Brains of Business - Microsoft Access · Brains of Business A collaborative business newsletter,...

Brains of BusinessA collaborative business newsletter, focussing on practical and useful

information that benefits you and your business.

Issue 12 June 2009 ISSN 1834-2728

In this issue our contributors look at THE SCIENCE OF SELLING.

Technology combined with the science of selling gives us some great solutions .

By Joe Ciancio, Maxsum Solutions............................................................................................................Page 4

Having basic selling systems in place will help you to both survive and grow.

By Clare Fountain, Sorted Business Administraion Services....................................................................Page 5

How your database can help define niches in your customers.

By Julie Misson, Simply Access.................................................................................................................Page 8

Understand what your business is actually selling.

By Dean Murphy, Valentini & Murphy.........................................................................................................Page 7

Learn 3 ways that bookkeeping can contribute to the science of selling in your business.

By Jennifer Blainey, First Class Accounts..................................................................................................Page 3

For more information on contributing to the Brains of Business Newsletteror to list your events, call 1300 667 554.

Your feedback is valuable. Please click here to register your thoughts.

The 7 keys to selling that will put you on track to greater business success.

By Paul Henshall, ActionCOACH Business Coaching ..............................................................................Page 2

4 steps on the art of converting your website visitors into customers.

By Nathan Hulls, Internet Marketing Expert...............................................................................................Page 6

Events Calendar................................................................................................................................0

http://www.simply-access.com/brains-of-business-feedback.html

Selling by METHOD, rather than by accident!A critical success factor for all businesses is how good they are at selling. Here are 7 keys to selling to help you on the track to greater business success.

1. Ask more Questions: Questions are the answers in sales. Too many sales people tell their customers the features and benefits of their product or service but never find out what benefit the customer is interested in.

2. Set daily targets: A common theme in sales - chase enough customers in the hope that one or more will buy. In reality, this leads to sales people only selling to the early adopters or price shoppers who would probably buy from anyone. However, by keeping track of how many customers buy on average from a given number of leads and then introducing strategies to convert a higher percentage will ensure your sales team learn how to improve their results. Set daily targets and assess your performance against these targets.

3. Use sales scripts: No one likes to hear someone read from a script but customers do expect consistency. So how do you ensure all your interactions with prospects are consistent and that you deal with objections in a professional way? By

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• Intensive “group” sessions

• 2 day business “boot” camps

• 1 day Workshops in Marketing, Sales, Team Building, & Customer Service

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ActionCOACH For more information contact Paul Henshall

Address: 473 Hargreaves Street Phone: 0418 302 057

Bendigo 3550 Email: [email protected]

ActionCOACH

writing down what it is you say in any given situation and by training your team to use the same questions and language, you can bring a lot more productivity to your sales process.

4. Offer/Guarantee: Why should someone buy from you and not a competitor who can provide the same product or service at a lower price? What is it that you offer them or can guarantee them that will differentiate you from your competition? Your offer must

generate excitement.

5. Ask for the Sale: One of the biggest common failings is not asking the prospect to buy. A fear of rejection prevents many sales people from actually asking the final

question. Just do it and learn from those that say no.

6. Learning: To be successful in sales there absolutely must be a habit of learning. Learn from other sales experts, books, your best customers and from past experience. Both your good and bad experiences can be a huge help in improving your sales success so you do not keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

7. Testimonials: Sometimes we focus too much on what is going wrong rather than what we are doing right. Focus on the good stuff and we will do more of it! Get your customers to write down their testimonials so you can use it in your marketing and attract even more great customers.

Top TipA fear of rejection prevents many sales people from asking the final

question.

Just do it!

The science of selling How can bookkeeping contribute to the science of selling? I asked myself this question when presented with the topic, wondering how the numbers can contribute to assisting you with the selling process. I believe that financial information can assist in just about any aspect of your business, so here goes.

Firstly, when selling your products and services, you need to be armed with some facts and figures to be able to target your selling. From your record keeping, you will have information about what items are your top sellers, so your selling may focus more on these as you know they are something that your existing customers see as valuable. You may also have information about what type of customers buy those from you, allowing you to target particular types of new customers.

Secondly, your business will have a database of existing customers who buy certain products or services from you. You can use this information to offer other items that you sell to your existing customers, which can be an effective selling method, given that you already have a relationship with these people. This applies equally to retail, as even if your customers are not individually identified, you will have regulars that you can target with displays of new or

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Installation, training & support of MYOB & QuickBooks software

• Regular bookkeeping maintenance services

• Regular management reporting

• Payroll, incl. PAYG & Superannuation requirements

• BAS & End of Year preparation of books for Accountant

First Class Accounts Bendigo For more information contact Jennifer Blainey

Address: 473 Hargreaves Street Phone: 03 5441 6261


First Class Accounts Bendigo

complimentary products that they are likely to want or need.

Thirdly, as part of your selling strategy you may offer discounts, free items,etc. When you do this it is important to know how much these strategies are costing you, in order to assess whether they are successful in increasing your overall profit. Use your reports on margin, i.e. the difference between sale and cost price, so you know what level of

discounts or offers allow you to still make the profit. Even if you are prepared to take a loss on something in particular in order to attract new customers, you need to know how much it’s costing you

so it can be factored into your budget calculations.

These are just a few suggestions about how your financial information can assist you in the selling process. When you have had a sales special, targeted particular customers, etc. it is important to then go back to your finances and evaluate the effectiveness of your strategy. You will then know whether to repeat it, modify it or scrap it and try something else. It’s quite easy to be able to separate out your specific activity sales in your accounts to allow you to do this analysis, and it’s more effective than merely going by ‘gut feel’ as to whether your strategy was successful.

Top TipFinancial information can help you to decide what to sell and to whom, as well as evaluate the success of each particular strategy that you

undertake.

The science of sellingAs business conditions get tougher, people are less willing to part with their hard-earned money! This means that clients will become more discerning about how they do choose to spend their cash, and will be quick to sideline providers that cannot meet their needs efficiently and economically.

At the end of the day, the core of all our businesses is to sell what we produce – whether that is goods, services, knowledge, or a combination of these. It is essential that we take a methodical and scientific approach to sales to ensure that we get maximum return on our time and resource investments. In other words, we need to think about the ‘science of selling’, and what formula of resources we can employ to ensure that sales leads do turn into sales dollars!

Why not use CRM software to manage your sales. This software can be used to track the progress of sales leads, measure and manage the probability of a sale, and to manage/share communication with clients in a single information repository. CRM software can also be used in conjunction with your email, fax, and written correspondence to make it easier for you to flag follow-ups with prospective clients and to look up past sales histories of existing clients in a flash. Having all this information

WHAT WE OFFER:

• I.T. Consulting

• Voice Over IP phone systems

• Computer system administration

• Computer networking

• Document management systems

Maxsum Solutions For more information contact Joe Ciancio

Address: 130 Mollison Street Phone: (03) 5442 7785


Maxsum Solutions

readily accessible means that even your smallest clients will feel like you have a holistic understanding of what they need. They will be more comfortable going forward with you if they think that you really are acting as a ‘partner’ in their business.

Another idea is to make better use of some of the fantastic mobile technology available today to respond to clients in real time. You can ensure that your staff have access to email in real time using

Telstra NextG mobile services. This means that you will be able to provide a minimal turn-around time for client enquiries, which in turn builds their trust and satisfaction levels.

Finally, in the modern age of e-commerce, it is key that businesses learn how they can better leverage Internet services to facilitate online sales. Making your goods and services available online can open your business up to entirely new markets and regions that you previously had no physical access to. Not only does this reduce your manpower requirements, but also lowers your overall overheads, and can boost the efficiency of your order management and despatch process.

So here are just a few ideas of how you can use the science of selling to boost your sales performance. Take a comprehensive and scientific approach to how you utilise IT for sales performance in your business and see your customer satisfaction ratings and sales figures start to shine!

Top Tip “Keep up to date with your latest

sales leads using CRM software and a Telstra NextG capable mobile.”

The science of selling Definition of Science = knowledge of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.

Definition of Sell = to transfer (goods) to or render (services) for another in exchange for money.

The definition of the word Science says it all – ‘knowledge gained by systematic study’. Businesses that have systems in place that build up knowledge or a history of their sales are clear what works, what doesn’t work and have the data to hand to make decisions moving forward. Does your business consider selling to be a science?

What kind of systems could you put in place and what could you do with the knowledge they provide? Asking simple questions, e.g. “How did you hear about us?” can tell you which marketing campaigns attract clients who buy. “What is your postcode?” supports you to build up knowledge of your customer base. Recording how much each person buys against their postcode can show any patterns in spending based on where they live. Setting up a loyalty program can help you track how much each of your regular customers spend on what and when.

These are all very simple systems to set up – they don’t require sophisticated

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Practical workshops - Time Management; Find Your Desk Under the Mess; Roles & Goals

• In-house training

• Consulting

• We get your business organised so you can enjoy the important things in life

Sorted Business Administration Services For more information contact Clare Fountain

Address: PO Box 105 Phone: 1300 667 554

North Bendigo 3550 Email: [email protected]

Sorted Business Administration Services

software, just a pad by the till can be effective. One of my clients can tell you off the top of his head the average dollar sale per customer for the past week, the most popular item sold, the volume of sales and location of customer for a specific advertising campaign. How? The team collect coupons, ask questions and the till records the amount of people against how much was spent.

What other selling facts or principles do you want to build up knowledge of? Knowing the reason why people say no or don’t buy from you can be very useful. You can then train yourself and your staff in how to handle objections,

revise products for sale and make sure you are selling to the right market. You might find that people from a certain postcode like specific items but they don’t sell as well in a different location. When you are expanding your business this is vital information – what works in Bendigo might not work in Echuca. If this is the case you need to know why.

In the last Brains of Business we talked about beating the recession. Having basic selling systems in place that enable you to understand the science of selling in your business will help you to both survive and grow. Take the time to ask questions, record the data and then use it to make smart decisions.

Top TipUnderstand the science of selling in your market and your business and

TAKE ACTION to make it work.

4 steps to the science of selling online The internet has created an abundance of opportunities for small and home-based business owners to expand their market both nationally and internationally.

Within this article I will assume you already have a website and you have visitors coming to your website.

Let’s focus on the art of converting your visitors into customers. The science of selling online can begin for you with these 4 easy steps:

1. Capture the lead

You have 4 seconds to capture the attention of each visitor to your website. When they click that back button – they’re gone!

So many website owners are leaving a massive amount of money on the table because they simply don’t capture the name and email address of the visitors who come to their website.

By simply offering a free ’10 secrets to...’ downloadable report, or a weekly e-newsletter, you could turn your failing website into a lead generation machine.

Once you have the name, email address, and permission to communicate with the new potential client, you can move onto Step 2.

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Internet Marketing Strategy

• Email Marketing

• Online Traffic Generation

• Social Media Training

• Website Design and Development

Nathan Hulls Internet Marketing Expert For more information contact Nathan Hulls

Phone: 0407 542 636

URL Address: www.marketingexpert.com.au Email: [email protected]

2. Build trust & relationship by providing value

Through regular communication with your newly found lead you can build rapport and relationship by providing value to them for free. A weekly e-newsletter, which is automatically drip fed to your leads, can do wonders with positioning your business as the expert in the field.

3. Create desire

Often in the sales process, businesses focus on the benefits of their product or services (i.e. lose weight, find a job), rather than creating desire through the

outcomes they create.

When you’re competing with a worldwide online market you must create desire within your prospects so that they want to buy from you.

4. Build a sales funnel

An online sales funnel is a key to making money online. The McDonalds real world sales funnel is best known for their famous upsell, “Would you like fries with that?”. It shows us how important it is to present our customers with other supporting products and services at the point of sale.

Through a successful online sales strategy your business can explode nationally or internationally – go get ‘em!

Top TipBuild relationship with your

prospective clients and provide value before you hit them up with an offer – create desire through your web

communications.

The science of sellingToday I resigned as an Accountant. Let me explain.

It’s sad to say, but MOST people in Business don’t truly understand what it is that they do. As an Accountant my role is to help clients achieve their goals and to provide them with the comfort that they have meet their obligations to the Tax Office. In order to be able grow my business it is critical that I understand exactly what it is that I do.

When I ‘sell’ my services I have to be very clear on what it is that I sell to the client. It is NOT a Tax Return that I sell. It’s piece of mind that the clients tax affairs are up-to date, in line with tax guidelines and, as such, minimise the chance of the dreaded tax man doing an audit.

So what is it that you sell in your business? Don’t get hung up on the line – “well, I am not a salesman”. The fact is that we are ALL sales people – regardless of what line of business we are in. If we don’t sell then we don’t trade. An Accountant must sell his service, IT, Lawyers, Consultants ALL must sell what they do.

In order to be successful at what you are selling you must first understand what it is that you are actually offering. Look beyond the actual physical product that you have and look at what emotional need it helps satisfy. Get your customers

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Business Taxation Returns

• Ensuring you understand the financial position of your business

• Strategic Review of business structures & systems

• Budgeting & business planning

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Valentini & Murphy For more information contact Dean Murphy

Address: 425 Hargreaves Street Phone: (03) 5443 0800


Valentini & Murphy

to understand that there is far more behind you than just flogging a product. Helping them find their dreams, goals and aspirations and then incorporating your product or service into this will make the sale easier.

Selling shouldn’t be a scary thing – it is a relatively simple process of understanding what your customer wants. The best way to find this out is to ASK. Too many times we are never

actually asked what it is we want from a product. We need to go back to the what, when, where, why, which, who and how questions. Understand exactly what they want and then mirror back

to them. So if I can provide you with accounting services that are current, timely, value for money, in line with Tax Office requirements, etc., etc., you will be happy to bring your work in. If you have answered every point the customer raises, then how can you not sell to them?

There is no real science in selling – ask questions and address the true need of the customer – that’s no great science in my books.

Top Tip We’re all salespeople – we just

have to understand what it is we sell.

Using your database as the basis for the ‘Science of Selling’In many previous articles I have talked about having a database and its importance in your business with getting to know your customers better and keeping in contact with them. Can a database though help with the ‘Science of Selling’? Yes it can, you can use it to help define the niches in your customers.

You can have the best branding, marketing, product or service but what you need is the BEST customers. Identify who these are and over-deliver. These customers are your best sellers so look after them. Word of mouth is free. Part of the science of selling is determining who your best sellers are. Let me give you an example.

If you are a butcher, do you know:

• which customers buy the specials from you weekly? • which ones always buy a roast for Sunday lunch? • which customers pop into buy something for tea on the way home from work?

One aspect in the science of selling is facilitating customer loyalty (i.e. creating BEST customers) through repetitive purchases by focusing your marketing on the identified niches, as listed above. For example, it would not be as effective

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Individual database development

• Microsoft Access problem solving

• Data management

• Client management systems

• Microsoft Access training

Simply Access For more information contact Julie Misson

Phone: 0400 906 942

URL Address: www.simply-access.com Email: [email protected]

targeting the weekly special buyer with quick and easy recipe ideas using premium cuts of meat that they could buy on the way home from work. It is this eye to detail that will result in the repetitive purchase of your products and services and all because you are meeting the customer’s needs.

Often marketing and selling focuses on new customers and the regular loyal customers can feel they are overlooked.

This can be easily rectified by things such as loyalty cards. Not all customers like them, but they have a choice to accept or not. For example, I have a loyalty card for my local butcher.

With this loyalty card you get a stamp for every $20 spend. I was only going to buy tea for the night but thought I may as well get meat to the value of $20 so I could get a stamp – I actually ended up spending $36 – damn, I should have made it to the $40 mark to get 2 stamps. Now I know the butcher may have loyalty cards to reward their loyal customers, but it also helps to increase spending at the shop. Even though I know all this, I was still an eager participant. Imagine how many more there are.

The underlying take home statement is, ‘if you have happy customers they will go on and refer you to a friend, neighbour or work colleague’. They then become your best sellers. This does not take that much science.

Top TipHappy customers are your best

sellers.

The science of sellingARTICLE NOT SUBMITTED

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• Business software consulting & advice on how to extend your current software system

• Accounting, office, CRM, HR & Payroll software resellers & trainers

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• Training room sizes of 5 participants or less

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Support Office Software Services For more information contact Chris Rankin

Address: 73 High Street Phone: (03) 5447 2299

Kangaroo Flat 3555 Email: [email protected]

Support Office Software Systems

Top Tip

Events CalendarDate/ Time

Who Event Details Location/Duration

Cost BookingInformation

May

June

5th ActionCOACH

Planning Workshop Hargreaves St, Bendigo

Coaching clients = FREEPast Client = $95 + GSTOthers =$150 + GST

Ph 0418 302 057

July

17th ActionCOACH

Sales Workshop Hargreaves StBendigo

Coaching clients = FREEPast Client = $95 + GSTOthers =$150 + GST

Ph 0418 302 057

Whist every care is taken in the preparation of this Newsletter, the Central Success Group does not take responbility for the opinions expressed, errors or omissions. Readers should take responsibility for acting on any of the information contained in this Newsletter.

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