6 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO BE A BETTER SALES MAN

No longer viable are the days of selling a one size fits all product or service to customers. If you are still stuck in that kind of mentality, you will be left behind. The market is evolving into needs based selling and customer oriented focused services. However, it is not easy to be a needs based seller that is customer oriented. This requires knowledge, skill and the correct attitude.

In order to become a truly customer oriented salesperson that sells on needs, you need to know what your potential customers are thinking and what you should focus on in order to clinch that deal. Here are 6 questions you need to ask yourself in order to become a customer oriented needs based salesperson:

Question #1 - What are the reasons that your customers are engaging in a conversation with you?

There are three reasons why customers engage in conversations. To create a new status quo, to repel an old status quo and to maintain the present status quo. Find out their purpose of engagement which is one of the reasons stated here and you will be on your way to serve them better.

Question #2 - What is their comfortable budget?

Almost every customer will have a figure in mind even when they tell you they don't. Never buy into those stories as customers are always shopping for the best deals and they will not tell you that so that they can be more flexible in their decision making.

If your product or service is above their budget, you have to justify why the charges are higher and what the customers are actually paying for.

If your product or service is less than their budget, you also have to explain the rationale behind that. Never leave your customers to make perceptions. Chances are they might think that the product or service
rendered is going to be under expectations for the price they are paying for.

If your product or service matches their budget, your customers will lap up your product or service without hesitation, which is the ideal situation that rarely happens.

Question #3 - What level of quality do they desire?

You will be surprised to know that the popular belief of the best quality with the right price will normally move your customer's hearts. In reality, customers do not always go for the best quality even though the price may be justified.

Ask your customers what level of quality they are looking for and match their requirements with your product or service. Always keep in mind that the customer have the final choice, avoid making presumptions that your "best" is theirs.

Question #4 - What is their underlying value tone?

This is often taken note of by sophisticated needs based sales people. They know that the customers have to meet their own value judgment on products and services and will assist them in matching the right product or service with their budget. An easy way to prevent buyer's remorse is to imagine you in their position and see what pros and cons are for purchasing the product or service offered.

Question #5 - What product features and functions are customers looking for?

The easiest way to find that out is to ask your customers directly. Ask them about the features and functions they need and those they can do without. Ask them on how they are going to use your product or service and find the matching fit. We do not like to pay for things we do not need, so do your customers. The focus should always be on satisfying their needs. When they realise the high ethics that you are operating with, chances are you have a loyal customer that will keep returning and also refer new customers to you.

Question #6 - Their preferred mode for payment?

The very last step of the business transaction is the closing. Even though every part of the sales process may precede smoothly but the transaction still fails because your customer's preferred mode of payment and structure is unavailable. The solution is to offer flexible and accommodation payment modes. Try to focus on making it a pleasant and convenient shopping experience for your customers.

The above points are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to needs based selling. The ideal sales process is always to strive for a win-win situation for your customers, organisation and its people. Everyone ends up benefiting and happy, so do your pockets.

Ben is an entrepreneur and also a operations manager in a corporate training company. He has extensive knowledge in the areas of finance and corporate training. He has also started his own online business dealing in multiple areas of trading in the year 2008. In addition, he takes time off to self-improve continuously in order to keep abreast of the latest developments in the economy where knowing where the market leads, is crucial for the survival of every business.

ENTREPRENEUR'S GUIDE TO BECOMING A MILLIONAIRE

HOW TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE- THE STEPS

They are finally out. The steps to become a millionaire are here. You can read them, learn them, know them by heart, apply them in your daily lives and you may soon find out for yourselves how good it is to be one of them.

The good news is that the steps to become a millionaire are available to everyone. Whether you are young or old, or employed or unemployed, or rich or poor, the secrets are available to you. It has been available for decades and yet only a few believed that these could truly let things happen in their lives.

The first step is to have a dream. Do not be afraid to dream a bigger dream, because as they say, you are only as big as your dreams. If you can think it then you can achieve it.

Know yourself, your limitations and abilities. If you are lacking in one aspect you needed to have in order to get to that dream, do something about it. I so much believe in self development. It pays you a lot to learn new skills and equip yourself to be ready for challenges.

Make a plan to overcome that missing part. Learn and find ways to see your dream into the finish line. Research through every resources like this blog site for information/ideas that will help you make a better business plan.

Act on your plan. At least make a start, do it now, plant the seeds of your dream, and keep moving towards it. You must love what you are doing, this is the advice of many successful people. Aim towards excellence. Don't take failure at its face value, use them as a lesson. Develop self-discipline. Never lose sight of the goal, move toward it with persistence.

It may take some years and a lot of hard work but know in your heart that the dream is worth it. Get motivated to be able to fire on in the presence of challenges.

GREAT 10 ENTREPRENEUR'S GUIDE TO A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING

Ten Marketing Mindsets for Success! Having the right mindset for your marketing can mean the difference between amazingly impact marketing and marketing that is blase and falls flat with little to no results. These ten marketing mindsets will also help you stay the course and focus, expand past your comfort zone, and keep your energy up so you don't get down on yourself and get frustrated with your marketing before you've given it a chance.

1. Give Yourself Time

   Most of my clients are their own worst boss! Their expectations are so high that they don't really give marketing efforts time to work before they start doubting, questioning and wanting to ditch the whole effort. Acknowledge that you are a lifestyle entrepreneur. This is a business owner who won't compromise on her lifestyle - she's not about to sacrifice her relationships, miss the big school play, go without a vacation or working out and taking care of herself. Given your commitment to your lifestyle, create marketing programs that support your lifestyle success. Just because someone else looks like they are moving fast doesn't mean you have to pile on a load of stress and sacrifice everything that's important to you. Build time (we're not talking perfection here) into your side.

2. Commit to Frequency

   I heard this in the early days of my career in newspaper advertising back in the 80s and it's still true today. Actually it's probably more important today than ever. We are literally bombarded with over 68,000 messages a day. Your client has learned to put up a big filter and be selective about how much information she lets in. So, you have to be consistent in your efforts so that little by little she'll develop an awareness of who you are, develop a trust in you and your services, and be there when she is ready to buy. This is also about trusting your vision and making a commitment to keep showing up in real, vulnerable, confident ways with your marketing.

3. Create a Support Team

   Doing it alone will have you burnt out and is a sure-fire way to zap your creativity. Create a plan for your ideal support team - both for your business and for your home life. You don't have to hire them all at once. Knowing that you have a plan for which people you want to add and when you want to add them can be liberating in itself. Then gradually hire people on a project basis or for a few hours. As you are ready to step into the next level of success for your business, you'll hire another person to help you expand your capacity. Growing with the evolution of your company allows you to keep focused on your "strengths-based" work - the juicy, creative part of your business that is directly related to growing the business. Let others (who are working with their strengths!) handle the rest.

4. Look for and Create Systems

   This is a key area for a lot of growing business owners. To handle the growth look for anything and everything that you do over and over again. Make a system out of it. Design a template, checklist, procedure list so you aren't redoing it every time. I have to say, I equate "systems" with "freedom." Every 10 - 15 - 30 minutes count in my busy life. Learn how to use your online systems and programs to help support you not having to hold so much information in your head (i.e. birthdays, appointments, to-do's, ideas). As you build your support team co-create systems with them. My amazing assistant, Jan, helps me with my newsletter. Not only does she do all the behind the scenes management of it (shopping cart, template, editing, list management, etc.) but we've created a system to help me get it out on time. We have calendarized the newsletter so we know our publish dates, and then three days before it's due to her she sends me the template with as much information as possible already updated. I just have to write the welcome, provide the article, and product announcement. A system set up for my success! (Thanks Jan!)

5. Let Out Your Personality

   Surprisingly - this is such a big area for creative entrepreneurs! You would think with all that creativity busting at the seams in your business that this would be easy. What I find is that a lot of creative entrepreneurs are so conscious of their creative side that when it comes to marketing they think they have to button it up and "be professional." Being professional can be a business-killer. I don't like to use that word much but I have to say - being professional and blending in - will get you just that - blending in and not standing out to your ideal client. For starters, just be a little more personal and creative in your marketing than you think you "should." You will be surprised at how you will connect with more people when you tell them about your cat, your vacation or your real -life stories of "annual summer schedule nervous breakdown" (oops - talking about me!).

6. Claim Your Expert Status

   This is another big one for many women entrepreneurs. We have been raised with those stories: "Don't be too big for your britches," "Don't brag," and the biggie, "Just who do you think you are?" The thing is your clients WANT to know that you know what you are doing. The only way they'll know is if you tell them. You can tell them in many ways that are fun and creative: through stories of your clients and how you solved a problem or they achieved a success working with you, through photos of you in action, and especially in your newsletter or blog. This is where you can shine with each publication, giving them tips, resources and stories about what you know works.

7. Take a Stand

   Don't be wishy-washy. You'll get lost in the sea of mediocrity. All those businesses you hear about failing each year - many of them were indistinguishable from each other. What are you passionate about? Let your clients and potential clients know. Sure it's a bit risky - they might not agree. The key here is to really know your client! Your ideal clients will feel closer to you and more attracted to you. They will keep coming back. Even dare to be controversial - not just to get attention but to really let your passion out. People love passionate and engaged people. They want to know how you are different from someone else. I do this every time I publish this Joyful Business newsletter. Many people like the idea of a "joyful" business but then they'll say, "Yeah, sure, but can you really enjoy your business?" As you know, I take a stand for including your passion, creativity and lifestyle in your business. Some people don't agree and they quickly go away. The ones who stay are true fans. They want to hear and know how they can keep this philosophy alive in their own businesses.

8. Build Your Celebrity Mystique

   I recently bought an audio CD series from Rev. Michael Beckwith through Sounds True (an audio learning company). My coach was curious and asked me what their email said that prompted me to make the purchase. The truth of it was that I bought because he's built up his expert status and his celebrity mystique. I've heard him speak on The Secret DVD, Oprah and Larry King enough to know he drips soul when he speaks. So, I've been waiting for a product from him. Now, you might say that you haven't been on Oprah (yet). You can start today - right in your own life. Share pictures and stories of you and your coach, your mentors, your mastermind group - these show commitment and professionalism in your business. Get your picture taken when you go see famous speakers. Share pictures of you speaking, at special events, or charity fundraisers. All these situations are opportunities to share more about you to your readers, and they shape your personality and your values and make you real. Bottom-line is that people want to buy from successful people. Show them how you are a success!

9. Keep Learning About Marketing

   You want to keep learning and growing in your marketing expertise. Marketing vehicles change, your ideal client evolves and so does your business. You want to always be filling up with how can you improve, tweak, change, make adjustments and try new things while keeping the successful marketing strategies fresh. Schedule learning from the experts (this is not to suggest you should follow every new marketing idea - manage your energy here!) and track what is working for you and what needs a fresh tweak. A great example of this is a sales page for a product. It might work at the beginning, but you'll eventually find that the conversion fizzles. Is it that you need a fresh message, updated testimonials, a stronger headline, installment payments, or is your current market saturated and it's time for new markets or to add to your list? This takes time. Put it in your calendar to visit your stats, get feedback and determine what needs to be changed. After all, marketing is a like a game, and to play the game you always have to be in movement trying something new, paying attention, stretching, being curious or systemizing what's working to free up energy.

10. Get a Mentor

    Unless you want to spend energy, effort and lots of money recreating the path on your own - do yourself a favor and make a leap forward by learning from the best mentor you can afford. The key to having a successful relationship is to find a coach, consultant, or mentor who shares a similar philosophy and values as you do. For example, I am a heart-centered, bring your whole life to the table, creative attraction expert. If you are looking for a linear, push, push, rush, rush, dominant personality - I can refer to you some who will fit the bill. What I do is help creative entrepreneurs who are similar to me - they want creative expression, meaningful work, a lifestyle they love and financial success to support it all. I help them get down the path further and quicker with less stress and more ease. What type of mentor do you need at this point in your business cycle? Who do you see that you admire and want to be where they are? What I know is that when I've worked with mentors who push and are more domineering - I just don't flourish. When I work with someone who has a business that is where I want to go and approaches it with fierce love - I blossom. Who do you need for your next evolutionary leap? If heart centered marketing speaks to you and you're ready for a leap in your business, then stay tuned for our upcoming Platinum Mentor Program -Magic & Miracles in Marketing & Mindset.

8 LESSONS FROM A NIGERIAN BILLIONAIRE/ENTREPRENEUR- Dr Cosmas Mmaduka

Cosmas Mmaduka is one of the home made billionaires and a successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria. He is the president of Coscharis Group. A man who started from a very low background and rose to the ownership position of a multinational company with over 14 billion capital base.

As he stood in front of his audience gathered at a seminar with all the attention and focus on him, he was letting out the account of the journey that took him from nothingness to an abundance. The ups and down of his life and the powerful lessons any aspiring Nigerian entrepreneur should always observe to be successful.

From his heart-touching, inspiring, practical story. These are the few eight lessons among numerous lessons Dr Mmaduka story enfolds; as he released it to his audience made up of information seeking aspiring entrepreneurs.
1. You should have and exercise a trust in God. Believe He is able to do all things.
2. Having or building your self esteem is very important as this will help you to pass difficult and challenging times.
3. To be a successful entrepreneur you have to be a man or woman of vision. Also there should be a burning desire to actualize your vision no matter the obstacles you see on your way.
4. You need to have a system. Plan your actions; know your methods and ways to approach situations in accordance to the realization of your major goal.
5. Boldness is a factor you can not do without. You need boldness to take up your actions and give maximum effective attention to situations.
6. An entrepreneur is a risk taker but you should take only calculated risks. All risks are not for you, so you need to analyze every risk to check its viability before embarking on it.
7. You need be a man of integrity and keep promises you make. Is is better not to make a promise if you are not sure of keeping it.
8. As an entrepreneur, all the work is not for you alone being that you are a manager of both human and material resources. Attract and work with smart and competent employees.