Your next Prospect is 2 Degrees away

2 Degrees away from me are 53,700 prospects. 3 degrees away are 4,091,000 prospects. How are they 2 & 3 degrees away from me? They are contacts of my contacts in LinkedIn.

If you are not using Linked In to start to know the prospects in your wider network, then you are letting a valuable resource go to waste. Your next prospect is in your wider network, you need a system and a process to find them and start interacting with them. Each week I search my growing network for specific suspect types. As new suspects are found, I start a research folder on that suspect. I ask several questions, do they meet my specific criteria to be prospects? When I have successfully answered the selection criteria questions, I move them into a prospect file, at this stage I have had no contact with these "suspect/prospects". I will have a conversation with the person I know about the prospect. In some cases I will ask the contact I know for an introduction, I even send the contact an email that they can forward to the prospect. This allows me to make a contact with the prospect and start a conversation. If you are not using Linkedin to help with your prospecting you are missing out on the best prospecting resource available

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=77740383&trk=tab_pro

www.onlineknowledge.com.au

A Clip over the Ears

When we didnt do what we were tolled, we got a "Clip over the ears" It never hurt me and I am a good person now. Sound familiar? I know I have said that in the past about my childhood experencies.

I have since reasoned out that all a child learns from the "Clip over the ears" is, when someone wants something, and has tried everything else. They use violence or the threat of violence, to get what they want. The entire world works on this principal. Every War, every Terroist act  stems from, I want something I have tried everything else, so now I will use violence! We must stop the violence cycle, we must believe that violence is never the answer to get what you want! We must tell everyone starting with our Children, if the only way to get something is with violence then it is not worth it.

Why do most CRM projects fail?

CRM fails because most CRM solutions take the user out of outlook. Sure most programs say "we sync with outlook", but that becomes a problem with in it self. The solution is to manage your pipeline and your customers in outlook. Avidian make a fantastic CRM solution that runs inside of outlook. If you can use outlook you can use Avidian prophet.

The value of a referral

One of my BNI colleagues referred me to their partner to help the partner with a website. The partner referred meto his accountant and the accountant referred me to one of his clients and that client has just referred me to a colleague of his. That is the 5 th amount of work from one referral. Referrals will help you build your business

Death of a Salesman

This morning I read this article by Ruslan Kogan

http://www.startupsmart.com.au/sales-and-marketing/2011-03-14/death-of-the-salesmen.html

Whilst I agree there is no place for the pushy salesperson using outdated methods and trying to "close the sale" I have spent most of my working life in professional IT sales. I know I have helped my customers over the years as they have happily referred me to their networks. I take exception to the general principal that there is something wrong with being a  Salesperson. I am proud to be a Salesperson   I am a Newsell salesperson. The essence of Newsell is you cant close the customer. Please have a look at

http://www.schoolofthinking.org/why/newsell-coaching/

ecommerce

Having a website that allows your customers to purchase your products quickly and easily does not cost thousands's of dollars and take months to build. We have full ecommerce sites up running in as little as 10 days with a moderate investment of $1000.00.
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The Power of a referral

I have started working with a new customer and that customer has referred me to one of his clients. The new prospect said "If Sam is using you thats good enough for me" As a small business owner those words are very powerful. A referrals is a guaranteed way to build a substantial business. The best way to get referrals is to join BNI http://www.bnimelbourneeast.com.au/index.asp