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The “Employment Tests” Myth
27 October 2008
In a comprehensive article on hiring myths, Ira S. Wolfe, the President of Poised For The Future Company, quotes The U.S. Department of Labor, which recommends a “whole person approach” to screening employment candidates. In his article, Wolfe asks the question, “Can a good test compensate for a lack of good interviewing skills?” His response was an emphatic, “No. No. No”.
Having conducted hundreds of employment interviews over the last 39 years as a business owner, department head, and sales management consultant and coach, I must agree with Wolfe’s assessment of the value of testing. In my view, employment tests should be valued no more than 20 percent in the overall assessment of a sales or service industry professional. The whole person approach, as Wolfe suggests, “…encourages managers to factor in the results of a variety of accepted tests along with prior actual performance and interview results.”
A combination of telephone screening, resume review, personal interviews, employment tests and reference checks are all needed to effectively identify just the right candidate for your sales or sales support positions. To learn more about the do’s and the don’ts of hiring sales professionals, check out my new manual 101 Sales Management Myths at: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/myths4.htm
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VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. an Ohio consulting firm specializing in sales and sales management training, personal coaching, advisory services and publishing. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Service Linen Supply, Bank One, Jefferson Wells International, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of the “best selling” Building & Closing the Sale, Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publications a division of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching, telemarketing, and personal productivity manuals. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden’s latest books, 101 Sales Myths or Organizing For Sales Success, go to: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/ |
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The Secrets Behind Hypnotic Selling
16 October 2008
Hypnosis has been a taboo word for far too long. And many people see it in a mystical light. Yet what they do not realize is that hypnosis is a naturally occurring state experienced by everyone every single day. And it is only in recent times, that business professionals have discovered the power of hypnosis and boosted their sales and their businesses.
So what specifically is hypnotic selling? It is a process to trance your prospect with the product or service you offer as the solution to their need or want. If you are wondering if this is manipulation, it is not. To successfully become a hypnotic salesperson, it is imperative to have the customer’s interest at heart. Your focus should congruently be on servicing the customer rather than just closing the deal.
KNOW YOUR PROSPECT
Hypnotic selling works because it helps you listen and pay attention to the prospect in an entirely new way. You begin listening to not only their word choice, but also the type of language they use. The reason for success with this type of sales approach is because it was modeled after successful salespeople. It is exactly what top performers are already doing. So this takes the guesswork out of it and gives you specific tools and strategies to integrate into your own selling style.
YOUR PROSPECT’S LANGUAGE
Let’s take a closer look at the three possible types of language a prospect might use. Even though I’ll explain them as individual types, it is important to note that we incorporate all three styles, just at different times. When you reflect back the client’s language, you create immediate rapport. Also, learning a prospect’s individual style gives you keen insight into their model of the world, which then allows you to tailor your presentation.
“The Visual Prospect”
When you hear words like “see, appears, looks,” or phrases like “picture this, looks clear, bright future,” these are all visual words. This means we are accessing images in our minds to make sense of the words. These images may be still or in a movie-like sequence. They might be bright or dim, clear or fuzzy, in color or black and white. This kind of prospect will probably will move and speak quite rapidly.
“The Auditory Prospect”
There may be times when hear words like “listen, sounds, clicks,” or phrases like “sound okay, listen to this, rings a bell,” these are all auditory words. Here we are accessing sounds to make meaning of the words we hear. These sounds may be loud or quiet, clear or muffled, high or low pitched, pleasant or unpleasant in tonality. This prospect will speak more melodically.
“The Kinesthetic Prospect”
Sometimes you may hear words like “feel, grasp, grip, hold,” or phrases like “take hold of, heavy feeling, or gut response,” these are all kinesthetic or feeling words. This means we are accessing our feelings to make sense of the words. These feelings may be heavy or light, cool or warm, pressured or tingling, moving or still. This kind of prospect will speak and move quite slowly as he or she feels each word.
TEN TIPS ON EFFECTIVE HYPNOTIC SELLING
Executives and sales professionals alike always ask me what is the fastest way I can learn these skills aside from attending one of your Hypnotic Sales Trainings. And my reply is always the same; there is no substitute for training and getting the experience under your belt. However if there were ten tips that I would want to impart to you at a training or otherwise, it would be the following:
1. Find your own charismatic persuasion state. Before you ever approach a prospect make sure you are in an optimal state of mind. A quick mental exercise you can do is think of times when you were humorous, highly influential, enthusiastic, and confident, along with times when you were communicating effectively and absolutely certain about yourself. Step into a combination of these states before you take one step towards your prospect.
2. Step into their trance. When you go into a company you are stepping into their world, and their world has its own pace and its own rules. So make sure you meet them where they are. If it is a high energy place, increase your own energy level. If it is slow and laid back, slow down with them. This will allow you to step into the rhythm of their environment.
3. Establish Rapport. Once you meet your prospect, get rapport with them. Match and mirror their movements. Sit like they sit. Speak only as fast they speak. Surprisingly, people like themselves. And more importantly people like to see themselves in others. And by matching and mirroring, you are unconsciously saying to them, “I am as you are.” However, be subtle with this process. Underplay it and they won’t even notice it. Avoid matching or mirroring anything that is idiosyncratic to them such as a limp or a twitch. That kind of overt behavior might break rapport.
4. Bring them into your trance. When you feel you have established a fair amount of rapport, then it is time to bring them into your world. Get them to focus in on you, so they are no longer distracted by their surroundings. In the old days of hypnosis, a hypnotist would have you look at spiraling wheel. Hypnotic sales professionals create the same kind of trance like state with their presentations.
5. Get them into a good state. As their attention fixates upon you, they might still be in the state of mind of their last activity. If it was a pleasant, that’s fine, if not, then make sure you get them into a good state of mind (good mood). People make decisions inside of mental states. It is important to get your prospect into a great state of mind so when they decide to go with your product or service; they will always associate good feelings to that decision. This is the first rule to eliminate buyer’s remorse.
6. Find their emotional triggers. People buy with their emotions and justify and rationalize with logic. So it is imperative to discover their emotional reasons for buying. Is it to move away from the pain of not having your product or service (perceived benefit) or pleasure of having it? Or perhaps a little bit of both. Once triggers or hot buttons are discovered, hypnotic sales professionals utilize them to persuade the prospect to buying their product or service.
7. Become a storyteller. We all love stories. Through stories you can convince someone of anything because it is always done in a covert manner. Tell them stories of previous customers and how happy they were for using you or your service or product. Don’t say it like a testimonial; instead share it with them like a drama. Watch some TV; drama sells! Hypnotic sales professionals are master storytellers.
8. Be the first to bring up objections. When a prospect brings up a concern, it is called an objection. If you bring up the objection, then you can frame its positive attributes and make your product or service more compelling. Hypnotic sales professionals are quite familiar with the common objections associated with their industry, product, or service, and they prepare themselves ahead of time to inoculate their prospect from these objections.
9. Show them alternate futures. Use your stories to paint them a picture of what it would be like to not have your product or service. This goes back to discovering their emotional triggers. If they are moving away from the pain of not having your product or service, then really be descriptive with this possible future. If they prefer to move towards the pleasure of having your product or service; then paint them a picture of how great it will be when they are using your product or service. This is the second rule to eliminate buyer’s remorse.
10. Thank them and reinforce their decision. Always make sure you thank them because without them you would not be there. Customers are the lifeline to any successful business. Plant a seed for their next purchase and while they are still in that great mood, suggest they share their experience with their associates and friends. This is a hypnotic way to ask for a referral. Two things will happen as a result of their sharing of their experience. First, it will reinforce their good decision about using your product or service. Second, they will automatically enter into this great mood every time they talk about you, your product, or your service. And when their friends or associates inquire about the great mood, you will get free publicity. This is the third rule to eliminate buyer’s remorse.
WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?
One begins to master hypnotic selling by starting with the first tip and really getting that down well. The process to master hypnotic selling is the same way you would eat a watermelon; one bite at a time. The key here is to integrate it into your own style, not to become a robot. Add your own flair once you have mastered each skill set.
After you practice each tip, you will notice an apparent increase in your sales, improved relationships with old and new customers, and more referrals. Now as you are starting to understand the secrets of top performers using hypnotic selling, consider what it would be worth to you. Calculate the value of the life of a customer. Aren’t these skills worth your investigation?
If you aren’t sure if I used hypnotic selling techniques throughout this article you may want to read it again!
As the director of the CORE Changes Institute, Oz Merchant, trains and coaches individuals for personal and professional excellence utilizing cutting-edge transformation technologies such as NLP, Hypnosis, TFT, and EFT to name a few. Get access to the Success Skills E-Letter and remember to get your free copy of his latest e-book “11 Simple Lessons to Manifest Your Destiny,” at http://www.CoreChanges.com
Performance and behaviour management is by far the most difficult aspect of any manager’s job and the reluctance to ‘grasp the nettle’ when performance or behaviour issues emerge is certainly a concern in many organisations. But at the end of the day that is what managers are paid to do and not doing so will certainly affect service, team morale, sales and ultimately the bottom line.
Why does this reluctance exist, why do so many mangers back away from confrontation? The problems and challenges that need to be overcome are many and the common reasons and ‘excuses’ for not doing so are as follows:
It is Risky - There is a worry in the back of the manager’s mind that discussions could turn into heated arguments and that they may open themselves up for harassment or bullying accusations. There is also a concern that team moral and motivation may be damaged by tackling an under-performer and that the team may even turn against the manager.
It is Complicated and Difficult- Performance and behaviour management is not straight forward, it is very seldom clear cut or black and white. It is ‘grey area’ stuff and often involves opinions, perceptions and subjectivity. As managers feel they cannot quantify and then justify their concerns clearly enough they do not attempt to do so.
It is Hard Work and Time Consuming - Many managers feel they do not have the time to sort out under-performers and that it is low on the priority list. “It is not worth the hassle” is a common comment to be heard.
Denial - Many managers are either blind to the fact that a person is under-performing or behaving unacceptably or they do not see it is a serious enough issue to address. There are even managers who believe that it is not their job to tackle performance and behaviour issues and that some day, someone will come along and do it for them.
Many of the aforementioned points tend to be excuses rather than reasons but there are a number of more important points that need to be taken into consideration:
Lack of Training - No new manager has any previous experience of performance and behaviour issues when they move into a manager role for the first time. New managers often inherit performance or behaviour issues from the previous manager and yet are not given relevant training for tackling these issues from the onset. Giving managers basic employment law training and the company procedures to read is not the ‘practical’ training they need and is certainly insufficient on its own. All managers need a thorough grounding in the use of the performance management tools and practice in their use. Job specs, probationary periods, reviews, counselling sessions, appraisals and the disciplinary procedures are all useful performance and behaviour tools when used correctly and at the right time. Yet this vital training is not made on someone’s appointment, often it is made later in their careers when much damage has been done.
Courage and Confidence - Doing something risky, difficult and complicated requires both courage and confidence. Unfortunately many branch managers lack both. Even if managers are given the knowledge and skill to tackle performance or behaviour issues, they will not do so without these essential qualities.
The problems and challenges are undoubtedly great and many may see the issue as un-resolvable however there is someone available to branch managers who can help them overcome many of the problems and challenges and that someone is their boss the Area Manager.
Guidance, Coaching and Support
The area manger is the only person who can guide, coach and support branch managers in the addressing of performance or behaviour issues. They can un-complicate the issues and help managers build a strong case for presenting to an employee. The area manager can also help the manager minimise the risk of harassment or bullying claims by ensuring the correct procedures are being used and that the managers say the right things in the correct way.
More importantly a good area manager will ‘encourage’ and give the manager much needed confidence. The area manager is the only one who can do this but unfortunately in many instances this is not happening and by not doing so area managers are unconsciously (or consciously) influencing a reluctance to tackle performance or behaviour issues within their branches.
Why is this happening?
Asking for support and guidance - Many branch managers are certainly reluctant to approach their area manager when they experience performance or behaviour issues within the team. If the matter falls into the gross misconduct category then managers will contact the area manager (and HR function) in the first instance. But for ‘grey area’ performance or behaviour matters they tend to keep the issues to themselves.
The reasons for this are as follows:
Many branch managers feel:
* The area manager may see it as a trivial matter and not important enough to bring to their attention.
* That seeking advice and guidance will be seen in a negative way by the area manager.
* The area manager will go into fault finding mode rather than helping find solutions.
* The area manager may start questioning the branch manager’s ability to do the job.
Many managers have in the past gone to their area mangers for advice and support on team performance issues but received such a negative, unhelpful reply that many were put off from ever doing so again, even when they changed to a different area manager.
There is also a feeling that area managers themselves do not know what to do either. “Bring me solutions not problems” is a common comment heard by branch managers when they have taken a ‘people’ issue to their area manager.
Offering support and guidance
It is a fact that very few area managers actively encourage branch managers to talk about their ‘people’ issues or are prepared to probe below the surface to identify possible performance or behaviour problems that may be affecting the business. There are many examples where area managers have placed managers in ‘problem’ branches without preparing them for the issues they will face or helped or supported them once they have taken up the position. Basically they throw them to the wolves and then leave them to get on with it.
Another common issue is when the assistant manager of the branch is turned down for the manager position. Very few area managers are competent in explaining why an individual was not appointed and give excuses rather than valid reasons. This results in the new manager having to experience considerable hostility and resentment from not only their deputy but from many of the team also.
Why do many area managers not offer support or guidance or dig below the surface looking for performance issues? There are a number of reasons for this.
Unconscious Competence
There is a saying that “Good Management will result in good people staying and not-so-good people either improving or leaving. Where as Bad Management will result in good people leaving and not-so-good people staying and possibly getting even worse”.
During their time as branch managers, many area managers did not experience risky, difficult or complicated people issues. If they did, they often resolved them unconsciously. They just acted as good managers should, which resulted in the issues being resolved quickly. Ask any manager who is competent in performance or behaviour management “how do you do it or what do you do?” and you will probably receive a shrug of the shoulders and a comment like “I don’t know specifically, I just do it” (Unconscious Competence)
Unconscious competence is not acceptable at area management level as a key requirement of the job is to coach and train branch managers in performance management. Area managers can only fulfil this critical function if they know exactly what is to be done and how to do it. (Conscious competence)
Conscious Incompetence
Unfortunately there are area managers in existence who ‘know’ they are not personally competent in dealing with performance and behaviour issues and will go to great lengths not to expose this weakness to others. (Conscious incompetence) These area managers tend to encourage branch managers to not make waves, maintaining the status quo and to tolerate rather than develop. They certainly do not dig below the surface in a branch seeking ‘people’ issues that may be affecting the business.
One of the most disappointing comments I heard from a seasoned area manager when asked why he was not supporting his managers was “I am not allowed to get involved as I am the next step of the appeal process”.
A good measure of an area manager’s competence is to look at the performance and behaviour of the area manager’s branch manager team. It is pretty certain that if they cannot coach and encourage branch mangers in the tackling of performance and behaviour issues then you can be sure they themselves are not tackling branch manager performance or behaviour issues.
Possible Solutions
If a retail organisation needs to tackle performance or behaviour issues at branch levels, I believe they need to develop the skills and competence of performance management at area management level first as area managers alone have the authority and are the biggest influence on branch manager effectiveness.
Unconscious competent area managers need to become consciously competent so they can not only develop others but also develop themselves further. Conscious incompetent area managers need to admit that they are not effective in performance or behaviour management and be prepared to learn and develop the necessary skills. If they are not prepared to do so then they themselves need to be performance managed by the company. After all, Executives cannot demand that branch managers tackle performance and behaviour issues one moment and then not do so themselves when they need to. That isn’t leading by example
Anthony Dance is managing director of outlook management development, a retail performance management and management development organisation. He is also an accomplished speaker on the topic of tackling performance issues and has over 15 years experience within senior operational roles. Anthony can be contacted through his web site http://www.outlookretail.com
Exclusive Credit Repair Leads
19 September 2008
If you own or work for a credit repair business, or you are considering starting a credit repair business, you may have at one time or another considered purchasing exclusive credit repair leads.
For starters, the purchase of credit repair leads is a wise choice for your company because the people that fill out these on line forms for credit repair are serious about getting their credit fixed.
They are not simply surfing the net, looking for information or a free ride. The minute they filled out the form and hit submit, they committed themselves to seeking the help of credit repair professionals and are waiting on a phone call.
Exclusive credit repair leads can be purchased relatively cheap, so it may be in your best interest to buy them that way and eliminate any competition.
Of course before you go and commit yourself to purchasing exclusive credit repair leads, you will want to make sure that they are exactly that.
You certainly don’t want to be purchasing leads that are old or have been recycled.
So before you commit to a credit repair company, call and speak with someone in customer service. Find out how they obtain their leads and how they will be delivered to you.
If you cannot get a hold of anyone in customer service, or you are not satisfied with their answers, than move onto the next credit repair company.
Remember, you work hard for your money, so if you are not happy with the customer service or the answers that they give you, than you can count on not being happy with leads they send you.
Jay Conners is the owner of two mortgage related lead sites where he obtains leads from people looking for credit repair. Please visit his sites at www.callprospect.com/credit_repair_leads.html And www.callprospect.com
8 Procedures to Take Control of Sales and Marketing
2 August 2008
The Cash to Cash Cycle
Part Three of Series
We’re sprinting toward that million dollar mark…and we’re only a couple strides away…
Decreasing inventory carried us over the first hurdle, and last week reducing Accounts Receivable sped us through the half-way mark. We’re making great time, so let’s bring on the next mile marker - marketing and sales.
Increasing Overall Sales and Marketing Effectiveness
If you are an organization spending $500,000 or more on marketing expenses (e.g. advertising, trade shows, print materials, direct mail, etc.) then STOP! We found it again. Why you ask…? Because marketing has the greatest potential of being very unproductive. In fact, many marketing programs struggle to break even, and actually frequently lose money. So if we increase the overall effectiveness, then we can eliminate 50% or more of your wasted marketing efforts, which translates into $250,000 in cash.
So now, let’s see how this actually works in a real-life scenario.
Sales and Marketing Company Policy Case Study
An organization with $500,000 in marketing expenses needed assistance. We examined their sales and marketing process to understand and quantify the lead flow, follow-up, and demand forecasting issues. Then we designed and implemented a process to improve their sales cycle efficiency and tie it closer to their customer’s buying cycles. After the marketing reductions, we then reinvested $100,000 back into new processes for public relations and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), both of which were suffering badly.
The metrics we developed reduced their marketing expenses by 60% overall and increased their sales cycle efficiency from 40% to 60% within 6 months of implementing the new procedures. With these new processes and reports, the company now tracks sales cycle efficiency and life-time value rather than just sales quota achievement, as the measure of their sales & marketing effectiveness. The result: an extra $300,000 in cash plus a 50% increase in process capability (capacity).
As we have seen time and time again, time can be our best friend, if only we let it.
Methods to Design the New Sales & Marketing Process
• Improve Follow-up. Only about two percent (2%) of sales occur on the first contact. Eighty percent (80%) of sales will require five to eight contacts before the sale closes. This means that if you are contacting the prospect less than five times or more than eight times, then you could have a problem with follow-up.
• Sales Cycle Efficiency. Time kills deals. The speed at which a prospect is converted into a customer and the number of prospects required to make that conversion determines your sales cycle efficiency. So ask yourself, are you taking the right steps to measure and reduce lost sales?
• Life-Time Value. How profitable a given customer is over time defines your LTV or Life-Time Value. Companies spend ten times more to acquire a customer than to keep a customer. However, existing customers are more likely to purchase again, spend more money, and therefore become more profitable. If you don’t know your LTV, then how do you know how much money to spend and on which customer segment?
• Demand Forecasting. Every customer buys on a cycle. So this means that you should track cycle times and variance to increase the accuracy of your forecasting and the loyalty of the customer. Do you know when your customers need to reorder?
• Improve Lead Quality. Do you have methods in place to measure the conversion potential of each lead? Lead generation activities (i.e. forms) should pre-qualify every new lead so that you can take the right follow-up actions for the marketing offer. Strong leads produce strong sales.
• Increase Awareness. To keep the sales pipeline full of good quality leads you must continuously increase the awareness of your company and the solutions that it provides. Public relations is more efficient at building awareness than advertising, yet many companies spend wildly on advertising and trade shows while neglecting to fund public relations efforts much at all. Increase your name recognition, not your budget.
• Reduce Discounting. Discounts represent deficiencies in the sales & marketing processes, which means that you should use them sparingly. Instead, determine the root cause and then fix the process that’s causing the need to discount. Show customers the added value, and they won’t focus on price.
• Train Personnel. Provide your sales & marketing personnel with regular formal training. This will arm them with better product knowledge, as well as presentation, negotiating and selling skills that will improve effectiveness. This will boost both employee morale and the bottom line - a win-win.
Control of Sales and Marketing Policy and Procedures
Improve your sales cycle efficiency. Reduce your marketing expenses. Tie it closer to your customer’s buying cycles. And take control of your sales and marketing program to let it work for you.
Improvement with Well-defined Policies and Procedures
With well-defined processes and procedures in place, you will increase efficiency by reducing ineffective sales and marketing programs. And, again, we make such improvements to create more cash on hand - all toward that million dollar goal and to cross the finish line.
Next week, we will hurdle the final $250,000 mark with the Accounting Payables function - so close you can see it.
Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance.
To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: Bizmanualz, Inc.
Qualifications Based Selection Is Your Competitive Advantage to Secure Professional Services Sales
9 July 2008
Staying ahead of the competition as it grows more and more each day due to the discontent with corporate America and the continual downsizing through out sourcing is a constant challenge. How does a business that provides professional services from executive coaching to strategic planning differentiate itself, increase sales and outsell the competition?
Recently, I discovered a possible answer to that question - Qualifications Based Selection or QBE. This is a 3-step process to help organizations locate the right firm for the professional services needs at hand while improving quality and cost effectiveness.
Qualifications Based Selection is the result of the realization that professional services contracts may represent only a small percentage of a firms annual expenditures, but may impact the firm for many years to come. This process helps to work with both the client and the provider of the professional services.
The first step in this process is to establish an evaluation criteria from which to select a short list of 3 to 5 firms. At this initial step, references are verified and interviews with prospective professional services firms are scheduled. From a 7-step sales process perspective, this is the first step: Gaining Favorable Attention.
In step two, the client and the prospective firms talk about the needs of the client and from this conversation the scope of work is determined. A benefit of this step for the professional services firm is to further develop the relationship that began during the first step and allows for the opportunity to verbally present a preliminary proposal. Before this step transitions into step 3, everyone must be in agreement.
The last step is to review the fee proposal, secure agreement to the scope of services and to retain the best firm. From the 7 step sales process approach this is steps 4 through 5:
- Proposal
- Getting Commitment
As an executive coach who works with organizations by defining the desired results first, demonstrating the capacity to perform the services, working with the client to meet his or her needs, not yours, and securing a firm commitment from the prospect, the Qualifications Based Selection or QBE is a natural fit for any professional services firm. QBE is a proactive solution that will clearly separate you from your competitors.
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Leanne Hoagland-Smith coaches small businesses to large organizations and high school students to entrepreneurs to double performance by closing the gap between today’s outcomes and tomorrow’s goals. Please feel free to contact Leanne at 219.759.5601 or visit http://www.processspecialist.com/ and explore how she can help you from the free articles to the improvement tips. She welcomes any firm that utilizies Qualifications Based Selection (QBE) because this process quickly demonstrates her value added approach to process improvement. One quick question, if you could secure one new client or breakthrough that one roadbloack, what would that mean to you? Then, take a risk and give a call at 219.759.5601 to experience incredible business. Mention that you read this article and receive a complimentary 60 minute coaching session. |
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