Article by Karen Skidmore

When people decide to give up on their business and go back to corporate life it’s not because they prefer PAYE world. It’s usually because they have just run out money. They aren’t able to make enough income to cover their day-to-day costs, let along make a profit.But these businesses don’t go out of business because of bad service or poor quality products. These businesses are usually run by people who are passionate about what they do and genuinely care about their customers.So why is it that many home based businesses come and go?Is it because they had a bad business idea?Sometimes, yes but more often the real reason is that they have no idea on how marketing works and what are the easiest and simplest ways of attracting customers.Let me give you an example.Jane is an ex-accountant who got fed up with the commute in to work every day and because of her passion for colours and interiors, she decided to re-train and start up an interiors business. She now offers a range of services from one-off consultations and personal home styling to project managing big decorating jobs.Jane is based in a fairly affluent area. The credit crunch is not yet affecting the local spending patterns but the high housing prices has meant that more people are extending and modifying their property to get more space rather than move. There is a market place for Jane’s service, especially when Jane has worked out that she only needs to be working with a maximum of 10 clients at any given time.She has sensibly got a 6 month financial buffer, but four months in and Jane is finding it difficult attracting enough clients to her business. She rarely has more than the odd appointment in her diary each week. She advertises once a month in her local newspaper because she felt she ought to have a presence and get her name out there. And she has also just signed up for one year advertising in her parish magazine as well with a local online business directory. She has even gone round and put a leaflet in every door in her local neighbourhood offering a free consultation, but not one person has called her about the offer.Selling her business is becoming hard work. It is demoralising and the passion is starting to dwindle. If it carries on like this, Jane will be forced to give up on her dreams and return to her accountancy career to pay the bills.It’s not fair is it? Especially when Jane is offering a quality and professional service which is backed up by study and training. There is a local market for what she offers and she knows that her knowledge can help increase the value of people’s homes and save them endless of hours of research. But what she doesn’t know is how to market herself. All her money is going in to advertising that obviously is not working for her and on leaflets that are obviously aren’t compelling enough to make people call.Jane needs to stop and take the time out to really get to know her target customers.Targeting the right customers with the right messages is really the secret to great marketing. The better you know the people you want to attract, the more likely it is that you will know where to find them, how to communicate with them and how to make yourself attractive enough for these people to call you.Jane needs to stop her advertising and go back to basics.Who are her target customers? What are their worries and concerns? When it comes to home decorating and creating more space, what are their real problems and challenges?By focusing on some simple questions such as these, Jane’s answers will help her work out what her special uniqueness could be to make her marketing activities and offers compelling and attractive.So, for those of you out there who feeling like Jane, take a long hard look at how you are telling people about your business. If your advertising isn’t working, cancel it. If those leaflets cluttering up your office aren’t working, get rid of them.Cleanse your business of stuff that you are doing because you think it is the right thing to do. Stop second guessing and start understanding your customers.© Karen Skidmore, 2009

About the Author

(c) Karen Skidmore, 2009. Reprints are welcome so long as by-line and article are published intact and all links made live.

Karen Skidmore publishes her weekly CanDoCanBe Attitude newsletter for coaches, consultants, therapists, trainers and solo-professionals. If you would like the latest practical, no-nonsense marketing advice to help you attract more clients, then sign up at http://www.CanDoCanBe.com TODAY for free!

Article by Susan A. Enns

does not matter if you’re a CEO who needs to increase the earned income, a sales manager who wants to improve the results of your team or a sales representative looking to invest in your self-improvement, you should evaluate the sales and sales management training seminars prior to purchase. All seminars are not created equal and the highest price does not necessarily guarantee results.

Find the best sales and management training program

Sales and sales management training course must be based on how people learn to desired results |] successfully. Sullivan et al reported that the dependence of effective adult requires eight directions: to learn

-The student must be ready. -The program should be based on what the student already knows or has lived. Students learn about what they need. A variety of methods and training techniques work best. -The opportunity to practice skills are essential for the acquisition of skills and competencies. -Repetition is necessary to become experts in one area or jurisdiction. The more realistic the-classroom learning more effective. A-time, non-judgmental and positive feedback is the best.

Participants must not be preached. The keys to success I am sure that every participant has the opportunity to exercise effectively the skills acquired, and each new skill presented is based on a previous learned. E ‘therefore essential that students have access to their trainer / coach after the seminar is over for coaching training and ongoing support. Unfortunately, most software sales and sales management training classes are, so you do not provide this. . Therefore, they end up not deliver the desired results

Beyond the need for practical training course and support the above, other issues to consider when comparing the sales management and sales training courses are:

Sea – The techniques and materials are taught in an effective measurable results? Sales and sales management training provided? It ‘one thing for a sales training company to say they have a lot of sales training seminars, but it is another for them to stand behind them with a guarantee. – You learn from a qualified coach to sell? Everyone can try to offer training programs for the sale of a book and delivery of a seminar. To succeed, your sales coach should be qualified, competent, and have proven successful. – Maybe a little ‘training sales to meet you and your product? I do not want to talk about ideas on how to sell a product that you want to be able to put these concepts into practice, said that the product that you start your sale. – Is there a device, such as exams or certification test in place to ensure that students learn the material? If you do not have the points, how do you know if you are making? – Training seminars for the sale divided into sessions over a period of time or is just a class? Selling is a process that can be repeated, but no one learn from this process in an afternoon. – Training available for sale in various formats, such as self-study programs, interactive online webinars, and all the classic site, you must consider the travel time and expenses for evaluation training options for the sale, and other e-learning today can be better tailored to your budget.

No one can deny that the investment in yourself or your sales team is the way forward in order for you to reach your sales potential. However, if you want to improve sales or sales management training, so you must change the way you deliver your sales training courses

To obtain a free copy of our white paper “How to choose a Sales Training Program “, which includes B2B Sales Connections, Sales training programs Decision Matrix to help you choose a system of selling and sales management training courses that are suitable, please visit our Download Center on our website. What turnover or a training course in sales management you choose, we wish you nothing happened, but in your future.

Aim Higher!

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections

About the Author

Susan A. Enns is associate director of B2B Sales Connections, a sales coaching sales site with free resources, online sales training, a specialized job board and free resume listing services for business professionals in sales and is the author of numerous training programs for sale. It has proved successful, with over 22 years of direct sales, business management and executive level business experience. Susan is currently president of the association, sales professionals in Ottawa or contact Susan for more information, visit http://www.b2bsalesconnections.com