As noted in the video below, it takes several, if not hundreds and sometimes thousands, of failures before we succeed.

How has your past failure motivated you?

One of my past failures was public speaking – A HUGE fear of many, many Americans.

In fact, it’s the #1 fear of people in America. Guess what’s #2?

Death.

Yep – most people are more afraid to speak in front of people than to die. And to some people, they are basically the same thing!

I, too, used to get really freaked out, scared to death, and tremble when I had to speak in front of a group – classmates, peers, you name it. And this was before I really had anything on the line, or anything that I was personally hoping to get out of giving the presentation, other than a grade or pat on the back.

After that, I did ironically end up in a career as a corporate trainer, speaking in front of groups as large as 500 people.

But even after that and when I was in business for myself, the first time I had to address a packed room of well-dressed business people that on the whole were older and more experienced than me, all those old feelings came rushing back.

Every time I used to say to myself:

- “Why should these people listen to me?”
- “Who am I to tell them how to do this?”
- “I wonder if I can get out of this somehow – fake illness, maybe??”

Well, I’m glad I didn’t. And I’m glad I found a great way to turn it all around and make public speaking an important part of my life and then my business.

And interestingly, I think you’ll be glad I turned it around, too.

Because my success after failure is about to pay off for you too.

Yeah, that was a little bit of a teaser for you.

If you’re on my email list, you’ll know what I’m talking about soon. And trust me, what I’m going to share will turn your service business around or make it explode to a whole new level:

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

So make sure you’re on my list to get the free training that’s coming in up a few weeks.

You’ll thank me later :)

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

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…”

Want to help more people and make more sales?

While teaching sales strategies to two different clients yesterday and today, both said to me, “Wow.. I need to unlearn what my company taught me. No wonder I’m not getting many appointments set.”

I’ve also heard this before from past clients. And this can’t be coincidence.

These two particular companies are well known and respected ones – one of the oldest and best-known in the financial services industry and one very respected marketing company. Both teach their sales staff very specific strategies and scripts filled with phrases that boast of the company’s successes, accolades, and awards but do very little to engage the prospect’s dreams, wants and desires. They don’t connect the dots from what the company offers to what’s in the prospect’s mind and heart.

So how do you connect those dots? By asking great sales questions.

Here are six quick tips to do it: 

1. Don’t assume you know your prospect’s pain and pleasure points – ask them. Even if you guess correctly, they need to be expressed in their own words, not yours, so they can relate both intellectually and emotionally.
2. Make an active sales experience for your prospect, not passive.
3. Create a sales conversation instead of a presentation.
4. Help your prospect get clear on what they want, how it will positively impact them and what the costs are for not acting.
5. Use check-in questions and assess the fit as you go.
6. Leave the decision-making power with your prospect. As you progress, ask them if they’d like to hear more. Don’t try to be sly or force a sale on them. If you’ve done a good job at helping them connect the dots, the buying decision (the “close”) is up to them. 

It doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if you can’t help your prospect make an emotional and intellectual connection. Your goal is help them to take action and have ownership of their buying decision. These steps will virtually guarantee that. 

Jason E. Rosado
Business Coach & Speaker

Helping service-based small biz owners and sales professionals achieve your ideal business in 12 months or less. Want to get started?  Sign up for your FREE “Business Success E-Series”!   

773.829.1276
Jason@DistinctiveCoaching.com

Website: http://www.AchieveYourIdealBusiness.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BizCoachJason
Facebook Profile: http://facebook.com/BizCoachJason 
Small Biz Tip of the Day: http://facebook.com/GrowYourBiz  

Feel free to comment with your thoughts, experiences, and share your insights with the other members. The more you share and post, the more exposure you get for your business…

* FRIDAY Tip of the Day: Prioritizing and efficiency -> When making your To-Do list at night, place the thing that… http://bit.ly/b8HJZU

* THURSDAY Tip of the Day: Getting More Yes’s to Your Networking and Sales Meeting Requests – Have you demonstrated… http://bit.ly/bkjSur

* WEDNESDAY Tip of the Day: When writing an online profile, bio or description of your business, be sure to relate… http://bit.ly/bg4lLN

* TUESDAY Tip of the Day: Use the “Solution, problem, solution” format in your speaking engagements and sales… http://bit.ly/aOS2Qj

* MONDAY Tip of the Day: The biggest sales mistake that most people make is not asking enough questions. You need to… http://bit.ly/9o1L9K

Have a great week!
BizCoachJason
http://facebook.com/BizCoachJason

Even if you’re not a baseball fan, stick with me here. I’m talking about how to implement your sales game plan to gear up for a long, successful season.

Actually, I’m more of a football and basketball fan myself, but this baseball analogy made too much sense to pass up.

But first, let’s talk about how your philosophy can impact your overall game.

I work with my clients to transform their sales philosophy so “sales” is equated with “service,” no matter where the prospect is in the sales cycle.

“Sales = Service”

The goal of your sales call is to find a way to offer help and work with that prospect (not “pitch to” them) towards realizing some value gained from your interaction. That value you provide should be appropriate and proportionate to your own business goals and needs.

So when you contact a prospect, the main question on your agenda should be:

“How can I help this person make their job and life better?”

This approach solves A LOT of confusion, anxiety and uncertainty, and it also creates a very effective, ethical and enjoyable sales process for both parties.

If the result of your contact ends up simply being the chance for you to give some advice, resources or other form of value, great. They’ll appreciate and remember you for it.

If the outcome is to set up a face-to-face, phone or web meeting to offer more time for an in-depth conversation, solution or advisory session, even better.

If your call ends up being a sale that’s going to solve all their problems, that’s obviously awesome.

But even if it turns out that they don’t need your help, that’s good, too. Either it isn’t and won’t be a good fit for you to work together, or it just isn’t the right time for them *right now*. You can assess that, so you know how and when to move forward with them, and that is time well spent.

Remember, it takes time to develop a relationship, and this is how successfully closed sales are built - over the course of productive and mutually beneficial interactions and conversations.

In terms of progress during the sale cycle, let’s get back to our baseball analogy, because this is where it gets really important and most sales professionals strike out:

You don’t need to hit a homerun every time.  

Actually, don’t even try to hit a homerun every time.

The risk/reward ratio is in your favor to just get on base – make small victories that build – rather than striking out most often with the hope you’ll hit one out of the park once in a while. Those probably won’t happen fast enough, and you’ll be out of the game in no time at all.

So by thinking and acting in terms of providing service when you’re up to bat, you’ll hear the crowd go wild, you’ll advance your runner, and you’ll safely cross home plate more often.

And the best part – Everyone wins.

Play ball!

Sales skills – relationship building, problem solving and service skills – outweigh product knowledge importance.

In short order, your task list to close a sale is:

• Get buyer attention
• Tailor and deliver an enticing marketing message
• Build the relationship, as well as your credibility, trustworthiness and likeability
• Coach the sale through to completion
• Follow up when promised

Of course you want to have a good understanding of how the product or service works, and more importantly, how it will solve the prospect’s challenges, wants and needs. And you want to sound knowledgeable and professional, but the specifics about the product or service process aren’t as important because you can call on others in your company to answer those questions, if needed.

Researching info and getting back to the prospect in a prompt fashion with the requested data can even aid in building credibility. It’s much better to double-check something than provide incorrect, conflict or confusing information.

Happy Sales!
Jason

Do you agree or disagree? Please post your thoughts and experiences.

You can learn to do workshops, teleclasses and keynotes much more easily than you might realize.

“But public speaking scares me to death!”

Even those of you that get terrified at the thought of speaking in front of others can become great and really enjoy this by taking a few very easy steps:

• Speak about topics that you know very well
• Speak about what you are truly passionate about
• Speak to people that you really enjoy helping and working with
• To start, speak in an environment that makes you most comfortable - and you can create, mold and shape that environment in several ways
• Practice, practice, practice

Not only is speaking great advertising for you both pre-, post- and during the event, but it also helps generate cash flow from speaking fees and sales you make because of it.

Ok.. so now I have a topic and an offer to speak, but what if no one shows up?

A lesson I learned a while ago (the hard way) is that it’s  important to help promote the event, so it’s a win-win for you and the event organizer.

One of the first times I was asked to speak, I felt great, and I was very honored. But I didn’t feel humble at all.

I thought, “Finally, here is something I am going to get paid for, and I don’t have to lift a finger to market it myself.”

I was getting paid to just show up, deliver content and value during the event, and be on my merry way. People would love it, I would make sales, and the event organizer was absolutely on the same page.

Well, that turned out to be very shortsighted of me.

For one thing, the event organizer did a terrible job with marketing, and the event was sparsely attended. Although the presentation went well, I made less money and had less opportunity to market and make sales at the event.

I learned my lesson.

If you market an event that you are speaking at, you will likely get more attendees. And those attendees that you bring will already be fans of yours, and perhaps current or former clients. They will be able to testify on your behalf, and they will also become even more familiar with you and your expertise, thereby becoming closer to being a client of yours, if they weren’t already.

It’s much easier to market and sell to people that have familiarity with you than those that don’t.

And it’s much more fun and ethically fulfilling as well.

Also, by bringing guests to someone else’s event, the event organizer will love you. They will become a bigger fan of yours. Even just seeing the effort that you put forth in trying to get guests will make a big impact with them.  And they see that your event was one of their best attended, they will recommend you for other speaking engagements.

Lastly, you can control the quality and quantity of the marketing by being active in the process. Not all meeting and event organizers are great marketers, as I learned. And no one knows your strengths and selling points as well as you do.

By providing your own marketing copy to the organizer - material that you know has a great chance to bring in a crowd – you are providing more value to your attendees by letting them get to know you pre-event as well as what to expect during and even perhaps after the event. You are also reducing the amount of work the organizer has to do and strengthening that relationship. And all this is happening while you are multiplying your exposure by promoting the event yourself as well.

I’ve used these techniques to help my own clients, and to increase my value, my revenue and my client base from speaking, and I’d be happy to help you as well.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to learn more about event speaking and marketing, and how doing these things can really help you to explode your business!

To your success,
Jason

Where is BizCoachJason Rosado speaking next? Check the Events page here, or have him speak at your event!

On the flip side, one good reason for not offering a “freebie” is when your sales funnel is quite full and you want to use an intro product as a qualifier to see if the prospect is willing to pay to taste. This works well especially with higher priced services.

I use a combination of free and not free intro products to begin the marketing process and allow people into my client funnel. This has worked very well for me, and I teach my clients to use variations on this that will help them. As long as everything is customized, part of an overall marketing system, and presents them as the experts they are, then free can be a great way to go to get the results they want.

Another worry related to the subject is that the word “free” in itself can  undermined your product or service value, and it’s better to use words such as “complimentary”, “no obligation”, or “no charge”.  

I think those words and phrases put up defense reflexes quickly, and actually can have the reverse effect, putting people on guard for an impending sales pitch. “What’s the catch?”

I think using the word “free” is fine as long as it’s framed well. Always let your prospect know exactly why it’s free, and don’t come from a place of desperation or insincerity. “Free” is straightforward and easily understood. But you want to show that your free product does have tremendous value, and people will respect that.

And besides, who doesn’t love getting something for free?

Happy New Year!
Jason

http://www.AchieveYourIdealBusiness.com