How to Get Your New Business Started

Thinking of starting your own business? We’d like to share this thought provoking article “10 Mistakes that Start-Up Entrepreneurs Make” By ROSALIND RESNICK

Goals in Strategy

Goal setting is a necessary and critical aspect of any strategic plan and developing your strategic plan is a process that requires both introspection and vision. Setting goals is the bridge between dreams and reality and they must be tangible and realistic to avoid frustration and disappointment.

Simple goals are definitive and historically elicit a better success rate from the implementation team. Specific targets give staff a clear sense of purpose, eliminate confusion and minimise distractions. By including staff in the discussions and goal setting process you increase your success rate 10-fold and build a strong and committed team along the way.

Seek consensus on achievable expectations from the ground level and discuss different methods of committing to goals and implementing the action plans. Incentives, beyond any usual bonuses or commission structures are a great way to challenge comfort zones and stretch the boundaries. Aim to inspire your staff, not necessarily with monetary incentives but perhaps some time off or even just a simple and sincere thank you!

Allowing the goals, which are typically managerial decisions, to evolve through discussions with employees builds a sense of shared work, common goals and team rewards. In turn this builds a sense of accountability and responsibility, which your customers will reap the benefits of by way of improved service levels and you, of course, will see the impact on your profitability.

Good communication between staff and employer aligns the team to the corporate mission. Persistence is the key to living the Strategic Plan and later revelling in the rewards. For a simple step-by-step guide to Strategic Planning visit TheSmallBusinessStrategicToolbox.com today.

Filling the Sales Funnel

Any small business owner knows all about the need to keep the sales funnel full, and the pain that comes if it dries up.

The “sales lead funnel” is the phrase used for the methodology employed to take a person from the initial cold call stage right through to the first (and hopefully repeat) orders being placed. We all know that not everyone you or your sales team speaks to will buy from you so if your funnel isn’t full, neither will your pipeline be!

The old saying goes that, on average, you have to make 10 calls to get 1 sale! However if you don’t have 10 irons in the fire none of them will get hot and the funnel will dry up.

There are a few things you need to think about in order to improve your sales success rate. Today we’re going to take a look at three basic selling tips that are critical in order to keep your funnel full:

First: Make sure you don’t lose any leads. Keep name, telephone numbers and email addresses in a system that you can quickly and easily access … and don’t ever throw a lead away, you never know when your sales will depend on being able to contact that person.

Second: Determine your sales pitch. You don’t have to be the pushy, hard-core salesman; you just have to understand the value of a lead. So much of your selling style depends on your industry, your needs and your personality. However, a process is required to take a person from initial contact through to a successful sale. Sit and think about how to handle objections, how to defer a no today to a maybe in six months time and how to mention something that connects with the contact. Only by having a system, trying it out, tweaking it and retrying it can your sales conversions improve. Remember to assign your leads with the future lifetime value they could have for you, only then will you treat them in a way that will connect and resonate with them.

Third: Convert your lead from being a suspect to a prospect and then through to being a loyal customer. There is only one way to do this, follow up relentlessly! You or your sales team need to be there when your prospect decides it’s time to buy. If you aren’t in regular contact you won’t be top of mind when the buying decision is ready to be made and they’ll have forgotten about you and go to whoever is convenient or whoever called on them the day before. Get to know your leads so that you understand them at a more personal level, then connect with them one on one and look for ways to give them something of perceived value for free. That way they’ll feel indebted to you and feel more receptive to your buying signals in future.

Selling and the sales process is one of those challenging areas in small businesses that are fraught with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. At The Small Business Toolbox we know this and that’s why we’ve focused on getting our next programme, The Small Business Sales Toolbox, underway. Stay tuned it’ll be going live in time to set your sales strategy and sales targets for 2010!

Sales Letters – Part Three

In this last in a series of blog posts about how to write sales letters that work we look and two more story-line angles that have been tried and tested over the years and have been found to elicit the right action from recipients, purchasing the product concerned!

Connect with the reader by highlighting a problem or fear they may have.

This is one of the most effective tools and connects on a basic psychological level, which can convert, if written correctly, at an astonishing rate.

For example: “You may feel safe from retirement worries now, but did you know that nearly all small business owners reach 60 without having a business that is saleable and without having made adequate provision for their retirement income? Now is the time to develop your Small Business Strategy to ensure that you can sell and receive a lump sum payment or develop a business model that will ensure your nest egg is in place and well tended when you want to start slowing down!”

This approach has been used by the advertising industry for years. It’s referred to as “pushing the ouch button” and you’d be surprised at how many situations you can use it in. It really works like a charm.

Finally, you can mention someone the reader knows.

This is a very effective method if you can personalize your communication and use someone that the recipient admires, respects and wants to emulate.

By way of example: “Did you know that your friend *Sue Brown* told us that you could really use some help in developing a more effective business model for your business? That’s why we’re inviting you to visit The Small Business Strategic Toolbox and find out how you can work smarter, rather than harder, in your small business. She loved the programme and knows it can help you too.”

If you introduce a referral programme at the same time this can be an extremely effective way to reach out and touch your potential new clients and reward your satisfied customers at the same time.
Approach your clients and ask them for the names of a few people who they believe may benefit from also using your products or services. Offer them an incentive if those people respond and you’ll develop your own sales force of committed and loyal followers very quickly and effectively. These types of referral programmes take some time to generate, but they’re well worth the effort!

In closing this Sales Letter mini-series:

Always remember that it is your primary objective in writing a sales letter to “hook” your reader as quickly as possible! We’re all receive tons of e-mails, brochures, flyers and phone calls every day from someone wanting to sell us something so you have a limited amount of time to grab their attention and get them reading on.

Ideally you want to keep your sales letters to within a maximum of two computer screens or two A4 pages and while there can be exceptions it is vital that you only write as much as you need to connect with the reader and share the benefits of buying your product/service and no more. People don’t buy waffle, they buy solutions to their problems so get to the point in a way that makes the reading a pleasant experience!

Sales Letters – Part Two

Following on from the last blog post on how to write effective sales letter, whether you’re going to send them through the post, or by email. Here are two more writing styles that you should find effective. After all they’ve been tried and tested by the top copy writers of all time.

Ask questions.

Use questions effectively at the start of a sales letter to connect with the ideal customer quickly.

For example: “As a small business owner have you ever stood in front of the mirror and wondered what the heck you are doing in your business? If we told you that you’re just like hundreds of other small business owners and that we have a product guaranteed to help you market your business more effectively, for less than you ever thought possible, would you be interested? And what if we told you this product would cost you less than R500? Visit The Small Business Marketing Toolbox today and find out how easy and effective marketing your small business could be!”

Psychology research tells us that when you ask questions the reader instinctively feels compelled to answer them. In this way you’re involving them in the issue at hand and connecting directly with them and their problems. Many effective sales letters ask a series of questions that are all likely to elicit a positive and strong “yes” from the recipient and in this way channel their actions towards your product.

Also, try offering something for FREE.

An example could be: “Would you like to receive a complimentary newsletter that contains tried and tested tips and advice on how to manage your small business more effectively? Visit The Small Business Toolbox today and subscribe to our e-zine. It’ll deliver sound small business management tools directly to your inbox!”

Why not think of something free that you could offer your customers right now? Perhaps also a free e-mail or printed newsletter? Maybe even a helpful article, report, brochure or booklet. If possible even a complimentary consultation with you or even a discount on their first visit to your business.

These two copy writing skills work very effectively. Take them and adapt them to your business and then use them effectively to increase trial and conversion.