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7 Ways to Stop "Selling" & Start Building Relationships

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Sometimes we can all use a friendly reminder to keep us from backsliding into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients.

New Thinking = New Results

Maybe it's time to take a different approach. Maybe we need to seriously analyze our sales thinking so we can identify why we're not making more sales. Take a look at the table below and thinkabout your current selling mindset. How would your selling behaviors change if you changed your sales thinking?

Traditional Sales Mindset Vs Unlock The Game™ Mindset

1.     Always deliver a strong sales pitch. Vs Stop the sales pitch -- and start a conversation.

2.     Your central objective is always to close the sale. Vs Your central goal is always to discover whether you and your potential client are a good fit.

3.     When you lose a sale, it's usually at the end of the sales process. Vs When you lose a sale, it's usually right at the beginning of the sales process.

4.     Rejection is a normal part of selling. Vs Sales pressure is the only cause of rejection. Rejection should never happen.

5.     Keep chasing every potential client until you get a yes or a no. Vs Never chase a potential client -- you'll only trigger more sales pressure.

6.     When a prospect offers objections, challenge and/or counter them. Vs When a potential client offers objections, uncover the truth behind them.

7.     If a potential client challenges the value of your product or service, you must defend yourself and explain the value. Vs Never defend yourself or what you have to offer -- it only creates more sales pressure.

Let's take a closer look at these central Unlock The Game™ concepts so you can begin to open up your current sales thinking and become more effective in your selling activities:

1) Stop the sales pitch -- and start a conversation.

When you call someone, avoid making a mini-presentation about yourself, your company, and what you have to offer. Start with an opening conversational phrase that focuses on a specific problem that your product or service solves. If you don't know what this is, ask your current customers why they purchased your solution. One example of an opening phrase might be, "I'm just calling to see if you'd be open to some different ideas related to lowering the risk of any computer downtime you may be having in your company?" Notice that you are not pitching your solution with this opening phrase.

2) Your central goal is always to discover whether you and your potential client are a good fit.

Let go of trying to "close the sale" or "get the appointment"-- and you will discover that you don't have to take responsibility for moving the sales process forward. If you simply focus your conversation on problems that you can help potential clients solve, and if you don't jump the gun by trying to move the sales process forward, you will find that potential clients will actually bring you into their buying process.

3) When you lose a sale, it's usually right at the beginning of the sales process.

If you believe that you lose sales because you make a mistake at the end of the process, take a look back at how you began the relationship. Did you start with a presentation? Did you use traditional sales language like, "We have a solution that I believe you really need" or "Others in your industry have bought our solution, so you should consider it as well"?

When you use traditional sales language, potential clients can't help but label you with the negative stereotype of "salesperson." This makes it almost impossible for them to relate to you from a position of trust. And if trust isn't established at the outset, honest communication about the problems they're trying to solve, and how you might be able to help them, becomes impossible too.

4) Sales pressure is the only cause of rejection. Rejection should never happen.

Rejection happens for only one reason: Something you said, as subtle as it might have been, triggered a defensive reaction from your potential client. Yes, something you said. To eliminate rejection, simply shift your mindset so that you give up the hidden agenda of hoping to make a sale. Instead, everything you say and do should stem from the basic mindset that you are there to help potential clients. This makes you able to ask, "Would you be open to talking about issues you might be having affecting your business?"

5) Never chase a potential client--you'll only trigger more sales pressure.

"Chasing" potential clients has always been considered normal and necessary, but it's rooted in the macho selling image that, "If you don't keep chasing, it means you're giving up -- and that means you're a failure." This is dead wrong! Instead of chasing potential clients, tell them that you would like to avoid anything that resembles the old cat-and-mouse chasing game by scheduling a time for your next chat.

6) When a potential client offers objections, uncover the truth behind them.

Most traditional sales programs spend a lot of time focusing on "overcoming objections." These tactics only put more sales pressure on potential clients and also fail to explore or understand the truth behind what the potential client is saying. When you hear, "We don't have the budget," "Send me information," or "Call me in a few months," do you think you're hearing the truth, or do you suspect that these are polite evasions designed to end the conversation?

Rather than trying to counter objections, you can uncover the truth by replying, "That's not a problem" -- no matter what clients are "objecting" to -- and then using gentle, dignified language that invites them to reveal the truth about their situation.

7) Never defend yourself or what you have to offer -- it only creates more sales pressure.

When a potential client says, "Why should I choose you over your competition?," your first, instinctive reaction is probably to start defending your product or service because you want to convince them to buy. But what do you think goes through your potential client's mind at that point?

Something like, "This 'salesperson' is trying to sell me on why what they have to offer is better, but I hate feeling as if I'm being sold." Rather than defending yourself, try suggesting that you aren't going to try to convince them of anything because that would only create sales pressure. Instead, ask them about the key problems that they are trying to solve, and then explore how your product or service might solve those problems --without ever trying to persuade.. Let potential clients feel that they can choose you without feeling "sold."

You too can improve your sales effectiveness if you are open minded and willing to try a new and more natural selling approach.

Discover Financial Freedom with an E-book Home Business

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Financial freedom can only be recognized with hard work, innovation, and a popular - but reliable - product or service. But with an Internet business, these three often get clouded with having almost too many opportunities. You can easily get discouraged when researching the overwhelming number of business venues that are available online. But with e-books, many small business owners are discovering financial freedom while offering long-lasting products of value.

E-books are electronic books that might contain graphics, photos, sound, and content relating to any subject. They can also contain links to various web pages for promotions or illustrations. It's very inexpensive to create an e-book, but yet people enjoy reading them every day. E-books are popular online because they are usually inexpensive or free and offer advice and tips on a variety of subjects. The subjects can be anything from "how to earn money online" to "how to start a home business." E-books may also cover more specific subjects such as "how to make money with a crafts business" or "cross-stitching tips for the beginner." The possibilities for e-book subjects are unlimited.

E-book Home Business Facts

Starting an e-book business means you are offering e-books for sale online to a specific target audience. You might sell only one or a few e-books, or you might even sell hundreds of them. The choice is yours, but of course, the more e-books you offer, the more chances you'll have to earn a lucrative income.

Here's how it works. You'll promote your e-books using various techniques such as an e-mail newsletter (e-zine), search engine promotions, paid ads, and other methods. Customers will visit your website to read your presentation. When they purchase one of your e-books, they will download it directly from your website or from an e-mail. You can even automate the entire process to make things easier on you and the customer.

The reason e-books are so successful for gaining financial freedom is because once they're created, you don't have to do anything except promote them. You can create an automated cash system that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. E-books can be sold and downloaded by your customers while you sleep!

Resell E-books to Earn Money

If you don't want to write your own e-books, you can also create a cash system and enjoy financial freedom by reselling e-books that others have written. With this type of home business, you will purchase rights to various e-books, sometimes hundreds of them, and resell them as your own products. Keep in mind that other companies will likely be selling these titles as well. But the Internet is so big, there's plenty of room for everyone!

Some companies provide business opportunities in which you'll receive a number of benefits along with hundreds of e-books to resell. These opportunities may cost a little up front, but are definitely worth the investment for starting your own home business. The e-book products alone can generate a very healthy cash system for years to come.

As with any home business, selling e-books will take some time to build and promote. But once the ball's rolling, you'll enjoy financial freedom and success like never before!

Land and Real Estate in Arizona

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Purchasing land in Arizona

Moving to Arizona has the ultimate choices from purchasing raw land to purchasing land in a more rural area to add a manufactured home to building a luxury custom home.  Finding land is easy; Finding land that is worth purchasing is a totally different story.

I can specifically tell you about Arizona although this might be prevalent in other areas also.  What to watch out for are Land fissures, Drinking water (how far you have to drill to install a pump), natural washes, and natural washes that become re-routed from other building and area growth, and most importantly flood plains.

If you purchase land on a hill or close to a mountain expect to have above average ground movement and more costs for the foundations. Also high speed internet may become an issue unless you can get used to using a high speed cell card.

If you are dreaming of a home with land to have horses and other friendly domestic animals you might check with city ordinances first.  For example if you purchase land that was recently annexed by Surprise AZ. You might be surprised by the no farm animal ordinances.  Even if homeowners nearby already have this type of animal living on the land they have owned for many years this can be a huge issue if that is what you were planning for your land.

Keep in mind that Arizona water is a very big topic here, being in a desert water conservation is very important.  Wells that are functioning now might have to be dug deeper in the future as the land around is developed.  Large subdivisions moving in around you can lower a water table pretty fast and cause you to have to make modifications to your well, the storage tank and also how deep your well is.

Keep Scott Schulte at www.scottschulte.com in mind when your looking for Arizona real state

Custom Web Design and Online Promotion Go Hand-in-Hand

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Many new online business owners have misconceptions about custom web design. It's not only about getting your website up and running. It's about designing every aspect of your website - every "nook and cranny" - to lead your visitors to the ultimate end, a sale. Whether you plan to build a service-oriented website or offer many products, your site's design must have all the ingredients for success from the very start. Be sure the web designer you choose has an understanding of promotion as well as custom web design. Here are some features your site must have to survive among the Internet masses.

An Easily Recognized USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

When a visitor arrives at any of your web pages (not only the homepage), he/she should understand what your site is all about immediately. You only have a split second to grab their attention. Make sure each web page has a powerful keyword-rich headline that will keep the visitor reading.

Graphics that Complement without Dominating the Web Pages

Every website needs a few graphics here and there to make the web design pleasing to the eye, but be sure your graphic design and logo design do not dominate your pages. You want visitors to read your page, not look at your graphics. So, keep graphics to a minimum, and use them only when they help to create an even reading flow on the page. Many sites use a pleasant "newsletter" style when there is much to read on a page, sprinkling graphics or photos throughout the text in a wrap-around sense. For logo design, keep it small and simple. There's nothing more annoying than waiting on a page to load because its logo is too big!

Keyword Rich Content for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Be sure your designer understands about SEO and keywords. Every page of your site should be designed with search engine promotion in mind. This means gearing your meta tags, link text for pages or in menus, headlines, image "alt text" contents, etc. to attract search engine traffic for the long haul.

Easy-to-Use Navigation

Be sure the navigation on your web pages is easy to use. Many visitors will not take the time to "search" for hidden links or to browse through a confusing menu. If ordering custom web design from a professional, write out on paper how you would like your link system to flow from page to page. If you have content, place visible, colored links within the text to give visitors a chance to click while reading. Have menu bars or links in the usual places - sidebars and top/bottom of the web page.

Promote your Website

Some design firms will offer promotion bonuses with a custom web design package. This benefits you because it helps you to get a head start on building traffic. You can take advantage of the design firm's skills and knowledge about Web promotion and search engine optimization. Don't forget to promote your website in every way possible. Print your site address on business cards, newspaper ads, letterhead, etc. Also, promote your site online using only targeted advertising.

Custom web design techniques and promotion are so tightly knit together that it's impossible to separate the two. Be sure to include both in your custom web design plans so you can see positive results from the start!

Get Paid For Free

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Everybody would love to make lots of money quickly, working from home, and only doing a few hours of work per week. I've spent the past two years trying to find a great way of doing this. Only over the course of the past few months have I found any "get rich quick" programs worth buying. I've been trying to make money online for a long time. I had a few small websites, but they never made much more than a few hundred per month. It was easy money and didn't require much work on my part, but I knew there were people out there doing better than I was and I knew I could do as well as them.

Now, I've seen a lot of "get rich quick" programs. Most of these people make claims about earning $2000/day with Google or something similarly insane. Almost all of these people are complete liars. Even if they were making $2000/day with Google AdSense, it'd be because they had high - traffic websites with a lot of quality content. I'd know, because in one whole month, I never even made half of what they promised I'd make daily with their programs. Maybe you've already been scammed by one of these fraudsters. Anyway, I finally got sick of what was being offered.

I decided I'd look through the all of the "get rich quick" programs I could find and see if there were any that were actually legitimate. I found that there were owners selling their programs for well over $100, but the information in them could be found almost anywhere online for free. Additionally, they all contained out-of-date information, had no e-mail support, no money back guarantees, and broken links in the downloads section.

In conclusion, almost all of the programs I found were completely useless. The owners knew it, but they couldn't care less about their customers since they didn't offer refund policies! Amazingly, while looking through all of the programs, I actually did find a few legitimate programs. They were run by ordinary people like you and me, and they had found some great methods of making money from their home by doing very little work.

I spent some time working with those programs, and my income is now ten times what it used to be. These programs provided a large amount of great information on how to make extra money on your computer doing very little work. Numerous customers had provided great feedback and reviews for their products. Many of them have started to make money just days after buying!

Their programs have excellent prices, and the authors have a group of paid staff who are dedicating to helping you or providing assistance if you need any. I must say I was amazed! If you do decide to purchase any of the programs listed below, I recommend you join quickly. Most of the owners tell me they are getting an overwhelming number of sales and plan on raising prices in the near future, so order while prices are still low!

To Your Online Success,

Louis Vuitton and Chanel Come to Panama

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Introduction - Multiplaza Mall in Panama City is now host to a Louis Vuitton Shop and a Chanel Store. Multiplaza Mall has always been the high-end mall of Panama. It is now possible to buy high-end Swiss watches like Breitling and Omega along with Montblanc pens and now we have these two high-end boutique stores as well.

Discussion - Can Panama support these high-end stores? We have had Nautica and Hilfiger for some time down here and they seem to do well but they are hardly high end stores, high middle class products would be more descriptive of them. Do we have enough people willing to spend $900 on a purse or sunglasses, which is thrice what the average worker makes in Panama in a month? We have had Cartier and Rolex stores in Panama City for some time. There is also a Maserati, Ferrari and Porsche dealership as of recent in Panama City. We do see a fair amount of Porsche Cayenne SUV's running around but precious few Porsche cars. It is very rare to see a Maserati or Ferrari but if you go to the causeway on a Sunday afternoon you will see the car collectors do their drive by just for an excuse to drive the car. We do not have a Bentley or Rolls Royce Dealership. Maybe I should say - yet.

High End Goods and Crime - Panama has no car jackings, or if there are any no one ever hears about it. There is no place to go with all the traffic the thief would surely be caught within blocks. People would see the crime, get on their cell phones and the police would soon show up on motorcycles and that would be the end of it. Now what happens if women start to carry $1900 Vuitton purses? Will kids make a running grab for them hoping to sell them for $50 in the local neighborhood? Will the kid be able to tell what is an expensive purse and what is not? Will the kids need a Fagan type guy to train them and to fence the goods? Of course the contents of a $1900 purse would be of interest to the thief as well. Panama City has had a number of enterprising vendors who managed to get Vuitton franchises without even having a storefront (just kidding) and they have placed a lot of Vuitton, Chanel looking products into the country, which may confuse the thieves. What if people take to wearing $20,000 gold and platinum wristwatches in Panama? How will the thieves react to that? One can make a temptation readily for some thief by wearing a $20,000 watch in a country where the average wage is $300 a month.

What Next - Well if Vuitton and Chanel are here we can expect the rest of the high-end designer labels to start opening up? They generally do not like to want to miss out on a market that brands like Vuitton and Chanel are in. Are we going to see Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus opening up here? I would think you could safely bet on it. I would think antique dealers and art galleries will soon follow. Then we will see ultra high end branded restaurants charging outrageous prices for small portions of food like Emerils. We already have rumors that the Hilton Hotel people are going to open up in Panama City and more high end branded hotels can be expected.

Implications - It could be that Panama real estate is just on the way up and the peak prices are far from what they are now. All these high-end retailers have site location analysts that are good or else no one would use them. If they are giving the green light to Panama this is significant information. Panama real estate may be selling for $5,000 a sq. meter or more before you know it. One of the arguments against the high prices has always been the lack of an infrastructure. The city is cleaning the bay, which will actually create something like a useable waterfront. They have plans to manage the traffic. The houses are going up. The hotels are coming in. The airport is being expanded at this time. A cruise terminal is being built. The Canal is being expanded. The Causeway is already developed and looks as good as any Causeway anywhere in the world. This could be it, put on your seats and take the ride the might just get off the ride a lot richer than when you got on.

Free Background Check Online

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Online background check that is Free is virtually non existent. Before you go online looking for that free online background check, consider that there very few resources providing free services. If there were such free online background check resources, there would be no reason for background check companies to be in business.

Background check companies provide a valued service. This valued service comes in means of providing you a online background check report that is not free. Detectiveunlimited.com an affiliate partner of a leading information database company provides you the most accurate instant online background check report.

You should worry about companies claiming to provide you a free background check report online. Detectiveunlimited.com has access to billions of data such as utility bills, rental applications, country court records covering the entire United States.

So if you’re looking to get an online background check report, enter the persons name on the form box. If you are not satisfied with the report, simply ask for a refund.  What we provide you is a RISK FREE solution to your needs.

Read more about <a href= http://detectiveunlimited.com/content/view/19/36/> Free Background Check Online )

What Is Branding?

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Most business owners start with hiring a logo designer to work on their business image, and whilst this is right, it’s important to be clear on what your brand ethos will be before ink hits paper…or with modern design methods it’s more like ‘before mouse hits screen’.

If you aren’t clear on what important messages you wish to present to your customers, you will end up marketing an all together ineffectual image for your business – resulting in reduced impact on your target market and hence less sales.

Whilst it's very important to utilise the services of a high quality logo designer to ensure the success of your business through proper brand design, your brand is about more than just your business name or logo design.

An effective brand tells potential customers what you do and who you are. In addition your brand image is how your business is perceived by it’s customers. Brands are in the minds of customers and nowhere else, and you need to make sure you develop the correct brand image by engineering it deliberately.

A good logo design should however be your starting point for developing a firm footing for the brand development of your business.

Good quality brand development, and indeed your logo design itself as the icon behind this branding, will give you the edge over your competitors, and despite the fact that most small businesses won't have unlimited funds for branding campaigns, they do have several methods available to them for developing a high quality brand and in turn benefit from the perception of the value of that brand.

It's well known that customers will happily pay much more for goods and services provided by 'brand name' companies, and your sales team will find it easier work converting customers who have already heard of your company through your brand marketing and exposure of that all important logo design image linked to this.

A high quality logo design and brand will allow you to introduce new products and services to your customer base and expect a better reception for them, than had you presented yourself as a new unknown brand and a good quality logo design is the image that customers will link with your brand and use to ‘visually remember’ your brand.

If your customers can’t remember you, you’re in trouble. I’m sure you can now understand why a good quality logo design to link to your brand image is so important.

Before you commission a logo design decide on your ethos;

What are you values? What sets you apart from the competition? Once you are clear on that ethos you can work to ensure that you and your team reinforce it with everything you do and say.

Evidence to your customers that that they can trust in your brand to deliver what it always delivers them...that they can always rely on your company to provide this particular quality of products and/or service.

Re-ignite Your Passion For Reading

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One of the greatest memories of my childhood is spending time among books and paper.  I've enjoyed books since I can remember.  The best place to spend quality private or family time is in the library.

Over the last 10 years, however, the Internet has irrevocably changed both access to and obtainment of information.  We have the capacity to take a trip to our nearest wireless device rather than a trip to our local library to get the same information and possibly more.  We have the equivalent of the volumes of books in a library at our fingertips through various electronic mediums.  This opportunity has both positive and negative impacts on our society.

The inarguable convenience of information retrieval by way of the Internet, on the one hand, is an infomaniac's paradise.  And, I am certain that there are a numerous parents who appreciate not having to make those late-night trips to the library to whiz from shelf-to-shelf as the lights flicker with impatience.  On the other hand, we severely lack respect for our educational blessedness and as a result, tend to take advantage of the privilege of having such tremendous access to education resources.

I have a saying, "Convenience is essential to utility."  The way we value a person, place or thing in our lives has to have some basis in their availability to us at any given moment.  But, we cannot automatically equate accessibility with value.  There is a lot of information that we can readily access, but has no inherent value.  It does not teach or edify us in any way, so its value is misrepresented because of its accessibility.  Ironically, the  educational intelligence available to us today in libraries and on the Internet is often underappreciated.

America is a nation rich in culture and community.  In heritage and history.  Nothing saddens me more than to think that our propensity for material gain has overshadowed our appreciation for the national treasury of knowledge, education and wisdom we are privy to.  The illiteracy rate in this country is alarming at least, unacceptable at best.  We need to become a nation of readers again.  We need to read and teach our children to read.  We need to take the family trips to the library to explore the wonders of the world as written by many well-known and not-so-well-known authors.  It is important to make that a priority just to experience the sheer joy of being around books as knowledge and information ooze from them.  Libraries and museums will always be part of the fabric of this country.

For those who are most apt to read electronically, there is now a tidal wave of wireless readers coming ashore.  They boast of instantaneous access to countless thousands of newspapers, books, magazines, blogs, and even, wikipedia.  A civilization is defined by the quality of its education.  It's defined by accessibility to information, but even more importantly, the applicability of information for educational purposes.  We need to become a nation of readers again.  I challenge you to rekindle your love affair with reading.