The Selling Secret No One Tells You
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What’s the biggest bottleneck every business owner and sales person faces to selling more? What is it that is keeping you from doubling your sales next month or tripling them this year?
What’s the most common mistake that prevents 97% of business owners and sales people from becoming a huge success and living the life they want? What’s the one thing keeping you from pulling in more sales even in a tough economy?
For most marketers and sales people, the problem isn’t due to lack of hard work or the quality of your product and services. You’re already working 60-hour weeks and your current clients love you.
The bottleneck to your growth is being able to attract a steady stream of new business and keep existing clients buying again and again. No matter how hard you work or how good your products and services are, without a steady stream of new prospects and sales, you can’t grow your business.
The Secret You Need to KnowEvery savvy sales person and business owner knows that to grow their business they need to market it. You know that you need to generate leads, advertise, use mailings, and you may even already have a website. But these are just individual pieces of the marketing and selling puzzle.
The secret that no one tells you is how to put this marketing and selling puzzle together so it works to steadily grow your income and business. And without this knowledge, you can easily bleed your bank account dry. What’s the solution? How can you make more with less effort?
To grow your business, to build wealth, you need a proven marketing and sales system to succeed. I’m always amazed at how many business owners and sales people constantly try to attract new business without one.
You could be making ten times as much with a lot less effort.
Discover the fastest way to ramp up sales and profits.
With a proven system for getting prospects’ attention, generating leads, converting leads to clients, maximizing sales, and generating repeat sales, you can easily double or triple your sales and have time to take a well-deserved vacation.
A System That DeliversNew York City has a system for catching rain in upstate reservoirs and then piping it to residents in the city. The only problem is that the delivery pipes are so antiquated that 10-15% of the water leaks out along the way before it gets to the tap.
Most business owners and sales people’s marketing and sales processes leak prospects at a much higher rate. Of all the people who view your marketing and sales materials, what percent contact you and buy from you?
Most sales and marketing systems are so leaky, they only deliver a fraction of a percent of the prospects they should. Such an inefficient system is both costly and requires a lot of time in maintenance.
Now imagine you had a proven marketing and selling system one that you could put on autopilot to generate a steady stream of leads, sales and profits. You would make at least double what you are now if not ten times as much.
To help you plug the leaks in your sales and marketing, and realize the profits you’ve targeted, you’ll need a proven wealth building system. For many people, this simple system has quickly generated more business in a month than most people do in a year.
Your Growth SystemThanks to wealth-building expert Charlie Cook, it’s easier than ever to maximize the profits from your existing business by using this complete money-making system. It gives you a proven system that delivers new leads and clients each month.
I’ve persuaded my colleague, Charlie Cook, to offer his proven money-making system practically for free for you to review. It’s an exclusive to my readers if you take action today to request your copy.
It is the most effective business building system I’ve ever seen and Charlie Cook is offering Brian Tracy subscribers an exclusive risk-free, 30-day test drive for only $2.95.
Want to discover how much more you and your business could be making? I negotiated this exclusive offer for Brian Tracy readers and I highly recommend you take action today to be more successful. You can put this proven sales and marketing system to use within days and start to increase your profits.
Remember, if you don’t take action today to increase sales grow your business and be more successful, who will? Smart people like you recognize a great deal when they see one. Then they move forward to improve themselves and their business. Here’s how…
Learn how to generate a steady stream of new and qualified prospects at our upcoming Selling like a Pro Training Workshops!
As seen in Australian Business Solutions Magazine, Mark Garbelotto will be travelling throughout Australia in March and April to show business owners and salespeople the secrets to selling faster and easier in tough markets!
Call 1300 795 129 to secure your seat for just $97.
Pump Up Your Profits In 2010!
There is a truism that 50 percent of advertising is wasted, but no one ever knows for sure which 50 percent it is. As a result, advertising budgets always seem higher than necessary. This problem persists in many areas of business today. Money is being wasted, but no one is exactly sure where and how it is happening.
Low Profits or No Profits
Many companies today are earning low profits or no profits because their costs of doing business are not coordinated with their sales. Many products and services are priced by people who are completely unaware of the real costs involved in bringing these products or services to the market. These mistakes in pricing are then buried in the overall operations and general revenues of the business.
Conduct a Profit Analysis on Every Product
One of the most important parts of the Turbo strategy process is for you to conduct a complete profit analysis on each product or service you sell. Very few companies have ever done this. But when you begin applying profit analysis in your company, you can often increase your profits dramatically.
High-Volume vs. High Profit Customers
As you examine these numbers, you will find that, in many cases, your biggest customers are not your most profitable customers, and your biggest selling products or services are not your most profitable ones either. You may find that your costs of doing business with some customers and with some products are so high that it is hardly worth the investment of people are resources. This can only be determined by taking a hard look at the numbers.
You need to be your own turnaround specialist all the time, and most especially when business slows for any reason. To pump up your profits, you do a complete profit analysis on your business and move immediately to focus the energies of the company on those areas that represent the very best sources of net cash. This process requires that you continually analyze your business so that you know exactly the profitability of every product or service you sell in comparison with every other product or service you sell, right down to the penny. From Most to Least Profitable
The fact is that with a little effort, every single product or service can be organized on a scale from the most profitable to the least profitable, both on a per item or per hour basis, and in net dollar amounts. There is always one that is more profitable than any other. Determine Profitability
You begin your profit analysis by determining the exact gross sales revenues that you receive from a product or service after all subtractions for defects, returns, breakage, loss, wastage, and bad debts. Take every single deduction so that your gross dollar amount is completely accurate, and you are crystal-clear about the exact amount you are netting from sales. Face the Bitter Truth
You will probably find that fully half of your product and service offerings are generating very little profit or even causing you to lose money with every sale. A turnaround specialist would immediately either raise the prices of the low-profit items or discontinue them altogether. You must do the same. Action Exercise
Do a complete profit analysis on every product and service you offer. Rank them from highest to lowest.
Maximise Profits
November 13, 2009
Maximize Profits
By Brian Tracy
Sales are only one barometer for success. Your ultimate goal is to increase profits in order to achieve the greatest possible return on your investment of money, time, and energy. Every customer, activity, product, or service yields a specific profit of a specific amount. In some cases, you may actually be losing money in one or more of these three areas. One of the most important things you can do for your growing business is to determine where to focus the investment of your time and money based on the return thrown off by this investment.
Personal Profitability
To truly analyze the profitability of your business, you must first examine your personal rate of return. From this personal perspective, what is your major expense? It’s your time. By now, you should have developed the habit of continually asking yourself this basic question: Would I pay someone else my hourly rate to perform this task? If not, you are failing to maximize the return on your time. In other words, you are investing your time in an area that yields less than the optimum rate of return. You are incurring a "loss of opportunity" cost. This, in turn, affects the overall profitability of your business.
People Profitability
Payroll represents one of the largest expense items for most businesses. As a business grows, it typically hires additional staff according to the most pressing need at the moment. Once a person has been hired, often she or he can become a permanent fixture, even when the company’s needs change. Many entrepreneurs are too busy creating products, designing services, and generating revenues to pay close attention to employee performance. Over time, the result can be an inefficient and ineffective staff and a bloated payroll.
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Do you want to learn how to maximise your profits and increase your sales? Come to Mark Garbelotto’s Selling like a Professional Training Workshop in November!
Customer Profitability
Some customers are more profitable than others; some may actually be costing you money. Can you identify your most profitable customers? Do you know any who are unprofitable? There is not necessarily any connection between the size of the customer or the volume of business he produces and his profitability. There are several questions you should ask as you examine your customers profitability: How often does each customer purchase from you? What is the average size of each purchase? What is the profit margin of the product(s) purchased? How much time is spent providing customer service after the sale? What is the "product returns" record of each customer?
Concentrate on Profitable Customers
Many companies regularly “fire” the top 10 percent of their customers. They stop doing business with those who generate the least revenues or yield the lowest on their return purchases, choosing to concentrate on their more profitable customers and attracting more like them. At the very least, be diligent in rooting out those customers who actually cost you money—regardless of the revenues they generate. You cannot afford to carry this unprofitable load.
Action Exercise
Identify your most and your least profitable customers. Focus on the most profitable.
Learn how to identify your most profitable customers and generate business through Brian Tracy’s proven sales system. Don’t miss out on the Selling like a Professional Training Workshop in Melbourne and Townsville in November!
Call our office on 1300 795 129 to register before this event sells out!
Delegating and Supervising: Five Steps
By Brian Tracy
The ability to delegate is one of the key result areas of management. Fortunately, it is a skill that can be learned with practice. Delegation is an art as well as a science. Effective delegation requires time, thought, and careful consideration. It is something that you must learn to do if you want to leverage yourself to the maximum.
Step One
The first step in delegation is to become perfectly clear about the results that you desire from the job. The greater clarity you have with regard to the results expected, the easier it is for you to select the right person to do the job.
Step Two
The second step is to select a person based on his or her demonstrated ability or success at doing this job. Never delegate an important job to a person who has never done it before. If the successful completion of the task is important to the success of your business, it is essential that you delegate it to someone who you confidently believe can complete the task satisfactorily.
Third, explain to the person exactly what you want done, the results that you expect, the time schedule that you require, and your preferred method of working. The reason that you are in a position to delegate a task is because you have probably already mastered this task. Taking the time to teach and explain the best way to do the task based on your experience is an excellent way to ensure that the task will be done as you wish and on schedule. Step Four
Step four is to set up a schedule for reporting on progress. If it is an important task, set up a deadline for completion that is a day or a week before your actual deadline. Always build some slack into the system. Then, check on the progress of the task regularly, very much like a doctor would check on the condition of a critical care patient. Leave nothing to chance. Step Five
Step five, inspect what you expect. Delegation is not abdication. Just because you have assigned a task to another person does not mean that you are no longer accountable. And the more important the task, the more important it is that you keep on top of it. Action Exercise
What task can you effectively delegate to someone else? Which one of your employees can handle the task efficiently?
Persist Until You Succeed.
By Brian Tracy
The most important single quality of success is self-discipline. Self-discipline is having the ability within yourself, based on your strength of character and willpower, to do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. Character is the ability to follow through on a resolution after the enthusiasm with which the resolution was made has passed.
Persistence is Self-Discipline in Action
Perhaps the greatest display of self-discipline is persisting when the going gets tough. Persistence is self-discipline in action. Persistence is the great measure of individual human character. Your persistence is, in fact, the true measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed. Each time that you persist in the face of adversity and disappointment, you build the habit of persistence. You build pride, power, and self-esteem in your character and your personality. You become stronger and more resolute. By persisting, you become more self-disciplined. You develop within yourself the iron quality of success, the one quality that will carry you forward and over any obstacle that life can throw in your path.
Get Going and Keep Going
Orison Swett Marden wrote in his book, “There are two essential requirements for success. The first is ‘go-at-it-iveness’ and the second is ‘stick-to-it-iveness’” Referring to the quality of persistence he wrote, “There is no failure for the man who realizes his power, who never knows when he is beaten; there is no failure for the determined endeavor, the conquerable will. There is no failure for the man who gets up every time he falls, who rebounds like a rubber ball, who persists when everyone else gives up, who pushes on when everyone else turns back.”
Perhaps your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay at a task longer than anyone else. B.C. Forbes, who founded Forbes magazine and built it into a major publication during the darkest days of the Depression, wrote, “History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeat.”
Adversity is What Tests UsThroughout history, great thinkers have reflected on this paradox and have concluded that adversity is the test that you must pass on the path to accomplishing anything worthwhile. Herodotus, the Greek philosopher, said, “Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have lain dormant in its absence.” The very best qualities of strength, courage, character, and persistence are brought out in you when you face your greatest challenges and when you respond to them positively and constructively.
Action ExerciseYour greatest successes almost invariably come one step beyond your greatest failures, when everything inside you says quit. Think of failures in terms of how you can make them successes.
The Millionaires Program.
By Brian Tracy
Your most valuable asset is your mind. It is your ability to think, to question, to analyze and then to decide and take action. Each lesson will give key ideas and exercises that will help you to make better decisions and get better results. Your job is to take action on these decisions once you have made them.
Getting Into The Game
Let’s begin with the basics. Whether you are already operating a business, or you have just decided to start a new business, you must continually evaluate your current situation. Even if you are currently selling a product or service, you must recognize and accept that 80% or more of your products or services will be new or different in five years. As an exercise, imagine that you were starting over today. Is there anything that you are doing that, knowing what you now know, you wouldn’t get into again today? Imagine that you have no limitations of time, money, experience or resources. If you could do or be anything in your business life, what would you choose?
Start With Yourself
Begin with your own talents, your own abilities, your experience, knowledge, interest, background, education and so on. Look carefully at your current work, your current business, your current position, or your current product or service. Look within your own life and work, under your own feet, for your own "acres of diamonds." What qualities do you have that account for your greatest success in life so far? What personal skills and abilities have gotten you to where you are today? How could you apply those same skills and abilities to starting and building a new business?
Many fortunes begin when an individual sees a customer need that is not being satisfied and which their current company has no interest or desire in satisfying. Sometimes this idea comes as the result of customer inquiries or complaints. Often, the individual decides that he will start a new business, sometimes on the side, to give these customers what they are asking for. Sometimes there is a great business opportunity staring you in the face, right where you are today. What could it be? What Can You Improve Upon?
Look for something that is an improvement on an existing product or service rather than something brand new. Look for something that is cheaper or of better quality. Look for something that has additional features or functions that current products don’t offer. Look for something that is better in some way in comparison to something that people are already buying and using. Improving an existing successful product or service is the fastest and surest way to build a successful business. An idea only needs to be 10% newer and better to capture substantial market share. What Can You Get Excited About?
Look for a product or service about which you can really become enthusiastic. Sometimes people become wealthy by translating or transforming their hobbies into a business. You will always be most successful doing something or marketing something that you really love and care about. Every product or service, and business, must have a champion. Action Exercise
Make a list of your passions in life, then go down that list and look for something you may be able to turn into a profitable business.
Single Handle Every Task
By: Brian Tracy
Eat that frog! Every bit of planning, prioritizing and organizing comes down to this simple concept.
Your ability to select your most important task, to begin it and then to concentrate on it single mindedly until it is complete is the key to high levels of performance and personal productivity.
The Requirement for Every Great Achievement
Every great achievement of mankind has been preceded by a long period of hard, concentrated work until the job was done. Single handling requires that once you begin, you keep working at the task, without diversion or distraction, until the job is 100% complete. You keep urging yourself onward by repeating the words "Back to work!" over and over whenever you are tempted to stop or do something else.
Reduce Your Time By 50%
By concentrating single mindedly on your most important task, you can reduce the time required to complete it by 50% or more.
It has been estimated that the tendency to start and stop a task, to pick it up, put it down and come back to it can increase the time necessary to complete the task by as much as 500%.
Each time you return to the task, you have to familiarize yourself with where you were when you stopped and what you still have to do. You have to overcome inertia and get yourself going again. You have to develop momentum and get into a productive work rhythm.
But when you prepare thoroughly and then begin, refusing to stop or turn aside until the job is done, you develop energy, enthusiasm and motivation. You get better and better and more productive. You work faster and more effectively. Never Waste Time
The truth is that once you have decided on your number one task, anything else that you do other than that is a relative waste of time. Any other activity is just not as valuable or as important as this job, based on your own priorities. Action Exercises
Eat That Frog! Take action! Resolve today to select the most important task or project that you could complete and then launch into it immediately.
Once you start your most important task, discipline yourself to persevere without diversion or distraction until it is 100% complete. See it as a "test" to determine whether you are the kind of person who can make a decision to complete something and then carry it out. Once you begin, refuse to stop until the job is finished.
Fortune Favours the Brave…
By: Brian Tracy
Boldness is a necessary part of courage but it must be a boldness based on an intelligent assessment of the potential risks and rewards. The wonderful nature of boldness is that, properly directed, it builds the habit of courage in the person who practices it.
Act Boldly in Every Situation
In my experience, any virtue translated into action leads almost invariably to positive results. This applies to integrity, persistence, courtesy, love and courage. I’ve always liked the advice of an old man to his grandson. "Act boldly and unseen forces will come to your aid."
Take a Leap of Faith
Perhaps the most obviously important part of courage is the courage to step out in the face of uncertainty. Every great venture in the history of man has begun with faith and a giant leap into the unknown.
General Douglas MacArthur said, "There is no security in life, only opportunity." The creed of Frederick The Great, one of history’s most successful leaders was, "Audacity, audacity-always audacity."
A 12-year study of successful entrepreneurs conducted by Babson College concluded that the only thing they had in common was the willingness to launch, to step out in faith. Once they had started, they learned the lessons they needed to succeed. Many of them ending up successful in completely different businesses from where they started. Dare to Go Forward
Dare to go forward. Successful companies are invariably those that continue to research, develop, experiment and introduce new products and services – even during the deepest recessions. Successful executives are those who are continually stretching themselves to move out of the comfort zone, to face the twin fears of failure and rejection and to move forward in spite of them. Action Exercises
Here are two ways to develop greater boldness in your work and personal life.
First, just do it! Step out in faith! If you think of some action you can take to improve your life, give it a try. You may be surprised.
Second, when in doubt, act with audacity. Audacity may get you into trouble but even more audacity will get you out. Go for it!
Saving Time When Dealing with Others.
By Brian Tracy
Your interactions with others consume as much time, if not more, than any other part of your day. Even technical workers spend up to 75 percent of their time communicating with co-workers. You can greatly increase the efficiency of your interactions by improving the quality of your communications.
Common Misunderstandings
A major waste of time is caused by misunderstandings between people about roles, goals, and responsibilities. People do not know what they are expected to do, how to do it, and by what time.
Misunderstandings lead to inefficiencies, anger, frustration, and unhappiness. It often requires an enormous amount of time to clear up a misunderstanding and get matters back to normal.
Unclear Priorities
Misunderstandings about priorities often lead to your working at the wrong job, at the wrong time, for the wrong reason, and perhaps aiming at the wrong level of quality. Or the problem may be that you are working for the wrong person.
The single most important cause of positive feelings and high levels of motivation in work is defined as "knowing exactly what is expected." On the other hand, the number-one complaint, or de-motivator, of employees is to "not know what is expected."
In order to perform at your best, you need absolute clarity about your job and what you are expected to do.
Poor Delegation
Poor delegation to others, or from others, leads to mistakes and frustration on the part of both the boss and the employee. It is a major time waster. Poor delegation causes even the most sincere talented people to do poor work or the wrong jobs. Therefore, they end up feeling frustrated and unhappy.
Unclear lines of authority and responsibility lead to time wastage. People do not know who is supposed to do what job, when is it be done, and to what standard of quality. People are left to wonder, who is supposed to report to whom? Who’s in charge? Who’s the boss? Incomplete Information
Another major time waster in business is poor or incomplete information, which leads to erroneous assumptions and conclusions. It is amazing how often people jump to conclusions or make false assumptions on the basis of wrong information.
The very best managers take the time to ask questions, and they listen carefully to the answers before they make a decision. If there is a key piece of information that suggests a problem or difficulty, they double-check on this piece of information to make sure that it is accurate.
Aimless or Too Frequent MeetingsToo many meetings, or aimless meetings that proceed without an agenda, direction, or closure, are an enormous waste of time at work. These are meetings that start and stop without any particular resolution. No problems are solved, no decisions are made, and no responsibilities are assigned. No deadlines are agreed upon for action. Lack of Clarity Concerning One’s Job
People need to know everything that is happening in the company that affects their particular jobs. The very best companies are open and honest with all employees concerning those matters affecting the health of the company.
Employees need to know what is going on and how their jobs fit into the big picture. When employees are unclear or unsure, an enormous amount of time is lost as the result of conversations, discussions, and gossip, which lead to ineffective work behaviours and poor productivity.
Action ExerciseBe crystal-clear in explaining to others exactly what is to be done, and to what standard of performance, and by what date.
Create Your Daily Personal Growth and Development Activity Schedule…
By Brian Tracy
There are seven disciplines you must develop if you want to achieve all that is possible for you. You can learn these disciplines through practice and repetition until they become automatic.
Goal Setting
Every morning, take three to five minutes to write out your top goals in the present tense. Get a spiral notebook for this purpose. By writing out your ten goals at the beginning of each day, you will program them deep into your subconscious mind.
This daily goal writing will activate your mental powers. It will stimulate your mind and make you more alert. Throughout the day, you will see opportunities and possibilities to move more rapidly toward your goals.
Planning and Organizing
Take a few minutes, preferably the night before, to plan out every activity of the coming day. Always work from a list. Always think on paper. This is one of the most powerful and important disciplines of all for high performance.
Concentration on your Highest-Value Activities
Your ability to work single-mindedly on your most important task will contribute as much to your success as any other discipline you can develop.
Your health is more important than anything else. By disciplining yourself to exercise regularly and to eat carefully, you will promote the highest possible levels of health and fitness throughout your life. Learning and Growth
Your mind is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field. Time for Important People in Your Life
Relationships are everything. Be sure that in climbing the ladder of success, you do not find it leaning against the wrong building. Build time for your relationships into every day, no matter how busy you get. Action Exercise
These seven disciplines will ensure that you perform at the highest level and get the greatest satisfaction and results from everything you do. Study these seven disciplines and then make a plan for how you can incorporate each of them into your daily life.
