Agencies and Services |

Have you ever been trying to sell a product and it just won’t sell? Or perhaps you were like I once was. I was working 16 hour days at a direct marketing company and hardly making a living. When I say “direct marketing” I am speaking of selling a product directly to a consumer (by hand). Direct marketing can be very profitable if you know the so called “secrets” of the trade.

1. Remember to apply the Law of Averages. The basic principle here is, the more people you try to sell your product to the more sales you are going to make as a result. For example; I knew that daily I would need to sell 25 products to make my day’s financial goal. Therefore I would need to give my pitch to at least 100 people that day. The Law of Averages tells me that I will get my 25. Remember this is a Law. Many people who I trained would say something like, ” I have already talked to 70 people and they have all said no, I Quit” I would then tell them that that is good news because they have already taken care of 70 of their 75 no’s already.

2. Have a very short pitch or else you will not allow the Law of Averages to work for you. This is a mistake that many vacuum companies make. They spend an hour on a pitch and only get to see a few people a day.

3. ALWAYS place your product in the hands of the potential buyer. Do not ask just hand it to them before you start, or as you’re starting to give your pitch. This gives them a since of ownership and can increase your odd tremendously.

4. NEVER profile. In other words don’t try to guess who will be buying your product. You a may approach someone who looks rich just to find out they only carry credit cards, while the homeless man you passed up is actually just a dirty construction worker with a pocket full of cash looking for exactly what you are offering. Talk to everyone.

5. The Triple Play. Example; I am selling books. I am told that they are to be sold 2 for 10 dollars. My pitch would go something like this. “These books are 15 dollars each, but check it out I’ll give it to you for 10. You know what since I really need to sell all these today, I going to give you a second one for free. Notice how I didn’t say if? Always assume your sale.

6. The Jedi Mind Trick. When you are done giving your pitch shake your head yes while saying, “That’s a good deal isn’t it?” they will find themselves shaking their head yes as well.

7. Carry a receipt book. Pull it out when you have finished and ask who you should make the receipt out to. Once again ALWAYS assume your sale.
Now that you have these tips you will need to put them to use. Once you have mastered them look for my upcoming article “marketing tips and secrets part 2″

Bobby Gordon is the owner of http://www.travelwalrus.com his love for travel and his love for this beautiful country of ours have lead him on some fascinating journeys and continue to do so every day.

Identifying the main tendency of the organizational culture is more and more important in managing change. Change is often the most important issue that defines a successful strategy from an unsuccessful one. And part of this is whether the envisioned change is feasible.

The focus of this article is on corporate values in relation to the issue of product or service culture. How do corporate values reflect either culture and is there any difference at all?

Below there are two examples of corporate value statements related to either type of company. The first is fully focused on production:

A producer in the wholesale market:

Leadership (… in design, building and support of products), Integrity (this is a standard value), Quality (continuous quality improvement), Customer Satisfaction ( is also standard not revealing much specifics), Teamwork (continually learn, share ideas and knowledge), A Diverse and Involved Team, Good Corporate Citizenship (. … protect the environment), Enhance Shareholder Value.

Leadership is both possible for product oriented as for service oriented companies, but product leadership is easier (in comparing with rivals) services are more differentiated and therefore harder to compare.

Protecting the environment… logical that producer face environmental issues where servicing companies hardly use raw materials and their impact on the environment is less …

Another example: producer in healthcare market:

Set highest standards in science and business, Build trust and earn respect, Drive best decisions with … best practices, Be accountable, Balance creativity and innovation with business awareness and productivity, Communicate clearly and efficiently. Listen actively and learn, Teamwork….

Producer are often more technological involved (the role of science: car producer versus car maintenance), servicing companies less.

The other (two) example is concentrated on offering services:

The first is offering financial services:

Integrity, Teamwork (…. share our skills and resources across organizational boundaries for our clients’ and own benefit), Respect (We value the entrepreneurial spirit of everyone), Professionalism (highest standards, pursue innovation, deploy imagination, open to new ideas and we act decisively and consistently. … deliver outstanding quality … long lasting and close relation with clients)

Integrity fits the financial service focus. Respect is a standard value, sometimes a cliché, but fits better a servicing approach where diversity is more functional towards the objective of servicing, whereas could complicate the more “strict” production focus.

The best example showing the difference in values is expressed in the following example. This company is offering a location based service. Service center:

values: Friendly (always a positive attitude), Responsive (handle tasks in a timely and efficient manner), Fair (say what we do and do what we say), Proud (take ownership in our work, … contagious enthusiasm), Dedicated (exceed customer expectations), Professional (consistently deliver results at the highest standards).

These are values that only match with a service approach: friendliness has no function in a production environment, but is fundamental in a client-centered-approach. Fair is balancing the friendly value to make sure that emotion and ratio are balanced…

Otherwise, in case you are just an office employee who assumes responsibility of all inward and outward communications, you need to be equipped with sharp communication skills in order to discharge you job successfully. The business environment is so immense and dynamic that any laxity by you will consequentially push the clients to seek out other business firms.

Business communications are not exclusively restricted to utilizing office support systems like computers, telephones, fax machines, and such others. It also includes interacting with business partners and clients personally. Business communication skills therefore, should encompass expertise in both forms of communications - oral and written.

If you do not have proficiency in business communication abilities, there is no cause for concern, as there are scores of sources for refining these skills. These include books, leaflets, and even individual courses. So, you can select the best option that suits your needs in order to sharpen your business communication abilities.

A great deal of business communications takes place in the written form. There you need to be adept at writing reports, preparing proposals, wrapping up the staff study assigned to you, besides drafting a business letter addressed to a businessperson of another business establishment. Now, what needs to be borne in mind when composing a business communiqué? In the first instance, you need to be aware of the reason or issue to be dealt with in the missive, and thereafter you need to carefully compose the contents and draft the letter in order that the objective of communication is accomplished. Once you are done with this, you need to put your thoughts in order and note them down in a sequential order. While composing the draft, you should carefully weigh every single word that you use. Next comes editing. If any changes have to be incorporated in the draft, then you have to carry them out. This is followed by detailed editing once more, prior to dispatching the final draft. Business communications are official and proper and hence you should be equipped with the skills that will generate this kind of result.

You need to remember that business communications involve the exchange of significant ideas. Hence, appropriate words should be sensibly picked and employed in the sentence construction. Besides, there needs to be agreement in the thoughts conveyed in the paragraphs. People assigned the task of handling business communications should be familiar with the language that needs to be employed and should have excellent business communication skills. A truly competent business communication writer should be capable of getting across and arousing emotions and similarly should be equal to putting across concepts and information to the concerned party.

Now, in the company itself, there is constant occurrence of business communications, which include putting across concepts and opinions to suppliers, employers, employees, dealers, distributors, vendors, customers, manufacturers, community groups, and so forth. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the communiqué is drafted in an official, clear-cut, and comprehensible manner or otherwise effective communication is just not possible. When it comes to oral business communications, you need to be articulate and eloquent in the language you choose to employ.

It is vital that you refine your business communication abilities every so often so that you retain your edge.
Abhishek is a Self-Improvement expert and he has got some great Self-Improvement Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 81 Page Ebook, “Self Improvement Made Easy!” from his website http://www.Positive-You.com/775/index.htm. Only limited Free Copies available.