How to Find Product Ideas

??? ideas.... easy? hard? POSSIBLE!

Students can discover product ideas: If you are currently a student, you have an opportunity in front of you. For example, take Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook. In 2002, Zuckerberg graduated from High School. Facebook did not exist. Two years later at Harvard, the birth of Facemash led to Facebook, which today has over 500 million users and is valued at over $5 billion dollars. Facebook was a utility, in essence, to create ways to communicate on a global scale. Zuckerberg executed the idea with extreme focus, and this is why Facebook is the success it is today.

Unemployed can discover product ideas: If you are currently unemployed, you have an opportunity in front of you. Matt Morris, author of The Unemployed Millionaire, shares secrets how he went from broke and down and out to a millionaire twenty times over. You can do it, too. Just one product idea can motivate you to stop watching television and start launching your own business. What are you waiting for? Time is your biggest asset, and you have plenty of it right now. Use it wisely!

Employed people can find product ideas: If you are currently employed, you have an opportunity in front of you, too. While you may have less time in front of you to take action, you also probably have more financial resources at your disposal to outsource different tasks to people who can help accelerate the growth of your business. You also can hire a coach to help you stay on track and help you launch your product successfully.

In case you are thinking "How can I do that?" I will share a few ideas to help you get started.

First, here are three ways to come up with product ideas:


1. The "Why don't they...?" question:

"Why don't they have a _____?"

2. The I hate statement:

"I hate ______ (product). I wish these would do _______."

3. The I would LOVE Question:
 
"If only _____ did _____, I would love it!"
 
If you ever find yourself asking one of those questions or making one of those statements, you have a product or service idea in front of you. For example, in 2007, I was attending the San Jose Jazz Festival. While listening to the music, I turned to my girlfriend at the time and said, "Why don't we have one of these in our home town?" Thus, the idea for a music festival was born. I investigated, and no jazz festival had ever been held in my home town. I created a team, raised funding, and opened a non-profit corporation. We are now planning our first festival in September 2011! You will notice the idea started with the question phrase "Why don't we...?" Any time you hear or use that phrase, you might just be onto something.
 
Just last week, I decided I wanted a product for some of the work I do. However, when I tried to buy one at my local store, they had nothing like it. I went online and guess what? It didn't exist there, either. In fact, the existing products I COULD buy I don't even like. Considering this, I consider that product category RIPE for INNOVATION. Have you made such a discovery yourself? If you do, you are onto a product idea.
 
The product idea started with "I hate _____." I used that phrase to describe the product I currently use. I also used the phrase "I would love this ______ (product) if it looked like ______ (description of product) and was more comfortable. I want something better. Thus, I will create it. (Sorry, I cannot yet name the product as I'm still going through the branding/trademark/patent process to protect my idea.) I used both the "I hate _____" and "I wish my _____ did ______" to come up with this new idea.
 
Find a hole or niche in the market, then move to exploit it!
 
Once you have a product idea, you must do several things:
 
First, hire a patent attorney. Run a trademark search and patent search and see if there is anything like it you need to be concerned about. Consider all the possibilities of innovation with your product, then file the patent and trademarks to protect your idea.
 
Second, hire a business launch coach (hint, hint). You'd be surprised, but these guys have been there, done that, and know the difference between focus and scatter, hard work and luck, and success and failure. You want someone who can help you find your way through the crazy decisions facing you with focused effort. If you cannot figure that out yourself, then by all means hire a coach.
 
Third, write a short business plan. You need to work from a plan. Do you know what step comes next? A business plan will lay this out for you and bring clarity to required actions. If you need help with a simple plan, I have several tools I make available to clients when they hire me as coach that will help you get your plan started in HOURS rather than WEEKS. I love helping people save time. But whether you hire out help or write it yourself, get started, figure out what you need, and then get to it. Without a plan, you plan to fail, so write down an action plan.
 
Fourth, build a team. When you build a team, do not go crazy. Remember, you don't have money to pay anyone yet. Even if you do, why do that? Outsource, hire independent contractors, and use stock for the difference. The first person to bring on board after your business coach is either COO or CFO. You need someone to help run the company and someone to help manage the money. You may also need a marketing firm to help. I tend to find marketing experts who will work as independent contractors, so I would recommend that path, first, before hiring to bring that function in house.
 
As you can see, it is not rocket science to find product ideas and start your own business. But you must take ACTION. If you sit around and watch everyone else, you never do anything. Watch for when people say the triggers to product ideas, and pay attention if you catch your own voice saying "I wish we had.... ______." It just might be your next BIG IDEA.
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Copyright © 1999-2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE. Like it? Share on del.icio.us or Stumble Upon!

No More Call Reluctance

If you are in sales, you must know the term "call reluctance" as it related to cold calling, right?

What the term means is you are AFRAID or RELUCTANT to make calls, that you KNOW could lead to getting an appointment or making money. But you don't do it. Why?

Well, if you're like most sales people, you HATE COLD CALLING!

Yep, I said it. And that is PRECISELY why I created Cold to Gold Mind Spark Session sales training workshops. You see, the reason why most people HATE COLD CALLING is because they do not have a SYSTEM to help them prospect more effectively and efficiently. Not only that, they also do not usually have a system to DRAW MORE PROSPECTS to your door. Do you have such a system? I do! It makes a WORLD of difference to my business, too.

Now, the system I created for turning cold calls into GOLD CALLS is a 12 step process I teach in Cold to Gold sales training workshops. I also review the mental thought process, the approach, the strategies, how to plan, and the technical ways people just never think of to help you get in the door. You also learn how to sell to the C-level, and other creative strategies.

Well, I can't spill all the beans here, but if you're interested it is likely because you know you NEED training like this. Guess what? I'm hosting my next workshop August 16, 2010. It lasts five days, M-T-W-TH-F and is scheduled from 10:00AM til 11:00AM PST August 16 through the 20. You can sign up here:

Announcing COLD TO GOLD ONLINE workshop August 16, 2010 – August 20, 2010 (held 10:00AM PST – 11:00AM PST each day M – F) is the way to go. Here is the link for the ONLINE August 16 – 20 workshop:

http://fb.eventpal.com/PurchaseTicket.aspx?eid=2087

Once you purchase your ticket, you’ll receive information about the workshop from me within 24 hours. I look forward to seeing you at the registration or online! If you have any questions, or for a group discount, please email me directly. This workshop is sure to sell out, so act quickly while tickets are still available.

Scott – your Trainer
805.459.6939
ARRiiVE.com
ColdtoGold.com

Cold to Gold: Mind Spark Sessions - OVERCOME the FEAR of COLD CALLING and get the POWER to GET IN THE DOOR SUCCESSFULLY.

“Gain the confidence to call and savvy to market -- 30% More Qualified Meetings (Sales Growth) in 30 Days or the Workshop is FREE.”

Look forward to seeing you on the call - stop hating cold calling are start loving GOLD calling. It's a world of difference.
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Copyright © 1999-2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE. Like it? Share on del.icio.us or Stumble Upon!

5 Ways to Boost Productivity

People often wonder how I accomplish everything I do. I think it is a combination of how I schedule my day, how I spend free time, and how fast I work. Possibly, it could be how I structure sleep, too, but I think what matters more is that I work when I FEEL my BEST.

In order to help you do more, here are my top FIVE ways to boost your productivity.

5 Ways to Boost Productivity:

I. The first way to boost productivity is to be quick at things you do often.

For an example of things I do often, consider keyboard typing. First of all, I learned how to type in high school. I remember during the summer I asked my mother, a business teacher at Santa Maria High School at the time, "Hey Mom, what class could I take that would be the most important for business in the years to come?"

Mom replied, "Learn typing. Typing will be more and more important with the growth of computers."

I have a pretty wise Mom, huh? Keep in mind, this was in 1982! So, I signed up for typing. Playing saxophone might have helped me become the fastest typist in class (92 WPM) but at any rate, that year of typing still benefits me daily to this day. If you haven't learned how to type, I strongly encourage it. Although, it won't matter nearly as much as pointing in the next 20 years (finger/touch computing will quickly become a standard with the advent of the iPad and touch devices moving into mainstream computing).

II. The second way to boost productivity is to maximize your work hours.

Yes, I type fast. But, I also structure my day different than most people. I work when I am most awake, alert, and productive. That, for me, is between 4AM and 8AM, between 8AM and Noon, between 10AM and 2PM, between 4PM and 8PM, and between 10PM and 2AM. You might say, "wait a minute, Scott. You can't possibly work all those hours EVERY day, can you?" and you may have noticed these time slots overlap. You are correct. My schedule varies. That is because I sleep at odd times. It sparks my creativity. Also, I am a jazz/funk musician, so sometimes I keep odd hours. I balance this with naps.

If you learn to nap, you can work when you're awake and sleep when you're tired. Thomas Edison did it. Many other great innovators do it, too. So, that's what I do. But I also schedule time to work when I know I can be my best. It is critical to balance your energy in such a way so that you operate a peak performance as much as possible.

III. The third way to boost your productivity is to structure your workflow.

When I structure my work, I structure it the following way:

1. Projects - what top three projects can I work on now?
   a. What is required to move this project forward this week?
   b. Who do I need to speak with or meet in the next week re: moving this forward?
   c. What can be delegated/outsourced?
   d. What priorities need to be done right away?
2. Schedule - what events are key to success this week?
3. People - who do I need to call today?
  a. Initiate new conversations w/influential people
  b. Follow-up conversations w/influential people
  c. Other conversations that must take place this week
4. Other tasks, email

IV. Time slice for important projects to boost productivity.

If your organize your week and your day in this way, you will achieve a considerable amount with your projects. I find this schedule works well UNLESS you're trying to promote and sell something or have a critical project that must be completed that week. If you're actively prospecting for business you will need to block out time to only make calls for that effort. I do that for Cold to Gold calls. At some point in the near future, I will outsource all of that activity, too. The same for a mission-critical project that must be completed that week. Block out time without any distraction (no email, phone, meetings, noise) while you complete that task for the mission critical project.

V. Outsource, delegate, and eliminate. Again, ask: "What can I outsource?" Much of what I used to do I no longer do, either by choice or by outsourcing. By eliminating things you actually spend time on directly, you can focus your efforts to the interactions that matter most towards your project objectives. Does this makes sense to you?

Last, ask yourself  "Where do I waste time?" If you can eliminate time wasting behavior, you can maximize your day even further.
I find that the more I delegate - whether a work commute, unnecessary meetings, tasks, television, and other unnecesary tasks, the more time I have to be productive at writing a book, speaking (radio shows, in person keynote speaking, and so forth), and meeting people to advance my projects.

Use these FIVE ways to boost productivity and your own work will wisely drive your own ability to succeed because you will boost your productivity, too.
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Copyright © 1999-2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE. Like it? Share on del.icio.us or Stumble Upon!

Can Work Ethic Be Coached?

You can coach work ethic by demonstrating it and encouraging people to care in order to achieve progress. The best way to do this is to emulate it yourself, and COACH people who underperform by inspiring them by ROLE MODELS who succeed and have proven sales process in the organization.


Example: A manager I once coached ran a personnel recruiting office where a certain salesperson was underperforming. Recruiters conduct much of their business over the phone. The calls they make and the effort they put out matters. Well, the manager's salesman had a GREAT speaking voice: low, deep, and authoritative. Yet, he was on her "black list" to replace!

I asked the manager, "Why are you going to fire Tony?"

She answered, "Because he comes in late, he takes long lunches, leaves at 5PM regularly, and does not seem to understand our selling process."

I asked, "Who is the best rep at that branch?" She gave me her name.

I then said, "What does she do to set her apart?"

She said, "Rachel schedules the bulk of her new calls DURING the morning, lunch, and afternoon drive time when clients are most likely to pick up their phone directly. She schedules all her follow-up calls during the rest of the day. She takes lunch and breaks at outside times and usually schedules these breaks as meetings with clients. She works late at least twice a week and does her reporting Sunday night."

I asked her "Have you explained to Tony what makes Rachel exemplary?"

She said, "Not exactly."

I replied, "Then, if you fire him, why don't you fire yourself in the process. You hired him, yet you aren't coaching him on what you really want. So, if he fails, you failed him. Because you haven't made it clear to him what a "star performer" does to earn those honors. I would suggest a meeting with Tony, and in that meeting let him know you hired him because you think he has the potential to be a "star performer" on your team. ASK HIM how his numbers would look if he were a manager. Then agree that performance is below par, but have him explain why he thinks that might be. Then share your insights and especially share what Rachel said that makes her a consistent star performer. Suggest that you believe he could experience much higher success by emulating Rachel's tactics. End the meeting by encouraging him and sharing how much you look forward to him rockin' it!"

She did this, exactly. Within two weeks this "slacker" transitioned from the bottom numbers to challenging Rachel for top rep at that branch and never looked back.

Yes, you can teach BOTH work ethic and sales process to turnaround poor performers. As a manager, it is imperative to dig for the process that the best use to succeed, and then share that process with the team. With good coaching, a manager can turn many bottom performers into top performers.

Do you have an example of a turnaround on your team? Or perhaps a struggle you'd like to share? Feel free to comment. (Please, no "link spam" - thank you!)
________________________________________
 
Scott Andrews, Author, is CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions and Founder of AspireNow.com. He also is the creator of the innovative "Cold to Gold: How to Overcome Fear and Get In The Door Successfully" sales training program (http://www.coldtogold.com/). This article is published with all rights reserved. If you wish to publish, please contact info [at] ARRiiVE.com.
 
Copyright © 1999-2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. SUBSCRIBE. Like it? Share on del.icio.us or Stumble Upon!

New Sales Training Workshops

Part of growing your business often includes learning new methods how to get in the door and network better.

Join me as I host a class through ARRiiVE Business Solutions, called "Cold to Gold: How to Overcome the Fear of Cold Calling and Get In The Door Successfully" as a "Mind Spark Session" workshop.

Next workshops:
IN PERSON: July 1, 2010 from 1P - 5P in San Luis Obispo, CA, at KCBXnet - for a discounted $397.00 per person (normally $497 pp).

WEBINAR: For those who do not live close to San Luis Obispo, you will want to sign up for the webinar this coming June 15. The webinar is one hour a day and runs from Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 am to 11:00 am each day for four (4) days. You need to sign up by June 13th. There will be another webinar mid-July, too. Webinar format Cold to Gold is just $297 per person.

"Cold to Gold offers a clear and dynamic system to help people 'get in the door' and skyrocket sales success." -- Alan Harris, Former Senior Program Manager Remedy

You do more than learn how to open the door; you learn how to interact with prospects in ways that lead to a sale. Because how you relate to your prospect is as important as the solutions you create or offer your prospect.

Cold to Gold is the only course that breaks down both the mental process and each step of customer attraction, from “push” methods, such as calling or email to “pull” methods such as events, speaking, and networking. This program weaves ARRiiVE Training's proven principles of success into every session for maximum takeaway. In the end, you will learn how to go from “Cold” to “Gold” with your prospects through our unique Mind Spark Session TM workshops.

Who Should AttendSales people - whether they are new hires or have been on the job for a while. Cold to Gold will turn you into a sales leader because it develops you from sales person into confidante.
You Will Be Able To:

• Build sales strategy to map your approach to prospects buying method and cycle
• Learn better communications skills to connect with decision makers
• Drop the fear of cold calling through a warm system of interaction
• Learn headlines and copy that creates higher open rates, return calls, and letter opens
• Display confidence in yourself and your company and build credibility instantly
• Ask the right questions to determine qualified solution opportunities
• Gain tools to immediately win commitment to productive meetings
• Influence the conversation so that it reaches a mutually beneficial conclusion
• Follow up in a way that creates additional sales opportunities

Sign up your team for a Cold to Gold workshop at http://www.coldtogold.com/, or call 805-459-6939 to discuss a group discount.

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Copyright © 1999-2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE. Like it? Share on del.icio.us or Stumble Upon!

Teleseminars Grow Your Business

Using LOVE CALLS to grow your business

Bloggers: in case you've forgotten, not everyone who subscribes to a blog will always read that blog. In fact, up to 30% of the people who read your blog or other type of e-zine or newsletter may only read it once or twice. This is why I feel it is important to offer many different ways to market to your possible prospects.

Salespeople who only use the phone are limiting themselves as some people never return salespeople's phone call messages unless they've met IN PERSON first! So, make your contact in person.

Other people must touch. So, reach out and touch them.

Or, in some cases, people will dial into a teleseminar if they believe you're offering high quality content that will make a difference in their work, life, money, health, etc. I'm one of those people. Why? I'm AUDITORY! I LOVE teleseminars. Why? Because I can work on other things while they're talking, and if they then say something that catches my attention, I stop, pay attention, write down notes, or interject and ask them questions. I'm sure other businesspeople are the same way and listen in on calls with an ear cocked for quality content.

If the topic is really good, which some are, I don't multitask at all. In fact, in those cases, I'll open up Word and type a telescript of the notes as fast as I can while they're talking (with my audio muted, of course). I'm starting to outsource that kind of activity, but still will engage once in a while when the author or speaker is highly credible. I've also used teleseminars to great effect, along with my ARRiiVE: Innovations in Business Radio talk show which helps solidify and produce business relationships that are still beneficial months after the shows were recorded.

Many of you Internet Marketers who read this blog are seeking ways to explode your list to make more money. Well, in that case, let me recommend to you that you might consider ways to discover teleseminar secrets.

I'll be talking more about teleseminars, video seminars, webinars, and things like that in the months' ahead. In the meantime, check out this link about teleseminar secrets that still work. Not just for salespeople, but for bloggers, too.

One tip I'll leave you with: LOVE CALLS. When is the last time you held a call with some valuable information just to show the love to your clients? I just attended a "love call" today, where the marketer offered "Answers to 10 Most Popular Questions" in a teleseminar format. It was good, and he got a chance to plug his new program in the front, in the middle, and at the end of the call.

Insert your own call to action moments into your own teleseminars, and you'll see these telephone sales and marketing tools produce more success, over the long-term, than without them, for sure.

Use LOVE CALLS at least once a year - preferably a couple of times a year, to expand your business and thank those who've already bought from you. There are other secrets to teleseminars, too. Click the link for teleseminar secrets that still work and remind yourself why you ought to host a teleseminar, too.
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Copyright © 1999-2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.

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How to Start a Business

Do you want to learn how to start a business?
Are you currently starting a company? Or, maybe you're launching a product or new service?

Join Scott Andrews, International Author, Speaker, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions, as he shares wisdom learned in starting AspireNow, ARRiiVE, and launching products and companies.

How to Start a Business
Avoid the Top 10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make and

Learn Ways to Build a Successful Company

In this NO-COST, 1 hour tele-seminar, you will learn secrets to launch your business:

• Learn ways entrepreneurs sabotage success...find out what not to do!
• Gain insights from masters...grow wisdom to learn how to make it.
• Discover the differences between good and GREAT companies...build it right from the start.
• Why NOW?...Discover why NOW is a GREAT TIME to START YOUR COMPANY.
• Maximize your money...explore ways to stretch capital or bootstrap a business.
• And more!

About Scott:
As seen and heard on CBS, ABC, and Seeing Beyond (KEST), Scott Andrews' unique wisdom and ability to inspire people to action is second to none. Scott is a natural performer, but also possesses the power to take complex business and life development challenges and break them down into simple and actionable frameworks you can immediately apply to improve your present situation. Scott is a former Toastmaster and current board member of SLO STC and Cal Poly School of Journalism Internships. He created the first interactive self-help website: "AspireNow Advisor: Instant Self-help on the Web" in 2001. He has successfully launched or been involved in the launch of dozens of products and companies, including StoryAD Network, ElementsLocal, Instantis, numerous coaching companies, Cold to Gold (www.ColdtoGold.com), and he is currently launching the 1st SLO Jazz Festival (www.SLOJazzFest.org - September 25, 2010). He teaches both business and personal development programs and is often a featured keynote speaker to groups ranging from 20 to 2,000.

"Why waste months of time trying to launch a new product? ARRiiVE Business Solutions can help you get your program launched exponentially faster." -- Michelle Casto, International Speaker & Author of "Get Smart" series of books

"Scott helped my company through a critical growth period. He made a BIG difference!!!" -- Jim Vangelos, CEO, Polymer Logistics

"Scott has a commanding presence...he never fails to wow his audience with new ideas and dynamic ability to inspire people." -- Jessica Haynes, Author of "Get What You Want" and "GPS to Success", Business and Relationship Coach

"Scott is a strategic business leader able to launch unique solutions to grow revenue and drive stability." -- Grant Stellwagen, Owner, Stellwagen Insurance
Schedule this call in your Outlook/calendar now so you can attend this powerful no-cost 1 hour teleseminar:

Just call in at 5:00 p.m. PST on Wednesday, April 28, 2010
See ARRiiVE.com for details or just visit this link to sign-up:

http://www.arriive.com/business_launch_teleseminar_signup.htm

I'm sharing this no-cost information today (Wednesday, April 28, 2010) at 5:00 PM PST, and it will be recorded, for anyone who is interested. You all are INVITED! :)

Thanks!
Scott
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Copyright © 1999-2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE. Like it? Share on del.icio.us or Stumble Upon!

Draw Prospects To You

If you're a subscriber to ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business, you more than likely either run a business or contribute to a business in the capacity of sales, marketing, or management.

As such, your position demands you to build relationships. There is no way around it: you have to send emails, make phone calls, meet people at networking or business mixers, and also might be blogging, tweeting, and need ways to improve your success to maximize your time.

Sound familiar? This is why I created Cold to Gold Mind Spark SessionsTM - the whole idea is to provide a short, effective, and efficient workshops where I personally teach you my methods to get in the door with phone, email, mail, and other tactics, and how I draw prospects to me through my blog, radio show, videos, and more. This is EXACTLY the INFORMATION YOU NEED to help you SELL MORE!

I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO SIGN UP if you need these skills! If you're running a team, I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO SIGN UP YOUR TEAM. There is no program in the market place of sales training available today that so quickly and effectively teaches you how to get in the door and build long-lasting successful business relationships in such a powerful and memorable way.

And, for the months of April and May, 2010, I'm offering a special ten for eight discount - in other words, just enter "10for8" in the discount field at ColdtoGold.com (click "Start Now" to order) or CLICK THIS LINK:

http://coldtogold.eventbrite.com/?discount=10for8

It is simple and easy - each class starts on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. PST through 11:00 a.m. PST and runs every day through Friday of the week you start. If you miss a class, each class if recorded. That's four sessions, across four days - so you never even have to leave the field or your office to learn this information!

Again, just use this link and sign up today:
http://www.coldtogold.com/

or for a team of 10, use this link:
http://coldtogold.eventbrite.com/?discount=10for8

Call me at 805.459.6939 with any questions.

Most companies have NOT been training their supposed "sales experts" on cold calling, how to get in the door, and such - they focus on product knowledge. How can your sales team show what you have to offer if they never get the appointment? Don't make that mistake, sign up today:

http://www.coldtogold.com/

For a team of 10, use this link and get a discount:
http://coldtogold.eventbrite.com/?discount=10for8
________________________________________

Copyright © 1999-2010 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.
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Cold Calling Is Not Dead

One of my competitors often writes about how "Cold Calling is Dead." Oddly, I still receive plenty of phone calls in my business. How about you? Therefore, Cold Calling is NOT dead!

However, I will point out that if you start blindly calling people without a plan, you are likely to run into frustration. In addition, frustration leads to anger, which builds resentment, and creates an unhappy employee. We do not ever want to be unhappy in our job, right? Therefore, you ought to call from a PLAN.

One of the ways I improve my cold calls through a plan is to turn cold calls into  WARM CALLS. The best way to do that is to find out information about the person or company you are calling. It is much like using a "prop" when a single man approaches a single girl. One of my friends is a master at this technique of what dating experts call "The Approach". He uses props to open the conversation. For example: "How is the food here? Good? I love that dish! I make a similar recipe... have you tried that, too?" and bingo, he is in a conversation with a pretty brunette about gourmet cooking. It happens most women love a man who can cook, so at the same time he opened one of his own favorite convesations. That creates passion. If you can create conversations where both parties are PASSIONATE about the topic, both will likely walk away stronger friends.

I tried it the following day at a bookstore. I noticed a cute woman thumbing through a book. I stop and asked her "How is the book? Any good?" and we were immediately talking about something SHE was interested in discussing. The book sounded interesting, and I love reading, too, so it was easy to talk about the book with her. The reason this works is because you are aligning yourself iwth your prospect's interests.

The business world is a LITTLE different than dating, but not much. I will tell you why: forming conversations with ANY person always starts with what THEY are interested in discussing. So, you must learn about your prospect's interests in order to RELATE to them. And, more importantly, for them to RELATE to you.

Try this technique the next time you make a cold call to attempt to turn it into a warm call. Do enough research to feel like you know something interesting about the person you call. Look them up at LinkedIn. Look up their company and read their last five press releases, annual report, and product descriptions. Start to identify with them, and you will find that your opportunity to cold call is not dead, but in fact that opportunity is alive and well. Cold calling is never dead if you can relate to your prospect.

Find ways to relate to your prospect and your prospect will likely RELATE back with you.

You'll gain training like this and information of this caliber, and much more, when you sign up for Cold to Gold: Mind Spark SessionTM sales training workshops. These communication workshops help sales executives and others who wish to "get in the door" to learn how to open doors more successfully and build long lasting business relationships. Learn more at ColdtoGold.com.
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Why Salespeople Fail

There are essentially a number of reasons why salespeople miss their quotas. Do you know what they are?

I've heard managers say "my salespeople aren't making enough calls" and "my salespeople make calls but they don't sell anything - I think they're just making friends with everyone of their prospects" and "my salespeople make calls but don't sell what I want them to sell" and all sorts of other things.

The truth of the matter is that most salespeople miss their quota for one reason:

MOST SALESPEOPLE FAIL TO PLAN.

It might sound silly, but it really is true. Do you know how I know this? Because whenever managers tell their salespeople they need an account review to write a sales territory plan of how they're going to hit their quota they all go into scramble mode! I recall the frantic "Scott, you know how to plan... can you please HELP ME!" phone calls I used to receive when I worked in the High Tech industry selling services. Oddly, I'd usually walk out of my own account review meeting beaming, having received kudos for a great plan, along with the words, "now just execute upon that plan and we'll all be even happier next year" (execution of the sales plan is the #2 reason people fail, coincidentally). And, yes, I'd go hit my numbers year after year after year.

"FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL."

My first boss out of college had a great expression: "Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail." He would often put this up on the slide projector at the start of meetings. It stuck. It's true! The guy knew what he was doing - he turned a $300K sales team into a $1MM+ sales team in ONE YEAR. I think if every manager copied his formula for success they'd have more success. His original formula used with that team was a winner. I'm going to put it into a program for sales managers later in 2010, so stay tuned on that one... anyway, my point is that planning is vital to success.

An often quoted statement is about the 3% of a graduating class at Harvard or Yale who wrote down their goals achieved more than the other 97% combined. I don't know if that story is true or not - it has not been substantiated from what I've seen. However, I did see a study from the Dominican University that there is an increase from 4.28 (unwritten goals) to 7.6 (written goals with progress reports to a friend or mentor). So, writing the goal down, including milestones, and reporting back on progress is a great idea if you want to be twice as good as the "typical" salesperson (who I've already explained is too lazy to write down their plan).

So, make a plan. If you're not sure how to write a territory plan, I've written instructions before on the blog and at AspireNow.com I think I posted an article in the past. You can hire someone to write one for you. But I believe there is value in writing your own plan. You may not work the plan (execute) if you don't write it. Take the time. Make the effort. Write a plan you can use to succeed.

If you want help with your plan, I've written a ton of sales plans and had CEO's and Sr. VP's tell me my plans are the best they've ever seen in their life. I've been hired off a sales plan I wrote for two different jobs. My plans are *that* powerful.

What are the keys to a good plan? Well, you must include the following:

1. Non-disclosure agreement & Executive Overview
2. Mission
3. Objectives
4. Understanding of Ideal Client
5. Definition of Product (what are you selling to them and why)
6. Strategy to achieve objectives
7. Territory - definition of borders, vertical, geographical markets
8. Ways you intend to differentiate and add value to prospects in that territory
9. The math of how you will achieve your quota
10. Milestones to hit to make sure you're on plan
11. Statement of known and unknown factors of risk

Only share #10 milestones with a boss if you intend for the boss to start measuring you on those milestones and you intend to hit them. If you're going to fluff your way through success, don't list that. But frankly, if you're going to succeed, you ought to list things you know you can achieve.

Most sales plans don't include #11 - but good business plans do. Why? Because this covers your butt if you MISS your quota, despite doing everything right, due to something weird happening. For example, if you missed a quota when the economy tanked. Some companies will give up on you if they think you aren't working your plan. But if you can demonstrate you are working your plan and can show prospects that indicate success is around the corner, that may buy you time to keep your job and thrive in the future. It's all about achievement of the numbers to most of these bosses, so you must show progress towards those numbers.

And, regarding achieving, it's all about your quota, in the end, for any boss. So, every boss will examine #6 with a fine toothpick and comb if they're worth their salt. Put the numbers they need to see there. But, for your OWN benefit, take THEIR quota numbers and then figure out how to DOUBLE that goal. Because that is the goal you ought to work for - reason being that if you miss YOUR quota you will still hit THEIR quota.

Besides the plan itself, doubling your quota is the #1 key to ensuring you always hit your quota. It proves that success is largely a MENTAL thing - you must condition your mind to BELIEVE YOU CAN. Take their quota, double it, figure out how to accomplish THAT goal, then work towards THOSE numbers. As long as you're adding value, selling the right number of deals to the right prospects, and focused on that higher number, you will pretty much always blow away your goals. There are other reasons salespeople miss quota I identify and discuss in Cold to Gold Mind Spark SessionsTM (my sales workshops). I'm offering these workshops for a limited time prior to selling Cold to Gold online, so don't wait if you're looking to explode your success in 2010 - many of the techniques I'm offering for a limited time and they are not offered anywhere else.

To register a group of 20 or more, send me an email to info@ARRiiVE.com. Otherwise, sign up directly at ColdtoGold.com

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