Glad to be back into full swing and glad to hear our clients are really gearing up for this year!

Our last newsletter of the year was published today and a new version of our eBook was released about two weeks ago.  It seems as though marketing is a continual ongoing endeavor that does not seem to have an end.   Break up your marketing plans in small segments so that the tasks will be manageable.

Best wishes to you and I sincerely hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

Most our business strategies for 2009 for our company are already set in motion.  If you have not completed your strategic planning for next year, you only have a few week remaining.  Good luck!

So with a bit more free time, I plan to use my time to brush up on my skills and catch up on my reading.  I’ll be reading two books over the holiday:

• The first books covers authoring and publishing.  As you may know, we have released an eBook on our website with sales and marketing tips.  The book is completely free, but I would love to explore options that allow more people to learn from the tips.
• The second book is titled “Getting To Yes”.  It should offer tips for “negotiating agreement without giving in”.

The books will help occupy my extra time, while allow me to learn something new (at least I hope) while relaxing from the fast pace of business. 

What will you be reading this weekend?

Sales reps. must convince the prospect that their solution will solve the prospect’s problems and address their needs. Once the sales rep can demonstrate how the prospect will “win” by using their company, the sales rep to create a new ”win” or a new sale.   In sales, we must focus on creating win-win situation.

Regardless of my political stance and the outcome, I am happy to return back to business as usual.  Now that our political leaders have been chosen, it is time for us to return to business as usual and lead our businesses toward success.

I use ACT! software for tracking all of my sales activities.  Our network of accounts reps. use ACT! to manage their daily telemarketing tasks - to record notes for all conversations, to produce reports for new leads generated for our clients, and to make certain that they are completing their follow up calls and tasks.

Software applications (such as ACT!) can be a valuable asset that helps you keep your organization or business organized.   I would highly recommend the use of CRM program and ACT! happens to be the one that best suits our needs.

With “so much to do and so little time”, make certain you are using technology and software applications to keep you on track!

• Monday 1 - computer issues.   Being a small business owner with limited support, I was forced to resolve the computer problems alone - without the assistance of an IT department.
• Monday 2 - chair issues.  My office chair lost it seal, so the height of the chair was not adjustable.  I was going to ”tough it out” for the day.  However; by 8 am I was frustrated and was forced to make an emergency trip to the office store.   I beckoned the maintenance department, but they never came.  (Of course, there is no such department here.)  
• Monday 3 - no electricity until 10 am after a transformer went out.  

One thing I have learned is to “not sweat the small stuff”.  In the end, the three tragic Mondays (hope you caught the sarcasm) did not affect business.  In sales, we find that there are obstacles - both big and small - but we have to get through the obstacles and jump right back into business.   I had to put things into perspective and had to resume my sales activities.

I can only wonder what next Monday brings for me!

At that point, she completely caught me off guard, by asking if my name was Melissa.  I replied yes.  Then she wanted to confirm that I was the owner of the company.   The tone of this particular call might have been different if she would have asked to speak with me by name rather than asking for the owner (which is so impersonal).

I would guess that she had not read an article in our eBook titled “Utilizing Contact Information”.   The telemarketer failed to use the information that she evidently had at her fingertips and lost the opportunity to persuade me to talk further.

So as you are making sales calls, always use the information you have to your advantage.  Ask for contacts by their first name - rather than by their title.

Depending on your business and industry, now might be the time to engage in stronger marketing tactics.  We have worked diligently all summer long on business growth and are hoping those efforts pay off in the long run.  Those same efforts may not contribute to growth, but those efforts will hopefully allow us to maintain.

If your business wants to maintain, you may have to get more aggressive in marketing.  You may need to change your presentation to focus on financial savings and related aspects.   NOW is the time to increase marketing efforts - rather than the time to pull back and risk losing business!