This even happened yesterday when I met someone that I was very interested in having speak at one of my networking events for small business owners. But you see…

She unknowingly messed it all up in a big way and blew her chances at getting a lot of business.

And at the same time, she also killed my impression of her.

*********************************************************************************

Are you closing the door on sales that
you didn’t even know you had locked up?

*********************************************************************************

This is one of the biggest and easiest mistakes to make for us small business owners while networking as well as during a sales conversation that costs us dearly.

I used to make this same mistake all the time.

Often. And I had no idea I was doing it.

It was costing me lots of clients that would have hired me.

Then I finally figured it out and learned to do the exact opposite of what my instincts were telling me. But that was after years of working with sales and marketing gurus, and I was finally able to connect the dots.

Most small business owners never know they are doing it, and if you’re one of these people, it’s costing you clients, time, energy, money and reputation.

I’ll explain in detail below how to avoid doing this one thing, and give you

THREE SIMPLE SALES LESSONS to handle the situation and
give you a HUGE SALES LIFT instead.

*********************************************************************************

Does this sound familiar:

You’re at a networking event. Or maybe just met someone at a social gathering.

You’re having a really good conversation. It definitely seems like they are seriously interested in hiring you, and you go to put it over the top.

Then you hear a ‘maybe’, or more likely “Ok.. I’ll call you.”

And then… Nothing.

How frustrating is that?

VERY!

You probably have just talked yourself out of a new client, and you didn’t even know it.

Or maybe you do, but you just can’t figure out what went wrong. And that’s even more annoying and upsetting.

And then you start questioning if you are wasting your time at networking events, or if people just don’t “get” what you offer.

Or maybe you figure next time you need to explain your services more… but it doesn’t work any better, and you lead yourself into a cycle of doubt, rejection and disappointment.

Like I said, I’ve been there, done that and bought the t-shirt.

It’s extremely discouraging.

Not only can this happen easily and often while networking, but it also can happen during a sales conversation.

And when this happens, you are MISSING GREAT OPPORTUNITIES to get more clients and move your business forward.

Here’s what I’m talking about:

Human nature is to get excited when someone shows interest in your services, so your natural reaction is to show your expertise, prove your worth, and get them eager to hear more, follow up and to hire you.

And when you see that they really do NEED you to help them, then the adrenaline REALLY gets pumping!

So you go into high-gear, and agree with them, and tell, explain, convince, and set up a time to talk…

But you don’t get the sale!

Maybe they even blew off your appointment or call. But I mean, after all, they were the ones that started it and said they were interested.

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?

Well, when someone shows a lot of intrigue, excitement or says they are curious about what you do or working with you, the worst thing you can do is go into “hyper-sales mode.”

At this point, it’s common to automatically throw out every single benefit you can think of and talk about everything that your service can do for them.

And here’s what you think you’re doing: agreeing with them, educating them, and driving their desire; being honest, straight forward and helpful.

Sometimes you even start dropping your price right away or bringing up why you are much better or cheaper than your competitor.

Again, you’re just being of extreme service to them and showing your value. Then they almost HAVE TO BUY.

It makes so much sense. Right?

Wrong. In fact…

DO NOT DO ANY OF THE ABOVE!

Instead, the best thing you can do is fight that urge and excitement, andask a simple question of them.

—————————————————————————————————

SIMPLE SALES LESSON #1:

“AN EFFECTIVE AND CARING SALES PERSON LISTENS
80% OF THE TIME AND TALKS 20%.”

—————————————————————————————————

For instance, if your prospect says, ”That’s interesting. I think that might help me,” or even, “Wow.. I need to talk to you!!”

The best thing to come out of your mouth next is something that gets you more information, gets them talking and reinforces their excitement all at the same time.

Do this by asking a question that digs deeper.

So let’s rewind and try that again:

You tell them what you do, and they say,

“Wow.. I need to talk to you!!”

You reply:

–> “What makes you say that?” or

–> “What is it that you find most interesting?” or

–> “How would that be helpful to you?”

You see, when you go into “super-over-drive convince-and-close” selling mode, not only do you seem incredibly desperate and needy, but you also focus on all the benefits of your service AS *YOU* SEE THEM.

—————————————————————————————————

SIMPLE SALES LESSON #2:

“YOU ARE NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN
YOUR INTERACTION. YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENT IS.”

—————————————————————————————————

Even though you may have been in business for years and “have seen it all,” you don’t know exactly what’s going on in their mind and what it is about your offering that really piqued their interest.

And YOU MIGHT BE WAY OFF BASE with what you think they see as the benefits, and the low price, and the additional services, and the easy process, and, and…

You are now selling all the wrong things, and what they really want was lost way back there.

And they feel like you don’t understand them, and it’s not a fit.

But, if you stop and ask a question that digs deeper into WHAT THEY SEE as the benefit and how your service solves a problem they have, you are able to:

• Get more and better information on their buying criteria
• Let them reinforce the value of your service from their own perspective and situation
• Demonstrate how committed you are to listening and understanding them – their concerns, fears, wants, needs and desires
• Show that you are professional and polished
• Close the sale much easier
• Get paid what you’re worth, without discounting your prices
• Increase your value and be a much better service provider to them as your relationship continues to grow.

This process is 100 times more powerful than just feverishly rattling off every reason in rapid-fire fashion as to why YOU THINK they MIGHT be interested, and in the process completely turning them off and killing your closing chances, not to mention your reputation.

It’s based on this simple truth -

—————————————————————————————————

SIMPLE SALES LESSON #3:

“PEOPLE DON’T ARGUE WITH THEIR OWN INFORMATION.”

—————————————————————————————————

So let them sell themselves, with just a little help from you filling some info gaps here and there, and acting as a guide and sounding board.

You’ll get a much more enthusiastic buyer, an easier close, and a happier, more grateful new client!

Jason E. Rosado
Small Business Growth Coach
(773) 829-1276
Jason (at) DistinctiveCoaching.com

On the surface, this makes some sense, especially for people that like the way LinkedIn provides a professional presence on one of the top social networking sites, and people want to extend that logic to where many of their current connections are: on Facebook.

But…

If you are using or thinking about setting up a new profile as a professional page, you might want to consider setting up a Fan Page instead, for several reasons.

Facebook Fan Pages, also knows as Business Pages, have several advantages over creating a second Facebook personal profile.

Not that I am the “Facebook Police” by any means, but setting up a personal profile is against the Facebook Terms of Service.

I bring this up not because I think we all should abide just as Facebook would want us to, but because Facebook does reserve the right to close your account if you violate their Terms. And I would hate to see anyone slip by for years, build a fantastic business profile and make awesome connections just to have to all deleted out of the blue one day. I know how I would feel, so I don’t want to see it happen to anyone else, either.

Top 10 Reasons a Fan Page is Better for Business

Aside from the above, here are ten reasons a Fan Page is better suited to your professional networking on Facebook than a personal profile:

1.) Facebook Fan Pages are indexed by search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, and will show in search results, sending more visitors to your Fan Page that are looking for just what you provide.

2.) Being listed on the main search engines will boost your own website rankings when your website URL is listed on your Fan Page (ALWAYS list your website link on all your social networking profiles! :) )

3.) Fan Pages can have unlimited connections (“Likes”/friends), as opposed to a Facebook personal profile, which only can have up to 5,000 friends.

4.) You can set up webpage interactive tabs and landing pages on your Fan Page, which can attract more “Likes” as well as get more people over to your own website.

5.) You can send Facebook “email” updates to all your Fans at once – and your Fans then become an off-shoot of your email distribution list.

6.) Due to the most recent Facebook Fan Page “upgrade” (it’s called an “upgrade” even through it’s free), you now can interact with other Fan Pages on Facebook while posting as your Fan Page instead of your personal profile, which helps attract new Fans and further extends the reach of your marketing message and your networking.

7.) Facebook Ads are still a relatively cheap form of marketing and can be a good source of traffic to your Fan Page or an external website.

8.) You can set up a direct feed from your Fan Page posts to your Twitter account. As a second step, you can set up your LinkedIn account to pull updates from Twitter, thereby creating a technological synergy and multiple outlets for your messages, reaching more of your network on the platform that they prefer and use more often.

9.) Having a Fan Page will quickly give your visitors a much better understanding of your business and the type of support, ideas, products or services you provide, making their decision to connect much easier.  On a personal profile, visitors usually need to hunt for information to figure out who you are and why they should connect – and often times cannot find those pieces of information at all.

10.) Having a Facebook business presence is part of your overall marketing system and client funnel. Facebook Fan Pages are built with business growth and marketing in mind whereas personal profiles are not.

There are other advantages as well, but those are ten of the main ones.

Please let me know if I can answer anything specific regarding these ideas, or post some of your own experiences and suggestions in the Comments section below!

Here’s to your success,
BizCoach Jason

It’s zero degrees in Chicago this morning.

But the weather is looking up. I checked the daily and monthly averages, because I am getting really tired of this cold. I can’t wait for it to warm up!

January is the coldest month of the year for my area. And on average, January 20th is the coldest day of the month. So guess what?

It’s damn cold out, but it’s all uphill from here!

And even as I write, the temperature just went up 1 degree. We’re making progress.

The hardest part about getting through the cold winter is that I have no control over whether it will get warmer or colder.

That is really hard to swallow. Even though I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years, it only seems to get harder – knowing that I have absolutely no control of my environment.

I’m so glad that’s NOT how it is with my business.

Things business-wise are very warm indeed!

And I have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s due to my own work. It’s all in my control. Even when it feels like it’s not – it really is.

The smarter and more motivated I work, the warmer it gets. (And notice that I didn’t say “the harder I work…” because in my book, smart and motivated work trumps hard and uninspired work any day!)

If I don’t have enough clients, I simply go to a networking event, give a presentation or send an email out to my list. And *poof* – more clients appear. Now obviously, there are certain things I need to do and say at that networking event, during the presentation or in that email. But because I know how to do it, have built my marketing message, my track record of helping clients my brand and what I stand for, it’s relatively easy to get new clients.

It wasn’t always that way for me. I had to learn A LOT OF LESSONS the hard way.

And for many small business owners, it’s never that way.

But it can be! It should be very easy for most small business owners to get new clients. That is, of course, if they are working smartly and are inspired.

So now that winter is starting to fade (thought I still can’t control the weather myself!), what do you have planned for January 21st through the rest of the spring to make sure YOU ARE IN CONTROL of your own “warmth” and your own business success?

Do you know what you are doing – daily, weekly, monthly – that will result in – *poof* - more clients?

Are you confident and proven in your networking conversations and email offers to your list? Do you even have a “list?” (This is EXTREMELY important to build your client funnel.)

Are you using technology wisely and leveraging relationships of marketing and referral partners to gain clients?

These are all in YOUR CONTROL. And you should be using them, and using them well.

After all, the weather will get warmer, but ONLY YOU CAN CONTROL if your business heats up.

So, what will it be – bright, warm and sunny, or cold, damp and miserable? It’s up to you.

Want help with this?

I’m working on a new FREE Special Report that outlines my best secrets to help you get more clients right now. That’s right, I’m giving away the step-by-step actions to the things you can do right away to get more clients that are eager to work with you.

If you want to get on my email list and be one of the first to get this incredible, business-changing report, just sign up for one of my two existing Special Reports:
- “The Business Success E-Series”
-  “Untangling Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and More”

You’ll be EXTREMELY GLAD you did!

Stay warm :)

This can be done in person via speaking engagements, workshops, classes, networking events; on the phone on teleclasses, teleseminars, etc.; or on the web through webinars, social networking, blogging, newsletters, Fan Pages, and so many more methods… 

Over the years, I have given hundreds of presentations. And I’ve learned something VERY IMPORTANT that I want to share this with you:

To make sales from your presentation, just giving a killer speech isn’t good enough.

Below are my “Fantastic 5 Keys to Delivering a Kick-Ass, Sales-Generating Presentation!” as posted on my “Small Business Daily Success Tips” on http://facebook.com/GrowYourBiz: 

11/8/10
MONDAY “Tip of the Day”: BizCoachJason’s Fantastic 5 Keys to Deliver a Kick-Ass, Sales-Generating Presentation: Key #1 – “Make a great first impression!” How important is this? Our subconscious mind tells us whether we like someone or not based on an intuitive first impression. If it’s a bad impression, it can be overcome but that can be *very* difficult. Get started on the track, right away. And remember to SMILE!

11/9/10
TUESDAY “Tip of the Day”: Key #2 – “Make a BOLD promise!” Grab your audience’s attention in a big way! Tell them what’s in it for them to spend their precious time, attention and energy listening to you. You’ll gain acceptance and enthusiasm, and make it more fun for you and them. And you better deliver on your bold promise!

11/10/10
WEDNESDAY “Tip of the Day”: Key #3 – “Learn something about your audience” This is a really important component of your talk to make sure you are delivering value and building the relationship with your audience members. You need to know who you are talking to and what their challenges are, even when you invited a specific group of people.

11/11/10
THURSDAY “Tip of the Day”: Key #4 – “Involve your participants” People learn in different ways. Engage your audience members by involving them and making them a part of your presentation. Make it fun for them. Give them an experience, not just a lecture, and they will learn, remember and enjoy it exponentially more.

11/12/10
FRIDAY “Tip of the Day”: Key #5 – “Provide a Call to Action” Without this, you can give a magnificent, stellar presentation and GET NO SALES. I’ve been there, done that. I’ve seen too many others fall prey to this as well. YOU NEED TO MAKE AN IRRESISTIBLE OFFER and tell your audience EXACTLY what to do to accept. This makes it a win-win!

Now go out there and create massive value for your target market by giving kick-ass presentations that will serve you and serve them!

Remember, to get even more sales, marketing, social media and other business success tips:
- Go to and “Like” http://facebook.com/GrowYourBiz
- Introduce yourself and your business on The Wall
- Come back each day to read and comment on the tips. This will grow your skills and your business as well as your own social networking connections and effectiveness.

To your success!
BizCoachJason Rosado

P.S. For more tips on using social networking to build your marketing and sales funnel, provide huge value to your prospects and build your business quickly, check out the special report “Untangling Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and More…”

So here’s the question:

“Are these events – or ‘pitch fests’ – really worthwhile?”

Why did I go? Because one of the single best ways for a small business to market and grow is to network. BUT…  I also know something that most of these people don’t know.

And I want to share it with you. Because to be successful with networking for your small business, you should know this too.

In fact, It’s as good as gold.

You see…

Most of these people ARE NOT going to benefit from attending.

Well, that is until they meet you. Because you are not doing what they are. You are not behaving that way. You aren’t saying the same things that they are, and you aren’t going about meeting people the same way that they do.

Instead, you are doing what’s effective, enjoyable, easy and will get you results.

So naturally…

“The best way to be effective and stand out while networking is to do the OPPOSITE of what everyone else is doing.”

Here’s what’s typical:

Everyone you meet introduces themselves and gives a boring 3-minute or longer “elevator pitch.” They don’t really take an interest in or listen to others. Common sense tells you that they are not going to get much out of their time, money and energy investment. But you can. It’s all about opposites…

Here are the three action steps for a winning networking conversation, in order of importance. When you read this, it might go against what “logic” would dictate. But… Most people are trying to be logical, and just spinning their wheels.

This strategy has been field-tested by myself and my clients - and guess what? 

THIS BUSINESS NETWORKING FOURMULA WORKS:

1.) Learn about the other person.
Find out their interests, dreams, desires, business and personal goals, likes and dislikes.

2.) Be of service to them.
After you’ve learned about them and their wants, find a way to help them get closer to those wants, in business or in life – it doesn’t matter which.

Offer them your assistance and ask if you can follow up to deliver it. Whether that’s over the phone, in person or over email, make sure to get their permission so they know what to expect and you start to build trust right away. 

3.) Let them know what you do and who you help.
Maybe they can help you right away, and maybe not. And maybe you can help them right away with your business, and maybe not. But it doesn’t matter. Building a strong foundation for a relationship is the key goal of effective networking and so much more important than getting in a sales pitch.

So why do this? What are the benefits of this technique?

First of all, this corrects one of the biggest networking mistakes:

95% of people that attend a networking event NEVER FOLLOW UP! 

You never know where your next lead or referral will come from.

Why invest all that time, money and energy to go home, throw the business cards you’ve collected into a shoebox, and wait for something to miraculously happen?

Guess what? It probably won’t.

But… if you’ve offered assistance in some form or another that is not directly a sales pitch, then you have a genuine reason to follow up and schedule a next meeting. And the person has a reason to accept your invitation and look forward to the appointment. They know what’s in it for them, and they are likely to appreciate the help you are providing.

Secondly, after you are in the process of helping them get closer to something they really want, they are even MORE RECEPTIVE to hear about and take an interest in what you do. Now this is the perfect time to get that information across to them, especially if it didn’t happen during your initial meeting.

They will feel a sense of reciprocity, not to mention that you are building on the three main sales factors - Know, Like and Trust – as they become more familiar with you in a supportive, friendly process.

So go ahead and try this formula out at your next networking event, family gathering or social outing.

You will LOVE using this “Midas Magical Touch” to turn your networking results to gold!

To your success!
Jason

Want to GET MORE REFERRALS from your current clients?

Here’s how in TWO EASY STEPS that you CAN DO TODAY…

1.) Start a dialog with the question, “What has been the most helpful for you about our work together so far?”

Asking this question helps to reaffirm and reinforce the value they’ve received from you, in their words and from their point of view.

2.) Then follow up with, “I’m looking for more clients right now. Do you know anyone that would also benefit from ____ (repeat their stated value, in their own words)?”

For more quick, easy business growth tips like this, go to > http://facebook.com/GrowYourBiz <

Don’t forget to “LIKE” it, and add your introduction of your business to The Wall, for the other Fans to see!

Getting the word out about your business on Facebook is one of the best, fastest ways to grow a following and get more people excited about how you can help them.

I’m happy to say that recently a number of past clients have contacted and hired me again to help them with this very question, to get down pat the skills, strategies, motivations and action plans needed to make it happen. That’s always a wonderful sign and feeling.

I like to help my clients set up a system that involves online and offline networking, getting exposure as an expert in their field, and using various client attraction methods to really put the fun back into marketing and sales.

I recommend people find ways to engage past, current and future clients in ways that really resonate with them as individuals and appeal to their target client. Provide lots of helpful info – create newsletters or teleclasses, speak at events, organize networking gatherings, use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Meetup, partner up with others that share the same target audience, and join a “leads” group.

Connect and build relationships based on mutual interests and joint benefits. It’s all there for the taking, and it can be a very enjoyable and rewarding experience!

If you would like more info on any of these ideas, please feel free to ask me. I’d be happy to help.

All the best,
Jason
Jason@DistinctiveCoaching.com 
773.829.1276

Helpful links:
http://bit.ly/dcsnsr – Social Networking Special Report
http://www.AchieveYourIdealBusiness.com – 5 Easy Steps to Grow Your Business

“I don’t know about the rest of you but I have decided to stop boring my prospects and wasting their time. Before my next sales call I will have at least 12 reserve question topics to use when the prospect gets silent. What I am doing currently is wait until things get silent the start showing brochures and product dumping…”

This is an interesting question, and I know a lot of entrepreneurs feel this way when they are making lead generation calls, having coffee while networking or giving sales presentations.

Here was my reply and advice on this question:

Hi,

Kudos on the idea for preparing 12 questions for your next sales call.

What I would recommend instead of waiting to use them for when the prospect gets silent, is to start with them.

This is what I work on with my own clients to greatly increase their sales effectiveness and close rates. Also, from a personal stand-point, I hate it when someone is trying to sell me something and assumes that I have no background or clue about what they’re talking about. They take 10 – 15 minutes of my time to “educate me” on stuff I already know or don’t take the time to find out my previous experiences or perceptions. This is a big turn-off, and even if I really have some interest, they probably have already blown the sale with me.

As a sales pro, you want to ask lots of questions, get them talking. Have them talk about their pains, their desires, their wants, their needs. Ask them about problems they’ve had and experiences they want to top.

Ideally, they should be talking 80% of the time. After they have given you all the info they can think of and relate to, and qualifying and pre-selling themselves in the process, then it’s your turn talk and be the answer to all their prayers.

Just make sure you are being truthful and can deliver on all you promise.

Good luck on the next call! And please let me know if I can answer any questions or ever be of assistance in any way.

All the best, and no more Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…..’s :)

Jason
http://www.AchieveYourIdealBusiness.com

First, I would like to say ’Congrats’ on the new business! That’s great that you want to use your gift of mathematical skills to help others.

There are lots of options to drum-up leads for home-based businesses and convert those to sales.

Where are you located, and who do you want to tutor? Those might influence some of what you choose to do. You can have a good mix of in-person, on the phone and online activities such as social networking.

Speaking to classes and providing math and homework tips to students that are your potential clients might be a couple of easy-to-do and effective strategies.

Here is a list of ways that I help my small business clients to market themselves, create marketing and lead-generation systems. Some of these might work for you:

o _____  Networking Events / Meetings / Organizations
o _____  Lead Capturing from your Website
o _____  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Meetup
o _____  Articles / Newsletters – in hard copy
o _____  Ezine / Blog
o _____  Co-Registration List Building
o _____  Joint Ventures, Affiliate Programs
o _____  Teleclasses
o _____  Email Campaigns
o _____  Speaking Engagements, Workshops
o _____  Referrals
o _____  Media Exposure
o _____  Cold Calling
o _____  Paid/Barter Advertising

I recommend you pick three to five methods that you enjoy the most, come up with a strategy and system for each, and then be very persistent with executing them. You can tweak your strategies as you find what works best for you.

For more in-depth on the Social Networking strategies, here is a step-by-step guide for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Meetup:
http://www.distinctivecoaching.com/social-networking-special-report/

I hope these ideas help!

All the best,
Jason