...the following key questions:

• Do you understand what it is you are asking the consultant to do? Or are you simply employing a consultant because you do not understand what it is you need to do? 

• Are you employing a advisor because you do not have the time to do the work yourself? If you do not have the time or resources to do this work, how are you going to run a business? 

• Are you sure you’re asking the right person for advice? Ask around so that you can identify a business adviser that can add value? 

• A good adviser will take time to get to know your organisation.However, there is no point in the adviser feeding back information that you already have in-house. Be clear about where they will add value. 

• Are you prepared to hear the hard truth? A adviser will be objective and honest with you and may not tell you what you want to hear. 

• If you put work out to tender, focus on the experience, education the advisor has in this area not on how they will approach the work. If your adviser can not admit to not knowing how to solve a particular problem, then be careful because most adviser don't know everything.

• You should be clear about what you are asking them to do (and not do).Whether it is a specific piece of research or some specialist advice, be clear at the outset what you will expect to get out of the process.

• Write down your brief summary so that both parties can be clear about what the work entails.You will also find that you get a more accurate estimate of costs if everything is built into the original brief.

• You and your adviser should approach your relationship as a partnership and both parties should be treated with respect.

 

 

Virgin Chief, Richard Branson Unveiled “Project” Magazine for iPad

An electronic magazine designed only for the iPad. So I decided to breakdown the possible chances of success.

What we know:

The app is free, Debut Issue $2.99, Product description - a revolution multimedia magazine packed with international culture, entertainment, design, business, travel. Projectmag.com. Product requires an iPad with iOS 4.2 or higher.

My thought:

This is a no different from running up an online web magazine. The cost of production and maintenance are very low. There are no distributions or printing cost. I believe the model is that Apple gets a percentage of sales through its app store which is likely where users would obtain the magazine.

The venture has access to Virgin’s resources, including talent, money, equipment, office space, inexpensive or recycled or republished content.
Based on the growth and success of iTunes and likely success of iPad, the possibility of success (profitability) is high. And revenues from selling the magazine app will likely result in breakeven situations but like most magazines the greatest source of revenue is advertising. The advertising revenues are huge only if the “Project” can attract stable loyal readers. Acquiring advertisers would be easy due to Mr Branson’s connections,

Now the ugly side:

The ease of entry, almost anyone can start an eMagazine without having the resources that Mr. Branson has. Very easy to imitate. Competition from well established magazine brands such as GQ, Esquire, Maxim, Forbes, Businessweek etc

Finalized:

Mr. Branson’s Virgin can afford this risk. If it fails it would be another learning experience. If it succeeds Mr Branson would likely launch other brands, expand into other Tablets, Mobile. Reach global markets.

I recentyly asked the many users of Linkedin.com a few questions in the past few weeks which might give you some insight or ideas.

Will business cards ever die or would it just take on another form?

What do you do with all the business cards you receive?

Have you used any online software as a service provider? Hate/Like? Why?

Cloud computing or (SaaS) is the popular IT initiative for SME but I was wondering if any small businesses uses one and what are your thoughts? Will it be the end of buying software off the shelves?

In your zeal to land new business, don't overlook certain basic principles of sales management, or you may set yourself up for problems in the future.

By Donna Fenn | Sep 28, 2010


Everyone makes mistakes, but missteps in the selling process can have especially serious consequences. Not only do they deprive your business of revenue, but they can erode confidence in your company among members of your staff as well as potential customers. The following mistakes are particularly common among start-ups, but even the most seasoned entrepreneurs can fall victim to them. Here's how to identify them—and avoid them.

Neglecting to collect customer data. Every time you make a sale, it's an opportunity to make another sale down the road. Remember that your existing customers are your best source of revenue. But you can only tap them if you have a method for keeping track of them. Sonny Ahuja, the CEO of Grandperfumes.com, learned that the hard way. "Five years ago I had seven stores selling designer perfumes and colognes in all major malls of Wisconsin," he says. When he began losing customers to Amazon and eBay, Ahuja decided to close his stores and move his business online. But when he launched Grandperfumes.com, he had no money for online marketing. "That's when I realized that if only all my sales people had collected all the names and addresses of customers that came to my stores for the past eight years — imagine the power of that database! I could have been back in business in no time." Now, he's diligent about collecting and segmenting customer data on Grandperfumes.com.

Dig Deeper: 10 Ways to Get More Sales From Existing Customers

Relying too heavily on the Internet. So you've been exceptionally clever with your web strategy and your organic vegan dog food is at the tippity-top of the relevant search engine rankings. The stuff is practically selling itself. Good for you! Until, that is, Google gives you a nasty smack down. That's what happened to Christian Arno, founder Lingo24, an international translation company with offices in London; Aberdeen, Scotland; and New York City. "In 2006, our high Google rankings for key search terms suffered, probably because of Google changing its search algorithm," says Arno. "We suddenly dropped on Google search results for terms we'd always ranked highly for such as translation services and translation agencies. We didn't have any proactive sales strategy in place, so our revenue suffered." Since then, he's hired several outbound sales people who proactively identify potential clients. "And our Google rankings are back up too now, so we have two strong avenues for sales," says Arno.

Dig Deeper: How Google Cost Me $4 Million

Failing to qualify leads. "When I first started in sales, I was an eager beaver," recalls Jon Biedermann,
vice president of
 DonorPerfect, a CRM fundraising software company in Horsham, Pennsylvania. "No lead went untouched or uncalled — I treated every opportunity as the sure fire next sale." Big mistake. Early in his career, Biedermann got a lead from a large university. He called to assess their needs, customized the software for them, and worked on personalizing the demonstration for days. "The day of the demo came, and I presented our software in front of 10 people from the university. We had everything they needed — it was perfect," he says. But when he asked about the decision-making timeframe, he was crushed. "Oh, we aren't going to switch software," they told him. "We were thinking about using this for our smaller satellite campus and we were hoping you would donate it to us."
Biedermann realized his error instantly. "In my zeal to get the sale, I completely forgot to ask the one crucial question: Do you have the authority and money to make this decision?"

Dig Deeper: How to Qualify Sales Leads

Delaying sales until your product or service is ready for primetime. There's a lot to be said for doing market research for a new product or service by trying to sell it while it's still in development. That way, you'll find out exactly what customers want before you spend time perfecting your offering in a vacuum. "Entrepreneurs should hit the streets, and talk to 'friendlies' to sell your product or service even when its still just an idea, and ask people what they are willing to pay for it," says Kyle Hawke, co-founder of Whinot, a Charlottesville, Virginia-based virtual firm of independent consultants who work on small business marketing projects. Hawke learned that lesson after spending $5,000 on web features that he says "no one cared about." He now knows that he should have tested Whinot out on low-risk clients who were willing to sign on for a discounted price – or a free trial – while he and his partners worked out the kinks. "The best way to figure out how much something is worth is to get someone to pay for it," he says.

Dig Deeper: How to Build a Bootstrapping Culture

Accepting every sale. "No" is not a popular word among entrepreneurs, especially during the start-up phase, and most especially as it pertains to sales. But maybe it should be uttered more often, because the wrong kind of sale is ultimately worse than no sale at all. "It's a big challenge as a small company to say 'No, thanks, this isn't a good fit for us, please give your money to someone else,'" says Michael Buckingham, founder of Holy Cow Creative, a Midland, Michigan, design and marketing company that works with churches and ministries. "In the beginning I said yes to everyone; financially, it felt like I had to," he says. "Next thing I knew I was involved in a project that was not good for me or the client. We pushed through it, we met our objectives but our work is about more than projects and invoices. I learned that relationships are key to sales. It's why I now turn down nearly every RFP; it's void of relationship."

Dig Deeper: Getting to No

Offloading the sales function. When Tom Greenshaw first started Cashier Live in Chicago, he wanted to focus mainly on product development and support for the web-based point of sales software that he sells to independent retailers. So he built a sales channel with affiliates and partners, hoping to offload as much of the direct sales function as possible. "This seemed to be working well and we quickly signed up a number of partners that were interested in selling Cashier Live," he says. "But those partners weren't as well versed in the software as we were." Many of them over-promised customers regarding the capabilities of the software, or dragged Greenshaw's staff into the sales process, which confused customers and ate up company time and resources. "I learned a lot from this experience, and we've since been very successful with our own sales efforts," he says today. When he tries selling through channel partners again, he'll make sure to train them thoroughly on the company's software.

Dig Deeper: Sales: When Is it Safe to Hire?

Fixating on big fish. When Scott Gerber first founded Sizzle It!, a New York City-based video production company, he admits that he "used to be obsessed with only going after home-run clients—those that had big names and huge wallets." But selling to very large companies is time consuming and often frustrating since decision-making is slow and payments even slower. Sizzle It! ultimately landed big clients like Procter & Gamble, but closing sales would sometimes take six months or more. And frequently, Gerber's staff would put months of effort into sales that never materialized. "The pursuit of these titans often put us in cash flow crunches," says Gerber. "My biggest mistake in guiding Sizzle It!'s strategy in its earlier years was not going after more base-hit clients. Now, we have an even split of clients, which has not only helped us to spread the word about our company faster, but also helped us to maintain a healthy cash flow."

Originally: Inc.com

Building a bridge between the marketing team and the sales team.
Article | September 14, 2010
By Mike Drohan

Many companies, Fortune 500 included, today are looking at leveraging the sales team’s time as an area of great opportunity. Clearly, it’s not a good investment of a sales rep’s time to follow up with prospects that have not been qualified. So one way the marketing team can better support the sales team is by adding the skill to call and qualify the needs of prospects and clients.

Now this goes against the grain because marketing typically doesn’t follow up on leads. But in reality, the marketing team is at its best when it helps the sales team to meet with more qualified prospects so they don’t have to spend precious time looking for them. Many leads the marketing team generates should be further qualified before being given to the sales rep. By doing this, the leads are quality graded and prioritized so the sales rep only receives qualified prospects in the following order:

•Leads that have a need and want to meet with a sales rep now.
•Prospects that want a sales rep to call at a later date. Marketing will develop these leads until the appropriate follow-up date and then turn them over to the sales reps.
•Prospects that meet your criteria but do not have an immediate need. Marketing will update key database information and continue to nurture them. Marketing will continue to make follow-up calls to monitor if their needs change.
•Non-qualified prospects are set aside so they do not waste the sales team’s time.
Whether you have your marketing team make the calls, add an inside marketing team to your staff, or turn to a team of professional lead qualification specialists, the key is that they will produce better results that will leverage the time of the sales team. In addition, the marketing team can make the calls for a fraction of the cost of having your sales reps make them.

Chances are good that if you look at the job your marketing team is doing at creating targeted marketing campaigns, you will be impressed. I’d bet they are better at defining prospect and client audiences so they can create highly targeted campaigns. These campaigns include:

Event Marketing: Webinars, seminars, and trade shows

Direct Marketing: Direct mail, whitepaper downloads

Product Focused: New products, upgrades, and special promotions

Industry Focused: Needs-based marketing

Dormant Clients: Rekindle relationships

Here are several examples of how utilizing lead qualification specialists will further qualify leads, leverage the sales team’s time, and open sales opportunities.

Event marketing. Webinars and seminarsare difficult for the sales team because the prospecting work needs to be done in a short window around the event date. A large number of calls must be made to generate interest and registrations before the event, and then more calls need to be made to follow up immediately after the event. Often, even though marketing did a great job on the event, the follow-up calls after the event can be poor to non-existent. Two issues that can cause poor follow-up are too many prospects that are not qualified, and the short window after the event. While the marketing team has done a great job to generate a prospect that attended a Webinar, there is still work to be done before giving these leads to the sales team.

Trade shows are not easy for the sales team for three reasons. First, many companies stop by the booth just for the giveaway. Second, often the right company stops by the booth but not the right decision-maker. Third, the window of opportunity closes quickly right after the show. It’s no wonder that 80 percent of trade show leads are never followed up on. The marketing team should call to follow up on the leads to beat slow-moving competition, make sure no leads fall through the cracks, and qualify leads to keep the sales team from spending any time with unqualified leads.

Direct Marketing. Whitepaper downloads are tricky for the sales team because many are not qualified prospects. Many are doing research, writing a paper, or looking for competitive information. Before handing the inquiries over to the sales team, the marketing team should call each prospect to learn why they downloaded the whitepaper, qualify their need, and motivate those who have a need to meet with a sales rep.

Direct mail follow-up likewise is tough for sales reps because they just don’t have time to follow up on an offer when the need is unknown. There is a tremendous benefit to complement a direct marketing campaign with phone calls to proactively reach prospects. But it is not a good use of the sales team’s time to make those calls. The marketing team can confirm the person responsible, qualify their need, and motivate them to set an appointment with the sales team.

Product-focusedcampaignsthat offer new products, upgrades, and special promotions. New products are a challenge for the sales team because a relationship needs to be established with a new decision-maker. Upgrades are demanding on the sales rep’s time when the incentives are lower than a normal sale. Special promotions have time restraints that force sales reps to dedicate large chunks of prospecting time. The marketing team can call to qualify each prospect’s need to prioritize the best opportunities for the sales team. In addition, they can develop the rest of the prospect universe by capturing decision-maker names and e-mail addresses, and identify where there are opportunities down the road.

Industry-focusedcampaigns. These are a problem for the sales team because they have to start prospecting from the beginning. It’s not easy reaching all the new prospects in each territory. The marketing team should call to identify the right decision-makers, introduce the company and its vast offerings, and generate appointments with the companies that meet the client’s criteria. Then the sales rep can focus his or her efforts on meeting with qualified prospects.

Dormant clients are tiring for the sales team because they don’t know if a company fell through the cracks or if the business closed. Having sales reps call companies that may be closed is a waste of their time. While there is a great amount of opportunity there, the sales team does not have time to consistently make these calls. The marketing team should call to open the communication lines, learn why they stopped buying, and rekindle the relationship to open up a sales opportunity. When the marketing team identifies a client that is interested in re-engaging and wants to make a purchase, an appointment is made for the sales team.

Nurturing open territories is a challenge for the sales team because it’s tough enough to prospect in their own territory. Due to travel time and not knowing the territory, it is difficult for the sales rep to do much more than respond to the inbound sales requests. If the covering sales rep does do any quality prospecting, it gets lost when the new rep takes over. The marketing team should make these calls to provide touch points to let prospects and clients know you care about their business. They can identify the needs within the territory and prioritize them for the covering sales rep.

Hopefully, these examples provide a better view of how the marketing team can have a tremendous impact by qualifying leads to leverage the sales team’s time. Separating the sales opportunities from the non-prospects will produce better results and energize the sales team.

What Manny and others learned from the FIFA Men World Cup 2010 that could help your business. (Post Your Comment)

Never underestimate your opponent. Argentina vs. Germany

Is it better to hire people to follow systems, not people who want to reinvent them?

Open discussion

just like Palm...nokia needs to regain its appeal, gain shares in smartphones
by first changing its phone brand name, hire marketing experts that bring cool factor to it.
Lesson: Never place a weak brand name on product that's technologically advance or well designed

Google wants your attention, your clicks, they want you to buy music from them, they want you to buy their phone, tablets, use the future google TV, buzz,
want to organize your info, want to use your info to make money, want you to use browser, Android OS

Hey google your everywhere yet no where. If you are not careful you could be like microsoft, everything outside your core products is mediocre.

Kudos on gmail now hotmail & yahoo are playing catch up

A prospective client approached me to help them improve their lead generation so I came up with some ideas to help them and others:

First, Have in place a solid process that helps you determine which leads deserve your full attention from the ones looking for information or possibly spying. There are a lot of time wasters out there so protect your limited resources.

Second, have systems that tells you what to do at different stages of buying cycle.

Third, make sure to evaluate your lead sources and conversion rate.

Fourth, if you have limited resources, focus your resources on areas that provide the best ROI (return on investment)

Fifth, Ensure you have your communication, backroom systems working properly.

Now, a bad lead includes someone who:
Never has a specific interest or need.
Will not invest any time or much time with you
Is indecisive or avoids providing specific answers to questions which you need to evaluate a solution fit or recommendation.
Never initiates follow-up
Doesn't keep promises
Doesn't ask about details which are considered buying signals.

Don't. Don't hire, recruit a sales person if your intention is to use them while knowing there is no money to be made. I have noticed some companies use sales people as a cheap way to promote their company or product. It will backfire.

A good sales person is motivated by money, and possibly been apart of something big. If they can't make decent living selling then they will not work for you. So I recommend a reasonable basic base + a great commission.

Sales people are not pawns...used and disposed of when ever you please. If you treat them like pawns, they are some that could inflict damages on your organization.


It's a partnership stupid!

Having a system in place which helps you gather, analyze information is critical to any business and doesn't have to be expensive. The benefit is a better, more effective marketing campaign, greater ROI, focused execution, efficient use of resources.

1 collect relevant info which empowers you to engage with customers.
What data do you need?
Where can you get it?
How often?
How will you get it?
What will you do with it?

2 Place security systems around consumers info such as controlling who has access. And monitoring transfers.

3 Analyze your information. The cheapest tool would be Excel, Database programs. or CRM (Customer Relations Management) software.
Applied correctly, analysis allows you to look deeper, refine segments and identify clues to the most efficient approach to success.

4 Remember to take peoples' privacy seriously. And put all measures to ensure credible and legal use of personal info.

I've always practiced that you can't start any relationship trying to sell someone. In the past I have reached out to some individuals and companies, to explore working with them, only to be ignored or giving a brush off. Now those same contact want me to listen to their pitch, refer them business, sell their product, etc.

Please don't waste my time. My advice to any business person or individuals, if someone reaches out take time to use it as a way to get to know them, introduce yourself, reconnect

The same applies to social media.

You started a business. Congrats. You're excited that you'll never have to answer to anyone. No one to tell you what to do or not to do. No more depending on others to determine your worth.

The reality is that it is not all rosy. It requires hours of networking, preparing, attending, serving, communicating, marketing, sales, laws, accounting, and very little time for vacations or other relationships. You might feel overwhelmed. The answer is simply to either hire-delegate, partner-delegate, or outsource-delegate. But Manny, I can't afford it right now.

Well you'd be surprise how much better your business would perform and you'd not feel alone. Breakdown your input tasks (hrs it takes to complete a certain task which generates revenue directly / indirectly. Breakdown into sections such as critical, non critical or base it on your strength, weaknesses.)

If it's cost you're worried about, find someone looking to work for gaining experience. High Schools, College, University, Young Companies are great starting places. For critical task, get the best for a bargain. The relationship could help your business.

Should the media block content if you block viewing/ interacting with advertisement

Check Out the discussion on LinkedIn. I think media companies can do this if they feel it's necessary for them to make money. The question is now whether the consumer would go else where?

Do you have the “It Factor”? The question is really what makes people care about your service/product or milkshake? The answer better be something that cannot be easily duplicated. I had a client in the past that was in a business that in my opinion was dead. I would offer to help come up with ways to differentiate the business but I knew that to stand-out the person/managers/owners had to have a natural 'It factor". Without the “It Factor” is like slapping tomato sauce on an iPad and calling it Pizza.

McDonalds free coffee. Toronto Star free Newspaper. Free Consultation. McDonalds can afford it the Star can’t. Tim shouldn’t play McDonalds game. Give something to the potential prospect that shows that you are interested in their business and that you are the right partner for them. Whatever you offer for free better not cost you a fortune, ST or LT. Give 5% - 50% of your profit. If your profit per dinner-for-one is $2, give a personalized chocolate chip cookie for free or other. Offering free dinners is only going to hurt your bottom line and attract the wrong crowd, unless you’re running a charity or you’d recoup your cost some how.

I know that everyone is offering free this or free that so I advice you to seek stronger factors to differentiate your offering. Customized Shaped Pizza with a special source. It could be intangible as well.

All the current social media sites are going to die or likely lose users because their business is a Tool. What happen's to tools? When a better tool comes along, the old one is left to die. That's what Facebook, twitter, linkedin, email providers are. Their survival depends on users nothing more.

Plus, considering launching a service/app on social media/ for the iPhone, ask yourself what's to stop the platform owner from copying your idea and kicking you out.

Do you measure your interaction to sales? It's something to consider due to social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter . How to do it? Use a marketing promotional tactics which is designed specificlly for those medium and monitor effectives. Note that you've only reach engagement when people freely comment, respond to your questions or offerings which is authentic - and not a sales pitch.

You need to constanlly be active, refresh, surprise, relavent, and share to excel in engagement. Check out my linkedin efforts

Sony and Google want to create an iPad clone. Even Amazon recently bought a company that created touch screen technology. iSlate from Dell.

It’s easy just to copy others but you end up becoming a follower without an innovative gene to be found for millions of miles and eventually you die.

Everyone has an app store but no one stops to think lets just create a standard so that one app could run on multiple smart phones, devices. Where are all the visionary leaders even Bill Gates has fallen behind. When was the last time you used Bing? My 2 cents, Figure out a way to carve your own path learn from others but don’t be a “me too”. FYI: Apple is likely to steal more market share from Microsoft and PC makers. Content is King.

Apple has it. Amazon doesn’t. Google has it. Yahoo lost it. Raving fans are customers or individuals who will pretty much cut of their arms just to serve you – not literarily anyway. You consistently give them products that they love, you never try to disappoint, you serve them and in return they serve you.

How do you develop raving fans?
• Organization culture must be passionate about serving
• Executing to perfection
• Hire the right leaders
• Develop your employees
• Spontaneous and surprise your customers
• Show your appreciation
• Give them more value for their money
• Offer them a service not related to your offering such as hiring someone to shovel their driveway.
• Understand their expectations.