A Market Spell

Instilling urgency in a prospective customer can make the difference between achieving a sale and losing it altogether. If your prospects cannot vividly see personal benefits from taking action, there will never be the sense of urgency needed to follow your suggestions.

Closing is the logical conclusion of a demonstration of your products and services. Make certain that you ask enough open-ended questions to know for certain that you are applying the correct solutions to the exact problems and needs you have uncovered from your questioning. Through this process, the answers to your questions should give you all the levers you need to create a sense of urgency in your prospects.

Urgency can also be created when prospects can take advantage of special pricing on packages or bundles of products for a limited period. Make certain that all special offers or time constraints are pointed out to your prospects so that they can feel the need or urgency of making a decision today. If service charges will be increased or interest rates will change soon, use this information to set the stage for a positive and timely buying decision.

You can also create urgency by asking your prospects how much it will cost them not to take action today. If a suggested product will help them make money or avoid losing money, show them exactly what it will cost them to leave this problem unsolved. Also show them the pitfalls of trying a “do it yourself approach.” Often from this vantage point, prospects will be able to overcome the natural reluctance to making changes and move forward with a favorable decision.

If your prospects are still reluctant, ask them about their concerns or reasons for not moving forward on your suggestions. Often a person just needs to verbalize why he feels the way he does to see that his concerns have little or no foundation in reality. To assist your prospects, write down each concern and then weigh or compare the reason to wait or postpone a decision against the benefits of taking action now. If you have built trust with your prospects, you can act almost as an independent consultant might act to help them “weigh” what would be in their best interest. It’s always best to have all the reasons for reluctance to proceed out in the open so that they can be addressed, minimized, and new positive reasons given for taking action.

VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a firm specializing in sales, customer relations, and management training and development. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, Fifty-Minute series books and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publicantions a dividion of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching & team development, telemarketing, and personal productivity training guides. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden’s new manuals, 101 Sales Myths and Organizing For Sales Success, check out the listings on The $elling Edge, Inc. website at: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/books1.htm.

Note: You can contact Virden at: virden@TheSellingEdge.com.

1. When in a bookstore, leave your business card within the first 4 pages of books related to your target audience. If they’re interested in the book’s subject, they’ll probably be intrigued by your business card as well, and visit your website, call you, email you, etc.

Off-line generated prospects are also proven to be more likely to buy once visiting your website, in comparison to prospects generated online. Kind of like playing “hard to get” I guess.

2. Use an email “header” to immediately remind prospects of the benefits you offer. A header is just like a signature file, but at the very top of your email.

You can use a simple 2-3 line header, stating who the message is from, and a short one line advertisement for one of your websites. Place headers in your newsletters/ezines, autoreponder messages, mlm prospecting emails, etc.

Note: This can also be a great way to “test” your headlines and it works like crazy! I mean it.

3. Write high-quality, information intense articles for more free publicity. Hey, if you have the time to write them, people almost always have the time to publish them for you and create a storm of free exposure!

One article a month from your fingertips could mean an extra $200 a month addition to your bottom-line, or easily more. For the few hours it takes to write and distribute, it’s more than worth the work. Like Simon Baxter said “Get your name out there as someone who knows where it at!”

4. Impliment a simple form of viral marketing. There’s many great ebooks on the Internet that you can get free, and brand with your website’s URL and contact info. This is a phenomenal way to build an opt-in email list fast, and promote your website on the backend.

My personal favorite has always been the “TrafficVirus” edition by Jimmy D. Brown – available free at: http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R39995_TV3

5. Barter, trade and partner-up for profits. You could trade for traffic, ezine ads, products, services, etc. Bottom line: You can boost your sales without spending a penny more. Get creative and exciting things can happen.

6. Write your own ad copy for affiliate programs. Spend some time creating your own unique, powerful ad copy in order to “stand out from the crowd”. This will leave the other affiliates in your dust and give you a strong advantage over your competition.

7. Get an inexpensive, custom-made sticker advertisement for your vehicle’s rear window. Why not? State your USP (Unique selling position) in BOLD letters with your website address below it. Think about how much driving you do sometimes, and how many people will see that sticker!

Sales is a contact sport and prospecting for new business is the name of the game! You will never meet a salesperson that failed because they had too many prospects to talk to. For the majority of salespeople, finding new customers is without a doubt the most difficult and stressful aspect of the profession. Prospecting should be viewed more as a mindset rather than merely as an activity. It is something you need to be constantly aware of because you never know where your next prospect will be coming from. It really doesn’t matter how competent you are or how well you know your product line, if you don’t have a qualified prospect in front of you, you don’t have a sale.

1. Prospecting for new business is similar to working out. You know it is good for you and it will produce positive results if you do it routinely. Professional salespeople prospect daily. It is important to block-off specific time on your calendar for prospecting activities such as phone calling and emailing. Treat your prospecting time with the same respect as you would any other important appointment, otherwise, there is a tendency that it will slip through the cracks. This is not the time to check your emails, play solitaire on the computer, make a personal phone call or chat with your associates. Stay focused and take your prospecting seriously. Set the tone by closing your office door and have your incoming calls held unless it is a call from a client or a prospect.

2. Be prepared, get organized and take good notes. It is critical to have a computerized contact system to record remarks and suspense future contacts or appointments.

3. Use a script – don’t shoot from the hip. There is only one thing worse than listening to a salesperson read a script over the phone and that is to listen to a salesperson without a script. Obviously, it is important to not only have a script but to practice it until it sounds smooth and natural. Set aside time to role-play with an associate over the phone. By taking turns presenting and critiquing you will gain confidence, polish your script and be more effective. When prospecting, avoid the temptation to sell over the phone. Your objective is to gather information and make the appointment.

4. Strike while the iron is hot! When working with a new prospect, it is important to make contact quickly. Prospects are perishable. No matter how interested a prospect may appear, don’t wait for them to call you. You are only one of many competing interests for your prospect’s time and money.

5. Keep the high ground and avoid the temptation to badmouth your competition. While it is fair to make head-to-head comparisons, you should avoid personal attacks. Attacking your competition makes you look unprofessional and petty. Emphasize the benefits of your product or service by guiding your prospect through a comparison of quality and price. Play to your strengths and not the weakness of your competition. Let your prospect draw their own conclusions from a well-presented comparison.

6. Rejection is a natural aspect of the sales process so don’t take it personally. Learn from rejection, use it as a feedback mechanism and look for ways to improve your presentation. Salespeople who take rejection personally lack perseverance and seldom make the sale. Sales is a numbers game pure and simple. As a professional baseball player, if you can average four hits out of ten times at bat you are heading for the Hall of Fame. Research indicates that in sales you can expect your prospect to say no five times before they buy. With this in mind, realize that with every sales rejection you receive, you are one step closer to making the sale!

Myth #1 You should close early and often

Myth #2 Sell features to get a higher price

Myth #3 There’s no methodology to selling – it’s pure art

Myth #4 Objections are a sign of customer interest

Myth #5 Open questions are better than closed questions

Myth #6 You can’t teach a person to sell

Myth #7 You have to understand the difference between wants and needs

Myth #8 Great products sell themselves

Myth #9 Making a benefit statement is the best way to open a sales call

Myth #10 All customers make up their minds in the first 4 minutes

Want to know more? Read the full Myths each month at our website www.inclusic.com – just go to articles & news!

Conjoin the two of everybody’s greatest quests and what you’ll get is a trend that’s commonly known as a sportsbook. Is there anything that could be more imaginative… If you picture a party of lads cheering on any given favorite sports heroes, and regularly stakes are guaranteed to be set parallel to the hubbub. Enthusiastic to catch some of the enjoyment, spectators will repeatedly seek to infer who will make it the coming tournament. In the end, this all is set to turn into a nice and friendly tournament termed sportsbook.

Learn the best sports bet strategy from other live players.

It might seem compulsive, but in fact wagering sportsbooks is, in reality, only for fun and of forging bonds with your fellow sports addicts. Here, you’ll be able to wager a any minor sum of lucre and nevertheless enjoy a extravagant time. Read on for some basics to help you get started wagering sportsbooks.

In order to bet, I would advise you surf to a sportsbook, i.e. a setup that tenders sportsbook. In the US, we currently have four states where people can do wagering sportsbooks lawfully, but beyond legality you can go for it anyplace assuming you pin down a bookie AND you happen to be legally an adult. The sports competitions you can wager on are professional outside of college football and college basketball, professional baseball, professional hockey, outside of betting on both dog and horse racing. Patrons can choose to bet on the whole combined score of a competition or game, in what round a given contestant will go under, and even if a given tossed coin in a competition or game comes out heads or tails.

The sportsbook provider rely on mere figures make it easier for you choose which sports heroes you sense will make it. First we have the likelihood, i.e. lead in points pertaining to a disadvantaged contestant that is expected to take a licking by X number points. This is the bookie firm’s method of organizing impartial wagers for a sportsbook. To take an example, a punter could choose to risk money on a club that is expected to take a licking and and nevertheless win that bet assuming the contestant does actually get beaten by X number of points.

So why don’t you just do some test runs, and enjoy the excitement in tandem… Just be sure that you won’t get seized and exhaust your complete retirement pension on a bee. Because else chances are you’ll find yourself regretting it till the end of your days.

Baldassini B&B has a real strategical position in the heart of the centre of Rome. It is located in via delle Coppelle n° 37, few steps far from the famous Pantheon and from Navona Square, one of the most beautiful squares of the world, with Bernini’s Four Rivers fountain. The most famous attractions of Rome such as Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain are reachable with a 10 mintutes walking, 5 more to get to the Vatican, Colosseum and Trastevere district. By choosing Baldassini B&B you’ll be able to visit the centre of Rome by foot.

Our rooms are provided of all facilities to make you feel like at home: ensuite bathroom, air conditioning, wifi internet access, satellite tv, mini bar, newspapers. Continental breakfast is served in your room.

We are in the historical centre of Rome, well served by the city’s transport network.
If you arrive by car, take any exit to the centre.
If you arrive by train, from Termin station take the bus n° 70 to Senato/Navona stop, then take the first street on your right (via di S. Agostino) and walk until the number 37 of via delle Coppelle (the buses n° 40, 64, 492 or, after midnight, the n° 78N are good as well). Taxis are also available.
If you arrive by airplane, from Fiumicino airport you can take the train, stop at Termini station and then take the bus (see above); from Ciampino airport you can take a Terravision shuttle bus to Termini train station and then the bus n° 70 or a taxi to the centre of the city.

Other suggestion for Rome? Wide choice and Low rates on Rome accommodations: compare rates for Hotels in Rome, or compare price for other kind of accomodations in Rome (apartments, Bed and breakfast, Guest Houses,…), or make a reservation for a tour in Rome