “So what?” They want to know what your product or service will do for them.

7. Be enthusiastic.
You’ve got to be enthusiastic about what you’re doing. If you don’t look happy and enthusiastic, you probably don’t sound it either.

8. Be interested.
It’s one thing to act interested; it’s something entirely different to actually be interested. Even if you are in a business-to-business market place, you need to sell at the personal level.

9. Ask for referrals.
The best way to get referrals is to ask for them.  Ask after every call. Every one knows someone, and that someone needs to know you!

10. Cement the sale.
Cementing the sale is done by reviewing with the prospect all the reasons he’s buying your product.  By cementing every sale, you’ll be going a long way to eliminate buyer’s remorse, which affects most buyers.

I consider the critics to be from two camps. There are the official, professional sort of critics and then there are the critics like you and me. The ordinary, regular movie-going and watching public.

This critic (Brenda) enjoyed the new Alice in Wonderland movie but decided it was not the best-ever movie and would not make her list of favorite movies. Many of the critics gave this movie marks ranging from 2.5 to 3.5. However, if you want to see what many of them had to say and what else I had to say including what I rated this movie, you can visit my new page, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland Movie Review. On that page, you will find information about whether or not this Alice in Wonderland movie is suitable for your children.

I would like to take this opportunity, too, to let you know that if you are a movie fan, you can follow my movie ramblings or reviews at my new blog, Music and Movie Treasures By Brenda. I’d love to have you follow me and, if you are really interested in movie reviews, you can even subscribe to my posts via e-mail.

Brenda

Quick Links:

Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland Movie Review
Music and Movie Treasures By Brenda
Top-Rated Movie Recommendations: My Favorite Movie List On Blu-ray and DVD

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Come join the fun in Pendleton on March 28. Check out our website for more information and great photos from previous years at aaaaPendleton Easter Event

Posted via web from ohme’s posterous

Along with that, and still in my backyard fun and outdoor toys theme, I did a lens on the Peg Perego John Deere pedal tractor. Also adorable, but less something I would have wanted when I was a kid. Wasn’t really into the farming thing. Now, if they had had a blue convertible like Nancy Drew, we would have been getting somewhere. These days, they have almost everything else, so why not!

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I love the Southern Magnolia Tree and enjoyed writing about it and showing my many magnolia photos and products.

I was so thrilled that Holley reviewed this lens for the Squidoo Lens Review
http://blog.growwear.com/moved-by-a-magnolia

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I’ve decided that I need to play some catch up over then next 7 or 8 days. Then I need to set 15-20 minutes aside for social site participation each day and maybe a few hours a week for article writing.  I’m ahead of schedule on my goals related to Squidoo and Hubpages so I can afford to do this. Now I just need to stick to my schedule. My work will be for naught if I create it but fail to promote it at all.

We had this month’s Squidoo payday this week. I was pleased. Things were much, much better than I anticipated with it being the post holiday slump period that I typically experience this time of year. 

Since my last blog I created two lenses. One on travel scanners.  I would think that there is a rather specific, but limited market for these.  But what’s really nice is that they do a pretty good job as compared to full sized flat bed scanners and therefore, they can be a good and affordable option even in an office where you have limited space.

The other was about outdoor WiFi antennas. They’re great of course if you have multiple buildings and want to get a WiFi signal to them from just one access point, but they’re also great for those times when you take a “working vacation” and want access when you’re on the beach, in the camper or RV, and so forth.  I, of course, would never do this…but I’ve heard of people who do!

My final creation was a Hub about glass measuring cups.

I am increasingly intrigued to look at results between Squidoo and Hubpages in few months. Squidoo gives me the thrill of a big payday in one lump sum at the end of the month. Hubpages is more subtle. You never see that one big payout. You see it trickle in through AdSense, Amazon sales, Kontera, etc.

Posted via web from Thoughts and Things

I have too many lenses in WIP and I am tempted to simply delete them all and start over. Many of these WIP’s have quite a bit of work done, but not enough for me to feel comfortable publishing. I’m trying to get over that and just publish after creating a few modules and then update over the next few weeks. If I manage to do this I’ll have an awful lot of lenses published by the end of this month, but not really quality lenses.

So the dilemma is there. Just publish and update later, or keep a lot of WIP lenses until I feel comfortable? My Amy Tan and Very Hungry Caterpillar lenses were quickly done, maybe I should keep doing it that way, especially since my time online is getting more and more limited.

Again not sure how I got there. My brain makes weird jumps and I’m always snooping around in odd places just to see what my keyword tool tells me about that market. But I got into some things from my childhood and discovered some options worth chasing around Nancy Drew books and Hardy Boys books. Really. Totally surprised me because you’d think there was already enough competition out there for those topics, but there actually were some holes. Finally got these out of WIP this past weekend and had a lovely trip down memory lane as I hunted down what’s on offer these days. Gotta get me some Nancy Drew graphic novels, me thinks!

m4 m16 airsoft replica gun

utg shadow ops sniper rifle

I say lensmaster but these people have no lenses published, have rated none and have favourited none.

However, it’s annoying! Especially when the traffic to my lenses have not recovered since Squidoo had that down time.

After a lot of work I finally managed to hit the 4,000 visitor mark but then Squidoo went down and now I’m struggling to get past the 3, 500 mark.

I’ve been expanding my internet profiles and have now decided to do more with my Orkut profile. So, if you have a profile on there please do add me as your friend!

Usually Squidoo is very quick in sending earnings to Paypal but this time there seems to be a wait. I’m hoping that there is no problems!

This payout is a very welcome Birthday present for me

For now I’ve started making lenses and Hubs that are very specific and in groups of related topics even when they aren’t one of my primary niche areas. For instance, I did one a month or two ago about alarm clocks: projection alarm clocks, vibrating alarm clocks, talking alarm clocks, and so forth. More recently I started a group that focuses on WiFi devices such as  WiFi finders, WiFi USB antennas, etc. and have several others planned.  I seldom do a lens or Hub in isolation. If I do a lens on a park for hiking, invariably I end up doing 15 more on other parks. If I do a lens on caring for the elderly, I end up with 5 or 6 on related topics about caregiving and related information and products.

Then, the goal is to interlink among them and write articles that expand the topics or bring them all together. Then sprinkle them across a variety of publishing sites.  For instance, hiking  is pretty far away from my core niche. However, I have 15-20 Squidoo lenses on the topic. I have some on rail trails, some on specific trails, some on specific state parks, and so forth. I have articles about 10 things to take on a family hike, articles on the best state parks in Indiana, articles on hiking safety.  But I don’t think I’ll be starting a blog about it in the near future just due to the time in keeping it updated.

 The other thing I like about this strategy is that it gets you thinking about more specific keywords. I don’t want to do a lens about WiFi antennas, I want to do one on outdoor WiFi antennas, WiFi USB antennas, long range WiFi antennas, and so forth. This is how people often search, and therefore I’m more likely to get targeted visitors who want to buy, not just random visitors. It also helps me to have things to link together when I’m writing on a topic that isn’t my true niche and I won’t be blogging about it routinely.

Well, that’s just me thinking out loud about what to do with stray topics when building a full link wheel with a regularly updated blog probably isn’t feasible.

Loving someone out there today who bought $1,000 worth of stuff off of a lens. And from one of my affiliates rather than Amazon, so I got a 10% cut. Sweet!

Love to see bumps up in my money column but I wish there was a way for the ones that change to be highlighted in some way. I can’t always tell just what has changed in part because I have so many lenses, but also because so many of them have some kind of money in the column. If there was a simple way to download things, I’d just do that on a daily basis, but no go.

I tracked them down, established a new affiliate relationship and a new lens on LoudMouth golf pants was born. We shall see just how it does and if I can still catch some of the popularity wave from the Olympics with this one. Not holding my breath, but it’s a fairly simple lens that shouldn’t need a lot of updating work over time. So I’m good with low traffic and a few sales.

An important step is for you to learn how to “read” the prospect along the way. By accurately reading the prospect’s attitude, you’ll know when to stop selling and start closing.

Does it look like you can close the deal? Are you ready to close the deal?  If so, start by asking yourself a few questions?

• What Needs Can You Meet?
• Can You Clearly Articulate The Needs Your Prospect Has? More importantly has the prospect articulate them to you?
• Why Would Your Prospect Spend $$$$ for Your Solution at this time? Why didn’t they solve this problem 6 months ago?  What happens if they do not act and have the same issues 6 months form now?
• When Does Prospect Plan To Change Their Habits?  When, why and how?
• Why Are They Buying OR NOT Buying? What are the alternatives?

During Quid Pro Quo Sales Training, we encourage you to use a checklist to track your progress through your strategic selling process. This is helpful if you are working with several prospects at the same time. Here are a few points to check when closing a sale:

• Does the prospect need/desire your product?
• Are the funds to pay available?
• Have you done a presentation?
• Are there any outstanding issues?
• Do you understand their buying motives?
• Have you addressed every objection?
• Do they know the benefits of your product?
• Does the prospect have a sense of urgency?
• Have you created a sense of urgency?
• Have they given you referrals?
• Have you done everything possible to close?

Sometimes no matter what you do, closing the sale can be difficult. Did you ever wonder what some of the “signs” could be on your sales progress?  Here are a few “signs” to look for:

• If you think you are losing a deal, even a little bit, you are!  If you are not hearing little Yes’s along the way, be prepared  for one big “NO” at the end.
• Even though you think you’re in control, it’s important to constantly evaluate your progress. If you feel you’re getting stonewalled anywhere along the way, there’s a good chance you haven’t uncovered the real issues.
• Qualified prospects will tell you what they are thinking, where you stand, what
• their current positions are, and open up to you personally, etc. Obviously the
• better-qualified prospect you have,  the better chance of winning the deal.
• Always continue selling/closing the people that are on the fence. Never accept “No!”

If everything else goes correctly, you finally get to the point where the prospect says he’d like to buy your product or service. This means you’ve won. You’ve been selected.  But do you realize the selling process is not over?  It’s time for contract negotiations.

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Key words: Bob Beck, sales training, sales trainer, customized sales training, solution selling, executive selling, strategic selling, lead generation, sales prospecting, sales force training, sales training program.

I have a parent lens for this set focused on children’s bedding, but am moving into a lot of styles that aren’t child-related. Pondering a new parent lens that could be content heavy and link out to the different styles. Hmmm.

I’m excited about the movie coming out, despite the fact that it’s not even close to the same story as told in the books. Which I loved. Which is why I was interested in doing the lens in the first place. But I feel my lens suffers a little for being more about the movie than the book. Looks like I need to just start a totally different lens just to talk about the book set because they rock. Great for boys. And now I’m off on a book review rather than just telling about a new lens. Focus!!!