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Simply ask yourself a question – How many sales are you missing day in and out by not having your very own online presence? Doing your daily business by bricks and mortal way can only help you reach your potential customers by some length only. Comparing to traditional way, online business presence would bring you a whole new horizon in term of potential customer’s base.

There are several options in building your online business presence; some would go for the Rep or “Clone” Website e.g. sub-domain website address coded with individual ID. But beware! Most Rep or “Clone” sites can’t really be personalized. And your ID coded page usually is either hard or impossible to get indexed in the search engines, moreover getting high ranking there.

Just give it a try and do a search on the big G, Yahoo, and MSN. Search for some items and see the returned result. Be it software, download, magazine…etc. You could clearly see that those with their own website with TLD (Top Level Domain) name will rank higher than the sub-domains.

If you have a sub-domain given by your main affiliate, you should be able to see that your sub-domain will be ranking much lower that the said main TLD whom had provided you with the sub-domain. For illustration purpose, ABCD.com would be in higher position than ABCD.com/xyz .

What’s more, your sub-domain’s website address will most likely be always pointing back to your main TLD provider, giving them a further boost in ranking position. Clearly, you are giving other a boost in their SE positioning, and by the mean channeling the traffic back to them! You should be getting that for your business website, not others! The priority should be your own business website home page; it should come first before others.

You would ask, “How does it actually affect me and my money to be earned”? What does it means to you then? Simple – there are millions of people searching for YOUR products or services everyday. By having your very own website for business, you are not lost in big sea pool of other sub-domain or ID coded “Clone” websites in the search engines.

When you are consistent in building up own website, you’ll be truly surprise one day when even the simplest terms for your business website could climb their way all to the top position in search engine results. And that means giving you more free traffic than you could expect! Of which in return could generate much more potential business for you. That’s what you are looking for isn’t it? A consistent income generating online business channel of your very own! It’s what we could term as “Valuable Online Business Equity”!

Then, once you get those visitors to your site, it’s totally up to you to turn them into buying customers. The best way to do is to get them on your subscription list, and grab their loyalty. From there onwards, lay your marketing strategy out in serialized chain. Make them your long term buying customers.

If you don’t have your own website as of today, start taking action NOW to build your personal website today! Act NOW! Make your present on the net, its YOUR BUSINESS to be build!

Of course, one would ask then, “How it is going to perform?” That would need further discussion on the area which we can explore together. First, build your own site and turn it to income generating business equity for you! That’s the priority. That’s what you should be aiming for…That’s your Goal to be achieved!

Get Your Business listed in Biz Network Directory for business leads. Network sites consist Web Resources Search and Business Leads Center are also business platforms.

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Nothing is more exciting than closing the BIG case. You know – the one you have been working on for three years. The client finally accepted your ideas and has planned properly. The accountant agreed it was a good idea too. You did the right thing! But it is also the one where you have calculated the commission so many times it is insane. In your mind, after the sale, you are thinking of what the money will go towards – taxes, equity line, mortgage, college fund, retirement fund etc. You even think of how much you can “hold back” so you can pad your checking account. Then there’s production credit towards MDRT and the trips you can win.

Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of the person you just sold? What are they thinking about?

Understanding your client’s expectations is vital to your retention, the development of the relationship and the opportunity to sell them additional coverage or another product as their needs change. Unfortunately, many financial service professionals make weak attempts at the service after the sale. Yeah they may send them a thank you note and call to check on them now and again. I know – it has happened to me. But only the very successful, very few agents make it an ART.

Consider this – the person’s financial picture and stage in life should tell you how much effort they expect you to put forth. Older clients with higher incomes and more assets might not expect you to call on them that much. But you do anyway, hoping you can tap into more people just like them. That’s fine. But those that feel insecure, like young families, single mothers and fathers, want you to call them more. They want to know about other products. Why? They are extremely motivated to protect the family from a bad financial situation. Yet this group is not on your sales radar because of lower income and ultimately lower premium dollars. Shame, Shame.

So how does one tackle both sides of the fence? If you spend your time selling to the younger families, smaller face amounts with smaller investment deposits, you will work
your tail off to make a living. If you focus on the older clients with more invested assets and higher, more flexible incomes, you will make a big sale, but only so often. You must get organized. You must contact everyone after you sell them any product. Keep in touch. Give them personal attention. Perform policy reviews. Find a way to reach the younger family markets – where the desire for financial advice is strongest. They may not make you a ton of money, but it will provide you with a database of loyal customers with ever-changing needs. That is how to make it big in this business.

Sounds easy, but difficult to do right? It is easy, if you simply set up the right SYSTEMS, database and contact management program. I have coached many agents on the art of communicating after the sale. The Big Time Producers “touch” their clients over 100 times per year. I’m a fan of about 50-75.

NOW – What will your contact be After the Sale?

Jay Stubbs is an experienced Financial Services Sales Director and Qualifying Member of the Milion Dollar Round Table.

For more information, sales ideas, advice and free consumer articles, visit Jay’s website.

http://www.salesjive.com

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Wouldn’t you agree that every sales job is unique? Aren’t there significant differences in products and services sold, target markets, target geographies, company cultures, lead sources, sales cycle lengths, and more? Given these many differences, how can you accurately define the parameters that will produce success in your company’s sales job?

The questions asked in this article do not identify every possible factor you should consider as you analyze your company’s sales position(s). However, reviewing these questions should spark useful thoughts concerning desirable salesperson characteristics. At minimum, if you carefully consider each question, you will become more consciously aware of key requirements than you were previously.

If you are a salesperson, you can also benefit from considering these questions, as they can help you identify target prospects and further refine your sales approach.

1. Nature of the Customer

• What are your target markets?
• Are they horizontal or vertical?

• Do you sell to consumers, corporations, schools, state and local governments, etc.?

• What level(s) in the organization do you sell to? (Purchasing, Engineering, Business Unit Manager, C-Level Executive, etc.)

Target markets drive numerous sales parameters including the typical sales cycle length, prime selling seasons, and specific knowledge or experience that may be required to earn credibility with prospects and customers. Wouldn’t you agree that selling effectively to C-level executives (CEO, CFO, CIO, etc.) and other high-ranking officials requires different attributes and skills than selling to purchasing agents?

2. Nature of the Offering

• Are your offerings complex or relatively simple?
• Are they tangible or intangible?

• Do they consist of stand-alone products or services, or bundles of products and services?

• Does your company have a small portfolio of offerings or a large portfolio of offerings?

The nature of the offering(s) will determine the most effective Sales Style (see item #5), the importance of Learning Rate to sales success, and desired prospecting and opportunity qualification approaches.

3. Sales Environment

• What kind of environment do your salespeople work in?
• Are they office-based or home based?

• Is most of their selling done over the telephone or in person?

Salespeople that work from a home office usually perform best if they are independent self-starters, whereas office- based salespeople may have the option of receiving more frequent direction and support from their sales manager.

4. Geography

• How many sales locations does your company have?
• Where are they located?

Different sales approaches are usually required to sell successfully in different locales such as downtown Manhattan (NY), Baton Rouge (LA), and Los Angeles (CA).

5. Sales Style

• Which sales styles (Consultative, Relationship, Display, Hard Closer) are most effective in your target markets?

The nature of the customer and the complexity of the offering(s) should be considered when answering this question.

6. Relationship Preference

• Is your company more concerned about:
• Finding new customers?
• Increasing account penetration and/or managing long-term relationships?

• Both?

• If both, please estimate a percentage for each.

Salespeople usually prefer one type of sales role to the other. If you truly want to accomplish both new business and account penetration sales goals, you may want to consider staffing two different sales positions.

7. Sales Cycle Length

• How often do your salespeople have opportunities to close sales?
• Several per day?
• Several per month?

• Several per year?

If a salesperson receives gratification from closing sales, he or she won’t be happy in a role that offers just a handful of opportunities per year to exercise this skill. This kind of salesperson is often better suited to selling products or services that have shorter sales cycles and higher volumes of opportunities.

8. Prospecting

• Do prospects come to your salespeople, or must your salespeople seek them out?
• If the answer is “both”, estimate a percentage for each.

If your sales position requires a lot of outbound prospecting, your salespeople will need more energy, mental toughness, and a positive attitude.

Seven additional parameters are covered in Part 2 of this article.

Copyright 2005 — Alan Rigg

Sales performance expert Alan Rigg is the author of How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don’t Perform and What to Do About It. His company, 80/20 Sales Performance, helps business owners, executives, and managers DOUBLE sales by implementing The Right Formula for building top-performing sales teams. For more information and more FREE sales and sales management tips, visit http://www.8020salesperformance.com.

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