In the first article we looked at how many first time (and experienced!) sales people can be held back from achieving success because of the fears they may have on getting out there and selling.

In the previous article I highlighted 6 main selling-related fears: failure; image or self belief; rejection; lack of product knowledge; criticism; presentation. Each of theses fears on their own can cause a breakdown in the sales process and prevent you from confidently tackling another prospect.

In this article I will look at how you can address these fears head-on; what you can do to face your fears and banish them for life!

Fear of Failure

Undoubtedly the biggest fear most people in selling, and business have is the fear of failure. There is nothing more demoralising than a continual lack of success! Fear of failure has been ingrained from school – remember all those tests when the results were read out for all the class to hear? If you had a poor result, you never felt like trying again! But, don’t be like Homer Simpson when he tried to consol his son Bart who had failed in his bid to be class president,

“You tried and you failed. The lesson is … never try.”

So, what can you do to conquer your fear of failure? The bottom line is that you need a rock solid positive attitude. You must have an inner voice which is continually pushing you onto the next prospect and saying, “Come on, let’s find the one who’s going to say yes!”

Failure has to be seen as a learning opportunity. In every failure, there is a nugget of information, which next time, can point you in the direction of better success. James Dyson, the inventor of the revolutionary vacuum cleaner, summed up the need for a positive attitude, when he said, “Success is made up of 99% failure. You galvanise yourself and you keep going as a full optimist.”

Image Fear

Not everyone has boundless self-confidence. When you start out in business, there is sometimes a nagging doubt that you may have bitten off more than you can chew. This inner doubt chips away at your self confidence and soon you have a poor self image, which reflects in your sales pitch. To be a successful salesperson you have to have a strong self image.

To improve the image you have of yourself, follow these steps:

Write down the qualities which you believe a successful salesperson should possess. Try and limit the list to 4 or 5 key qualities

Find a quiet spot and relax your body and mind with deep and steady breathing

Once you are totally relaxed recite the strong, self image qualities you identified earlier

Imagine or visualise yourself possessing each of these qualities. See in your minds eye how you look, now that you have these qualities. See how successful you are, how you look, and the car you are driving, where you are living

Repeat to yourself that you are assuming each of these qualities and becoming a better person with each day that passes

Repeat this exercise first thing in the morning and last thing at night and you’ll soon find your self image and confidence levels increasing!

Fear of Rejection

Closely linked with the fear of failure is the fear of rejection. Hearing the response “No” is not a great motivator! The main way to deal with rejection is just to accept that it happens. Try and re-frame any rejection you get by saying to yourself that it’s the customer who loses out, not you. Walk away with a smug smile on your face and remind yourself that you are one step closer to someone who will say “Yes”.

Product Knowledge Fear

A lack of in depth knowledge about your product or service quickly finds its way to making for a poor presentation. There is only one solution … and that’s to get learning! Absorb yourself in the product. Understand all the features and benefits, so that you can confidently talk about all aspects of your offering. Banishing this fear is one of the easy ones to put right.

Criticism

No one likes to be criticised, especially if you have tried your hardest. Unless you are very thick-skinned, harsh criticism can knock you back. If you carry out the exercises on improving your self-image, your ability to take criticism will also improve. Decide to view criticism more as feedback than a direct attack on you. There is usually some element of truth in the majority of critical comments and it’s important that you take the opportunity to learn and change.

Presentation Fears

You may know all the features and benefits of your product but, like an actor, you suffer from stage fright! The presentation fear can be down to a lack of structure around your sales process. Write a basic outline on how you wish a perfect sales pitch to go. Prepare a script for the key parts of the presentation and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

Why not ask someone to help you role play a sales presentation? This will give you the opportunity to make all the mistakes you want but in a risk-free environment! You should also visit your local Business Link office and see what courses they are running on sales skills. Look out for books and tapes on effective selling. All of these actions will assist in improving your confidence and result in a more professional sales presentation.

Selling does not have to be a fearful experience! If you have the right attitude, a strong self belief, a full understanding of your product and plenty of practice, then you will have nothing to fear. So, take a look at each of these fears and put a plan in place to tackle them today!

International virtual staffing agency, Team Double-ClickSM frequently replies to beleaguered prospective clients who ask, “Do I Need a Virtual Assistant?” Gayle and Jim Buske, founders, CEO and CFO, respectively, offer a remarkably straightforward means to answer this critical question.

Team Double-Click’s recent unveiling of the company’s easy-to-navigate website offers a self-administered quiz entitled, “Fast Quiz: Do I need a virtual assistant?”  Within five minutes, future clients can determine whether internet-based professionals, who provide virtual administrative, marketing and sales support, can indeed contribute to an entrepreneur’s emerging or existing business plan.

Answering a series of nine thought-provoking questions; one for example, “How often do you work additional hours in the evenings or on weekends just to stay on top of administrative tasks?” business owners select one multiple choice answer; each assigned an individual point value.  Upon completion of all nine questions the allotted points are tallied to determine if a virtual assistant can or cannot be a useful team member to assist in the growth of a future client’s particular business. If determined that a virtual assistant is needed, the quiz further clarifies a recommended number of hours an assistant can be contracted to relieve a business owner of any routine responsibilities, project work and/or on-going; albeit important, time-consuming tasks.

Another challenging quiz question presented on the website is, “Do your phones go unanswered because you are often out of the office or busy on another line?” This particular question frequently leaves the small business owner wondering how much revenue is truly lost when potentially important telephone calls remain unanswered.

Additionally, Team Double-Click’s all-inclusive website offers a myriad of other customized virtual office assistant solutions for the entrepreneur.  Targeting small business owners, real estate brokers, investors, and agents, visitors to the site can view a task list that a contracted virtual assistant can accomplish in their specified industry.

In a 2006 interview with Kendra Todd, winner of NBC’s “The Apprentice Season 3”, hosted by Gayle Buske, Todd was asked to explain how she eventually determined that Team Double-ClickSM virtual assistants would add value to her rising real estate empire. Todd explained that as her business grew, a business partner eventually approached her and said, “Kendra, you can’t do it all, and you need a virtual assistant”.  Todd added, “I have a very large database with lots of people – a couple thousand people in my database.  It is important for any successful business owner to keep in touch with their clients, and email and ezines are a wonderful way to do that.”  Todd continued, “It’s hard to pick up a phone and call several thousand people and say, ‘Hello, how are you doing?’ but there are some wonderful virtual ways in which to have an intimate relationship with your customers, and so that was one of the reasons why I really needed to get a virtual assistant.”

Todd has built her real estate team based on the premise that she, “…just want[s] the best people at what they do, regardless of where they are [virtually].” Business owners and entrepreneurs can now determine within a few minutes if a virtual assistant can be a viable addition to a client’s organization and, if so, through the use of Team Double-Click’s virtual staffing solutions website customized tools are available to effortlessly assemble a dynamic virtual team.

Running a bar can be a thrilling experience, but it takes a lot of knowledge to sell a bar.  Buyers expect a lot of information to ensure things are in order.

Timing – The timing for the sale of a bar is very important.  The bar should be doing very well with plenty of repeat customers and the possibility of retaining the customers with the new owner is crucial.  If there are certain times in a year, when the bar is usually full, then prepare to sell it during that period.

Another thing about timing is that, at the time the business is put up for sale, there should be no contracts that are going to expire soon, or else buyers tend to reduce bids.

Bar owners manage their business using the strategy of reducing the taxes by reporting less income, and buyer’s first look at the income that is reported in the tax returns in order to place a value on the business.  This is where advance planning becomes important.  The years prior to putting a business up for sale should be carefully planned and more income shown, even if one has to pay taxes.

Seeking Advisers/consultants - It is advisable to consult advisers or experts to understand government regulations better.  Accountants can help with the financial aspect and taxes.  An attorney can help with the legalities.  If the bar is well-established and depending on the size, one can either use the advice of the experts or engage them to get things done, including valuation, packaging, locating buyers and negotiating the sale.

Confidentiality – The worst part about selling a bar is that, it can have a negative effect on the bar, once it is made public that the bar is for sale. The employees, competitors, customers will start drifting and in turn destroy the placing of the bar, lessening the value.

We also need to talk about how confidentiality needs to be maintained.  Limited information should be given to the potential buyer, until it is determined that the buyer is legitimate and genuine. Asking the buyer to sign a non-disclosure agreement is a must.

After signing of the non-disclosure agreement, the buyer can be given the other confidential information regarding finances and operations.

Establishing the worth – The worth of a bar must be made known to the buyer. For this, the first step is to get everything evaluated. It helps to seek the help of an experienced evaluation expert.  This is a must not only for the seller to fix a price on the business but also for the buyer to understand and appreciate the value of the bar.

Terms of sale – Pricing is not the only factor that needs to be taken into consideration when selling a bar.  The current financial situation and the health of the bar are factors that will also influence the sale. Another important aspect is how the payment would be made, a complete cash deal or offering seller financing, the involvement (if any) of the seller in the bar business after the sale is made and the ownership transferred.  Mutually agreeable terms can be arrived at after discussions.

Some buyers may wish to get the seller to finance all or part of the sale.  Seller financing usually gets the seller a better deal.

Recasting financial statements – This means checking the financial statements to avoid showing that less income was portrayed to avoid taxes, engaging in any illegal transactions that may effect the bar business, or having shifted some personal expenses to the bar.  Adjustments in the balance sheet and income statement should be done if needed.

Advertising - The most crucial step in selling a bar business or any other business for that matter is advertising.  Targeting an active network of buyers is important to reach qualified prospects with capacity to acquire the bar business for sale. Identifying and screening to evaluate the financial strength of the buyer is extremely important.

With all these things done, one cannot go wrong in selling their bar business to the best buyer and be happy in the knowledge that their business is still in good hands.

Is it less taxing to incorporate?

Some companies may seem to escape death, but they will ever be able to escape taxes. That doesn't mean there aren't some tax benefits out there, though, that only the corporations are getting. Companies are tempted to incorporate for a number of reasons, but more and more often, taxes are the main motivator. But why?

Well, it's important to note right away that incorporation only means tax benefits for some companies. For others, taxes might actually become a bigger problem than they were before. However, potentially, you have a lot to gain – in what you won't be paying in taxes to the government – by incorporating. There are a few basic tax benefits that corporations often rely upon.

The first one is tax deferral. All this means, really, is that a company can keep more of its earnings. How can this be? When a company becomes a corporation, it becomes a separate entity of its owner and thus adheres to different rules than it did before. Typically, an owner must pay taxes directly to the government on his or her net income. But if that same owner has a corporation on his or her hands, it's an entirely new ballgame. The corporation has different tax rates than its owner! Depending on the state, a corporation will have to pay little to no income tax. You can expect that the income tax of a corporation will be significantly lower than a personal income tax.

This may all sound very quaint and appealing, but there's more to the story. The grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side because of a nuisance called double taxation. Double taxation happens when both the shareholder and the corporation are taxed for various profits and gains. Especially when a corporation liquidates, this is a problem. (As new dividends make themselves known.) There are ways to resolve the double taxation dilemma, but it does take quite a bit of thought and planning.

Whether you're running a company or a corporation, you must think about taxes in the long term. Don't just plan for this year and next – think far into the future and foresee problems like double taxation. As you consider the tax benefits of incorporation, make sure to also consider the disadvantages and added complications. If you want to get the best bang for your buck when you incorporate, you must play an active role in the process of turning your company into a corporation. And that means you can't take for granted the promise of tax benefits.

Also keep in mind that tax law is ever-changing and tax benefits that generations before you had may be nonexistent today, while new benefits may take their place. It's advisable to keep up to date about what your state legislatures are coming up with from year to year. Because each company has its own personality and ambitions and of course net profits, some tax benefits may be more disposable than others. The only appeal of tax benefits is that a company retains more of its earnings, so if incorporation is costing you money in other areas, you will want to note this. It's important to weigh all the costs and benefits against each other!