A Roadmap to Sales Success

To unsubscribe, see the bottom of this email.


“Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make. It is the art of identifying and understanding customer needs and creating solutions that deliver satisfaction to the customers, profits to the producers and benefits for the stakeholders.” - - Philip Kotler
Vol. 1 No. 2 October, 2003	Feel free to pass this newsletter along if it can help others.

SPECIAL NOTE: Free seminar at the Cary Chamber of Commerce's Business Expo 2003, how to "Hit a Grand Slam in Profitability" at 10:00 a.m. and again at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 29, 2003. Please see: http://www.carychamber.com/ for details.

About the “Roadmap …”

Each issue of the “Roadmap to Sales Success” will contain items of interest to the business (especially the sales) community.

In addition, each issue will also feature one in a series of “progressive” articles to help you through the “Sales Cycle.” Following is the schedule:

No. 1	-	“The Importance of Sales/Salespeople”
No. 2	-	“Understanding Your Offering/Your Market”
No. 3	-	“Reaching Your Decision - Makers”
No. 4	-	“Things to Say When You Do Make Contact”
No. 5	-	“Offering Your Offering - in the Best Light”
No. 6	-	“Handling Obstacles/Objections/Concerns”
No. 7	-	“Closing a Sale”
No. 8	-	“Cultivating Lasting Relationships”
No. 9	-	“Networking for Results”
No. 10	-	“Importance/Use of a Customer Data Base”

This Month’s Sales Tips …

“What are the dimensions of values that your customers care about?” – Treacy and Wiersema – The Discipline of Market Leaders

“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem!" - - G. K. Chesterson

Upcoming Events involving Sales Partners:

10/14/2003	-	Wake Tech Seminar
10/29/2003	-	Cary Chamber Expo Speaker
11/18/2003	-	Holly Springs Chamber Luncheon Speaker
01/26/2004	-	Wake Tech Sales Class Starts
01/29/2004	-	Wake Tech Cust Svce Class Starts

Please see:
http://www.salespartnersinc.com for details

UNDERSTANDING YOUR OFFERING/YOUR MARKET - - Vol. 1 No. 2 - - October 1, 2003

“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” - - Eleanor Roosevelt

As with any worthwhile endeavor, the very first thing that you’ll want to do is to sit down and craft up your plan. For this issue, it will suffice to say that you’ll need an offering (product/service) plan and a marketing plan.

Your Offerings:

Clearly, if you’re going to expect customers to want your offerings, you must have a thorough understanding of them:

What is your product or service offering?
What determined its need and is the need growing or shrinking?
Who needs it and how do they benefit from it?
How much should you charge for it?

Before you can accurately answer those questions, it is very helpful to have some “Industry Knowledge.” Among other sources, that can come from:

Experience/Exposure
Formal/Informal Training, SEMINARS, etc.
Industry Groups/Specialists
Reading/Trade Press/Other Media
And, God Forbid – the CUSTOMERS!!

“The greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished." – - George Bernard Shaw

Your Market - what is a “Market” anyway?
Merriam-Webster’s (online) dictionary has several definitions. Perhaps the ones that most suit our needs here are:

“4 a (1) : a geographical area of demand for commodities or services
      (2) : a specified category of potential buyers <the youth market>
    b : the course of commercial activity by which the exchange of commodities is effected : extent of demand
    c (1) : an opportunity for selling <a good market for used cars>
       (2) : the available supply of or potential demand for specified goods or services <the labor market>”

Validating your offerings
You will want to conduct thorough “Market Research” to confirm the viability of your plans/offerings. If this is not possible, start with small “focus groups”, samplings, “free trials”, etc. But don’t get too far afield without some input from prospective buyers.

"Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals." - - David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising, 1983.

Next issue:
Be on the lookout for next issue of “Roadmap …” where the topic will be: “Reaching Your Decision-Makers.”

Until then, Good Selling!!


Helpful Hints this month: If you need highly-professional help keeping/growing your “nest egg”, contact Tim Mowrey at: http://www.mowreyinvest.com/ Looking for BIG marketing results on a SMALL budget? See FatCat Creative: http://www.fatcatcreative.com/ Need a dynamic sales organization for professional development and networking? Visit the Triangle Area Sales Professionals at: http://www.taspro.org/ And, of course, to improve your sales situation, please see: SALES PARTNERS, INC. ^SM http://www.salespartnersinc.com/		About Sales Partners, Inc. ^SM … SALES PARTNERS, INC. ^SM (through it subsidiaries SALES CONSULTING, INC. ^SM and SALES TRAINING, INC. ^SM and its strategic alliances) provides targeted and prescriptive training and consulting to companies, groups, and individuals; to help them improve customer satisfaction, increase revenue, and enhance sales productivity. For questions or comments, please send an e-mail to info@salestraininginc.com Subscribe to the “Roadmap …”