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Posted by Phyllis on Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 in Sales Tips, SoundAdvice Sound Bites, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

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I love my new SoundBite image don’t you?

I was lucky to win the services of Jason and he created this image for me.  I love the retro look!
Check out his work here!

Looking for help with your daily sales activities? Leave a comment (or email for privacy) and I’ll answer each one!

Follow Friday Customer Love Style

Posted by Phyllis on Friday, April 8th, 2011 in Follow Friday | Comments (2)

Looking for some amazing people to follow?  Want to join a community that’s getting things done and making things happen? Check out these people and join the conversation!  (I’ve written about Customer Love here)

LaVonne Ellis

The amazing force behind the customer love movement, LaVonne is perfect at building a community, connecting people together and making things happen.   She’s likely to be tweeting about what someone else is doing, leading a tweetchat or asking about your thing. She’s the ringleader and chief instigator and encourager. Follow along!

Eleanor Wragg

I met Eleanor back in November during the first Customer Love challenge.  I was lucky enough to win a free re-write of my About page.  Working with her was a great experience.  Eleanor is fun to talk to, super smart and very talented.  She’s a word traveler who writes beautifully. The last time we skype-chatted she was in Puerto Rico.  Follow her and read more here.

Sandi Amorim

A self described chief instigator, Sandi is not your typical coach. She’s taken a stand for her clients. She’s knows that you deserve to shine even if you don’t!  Her blog is inspiring; not just because she write so well, but because she has something important to say. I love her generous spirit, her sense of humor and I  know you will too!

Who do you suggest?

Share your follow Friday suggestions in the comments!

SoundAdvice Resources: HARO

Posted by Phyllis on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 in Resources | Comments (2)

 

 www.helpareporter.com The brainchild of Peter Shankman, HARO has become the go to resource for journalists.  Started as a Facebook group – the service connects reporters with sources, in a credible way.    How can this help you, the small business owner?  Take advantage of the daily opportunities to pitch your story and get media coverage for your business. 

  Sign up to receive the 3 time daily emails.  There’s no charge for reporters or sources.  You can receive the entire list of media requests or just subscribe to the topics that interest you like Biotech and Healthcare or Business and Finance and others.  Each request has a brief description and details for contact. 

  Not sure how to pitch or respond?  Most requests are specific, so comply with what they ask – but do add your special touch and style.  Keep your initial pitch short but interesting.  Most reporters will ask for contact info so they can follow up and get more details if they decide to use you as a source. 

  This is a great way to get publicity – and promote yourself as an expert in your field.   Be sure to let me know when your company or information is used in a story!

Coming Soon: Back to Business Boot Camp

Posted by Phyllis on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 in Get Going, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

  

I mentioned in another post that I’m in an exercise class that’s “boot-camp” style.  The goal is to really push yourself physically, and see results quickly.  It’s also meant to be diverse and mix things up so you are always working different muscles, balance, flexibility and core strength all at once.  

  It’s hard.  But I love it. 

  The best part is that I just show up.  Yes, once I’m there I do the work – but I don’t have to plan it, or figure it out or keep track of upper body/lower body/strength training/cardio… you get the idea.  Someone else does.  They provide the plan of action and I execute – as best I can. 

   I’ve decided to put my sales training modules into a concentrated “Back to Business Boot Camp” that will start in a few weeks.  Let me know if you’d like info.  I’m excited to put everything together and I know you’ll love the step by step instructions that you can implement for your own quick results.

Lessons From My Mentor(s)

Posted by Phyllis on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 in Lessons Learned, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

 

 I’ve been thinking about former friends and co-workers today.   I’ve also been thinking about how everyday kind of things can end up making an impact that isn’t always expected.  Some of the lessons I learned were like that.    There’s a long, long story about my mentors that I want to write someday, but for today – here are a few things that I learned that have served me well and help me all the time.

Do It Yourself  – Or at least be willing to.  One of the owners of a company I worked for taught me this.  He was a self-made man who worked harder than anyone I knew.  He taught me how to do many things by showing me how he did it himself. 

Take Responsibility Alone – Share the Credit -  This was something I saw another owner do many times.  A big deal was lost?  He stood up and said, “My bad – I didn’t position us correctly, but we’ll learn from it and win the next one.”  A big deal landed?  “Everyone was helpful and deserved part of the credit”.   Selling is competitive and somewhat individual, but if you are a sales leader – this must be part of your leadership method.

Work Hard and Have Fun – They don’t have to be exclusive.  People who are passionate about thier work don’t always understand that a break here and there will help you and your staff blow off some steam and come back recharged.  Don’t be afraid to step back and have a good time.

Learning Never Ends – Again, in my early sales career, the owners of the company knew that regular training was critical to the success and development of the sales staff.  They encouraged it and led by example by regularly attending training and development seminars themselves. 

There are other lessons I learned along the way as well but these simple concepts have helped me to succeed.  Sometimes the most basic rules can be the foundation for guiding you through your decisions. 

What basic lessons do you refer to? 
How did you learn them?
Do you teach them at your company?

 

Watching QVC Can Make You A Great Sales Person – Really!

Posted by Phyllis on Friday, May 7th, 2010 in Sales Rx | Comments (1)

I did a sales training event this week with Darrah Courter. We had a great time and I met some great new people.  A point in my presentation was all about the need to talk about your business in terms of benefits to your customer/clients/prospects.   Nothing new about that.  We all nod our heads when we hear it.  Doing it well not as common. We are all so used to talking in terms of what and how but what we really need to share is the why.

Enter QVC.

I love Mike Rowe don’t you? The clip is random mind association about cherubs – and guess what? I’m sure it worked (to some extent) because he’s associating cherubs with angels, hymns, church, children… you get the idea. Well, Mike has moved on to better gigs but there’s a point here – I promise.

How well do you explain your benefits? If you’re like most you can talk forever about what you do, you can give me supporting info to establish credibility (education, certifications) and you can especially tell me HOW you do what you do. Great, you’re qualified. I was already hoping that was the case.

Tell me why I should care. Why does it matter to me? How will buying from or hiring you make your clients happy? How can you make them feel good about themselves?

Today’s Rx: Watch QVC

These people are masters at making people want to buy. Pull out a credit card and call or go online right now and spend. How do they do it? By talking benefits. Developing a narrative and a story that people relate to. Buying a mop is now all about being the best mom, taking care of your kids and keeping the H1N1 out of my home thank you very much.  That collection of flameless candles is a gift that says I’m a good daughter or friend and I care about the people in my life.

Now, I’m not advocating the sometims spammy, pushiness sometimes associated with this medium.  What I do think is helpful is learning how to tell a story about the great benefits people can expect.  Things like saving money, feeling confident, reducing stress, having more time/freedom/money, losing weight, being beautiful.  That’s why people want to spend their money.

Your next Rx: Write down why people want what you have! What’s your narrative? If they can make a mop sound appealing (and they do) you can too!

Let me know what you come up with. I’m here to help if you get stuck along the way!

Twitter Follow Friday – Mother’s Day Edition

Posted by Phyllis on Friday, May 7th, 2010 in Follow Friday | Comments (4)

I enjoy doing these posts.  The hardest part is picking out who to list!   So let’s get right to it this week.

@Rockson – Rocky is a social media legend.  Really.  He’d never say that but he’s the reason why I went to my first tweet-up. He was involved in bringing Startup Weekend Columbus to town, and started the Skyline Chili Conniseurs’s club (must be experience at least once) and is now part of a great new twitter app called ChumpDump.   Oh, and if you want some of his social media skills, he’ll help you out.  Check out Start Engaging Others.  (This is not an affiliate link or paid promo – he’s a great resource and I’m happy to share the love!)

@AndreaApplegate – Andrea is part inspiration, part motivation and really fun.  She’s a natural connector; she just gets it.  She’s as likely to be posting about running, or mentoring or events in Columbus all with her flair for humor and fun.  She’s a big Buckeye fan, so during the fall, be prepared for passionate updates about OSU football, tailgating and TBDBITL.

@mssinglemama - This is the mother’s day edition after all.  Alaina is fun and witty and smart.  She takes you along with her as she navigates motherhood, a new business, dating, falling in love (?), and every day life stuff.  A quick read of her blog will make you feel like she’s a long time friend – plus she’s always doing somthing or going somewhere fun!

@CatherineCaine – I just recently “met” Catherine online.  She’s brilliant.  You’ll love her fun sense of humor.  Part of her twitter bio is “Queen of Awesomesauce”.  Enough said.  Follow her and her blog.  You won’t

@Tom_Peters - If by some chance you aren’t following him yet, you should be.  The mix of his personal perspective with his incredible sense what’s trending right now – means you’ll be getting some cool insights about business and life.  He’s as likely to be answering a question or commenting on the work or writings of others along with his personal comments on what he’s observing as he goes through his days.  Always interesting.  I love that he’s so engaged. 

Feel free to leave comments or info about the folks I’ve mentioned, or let me know who you put in your #ff list this week.

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