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97% Buyers Buy On Testimonials

Chala

Asking a friend has a whole new meaning when it comes to buying. In fact, Nielsen research says that 92% of consumers say that they look for peer recommendations. It’s no different in B2B buying. In this world, testimonials and reviews are the second most important criteria for purchase (direct recommendation is the first one)…. continue reading »

Is Cold Calling Dead?

Chala

Less than a fifth of marketers think that cold calls still get leads (Hubspot research). Why is this happening and what should small businesses be doing instead? Generational Preference By 2025, three quarters of the work force are going to be Millennials. Yes, those people who were born using technology who hate to actually speak… continue reading »

6 Ways To Start a Presentation To Wow

Chala

Recently I did a post on the fact that buyers bounce from your presentation in 15 seconds. How do you stop them in their tracks and make them pay attention from the start? Say Something Controversial As the hallmark of best-in-class speeches, TED talks provide a rich teaching ground for learning how to wow an… continue reading »

15s For Buyers To Ignore A Presentation

Chala

Having written a book called “How to Make Anyone Like You in 7s or Less”, I find it easy to believe that it takes 15 seconds for buyers to look at your presentation deck and decide to ‘bounce’, ie. ignore it. Here are some other eye-popping stats from a recent survey by storydoc.com of 100K… continue reading »

Swag That Sells

Chala

I have been the conference queen this year (luckily) and have been seeing all sorts of swag cross my path. Money and thought has been poured into a lot of them but sadly most are not strategic or memorable. Except one that was handed to me by coincidence from a recent participant in my latest… continue reading »

Speaking Less Sells More

Chala

Ever heard of the 43:57 Rule? It has to do with how less talking actually converts to more sales. Here’s how: Why We Talk More Research shows that talking activates the same pleasure centres as cocaine, sex and food. (Source: Mini Philosophy, Johnny Thompson). But is it hurting your sales? The 43:57 Rule Analysis of… continue reading »

Targeting Mistakes

Chala

Every business that’s launching or trying to grow has to decide who best to target as a customer. Why target? Because without a strategically defined specific target, businesses won’t know who to market to, who to hang out with, who to invest in, whose pain to solve and whose language to speak when marketing to… continue reading »

3 Ways To Minimize Sales Objections

Chala

When selling a high ticket offer to B2B buyers, it’s natural to expect them to have objections. Luckily, stats show that if you satisfy their questions, close rates go up to 64% (source: Webstrategies.com). This begs the question: are there tactics and strategies that can be deployed during the sales conversation to minimize or even… continue reading »

79% of Revenue Champs Do Personalized Marketing

Chala

Creating your own running shoe or using skin matching to find your exact shade of makeup? Personalized marketing isn’t just for the B2C world anymore. It has always been in the B2B world but it has suddenly become even more important in 2023 with the availability of AI driven data usage. What is it? Personalized… continue reading »

3 Signs Your Messaging Isn’t Working

Chala

Your messaging is everything from the copy on your website to what comes out of your mouth when prospects ask you for your elevator pitch. But is it any good? Here a some signs that it may not be working and why. It Doesn’t Convert Month after month you go from meeting to meeting and… continue reading »

80% Marketers Already Prepared for Recession

Chala

There’s a lot of uncertainty lately in the wind. How are big businesses preparing for it? Well Hubspot asked Marketing execs just that question and found that a whopping 80% are already planning for it. Here is what they’re doing to hunker down during the expected storm. Get Free Marketing Getting on TV shows, podcasts,… continue reading »

About Page As a Positioning Tool

Chala

Seeing as how the ‘About’ page is the 2nd most visited section of any website after the ‘Home’ page, you need to be very careful about how you use it. In fact, why don’t you use it to position and differentiate your company? Here’s how… ReThink Ice Cream Story When George Haymaker (pictured above), a… continue reading »

Overcoming Buyer Fatigue

Chala

Having come from two consecutive procurement conferences this month, I can tell you as a certainty that buyers are tired. What exactly is ‘buyer fatigue’? it’s disillusionment. It’s burn-out from seeing too many pitches that go nowhere. It’s buyers feeling less empathy and having less patience with sellers. It’s that buyer’s are quicker to judge… continue reading »

Selling To Non-Decision Makers

Chala

Non-decision makers are the people who might love you and want to buy from you but their hands are tied. There are two reasons I can think of why you’d ever have to sell to a non-decision maker. One is when you simply can’t get to them, ie. your contact won’t grant you access to… continue reading »

Sales Conversation No-No’s

Chala

Trust and establishing a connection with your networks is what gets you into a sales conversation. A recent research in Psychology Today found that there are 6 habits that break a connection during conversations. Here are a few of them and a look at those that affect Sales Conversations. Interrupting This one seems like a… continue reading »

Getting Decision Makers To Talk To You

Chala

One of the biggest struggles of small businesses selling to large corporations is the inability to get a decision maker’s attention or time. It’s the first hurdle that we overcome with my clients since our first month’s work involves doing one on one interviews with targeted decision makers. Here’s what I teach them and how… continue reading »

58% Marketers Don’t Know Their Target

Chala

Have you been wracking your brain about why your marketing ROI is in the toilet? Wonder no more…Hubspot surveyed 1200 marketers recently and almost half (42%) only knew their target audience’s basics like demographics, name and location. Less than half knew about their interests, purchasing history, buying decision tree or where and how they consumed… continue reading »

Why B2B Buying Takes Longer Now

Chala

During my last speech, I mentioned that corporate buying deals were taking longer after the pandemic. An audience member asked why so I dug deep for some research about this. It turns out that more than half of B2B execs report an increased timeline. Here it is…read it and weep.. Taking More Time 60% of… continue reading »

How To Get A Buyer’s Attention

Chala

I’ve attended 3 procurement events in the last 3 weeks and all had one thing in common: small businesses vying for corporate buyer attention. In my observations, I divided the people who got and lost that attention from those who turned it into an actual appointment with the buyer. I call each category Dry Attention… continue reading »

Rejection Therapy For Business Owners

Chala

A Harris Poll survey revealed that although 3 out of 5 people have a business idea, a whopping 92% never do anything about it. Mostly because of the fear of rejection. The bad news is that once you start a business, those fears don’t actually go away. Here is a deep dive into the demon… continue reading »

5 Tells That You’re NOT a Growth Minded Leader

Chala

A 2022 McKinsey research shows that a quarter of companies don’t grow. In fact, one research found that only a tenth of S&P 500 companies grew over GDP for a period of 30 years! All the research has suggested that growth actually is a Decision. It’s not an accident or happenstance. Analysis shows that growth… continue reading »

3 Fears To Tap Into In Your Marketing

Chala

A 2017 UC Berkeley study showed that people’s decisions (including purchasing) were disproportionately swayed by improbable but decidedly negative events. This outweighing of negative consequences when making judgements is something marketers have long been using in their tactics to influence buyers. Here’s how you can also make use of it in your marketing messaging: Extreme… continue reading »

How To Prep For A Sales Meeting

Chala

89% of sales meetings fail according to Forrester research. Having lorded over such meetings as a buyer of services for 18 years and having helped clients actually close these meetings for the past decade, here are some important things to consider before your next big corporate sales meeting. Be An Industry Expert I can’t stress… continue reading »

Make Google Loove (not a typo) You

Chala

How do you get into fickle Google’s black heart (for those of you who have a love-hate relationship with Google, that is!)? How do you become a favourite searched business owner or business? Well, it all starts and ends with one thing: Becoming a Topic Expert. Voice Search One of the biggest trends in search… continue reading »

Shock and Awe Marketing To Woo A Giant

Chala

Account Based Marketing, the art of using big budgets and laser focused targeting (hence my use of the term ‘Shock and Awe’) has always existed. Now, it’s hailed as the number one B2B emerging marketing tactic to land giant new contracts. Here are the steps I take my clients through to plan out a Shock… continue reading »

Fruitless Networking That Goes Nowhere

Chala

I’ve been asked to speak on this topic for a small business group this month. A topic near and dear to my heart, networking has taken a back seat during covid and is trying its best to emerge from the ashes. Regardless of whether you’re still doing online or have started to dip your toe… continue reading »

How To Write Your LinkedIn Bio

Chala

It’s an inarguable fact that whether you care about your online presence of not, prospects will look you up on LinkedIn. So if you want your profile bio to be working hard for you, here are some basics that you should include in your account. Clarity of Niche As I’m a niching coach, you know… continue reading »

How To Persuade In Business

Chala

Persuasion isn’t just the title of my favourite Jane Austen movie (first a novel of course!). It’s something you need to use when speaking to anyone from your employees to prospects to even your kids! As a professional marketer, I’ve delved deep into the topic. I even wrote a book called “How to Make Anyone… continue reading »

Request For Proposal Winning Secrets

Chala

I had the pleasure of teaching an RFP training at last week’s WBENC conference. To prepare, I dug deep into what I knew as a former purchaser of services at Pepsi-Cola, Pizza Hut, Frito-Lay for 18 years, and I looked up some recent research about how to win at these mysterious events. Here are some… continue reading »

Maybe It’s Not Your Messaging

Chala

Ever wonder why you have no or low marketing ROI? Maybe it’s not because your message is bad. Even though messaging is the most critical part of a marketing strategy, plenty else could be going wrong for you. Here are a few things that might be happening… Outreach A client and I spent a month… continue reading »

The Cost Of Not Listening

Chala

Listening seems like the most logical thing to do in business, doesn’t it? Yet everyday, I see the heavy cost that businesses pay for not listening. I see it in the news, in my practice and all around me. Here is my breakout on where you, the business owner need to listen best and some… continue reading »

Salesperson Loneliness Is Killing Your Sales (Research)

Chala

With the onslaught of the Covid phenomenon, suicide, mental illness, divorce and depression rates have all gone up. Sadly, salespeople aren’t immune to this. A new study conducted by Dr. Good says that salespeople are actually lonely and it’s costing you, the business owner, your sales. Here’s why… Why Lonely? Zoom isolation is the first… continue reading »

4 Stupid Questions To Ask a Buyer

Chala

As a purchaser of services for 18 years working for sexy brands like Pepsi, Pizza-Hut, Frito-Lay and Smirnoff, I can honestly say that I’ve heard a lot of stupid questions. But my insider info actually comes from a much more recent source: the buyers I work with through diversity certifying organizations that I specialize in… continue reading »

5 Common Traits of Clients Who Crush It

Chala

After my most recent testimonial interview with a client, I started to think about what is different amongst the people who hire me and succeed vs those who don’t. If you’re also interested in business growth, you might want to take a look at the list yourself… Are Motivated The kind of client that I… continue reading »

The Art of Stealing (Curating) Content

Chala

Most of my clients go one of two ways about creating newsletters, blogs or videos: They outsource or stay silent. Either way is not optimal since outsourcing it often turns into a generic soup of mishmash that blends in with what everyone else is saying in the market. And we all know the consequences of… continue reading »

Why Referral Based Businesses Are Weaker

Chala

Do you know that most small businesses I meet are referral based? In fact, a research by thinkimpact.com reveals that 75% of B2B decision are made based on word-of-mouth recommendations. It’s no wonder that 65% of B2B leads come from referrals. Referrals are awesome. They are free (unless you pay a referral fee or have… continue reading »

How To Know If Your Price Is Right

Chala

Thanks to the war and the post-pandemic inflation, price increases are affecting every facet of our lives and businesses. When you are selling a product, it’s easier to price it. After all, there’s your cost of product, then transportation, then packaging and your margin to base your price on. But when it comes to pricing… continue reading »

Tired B2B Marketing

Chala

Are you ready to go from tired to inspired marketing that actually gets you a big ROI? Statistics say that the cost of acquiring a new client has gone up by 50% (paid and organic included) in 5 years! (source: Profitwell.com) The main reason for that is that it’s even harder to get your prospects’… continue reading »

Women’s Day Entrepreneur Advice

Chala

Happy International Women’s Day. Weirdly started by the Socialist Party of America in 1911 (!) and then adopted by the UN in 1977, this is a day to celebrate and recognize women all over the world. In doing my part of the said celebration, I wanted to look up how we’re actually doing as women… continue reading »

B2B Website Mistakes 2022 Edition

chala

73% of B2B buyers look at the supplier’s website before contact. Especially now that most buyers have claimed that in-person purchasing is going to become a thing of the past. Your website has never been more important. What mistakes could be turning off those corporate buyers even before they hit Enter? Brochure vs. Lead Funnel… continue reading »

6 Super-Niches That Are Exploding in 2022

chala

Thanks to the pandemic, 2021 was called the ‘decade-in-a-year’. That’s where the world had to compress adapting to new things they’d normally adapt to in 10 years, to doing it in just one. Grandmothers learned to Zoom. Babies joined online kindergarten. It was a whiplash and a half for most of us. Entire industries were… continue reading »

How To Know When it’s Time to Reposition

chala

The name of my company, The Repositioning Expert was created by my coach when she noticed that most clients who came to me for business development help were leaving with a whole new niche and positioning. With this new positioning, they were finding a lot more opportunities than before. Therefore, I become the ‘Repositioner’. So… continue reading »

Pandemic Networking

chala

In person networking has started slowly to emerge from the ashes but it’s still iffy. Uncertainty rules. People are still hesitant. Organizers aren’t banking on filling event seats anymore. So how does a business owner continue to network online to get new clients, referral partners and suppliers? Here’s how… Clarify The biggest skill you will… continue reading »

B2B Upselling and Cross-selling 101

chala ,

The surefire way to get more revenue from your existing client base is the magic of up and cross-selling. Let’s break down and unpack this beast so you can finally dip your toe into this never-ending pool of opportunity. Just so we’re all on the same page: Upselling is selling the something and making it… continue reading »

5 Things Your Sales Team Should Stop Doing

chala

Sophie became my client when she realized that her sales team was converting sales very slowly. They couldn’t get enough appointments on the books and it often took close to a year to finalize and close sales from these appointments. When she saw me present about this very topic, she hired me to help. Here’s… continue reading »

Sales Meeting Ninja Success Tricks

chala

What’s a Ninja trick? In my mind at least, it’s being able to do something super smoothly and perfectly with no effort. That’s what I think of when I talk about ninja success tricks. And luckily a marketing company called Gong has analyzed hundreds of sales meetings in 2021 to come up with some very… continue reading »

How To Grow 75% In One Year

chala

Say what? Yes, that’s right, my bookkeeper and accountant who were working on my year end recently, pointed out that indeed, my revenue had a 75% growth over the previous year. I knew things had been going well but to see it quantified in a final number was quite different. So I reflected on all… continue reading »

5 B2B Buyer Dealbreakers

chala

“We’ve decided to go another way” is the dreaded sentence you hear from B2B buyers who you’re trying to sell to from time to time (hopefully not too often!) A Kornferry study of 261 B2B Buyers tells the real story of why you’re getting rejected. Here are the top 5 reasons why buyers say “No,… continue reading »

Why 70% of Marketing Content Is Unused

chala

Unused by sales that is… A B2B study by research and consulting company Forrester claims that 60-70% of marketing content remains unused by sales departments. As someone who has worked in both, this is no surprise to me and I’d like to talk about why (and of course, what to do about it!) No Strategic… continue reading »

5 Things Corporate Buyers Want

chala

Look Like a Hero When I bought services for Pepsi, Pizza Hut and Frito Lay for 18 years, that’s all I ever wanted. I wanted to be the one to bring an innovation, a cost saving, a unique new methodology to do something we already did, you name it. I wanted to look like the… continue reading »

3 Wrong Ways To Pick Your Niche

chala

I’ve recently had the pleasure of exploring working with a prospect who was in need of a niche to differentiate his new consulting business. The prospect was a strategic thinking former CEO of several successful startups that he’d built to 7-figures. He had done the right thing and hired an expert to help him figure… continue reading »

How To Prep For A Matchmaker Meeting

chala ,

As a certified WBE and a coach who works with MBE’s, I know that the biggest buyer pet peeve during matchmaker meetings is the vendor that shows up unprepared. I’ve even heard stories of WBEs and MBEs asking the buyers during the meeting what they actually do as a company. So, after reading this, I… continue reading »

3 WBE Secrets To Landing a Sale

chala

So you’ve got your WBENC certification and you’re looking forward to all the business that’s going to come rolling in from the big corporations. If you’re not sure how to put your shiny new’ diverse supplier’ status to work for you, here are the 3 secrets I’ve found in working exclusively with WBEs in landing… continue reading »

How To Ask A Client For A Price Increase

chala

I’d like to thank my clients for constantly giving me great material to blog about here. This week’s topic comes courtesy of a long-time client who is planning on announcing his price increase shortly to his beloved trusted customers. If you’ve never asked your clients for a raise, then it’s time to take a look… continue reading »

Terrified Of Creating Content

chala

Almost every client I’ve met has told me that while they don’t blink at running multi-Million Dollar corporations, they’re very uncomfortable (in fact, some have confessed to being terrified) at creating any type of content for their marketing. When I say ‘content’, I mean writing a blog, a newsletter, making a speech, posting a social… continue reading »

Bad Differentiators That Can Make You Go Broke

chala

“I did everything opposite to the competition and yet I still failed” mourned my podcast guest on my aptly named show, Naked Marketing. This is where guest entrepreneurs get naked with their marketing mistakes and show us their vulnerable side so we can avoid their mistakes. It occurred to me as I listened to my… continue reading »

Clients Who Back Out

chala

The ugly face on the down side of the big high of a new sale is when the client backs out in a severe case of buyer’s remorse. But there are ways that you can prevent it and reposition it so that you never have to be disappointed in this way again. Welcome Gift As… continue reading »

7 Shark Tank Tips For The Perfect Pitch

chala

Resident Shark “QVC Queen” Lori Grenier knows a thing or two about pitching. Selling out of anything she pitches on QVC, she’s also been on the receiving end of hundreds of Shark Tank pitches. In this Inc.com article, she has 7 tips to share with us entrepreneurs for a perfect pitch. As a pitch coach,… continue reading »

Meetings That Go Nowhere

chala

Sales Meetings, that is..In fact, B2B sellers waste, on average, over $38,000** per year in direct costs on meetings that go nowhere and 62% of initial meetings do not progress to next meeting.***  As the purchaser of services for 18 years I have a few secrets that I teach my clients on what to do to make sure that you… continue reading »

Never Delegate Sales Except..

chala

I’m going to make a bold statement: never delegate sales except if you have a working mastery of it yourself. You don’t have to be the Yoda of sales but you should have a level of success with it. I was reminded of this wisdom when I interviewed Bryan Clayton of Greenpal on my podcast…. continue reading »

Stop Phoning Prospects (unless you know them)

chala

I never thought I would ever say this in my life but a phone call I got yesterday changed my mind about calling prospects you don’t have a basic relationship with (ie. they recognize your name when you tell them who you are). Here’s what you can learn from my strange experience. Creepy Factor A… continue reading »

Super-Niching a Giant

chala

I’ve been asked to do a training for giant sized B2B companies that have close to a Billion Dollars in revenue about helping their sales grow. Of course, the only thing I’m always talking about over and over, year after year is the whole concept of super-niching. But does it apply to giant corporations? How… continue reading »

How To Waste A Conference

chala

I have conference fever! If you’re also going to a conference soon to build your business and to get new clients, then go ahead and read on. Here’s how to waste that conference you’re going to: Go to a Conference Only To Learn Personally, I only ever go to a business conference with the objective… continue reading »

The Paradox of Choice-When Offering Too Much Can Hurt Your Business

chala

Being able to serve your clients in too many ways can actually hurt your business. A slew of research shows that the availability of too many options can confuse prospects and paralyze customers. In psychologist Barry Schwartz’s book, The Paradox of Choice, he talks about how an abundance of data leads to angst, indecision, regret, and ultimately lowered satisfaction with both… continue reading »

55% Leave Your Website Within 15 Seconds

chala

Your messaging has never been more important. According to a study done by Chartbeat, it takes literally seconds for prospects to decide if you can help them or not. If it’s so critical that you engage them, what do you say on your website? Don’t Be A Generalist Do the market analysis and the math… continue reading »

How Having a Niche Can Save You In a Recession

chala

What does having a really clearly defined narrow niche in both what industry you target and what specialty you offer have to do with thriving in a recession? The short and surprising (not to me) answer is EVERYTHING.Here’s why: Price Cutting When a business is hit with lower sales and the awful fear of ever… continue reading »

13 Tips to Stay Motivated in the Dog Days of Summer

chala , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Toronto’s having a great summer. It’s hot, it’s sunny and everything in my backyard is beckoning me to drop my work and take a break or a siesta in the lazy hazy days of summer. I ran into this cool article about tips to avoid temptation and I share it with my fellow wanna-be-lazy entrepreneurs here:… continue reading »

The Mid Manager Salvation

chala

I think I was born a mid level manager. With the exception of my cemetery property telemarketing gigs as a student, from my first job in a developing country all the way to my current job as a Brand Manager at BIC, I’ve always been a mid-level manager. Being a mid-level manager is akin to… continue reading »

“I’m sorry, I just didn’t get to it because I didn’t have enough time"

chala , , , ,

This phrase is one of the most frequent things I hear from my clients at some point in the coaching process. The clients who utter this phrase are usually apologizing for an incomplete stretch (homework assigned by the coach), an unsent prep form (usually sent each week before every coaching session) or a really important… continue reading »

“What exactly is it that you do?”

chala

That age old question small business owners encounter is really at the crux of a lot of my clients’ key business issues. They have no clarity around what specific product or service best represents what they actually do or sell. Some people are so conflicted about which product or service to focus on that incredibly,… continue reading »

“I wish I could just stop the negative thoughts!”

chala

I find a surprising correlation between my clients’ challenges each week – a common theme always seems to emerge among them. It’s surprising because, in most cases, these clients have never met one another. Their shared concerns are often the inspiration for my e-zines. This week, the common theme among my clients was negative thoughts…. continue reading »

The Coach Manager

chala , ,

Have you ever experienced the wonder of a boss who let you bring value to the table in your own way without interference and yet was always surprisingly there when you needed her support? This manager was in essence, what in the professional coaching world is called a Coach Manager. In May of 2001, a… continue reading »

“I had no idea that’s why I acted like this!”

chala

Values are the parents of your chosen or unconscious behaviour. If someone at a meeting or a party rubs you the wrong way, chances are that you have picked up something about them that doesn’t fit your set of core values. On my website, you’ve had an opportunity to glimpse my core values: Love& Compassion,… continue reading »

Five techniques for effective networking by Mike Aoki

chala

Ever heard of the old adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know?” How do you meet people in your profession? Well, one method is to meet people at industry seminars and conferences. Imagine being in a conference ballroom filled with people. How do you start a conversation with a total stranger? Before… continue reading »

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