Get More Business Show – Craig Elias – Trigger Sales
Join me today on Blog Talk Radio. Call-in Number: (3…
Today we’re gonna talk about that “dirty little five letter word” that most of coaches would abhor to use – sales! Coaches do not sell! Right?
Well as a coach you absolutely MUST know how to sell or you will be out of the coaching business real quick!
Just before the call Craig Elias sent me an article that he thought would be appropriate for my audience of coaches, speakers & authors – I agree it’s perfect. Here is the article by Craig Elais that was discussed in detail on the Get More Business Show.
1) Pick a niche – There are thousands of generalist sales training companies run by sales guys and gals that have 20+ years of sales success. The problem with the vast majority is that their generalist approach means they can only operate in their own city, or maybe a few neighbouring cities, because there is another other, perceived to be similar, generalist in every other city. By picking a niche – capitalizing on Trigger Events to get in front of highly motivated buyers at EXACTLY the right time – my expertise goes beyond just my local geography. Search for any other expert on “Trigger Event Selling” and you won’t’ find one. This allows me to create demand for my expertise almost anywhere in the world.
2) Be THE expert in what you teach – Specialize, speak, and write. I specialize in just one thing timing: repeatedly getting to the right person at EXACTLY the right time. I have written a number of articles, and done several webinars. As a result I now have a publishing agreement signed and a book due out in April next year: “SHiFT! OUTSELL YOUR COMPETITION by Leveraging Trigger Events”, and having a book makes you the ultimate expert.
3) Create a market – Creating my own terminology means that when people check the web for any of the major components to what I teach – “Window of Dissatisfaction”, “Trigger Event Selling”, “Won Sales Analysis”, “Emotional Favourite”, “Trigger Event Referrals”, “First Call Effectiveness” I dominate the top 10, 20, and in some cases even the top 50 Google search results.
4) Protect your market – I own 192 domains names related to what I teach. This makes it easy for people to find me and makes it harder for a copycat to market themselves. E.g. TriggerEventSeling.com, TriggerSelling.com, Trigger-Event-Selling.com, WindowOfDissatisfaction.com, WonSalesAnalysis.com, EmotionalFavourite.com, FirstCallEffectiveness.com. I tried the Trademark route but found that there were so many different classifications a competitor could use to copy Trigger Event Selling and because I would have to Trademark in so many different countries, I would spend 20 times as much money doing trademarks vs. leveraging a large number of domain names.
5) STATE YOUR POSITION – Polarize your audience. If you believe that the best sales people make the best sales managers, SAY IT OUT LOUD. You will create a loyal following that believes in the same things you do and you will get some extra exposure by being provocative. For instance I say that timing is THE SILVER BULLET IN SALES. Some people may disagree but even if they do disagree they remember who I am and that makes it more likely they will notice me in the press and at some point they’ll come around because of what is called the “Lemming Effect” if a large group starts, or is perceived to have started, doing something others follow because they fear being left behind if they don’t. E.g. I recently did a webinar that had over 1,400 registrants. Mentioning that when I speak and write – notice I am mentioning it here – will have others wanting to know what they are missing out on. If you want to know what you’re missing out on, you can get access to the recording and the handout by downloading the preview chapter of my book at www.TriggerEventBook.com.
6) Get exposure – This year my goal was to get 24 pieces of exposure (be interviewed, have a story written, be part of a podcast, etc.) and of last week I had my 24th piece of exposure. Having and stating your position will help you get in the more exposure. Ten pieces of exposure on smaller sites or niche outlets is as, if not more, effective than one piece of exposure in one major outlet. Check out HARO – Help a Reporter Out. It comes out three times a day and so far it alone has resulted in 5 interviews in the last few months. Getting all the exposure also helps me to increase the “Lemming Effect” that I mentioned in #5 above. P.S. I also own the domain names LemmingEffect.com and TheLemmingEffect.com…are you beginning to get the picture ?
Thanks Craig! Great Message! Wonderful Interview.
You’ve heard there is no “magic formula” to sales. But there is. It is called timing – getting in front of the right person at EXACTLY the right time.
When you have the right timing the sale (or your prospect hiring you) almost happens by itself - No challenges getting to the customer, understanding their dissatisfaction, presenting a solution, or closing the sale. Research shows that the average sales person is five times more likely to make a sale when they have the right timing.
Today on the Get More Business Show, guest, Craig Elias help listeners how to identify and use events that trigger the buying process–Triggered Events–take someone who never would have bought from you yesterday, and turns them into someone highly likely to buy from you today.
Learn how to discover your prospects window of dissatisfaction and present the solution of your coaching message perfectly timed to when they are the most likely to hire you.
You can go to Craig’s website and download a form that will help you analize your “Won Sales” to discover your trigger event that causes prospects to hire you on the spot.
Craig Elias is the creator of Trigger Event Selling™, and contributing author to the #1 Selling Book on both Amazon and The Wall Street Journal “Masters of Sales”. Craig has, for almost 20 years, used Trigger Event strategies to be a top sales performer at EVERY company he has worked for. He has received coverage on NBC news, in The New York Times, The Nikkei Marketing Journal, Sales and Marketing magazine and won a $1,000,000 prize in a billion dollar idea competition.
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“Does my small business need a budget?”
“I only have a small business, I don’t need a budget.”
“I don’t have enough money to budget.”
For many small business owners, the word “budget” is something for the bigger company – maybe they’ll have one when their business “grows up.”
What is a Budget?
The simple explanation is a budget is a plan for how you will manage all financial resources and all expenses for your business. The basic equation that you want to demonstrate in a budget is as follows:
(estimated )Sales minus (estimated) Expenses = Profit (or loss)
How to create a Budget
If this is your first time to work on a budget for your small business, you might work from the perspective of having to list cost of goods or services plus all of your operating expenses to start the process.
*How much does it take to operate your phone line?
*What is the cost of other utilities?
*How about the cost of a company vehicle, or what is the cost of transportation if you’re using your personal vehicle to also serve as a company vehicle?
*Do you need any supplies or inventory to operate your business?
*How about any employee payroll, payroll taxes or independent product or service providers?
Remember to include everything you spend money on to operate your business even if you allocate some of the expenses to “petty cash” expenses, such as parking or bridge tolls while traveling to see clients.
I recommend that you create annual budget, in addition to a monthly budget, so you can identify any expenses that you may have that come up only once or twice a year such as insurance and include them in your list of expenses. This allows you to amortize or spread the cost of this out over several months so that you can plan ahead for the expense.
As you work on your list of expenses keep in mind that these are the expenses that are necessary to operate your business. These should not be items from your “wish list” unless you want to budget in some expansion or growth. You may want to create a budget with just the necessities and another version of your budget with expansion expenses listed so that you can see the cost of both separately. With a dollar figure to work with of your total expenses you are able to set the standard for or evaluate your sales figures. If you are new to your business you may need to use the dollar amount of your expenses to help you determine what your sales need to be in order to cover all costs and show a profit. If you have been in business for a while you can evaluate whether or not you are producing a profit by looking at historical sales figures.
As you conduct business during your budget year you should compare your actual income and spending with what you estimated. This will allow you to manage your spending so that you don’t over spend and cut into or eliminate your profits. You will also be able to see if sales have met expectations in order to cover expenses and still remain profitable.
Who should Budget?
Every small business owner should budget, no matter the size of business. I have heard some small business owners say their business is too small to budget, but that is not true. If you don’t have a written plan for what your financial obligations are and how your revenue will cover those obligations and leave some money unspent, then your business will never grow. In fact, you may out-spend your revenue and put yourself out of business.
Why Budget?
Budgeting for your small business gives you control over your finances. By looking ahead to what you know or can reasonably estimate what your expenses will be, you can then make financial decisions that will keep you from over-spending, or give you the freedom to invest in the growth of your business.
When Budget?
Every small business owner should have a budget to start their business and then review it annually. I recommend that small business owners review their budget several months before the end of their fiscal year. When I say review the budget I’m talking about comparing projected budget with actual. In the comparison you can see if your estimates were realistic. You and your CPA can also plan for last minute tax strategies, or plan to implement strategies in the up coming year’s budget.
The Goal in Budgeting Remember, the goal of having a budget is to stay in control of your finances in advance. Setting the standard for your spending and revenue and having a tool to compare with actual will give you the control that you need to stay profitable. At the very least it will give you an indication of whether or not your business is actually profitable and not just busy.
Melody Campbell, Business Coach invites Small Business Owners to do an “Extreme Marketing Make-Over.” Receive her Special Report “5 Strategies that Any Business Owner can do for an Extreme Marketing Make-Over” along with having access to her blog and weekly show “Get More Business Podcast at: http://www.TheSmallBusinessGuru.com
