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SALES REVENUE FORMULA 14 Steps

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Firm Leadership, Leadership.

All strategies demand tactics. If closing is truly a fine art, then the tactics needed to cross the goal line are multifarious, formed by the marketing resources and sales maneuvers that have gone before. Whole careers are spent mastering these final, decisive steps. As such, the following CLOSING SKILLS provide just a sample of the best practices.

1. Opening Arguments First
2. Give Something Away
3. Underscore Accountability
4. Dump the Resume
5. Let Them Talk
6. Deliver Value
7. Understand Needs
8. Identify Hidden Decision Makers
9. Evaluate Relationships and Retention
10. Learn Their Personal Concerns
11. Focus on Selection
12. ASK for Their Business
13. Think Business Generation
14. Maximize Rejection

The very expectation of Value creates a dynamic that’s optimally conducive to “closing.”
For details.

Dr. Allan Colman
Chief Revenue Officer
ClosersGroup.com
1.310.508.8600

PUTTING THE ‘REV’ BACK IN REVENUE

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Firm Leadership, Leadership.

We’re writing to you today with exciting news. Made for Success has completed a new course designed for small business owners called the 90-Day Revenue Sprint.

Born from years of implementing rapid revenue growth programs with entrepreneurs, Dr. Allan Colman engineered this robust video course to help grow your sales pipeline – FAST.

It’s certainly been a difficult year for many businesses, and many are asking “How do I bounce back?”. You can STILL have a record-breaking year for sales, and you don’t need to simply be treading water through this challenging time.

Isn’t it time to accelerate your revenue? Click here to learn how to become a sprinter today.

I can’t wait to see you there!

 

Bryan Heathman
Made for Success Publishing

Do you use tissue or Kleenex?

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Firm Leadership, Leadership.

Do you pack a lunch in plastic storage bags or Ziplocs? Do you see where this is going? All successful marketing and sales – and I mean all – requires properly identifying your service or product as a brand. That first mention evoking an image of your brand is critical. Can you “Just Do It” without thinking of shoes? Can you be cheesy without thinking of orange snack food? You get the point.

When your public hears the name of your firm, company or consultancy, what adjectives come to mind? How are you and your colleagues known throughout your business community? If you don’t know, ask today! This is most definitely a case where what you don’t know can hurt you, and drive you out of business in the end. The key here is that you are not selling: You are asking for their advice on improving your company. And yes, this is an excellent indirect selling opportunity – “invisible selling.”

Hopefully, the adjectives you hear are positive. Look for common themes in how your peers and clients describe you. Ask this vital question: If they could choose anything, what additional products or services would they want you to provide? Leave the door wide open. They might recommend things that make no sense for your business plan . . . but then you might get those one or two ideas that light a creative fire in your belly and lead you to dramatic sales growth! Then use those same themes to create and communicate who you are in every aspect of your sales acceleration.

A UPS, or Unique Positioning Statement, effectively distinguishes you from your competition. Worded correctly, it can do the job of conveying your mission and message quickly and in a form any of your employees can repeat. It can be used as your company slogan or a slightly longer version, often referred to as an “elevator pitch.” The concept of the elevator pitch is that if someone asked what your firm did while riding in an elevator up to the 25th floor, you could succinctly capture the essence, strengths and uniqueness of your organization – all in let’s say 20 seconds.

Putting it simply, a UPS is a written statement that explains how you get new sales, new clients, why your current customers stay with you and why they keep on coming back for more and refer new business to you. Done right, it’s a “seed” that you sow in the minds of new customers, potential customers and even people on the street that will generate sales growth.

If your company doesn’t already have one, now it is time to differentiate from all the rest. Make your firm/company special in the eyes of your customers. What is the honest fact that sets you and your organization apart from the rest?

Talk to your longterm employees about things you’ve done that they remember as setting you apart. Talk to new hires about the things that drew them to your company. Talk to clients about what they think of when they think of your business. This input will be vital in concocting your UPS!

Your UPS, also known as your “takeaway” is one of the most powerful sales accelerator weapons, featuring your uniqueness. It should permeate your sales sprint along with the value of “listening” (referred to in a previous post).

 

Instantly download the complete
Accelerator Funnel Tool for Business Acceleration

To become a 90-Day Revenue “sprinter,” click here.

Dr. Allan Colman
Chief Revenue Officer
ClosersGroup.com
1.310.508.8600

ARE YOU TISSUE OR KLEENEX?

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Firm Leadership, Leadership.

How to Grow Your Business:

Do you use tissue or Kleenex? Do you pack a lunch in plastic storage bags or Ziplocs? Do you see where this is going? All successful marketing and sales – and I mean all – requires properly identifying your service or product as a brand. That first mention evoking an image of your brand is critical. Can you “Just Do It” without thinking of shoes? Can you be cheesy without thinking of orange snack food? You get the point.

When your public hears the name of your firm, company or consultancy, what adjectives come to mind? How are you and your colleagues known throughout your business community? If you don’t know, ask today! This is most definitely a case where what you don’t know can hurt you, and drive you out of business in the end. The key here is that you are not selling: You are asking for their advice on improving your company. And yes, this is an excellent indirect selling opportunity – “invisible selling.”

Hopefully, the adjectives you hear are positive. Look for common themes in how your peers and clients describe you. Ask this vital question: If they could choose anything, what additional products or services would they want you to provide? Leave the door wide open. They might recommend things that make no sense for your business plan . . . but then you might get those one or two ideas that light a creative fire in your belly and lead you to dramatic sales growth! Then use those same themes to create and communicate who you are in every aspect of your sales acceleration.

A UPS, or Unique Positioning Statement, effectively distinguishes you from your competition. Worded correctly, it can do the job of conveying your mission and message quickly and in a form any of your employees can repeat. It can be used as your company slogan or a slightly longer version, often referred to as an “elevator pitch.” The concept of the elevator pitch is that if someone asked what your firm did while riding in an elevator up to the 25th floor, you could succinctly capture the essence, strengths and uniqueness of your organization – all in let’s say 20 seconds.

Putting it simply, a UPS is a written statement that explains how you get new sales, new clients, why your current customers stay with you and why they keep on coming back for more and refer new business to you. Done right, it’s a “seed” that you sow in the minds of new customers, potential customers and even people on the street that will generate sales growth.

If your company doesn’t already have one, now it is time to differentiate from all the rest. Make your firm/company special in the eyes of your customers. What is the honest fact that sets you and your organization apart from the rest?

Talk to your longterm employees about things you’ve done that they remember as setting you apart. Talk to new hires about the things that drew them to your company. Talk to clients about what they think of when they think of your business. This input will be vital in concocting your UPS!

Your UPS, also known as your “takeaway” is one of the most powerful sales accelerator weapons, featuring your uniqueness. It should permeate your sales sprint along with the value of “listening” (referred to in a previous post).

Dr. Allan Colman
Chief Revenue Officer
ClosersGroup.com
1.310.508.8600

How do you grow your business during recessionary times?

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Firm Leadership, Leadership.

One powerful method is pipeline visualization, which has proven effective for a wide variety of firms. I invite you to instantly download a tool called The Accelerator Funnel, which enables pipeline visualization.

To celebrate a new product release, I am extending a 33% introductory offer for the new 90-Day Revenue Accelerator video course, recorded at the request of clients who require rapid-growth systems that are delivered virtually for team training.
Use coupon code DRIVE33 today to enjoy a $165 introductory discount.

Follow the step-by-step instructions included with this tool daily and you’ll be set-up for success during the second half of this year. Firms have experienced dramatic double-digit revenue growth using this tool.

Whether your business is struggling to grow due to these changing times or is getting overwhelmed with new business, you’re going to need superb systems to manage growth.  We are here to help!

Good accelerating!

Dr. Allan Colman
Chief Revenue Officer
ClosersGroup.com
1.310.508.8600

NEVER MAKE A COLD CALL! How to Get New Sales

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Firm Leadership, Leadership.

The resistance that some professionals have to sales isn’t unlike the distaste for wintry weather conditions, and a lot of it stems from a distaste for making cold calls. Cold calls imply a lack of control over the turns of the conversation, hint at feeling stuck, as though there are no other options for attracting new customers. They are often seen as either the last refuge for a failing sales professional or the first trip out for a raw rookie. They often fill one with a sense of dread over the fear of “icy” responses from the individuals they have called.

Entire Hollywood comedies have been woven around the idea of cold-call sales, and the poor sap making the cold call getting a door slammed in his face is always good for a laugh. But I’m here to let you in on a little secret:

There is no such thing as a cold call. I suggest simple tactics to identify previously unknown prospects so that a much “warmer” approach can be taken to grow your business. Get to know a bit about your prospect and maybe even find something you have in common with them and you’ll have a foot in the door before you’ve even knocked on it. Here’s just one example. A client of ours with 15 years of professional experience was having difficulty identifying new prospects when he attended one of our seminars on revenue growth. After I suggested he review his alumni newsletter, he noted that an earlier graduate had recently been promoted to a senior position for an international manufacturer. When he made contact, he linked his communication to the school they had in common and pointed out a related European Union decision. Through the contact, he has been introduced to the world of international business and will be growing his business there. All it took was a few minutes of reading something he should have been keeping up with anyway to gain entrance to a whole new world of opportunity.

Be blunt: The primary thing a prospective customer is concerned about is what can you do for them. Learn as much as you can about the prospect, their needs, their product/services, their competition, etc. Make sure you anticipate their questions, understand their patterns of business, have your “takeaway” refined and set the agenda for the first contact. The more prepared you are before first contact, the better your chances of having a second one and, eventually, a deal.

Preparation is essential. It will prepare you not only for your sales meetings, but also for conducting a review “post mortem.” That first call, therefore, becomes a “warm call” where you have the major differentiator between you and your competition ready, have a full description of the major problem you can solve for them, and present yourself as confident and professional, just the kind of person with whom they want to do business!

Never treat a cold call as a cold call and you’ll find that your revenue sales rate skyrockets and your bottom line will be the better for it. An hour of advance study before you approach a client can lead to years of business.

 

 

 

Dr. Allan Colman
Chief Revenue Officer
ClosersGroup.com
1.310.508.8600

CATAPULT YOUR REVENUE GROWTH without losing a dime!

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Firm Leadership, Leadership.

Underperforming company sales and marketing assets, when identified, are a real drag on your firm’s assets. These should be your biggest sources of revenue growth, but if they’re not handled properly they can turn into a money pit that will eat you, your bottom line, and your business alive. Out of the 25 questions we use to build a successful business plan for customers, what would your responses be to these seven?

  1. Are you making decisions on underperforming activities and investments?
  2. Do you complete success/rejection analyses of pitches and proposals?
  3. How are you maximizing the impact of these pitches and proposals?
  4. What success are you having expanding the number of colleagues actively selling and cross selling?
  5. Can you use single sales tools to leverage wider exposure and response generation?
  6. Is there a format for building a long-term pipeline of leads and opportunities?
  7. Who is measuring and reporting results, and does anyone pay attention to them?

And what do we mean by saying we can advance the discussion of under-performing assets without losing a single dime? It’s really simple: Experience shows that by a simple increase in your new revenues, you have paid for the search. And that is typically returned four to five times over within six months. There may be no other place in the entire business world where such a small investment can yield such incredible returns, and on a regular basis at that.

“Creative Abandonment” is the term Peter Drucker uses to describe how to decide whether or not an asset is performing as expected, underperforming, or not performing. It requires looking hard at your asset and taking your ego out of the equation. It might at one point have been the darling of your catalog or portfolio, but now it’s the ugly duckling. It all comes down to performance. If it underperforms, can you invest time to make a go of it and increase its ROI? Will a little sweat equity, shoe leather or brain power turn it into the sales acceleration formula you always dreamed it could be? If not, or if it is not performing at all, “abandon” it and place the time and resources elsewhere. It won’t cost you a dime; in fact, you might even save that dime and a lot more.

You’ve heard that the best part about hitting your head against a wall is that it feels so good when you stop, right? That’s the paradigm we’re working with here. You won’t realize how much of your time, effort and mental energy that ugly duckling was consuming until you kick it out of the nest.

Think of your business like a hot-air balloon. While it’s still tied to the ground, it can only rise so high, and it still has to burn fuel to stay just a few feet above the ground. Cut loose the tether, and it can rocket into the sky, go for miles, and grow your business.

 

 

 

Dr. Allan Colman
Chief Revenue Officer
ClosersGroup.com
1.310.508.8600

 

ZEN EXCUSES FOR NOT SELLING

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Firm Leadership, Leadership.

If there ever were a Zen excuse for not selling, it is “I’m afraid of the process.” Oh, come on. Follow Arthur Ashe’s advice and

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

Or how about this most agonizing excuse for not selling, “I failed once; why try again?” Stop the agony and join post-mortem reviews on proposals and pitches that failed. It’s not fun to learn that you’ve failed, and it’s even less fun to sit still while other people pick apart your approach and point out your mistakes . . . but it might be the most important learning you ever do. Take advantage of your firm or company’s business development and sales training and other professional development programs, such as client retention and client management.

If all else fails, find books, podcasts or blogs that address your issues and learn from them. Ignorance is no excuse in today’s multimedia world! You can find any learning you want if you just look for it. Don’t be limited by sticking to just your field. If you sell whatsits, listening to a podcast by a guy who sells thingamajigs might just give you important insight. At a certain level, sales is sales.

How many people have you met or heard of who could “sell anything?” It’s not magic! Yes, some people are simply born to sell, but 99% of successful salespeople have spent years honing their craft and learning from experts. Learning how to get new customers in sales.

Here’s an excuse I’ve heard frequently, “I know no one who knows anyone.” Mark Twain had it right.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

So, get started already. If you’re the one who doesn’t know anyone, find professional groups in your area and join them, even if they’re just online in social media.

It’s an oldie but a goodie, but joining network marketing groups can be a great way to connect with prospects and seasoned professionals alike to help you on your sales journey. This can be an excellent way to learn about increasing revenue through sales growth from experts who have walked the same path you are currently walking.

And don’t you just love this one, “My partner does all the selling; I deliver the work.” It is clearly the responsibility of customer relationship leaders to ensure that all team members build relationships with their peers at their business locations and in professional organizations. If you see sales as somebody else’s business, your customers will soon seek out other companies that sell to them more effectively. Harvey Mackey, an internationally known sales guru, says,

“Everyone is in sales. It’s the only way we stay in business.”

And here’s my favorite Zen excuse for not selling, “I can’t market but I’ll hire someone who can.”Oh, come on now, call your marketing department and learn to practice pitches, proposals and even lunches. Make it clear that the more you learn their craft, the more money the whole business will make and the bigger everyone’s checks will be. My favorite poetess, Maya Angelou, has it spot-on:

“Nothing will work unless you do.”

Dr. Allan Colman
Chief Revenue Officer
ClosersGroup.com
1.310.508.8600