Getting new leads is the number one business challenge of all small business owners. They are pretty good at closing the deal once they can get in front of decision makers but they are stumped about how to get more meetings. After trying LinkedIn bots, sales funnels, Social Media managers, sales reps, podcasts, etc, if… continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
How unfair is it that you have the ability to sky rocket your business success by public speaking, and yet 75% of the population are afraid to do just that. If you’re one of the few that have overcome your speaking reluctance to grow your business as I have, here are a few things you… continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
With the talented AI tool ChatGPT on everyone’s radar, I thought it would be interesting to ask ChatGPT itself whether it could replace me. After all, I take great pride in my sassy and smart content that I crank out each and every week. For once and for all, I wanted to put my mind… continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
If you got a chance to hear about Meghan Markle’s speech at the Young One World summit this past week, it garnered some royal criticism. As a big fan of Megan’s I had to wince at this snafu because it’s one that hundreds of business owners I meet make every day. They too overuse the… continue reading »
One of the most common phrases sales meetings end with that go nowhere is “we’ll get back to you”. As a former buyer of corporate services, I can tell you a few reasons why I used to use it and some ways you can avoid hearing it at your next sales meeting. The Big Stall… continue reading »
Did you ever think of why anyone would need a potty golf cart? I’ll bet the inventor thought there was a market need for it, am I right? I’m remembering a young interior designer client I had at the start of my business. Her name was Jodie. She had come up with the idea of… continue reading »
A lot of my clients are suffering from this fate. Through years of networking and word-of-mouth, they’ve racked up plenty of leads but they are leaving money on the table because they’re too time-starved to call them back. After all, the old saying goes that there’s a fortune in follow up. In fact, 50% of… continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
This is not a technical article. I’m not going to overwhelm you with details about fonts and functions. Instead, it’s about how to use the magic of a PowerPoint presentation during a persuasive sales presentation to your advantage. Simply avoid these 5 mistakes I’ve seen too often as an 18-year corporate veteran buyer of services:… continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
One of the biggest complaints I get from business owners I meet is that they don’t get into enough new sales meetings with corporate buyers. So I compiled a list of everything we change in our work with clients to get them more meetings. Golden Rules for 2022 The biggest advice I would have for… continue reading »
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 »
“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 »
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 »
I guess you’d have to be living under a rock to miss the “Great Resignation” sweeping through the business world post-pandemic. Well, what you may not realize is that almost half of those looking to quit or who have already left are looking to start their own businesses. They may have a really good reason… continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
You heard right, there’s an actual marketing strategy that gets you almost 100% more return on your investment than regular marketing campaigns and according to latest research data, it’s called Account Based Marketing. What on Earth Is it? Account Based Marketing (ABM) is marketing to a select list of specific prospects one on one. It’s… continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
“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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
2020 was the year that kept giving. It gave me lots of fearful and stressful moments. It gave me some time to reflect and most of all, it gave me the opportunity to port all my business funnels online. Here are 3 ways that I hit the bullseye and how you can also do it…. continue reading »
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 »
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 »
I was almost gleeful when I came upon this quote in an article about “How to Sell Better in 13 Simple Words” in Inc magazine. When I read that a famous speaker who makes 6-figures with every talk said the same thing about brevity and clarity making you more hireable, I almost cried with happiness…. continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
2022 Note to my readers: This is a blog that I wrote 7 years ago when I first started my TV appearance journey. Since then, I’ve done 20 appearances all over the US. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing numerous dogs adopted through this vehicle. Also, my business has increased every year in revenue. So… continue reading »
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 »
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 »
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 »
In order to have it, you need to see it. Whatever your visions are for your life, future and business, you need to be able to visualize them first. When I work with a client, this is one of our first discussions. Corporations with no vision suffer; why should managers be any different? Your vision… continue reading »
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 »
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 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 »
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 »
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 »
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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