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 »
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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