Tips & Tricks Online

“I need more clients!” wails Steve, a 32 year old Boston-based financial planner, echoing a familiar refrain. Poised and well spoken, Steve is after the same high net worth individual as others in his field. How can he rise above his competition?

One of the more innovative yet inexpensive ways of building buzz for your business is to consider inviting members of your target audience to a complimentary talk. For example, Steve could invite people to his nicely furnished office for a brief talk on financial planning, and follow up with complimentary consultations.

To Steve’s delight, the idea worked.

Why is public speaking such a great promotional tool?

First, it reinforces the perception that you are an expert in your field. Second, advance notice of your speaking engagement brings you free publicity as hundreds of potential clients will see your name and picture on postcards, glossy conference brochures, in the newspaper, and on the Internet.

Many professionals speak for the publicity alone. Diane Darling, CEO of Effective Networking, Inc. and the author of The Networking Survival Guide, likes to speak at the Los Angeles Learning Annex because her picture, company name, and the cover of her book jacket goes out to a mailing list of 100,000 and offered free in hundreds of locations around the city. “It’s the best form of free advertising you can get,” she says.

Public speaking is also valuable in terms of creating top of the mind awareness of your services among existing clients and colleagues, helping generate referrals and further establish you as the expert of choice.

Speaking to Generate and Refine Book Ideas

Attracting clients is just one reason to consider public speaking.

If you are thinking of writing a book, you can use public speaking as a way to test the market for a new book or product, or refine the development of a book in progress. Penny C. Sansevieri gives talks related to publishing, and used her class at the San Diego Learning Annex to refine the manuscript that turned out to be her book, Get Published Today.

Ken Lizotte, CIO (Chief Imagination Officer) of Emerson Consulting Group, Inc., speaks before a variety of associations as members are in the position to use his article writing and book development services.

How to Find speaking opportunities

Speaking opportunities are all around you. Just look in the Calendar section of your local business journal and city newspaper to see the various events hosted by local chapters of national associations, business and civic organizations (Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, etc). Also, check your mail, email, and trade association publications for announcements of industry meetings and conventions.

The next time you hear yourself saying you need more clients, look no further than the nearest podium.

Complimentary articles and ebooks available at http://www.BuildingBuzz.com

This article is adapted from Marisa D’Vari’s book Building Buzz: How to Reach and Impress Your Target Audience.

Tags: building buzz, buzz, marketing, promotion, publicitybuilding buzz, buzz, marketing, promotion, publicity

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“How come you charge so much?” Kinda feels like a kick to the stomach, huh? This is a classic “objection” during a sales conversation with a prospective customer, and it’s no fun at all.

Customer objections can be painful and intimidating to deal with. And it doesn’t have to be about price. It could be about anything: “Do you really know what you are doing?” “Does this thing really work?” “How do I know you’ll follow through?”

Wish you never had to hear them again? You don’t.

Sacred spiritual traditions, like the High Holy Days and the month-long fasting of Ramadan, are meant to not only leave you empty, but to drain you of all of your certainty. In the center of deep spiritual practice, you are left with many sincere questions in your heart.

Who am I? What is the silent, longing call that I hear in the middle of the night? Where do I really owe my allegiance? What is my heart crying out for? Profound questions that, when approached sincerely, can transform your life. When the time comes for these questions, you have to let go of your beliefs. If you don’t, they become your prison.

The asking of these questions, dropping all of your defenses about what is right or wrong, what you want or don’t want, is the doorway to freedom. You are no longer trying to force an outcome, but merely seeking the truth.
How you ask the questions in your heart is critical. Are you a journalist, sniffing for scandal, sure you will find the dirt? Or are you a true seeker, allowing yourself to love the questions, because you love the truth more than anything?

A customer only raises objections when they feel at risk. At risk of losing money. At risk of losing time. At risk of looking foolish. At risk of any number of things.

Instead of answers, bring sincere, delighted questions to your prospect, devoid of any attachment to what the answers might be. Be curious and in love to learn more about what they are facing, their hopes and fears and desires in their situation. If you do this, they will feel seen. They will safe.

And they will never object. If they are the very best kind of prospects, they will have questions of their own. That’s what you want, someone who cares enough to question you, so the two of you can form a true collaboration, whether you are selling a simple product that brings more enjoyment to their life, or if you are providing complicated, custom services that transform huge organizations.

Questions: After connection, it’s the second step in a successful sales conversation.

What questions are you asking, and what’s the most important one? Practical steps below in Keys to the Questioning

Keys to Questions

When you start out a conversation with a prospect, start by asking lots of questions. You want to find out all about their situation. If you help people in pain to feel better, then ask all the questions you can: has this happened before? How did it happen? Have you had it a long time? What’s the pain like? How do you normally deal with the pain.

And, go beyond treating them like a problem. Find the place in your heart that cares about them, and ask larger questions: Tell me about how this pain is affecting your life, your work, your relationships.

When do you stop asking questions? When you can fully see the future they want, and you can see how what you do can get them there, or how what you do is not right for them at all.

At this point of clarity, you need to ask the most important question: the pivot question. Some people think that the pivot question shifts the focus from the prospect to you and your business. Not true. The pivot question shifts the focus from the present situation your prospect is facing, to the future where this problem is resolved.

“I can sure see how troubling this pain has been for you- it sounds miserable! (pivot ->) What brought you to talk to me about this? How did you see what I do fitting in with what you want to do about your pain?”

The pivot is an important step, because it elicits an invitation from your prospect that gives you permission to talk about how your business works, and how you can help them. Without that invitation and permission, you are trespassing. With the invitation, you are collaborating.

They will naturally have questions, too, because they will want to see the same future you are seeing. In general, they will want to be clear on exactly what it looks like to work with you, how much it costs, what exactly their commitment is, and how long it takes.

Questions are second nature to your heart, and the key to a successful sale.

Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How money, marketing and sales can deepen your heart, heal the world, and still add to your bottom line. He has helped hundreds of people in small business succeed without losing their heart, through integrating1500 years of spiritual tradition with down-to-earth business practices. Get his free workbook, Getting to the Core of Your Business, online: http://www.heartofbusiness.com

Tags: sales coaching, sales objections, sales skills, sales techniques, sales tips, sales trainingsales coaching, sales objections, sales skills, sales techniques, sales tips, sales training

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