Selling

10 TIPS TO GARNER QUALITY REFERRALS by Bill Cates In this document, Bill Cates offers 10 tips you can act on quickly that will start to increase your flow of quality...

Whether you’re running a mega-agency or a boutique, following these proven management guidelines makes sense.
Learn what motivates each of your employees
Use this information to help manage their performance. Although status, power, or additional authority might motivate some people, others might be more excited by the opportunity for tapping into their flair for creative, job-related activities or more face-to-face contact with customers. Rewarding good employees with assignment that speak to their unique motivations, interest and long-range career goals can help you retain them.

10 WAYS TO AVOID LOSING THE SALE Many publications are in the business of telling you how to succeed at selling. Guidelines, strategies, and techniques exist in abundance. However, there isn't ...

10 WAYS TO IMPROVE IN-HOUSE TELEMARKETING by Peter Belanger Follow these proven principles and watch your telemarketing program grow sales and earnings. The mistakes that agen...

10-STEP REFERRAL PROSPECTING SYSTEM: SELLING/PROSPECTING/LEADS by Bill Cates You can create a steady flow of high-qual...

11 SUREFIRE TACTICS TO GAIN CONTROL OF RECEIVABLES by Ken Buehler If you have a receivables problem, now is the best time to contain it. Most agencies with receivables problems believe th...

There's nothing better for business than a booming economy. Unfortunately, it often encourages faulty thinking and spawns erroneous ideas. When sales are strong and profits meet projections, we're quick to take the credit. When things go sour, external forces get the blame.
A good economy tends to mask distorted thinking and inappropriate ideas. For example, personal computer sales have been drifting downward, even while prices have been dropping. Manufacturers are petrified. Out of near desperation, they jack up power to a sizzling 500 MHz to try to capture customer attention. Just as this happens, free PCs appear. In the midst of all this, one company rediscovers itself. To IBM's credit, it figured out what business it's in: solutions.

The goal in business is to outdistance the competition and make profitable sales by producing more customer-friendly products or services. To reach this goal, you need an advantage to improve your batting average-but it's getting more difficult and complicated to obtain this advantage, let alone keep it.

Just when we think we've grasped what's happening in business, something changes to disrupt the precarious balance. It may occur in the economy, an industry, a region, a particular market, or technology that alters even the most flexible business plan.

Establishing a strategy, then staying with it, was possible for most businesses until the last decade. Planning a year or more in advance was relatively easy. Ups and downs would occur but with a high degree of predictability. Hitting sales and revenue targets was almost a natural outcome.

A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR SMALL AGENCIES by Chris Burand Independent agencies, even small ones, definitely have a bright future. Offer better service related to a specific product or offe...