It’s True

Can you imagine how much easier it would be to get a sale, or at least an appointment, with someone that knows you by name as compared to that busy guy who’s meeting you just interrupted? Not to bust on cold calls because sometimes that’s the ONLY way you’ll get in touch with someone, but if you can get around the “cold” part, the call is much easier.

You’ve heard the saying, “It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know that counts.”

I say, “It’s not who YOU KNOW, it’s WHO KNOWS YOU that counts.”

There are a million ways to get known, but these 3 are the most effective.

1. Networking Events

One problem with a networking event is that everyone is there to sell something and they’re not necessarily looking to buy anything. You can use this to your advantage by being genuinely interested in what it is they are trying to sell and who they are as a person. When you are done speaking with someone at a networking event, the rule of thumb is the more you know about their products, their family, and their life, the better. The reasoning behind this thought process is that people love to talk about themselves, and the more you know about them, the more you let them talk. They will remember you as a great conversationalist.

2. Business Events

The difference with this and a networking event is that everyone at this function will have something to do with your business. This could be a trade show, trade association lunch, or the like. The goal here is to either garner a piece of information before the event with which you can provide value to those you come in contact with or search out people of whom you can ask for wisdom and advice or ask about experiences and expertise. Again, people love to talk about themselves or their knowledge and they love to get a piece of info that will help them in their endeavors. “what are your thoughts on…,” “How has…affected your line of work?” and “Have you had any experience with…” are the best kind of questions for this situation.

3. The Golf Course, Social Events, or Restaurants

The key here is to keep it light. I wouldn’t say avoid business talk, but I would encourage you to try to take a different approach. Just try to make a friend, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Be yourself, and if you feel like to need to be someone else in order to make connections, maybe you should change yourself.

If you’re really trying to make a connection, offer your business card and this can open up the door for a business conversation. Generally you will be offered a business card back. You’ll find that the high-level people tend not to have cards on hand. That’s okay. Always give a card, even when engaged in friendly and social conversation, and even if you know you won’t get one in return.

Friendly Business

The bottom line is that no matter what the situation or circumstance, people want to do business with their friends. If someone sees you as a friend and a valuable relationship, they are more likely to do business with you, regardless of price (to a point).

When making connections, nothing beats humor. If you’re not humorous, you can learn to be and I’ll cover that next time.

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New Section for TYC -

This is a new section of TYC, where I’ll be highlighting the accomplishments of business owners around the world whose business ideas are making more than money. This idea was sparked by a number of things, including the Catalyst Conference, where I heard Patrick Lencioni speak, Jarkko Laine’s post on making money by helping African entrepreneurs, and Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes.

The plan will be to conduct interviews with some of the entrepreneurs who are a bit more socially conscious than their counterparts at Enron, and try to get a feel for the trends among business owners when it comes to giving back and see if we can’t spark a bit of enthusiasm for doing good!

Today’s Spotlight - TOMS Shoes

Blake Mycoskie, Designer and Chief Show Giver, at TOMS Shoes says,

Inspired by a traditional Argentine shoe and challenged by the continent’s poverty and health issues, I created TOMS with a singular mission: To make life more comfortable. TOMS accomplishes this through its unique shoe and my commitment to match every pair purchased with a donated pair to a child in need…no complicated formulas, it’s simple…you buy a pair of TOMS and I give a pair to a child on your behalf.

If you ask me, this is a company and a cause worth supporting with both time and money. So I suggest you write a post about these guys and go to the site and buy a pair. They have some very cool designs that I would buy and wear even without the great cause behind them! Here’s a video of their first Shoe Drop in October ‘06

GateOperator.net is the website for Access Control Distributors of Texas. Any company can say anything, but what they DO and SELL are true indicators of their visions and goals. We are committed to selling the highest quality equipment at reasonable wholesale prices Our support and follow up after the sale, are testimony to our customer care! When you replace or install a new Digital Phone Entry, Gate Opener, or Access Control device, put in something you will be proud of because you only get one chance to make that first impression.

LiftMaster, an Authorized National Master Preferred Distribution Warehouse, says, “We work hard to provide the absolute best in TECH SUPPORT and SERVICE to our Chamberlain/Liftmaster customers and this special pricing is our way of helping YOU get the best equipment available!”

At their site, you can shop by manufacturer, and they have everything from AAS, Allstar, Apollo, Click2Enter, DC Solutions, to SecuraKey and RamSet. And, if you’re looking for faac or osco, look no further than www.gateoperator.net.

Make your first stop at Access Control Distributors of Texas if you’re looking for ACDT, gate operators, gate openers, electric gates, card readers, telephone entry, and intruder detectors.

Go Check it Out!

What I’ve Discovered -

I began my writing career with the idea of creating as much content as possible. I didn’t want to leave anything unwritten or anything unsaid. In recent month, as I have gotten more busy with my new business, new dog, and upcoming new baby, my pace has slowed and I began to focus on creating more quality content, just less of it.

What I’ve discovered is that as my quantity goes down, the quality of my best work goes down with it. When I write ONLY when I know I’m creating great work, I find myself less creative and less motivated overall when it comes to new post, new idea, and new work. So I’ll be writing a lot more, posting my best work, and keeping my writing that doesn’t make the site in an archive to access later if I need some new inspiration. Maybe I’ll be able to write better when taking a second look at an idea.

New Directions -

TheYoungCapitalist.com has a new direction, and that is “Sales Tips, Reviews, and Small Business Life.” You’ll get one column per week in the Sales School, where I will be writing about my experience with sales and what I’ve learned that has allowed me to start and successfully run a manufacturer’s rep company.

In the “Reviews” section, I’ll be conducting thorough reviews of books, other blogs, and some of the products that are of interest to my readers.

“Small Business Life,” as you can imagine, is my spot to ramble. You’ll hear about the cigar I had today and what my dog did when I was on a conference call, the things I’m learning about how to run a business out of your house as I’m learning them, and everything else that goes along with Small business life.

New Ways To Read -

You can, of course, subscribe to my RSS Feed, as always, but now I have added an RSS by Email. In addition to these, you now have the option of subscribing to each individual category. You may not like to listen to me ramble about my dog peeing on my carpet, but you would like to hear what I have to say on sales…or vice versa.

Sales School RSS

Reviews RSS

Small Business Life RSS

New Design -

As you can see, or not if you’re a first timer, I’ve done a complete redesign from a boring old free template to what I have today. I’ve had tons of functionality added to my blog and the ability to provide my visitors with more value. I am most definitely not “web-savvy” per se, but I’ve FINALLY gotten my Google Analytic and Google Adsense plugins to work (I had a “cannot load Adsense-Deluxe.php error message, so I was lost). Last, but not least, I will be adding video to the site and it will be updated with the best of the ‘net’s business videos. I might throw My Chemical Romance or Guns ‘N’ Roses in there every now again!

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“A Party Store at your door,” and that’s a great thing when you have lots of kids. with over 60,000 discount party supplies, they are your resource for catering supplies, birthday party supplies, luau parties and seasonal and holiday parties. Their party supply site offers the widest selection on the web at discount and bulk case lot prices. Check out party supplies!

They have affiliate opportunities, link programs, wholesale, party ideas, party directories, and a glossary of terms for those who have never partied. Their 60K items are broken up into nine separate and unique, color coded warehouses. The green warehouse has everything from 1st birthday items to a 50’s theme and everything in between including beads, cake decor, candy, candles, floral designs, Halloween, webkinz, new years, life size standups, Mardi Gras, western, wedding, tattoos, catering, and retirement.

From there, you have a red warehouse, a platinum warehouse, a gold warehouse, a lavender warehouse, an orange warehouse, a blue warehouse, and a yellow warehouse. All of the party supplies on the site are top quality and at a great price. You get free shipping with orders over $50.00.

They also have a Direct Buy party supply site index, which allows you to buy party supplies by the case. Save up to 70% on purchases from our direct buy party supply site options! Their sites are color coded and will change colors as you transition from sites. The shopping cart will tally all sites in to one cart for your review. Shop the party supply site index….and enjoy the savings from the Internet’s number one party supply store!

It’s your philosophy about sales that really makes the difference. Some people say “make 80 calls a day.” Some say, “pick 5 prospects and focus.” The fact of the matter is that these are very shallow philosophies on sales. I, for one, try not to over-do it when it comes to the number of prospects I am working, but then again, I don’t limit myself to 5.

When starting a sales career, or starting over, I have 3 main ideas to teach you, that come from the 3 main goals I have in my sales career.

1. Provide Value First - You’ve heard it before, but I say provide value first without expectation. That to say, don’t get frustrated when you’ve given something without getting in return. It will all come back to you one day.

Your prospect is not interested in your company, your product, or your service. You have to give them something they ARE interested in. Namely, themselves! Give them something about THEIR customers, THEIR productivity, THEIR profits. It could be research your company has done, a quote from John Maxwell, or Business Week article about their target market.

As Napoleon Hill says,

You can start right where you stand and apply the habit of going the extra mile by rendering more service and better service than you are now being paid for

2. Build Long Term Relationships - Now, if you sell TV’s for a living, this might be nothing more than sending a Thank You Note after they make a purchase, but if you are in an industry in which you will being providing some service or support and hope for another sale down the road, I suggest you work on this. One great way to do this is to find out something about your prospect before calling them. Find where they went to college, if they have kids and how old they are, are they a golfer?

Can’t find this info out? Try calling your prospects company and asking for sales. The guys in sales will tell you things that the gatekeeper would not. Once you find these things out, you can bring them up in the sales call and hopefully find some common ground on which to build a friendship.

3. Enjoy Yourself - It’s your career! Why spend all your time doing something you don’t like? You can learn to like it if you don’t. Attitude is a choice, and you can choose your attitude about your sales job. It could be that you’re at the wrong company or in the wrong industry, but one way or another, you can train yourself to enjoy what you do.

I do know that when it comes right down to it, there will always be things you HATE to do. That’s okay, you can outsource the crappy stuff! Take your time and know that you don’t have to accomplish EVERYTHING TODAY! If you can become better at sales, you can spend less time at it and make more money! What a novel idea!

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I’ve been thinking and writing a lot recently about the lack of value in a college education. For years I have been degrading higher education as nothing more than a useless waste of time so I think I should offer an alternative. People think that a college degree is a safeguard against failure or economic downturn. I submit that a college degree is a guarantee of getting laid off and succumbing to the forces of the economy.

The only true safeguard against the dreaded layoff is an expertise in sales. Not to say that if you can sell, you will NEVER get laid off. It’s just that if you do happen to get laid off, you’ll be able to grab another sales job in a matter of minutes! I think that having the ability to sell products and services is invaluable. This is why I’ve decided to host “The Young Capitalist Saturday Sales School.” Tune in every Saturday for the latest sales techniques, tricks, and tips to aide you in your sales career.

I wanted to take this opportunity to give my first lesson on sales. The problem I have found in most sales people crosses the from your business life to your “real life,” and that is discipline. A mentor of mine once said, “all unhappiness is reflection of a personal lack of self-discipline.”

As I got thinking about it, it couldn’t be MORE true. All my sources of pain or frustration stem from a lack of discipline in a certain area (i.e. financial choices, health choice, relationship choices, etc.)

You’ll hear a lot from me about sales. Everything from asking the right questions to creating a useful and usable business card, but none of it will make any difference if you don’t have discipline. I am lucky enough to have grown up with a father and mother who built discipline into me at an early stage, but there are many young business owners out there who were not so lucky. I’ve come up with 3 ways to develop discipline with as little pain as possible. But trust me, it won’t be easy!

1. Reading - NOOO!! Don’t make me read! Right? Well there’s not a better way to develop discipline, especially if you’re “not a reader.” Take 15 minute, 5 days a week, and commit yourself to reading a book that will better you. It could be a sales book, a personal development book, a religious book, or anything else that will allow you to grow. All I’m saying is that you can’t just read your RSS reader everyday and say you’ve done something. This is a relatively pain-free way to develop some discipline.

2. Push-ups - Again, this is not something that will take a lot of time or cause a lot of pain. It IS something small you can use to train yourself in the ways of discipline. Even if you can only do a few, you’ll be amazed at how your body changes and you’ll be doing 3 sets of 20 push-ups in no time. And, you’ll have a manly chest.

3. The Change Jar - All you have to do is save your change. I have a 3 gallon water jug that my wife and I use. Every time I use cash, I ask for a dollar in quarters when I get my change. Again, this is not a big deal, and its pretty pain free. The challenge comes when you need that money! Well, set yourself a date and commit that you will not use your change until then. It adds up pretty quick!

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