Core Business Solutions Advice

As part of my FNI Networking 30 second commercial in November & December I reminded everyone that it's time to review and update one's business plan. Recently someone asked, "if I'm just a small sole proprietor and do not need much money to keep my business running, why do I need a business plan?" It sounded to me as if they were thinking of a business plan as just a fund-raising tool. Actually, a business plan is much more than that: It is a tool for understanding how your business is put together. You can use it to monitor progress, hold yourself accountable and have some control of the business's fate. And of course, it's a sales and recruiting tool for courting key employees or future investors if that is ever needed. It should be a living document that is reviewed at least twice per year, but I recommend quarterly.

Writing a business plan forces you to look at all of your business, all at once:

1. What's your value proposition?
2. Marketing Assumptions & Budgets.
3. Financial Plan & Budgets
4. Operational Plan
5. Staffing Plan
6. Sales Plan

You will uncover poor assumptions that need some work. For example, if your marketing plan projects 10,000 customers by year two and your staffing plan provides for two salespeople, that forces you to ask: How can two salespeople generate 10,000 customers? The answer might lead you to conclude that forming partnerships, targeting distributors and concentrating on bulk sales to large companies would be your best tactics. This takes strategic planning & action.

Your Operational Plan will lay out major marketing and operational milestones. If you are the business founder, the only person holding you accountable to your desired results is you! Your plan contains the baseline for monitoring your progress towards your goal. If your goal was 10 new customers per month and after 6 months you have just 30, or 50% to goal, now you can analyze what activities (more networking, more social media marketing, more advertising, etc.)you need to increase, to drive sales to new customers. Your operational reports should tell you from what source your new clients are coming from. Now you know you could increase your marketing to that source, to increase your new customers.

But even more than a tool for after-the-fact learning, the business plan is how you drive the future. As many great business people have said, "The best way to predict your future is to create it."When you write, 'I expect 100 customers by the end of year one',it's not a passive prediction You can't just wait for the customers to show up. This becomes your sales goal.

The plan lays out targets in all major areas:

1- Sales

2- Hiring Positions

3- Expense Items

4- Finance Goals, and others

Once laid out, the targets become performance objectives. Now just break them down into quarterly and monthly objectives and monitor the activities you planned to reach those objectives.

And of course, a well-written plan {Note-it does not have to be a large 25-50 page document all bound up in a pretty format, a simplified version will work as well}is great for attracting talent to grow your business. When a prospect asks to understand your business, you can hand them a plan that gives them an entire overview. Their reactions will tell you something about how quickly and thoroughly they can think through your businesses key subjects. Plus, the written record of your goals, coupled with a track record of delivering against those goals sends this message loud and clear: You understand your business and can deliver the results you promise.

Great employees or strategic partners will respond to that message, as will banks and investors when you need to raise money.

So you can see why a business plan is not about raising money. You can use your business plan to:

• Better Manage Yourself [Accountability]
• Better Manage Your Operation
• Measure Your Progress Against Your Objectives
• Recruit Talented Employees You Need
• Attract Investors or Strategic Partners

So to sum it up, before deciding to skip your planning phase going into 2010, consider all the implications and what they mean for your business success. To find success you must plan to. As my earliest mentor told me at least 20 times per month, back in the day, "Plan Your Work then (and only then), Work Your Plan.

In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.
Until Then :

1- Live Simply.

2- Speak Kindly.

3- Care Deeply.

4-Love Generously.

All The Best,

Walt Morey
Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business
www.corebizsolution.com

I recently completed a great read about sales by Michael Dalton Johnson who is an award-winning publisher and successful entrepreneur and business leader. He is Editor and Publisher of Top Dog Sales Secrets, a bestselling book featuring advice from 50 renowned sales experts. Michael is the founder of SalesDog.com, an educational website for sales professionals. He has appeared on NBC's Today Show and been featured in U.S. News and World Report, Time, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and New York Times. He has been a featured guest on over 200 television and radio shows.

These are 7 Tips To Help Increase Your Sales that I found:

Investigate Your Buyer Before You Call-

• Check Online on Social Media sites (LinkedIn, Xing, Spoke) to check your buyer's background , interests and education
• Check their company website & read recent press releases
• Take some notes

Armed with this information, you'll have a much better chance of establishing that all important first contact rapport. This only takes a few minutes and will be time well spent. You'll build your relationship with the buyer quicker and have a much better chance of ultimately closing the deal.

Make Your Follow-up Email Sing- Given the high volume of email flowing into most in-boxes, your follow-up note might not get read. Avoid this by:

• Use their first name in the subject line
• Keep you email short- do not overload them with info
• Summarize and provide links for more info
• Carefully proofread it-Poor spelling & grammar really turn buyers off (proofreading software is free or low cost)

Think Outside The In-Box- Because in-boxes are increasingly crowded and noisy, marketers are rediscovering the power of regular mail.

• Consider follow-up with info delivered by snail mail
• Include your business card, a brochure or a report or spec sheets
• This beats the email Fatigue Factor & stay in touch with your prospect

POWER TIP- Write a very brief personalized note on the front of the envelope. Example: "Mary, I enjoyed our conversation. Enclosed is a hard copy of the information you requested." Call a few days later to confirm receipt and renew your conversation.

It's not what you say; it's how you say it! Persuasive speakers communicate by using positive language. Example: Instead of saying, "We can't ship your order until next Tuesday," say, "We can ship your order as early as next Tuesday." What a difference! Put yourself in your listener's shoes; which version is more appealing?

The habit of using positive speech has helped many to achieve more results. You can practice this skill all the time, too. Try it with coworkers, family, and friends. You'll begin to see things in a whole new light!

Learn To Listen

• Develop your listening skills. Good listeners close far more sales. Period.
• Remember the 80-20 rule- Prospect speaks 80% of the time; You 20%
• Slow down and ask intelligent questions
• Use reflective listening skills (repeat back your prospects answers; this builds rapport)

State Your Business- Some telephone cold-call gurus will tell you to offer a pleasantry or two after introducing yourself. They are wrong.

• Avoid the opening, "How are you?" When spoken over the phone to a stranger, the phrase reeks of insincerity. You might as well scream, "I am going to try to sell you something!"
• Instead, employ a more businesslike opening, such as, "The reason I'm calling you this morning is to learn about your company's personnel needs, and to see if we can be of help."
• In other words, after introducing yourself, state the reason for your call. Prospects will appreciate your directness and respect for their time and intelligence. Only ask, "How are you?" after you've progressed beyond the initial contact and a relationship has been established.

The More You Learn, the More You Earn!

This is the most important advice that you'll find in this book.

• Make a commitment to your success
• Every day invest a little time sharpening your sales skills
• The number one mistake salespeople make is neglecting their ongoing sales education
• No excuses. This doesn't have to be a huge investment of time or money. There are plenty of free or low-cost sales skills improvement resources around you. Ask an experienced, successful sales person for some help or even a business advisor who's been there.

In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.

Until Then Please:

1- Live Simply. 2- Speak Kindly.

3- Care Deeply.4-Love Generously.

All The Very Best...Always,

Walt Morey

Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business

www.corebizsolution.com

I'm sure we've all thought about this question once in our lives.
What makes successful people successful?
It's easy to think that those at the top know something the rest of us mere mortals do not know, especially now that we're all trying to critically hang onto jobs, find clients and increase market share. We're on a quest for that missing ingredient or "special something" or a secret business formula that guarantees success.

Quite simply, what sets successful people apart from the competition is their ability to connect.

Relationships are the real secret to business success. If you can build strong genuine relationships and connect with your customers, business friends and colleagues, you will get your piece of the proverbial business pie. If you can't, you'll be scrambling for the left-overs.

So, here are 8 concepts that are used by the world's most successful people:

1) Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that reads, "Make me feel important." This was the life philosophy of Mary Kay Ash, the well-known cosmetics mogul. Her genuine concern for others catapulted her out of poverty and was the secret to her success.

2) Resist the urge to be a one-upper. Perhaps you feel compelled to share that you battled the flu for twice as long as your colleague. Or maybe you're dying to tell your client how great your vacation to Hawaii was after she mentions her trip to the lake. Three words: Don't. Do. It. When you're always trying to top other people, you're ruining communication and any chance to build real rapport.

3) Don't work from a script. Be sure to memorize your elevator pitch or your sales presentation so it's natural. You'll seem more at ease, more genuine and authentic-plus your prospect will be less tempted to think that you're fluffing up the facts.

4) Remember the remarkable. Entrepreneur Sunny Bates makes a point to identify and write down the things that stand out to her in every conversation. She then references those statements in future interactions or presentations-and has been amazed by the reactions she's gotten when others realize that she has paid attention to and valued what others have said!

5) Cultivate curiosity. According to Lee Iacocca, former Chrysler CEO, "A leader has to show curiosity. He has to listen to people outside of the 'Yes, sir' crowd in his inner circle. Businesspeople need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions."

6) Seek out a common interest. People want others to be like them. Establishing that you and a client root for the same baseball team or volunteer at the same charity will go a long way in making you relevant in their eyes!

7) Ask effective questions. When you're communicating, remember: garbage in, garbage out. If you ask the wrong questions, you'll get the wrong answers-or at least different answers from the ones you were hoping for. Think about what you're hoping to learn, and remember that an open-ended question is always more effective than one that elicits a simple "Yes" or "No" answer.

8) Act like a good listener. (Don't let your body image betray you!) We're constantly bombarded with information, so it's almost instinctive to tune it out. When you're interacting with someone, you need to consciously change your body language to reflect that you want to receive information; otherwise, it may appear that you're trying to get away from it. Keep in mind that your face always says it all.

Remember, Connecting With People:
A- Takes Time
B- Takes Effort
C- Means putting others before yourself

Those who follow through with these steps above, find it's worth every second of time and every ounce of energy. Do not let yourself settle for a spot on the sidelines when you could very well be at the center of productivity and success.
Your business relationships can proliferate and will be more rewarding. Bottom line- You will be more successful in your business no matter what you are selling.

In about 2-3 weeks or so I'll review another subject designed to provide business owners with information they can use to help them work "on" their business.

Until Then Please:
1- Live Simply.
2- Speak Kindly.
3- Care Deeply.
4-Love Generously.

All The Very Best...Always,
Walt Morey -
Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Business
www.corebizsolution.com

Do the top people in their business segment, who need to find something, do they run a classified ad for it? Of course not. They call people they know. They have developed contacts over time that they know to be the best at what they do and have them in their networks.

Networking, when done right, can be one of the most powerful tools in your business arsenal. The power of a network can take a person from a new player on the business scene to a leader and much admired success in a very short time. Some people misunderstand the power of their own network and leave it to just sit there and never be updated, while other enlightened and positive people make it hum like a finely tuned engine.

Consider this: Say that you know at least 100 people and each of those people knows 100 people. By making 2 calls, you can reach out to 10,000 people. When calling the person at the "second level" of that network, you each know a common person and developing rapport can be a quick process.

Take this network to the "third level". Assuming that each person in the second level knows 100 people, your network is a cool 1 million people who are no more than two phone calls away. Just 2 phone calls away! Within that network are customers, supporters of your charitable pursuits, hiring managers for a new and better job and even someone who has a tool or something you could use collecting dust and would be willing to lend it to you. And now with the power of email & social media (FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc) you can easily contact your network without the phone call.

Is it any wonder that the most successful people in business and politics are surrounded by people who have been in their networks for years? A good network is a gold mine. It's simply waiting for you to pick up a shovel and to start digging.

What are you waiting for? Collect the contacts you've accumulated over the years. I highly recommend the Master Networkers Guide and Seminar by Dave Doerges, the Free Networking International Founder and CEO. Don't judge your contacts. Take the time to have 1 to 1's with them. They're simply contacts unless you get to know them some. I know people who have found great clients because they happened to know a receptionist from the client's company. Results come from the action and with a big network it's so easy. The person you contact next may not be the final stop in your search, but there's a very good chance they have a clue to help take you another step.

Why you should start networking today? Because if you don't, someone who wants it more will.
How bad do you want it? Are you willing to invest in other people and develop a network?

So get out there! Meet for those 1 on 1's and grow your network.

I hope this helps you to kick start your business just a bit.

I welcome your comments and feedback.

In a few weeks another Core Business Solutions Advice blog article will be published.

All The Very Best...Always,

Walt Morey -Executive Business Advisor Accredited by the Institute for Independent Businesswww.corebizsolution.com