How are Your Networking Skills?

• INTEND TO CONNECT

• SHARE this moment in time.
• Respectfully LISTEN to the beliefs, dreams, and visions of your companion sojourner. Because networking is connecting, the energy flows in both directions.
• TAKE TIME TO MAKE A REAL CONNECTION. Don't just throw your business card at the person and walk away. Laugh. Cry. Be real with one another. Return the compliment and express your fundamental beliefs and dreams, your vision of the world that you want and the world as you know it can be. Share your joy, your compassion, and your authenticity.

Start Sweating The Small Stuff...

In business everything matters!

Many of us have heard that we shouldn't sweat the small stuff. But how do you know what is small and what is not? How do you know if you are sweating the right stuff or the wrong stuff?

That flawed philosophy is breeding poor customer service, underperforming employees, wasted opportunities, big mistakes and many oversights. In business, sweating the small stuff is often exactly the right thing to do because paying attention to the small stuff helps you understand the big stuff.

In this economy everything matters. Everything you do, think and say either moves your business forward or drags your business backwards. As a business owner, you simply cannot afford to overlook this issue. Who takes care of the small stuff in your business? Do you even know? Sales Coaching can help.

Closing sales and retaining clients are the lifeblood of any business, especially in tough economic times. After all, it is a lot cheaper to reach out and promote your services to satisfied clients than it is to bring in a whole new crowd. Fostering good relationships, providing value and producing results beyond expectation, it why everything matters.

Small stuff matters and it is what differentiates the outstanding performers from everyone else. Like going the extra mile and the hidden extra step that few people see and even fewer actually take. That stuff separates the average person just barely getting by from the person who really believes in the goal and is dedicated to doing everything it takes in order to achieve it.

Too many people and organizations focus their attention and efforts on getting the big things right, but they ignore the little things that often make a big difference. This blatant disregard for the small stuff leads to negative and damaged reputations, diluted brands and customer loyalty.

Each and every one of us has the power to raise our own bar on complacency and mediocrity and replace it with excellence. Taking charge of our own behaviors and doing what needs to be done and then doing it right the first time!

If you want to achieve true excellence as a business owner, leader or entrepreneur, you have no choice not to pay attention to what matters. Quality of work, attention to detail, uncompromising standards and superior customer care are the hallmarks of excellence.

Do not be fooled into thinking that the small stuff is unimportant. I am not suggesting you obsess so intensely that you lose sight of the ultimate bigger goal. But a little sweat is necessary. Being meticulous and demanding is not a character flaw.

Consumers are starving for good service and what they are hungry for is easy to serve. They want good old fashion customer service, common courtesy and an honest dose of going the extra mile. Why not use the small stuff to your advantage? Seems like many others are ignoring it.

Contributed by:
Liz Wendling
www.SalesCoachforWomen.com

Boost your sales trust factor

It's the secret sauce

Developing trust is absolutely essential to building a thriving business and is part of a solid foundation in the sales process. While trust means different things to different people, qualities like dependability, loyalty, and honesty are building blocks that encourage a sense of trust. Your reputation as a business owner or sales professional is on the line.

Trust is the single biggest motivator of buyer behavior and one of the key components to establishing a successful buyer/seller relationship. Do your potential customers trust what you say?  Do they trust you as a salesperson and a business professional? Not putting your customer's interests ahead of your own is a recipe for disaster.

Trust can be ruined in an instant with a single negative event: a missed deadline, not following through on your actions, not delivering on a promise to not honoring your words made to a customer.

Customers overwhelmingly buy from people they trust.  These customer relationships are longer lasting, more effective and more efficient than relationships not built on trust. But building trust takes time, and the only way to do it is to sell in a trustworthy manner.

So, do you have a specific, well-thought-out plan designed to overcome this obstacle and build greater levels of trust with your customers?

In the past, customers had negative perceptions of salespeople because selling itself had been associated with manipulation, dishonesty and trickery. That stereotype of untrustworthy, lying salespeople still comes back to haunt the sales profession today.  But salespeople can play a critical role in its dismantling.

You may be the most honest salesperson on the planet but if your customers don't perceive you to be trustworthy because of sloppy sales skills and negative selling behaviors, it doesn't matter.

Knowing, understanding and possessing the traits that customers like are the best way to gain trust and close the sale. So, in addition to being honest, you need to be knowledgeable, punctual, solution-based and customer-focused, just to name a few. It's the way you relate to others that determines your customer's level of trust.

I see salespeople destroy client trust in the sales process and rarely recover, but it doesn't have to be that way!  Always check your behavior. Focus on trust-building activities with customers by creating an action plan and then constantly focus on executing that plan. Once you're able to increase your trust factor with customers, you'll also see an increase in sales. Salespeople who fail to put an emphasis on developing trust and rapport actually do a disservice to their customers and leave the back door open to their competition.

To be a professional salesperson, conduct yourself as a true professional. Your customers will like it when you do - and you'll be more successful. The most effective way to build that trust is to put customers first; always. You must do this by design, not by default.

In today's highly competitive marketplace, your customers have many options and they are looking for a salesperson they know they can trust to work in their best interest. It's not what you sell, it's how you sell.

Contributed by:
Liz Wendling
www.SalesCoachforWomen.com

The most powerful affirmation that one can utter is "YES". Start each morning by saying "YES". Say yes to all of your dreams. Say yes to the power of the Sun raising. The power to warm the earth and the ability to grow the plants and people of the earth. Say yes to the simple fact that this power is within you.

Simply Say YES!

Think about each of the following statements and see if you can answer YES!

• My life will become all that I want it to be.
• I can look around and find things to be grateful for.
• I can find the beauty in taking a breath.
• I can allow Divine Intelligence.
• Being grateful is natural.
• I can give my all.
• I can provide more.
•  am from the source.
• I am capable.
• I will do what I must do.

Write down you own personal affirmations and say yes to all of them now. Just one simple "Yes" each morning before you start your day will allow you to take control of your thoughts without the struggle. Start each day by feeling good, by saying yes and you will find yourself in control of your thoughts a little bit at a time. Allow the power of the word "Yes" to bring you a state of happiness today.

Contributed by:
Glenn E Daniels II
www.thedivinelawofattractionandspirit.com
Author of The Divine Law of Attraction and Spirit