Small Business Toolbox

A library of business management info


Sales

  • Retail vs. Online Sales: Which Area Needs More Attention?
    04/23/2008
    Like many of today's entrepreneurs, you may be trying to divide your attention between a physical storefront and an online presence. As you only have so many hours in a day, you may feel torn as to where to spend the bulk of your energies.
  • Selling Longtime Customers on Price Increases
    03/05/2008
    Inflation and the rising costs of business often make it necessary to increase prices. While it's easy to introduce new customers to new rates, some business owners may feel hesitant about raising prices on longstanding customers for fear that customers will react by taking their business elsewhere. But there are ways to make a price hike easier for regular clients to bear, so they are rewarded for their loyalty and your business earns the money it deserves.
  • Co-op Purchasing Plan Links Small-Business Owners and Local Governments
    11/20/2007
    The Federal Cooperative Purchasing Program is an easy and stress-free way for entrepreneurs who specialize in information technology to readily offer some of their products and/or services to state and local governments.
  • Watch Those Speed Bumps: Avoiding Six Common Sales Mistakes
    08/29/2007
    Not all sales interactions run smoothly; even the best salespeople inevitably hit a bump in the road. Maybe you've hit that bump because you unwittingly mishandled a situation, or your customer had conflicted feelings about a sale. Either way, if you want to salvage your hard work and make sure the sale goes through, you must learn to deal with these obstacles to meet your customer's needs.
  • Maximize Your Chances When Responding to an RFP
    07/12/2007
    If your company becomes involved in a Request for Proposal process (RFP), there are specific issues that require careful attention, not only to maximize your chances for selection from among other candidates, but to avoid getting into a situation that could prove extremely time-consuming and costly, both before and after the selection.
  • Handling Complaints From Employees and Customers
    04/03/2007
    An anonymous person once said, "Might as well forget your old troubles; there are more coming." Chances are, there are not many managers who consistently welcome complaints from employees or customers. Complaints come at the manager as problems demanding attention--annoyances that consume their precious time. It's easy to see complaints as unwelcome troubles; we know that although today's problems may be history by the day's end, tomorrow will bring new ones. Like it or not, complaints are an inevitable part of supervising employees and serving customers.
  • The Importance of Being Honest
    11/06/2006
    Advertising is regulated both by the Federal Trade Commission and at the state level, and non-compliance can be costly. Before you release any advertisement, it pays to check out the state and federal rules to make sure you are in compliance.
  • Tried-and-True Marketing Tactics
    10/30/2006
    Marketing principles have been tested for decades; yet many small-business owners refuse to make a commitment to marketing. Here are some common marketing strategies to help you get the correct message to your targeted customers.
  • Knowing the Right Time to Sell
    10/23/2006
    Many business owners think about selling their business at one time or another. If you've considered selling yours, it's important to determine the right time to do so. Ask yourself these 10 questions before taking any action.
  • Don't Undercharge for Your Services
    10/09/2006
    During the start-up phase of a business, pricing of products and services is a key issue. In fact, accuracy in pricing is one of the key factors in whether a company will exist through the all-important first few years.
  • Building Loyalty in Your Business
    08/30/2006
    Why spend time and money chasing new customers with glossy marketing campaigns if you can't be sure that they'll stick around? Selling to people you already know is much more profitable and predictable. And part of the payoff is that your regulars will spread the word about your business to everyone they know––advertising you can't buy.
  • The Next Small Thing: Why Bigger Isn't Always Better
    07/25/2006
    "I don't have anything against big business," Jason Fried says. "It's just not for me."
  • The High Cost of Low Prices: Discounted Prices Don't Always Guarantee Bigger Sales
    07/25/2006
    When Yvonne Shortt started Rego Park, N.Y.-based Waddevah five years ago, she knew how she was going to win sales: low prices. But slogging it out on the sticker price meant losing money in her wholesale and online retail accessories business.
  • Simply the Best: How to Find and Keep the Best Customers
    07/25/2006
    When Scott Kremp decided to close six branches of Kremp Florist, a business his father started 50 years ago in the Philadelphia suburbs, and devote more resources to his two main stores, he knew he risked losing customers. Instead, he gained more than ever before. "Another flower shop may offer a different selection or a lower price, but if we focus on what we are doing well, customers will realize that and come back to us," Kremp says.
  • Stop Selling: New Sales Technique Encourages Backing Off
    07/25/2006
    In his courses on effective sales techniques, Doug Harvey tells students that the best way to sell something is not to sell it at all. "Selling is not, 'Here's a great product or service with all these wonderful features, so buy it,'" says Harvey, who teaches sales classes for Aquascape Designs, a Batavia, Ill.-based pond manufacturer.
  • Class Act
    07/25/2006
    Small-business owners who offer educational classes to customers have discovered: If you teach them, they will buy.
  • Web Site Magic: Eleven Ways You Can Engage Visitors
    07/13/2006
    No question about it: the World Wide Web has become a powerful marketing arsenal, responsible for an ever-growing volume of profit in virtually every industry. Whatever the trends show, at the end of the day what matters is your own Web site. Does your content have what it takes to fully engage visitors and motivate them to buy? If you're not able to answer this question, you might be missing sales volume and profit.
  • Overcome Your Fear of Cold Calling
    07/05/2006
    What can strike terror into the heart of even the most successful sales professional or entrepreneur? What can crush self-confidence, destroy self-esteem and leave even the most seasoned sales professional quivering with humiliation and defeat? Cold calling.
  • Creating a Company Web Site
    06/02/2006
    By now, most people realize that to be competitive in today's fast-paced business environment, having a Web site is an absolute necessity. Making the decision to get a Web site up and running is simple. The hard part is deciding whether to pay a professional Web designer to do it or to do it yourself.
  • Uncommon Enterprise: Crowd Control
    05/25/2006
    Joe Biggins hangs out with some real dolls--though some might call them dummies. But Biggins isn't fazed. After all, these dolls are the core of his one-of-a-kind business, the Inflatable Crowd Company, which supplies plastic mannequins for crowd scenes in movies like "Million Dollar Baby," "Cinderella Man" and "The Phantom of the Opera."
  • Test New Waters
    05/25/2006
    Expanding into new areas that complement your existing business is a good way to boost profits. But experienced business owners say look before you leap.
  • Brushed With Greatness
    05/25/2006
    After spending a week styling hair at the White House, Luna Howard knew her small business had made the cut.
  • A Perfect Fit
    05/25/2006
    Some small businesses are getting money from large, national brands.
  • Keeping Customers Happy While Downsizing Services
    04/27/2006
    Sometimes, small businesses must take stock to see what’s working and what’s not, and in doing so, they may find that certain products or services aren’t profitable. If this is the case, it’s time to make some difficult decisions about whether you should discontinue these practices, and how to tell current customers about the changes.
  • Make the Right Contact
    04/24/2006
    It’s no surprise that it takes multiple customer contacts to make a sale. So what is the magic number of contacts, and what constitutes a sales contact? Recent studies have estimated that it takes at least five progressive calls, on average, in order to get the business. However, the same study also indicated that almost all salespeople quit calling on the business after the fifth call. Successful businesses systematically prospect and build partnerships to achieve outstanding results.
  • The Art of Negotiation
    04/18/2006
    Negotiation is an art. The key to mastering it is using the right negotiation style on the right person. Knowing which style suits which type of customer or client can help you make the sale, close the deal or diffuse a tense conversation.
  • Setting Sales Quotas Without Sacrificing Customer Service
    03/30/2006
    When demanding sales quotas are established, salespeople naturally focus on finding new customers and closing sales instead of providing ongoing backup service for existing customers. This can be counterproductive for a small company because long-term growth almost always depends on building customer loyalty. When establishing quotas, managers of small companies should be conscious of the possibility that sales staff may sacrifice customer service to meet immediate sales goals.
  • It's Been a Month: Keeping Resolutions for Your Small Business
    02/01/2006
    Like many small-business owners, my New Year's resolution is to make more money this year, but how do I actually keep that promise? The secret to keeping your business resolutions is to put a plan in place early on and then take consistent action to follow the plan.
  • Protecting Your Ideas When Talking With Investors, Potential Partners
    01/26/2006
    Entrepreneurs need to protect proprietary ideas when approaching investors, potential partners, new employees and others. There are two stages to assuring this protection. The first takes place before actually contacting individuals; the second involves having proper legal documentation at the time of the meeting.
  • Increasing Sales by Capitalizing on an Untapped Market
    01/23/2006
    In order to reach target objectives and stay ahead of the competition this year, it is critical for businesses deliver better services to existing customers and expand their markets by developing new customer bases. One largely untapped market is the disability market—which can be an economically advantageous niche for business.
  • Drawing the Hispanic Market
    01/20/2006
    Being able to effectively communicate with as many people as possible is a key element in promoting and maintaining a business. One way to do this is to consider the needs of the fastest growing minority group in the country––Hispanics.
  • The Six-Month Effect
    12/14/2005
    Veteran sales pros understand that sales have a six-month effect. This means that some––and possibly the majority––of sales presentations and sales efforts you make today will result in closed sales six months or so in the future.
  • The Four Phases of a Sales Presentation
    06/03/2005
    Speaking broadly, you can think of every sale as having four distinct phases. These phases sometimes blur into one another, or course, as the interaction between two or more individuals proceeds. But in general, the phases can be described as follows:
  • Should You Offer a New Product or Service With the New Year?
    12/22/2004
    As the year winds to a close, one of the most important questions you may be asking yourself as a small-business owner is, "Should I introduce a new product or service next year?" Although you may be tempted to immediately answer yes, there are things to consider before you take that step.
  • Know Before You Go: Preparing for a Sales Call
    11/17/2004
    Too many salespeople know everything about their product or service, and nothing about their prospective client or customer.
  • In-House or Outside Sales Force: Which is Best for Your Small Business?
    08/11/2004
    Looking to make a sales team, but not sure how to do it? It’s important to weigh out all of your options before you make your choice. You can build an in-house sales force, but with that team comes all of the responsibilities of adding a few more full-time employees. Another option is to use independent agents, but then you are subjected to their schedule and their preferences.
  • Six Basic Steps Toward Sales Success
    07/07/2004
    There are six basic principles of sales success. Unfortunately, many of your salespeople may not know them or bother following them. So, as an employer, how can you encourage your salespeople to commit to excellence?
  • The One Rule Successful Salespeople Never Forget
    06/16/2004
    Successful salespeople never forget one thing: long-term success is built on establishing personal relations with customers, not looking at a sale as a one-time event. Career salespeople understand that it’s far easier to sell additional products or services to a person than it is to make the first sale.
  • The Difference Between Order-Takers and Salespeople: Which Do You Want Your Staff to Be?
    06/09/2004
    Almost every business has both order-takers and true salespeople among its sales staff. How can you tell the difference?
  • Jump-start Sales With Fresh Ideas
    05/05/2004
    Here are five ideas to help get you started.
  • Appealing to the Young Crowd
    04/28/2004
    Although many retailers think the babyboomers and seniors are the population segments that have the cash to spend on services and products, they shouldn't overlook teenagers.
  • Customizing Your Presentation to Your Audience
    04/14/2004
    The purpose of any business presentation is to share your ideas, get your message across and hopefully influence people to buy in to whatever concept or product you are presenting.
  • Listening to Prospective Customers
    03/03/2004
    Whether it's you making the sales pitch or a member of your sales team, listening to the customer and finding out their needs first puts you on the right path to scoring new business.
  • Compete with Chain Stores by Focusing on High-End Customers
    02/11/2004
    In order to compete with the massive buying power of chain stores, small businesses should consider focusing on a market segment the chains usually don't concentrate on.
  • Sales by Listening
    02/06/2004
    There are two types of salespersons: those who talk, and those who listen. Almost every successful salesperson falls into the second category.
  • Leave Your Mark With Promotional Giveaways
    12/16/2003
    Because you want to keep your name in front of other business owners, you probably have promotional giveaways that sport your business's logo.
  • What You Need to Know About Your Competitors
    11/12/2003
    A company's success depends largely on knowing as much as possible about competitors.
  • Increase Sales With Convincing Point-of-Purchase Materials
    09/26/2003
    The next time you hold a special event or sale, plan ahead by making sure that you have eye-catching and convincing point-of-purchase (POP) materials.
  • Convincing Reluctant Customers
    09/22/2003
    To close the deal, keep in mind the following tips when trying to convince a reluctant client that starting a project today is the right decision.
  • Beat the Competition
    08/25/2003
    Before you start selling to others, consider the following factors that can help set your product or service apart from the competition:
  • Is Fear of Rejection Holding Your Company Back?
    06/13/2003
    When an attempted sale turns into rejection, it is often easy to withdraw from sales to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of hearing the answer "No."
  • Six Ways to Close the Deal
    05/19/2003
    Here are six examples of closing techniques to try on different types of customers.
  • How to Sell Over the Telephone
    05/05/2003
    Here is what you should know about telephone sales techniques.
  • Promotional Strategies
    03/24/2003
    The possibilities for promotions can be as varied as your imagination.
  • Knowing Your Customers' Buying Motives
    03/17/2003
    In order for your business to have effective sales promotions, you need to understand customers' buying motives.
  • Selling to Customer Categories
    12/02/2002
    Help your employees recognize the types of shoppers who enter your store and how to sell to them accordingly.
  • Get Your Foot in the Door: Make an Offer They Can't Refuse
    11/18/2002
    You need to make prospective customers rethink their relationships with other vendors.
  • Get Your Sales Calls Returned
    11/04/2002
    Many salespeople's calls are not returned because they don't provide relevant information or pique interest.
  • Generate Business by Making Cold Calls One Morning a Week
    10/28/2002
    The rewards of cold-calling can be tremendous for any growing business.
  • Point-of-Purchase Displays
    09/13/2002
    Regardless of what you sell, you can increase a productÆs impact on potential customers by setting up point-of-purchase displays.
  • Psychology of the Corporate Buyer
    08/09/2002
    Throughout this process, you should keep in mind the unspoken need buyers have to not make a mistake.
  • What Secrets Do Your Sales Records Hold?
    06/03/2002
    By taking a few moments to examine sales records (weekly or monthly), you might notice unexpected trends in customers' purchases.
  • Places To Showcase Your Products or Services for Free
    05/24/2002
    Think of the last time you were waiting for a flight, bus or train. You probably walked past one or more exhibits placed or sponsored by private local businesses.
  • Boost Sales by Honing in on Personality Traits
    04/15/2002
    Any experienced salesperson knows that customer personalities vary widely, and that sales success often depends on tailoring a presentation to take advantage of certain personality traits.
  • Web Prospecting -- Track Down and Qualify Sales Leads on the Internet
    04/15/2002
    Now that the information superhighway leads to the world's biggest shopping mall, more and more businesses are testing the selling power of the World Wide Web.
  • Don't Limit the Ways Your E-customers Can Pay for Their Purchases
    04/15/2002
    In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses suggests five ways to take payments from online customers.
  • Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping
    04/02/2002
    This landmark book, published early in 1999, was the result of more than 20 years of hands-on research.
  • Collect Information About Your Customers at the Time of Sale
    04/02/2002
    Outstanding customer relations don't just happen. They are the result of careful planning and dedicated attention over time.
  • Use Added Value to Boost Profitability When You're in Direct Competition
    04/02/2002
    When you're in direct competition with other businesses that provide almost exactly the same product or service you do, it's always a temptation to attempt increasing sales by lowering your price.
  • Friends and Family: To Charge or Not To Charge
    04/02/2002
    Should you charge friends and family members? Should you give them a discount? Today's Workshop discusses this thorny question.
  • Turn Losing a Sale into a Learning Experience
    04/02/2002
    Rather than lose heart at such a moment, it's better to try to learn more about your product, your sales techniques, yourself and your competition.
  • Fix Mistakes Made by Your Sales Team
    04/02/2002
    One of the biggest mistakes an employer can make is hiring the wrong salesperson or tolerating a salesperson on staff who is lazy.
  • Earn More by Encouraging Your Customers to Buy Less
    04/02/2002
    An ambitious salesperson can encourage customers to spend less instead of more, establishing a long-term relationship and winning the respect of the customer.
  • Go Straight to the Top: Selling to the CEO
    04/02/2002
    Address your sales letters to the one person who almost always has authority -- the company CEO or president.
  • Secrets for Attracting New Customers
    04/02/2002
    Every business inevitably experiences the fact that attracting new customers is an ongoing challenge.
  • Discussing Price in a Sales Presentation: Part II
    04/02/2002
    The Gucci family slogan states: "Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten."
  • Discussing Price in a Sales Presentation: Part I
    04/02/2002
    The Gucci family slogan states: "Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten."
  • If Your Sales Efforts Aren't Successful, Don't Blame Your Customers
    04/02/2002
    Difficulty closing a sale can cause frustration, sometimes even anger.
  • Ask for the Sale
    04/02/2002
    The customer drifted into your store and has been looking around for some time. Before they leave perhaps never to return you have to ask for the sale.
  • Information is the Basis for Successful Sales
    04/02/2002
    Has your company been contacted by a sales person who just began talking about his or her product, without really explaining how it directly relates to your company's specific needs?
  • How to Close Sales Successfully
    04/02/2002
    Some sales pitches start off with a bang but the process seems to last forever.
  • Five Keys to Increasing Your Company's Sales
    04/02/2002
    Every company depends on sales. Therefore, it is vital to consider ways in which your sales can be increased.
  • Cater to People Who Are in a Hurry
    04/02/2002
    What is the single most pressing problem people have today? Simply, that they don't have enough time.
  • Year-Round Profits for Seasonal Businesses
    04/02/2002
    Most businesses have a season where profits are higher and a season where the profits typically fall to a yearly low.
  • Maintain Sales Volume During the Off-Season
    04/02/2002
    Many types of business have periodic yearly off-seasons, when sales tend to decrease.
  • Sales Is One Part Initial Contact, Four Parts Follow-Up
    04/02/2002
    Thomas Edison's well-known saying, "Genius is one part inspiration, ninety-nine parts perspiration," applies equally well to sales efforts.
  • How to Respond When Someone Says Your Rates Are Too High
    04/02/2002
    If you're in a service-based business, it's inevitable that from time to time your clients or potential clients will tell you that your prices are too high.
  • What Do You Do Right After a Sale?
    04/02/2002
    After the completion of a sale to a business organization, too many sales people simply drop off the product that was sold (or make sure that it has been shipped) and forget all about the customer for a while.
  • When Five Percent Plus Five Percent Can Equal Fifty
    04/02/2002
    How many times have you said to yourself, or heard one of your sales staff say, "It doesn't really matter that we reduced our price five percent. We got the sale, didnÆt we?"
  • An Effective Sales Staff -- the Key to a Company's Success
    04/02/2002
    It has been said that many large corporations think of internal operations and manufacturing first, sales second.
  • Sell to the Person, Not the Company
    04/02/2002
    f you sell products to industrial accounts, or if larger companies utilize your services, your staff may fall into the trap of focusing on meeting only the companies' requirements, while overlooking the real end-target of your sales efforts.
  • Location of Competitors May Be the Key to Your Success
    04/02/2002
    When you're choosing the location of your new business, you'll want to carefully consider how close or far you'll be from competitors.
  • A Manager's Guide to Establishing Sales Quotas, Part II
    03/22/2002
    Last weekÆs Workshop began a discussion of the many questions and issues surrounding sales quotas. Today's Workshop continues this topic, listing the final four criteria for establishing these quotas.
  • A Manager's Guide to Establishing Sales Quotas, Part I
    03/22/2002
    From the perspective of the sales manager, the subject of sales quotas raises many potential questions and issues.
  • Customers Are Naturally Skeptical
    03/22/2002
    Even customers who visit established places of business may be skeptical about claims made by sales representatives. Today's Workshop discusses how to overcome this skepticism and set yourself apart from your competition.
  • The Psychology Behind Assuming the Sale
    03/22/2002
    When a salesperson thinks positively throughout a sales presentation, continually envisioning that the sale will be made, this positive feeling projects to the customer and helps facilitate the purchase.
  • What Customers Want in a Salesperson
    03/22/2002
    How many times have you picked up the telephone and listened as a phone salesperson began obviously reading from a script, trying to sell you something?
  • Know Your Competitors Before You Make a Sales Call
    03/22/2002
    Today's Workshop lists what you need to know about your competition.
  • Reviewing Your Return Policies
    03/22/2002
    With a new year beginning, it might be a good idea to review and revise your return policy.
  • Use Signs to Sell More Products Off the Shelves
    03/22/2002
    A cardinal rule of sales is that the more customers know about a product, the more likely they are to buy it.
  • Overcoming Objections in Sales, Part II
    03/22/2002
    In the second of a two-part series, today's Workshop lists five main reasons why a customer may object to a sale.
  • Overcoming Objections in Sales, Part I
    03/22/2002
    Salespeople constantly face resistance to the entire sales process. Learning to overcome that resistance is the key to a successful sales career.
  • The Fine Line Between Eager and Anxious
    03/22/2002
    In today's Tip, Jeffrey Moses discusses how to maintain the line between eagerness and anxiety when pursuing new clients.
  • Welcome, New Neighbor!
    03/14/2002
    When newcomers arrive in town, they are usually at a loss about where to get services and purchase items.
  • How to Offer Free Samples of a Service
    03/14/2002
    How can you offer a free sample of a service? There's only one way: you have to give away some free time.
  • Primo Promotions
    03/14/2002
    There are many low-cost ways retailers spread the word about their businesses.
  • New Homeowners Can Be a Gold Mine for Small Businesses
    03/14/2002
    It's clear that small businesses need to find out about new arrivals to the community quickly and contact them before the competition.
  • A Sales Manager's Roadmap to a Successful Field Visit
    03/14/2002
    Today's Workshop discusses criteria for a successful field visit.