Keep pushing?

In this old traditional cold calling mindset, we keep pushing. We try to present more information until we "close" the sale. We try to bypass people’s objections and concerns because we’ve already decided for them that they should buy what we have to offer.

However, in the new cold calling mindset, we know that sales pressure is always a recipe for disaster. Instead, we respond to objections by first trying to understand whether they’re genuine concerns or resistance to sales pressure. Until we do this, we have no way of responding appropriately to someone’s objections. We especially have no way of tackling the underlying cause of resistance, which is a reaction to sales pressure.

Genuine concern is about the product or service. Resistance is about a person’s mindset.

The old cold calling approach doesn’t distinguish between "genuine concerns" about what you’re selling, versus "resistance" to how you’re selling it. Nevertheless, this is crucial. If a potential client is genuinely concerned with something about your product or service, then you address it thoughtfully and directly.

However, if they’re resisting the process itself, then they’ve felt sales pressure in some way. Resistance is almost always a negative response to perceived sales pressure.

We therefore need to consider how we’ve introduced that pressure, or how we can reassure them we’re only focused on helping them solve their problems.

Different responses

When potential clients raise objections about what you’re selling (pricing, delivery, quality, etc.), these are genuine concerns. They’re rooted in the client’s world. Therefore, you must take them seriously rather than overriding or ignoring them.

When someone is resistant to the conversation itself, then you’re dealing with a reaction to sales pressure. This needs addressing, but in a different way. This is what I would call real "resistance," because clients are resisting the whole cold calling process.

They think that you’re trying to ‘sell’ them.

A tricky distinction

What gets tricky is when people raise objections that sound like genuine concerns. But what they’re actually doing is resisting perceived sales pressure.

On the surface, comments like these sound as if they’re about your product or service,

don’t they?

• Send me more information.

• Sounds good. Let me think about it.

• Your price is too high.

• Great. Let me talk it over with my co-workers.

They may actually be code words for "I’m feeling pressured by how you’re selling."

Your potential client probably isn’t going to tell you the truth. After all, when was the last time someone said, "You know, I feel as if you’re really focused on getting the sale here and that’s making me feel pressured. It’s creating a slight tension in my stomach.

Therefore, at this point, I don’t trust you."

Fortunately, you can figure out whether potential clients are raising genuine concerns or covering up their discomfort. Just do these two simple things:

1. Assume pressure is always present, even when you’re doing everything you can to create a pressure-free environment. People expect sales pressure, and we can’t always immediately diffuse that expectation 100%.

2. Trust your intuition and instincts. Over time, you’ll learn to be able to tell whether potential clients are telling you the truth. You’ll start picking up signals that they’re feeling pressured, such as giving you short answers.

As you learn to distinguish between genuine concerns and resistance, you’re likely to hear fewer and fewer "objections." You’ll stop triggering evasive responses or false concerns when you stay focused on what’s actually being communicated. You will also get far better reactions to your cold calling efforts.

When you open an eBiz, it’s important you remember that it really is a business and approach it as you would any other business. Don’t just jump in and start selling. Consider all the legal issues—your responsibilities and the risks you’re assuming—in order to safe-guard your investments.

Do I Need to Charge Taxes Online?

If you’re running an internet company, it’s your responsibility to keep current on tax laws that affect you. As a retailer, you’re obligated to know the laws regarding both the collection and payment of state sales taxes.

According to CPA Jim Reed, of Teton Tax (http://www.tetontax.com), “The collection of sales tax for items sold over the internet is only required if the business has a physical presence in that state.” In other words, if you run a home-based candle business in Oregon and you sell a box of votive candle holders to a customer in Portland, you’ll need to charge them sales tax.

If, however, you sell a candelabrum to a customer in Texas, where your business has no physical presence, you don’t need to charge sales tax, so you’re able to provide your customer with a lower price. This can add up to substantial savings on high-end purchases and give your eBiz a competitive advantage over out-of-state brick-and-mortar stores.

In addition to charging sales tax, you’re also responsible for passing that money on to the government. In most states, you’ll need to fill out a tax return, usually once a month. Says Reed, “You’re required to fill that out, whether you have sales or not, once you obtain a sales tax license. Each state has its own sales tax form to be completed, signed, and filed, and the tax remitted, based on what taxes have been collected during that period.”

What’s the Best Way to Structure My Business?

Another legal aspect of starting a eBiz is choosing how you want to structure it. The way you structure your business can afford you legal protection, or leave your assets exposed:

• Sole Proprietorships—Many e-business owners set themselves up as sole proprietorships to avoid the costs of incorporating. However, this type of structure leaves your personal property vulnerable in a lawsuit. A plaintiff can go after everything—your home, your personal bank accounts, your car.

• A Corporation or an LLC—Incorporating your business is like getting an insurance policy for your personal assets. If your company is sued, only what belongs to the corporation is at risk. The fees associated with setting up a corporation or an LLC are fairly minimal.

No matter how you decide to set up your business, it’s always a good idea to consult a CPA and an attorney to make sure you’re legally squared away and set up in the manner that most benefits you.

It's a logistical nightmare.  Trying to balance cost against environmental consideration.  The recycling industry has exploded onto the scene throughout the western world.  With dwindling resources and high raw materials prices, we're being forced to recycle more, but in the world of Computers, this means a lot of transportation to get obsolete household computers recycled.

We were recently contacted by a Company based in India with a view to the logistical issues associated with recycling computer hardware.  The idea was to transport computers from householders back to a central location for processing.  The problem?  Balancing the cost of recycling a computer system against the cost of transporting the old hardware.

In America, many recycling companies have implemented a 'ship to' service for old or obsolete hardware.  It's a great way of cutting down on costs.  If you can off-set the cost of employees and overheads against the cash value of old computers and their constituent component value, then you're at least breaking even.  You can then offer a service free of charge on the basis that the old hardware is shipped to you at cost to the consumer.

The logistical nightmare starts when you try to collect the computers using in-house employees.  The costs of drivers and vehicles can add up quickly and result in negative equity.  Off-setting these costs means that the recycling company has to charge the people wanting to dispose of their old hardware.  Government run schemes use local municipal waste collection points to containerize the old computers, which the recycler then collects, but with some being 400 miles from the municipal waste collection point, the cost of driving that distance can quickly mount up.  In effect, the costs associated with these collections have to be passed onto the government run authorities running the waste collection centers.  With America being so large, there's also the carbon cost, where driving such a distance results in what is known as a 'carbon footprint' being put on the old computers, before they've even been recycled.  This footprint remains with the constituent materials when they're used to manufacture something else.  So even before the new product ends up in the shops, its' got a pretty large carbon footprint associated with it.

In America and it's constituent states, it's the author's belief that recycling of computers really has to be considered state wide rather than Country wide.  If a recycler is in New York, then his or her business shouldn't stray over the state line.  That way, costs and energy consumption are kept low and the carbon produced by the business will remain low.

You're close, really close, to making a sale. Your  potential client is in the market for your product or service and you've had a couple of good meetings.

Have you been in this situation before?

Of course you have--we all have, and it's painful. So, can you keep from getting dropped? Yes--With the Unlock The Game™ Mindset, you can abandon the salesperson role and come from a place of integrity that stems directly from your personal brand that doesn't compromise your authentic self. This opens communication with your potential clients so you can learn the truth about their situation--and that's what you always want.

These suggestions will help:

* Don't assume the sale. Potential clients are used to the traditional buyer-seller relationship, so they may decide not to tell you things that might make them vulnerable to you. Until you're sure you know the complete truth, you can never assume the sale.

* Keep making it easy for potential clients to tell you their truth. Toward the end of your conversation, ask, "Do you have any more questions?" If potential clients say no, follow up with the 100-percent-final truth-gathering question: "Now, are you 100 percent sure that there's nothing else that I can do on my end to make you feel more comfortable with this situation?" You'll be amazed how often people then say, "Well, actually, there is one more issue..." And it's at that point that you really start to hear their truth.

* Call back to get the truth, not close the sale. Most potential clients who suddenly "disappear"  will be expecting you chase them down by calling them and saying, "Hi, I was just wondering where things are at?" Instead, eliminate all sales pressure by telling them that you're okay with their decision not to move forward, based on their not having called you back. In other words, take a step backward. Most of the time, it'll open the door to a new level of open, trusting communication.

* Reassure potential clients that you can handle a "no." Of course we'd rather not hear a "no." But the only way to free yourself and your clients from subtle sales pressures is to let them know that it's not about the sale but about the best choice for them--and if that means no sale, it's okay, because it's ultimately not about you but about them.

* Ask for feedback. Whenever potential clients "disappear," call them back (e-mail them if you have to, but only as a last resort because dialogue is always better) and simply ask, "Would you please share your feedback with me as to how I can improve for next time? Now that our sales process is over, I'm committed to understanding where I went wrong." This is not being feeble or weak -- it's being humble, which often triggers the truth.

* Don't try to "close" a sale. If your intuition tells you that the sales process isn't going in the direction it should be going - which is always toward greater trust and truth--trust those feeling. Then, make it safe for potential clients to tell you where they stand. It's simple--all you have to say is, "Where do you think we should go from here?" (But be prepared: you might not want to hear the truth of how they're feeling. You can cope with this by keeping your larger goal in mind, which is always to establish that the two of you have a "fit.")

* Give yourself the last word. Eliminate the anxiety of waiting for the final calls that will tell you whether the sale is going to happen--instead, schedule a time for getting back to each other. This eliminates chasing. Simply suggest, "Can we plan to get back to each other on a day and at a time that works for you--not to close the sale, but to simply bring closure regardless of what you decide. I'm okay either way, and that'll save us from having to chase each other."

You'll find that these suggestions make selling much less painful because, with Unlock The Game™, you learn to focus on the truth instead of the sale.

Times change and memories fade, but nostalgia for the past is forever.

Retro style is coming back -; from automobiles and home furnishings to sports equipment and consumer electronics. But nowhere is this more apparent than in clothing.

Vintage clothing sites are popping up all over the Web, and thrift stores are all the rage. Incorporating vintage pieces into the modern wardrobe has become the latest fad as parents and kids of all ages make a grab for days gone by.

Denim Apparel Group, a publicly traded company, bet heavily on that enthusiasm when it recently acquired retro-vintage sportswear company Moonlight Graham, named for a rightfielder who played one game in the majors for the now-defunct New York Giants.

The California-based company has rights to the movies "Field of Dreams" and "Animal House," car company General Motors, Major League Baseball, and beverage giant Cadbury Schwepps, as well as Kellogg's and other retro Americana.

Founder and president Bart Silberman has Moonlight Graham poised to become an arbiter of cool, with designs and fabrics that set the company apart from other casual sportswear.

"You don't have to be a fan of the New York Mets, Dr Pepper, a 1970 Chevelle SS, Budweiser or the Talking Heads to appreciate what we do," Silberman said. "Our artwork and quality tend to cross over. Of course it appeals to the hardcore fans out there, but a large amount of our business is done solely on the basis of cool art."

Firmly entrenched in its Melrose location, Moonlight Graham is now exploring new retail locations. Prospects include Armitage Avenue in Chicago's Lincoln Park, Sawgrass Mills in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Thompson Street in New York near New York University and Boston's Newbury Street shopping district.

Working from home was once merely a dream for most people. Until the onslaught of the Internet and home PCs, it simply wasn't feasible for companies to hire employees to work from home. And starting a small business took special know-how, a large initial investment, and a lot of advertising and marketing. But now, working from home is a reality for thousands of people, and you too can realize this dream.

The first goal for your home business should be to find ways to create steady cash flow. You'll need cash flow to operate and promote your home business, and to secure a lucrative income for yourself. There are many different ways to create a cash stream for your home business. Here are three ideas to get you started.

1. Buy a Pre-Existing Profitable Business

One way to create an immediate cash flow is to buy a pre-existing home business that is already making a profit. Of course, you will not enjoy a profit immediately because you must invest initially. But once you are able to recover from the initial investment, you can continue receiving profits year after year.

The key benefit of buying a pre-existing work-from-home business is you will gain knowledge from the previous owner about what works for the business and what doesn't work. The main disadvantage is you will have to follow in the footsteps of another instead of building your own home business from the ground up. There's a great sense of pride when you can truly call a business "your own!"

2. Follow a Profitable Business Model

Another way to create a cash stream for your work-from-home business is to follow the profitable business model of another. You can learn a lot from others who have already been successful with a home business. Many long-time entrepreneurs are creating e-books and global networks to help new home business owners become a success. They are revealing little-known secrets about work-from-home businesses that would likely take you years to discover on your own.

Look for entrepreneurs who have owned work-from-home businesses in a field that interests you. Use their ideas and examples to create a profitable business model for your new home business.

3. Internet and Network Marketing

A third way to create a cash stream of income is to utilize the Internet and network marketing to your advantage. Find and join a team of individuals who have similar goals and work with them to build a successful online business. With the Internet and network marketing, many are realizing their financial goals faster than they ever imagined.

Network marketing online can be accomplished through email and a website while working from home, and it can bring more people together with similar goals in a very short period of time. Many global network companies will promote your online business for you and take every initiative to help you become a success. There are even global resorts networks that enable you to travel to exotic places while earning a substantial income.

Whatever method you choose to create a cash stream as you work from home, set some goals for your business and start realizing your dreams today!

If you have never heard of affiliate marketing, or you have but you are not doing it, you are missing out on one of the world's greatest opportunities to make enormous amounts of money!  Affiliate marketing is where someone advertises for another website and in return, that person receives commission for each sale their advertising brings to the website.

To get a person to visit their site, you need to have them click through your affiliate link which has your special code in it so the company knows it was you who sent the customer there.  The more people you send, the more chance there is of someone buying a product, obviously.  So it comes down to one question: How do I get people to click on my affiliate link?

The answer is simple.   Pay for them to do so!  There are many Pay Per Click advertising programs on the internet, such as Google Adwords, where you make a little ad, set the amount you're willing to pay for each click (usually between $0.05 - $1.00) and just sit back and watch the sales roll in!

So let's say, for example, you paid $0.50 to send someone to a website and they buy a $50 product, and you earn a 50% commission, then you just made $25 - $0.50 = $24.50!  Now imagine doing this a couple hundred times a day!  All you did was set up a little ad and you watch the profits roll in!

Surely, not every person is going to buy something, but even if 1 in 50 buys, you're still ahead!  Now set this up over and over again, and you could be on your way to earning HUGE amounts of cash every single day for the rest of your life!

A young lady contacted a mobile phone company she recently subscribed with. She had some questions about purchasing their latest mobile phone and couldn’t find the answers easily online. She decided to give her mobile phone company a call. Their phone menu was a pain to get through as expected. But after a few minutes of shouting and cursing at the phone menu and waiting on hold for 20 seconds, she was transferred to a human voice, finally!

She recounts another lady answered on the other line and she sounded very friendly and happy to talk to her. The customer care agent asked her how she was, even asked her about the weather and then asked how she could help her. The lady customer told the representative her purpose and asked some questions about the phone which she was planning to buy. The representative obviously knew majority of the answers, her replies were quite friendly. The customer service experience was good, she said.

Almost all of us have tried calling a customer service of a certain company once in our lives. We call them to ask assistance, directions, to complain or even inquire the schedule of the latest movie hit in town. Did you ever notice the way these customer service people speak? The tone of their voices? You can even sense if they are smiling when they talk. Of course, you can easily recognize if a person is happy or interested when he or she got a call from you. It is the number one rule in Customer Service, to be as friendly as much as possible to the person on the other line on the phone.

Being warm and friendly to your customers should be the most important component when you are in a call center industry or in a business to business environment. Being friendly builds better rapport with your customers. It makes or breaks a company so to speak.

However, having a friendly customer service support is not enough to increase the sales or demands of the

products or services your company offers. Product knowledge is also a key ingredient to get the nod of your customers. It is essential that before you sell a product, you must know all about it, inside and out. You wouldn't want to be in a position that you will be caught straight in the face without an answer if your customer has a specific question. Put yourself in your customer's shoe, what would you think if you were interested in buying a product and asked questions about it but the one you're dealing with could not answer the simplest question of the product. You would probably lose your faith in it.

To know your product better, remember to obtain as much information as you possibly can. Educate yourself with the features and benefits your product offers. Read constantly about the project as it may have updates or some changes you should know about.

Another way to really know your product is to actually use them personally if its feasible. When you answer a question to a customer, the customer can tell how much you believe in the product and you have confidence in it because you sounded you have actually tried it. Remember that the more you know your product, the easier it is to sell.

Having the two A's in the customer service is beneficial in the growth and success of a business. A combination of a good Attitude on dealing with your customers while providing them the appropriate Aptitude about your product will certainly boost the sales of the product and can retain the most important component of a company, the customers.

As it turned out, the customer service experience of the lady mentioned above was good. She purchased the latest mobile phone she was inquiring about and told her friends about the great service she got from the company. All it took was a friendly customer service representative that knew what she was talking about.

An American company in China? It may seem unusual, but a U.S.-traded company is building an e-government system in Jinjiang and Nanan of the Fujian province in the People's Republic of China.

China Expert Technology Inc. (OTC BB:CXTI) has announced that China Expert Network Company Limited, known as China Expert, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leopard, has signed contracts totaling $36.6 million to complete the e-government network infrastructure projects.

China Expert will be responsible for the entire e-government project for each city, including network infrastructure, hardware and security design, applications and implementation. One of the contracts was signed in 2003 and is expected to be completed before the end of 2004. The second contract is expected to be completed before the end of 2005.

"Citizens in the first contracted city are now able to use the established e-government facilities to settle their personal bills, such as tax and electricity bills, directly with the specific government departments and public utility companies through the Internet," said Kung Sze Chau, chief executive officer of Leopard.

The plans for the project were created in 2001. That year the office of the State Council laid out a five-year plan regarding the building up of e-government throughout the country. It set out the background, direction and goals of the project.

These goals include:

* Setting up fundamental and strategic e-government data bases.

* Upgrading the level of resource sharing.

* Enhancing the power of management, including the decision-making capability and contingency-planning capability of the Central Government and of other local governmental departments.

* Creating relevant laws and regulations, basic e-government system infrastructure, and a security system and training program in relation to an e-government.

* Paving the way for the next five-year plan.

Leopard Capital Inc. is a leading information technology network and infrastructure company. China Expert is currently the only single contractor to include a complete e-government infrastructure project within one contract from a single city government in China.  - NU