4. Articles : Business Archives

Selling From Your Heart…a Sales Approach for FranchiseProfessionals

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 9:30 pm  
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Author: Flo Schell, EdM, Certified Sales Coach, Founder Franchise
Coaching Systems
Source: articleage.com

WE apperceive that the profession of authorization sales is an honorable
one…and that abounding authorization sales professionals are abundant at
what they do…but let’s face it…for abounding humans the word
“selling” is a boss awful word…and the abstraction of ambidextrous with
a “salesperson” is affiliated to accepting a basis canal!

Even you and I accept accomplished abhorrent salespeople who have
turned us off.

..made us cringe…and even chock-full us from
pursuing a acquirement that we absolutely wanted.

So how can we apprehend our affairs to assurance us if we ourselves
have had a poor acquaintance or two?

Well, if you’re annihilation like the authorization sales professionals
that I know…you’re consistently up for a challenge!

And what could be added arduous than the accepted altitude that
we acquisition ourselves in? This is the era of the uninvited
dinnertime Tele-Marketer and the “Do Not Call” Registry.

..an era
characterized by accomplished affairs who wish to “invite” sales
professionals into their lives…not be bombarded by them!

And what does that actualize for us…the authorization sales
professionals of the world? It creates a admirable opportunity
to prove that authorization salespeople are professional, and
relationship-oriented and altered from the rest! And if we
handle our jobs in this way, it creates an befalling for us to
meet and beat our anniversary sales goals at the aforementioned time.

Are you in?

I anticipation so!

So, actuality we go…

Step 1-KNOW YOURSELF AND YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE

What makes you different and what makes you tick? Why would
prospects wish to accomplice with you? Is it your knowledge? Or, is
it your style? Is it the years of acquaintance that you accept in
your business? Perhaps it’s your artlessness and your adeptness to
keep conversations traveling for a long, continued time.

Similarly, what is it about your franchised artefact or service
that is unique? What can you acquaint anyone about your concept
that will accomplish them analytical and wish to apperceive more? What is it
that your aggregation offers that no added aggregation can match?

Step 2-GET CLEAR ON WHO YOU WANT TO ATTRACT

Who are your “Ideal Prospects”? Accept you profiled those
individuals? What qualities do they have? What skillsets? What
traits? Actualize an “Ideal Prospects” checklist.

Account all of the
qualities that you are searching for and accumulate it in abounding sight. Be
open to the abstraction that you can ADD or SUBTRACT from this account as
your business contour changes. Imagine what it would be like to
be in a business affiliation with these types of people.

Step 3-LOOK FOR YOUR “IDEAL PROSPECTS” EVERYWHERE

This is like a abundance hunt. Sure, your affairs are advancing to
you primarily via the internet…but area abroad can you find
them? What newspapers and magazines do they read? What radio
stations do they accept to? What TV shows do they watch? What
types of advertisements can you actualize for those media? Where
might you accommodated your affairs in person? Do they adhere out in
Starbucks or at the bounded gym? Go ahead.

..seek them out!

Step 4-CREATE AN IMAGE FOR THESE INDIVIDUALS TO SEE

How can you portray yourself and your abstraction to your ideal
prospects? What can you advanced them that will accomplish them curious
about your business? Should you cover a account of your
flagship abundance or a photo of your animated face? Can you affectation a
question in your archetype that will accomplish them say…Hmmm? Should
your business agenda be carefully able or balmy and casual?
If you were them, what would accomplish YOU ability out?

Step 5-IMAGINE YOURSELF CONVERSING WITH EXACTLY THE TYPES OF
PROSPECTS YOU SEEK

If you could allocution with your ideal affairs appropriate now, what
would you like to acquisition out about them? How would you introduce
yourself? What questions could you ask to put them at ease?
Would you accept added than you speak? What would you be
listening for? What would you wish them to apperceive about you and
your business? Preparation is good!

Step 6-BE A CONVERSATION STARTER

People adulation to allocution about themselves! Ask some “open ended”
questions.

Accept to their responses. Accept some more. Now
listen abaft the words for what is not getting said. It’s great
to appear from a abode of curiosity. What can this getting teach
you? What access ability you have? What commonalities of
experience? Is this anyone who ability be a acceptable fit for your
business? How can you move this new accord from
acquaintainship to partnership?

Step 7-MOVE IT FORWARD

If you’re activity acceptable about this prospect…go for it! When
you’re adequate in your own skin, and acutely aflame about
your business, you’ll affect your affairs to wish to learn
more.

Just be yourself. Allotment what aggressive you to accompany your
franchise company. Acquaint a fun adventure about how you got started.
Be bright about what it is that makes your business appropriate to
you…and afresh move the accord advanced by agreeable your
prospects to yield the next step.

Step 8-WATCH FOR THE ‘MAGIC CLICK’

As you’re conversing and affective through the process, analysis in
with how you’re activity about this person. Are you on the same
wave length? Do you allege the aforementioned language? Is the conversation
flowing.

..or stagnant? What can you do to animate the
connection? Go advanced and do it!

Step 9-GUIDE YOUR PROSPECT THROUGH THE DISCOVERY PROCESS

Invite your anticipation to ‘try you on’…by agreeable them in for a
personal meeting. Be able to accelerate and acquaint them on
Discovery Day. Nurture your new connection. Advice them to meet
others in your authorization alignment and to get their questions
answered. Be abiding they get to watch you interacting with your
team-mates…allow them to see the acquaintance you feel for one
another.

Set a astute timeline for discovery. Advanced them home
with a smile and an alacrity to be awarded your franchise.

Step 10-BE READILY AVAILABLE TO THEM EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

Keep in blow with your affairs consistently. Even if they’re
not abiding your buzz calls, it’s not over until they say,
“no”. If you faculty a concern, accommodated it arch on. Acquiesce yourself
to be simple to acquisition and simple to plan with. Go to bat for them
when you can…and if you can’t, let them apperceive that.

Return
their calls promptly. Follow up diligently. Remain optimistic.
Move through the division assured the best. Be the getting that
stands by their ancillary as they move from anticipation to franchisee.
Celebrate with them at your next anniversary conference!

SO HOW MUCH FUN IS THIS?

Franchise sales professionals get added opportunities than most
to affix with acceptable people, anatomy new relationships, create
partnerships, and advice humans to abound and advance in a business
suited just for them!

We are advantageous to be in a position to allotment the success of the
franchising business archetypal with absolutely the appropriate people!

Until we accommodated again.

..Happy Selling!

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5 Tips to Heat Up Your On-Line Marketing Using Off-Line Tact

Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 10:04 am  
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Author: Denise Ryder, Marketing Coach
Source: articleage.com

The internet of course brings a huge arena of marketing
opportunities for you. The ability to do business with people
around the world has now been made readily available through
a web site and email. It truly has leveled the playing field and
has provided ALL of us with the opportunity of taking our business
to the global level.

How powerful is that!!

While everyone is focusing on their “eBusiness” they are missing
the potential that exists in using off line marketing approaches to
boost their online marketing efforts.

Here are five things you can do to heat up your efforts.

Articles

Actually if you are already using Articles as a marketing tactic
for your on line marketing efforts, use the same articles for off
line publications as well. Publishers regardless of the fact they
are on or off line are ALL looking for good, valuable content.

Advertising

You know the effects that advertising on line can have for your
business. You already have an ad that pulls for you on line.

Then
why not give it a shot off line and see if you can tap into another
possible market.

Again, with the local newsletters in your community and any small
business groups there are. Check out their rates and start using
off line advertising to generate some exposure from off line
sources.

Remember that you have to pay for this advertising so in that
regard, advertising in something that you can afford and afford
for a long period of time.

Networking

By attending a networking mixer you are getting the best of both
worlds.

You get the chance to get out and break out of that bubble
AND you also get to spread the word about your business by talking
with others!!

Depending upon the format, many of these mixers are of a referral
nature. Meaning they allow only one business from each industry
and through each member’s dealings if they find someone looking
for your service or product… then you will
get a referral to follow up on.

Business Cards

A business card can end up in more places than you can even
dream possible.

They are a cost effective marketing tool. How
many places do you go to on a regular basis where you could
just leave a few business cards on a counter??? Now even if
you are an eBusiness owner you can still use this to your
advantage.

Here are a few things to consider when getting your cards done.

1. Do not go with black printing on a white card. It screams cheap
and newbie. If money is tight, understandable, but go for a coloured
card stock with a matching coloured print.

It is still inexpensive and
it doesn’t scream new, or “Herb Tarlick” marketing practices.

2. Include your business name, contact name, phone number, site
address, web site address and of course your address. If for
security reasons you don’t want to include your home address
then that’s fine. However, make sure you have ALL possible ways
for a potential customer to do business with you.

3. USE THE BACK OF THE CARD…what a waste of potential
marketing opportunities.

So many people forget about this. A
business card is a mini- billboard…use it ALL. On the back you
could have a few tips and then the email address to your
autoresponder for them to get more info. I had an Accountant
use the back of her card by providing all the applicable phone
numbers to all the tax offices that a business owner would need.
Another client of mine is a travel agent and he included all the
1-800 numbers for the prime airlines and car rental agencies. The
idea is to make your card a keeper ;o)

Business Alliances

Ok, on line we refer to these as Joint Ventures, Business Alliances
is the same thing, but only the name has been changed.

Leverage yourself by finding another business owner off line,
where you can set up an alliance and piggy back each other’s
marketing efforts. This one takes a little time and effort to set
up, but, once it is again you are tapping into prospects that would
never have found you otherwise.

There you go, five quick tips and in some regards you can use the
same tactic in both on and off line marketing…so why not???

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Why You Need A Marketing Plan To Achieve Ultimate Success

Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 10:02 am  
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Author: Marketing Basics
Source: articlesfactory.com

Effective marketing plays a critical role in businesses that are successful. How effectively the marketing plan you develop markets your business, will ultimately determine your degree of success or failure.

The key elements of a successful marketing plan are to:

1. Know your customers–their likes, dislikes and expectations.

2. Know your competitors–their strengths and weaknesses. Only by identifying these factors, can you develop a marketing strategy that will allow you to anticipate and fulfill your customers needs, better understand your competitors and identify changes in the marketplace that can affect your bottom line.

The purpose of a marketing plan is to define your market, i.e.,identify your customers and competitors, to outline a strategy for attracting and keeping customers and to identify and anticipate change. It takes careful planning and a thorough understanding of the marketplace to develop a strategy that will ensure success.

Generally, the first and most important step in understanding the market is to study it through market research.

For example, in the case of a franchise, the franchisor has already done the market research and developed a marketing plan, so you will need to review the plan the franchisor has provided. Look over the plan to determine what product/service you will offer and write a description of it.

Even though the franchisor has already described your product or service, it is a good idea to develop and write your own description because this process will help you develop invaluable knowledge of your product or service–a key element in any successful marketing plan.

When describing your product or service outline what you feel are its unique aspects, and explain how or why these aspects will appeal to customers. Emphasize the special features and benefits that you feel are its selling points. These features and benefits are what you will use to convince customers to purchase your product or service.

Next go over sales projections, determining if there is a demand for the product or service. Again, in the case of a franchise, the franchisor will have already developed the projections.

Study this data carefully to see how the franchisor arrived at these projections. This will help you to better understand how the marketplace operates relative to your product and service. It can also help you develop the skills necessary to identify and anticipate changes in the marketplace.

Start your own file on marketplace trends, and compile your own data. Periodically review your data, looking for shifts in the market. If changes are occurring, you should modify the marketing plan to coincide with these changes.

In franchise operations, it is typical for the franchisor to update the marketing plan periodically to reflect changes in the marketplace and to keep the marketing program current.

An effective marketing plan should answer these questions:

* Is this product or service in constant demand?
* How many competitors provide the same product or service?
* Can you create a demand for your service or product?
* Can you effectively compete in price, quality, service and
delivery?
* If a franchise, will the franchisor price the product or
service to give you the projected profit?

Review your marketing plan carefully to ensure that it answers these questions.

If your plan doesn’t answer the questions, it will need to be modified, so that it does answer the questions.

Even if you adopt a marketing plan that has been developed
elsewhere, it is your responsibility to promote your product or service by cultivating the marketplace, i.e., attracting and maintaining customers. You can only accomplish this by thoroughly knowing your market, your customers, your competitors and your product or service. NEVER rely solely on a marketing plan provided by a franchisor or any other source.

Compile and assess your own data.

By compiling and analyzing this information yourself, you will be better able to determine if your marketing plan is in line with your competitors, industry averages and what adjustments you need to make to improve your overall competitiveness and bottom line.

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Selling the Way Your Customers Buy

Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at 5:00 pm  
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Author: Michael A. Wilkinson
Source: ezinearticles.com

Ever heard the expression, “It’s not WHAT you say…it’s HOW you say it”?

Well, it’s probably safe to assume we all agree with the concept here, at least on the most basic level. Reality is, WHAT we say Is still important. But I’m sure if you took a moment you could think of several instances when it was HOW a person said something that made all the difference.

The same applies in sales.

To win the business, you have to speak the customers “language”.

Striking Gold

You have to figure out how each prospective buyer prefers to be approached.

..Do they want to skip the small-talk and get right into the details? Or do they want to “shoot the breeze” a while first? Are they assertive or passive? Creative or analytical?

The answers to these questions will define your customers “buying style”. Once you master the art of adjusting your selling style to match your customers buying styles, you’ve struck gold!

DISCLAIMER: Whooooa…Ok – let’s pause a minute…I know there are at least 5.2 bazillion articles, books, training programs, and so on out there on the market, all attempting to convince you that their sales processes, platforms, strategies, models, techniques etc.

..are hands-down THE BEST. There’s “Strategic Selling”, “Solution Selling”, “CustomerCentric Selling”, “How to Master the Art of Selling Anything”, “SPIN Selling”, to name a few.

I’m not attempting to compete with those guys; quite the contrary, actually. While they focus on WHAT you do, this article focuses on HOW you do it.

The goal is to:

Improve your success/close rate by up to 40%
Avoid costly mistakes
Recognize each buying style when you encounter them
Connect with prospects/customers immediately
Know what to do/not to do when selling to customers with different styles

In short, the “buying styles” philosophy will complement any sales methodology you currently use

What are “Buying Styles”?

The “Buying Styles” philosophy is based on the D-I-S-C behavioral model.

There are four basic buying styles. Granted, people use a combination of buying styles; but, in general, one of these four styles will dominate each of your customers’ buying patterns.

High-D: The High-D (Drive) buying style is direct and decisive. They want you to cut to the chase, tell them what you want them to do and let them know what’s in it for them. They will tune out if you take too long to get to the point.
High-I: The High-I (Influence) style enjoys engaging in conversation and discussing the big picture.

They want the stage: they want you to get them talking about their needs and experiences and to engage them in how they will use your product. They will lose interest if you go into details or don’t keep the conversation interactive.
High-S: People with a High-S (Steadiness) style want you to get to know them. For a High-S, it is all about the relationship. They will buy from you because they like you and trust you. They will shut down if you become pushy or demanding.
High-C: Firstly, this group of individuals has nothing to do with the popular, juice-box drink.

High-Cs (Compliance) want to be sure they are making the right decision. They want you to present information in a logical, linear fashion. They want the details and time to go through them. They will tune out if you make claims you can’t back up with hard data or try to force a decision before they are ready.

Here’s the wringer: most sales people sell the way they want to be sold to, instead of changing their style to align with their customer’s buying style.

So what happens when a High-D (get to the point) sales person tries to sell to a High-S (get to know me) customer or when a High-I storyteller tries to sell to a High-C (give me the facts) customer? Usually nothing…nada…zip…zero…sale lost!

If you’re not adapting to your customer’s buying styles, you’re losing sales – not because the product doesn’t meet the customer’s need or because the prices is too high – simply because you’re selling using the wrong style.

Recognizing Buying Styles

Truth – More people than you think can use, can afford and genuinely do want to buy what you have to offer, but they are secretly desperate for you to sell to them using their buying style.

So, how exactly do you recognize a person’s buying style? It’s actually fairly easy once you train yourself to look for “the clues”. And people leave clues about their buying styles everywhere – in the things they say and do, the way they decorate their office, even in their voice mail messages.

For example:

If you call and get someone’s voice mail and you hear, “You know what to do,” then you know right away, this person’s buying style is a High-D: you should be brief and direct. Get to the point; don’t waste time with idle chatter. And you know this from just four words!
Or, suppose you hear, “I am sorry that I am not here to answer, but your call is very important to me. Please leave a message and I’ll be sure to get back with you. Have a nice day.” You can tell from the language that this person is screaming “Relate to me” – a very High-S message.

This person wants you to get to know them. They want you to take your time, understand their needs, and build trust. The point is people are telling you how to sell to them, if you are paying attention and know what to look for.

Harvesting the Gold

You’ve probably had some success selling using your own, personal style. Imagine how much more successful you could be if you recognized and adjusted to the way each of your customers buys. But, the message here is simple: adapt or continue to be much less successful than you could be.

Michael Wilkinson, Certified Master Facilitator and CEO, Leadership Strategies, Inc.
Michael Wilkinson is a Certified Master Facilitator and CEO of Leadership Strategies, Inc. which provides facilitation training and services to help with consensus building

How to Use an Open-To-Buy to Be More Profitable

Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at 5:00 pm  
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Author: Linda Carter
Source: ezinearticles.com

The proper use of an Open-To-Buy will help you increase Sales, Gross Margin, Profit and Cash Flow.

BENEFITS OF USING OPEN-O-BUY

1. Helps to ensure an adequate amount of inventory on hand to support the level of planned sales.

2. Keeps a fresh flow of new merchandise coming into the store throughout the season. This keeps the customer interested in coming back again and again, keeps the sales staff excited and also helps your sales and cash flow.

3. Places restraints on merchandise commitments so the store does not receive too much new merchandise too early in the season — – or not enough.

4. You will be able to estimate in advance the amount of cash that will be required to be invested in inventory from month to month for the coming season.

5. Establishes goals so actual performance can be compared to the plan, thereby pointing out those areas where corrective action needs to be taken.

WHAT IS AN OPEN-TO-BUY?

The Open-To-Buy is very simply the buyer’s buying plan and should be used to ensure you have the “right” amount of inventory to support your sales plans.

The goal of the Open-To-Buy is not to keep you from buying! The goal is to ensure the correct inventory level so you do not have too much or too little inventory.

While preparing and following an Open-To-Buy is no guarantee of success and lack of a plan is no guarantee of failure, we feel Open-To-Buy planning is essential to ensure the optimum level of inventory to support monthly sales plans and to maximize the return on capital invested in merchandise inventory.

A good Open-To-Buy format will give you management information in addition to buying information. The Open-To-Buy format we use for our clients shows 3 years of sales history to help you spot any developing sales trends and variance percentages to plan for both the current month and year-to-date. The sales variance percentages help you see how sales are doing when compared to plan so you can change the plans upward or downward as needed during the year.

The goal for Open-To-Buy is to keep the actual sales variance to plan no more than plus or minus 10%.

Every retailer needs to use an Open-To-Buy. The small retailer cannot afford any mistakes because his sales volume and cash flow are critical. The large retailer needs it due to his very size, which makes planning and control all the more critical.

Retailers tend to overstock when sales increases are good and to decrease inventory too much when prospects are bad.

Thus, a relatively small increase in sales often leads to excessive buying – then when sales slow down high markdowns are taken to clear out this excess supply of merchandise. This, in turn, leads to lower gross profit and lower overall store profit or even high losses. The goal of good merchandising is to maintain the level of inventory that provides adequate assortments when sales are low and not excessively high assortments when sales pick up.

This is where the Open-To-Buy comes into play. It tells you how much inventory should be on hand at the beginning of any given month and how much new merchandise should be received during the month.

PLANNING LEVELS

An Open-To-Buy can be prepared at many levels. It may be planned at the company level by a multi-store operation or at the store, department, classification or buyer level, or a combination of some of these. However, to be most effective, a buying plan must be prepared at the classification level.

If there are multiple stores that are geographically close so transfers can be made on an as needed basis, the Open-To-Buy is effective at the corporate/classification level. In other words, even though a classification may be carried in 3 stores there is only 1 Open-To-Buy plan for that classification. In almost all other situations, each store should have it’s own Open-To-Buy.

RETAIL, COST OR UNIT OPEN-TO-BUY?

There are techniques for preparing an Open-To-Buy based on each of three elements: units, cost, or retail; or on a combination of two of these three elements, such as units and cost or units and retail or cost and retail.

We believe an Open-To-Buy should be prepared at retail. In a sales organization sales are made at retail and inventory is needed to meet sales plans; therefore, it makes sense that inventory should be managed at retail and buying plans to meet sales goals should be made at retail. Once it has been planned at retail it is a simple task to convert the retail dollars to either cost or units, if that will help the buyer at market.

OPEN-TO-BUY TIMEFRAME

The Open-To-Buy can be prepared for almost any timeframe: week, month, season or year. We recommend it be prepared on a monthly basis, for at least 12 months out into the future. Once you have the Open-To-Buy prepared by month you can easily combine the months into seasonal Open-To-Buys. For example, if the season for a classification is 4 months long, just add together the monthly Open-To-Buy amounts for the month preceding the season plus the first three months of the season.

This will give you your Open-To-Buy for the season. We “back up” a month since normally, what you receive this month is to support next month’s sales.

THE OPEN-TO-BUY FORMULA

The Open-To-Buy amount for each month is really the open-to-receive. It is the amount of new merchandise that should be received each month in each classification. The formula for computing Open-To-buy is:

OTB = Planned Sales + Planned Markdowns + Planned EOM Inventory – Planned BOM Inventory – On Order

The formula to calculate Open-To-Buy is simple.

The planning of the various elements that are included in the formula are not so simple. Following we will take a look at the components of Open-To-Buy.

SALES PLANNING

Determining the sales plan is the most critical decision the merchant must make, not only for OTB planning but for every other aspect of the business. Expense budgets, the number of employees, etc. are always planned in relation to sales. If sales are planned too low they become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The store will be merchandised for the lower sales level, and will not have sufficient goods on hand to meet a higher demand. Conversely, if sales are planned too high, too much merchandise will be bought and the retailer may find himself unable to pay the bills when the planned sales level is not achieved.

Historical sales records are usually the starting place for setting sales plans. However, the sales plan must also take into consideration a host of variables which the retailer is in the best position to be aware of and to judge.

Things such as local and national economic conditions, changes in competition, fashion changes, plans to expand customer credit, changes in selling personnel, etc. all impact the sales plan.

MARKDOWN PLANNING

Markdowns need to be planned and included in the OTB calculation. WHY? Markdowns reduce the retail amount of inventory on hand, just as sales do. Therefore, if they are not included in Open-To-Buy planning the store would not bring in enough new merchandise for any particular month.

Although markdowns do not occur evenly throughout the year, we recommend that they be planned as a static percent of planned sales for each month. This then acts as a markdown reserve and ensures adequate levels of inventory each month. As an example, for Open-To-Buy purposes, if 60% of the season’s markdowns are planned for the last month of the season there will be a large Open-To-Buy for that month. However, when it is the end of the season, the retailer does not want to bring in more merchandise just so they can mark it down.

In other words, the merchandise that you will be marking down at the end of the season is the merchandise that was received 3, 4 or 5 months ago. Unless you have reserved a significant amount of your Open-To-Buy dollars for the purchase of off-price goods in season, the merchandise on sale is not normally the merchandise that you just received.

PLANNING INVENTORY LEVELS

Inventory amounts make up two parts of the Open-To-Buy formula. One is beginning inventory.

The other is ending inventory, which is really the beginning inventory for the next period. Too much inventory on hand spells a poor return on investment and high markdowns. Too little means missed sales.

How much inventory is enough? Oversimplified, you could divide the annual sales plan by the desired stock turn rate to get the monthly amount. For example, for an annual sales plan of $54,000 and a stock turn rate of 3.0 the average beginning-of-month inventory should be $18,000 ($54,000 divided by 3.

0). This would be fine if sales for each month were $4,500 ($54,000 divided by 12), but it never happens that way.

Ideally, beginning-of-month inventory should be higher in the months sales will exceed the average and less in the months you plan less than average sales. However, it doesn’t take twice as much inventory on hand at the beginning-of-the month to do twice as much volume.

Management must complement this mathematical process or formula with that mysterious sixth sense called “feel”.

There is no substitute for knowledge gained from past mistakes, talk with other merchants and good, common horse sense and judgment.

The users of certain computer software systems enjoy the benefits of more sophisticated techniques that we have developed for their users. This makes it easier for the retailer since the software program handles the complicated task of planning the optimum monthly inventory levels, based on the retailers plans. For others, we offer an Open-To-Buy service that allows us to “look over your shoulder” to make sure you are following your plans and revising plans as necessary.

ON ORDER

The Open-To-Buy for each month must be reduced by the amount of merchandise on order scheduled for delivery during that month. Open-To-Buy can not be used effectively to control inventory unless a purchase order is generated for every order placed. If all orders are not recorded as soon as they are placed, the Open-To-Buy amount will be overstated and overbuying will occur, leading to future high markdowns and lower profits.

A very important part of using the Open-To-Buy is determining how much of your Open-To-Buy to commit to advance-of-season purchases. This amount cannot be determined statistically by computer. To decide, get the latest input from the market place. You must consider textile availability, delivery schedules and how much merchandise will be ordered in-season (re-orders, special orders, new mid-season items, vendor close-outs).

Retailers can be more successful with a well-formulated Open-To-Buy plan, skillfully combining statistical techniques with the human element of sensitivity and insight.

If you are not using a monthly classification-level Open-To-Buy you are missing a valuable extra-profit opportunity.

This article was written by Linda Carter, President of The Retail Management Advisors, a retail consulting firm whose mission is to help independent retailers survive and thrive. With more than 30 years experience helping independent retailers, she has the experience to help you too.

Linda can be reached at 1-877-206-1299 or mailto:LC@the-retail-advisor.com. Our web site is http://www.the-retail-advisor.com While there sign up for our monthly e-newsletter sent out on the 15th of every month.

You can reprint this article as long as the above information is included.

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Sales Excuses And The Real Answers

Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 8:10 pm  
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Author: The Sales Adviser
Source: articledashboard.com

Sales people love to complain and give reason after reason why they didn’t get the sale. Heck I might have even said them myself, have you? I know that we all have heard it before. As a business consultant I hear this all the time from my clients, and sometimes I want to be point blank and tell them to stop crying, suck it up, and stop making excuses for your failures. But instead I remain positive and up beat with them and try to coach them through the problem and offer suggestions, like a proper consultant should do.

Below are the finest sales excuses. Most of them are vintage. And they’re all worth a fortune – if you can get rid of them. What follows after them is what I would really like to say most of the time.

* I don’t understand, the customer went with the competition at a higher price. If you don’t build value in your product to the prospect then it doesn’t matter what your product cost.

* I got beat on price (again). That would be your fault. The customer perceived no difference between you and the competition, and no value beyond the product; therefore “price” was all that mattered.

* There doesn’t seem to be any support from the company in my sales efforts. Then the company is failing you and you. And you would be failing you and your company if you didn’t try to fix the problem by running it up the chain of command. If they are not receptive the start looking for a new job.

* No one in the company likes the sales team. Switch jobs for a day or two. Walk in each other’s shoes, sit in each other’s chairs. Mutual respect will follow.

* The client refuses to decide today.

10% of the time this may not be your fault, but the other 90% is. You have failed to build urgency and value into your product, your client has to feel that they can not go on another day with out it.

* I can’t create a sense of urgency. Who’s fault is that? Talk to the customer about lost profit and greater productivity instead of offering to cut your price.

* We’re selling the same old product everyone else is selling. You are killing me! You are suppose to be a sales professional.

It’s your job to prove that your product has value.

* The competition is beating us by lowering their price. Whenever you get beat on price, it means you were perceived as the same and price was all that mattered.

* My sales territory was cut in half. I would be looking for a new job.

* I can’t find the time! You can if you look for it, do a better job of prioritizing your day. Stop watching tv, playing video games, gos oping at the office.

* We lost a big account to the competition.

Oops, I guess next time you’ll pay better attention to your clients needs.

* The prospect won’t give me an appointment. No, you haven’t established enough rapport or interest to earn one.

* The customer lied to me. Usually the lie is about money, or pitting you against a competitor, or both. If you are certain, confront the customer with a question, not an accusation.

* I can’t get to the decision-maker. The reason is that you started too low on the totem pole.

* I had to bid through a purchasing agent.

You were too chicken, or unprepared, to meet with the boss (who, by the way, tells the purchasing agent what to do).

* The customer or prospect wouldn’t return my call. Because you gave them no reason to.

* Our sales cycle is too long. That’s because you’re dealing with influencers, not decision-makers. CEOs decide in two minutes.

* Our service sucks. Work in the service department for a few days, write down all the reasons customers call. Then, and only then, can you get to best practices.

* Company policies fight the sales effort. Just make more sales, don’t worry about policies or politics. If the situation is unbearable or untenable, find another job.

* My company cut my earnings or cut my commissions. Find another job. They’ll keep cutting.

* My company made my biggest account a house account. Find another job. They’ll keep doing it.

* My company can’t deliver on time. Meet with the CEO – not production or shipping – and resolve it.

* The company I work for refuses to buy me the tools I need.

Then buy them yourself or go else where.

* Our company training department sucks. Meet with the training department. Sometimes they’re unaware of your needs. Make sure there are courses on presentation skills, positive attitude and customer loyalty. And make sure they have customized sales training, not generic.

* I hate my job. Find out why, then become the best salesperson in the company, then quit. If you quit too soon, you’ll go to the next place blaming instead of bragging.

* My sales plan (quota, goal) is not realistic. Goals and quotas are set for the “mediocre” level of salesperson.

* They don’t pay me enough to Yes they do, you just didn’t understand that you have to do things to better yourself.

The Sales Training Series: Dealing With Sales Objections And Stalls

Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 8:10 pm  
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Author: Sales Training
Source: articledashboard.com

Most salespeople think of “stalls” and “objections” as synonyms. Wrong. Stalls and objections are both things you may hear after you have asked for commitment, but an objection is a specific reason not to buy. In a stall I need to think about it the customer offers no particular reason for hesitating.

Almost all salespeople buy in to the stall. Very few ever get the deal once they do.

What the stalling customer is really saying is this: “I’m not quite sold yet.

Sell me some more.” Well then, by all means, do some more selling. But do it right. Here’s how:

Never challenge a stall. Since the customer offered no specific reason for hesitating, don’t force him to come up with one by saying something like, “What is it that you need to think about?” Challenging stalls creates conflict, not sales.

Don’t try to manipulate the customer. If you’ve learned any manipulative sales techniques, forget them.

They do more harm than good. The old “feel, felt, found” method rarely worked even in its heyday, and it certainly doesn’t work today.

Identify a Universal Stall Breaker. The USB is a capability of your product or your company that minimizes the risk to the customer who buys. Every company has one. Yours might be a money-back guarantee, a no-hassle return policy, a try-and-buy arrangement, extended terms, or an unusually comprehensive warranty. Whatever this capability is, do not present it to the customer up front.

Hold the USB in reserve, in case you hear a stall when you ask for commitment.

When you do hear a stall, follow this procedure:

Say, “I understand.”

Restate the product features the customer liked before the stall arose.

Present the USB.

Ask for commitment again.

It works like this: “I understand. You like ____, _____, and ____ about our product. With our _____ policy (the USB), you can try it with no risk at all. How does that sound? (Customer responds.) Would you like to go ahead with it then?”

Far too many salespeople fail to ask for commitment even once in a sales call.

With this stall-breaking method, you are asking twice. And you have followed the customer’s lead by doing exactly what the stall really asked you to do: “Sell me some more.”

Believe it, you will make more sales!

In The Field:

Equity Residential is the largest apartment leasing company in the United States. In a tough economic climate, Equity decided to invest in developing the selling skills and sales strategy of its leasing consultants.

Needless to say, these consultants often hear stalls such as, “Let me think about it and I’ll get back to you.”

Equity has a Service Promise Guarantee that minimizes the risk for customers who choose to rent. “But prior to the Action Selling Sales Training Program we presented our Service Promise Guarantee as just another feature,” said Jonakan O’Steen, director of education and leadership development. With their eyes opened to a new way of looking at stalls, Equity’s consultants quickly identified the guarantee as their Universal Stall Breaker.

That is now how they use it.

“It’s easy to get stalled when working with rentals,” O’Steen said. Or, rather, it used to be.

How To Make Money Buying A Profitable Business For Sale

Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 7:35 pm  
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Author: Shop On Sale
Source: articlesbase.com

Lots of money get invested into a business, and if putting it for sale, acceptable authoritative abilities are appropriate to absolutely accomplish accumulation from the transaction. With any business for sale, the accident is of not accepting beneath money than you accept invested into it. Putting a business for auction should not appear overnight, as it should in fact chase actual accurate planning. There should be an account of all the assets, and the banking statements should be analyzed and absolute by professionals.

The alteration of a business for auction should added absorb a certitude in assertive contracts, decidedly if they absorb accessories leases or returns. Special agreements can be connected by the new management, but alone if the affair is discussed and acclimatized by arrangement with all the modifications that it involves. A business for auction depends on accuracy in all departments, with the acknowledgment that the association guidelines accept to be anesthetized on to the aggregation that takes over.

A business for success is generally presented as successful. Yet, everybody will admiration why you advertise if things are traveling fine. All sorts of affidavit can actuate humans to advertise their business, and it doesn’t accept to be associated with banking problems necessarily. Most affairs are organized for accumulated purposes, and the access of ability and abundance will become above objectives. Otherwise, You may accept difficulties affairs a business for auction because the acquirement could be added big-ticket than architecture it from scratch.

In our times entrepreneurship has become actual austere business. Statistics announce that added and added humans accept forms of self-employment instead of alive for corporations. Therefore, owning a business could accomplish a aberration in agreement of banking security. Purchasing a business for auction that has a acceptable operational akin makes it easier to get loans from banking institutions. Consider this aspect too if negotiating or allegory the achievability of application a business for sale.

One acumen why humans feel allure to this anatomy of investment is the college adventitious of success. In accustomed conditions, a business that you alpha on your own becomes assisting alone aural two years afterwards launch. Both acceptable $.25 and bad $.25 can be begin if discussing business alpha ups adjoin business for sale. It abundantly affairs what business you wish to buy, what money you accept to advance and how abysmal a banking analysis you can accomplish to adjudge that the accord has advantage to it.

I enjoy writing about a wide variety of subjects, with my favorite being cooking. I have a stainless gas grill in my backyard that I use often to prepare my favorite meals.

E-commerce shopping cart solutions

Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm  
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Author: K James
Source: articlesbase.com

When we think of shopping, the words 'Shopping', the first thing that comes to mind is the shopping bag that we use in our local supermarket or shop. However, when we talk about shopping carts or commerce sites online, we are not talking about a real object. A shopping cart is simply an application that makes a list of items that a customer wants to buy. What exactly is a shopping cart then? A shopping cart is a type of software that allows a client e-commerce site to select items they wish to buy and store in a shopping cart.

Hence, the customer can view the items, and add or remove, if he or she changes her mind before paying for purchases. Basically, what this means is that a shopping cart is more or less the same as a real shopping cart, perform the same function. Simply, that includes the items you want to buy before you can actually pay for them. Shopping Cart Software Shopping Cart Software allows people to buy items from a website e-commerce, keeping track of what a person has acquired and the price of goods or services as well.

While many types of software that can be used instead of a software basket like a catalog or order form, software shopping cart are not only much simpler to use, but are also more effective too. Yes, some software basket are expensive, but saves time in the end customers and money because it helps simplify the purchasing process by consolidating all the things you want to buy together. A popular error that exists about the shopping carts is to treat all financial transactions, but this is not the case.

A shopping cart does not handle all financial transactions that only acts of a front-end which transmits information via a secure connection to a payment gateway, where transactions are ultimately realized. It is essential that you choose the best solution for the basket of your e-commerce website and that this effect will be the success or failure of your website. The good news is that there are many shopping cart solutions available to meet the needs of each person, however, this also means that either option is equally difficult to decide.

What we need primarily to consider is that the software you buy should be easy to use and easy to use. Some advantages of baskets include: The ability to accept credit cards, web-based shipment management and tax options with flexible tools to optimize your site and no fixed term contracts e-commerce solutions Buying – We have bought many dealers Shopping Cart that can provide the solution cart to meet your needs and websites based on your budget.

Some very popular websites that offer some good solutions include Shopping: http://www.monstercommerce.com http://www.volusion.com http://www.actinic.com addition to these sites also have the opportunity to use shopping carts or premium. There is really no such thing as a free shopping cart, there are usually small print in question. Caddies Premium, on the other hand are paid and usually at a cost of U.S. $ 150 for a good package. What we finally need to remember is that your site does not need bells and ringers that offers solutions to the Shopping Cart High end, all it takes is a simple program that will provide its customers an easy experience hassle-free shopping.

check this

http://smallbusinessbible.org/e-commerceshoppingsolutions.html