Small Business Trends Magazine - August 2015

AUG 2015

SALES EDITION

The magazine for successful small business owners

The 59 Commandments of

Business Networking Use the 5 Senses for a Great

Customer Experience 4 Ways to Increase Your

Sales Productivity

How to Keep Bad Reviews

from Screwing Up Sales

HOW TO HIRE A

SALES REPRESENTATIVE 1

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Aug 2015

SPOTLIGHT:

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SkyPlanner, a Business Built Off of Salesforce.com SmallBizTrends.com Customization

SALES EDITION

Publisher's Letter

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Editor's Report

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The magazine for successful small business owners

The 59 Commandments of

COVER STORY

Business Networking Use the 5 Senses for a Great

Customer Experience

6

4 Ways to Increase Your

Sales Productivity

How to Keep Bad Reviews

from Screwing Up Sales

AUG 2015

HOW TO HIRE A

SALES REPRESENTATIVE

SPOTLIGHT:

SkyPlanner, a Business Built Off of Salesforce.com Customization

CEO and Publisher Anita Campbell Executive Editor Shawn Hessinger Assistant Editor Joshua Sophy Magazine Partnership Chaitra Vedullapalli, Meylah.com Magazine Operations Girish Kerodi

How to Hire Your First Sales Rep

Sales and Strategy Tamar Weinberg COO Staci Wood CTO Leland McFarland

Hiring always presents a degree of risk. When the goal is hiring a sales representative, the stakes are especially high. The lifeblood of your company — your sales revenue — is at risk. Luckily, there are some things you can do to increase the likelihood of hiring a great sales rep.

Social Media Marketing Amanda Stillwagon AD SALES advertise@smallbiztrends.com COPYRIGHT: Copyright © 2015, Small Business Trends, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use the 5 Senses for a Great Customer Experience

Images under license from Shutterstock.com, unless otherwise noted.

Grocery stores know how to leverage the five senses to persuade customers to buy. Take cues from their strategies and sell better.

ADDRESS: Small Business Trends, LLC, 3593 Medina Rd. #160, Medina, OH 44256 MAIN PHONE: 888.842.1186 EDITORIAL CALENDAR http://sbt.me/3qo

The 59 Commandments of Business Networking Building personal relationships and developing trust is at the core of effective business networking.

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Sales Commission Rate Paid by Small Businesses

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4 Ways to Increase Your Sales Productivity

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Learn the one thing that will get a lot more of your sales calls answered.

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How to Keep Bad Reviews From Screwing Your Business

Cracking the Sales Code with These Two Basic Principles

Bad customer reviews don’t have to hurt your future sales -- provided you respond the right way.

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Selling is more than just presenting advantages. It is about getting the prospective customer to move in your direction.

SkyPlanner Creates Salesforce Customization This month’s Small Business Spotlight is on a company that has built a business out of helping other businesses use Salesforce, the mega sales app.

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11 Ways to Generate Sales Leads Online Struggling with how to generate sales leads in today’s world? Read these suggestions from pros.

9 Sales Apps to Help Small Businesses Sell Better Being successful at sales depends on getting the right leads and managing them properly. Doing this has become easier with today's software applications.

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What Matters in Sales Today?

The Best Sales Books for Small Business Owners

In this interview, JP Werlin, the CEO of PipelineDeals, offers three skills and abilities for successful sales today.

Our book editors have hand picked 11 of the latest sales books for small business owners to profit from.

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PUBLISHER’S LETTER

“Nothing happens until someone sells something.”

I

never truly appreciated the meaning of that phrase -- until I started a business and had to make payroll.

When you own your own business, the first of the month rolls around fast. With it comes a fresh batch of expenses.

That’s when your world as a business owner begins to revolve around sales. Because that’s when you realize nothing is going to replenish your bank balance until … someone sells something.

This month we’ve devoted the entire issue to sales.

Anita Campbell

CEO and Publisher @Smallbiztrends

If you’ve never hired a dedicated salesperson before, you won’t want to miss our cover article with tips for hiring a sales rep.

Looking for sales tools and apps? We have nine to suggest.

And we have insights from the CEO of one sales app, PipelineDeals.

This month we have results from a SurePayroll survey about the size of the sales commissions small businesses pay. The numbers may surprise you.

We bring you a fresh update to one of the all-time most popular articles on the Small Business Trends website, with 59 tips for business networking (see why it’s so popular!). And there’s lots more.

Wishing you much success

Anita PS, check back next month for the Staffing Edition of the Magazine in September.

For a copy of our Editorial Calendar, visit http://sbt.me/3qo

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EDITOR’S REPORT

Small Business Trends News Roundup Up Periscope! A new social media platform rises

patch for the Stagefright bug (which could give hackers access to your data). Since then, Google, Samsung, HTC, Sony, LG and other phone makers have released a patch.

The only problem? Experts say the medicine could be as bad as the disease. The patch causes phones to crash!

It’s now 10 million users strong with no signs of flagging. Periscope, the live streaming app acquired by Twitter for almost $100 million, puts a broadcast station in the palm of your hand. With Periscope it’s simple to begin live video broadcasting. However, live streaming has downsides. The video quality tends to be low because it’s transmitted over a phone connection, and there are no do-overs if you flub. But don’t worry -- live streamed video is temporary and disappears unless you take extra steps to save it.

Why YouTube stars are all worked up over Facebook The era of YouTube has introduced us to a whole new business model: YouTube video production. From comedy skits to fashion tips, these producers now make their revenue from a share of advertising on the video mega-site.

But what happens when fans upload those videos directly to Facebook, as Facebook now encourages? Aye, there’s the rub.

The video creators no longer receive revenue from YouTube's shared revenue program.

The real problem with drone delivery - eagles!

Actually, eagles aren’t the only beasties to menace drones in flight. The list includes a chimp, a ram, a swarm of bees and even a couple of dogs. Apparently critters love to attack drones. According to one Australian entrepreneur, one in five drone flights for his map-making company ends up getting chased down by eagles. While the first commercial drone flights in the United States began in July 2015 after being cleared by the FAA, Amazon admits drone deliveries for its own products could be a while off. But just imagine the book you ordered lining a nest instead!

Is there really something wrong with Amazon’s company culture?

When it’s suggested that a huge company like Amazon hasn’t got a good culture, what is the business community to think? CEO Jeff Bezos said in a recent memo he didn’t recognize the company described in a New York Times article portraying Amazon as a ”soulless, dystopian workplace where no fun is had.” Perhaps it’s time to take a close look at your own company culture.

Does your smartphone have Stagefright?

In July of 2015, Google, the maker of the popular Android smartphone system, announced it was working on a 5

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Shawn Hessinger

Executive Editor @Shawn_Hessinger

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SmallBizTrends.com

COVER STORY

HOW TO HIRE

YOUR FIRST SALES REP Hiring always presents a degree of risk. When the goal is hiring a sales representative, the stakes are especially high.

The lifeblood of your company — your sales revenue — is at risk. Luckily, there are some things you can do to increase the likelihood of hiring a great sales rep.

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hether it’s your first sales representative, or you’re back-filling an existing sales position, here are tips from people who’ve ‘been there, done that’:

Besides, she says, it’s not wise to load up a sales rep with too much paperwork. It reduces the time available for making new sales.

WRITE OUT A JOB DESCRIPTION

DETERMINE COMPENSATION RANGE

It’s a mistake to think that every sales role is the same, says Anita Campbell, CEO of Small Business Trends, who has hired dozens of sales representatives. “That’s why you need to write out a job description when you hire your first sales rep. It makes the scope of the role clear for the candidate’s benefit. It also helps get others in the company on the same page. Don’t skip this step.”

Always make the compensation package based in large part on commissions, advises Campbell. “Then the sales role more or less pays for itself,” she adds.

A good salesperson is motivated by money.

But it won’t help you retain that sales rep if you’re thinking the person can make $75,000 annually in your company, yet the candidate comes in expecting $150,000.

Write down the activities the sales rep is expected to do, starting with:

Figure out the target compensation if the sales reps meets stated goals or quotas. If this is a new position, you’ll need a sharp pencil or calculator:

• generating the lead, • through closing the sale, • through any post-closing follow-up.

• E stimate the number of sales a motivated rep can comfortably close each week. Calculating by the week helps you gauge sales more realistically than calculating monthly or annually. This number can become the rep’s quota or goal.

Consider such issues as whether the sales rep is required to generate leads, or whether your business has a marketing machine in place to bring in leads. That distinction is important in determining what skills to look for. “Some people are good closers if you present them with leads coming in, such as from Google AdWords or an online lead-gen form. Not everyone can go out and prospect to generate their own leads,” says Campbell.

• T hen calculate the amount the sales rep will make from those deals based on the commission rate.

• Don’t forget to factor in any base salary.

Another issue is sales administration and support.

Will your sales person have Writing down specific job requirements to enter orders into your will provide clarity to candidates who apply system? Will he or she be expected to follow up on and will also get everyone on the same post-sales details, such as page within the organization. gathering information or delivering status updates to From this you should get a good idea of the a client? Or do you have other staff to do realistic target compensation. During the those activities? “Some sales people expect hiring process, express this as the compento be able to hand the sale off and not handle sation ‘at quota,’ advises Campbell. Consider post-closing duties,” adds Campbell. including a high range for added earning 7

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COVER STORY potential if the rep meets stretch goals or exceeds quota.

makes sales.

Be clear that this is a temporary arrangement.

Give it a cut-off date. Call it a ‘temporary nonrecoverable draw‘ against commissions, so as not to set an expectation of an ongoing salary, advises Campbell.

WHAT’S A GOOD COMMISSION RATE? There’s no right answer to this question. Start with a commission percentage in line with what is common in your industry, advises Tamar Weinberg, the chief strategy officer for Small Business Trends. It also depends on whether the person gets a base salary.

“Salespeople have to be gogetters who are comfortable going in front of people and pitching something.”

Stoney deGeyter, Pole Position Marketing’s CEO, offers a cautionary tale about guaranteed entry compensation. “A few years ago we hired our first sales person (in a long time)….” The company didn’t have a clue as to what to expect from its salesperson in terms of sales numbers, but decided “to make it lucrative for him to work for us,” deGeyter said.

“Real estate agents make six percent commission and no base salary.

If you are selling tech products, I’ve seen anywhere between three percent and 10 percent, with a generous base pay. If you’re not offering base pay, commission could be from 20 percent to 25 percent,” Weinberg says.

So, Pole Position created a high salary with a low commission structure. “The idea was to pay the way during the learning process, but once sales started coming in take him off salary and move toward commission.”

Also, you “may want to consider adding a team bonus down the road. For example, hitting a certain milestone yields a $X,XXX bonus.”

However, “to our disappointment we never hit the benchmarks,” said deGeyter.

Several re-negotiations followed over the next three years. “As you can imagine, that’s not something that anyone wants to do and, inevitably, someone feels like they are getting a raw deal. It was literally trial and error for us.”

Weinberg also recommends sweetening the commission to encourage stretch sales goals that exceed quota. For example, for sales “you make up to $375,000, you get three percent, and at $375,001 to $500,000 you get six percent, and for amounts over $500,000 you get nine percent.”

DECIDE WHERE TO RECRUIT “It’s not easy to find good salespeople,” says Weinberg.

KEEP GUARANTEED PAYMENTS TEMPORARY

“Salespeople have to be go-getters who are comfortable going in front of people and pitching something.” Not everyone has the moxie to ask for the sale.

It’s customary in many companies to offer new sales reps a guarantee of compensation for the first 90 days, or possibly up to 180 days, says Campbell.

She recommends using websites, including LinkedIn, as well as “career-minded sites like Monster or Dice, if a tech product is involved.”

During this ramp-up period, the sales representative is assured of compensation of a certain amount — whether he or she actually 8

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COVER STORY observing professionals in action. Seek out “people who outshine others socially — those people would make for good sales reps, especially since a sales rep needs to be a good schmoozer.”

Diane Helbig, who offers an online sales training program, Clarity of Course Sales Training, recommends leveraging one’s network.

“Getting a referral to someone can be one of the best ways to gain a salesperson,” she said, noting further that LinkedIn is the go-to site for filling important positions. “Do a search for salespeople, account executive, business development, and see who comes up. You can research them just like you would a prospect.” You can also post the job on LinkedIn, among other job sites, she said.

Don’t overlook existing employees as a referral source to hire your first sales rep, added Campbell. “Some companies pay a referral bonus to existing employees who refer a new hire. In small businesses this bonus averages from $100 to $500. Make the bonus payable after the new hire has made it through the first 90 days or other probationary period.”

training to set them up for success.”

However, Campbell points out that direct experience may be crucial in certain industries. “Some types of sales are complex. Or the industry may be too specialized to learn quickly. Small businesses usually need sales fast. Many of us don’t have the luxury to subsidize a nine-month learning curve.”

CHECK BACKGROUND WITH THESE QUESTIONS

GO FOR SKILLS OR EXPERIENCE? Helbig doesn’t believe it is mandatory to hire someone with sales experience. She does, however, recommend finding someone with a particular skill set that includes the ability to build relationships quickly.

When checking up on a sales-rep candidate, ask about past results. “You’d want to know what sales they’ve closed, what quotas have been met or surpassed, and how their track record compares to the rest of the track records” at previous employers, Weinberg said.

Also, “they should have a good network and be able to expand on it. They should be able to work autonomously as well.”

Also assess personal attributes and character. “You’d want to know if they were leaders or followers. Your first sales rep is probably someone you’d want to be a leader, but who is willing to go out and start small to grow with the business. They’re going to be taking risks, because really good sales

Experts disagree on whether industry experience is necessary. According to Helbig, industry experience isn’t important. “If they are a good salesperson, they can learn [the industry] and the value of your product or service. If they are new to sales, consider providing sales 10

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LOOK FOR WILLINGNESS TO USE REPORTING TOOLS Finally, remember that accountability is crucial. So you’ll need some kind of reporting and tracking mechanisms.

Hire a person willing and able to use your software programs, or learn them. Weinberg noted that a CRM tool is useful for tracking sales and performance. She likes Salesforce.

Your salesperson should enter the contact information of prospects into the CRM. That way you can access this data in case the employee departs (or is asked to leave).

As Weinberg noted, “You, as owner, should know what opportunities are gaining ground, as well as the ones that aren’t, and where the salesperson could use support.”

“All the companies I have worked for have used forecasting spreadsheets to determine what deals in the pipeline are likely to close, at 10 percent levels, 50 percent levels, 90 percent levels, and 100 percent signed. So for example, you may have one client at $50,000 at 10 percent, three clients totaling $275,000 at 90 percent, and 11 closed deals at $1.3 million.”

reps command a higher salary than what a company looking for a ‘first sales rep’ can usually pay.”

Ask probing questions to assess the candidate’s sense of urgency, Campbell advised.

“Sales deals die from lack of momentum.

You want a person who acts fast. Do they return messages within X number of hours?

What’s their attitude toward emails? An ‘inbox zero’ personality is ideal. What’s their daily routine like — do they set daily goals?

You want a sales rep who will be hounding you for deal approvals because they operate lickety-split, not one you have to hound just to return a call.”

Weinberg recommends that the salesperson report his or her progress on a weekly basis.

“You don’t need to know every call they’ve made.” The salesperson should provide this report every Friday afternoon and the owner should read and comment on it. “If a salesperson doesn’t report, that’s a red flag.”

Helbig noted that checking references involves legal pitfalls that may prevent you from gleaning much from a reference check, however.

This, by extension, doesn’t mean you should micromanage the salesperson’s activity, she said. “As long as they are acting legally, morally, and ethically the owner shouldn’t care how the salesperson spends their time — provided results are being realized.”

She said, “Legally you aren’t going to get many answers other than the basics,” such as “how long they were employed. Companies are taught to not give more information about past employees because it could come back to bite them.”

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Ed Lieber

Staff writer @EdVLieber |

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RETAIL SALES

Use the 5 Senses for a Great Customer Experience

C

hain grocery stores have done an enormous amount of research on how people shop.

bright-colored fruits and vegetables. Special lighting may be used to enhance the vibrant colors. The shopper’s sense of sight is now fully engaged.

In these huge stores, marketing is primarily transactional. That means there is a minimum amount of personal communication between the customer and the store’s staff.

By this time the customer is salivating! Right about now the shopper is ready to go up and down the aisles on a shopping spree.

Location, lighting, display and packaging take the place of person-to-person interaction.

The next thing the shopper sees is product on the ends of shelves promoting specials.

These items are easy to pick up and put in your cart. Down the aisles, items that cost more are at eye level. Ever notice how the higher priced wines are on higher shelves while bargain bottles are near the floor?

And of course, impulse items like candy and magazines at the checkout counter beckon you to pick them up.

How do these huge stores entice customers to spend money? Easy. They use psychology.

They put the milk in the back of the store forcing the shopper to wend his or her way through all manner of enticing goodies before getting to the milk, which is why he or she came to the store in the first place.

But that’s just the beginning.

Grocery stores also engage the five senses for a great customer experience. And they are masters at it.

Finally, there’s sound. Some grocery stores play background music. Then there are in-store cooking demonstrations. A more recent innoAppealing to the senses works in just about vation is the autoplay video any retail environment. display. These videos tell the advantages of a certain fruit or how to prepare seafood.

The vast majority of people entering any store look left and turn right. Grocery stores Can non-grocery stores also benefit from put the bakery on the right, somewhere near appealing to the senses? Sure. It works in the front, so it’s one of the first things people just about any retail environment. The prodvisit. Why? It smells good. Smell is purely uct lines could include hardware, clothes, emotional, not intellectual. books, recreational products, antiques, you name it.

Often the deli is close to the bakery near the front of the store. Again, it’s about the senses.

Deli food tastes good and makes your mouth water. Delis offer free samples, too.

Here are some tips for how you can engage the five senses in your retail business: • S ense of Smell: If you sell anything with pleasing aromas, such as coffee, put out open bins or samples for shoppers to smell. Or you might use vanilla or other

Once past the bakery and deli, the shopper comes upon the fresh produce section.

This area has mirrors, spritzed water, and 12

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pleasing scents to engage the shopper’s sense of smell. Don’t overdo it, though, as overpowering smells can backfire.

customers to feel for themselves. Make things accessible for customers to touch (except for fragile things). When goods aren’t accessible, even as a sample, there’s an invisible buying barrier.

• Sense of Taste: Even if your store doesn’t sell food or drink, you can still engage the sense of taste. Offer free beverages, or a bowl of hard candy on the counter. Or hold a wine and cheese tasting to celebrate a new product line or a special company anniversary.

• S ense of Sound: Soothing music or even a white-noise machine to mask street sounds makes for a relaxing environment. Eliminate negative sounds, too.

Don’t allow employees to talk on mobile phones, gossip or jaw around in groups in front of customers.

• S ense of Sight: An open store layout with pleasing displays is a must, starting with the front door or window display. Bright eye-catching digital signs or pleasing vertical banners that can be printed inexpensively, add visual punch. Cleanliness is part of the visual appeal, too, so make your place of business spotless.

Take advantage of what grocery stores have known for years. Use the five senses to create a great customer experience to encourage buying.

Anita Campbell CEO and Publisher @smallbiztrends

• Sense of Touch: Selling the silkiest hand lotion on the planet? Supply testers for

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CONNECTING

The 59 Commandments of Business Networking Building personal relationships and developing trust is at the core of effective business networking.

B

NETWORKING AT EVENTS

usiness networking is one of the most effective marketing and prospecting tools you can use to grow your business.

There are various aspects of this type of business networking, from preparation to follow up and everything in between:

Of course, done incorrectly it can actually be harmful to your business.

1. I dentify where you should go. All venues are not right for all people. You owe it to yourself to do your research and find the venues that make sense for your business.

People have to trust you before they’ll do business with you or refer you. How can you make sure you are presenting yourself as someone who is trustworthy? Following the commandments of business networking below is a good start.

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organizations. Decide the ones you should join and the ones you don’t have to join in order to gain value from the events. For example, does it make sense to join a local chamber of commerce, or just go to the events that sound interesting and will most likely include people you should meet?

you can sit once you’ve connected with someone.

11. Try to sit with strangers. This is no time to stick with people you know.

12. Be a good Samaritan. Is there someone sitting alone? Go to them and introduce yourself. You’ll be saving their life! They are alone and nervous. You can even take them with you to mix and mingle with others.

3. R egister for the event and schedule it like a business meeting. Many people either don’t sign up for events or sign up for them and then forget to go.

When you are talking with people look

4. D etermine how often you them in the eye and really pay attention. should be networking.

How many times should you network in a given week, month or 13. Don’t give your business card to everyquarter? This will help you narrow down one you meet. Rather, give it to anyone where you should be going. who asks you for it.

5. Develop open-ended questions. You can 14. Do get the business card of everyone use these to ignite a conversation. Try you meet. to find unique questions. Don’t ask the 15. Have a firm (but not killer) handshake. same old “so what do you do” question Your handshake is a key indicator of your if you can help it. level of confidence. So think about what 6. Attend events with a plan. Always try to your handshake is saying to those you learn something new. This will keep you meet. from talking too much about yourself 16.

Be present — always. When you are and your business. talking with someone, look them in the 7. Prepare yourself physically and mentaleye and really pay attention to what they ly for the event. Dress appropriately. are saying. You may learn something Bring business cards. Turn your phone about them that tells you whether you off or set it to vibrate. (I’m not kidding!) can help them. It’s also the only way you’ll determine whether you should continue 8. Don’t forget to mingle. Are you going to get to know them after the event is with someone? If so, split up once you over. get to the event.

9. G et the lay of the land. When you arrive, step to the side. Take a deep breath and scan the room. This will give you a chance to regroup and focus before you approach anyone.

17. Don’t look around the room. And don’t look over someone’s shoulder when you are talking with them. It’s rude. You are letting them know that you aren’t really interested in them.

10. Don’t sit down right away. Wait until the program begins. If there is no program,

18. Don’t take phone calls. If you are expecting a call or have a situation that may

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CONNECTING

REFERRAL GROUPS

need your attention, let the person you are talking with know there is the possibility you’ll have to excuse yourself.

Referral groups work best for growing your business when you approach them with the idea of what you can provide to the group and its members. Here are some commandments to consider:

19. Take necessary calls in private. Leave the room and go to a quiet place. It doesn’t make you seem important if you take a call in the room. It makes you seem impolite, silly, rude, arrogant… take your pick!

27. Focus on giving. Networkers don’t get referrals until people trust them. And they aren’t trusted until they’ve been giving quality referrals for a while.

20. Disengage politely. How do you get away from someone politely? There are a couple of tactics. You can tell them you don’t want to monopolize their time.

You can tell them you see someone you need to speak with. You can excuse yourself to go to the restroom. You can tell them you’d like to continue meeting

28. Show up regularly and on time. When you show up late and/or infrequently, you send a message to your fellow group members: you tell them that you only care about yourself because you don’t take the time to learn about their needs. You show them how you deal with business meetings and associates. Why would they trust you with their clients?

How can they be sure you’ll treat them well?

people.

21.

Don’t follow up via email. The only exception would be if you have been expressly asked to do so.

29. Come prepared. Have a specific list of referral needs. The more specific you can be, the more referrals you’ll receive.

22. Do at least send a note.

23. Don’t pitch too early. Quite frankly, don’t “pitch” at all. When you build relationships 30. Always ask for what you need. You are it will become apparent to you and the never so busy that you don’t need more other person when it makes sense to do prospects in our pipeline. If you don’t ask business with each other. Remember, business networking is about relationships – not Networking is about building relationships. selling.

It doesn't always have to end in a pitch.

24. Don’t sign people up for your newsletter. Be sure you get their expressed permission before you put them on any kind of list.

all the time, you’ll run the risk of getting to a place where you never ask. If you think it may be a couple of weeks before you’ll be able to get to those referrals, just let the members know that. It’s okay to ask when you are forthcoming with information.

25. Don’t assume. Just because you met someone doesn’t give you license to gain a referral from them, use them as a resource, or give them your promotional and sales materials.

31. Focus on the group. Once again, be sure you are really listening to the needs of the group members. Don’t play with your phone or answer emails while others are

26. Do err. But make it on the side of good manners and the golden rule.

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talking. Really listen and think about how you can help them.

you follow up on it right away. Imagine how you’ll make the other person feel if they refer you to someone and you don’t follow up in a timely manner. It won’t make them want to refer you again. It takes time to build relationships with the people in your referral group. Don’t destroy that trust by failing to take a referral seriously.

32. Meet with the members individually. Do this between meetings so you can get to know them better.

33. Do not prospect among group members.

You’re not targeting your fellow group members when you have your one-on-one meetings with them. You’re simply trying to build connections.

34. Do not expect to get until you give.

Give the same quality of referrals as you’d welcome receiving

35. Do not expect to receive right away. It takes time to build those relationships with group members so you trust them and they trust you.

SOCIAL NETWORKING Just like event networking, online social networking has guidelines you should follow when participating:

36. C onsider the other group members as resources to you and your contacts.

When you know how they do business and you trust them, you can use them as resources when people mention needs those group members can solve. This can elevate you in the eyes of your contacts, prospects and clients.

40. Decide who you want to be. Of course, you should be you! What I mean is that before you say something in your news feed or in a discussion, make sure it maps with how you want others to know you.

41. Don’t spam. No one likes spam and that includes pitch messages on social networks. Use the platforms as a way to continue to build relationships and expand your network. Irritating people won’t help you accomplish that.

37.

Do give quality referrals and leads.

I knew a man who would write up a referral and put “Do not use my name” on the sheet. That is not helpful. I’ve also seen a situation where someone gave a referral but called the referee later and said, “Don’t call that person.” That’s not helpful! Don’t give garbage. It’s better to not give at all.

42.

Limit the self-promotion. You can let people know what you are up to as long as that’s not your only topic of conversation. When it comes to Facebook, you should only provide business-related posts on your business page. Your profile is your personal page and if you post too much about business, you may find people blocking you.

38. Check with your clients, contacts and associates first. Are they open to you giving their names and contact information to your group members? One of the worst things that can happen is for you to refer a group member to a client, only to have the client get mad.

43. Share information. People love to learn things. Use social networking as a way to share relevant information with other people. When you share your expertise

39. Follow up! If someone gives you a referral, treat it like gold. You want to be sure that 17

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CONNECTING on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and more, you show your relevancy and position yourself as a subject matter expert.

Google will reward you for it and that will help you gain exposure.

conversations, you’ll learn an awful lot about the people in your network. You’ll also learn about people you should be connected to.

51. Don’t sell. This goes along with spamming and self-promotion. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Of course it does. That’s because social networking has nothing to do with selling. It has everything to do with building relationships so you can grow your business.

44. Tell people why you want to connect with them. Don’t use the standard connection script if you can help it. If they aren’t your closest friends, you want to give them a reason for accepting your connection request.

45. Participate. You’ll get out Good networking strategy is about giving of it what you put into it.

That means you should more than getting. be starting and participating in discussions, retweeting posts you 52. Don’t feel obligated. You can make decilike, commenting on posts, and sharing sions about who you connect with on posts. different platforms. Just be consistent.

If you decide that you don’t want to be 46. Don’t assume. Again, being connected to connected to business associates on someone does not give you permission Facebook, then don’t be. If someone you to pitch. Don’t do it. don’t know requests a connection to you, 47. Explain all requests for an introduction. you are under no obligation to connect Want an introduction? If you’re seeking with them. that through one of your contacts, make 53. Be as helpful as you can. Whenever you sure you explain why you want it. can connect people or help someone 48. Treat your online connections as valuwith a question jump in and do it. able. Your online connections are just as 54. Let them know you’re real. Don’t hide valuable as your offline connections. So behind a persona. Remember that people don’t forget that. do business with people they trust. You 49.

Take the time to get to know them. have to be you in order for people to get When you engage in a conversation to know you. with someone, belong to a group with 55. Use your picture as a profile photo. them or read something they wrote, ask No one does business with an avatar. them to connect directly. Then build the And make sure the picture is the right relationship. Remember that relationship kind for the platform. On LinkedIn you building includes getting to know the should be using a professional photo like other person, their business and their a head shot. On Facebook you should needs. use your logo on your business page. On 50.

Pay attention to the chatter. Social your personal page you can use anything networking is just like in-person networkbecause it’s personal. On Twitter a logo ing. You want to approach it as a way makes sense. to learn things. When you pay attention to the chatter, the events, groups and 18

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56.

Don’t carry on private conversations in public. Use common sense, good judgment and contact people privately to have a one-on-one conversation.

59. Be approachable. I’m not going to get the chance to know you and like you if you are aloof. No one is so special that they are untouchable. Besides, who would want to build a relationship with someone distant?

57.

Go to events — whenever possible.

When an online group you are in has an in-person function, go to it. Meet the people with whom you’ve been interacting. It helps to build the relationship.

Remember that you are still relationship building when you are face to face.

Although increased sales is the end goal, don’t participate in business networking to sell. Find and develop relationships with people you can help and who can help you.

When we detach ourselves from the emphasis we tend to put on selling, we actually improve our ability to build relationships. The sales will come naturally from there.

58. Suggest a meeting. When you connect with someone via social networking, follow up and suggest a meeting. The meeting can be via phone, Skype or in person, depending on geography. Don’t let physical distance get in your way.

In this day and age, it doesn’t have to be a deterrent to growing a business relationship.

Diane Helbig

President, Seize This Day Coaching @dhelbig

#EntreprenuerUNite THE NEXT BILLION JOBS

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Aug 2015

CHART

Sales Commission Rate Paid by Small Businesses SALES COMMISSION RATE PAID BY SMALL BUSINESSES

19.6% 7.7%

Pay more than 30% Pay 21 - 30% Pay 11 - 20% Pay 10% or less No commission or other

44.8%

7.7% 20.3%

* Based on the amount of the sale

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ccording to an August 2015 survey by SurePayroll.com, the majority of small businesses when asked said they paid commission rates of 20% or less to salespeople. In fact, nearly 45% say they pay 10% or less as a commission.

expenses • Tiered scale • Depends on overall income of business • 5 0% of profit on each job (after all costs including 15% overhead)

And surprisingly, about one fifth either don’t pay commissions at all, or base them on something other than the face amount of the sale, such as gross profit or net profit.

SurePayroll, a Paychex company based in Illinois, provides a system allowing small businesses to do payroll and make other payments including tax filings. The survey covered small business customers of SurePayroll, mainly with 1 to 10 employees.

And what about those who chose “Other”?

The write-in responses included: • 50% of gross profit

Shawn Hessinger

• No commission paid

Executive Editor @Shawn_Hessinger

• Bonus only • Whatever is left after salaries and 20

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SALES TALK

4 Ways to Increase Your Sales Productivity

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f you’re like many small business owners, selling is the least favorite part of what you do.

So how can you and your sales team create the personal connections that make it easier to make the sale? Here are four ideas:

What if you knew there was an easy way to make it more likely that when you call a potential sales prospect, you’d get a call back?

Start a referral program. Asking your satisfied customers for referrals is a great way to build a pipeline of warm leads with whom you have a connection.

According to a study by Reachable.com, having a personal connection with someone — even an indirect connection, such as a mutual acquaintance or colleague — makes that person five times more likely to call you back.

Spread the word. Let your colleagues and business associates know you’re looking for new prospects.

If you have a direct connection with the person, the odds get even better. Your chances of getting a return call increase elevenfold.

Let’s put this another way.

For every 1,000 calls you make, only 345 will get returned if you don’t have a connection with the person. But if you do have a connection, 849 calls will be returned.

Overall, the study found that personal connections increased sales productivity by an incredible 243 percent.

Isn’t It Time To

Get out there and meet people. Get and stay involved in organizations, associations and networking events that bring you into face-to-face contact with the right kinds of prospects.

Harness CRM technology. Set up a CRM system and (this is key) actually use it. You’ll have a record of your business’s connections that anyone on your team can use.

That way your whole company can leverage relationships.

?

Think Outside

The Box

PLAY VIDEO

Rieva Lesonsky Columnist @Rieva

INSIGHT

Cracking the Sales Code with These Two Basic Principles Selling is more than just presenting advantages. It is about getting the prospective customer to move in your direction.

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he classified ad screamed: “$600/Month Guaranteed!”

Instead, George, my trainer and mentor, taught two basics:

This was a lot of money back in the day.

1. Think behaviors, not ‘dollars’; and

I was a new high school graduate and had only a vague notion of the saying in business that “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” I would learn soon enough.

2. Practice influence, don’t ‘sell.’

Door-to-door selling taught me that sales is first about behaviors. Get your behaviors right, and the money follows.

It was my first big sales job. I would be selling vacuum cleaners, cold-calling doorto-door. But the company managers weren’t demanding sales numbers, just behaviors.

The sales funnel statistics were simple. At the top, at the widest part of the funnel, was the action that I had to perform as a condition of employment for that 600 bucks.

The job was easy; knock on 100 doors a day, six days a week.

The sales training was not what I expected.

The sales trainer was not Alec Baldwin in the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross,” pounding the ABC’s of AIDA (sales-speak for “Always Be Closing” and “Attention, Interest, Desire, Action”).

It didn’t matter what happened. No one home or not interested? I just had to bang on doors.

This behavior, I was assured, would lead to three invitations to return that evening to present the machine. For every three presentations, one sale would result.

Sales was more than FAB. Selling was not just: • Features — describing what product is.

• Advantages — what it does.

The company numbers worked for me. As I got better, I needed fewer numbers at the

• Benefits — the value to the customer.

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personal interaction.

Always try to get your prospective customer to make a move in your direction.

Here’s what it looks like when selling is life and death: in hostage negotiations. Have you ever wondered how those guys from the FBI talk their way in and get live bodies out?

It might go something like this. The hostage negotiator (sales guy) will spend considerable time establishing a personal connection with the criminals.

Our negotiator will suggest bag lunches be brought in to feed the hostages and delivered on plastic trays.

At the end of the lunch, the negotiator will ask for the trays to be returned.

If the hostage-taker complies and returns the trays, then the negotiator knows that within 72 hours the hostages will be released.

sales funnel’s wide top to get a sale at the narrow bottom.

Hostage negotiators, like sales professionals, understand that the start of persuasion is to get the ‘prospect’ to begin to respect the power of the negotiator-salesman. The micro-obedience begins with the returning of a worthless plastic tray.

The second skill George, my mentor, taught, was to influence, to persuade. Good sales training programs remind us the first step in the sales process is to establish rapport. The prospect must respond and then trust you.

The negotiator will then suggest ever-increasing incremental exchanges until the hostages are set free. The power comes from persuading the other person to make moves.

Earning the confidence of the prospect begins with the other person making a move in the salesman’s direction. In door-to-door sales, that microscopic move was getting the homeowner to respond and to open the door.

Whatever you’re selling, remember to focus first on behaving a certain way, and then on persuading and influencing your prospect.

If you’re not knocking on doors, what might that look like? That first response could be getting an email reply.

If the prospect will not open the door, or answer the phone, or return an email, there is no relationship. And there will be no sale.

John Wesley (Jack) Yoest Jr., Clinical Assistant Professor of Management, The Catholic University of America @JackYoest

Please understand, I am not minimizing the skills and the teachable science of salesmanship. Rather, I learned in cold calling that sales also includes the art and craft of 23

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TACKLING NEGATIVES

How to Keep Bad Reviews From Screwing Up Sales Bad customer reviews don’t have to hurt your future sales -- provided you respond the right way.

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less than flattering online review about your business is not something you would normally celebrate.

owners is to look for reviews by searching their company or brand name attaching the word “reviews” to the end of the name, (like “Joe’s Pizza reviews,” for example.)

However, bad customer comments will not necessarily cause your sales to plummet, provided you manage online reviews properly, promptly and efficiently.

Second, Ramsey said in an interview with Small Business Trends, you can search for reviews of your business by searching on Google Local, Yelp, Facebook and similar general social and review sites. Also, a tool like Moz Local at Moz.com/local will help you find local listing sites where reviews typically appear.

Marketing expert Mike Ramsey, owner of NiftyMarketing.com, says, “You can’t stop bad reviews because we don’t live in a fivestar world.”

HOW TO FIND YOUR REVIEWS ONLINE

Third, Ramsey and fellow Internet marketing expert Vedran Tomic, of LocalAnts LLC, both suggest checking websites specifically targeted at businesses in your industry — such as healthgrades.com for doctors and avvo.com for attorneys.

Before you can deal with reviews, good or bad, you’ve got to find your reviews online.

Ramsey’s first suggestion for business 24

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Tomic notes consumers search for more business reviews today than ever before and on more than one website. As a result, he says, it’s important for entrepreneurs to have a review management system in place because almost every business will eventually be faced with a bad review.

the issue.”

• Offer a mature, empathetic response.

• D o what it takes to correct the problem.

“Make it right.”

REMEMBER BAD REVIEWS DON’T HAVE TO BE A BAD THING

WHAT TO DO WITH A BAD REVIEW

In fact, Blumenthal says negative reviews don’t always have to be a bad thing. They can be helpful to a small business in the long run.

Tomic and Ramsey both recommend, when faced with a bad review, that an owner or manager reach out to the disgruntled customer. Attempt to correct the situation, but be sure to do this all offline. It’s better form to not have the negotiation and resolution appear publicly.

“There’s usually a positive in every negative review,” Blumenthal said in a recent interview with Small Business Trends.

Negative reviews can help qualify customers because “a noisy restaurant wants noisy diners,” Blumenthal explains.

“Show empathy to the customer,” recommends Ramsey, who also advocates knowing all sides of the story. Offering an apology and rectifying the problem are both important when you’re in the wrong. But a more unorthodox strategy Ramsey also suggests is offering to help the buyer find a competitor that may serve them better.

They also afford a business owner an opportunity to respond in a mature way, which will be seen by future customers. How a bad review is handled can impress customers.

He said the public perceives a business with all five-star reviews as something that may be too good to be true. However, he notes, 80 percent of people read and believe reviews written by strangers.

“Be willing to do what’s right for the customer and be sure to diffuse the situation,” he advises. Whatever strategy seems most appropriate, Ramsey says, the key is “baking” the review process into your business operations.

“Do not fear a bad review but change your frame of reference,” Blumenthal says.

Blumenthal believes in the power of good testimonials. And he says businesses can work to find these online.

Meanwhile, marketing expert Mike Blumenthal suggests a simple approach to review management:

In the end, though, Blumenthal believes managing your business’s reputation online requires an ongoing effort.

• S trive for reviews — you cannot change what you cannot measure.

“It requires a consistent process either on your own or using an outside source, and you’ll get good reviews,” he adds. “But consistency is the key.”

• G et an attractive website and build credibility with testimonials.

• “ Pepper” good reviews throughout your website.

In the event of a bad review, Blumenthal advises:

Lou Gombocz Staff Writer

• Small business owners need to “own 25

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LEAD GENERATION

11

WAYS TO GENERATE SALES LEADS ONLINE

Struggling with how to generate sales leads in today’s world? Read these suggestions from pros.

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here’s no one right way to generate sales leads online. Some businesses swear by using Facebook ads, while others have found more success by hosting webinars.

Each business has a different target market and communication style. So your lead generation strategy should uniquely reflect those aspects of your business.

active approach to generating leads, having a website is still essential. And having the right features set up can help the right people find you, instead of you having to seek them out.

Jill Konrath, author of “Agile Selling” and several other sales-related titles, said in an email interview with Small Business Trends, “To me, a website is a dynamic property that supports my evolving business direction.

And, today, all my business comes via my website. By that, I mean that people find me through the content on my website. Or, they read my books, think about bringing me in to speak to their sales force — and my website provides serious credibility that I’m a good candidate.”

Luckily, there are countless different methods for generating those sales leads online.

The list below includes different methods you might consider for inclusion in your own strategy.

CREATE A DESTINATION WEBSITE While other methods can provide a more 26

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DRIVE TRAFFIC WITH TARGETED ADS Aside from your existing network, you’ll need to find people who might be interested in your free downloads and thus, your other products or services. Online advertising tools like Google AdWords and Facebook ads provide you with opportunities to target the specific audience that might fit that description.

For instance, if you wrote an ebook about DIY SEO, you might choose to target people on Google who have searched for SEO services.

Or, on Facebook, a local business that sells clothing and accessories could choose to target people within that geographic area who have listed fashion as one of their interests.

CREATE CONTENT FOR A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE Just as you should target your ads to a specific audience, so should you tailor your other content.

Whether it’s a free download or your weekly blog, you need to create some kind of content with a clear voice and a defined audience.

The more specific you get, the more the people who visit are actually going to be interested in what you have to offer.

OFFER FREE DOWNLOADS One of the features a good lead-generating website can have is some sort of free download. This can be an ebook, template, or other helpful resource that people can fill out a simple form to download.

Konrath explained, “I write for salespeople and entrepreneurs — not sales managers or executives. Plus, I only focus on those who sell to businesses. Not government. Not consumers. With this kind of clarity, when my ideal person pops onto my website, it immediately resonates with them.”

The digital product should relate to your paid offerings in such a way that those who download them are likely to be interested in your other services. But it should still be a quality piece that is helpful to users and can stand on its own. Once people have downloaded it, you have their information from the form.

So, you can follow up with them about your other offerings.

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SEND OUT A NEWSLETTER Konrath also believes that sending out a newsletter is an essential part of any online lead building strategy. While books and blogs are nice, newsletters actually catch people in |

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LEAD GENERATION a place they’re more likely to check — their inbox.

topic that would be helpful to your potential customers and then promote it on social media or online advertising.

Plus, those who are interested enough to sign up to receive your helpful content are also more likely to be interested when you update them about that new product or service you just launched.

BUILD GENUINE RELATIONSHIPS ON SOCIAL PLATFORMS Social platforms are also great sources for potential leads. But you’ll really have to work to create those bonds.

“Entrepreneurs also need to have a newsletter — and they should be sending out emails to their subscribers at least twice a month,” Konrath said. “A blog is insufficient.

Today, your message needs to get in your prospect’s inbox to even have a chance of getting read.”

Ivana Taylor of DIY Marketers has worked for years on building relationships on Twitter and similar sites.

Taylor explained in a phone interview with Small Business Trends, “It’s sort of the complicated version of generating leads, but it’s what fits my personality and my communication style. You have to drive the conversation from Twitter to email or a phone call. So you have to be genuine and actually engage with people.”

CREATE MULTI-PURPOSE CONTENT However, while creating a newsletter might be one essential part of your strategy, it never hurts to repurpose some of that content.

Some of your potential customers might just be more likely to read blogs. So, you should still update those readers. And luckily, it shouldn’t take much extra time to do so.

PARTICIPATE IN TWITTER CHATS Building a network of relevant social connections doesn’t happen overnight. One way to find potential leads on Twitter is by participating in Twitter chats that are relevant to your industry or target customers.

“To maximize my time, I post my blog in the morning, then send out a newsletter with the same info later that day. That way one piece of content serves two purposes,” Konrath said.

Once you make those initial connections, you still have to work hard at building those relationships and eventually converting them into real leads. But chats can help you make those initial connections with influencers and others relevant to your industry.

Online advertising tools such as Google AdWords and Facebook ads provide you opportunities to target a specific audience.

HOST A WEBINAR

REACH OUT TO PEOPLE IN GROUPS

Like free downloads, webinars should offer real value to participants. But in order to sign up, they should have to provide some information that would allow you to follow up with them afterward.

Some social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook have groups that can help you connect with others in your industry or people with similar interests. These groups can be a great source for potential leads, if you approach members in an effective way.

To make use of this method, decide on a 28

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Taylor doesn’t suggest that you simply send out blanket messages to everyone in a particular set of groups. Instead, she suggests reaching out to people on a more personal level.

But your customer lists are likely at least a bit different. So, by collaborating on a project with another industry influencer, preferably one whose offerings are slightly different than your own, you both can potentially gain some new leads.

“My LinkedIn inbox is ridiculously overcrowded with pitch spam. But some people swear by using LinkedIn to build leads,” Taylor said.

“I just think that the people who actually have success with it do so because they reach out to people in other ways first. Ask questions or get involved in conversations with people before just sending out pitches.”

Taylor said she has seen plenty of business coaches and similar entrepreneurs using these cross promotion methods effectively.

You might connect with someone to host a webinar, contribute to an ebook or host a Twitter chat. Any of those methods can help get your brand in front of some new faces.

PARTNER WITH OTHERS AND CROSS-PROMOTE

Annie Pilon Staff writer @AnnieHP

You’ve worked hard at building up a network of loyal customers. And others in your industry have done the same.

LinkedIn Advanced Search Haven’t discovered the advanced way to find opportunities and prospects yet?

Explore Now 29

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SPOTLIGHT

SkyPlanner Creates Salesforce Customization This month’s Small Business Spotlight is on a company that has built a business out of helping other businesses use Salesforce, the mega sales app.

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WHAT THE BUSINESS DOES

alesforce is one of the most popular CRM services for businesses of all sizes.

But just as businesses vary in basically every aspect, the way they use Salesforce can also be very different. To really make the most of the platform, consulting companies like SkyPlanner provide expertise.

Salesforce customization and consulting services.

Rene R. Garcia, managing director and co-founder of SkyPlanner explains: “Our customers come to us with a common need: a CRM with which to better organize, track and generally run their businesses. We work with them to analyze their business processes to discover how to best adapt Salesforce’s native capabilities to their needs. Once our projects are completed,

The company, which is a small business itself, understands the needs of different businesses and works with them to come up with an effective use of the platform.

Read more about the company in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

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www.nextiva.com

Call us now

(800) 799-0600 24 hours support

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SPOTLIGHT

“Our customers come to us with a common need: a CRM with which to better organize, track and generally run their businesses.” our customers have a unique system of Salesforce applications augmented with various coding languages and integration with third party apps, and which can also accessed on mobile devices.”

“Jumping on this opportunity the three founded SkyPlanner with the goal of filling this void by providing the best possible service for customers while maintaining a high level of integrity and transparency.”

BUSINESS NICHE

BIGGEST WIN

Having in-house Salesforce certified talent.

Partnering with LifeConEx.

Garcia says:

SkyPlanner formed a partnership with the company to revamp its cold-chain shipping logistics system LifeTrack in 2011. And the partnership has had a ripple effect for the business. Garcia explains:

“We are able to do all of our work at our offices in Miami or our satellite office in Colombia, so we don’t have to outsource or subcontract any work to third-party providers. This ability to do things in-house allows for quicker turnaround of projects, immediate resolution of pressing emergencies (not that there’s many of them), and a heightened level of transparency with our customers.”

“The partnership with LifeConEx gave SkyPlanner the credibility and cache it needed to win new clients.”

BIGGEST RISK Breaking away from a partnership with another consulting company.

HOW THE BUSINESS GOT STARTED Because of a void in the market.

Garcia says:

Garcia and his fellow founders all understood the great value that Salesforce offered businesses, but noticed a lack of Salesfoce consultants in the South Florida area. He says:

“The other firm handled marketing and sales and outsourced their development needs to SkyPlanner. Eventually, we decided to part ways despite our then relative inexperience in marketing and sales so that we could claim our successful development solutions under the SkyPlanner name, knowing the quality of the end-products would help us through the growing pains.”

HOW THEY’D SPEND AN EXTRA $100,000 Taking care of employees and expanding.

Garcia says: “We would start by increasing the salaries 32

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IF THE BUSINESS WERE A BOOK

and benefits for current employees, who are by far the greatest asset at SkyPlanner. The remaining money would be used to move into a bigger office to facilitate expansion as we continue hiring more expert developers to tackle the challenges of our continually expanding roster of clients.”

“The Three Musketeers,” by Alexandre Dumas.

Garcia explains: “Much like the title characters in the French classic the three friends who founded SkyPlanner have always been bound by similar values and attributes: friendship, ambition and loyalty with just a little splash of cockiness and pomp. Even though we’d have to rework the title to be The 18 Musketeers now, the culture of our company hasn’t changed much.”

FAVORITE TEAM ACTIVITY Cultural Fridays.

Garcia explains: “The last Friday of every month is Cultural Friday at SkyPlanner. The team goes to lunch together (as we do everyFriday) but instead of returning to the office the team takes a break from work and engages in a fun teambuilding activity. Past activities have included go-kart racing, laser tag, and a speedboat tour of Miami.”

Annie Pilon Staff writer @AnnieHP

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APP CENTER

9 Sales Apps to Help Small Businesses Sell Better Being successful at sales depends on getting the right leads and managing them properly. Doing this has become easier with today's software applications.

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CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) SOLUTIONS

othing describes selling today better than that old standby phrase, “Knowledge is power.”

Since we’re talking about customer and prospect data here, it’s no surprise that we’re focusing on CRM solutions first because, well, that’s where most of the data you’ve collected on your customers and prospects lives.

That’s because the best way for small businesses to sell better is to get to know their prospects and customers better.

It’s almost like you need to know what those prospects and customers want and when they want it before they do. You don’t need to be psychic to do this, however. All you have to do is mine your customer and prospect data, both historical and real-time.

This is a huge category so we’ve narrowed our list down to the two types of CRM solutions that help small businesses sell better: Sales-Focused CRMs and Social CRMs.

Unfortunately, thanks to the sheer number of data points including emails, social media updates, transactions and hundreds of other behavioral touch points, just managing your customer data — let alone leveraging it — can quickly become an overwhelming task.

Sales-Focused CRMs

These CRM solutions were designed around the sales process. Combining basic CRM features with selling know-how, they’ll help you streamline your sales pipeline by enabling you to focus on the customers and prospects that are most likely to buy right now.

Luckily, there are many fine solutions available to help you navigate and leverage this deluge of customer data successfully. We’ve gathered a list of some of the best sales apps below so get your sales hat on and take a look.

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Note: all of the solutions in this section offer integration with many of the popular tools and solutions in use today. So even if |

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you don’t need a new CRM, you can take advantage of the sales process features and functionality found within these solutions.

The area where both tools shine most is in the way they consolidate customer information from many sources into one spot. We’re talking email and social media as well as the more traditional CRM capability to capture your notes and reminders for each contact.

In addition, each solution offers mobile sales apps so you can use them on the go.

Pipedrive

After all, how can you leverage data from your prospects and customers if you can’t collect it?

Pipedrive is a CRM with a laser focus on sales. Every feature aims to help you stay on top of your sales process -- from the sales pipeline view to sales timelines that tell you which deals to focus on that month. It includes robust sales reporting and easy integration with your email system via a blind BCC.

Nimble

Nimble automatically collects every one of your prospect’s emails and social media updates (from many, many platforms) in one spot and then, using its own rules engine, it learns what’s important to you so you can cut through the noise and get right to the heart of what your prospects and customers are looking for.

PipelineDeals

PipelineDeals is a robust CRM that offers a lot under the hood including sales automation, team collaboration and lots of reporting. One of its handier features is an API that enables you to collect leads from your website in real-time.

Once you discover an opportunity it can be managed using the deals dashboard.

Batchbook

Batchbook collects both email and tweets from your prospects to give you a big picture view of what’s on their mind. When it comes to selling, they offer a sales pipeline view that helps you manage potential deals.

Pipeliner

Pipeliner focuses on the sales process end-to-end from high-level sales stages to the low-level sales activities required to advance to the next stage.

Pipeliner differs from the other two solutions in this section because it offers you the ability to work offline on both your desktop/laptop computer as well as your mobile devices.

Once you reconnect, your data is synched up to the cloud.

SALES AND MARKETING AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS Once you’ve collected and mined the data from your customers, the next logical step is to act on what you’ve discovered.

Like data collection, this can become a very time-consuming task that quickly eats away at your schedule. However, taking action is required to close sales so how can you act while also protecting your precious time?

Social CRM Systems

While the two solutions listed below do offer tools to help small businesses sell better, their strong, often automatic (goodbye data entry!), customer data gathering capabilities are what earned them a spot on our list.

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You guessed it — automation. The apps listed below will help you automate many |

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APP CENTER

Applications and online tools are simplifying CRM Contactually

parts of your sales process based on triggers that are driven by the data mined from your customer relationship management system. In fact, they can even serve as a CRM, too.

Contactually focuses on keeping the relationships with your contacts alive. Offering automation, sales process management and the usual bevy of reports, the solution is smaller in scale than the previous two yet more focused for that.

The only downside to these solutions is their price — they’ll cost you more than the solutions we’ve covered so far. However, when it comes to automating your sales process, paying a bit more is often worth the expense.

CONNECTING IT ALL

Infusionsoft

Zapier

Standout features include the intuitive dragand-drop campaign system for automating tasks based on many types of triggers, both on site and off. Also, there's the ability to score your leads based on their behavior -- the higher the score, the stronger the lead.

CONCLUSION

Infusionsoft is an all-in-one sales and marketing solution. From prospect management to in-depth automation and ecommerce capabilities, this is a very robust offering.

Sometimes you can’t find everything you need in one app or solution. That’s where Zapier comes in. Using “Zaps” you can automate the connections between solutions. For example, Zapier can automatically add a new Twitter follower to Pipedrive’s “New Activity” stream.

While the sales apps above may not show you the future, they will help you discover which prospects and customers you should focus your sales efforts on first, and when.

HubSpot

Another all-in-one sales and marketing solution, HubSpot's strength is inbound marketing using content. Like Infusionsoft, it offers robust automation and with its free HubSpot CRM, it offers leads management as well.

That knowledge is truly the key to helping your small business sell better.

Matt Mansfield

Columnist and Tech Editor @MattSMansfield

HubSpot differs from Infusionsoft in that it can host many of your website's pages. This leads to some super useful features such as alerts that trigger based on a lead's action on your site.

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BOOKSHELF

The Best Sales Books for Small Business Owners in 2015 Our book editors have hand picked 11 of the latest sales books for small business owners to profit from.

I

f you think that being successful in sales means convincing unsuspecting prospects to buy something they don’t want or need, you’re wrong. You’ll be happy to hear that the world of sales is so round that it’s gone through a full-scale revolution.

dozens of business owners. Also shared are hundreds of conversations with experts. The book provides the “boiled down essentials” through a series of strategies and tactics that are listed out as simple tips and to-dos.

Gone are the days of perceived pushing, cajoling, and arm twisting. Today, sales are about relationship, service, and support.

Selling Value: Key Principles of ValueBased Selling

Here is the official Small Business Trends list of the best small business sales books for 2015. They reflect a new approach to sales and support.

by Don Hutson

The number one reason sales people fail is because they failed to optimize their time and their efforts. Not understanding how their prospects define value is also a problem. In “Selling Value,” Don Hutson will show you how to organize yourself and your business around a successful process that closes sales. What sets this book apart from others is its focus on treating the salesperson like a small business.

Don’t worry. It’s not all soft stuff. This list includes every perspective on the sales process. From local business, to corporations, and even using data and processes: it’s all here.

The list ends with a book on customer service that will complete your journey into the new and improved world of sales.

Sell Local Think Global: 50 Innovative Ways to Make a Chunk of Change and Grow Your Business

The Complete Guide to Professional Networking: The Secrets of Online and Offline Success

by Olga Mizrahi

by Simon Phillips, Simon Ellinas

A practical book written specifically for main street businesses, Mizrahi combines advice from 39

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and

illustrated

by

This is directed towards anyone who wants to understand the true value of networking, |

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BOOKSHELF

The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million

and the variety of methods to build a strong network.

This is a great book for small business owners who use referrals as a marketing strategy and are looking to leverage social media tools to turbo charge their networking.

by Mark Roberge

Do you think that sales is a right brained activity? You’re in for a surprise if you do.

Mark Roberge, an MIT grad and Chief Revenue Officer for HubSpot will open your eyes and your mind to the transformative power that data and a solid process can add to your sales generation efforts. He provides a formula for everything from hiring sales people, to managing them, motivating them and developing sales leadership. An ideal read for the analytical business owner.

The Miracle Morning for Salespeople: The Fastest Way to Take Your SELF and Your SALES to the Next Level

by Hal Elrod, Ryan Snow, Honoree Corder

“If you want to take your sales to the next level, you have to take your SELF to the next level, and in that order.” So says Hal Elrod, one of the authors of “Miracle Morning." And it all starts with getting up earlier. Of course, there is more to becoming a stellar sales person than that and the authors cover all of it. This is a creative and transformative sales book for today's professional salespeople AND entrepreneurs.

The Ultimate Sales Revolution: Sell Differently. Change The World Hardcover

by Steve Lishansky

Anyone who has seen or read “Death of a Salesman” or “Glengarry Glen Ross” might

smallbiztrends.com SALES

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have the impression that the job of a sales person is to push, persuade and convince a reluctant prospect to buy something they don’t want or need. Get over that! These days sales is a relationship business. “The Ultimate Sales Revolution” shows you how to how to become an indispensable partner in your client’s success. You’ll discover the three sources of miscommunication and shift your thinking from yourself and your goals to those of your customer.

Unlock The Sales Game: New TrustBased Selling Strategies To Finally Create Your Sales Breakthrough

by Ari Galper

If you don’t like selling or always feel like you’re trying to push someone into buying something you think they don’t want or need.

This is a book worth reading. Galper shows you how to use your personal strengths and be yourself in the sales process so that it literally becomes enjoyable!

Predictable Corporate Sales: Demystify, Take Control, and Consistently Win Corporate Sales without Cold-Calling, Referrals, or Losing Your Mind

by Duane Glader

If you’ve set a goal to sell to larger enterprise organizations and aren’t sure where to begin, or if you’ve been spinning your wheels inside the maze of corporations unable to identify the decision maker or get them to sit down to a meeting, this is the book for you. Duane Glader has more than forty years of experience selling to corporations and he shares all of his hard earned lessons here.

Get to know the new Office.

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BOOKSHELF

Agile Selling: Get Up to Speed Quickly in Today’s EverChanging Sales World

philosophy is that you should never have to guess what people want. You should know exactly what they want. Not what they think they want, but what they are hungry for. “Ask” is a detailed look at Leveque’s process. You’ll get both Levesque’s personal story as well as a detailed methodology for putting this same process to work in your business.

by Jill Konrath

This latest book from Jill Konrath digs deeper into what goes into developing a successful salesperson; beyond selling skills, organizational skills and being able to get that meeting with a crazy-busy business owner. After some reflection, Konrath realized that there is a hidden skill that may overshadow the rest — the ability to learn quickly and synthesize new information and figure out what’s going on quickly. This book is ideal for new salespeople who haven’t quite figured out how to succeed, experienced salespeople who have a new position in a new company and/or a new industry and entrepreneurs who find themselves having a difficult time getting new customers.

Customer Service the Sandler Way: 48 Rules for Strategic Customer Care

by Anne MacKeigan

Do you have a hard time keeping the customers you’ve worked so hard to gain? Take a look at your customer service process.

Satisfied customers are loyal and loyal customers are profitable.

“Customer Service The Sandler Way” takes a systematic look at your customer service process and provides 48 easy to follow rules and ideas to engage your customer service team and deliver happy return customers.

Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Formula to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy…Create a Mass of Raving Fans…and Take Any Business to the Next Level

If you’ve been avoiding the sales conversation because you think sales is a slimy business and you don’t want to force anyone into buying anything, this list of some of the best sales books will have you loving sales and looking forward to your next opportunity to build profitable relationships.

Ivana Taylor

Book Editor @DIYMarketers

by Ryan Levesque

Author Ryan Levesque is best known for his survey-based sales funnel system. His 42

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INTERVIEW

What Matters in Sales Today?

Being Likeable, Having a Big Social Network, and Using Technology.

J

.P. Werlin, CEO of PipelineDeals. com, says being likeable and having a big social network can make all the difference today in sales. And technology is essential as an enabler for sales reps to be as productive as possible.

technology. Those three things I find are super critical in today’s sales environment.

People do business with people they like. And so being congenial, being polite, being approachable is a core attribute of any sales hire.

Werlin co-founded PipelineDeals, a sales productivity app for small and medium sized businesses, in a spare bedroom in 2006. The business now has almost 4,000 companies as customers and in late 2014 secured Series A funding.

I think likeability can now be amplified by technology, and a person selling in today’s market can accelerate and be more effective and win market share if they are enabled by technology.

Also, for sales people it almost doesn’t matter what they are selling, if their network is powerful enough. I try to evaluate folks on how big and powerful their networks are.

And how deep those relationships are within their network.

He shared tips and insights about sales in a recent interview.

ON THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN SALES: The sales technology tools on the market today are all about making the sales person on the front lines informed. Informed about your industry, your vertical, and your customer.

ON HOW SALES TECHNOLOGY AIDS TIME PRIORITIZATION: You wake up in the morning and you say ‘What am I going to do today to be the best sales person I can be?’. Because it’s a competitive market. As a quota bearing salesperson, or as a leader of a company, as a CEO or sales manager it’s about [how to leverage technology and the insights gleaned through that] to prioritize my time to make it as revenue producing and hopefully profit producing for the company as possible.

And when folks are deciding how to spend their day, if they can do so in an informed and intelligent way ... the sales person of today can do what ten years ago it would take two or three of those salespeople to do.

On an individual level, a team level or a company level, knowing what activities are helping you close deals faster is critical in today’s environment because if you’re not doing it your competition is.

ON HIRING SALESPEOPLE:

Brent Leary

Partner, CRM Essentials @BrentLeary

As you think about hiring salespeople, I would look at likeability, I would look at their network, and are they comfortable with using 43

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