Moving Forward on the Road to Recovery

SALES KnowHowpowered by

H e l p i n g y o u s e l l s i n c e ’ 5 7

Sales industry experts offer

their sage advice for navigating

this challenging journey

TM

Sales KnowHow Q1 20102

GODIN HEATHLeadership & Creativity

Seth Dan

Strategy & Communications

Digital Marketing & Social Media

Mitch

Branding & Experiential Marketing

Max

Advertising & Branding

James

Persuasion & Influence

Sally

REGISTER TODAY! 1.866.992.7863 or visit www.theartofmarketing.ca

Canada’s Marketing & Innovation Conference

presented by

the rtofarketing

March 2nd, 2010 | 9am – 5pm | Metro Toronto Convention Centre

SPONSORS

This one day forum features six internationally renowned bestselling authors and leaders who will share an exciting blend of cutting edge thinking and real world experience on today’s most critical marketing issues. Don’t miss out on your chance to be a part of history and network with over 1,200 of Canada’s most influential marketers.

JOEL LENDERMAN

OTHMER HOGSHEAD

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 3

KnowHowSALES By Scott’S DirectorieS

Group publisherPaul Stuckeypstuckey@scottsdirectories.com

NatioNal sales MaNaGerLindsay Rodgerslrodgers@scottsdirectories.com

GeNeral sales iNquiriessales@scottsdirectories.comScott’s Catalogue

specialized listslists@scottsdirectories.com

advertisiNG iN sales KnowHow

advertising@scottsdirectories.com

advertisiNG iN scott’s directoriesBarb Lebo, Lebo Advertisingbarblebo@rogers.com

creative servicesDirector - Robert MurdochDesign Layout - Carolyn Brimer

proGraMMiNGTyla TeelucksinghGary Flemming

Scott’S DirectorieS corporate MaStHeaD

Scott’s Directories is a division of BIG Directories LP. Business Information Group (BIG) is a subsidary of Glacier Media Inc.

Copyright 2010 Scott’s Directories

We WelcoMe your suGGestioNs, iNput, feedback aNd More. reach us today.salesknowhow@scottsdirectories.com

Provide us with your comments and feedback on this issue of Sales KnowHow for a chance to win a $100 gas card courtesy of Scott’s Directories. Your feedback will help us to improve and may be featured in an upcoming issue of Sales KnowHow in our Have Your Say section.

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

TM Have anOpinion?

We want to hear what you have to say!

[ Take our reader survey

A GreAt ChAnCe to Win

$100 gas card in this issue!

See page 22

Sales KnowHow Q1 20104

Create a lasting memory for your customers – Barry Siskind9 The little things can make a big difference in how you and your corporate message are remembered.

The real deal – Bill Sayers10 A key element in your sales success - "be yourself".

“254” – Tibor Shanto12 Learn why this number is significant to your sales in 2010.

Resolve to stop the meeting madness! – Laura Stack16 Learn how to free up valuable time this year with practical advice from a recognized productivity expert.

What is Marketing? – Eric Gilboord14 10 Habits to becoming a Successful Marketer

20Publisher’s Letter5 With the right information on your side, you gain the power to succeed.

Q1-2010In EvERy IssuE

FEaTuREs

Reader survey

We encourage you to participate in this month’s survey and give yourself a chance to win a $100 gas card.

22Events CalendarAn easy to read overview of important dates regarding upcoming product releases, shows and events.

Pushy sales people have no business at a trade show – Barry Siskind6Your personal approach at a trade show can dramatically influence your success. Learn how to be a better "host".

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 5

Publisher’s Letter

Let’s kick off the new decade by elevating your sales results in 2010 to a “perfect 10” in every way possible.

Whenever I have the pleasure of meeting with clients (for example, at the various industry events or trade shows we attend each year), I often receive a ringing endorsement for Scott’s Directories from those who have effectively put our information to work by making it part of their team – they’ve chosen Scott’s as an essential part of their sales and marketing process - and therein achieve tangible, bankable results on a consistent basis.

We can logically predict the long road to recovery will be much faster for some than for others - and companies that proceed to grow in the coming years will undoubtedly rely on a healthy combination of new technologies and new approaches mixed with old school wisdom and best practices to get the job done. Within the confines of your sales process that is especially true.

By partnering with a reliable information source, you too can find your best prospects, reach your target audience, and close more sales this year. You can make educated decisions and have greater control over your results. With the right information on your side, you literally gain the power to succeed.

With a new decade of opportunity ahead of us – and a lot of business experience behind us – we’re here to help you reach your goals by delivering you more than we ever have before.

• more verified profiles across important industry sectors

• more contact information including over 1.4 Million personalized emails

• more online functionality including Geocode mapping and expanded user-added notes

• more services including e-blasts, SEO, editorial verification and custom publishing

• more partnerships with exciting events like When Sales Met Marketing and the Art of Marketing

If you’re not fully utilizing Scott’s Directories for our quality information, professional marketing services like personalized e-blasts, and the sage advice packed into each issue of Sales KnowHow, then make 2010 the year to embark on leveraging all we can do for you today.

I invite you to contact us if you have any questions about Scott’s Directories products and services and how we can help you on the road to recovery in 2010 and beyond.

Paul Stuckey, Group Publisherpstuckey@scottsdirectories.com

For More Articles by Paul Stuckey Click Here

Scott's Directories - Partners in Your Success

Hello Everyone andHappy New Year!

Scott’s is pleased to welcome two new contributors to our Sales KnowHow lineup with great advice that we’re sure you’ll be able to profit from:

Bill Sayers has run his own sales performance consulting practice for the past many years and has recently released the second edition of his new book – “Funnels and Forecasts – The Great Game of Sales”.

Eric Gilboord is a popular speaker, coach, columnist and author of many articles and books on moving a business up to the next level. His common sense approach helps demystify marketing.

Recent trade show draws:

Wayne Chong, Marketing Manager North America, Solarsoft Business Systems, Richmond Hill, ONwww.solarsoft.com

Roberto Desai, Procurement EngineerAdvance Safety World Limited, Etobicoke, ONwww.advancesafetyworld.com

Georgene Adam, Director – Sales & Marketing, FaceSeal Technologieswww.facesealtechnologies.com

The winner of our 2009 reader survey draw:

Helene LetellierSaint-Jean-Sur Richelieu, QC

Thank you to Direct Marketing News for sponsoring the 2009 survey

For your chance to win a $100 gas card, take our new reader survey today.

Winners in our recent $100 gas card give-away promotions:

Sales KnowHow Q1 20106

One of the things that drive trade show visi-tors crazy is pushy sales people. When vis-iting a show, the last thing visitors want to

encounter are sales people who do not take the time to learn about their visitor’s unique situation before embarking on an over whelming spiel that includes information that has very little to do with their needs. It’s called the pitch.

Think back to a time when you were a customer. You could have been shopping for anything: a new car, a winter jacket or something for dinner. Now pretend that you asked whoever was serving you for some information and that person took your ques-tion as a signal that you wanted to hear everything. What would your reaction have been? My guess is

that while you may have tolerated the pitch, you were probably thinking

about ways to end the conversation. Am I right?

Visitors to a trade show feel ex-actly the same. Their defense

against pushy sales people is to avoid eye contact. Studies have shown that as many as ninety five percent of visi-tors walking a show avoid

eye contact. Can you blame them?

The solution then is an attitude adjustment. When you are preparing

your staff for a show or an event, you want to help them change their approach from one

of a sales person to one of a host. A host is a friend-lier role to play and takes the emphasis away from pure selling.The role of host is usually played out in social set-tings. Here is an example. Let’s suppose for a mo-ment that you and your family have moved to a new home. The moving trucks have long gone, your boxes have been unpacked and everything has been placed where it belongs. It has been an exhausting experience. Now you and your partner are sitting on a couch realizing that while your new home looks great you are strangers in the neighborhood. To rec-tify the problem you decide to have an open house for the neighbors. You set the time for next Sunday between two and four P.M. You develop an invita-tion and walk it up and down your street stuffing it into mail boxes. Now it’s two o’clock on Sunday and your home looks perfect. Your front door is open and your first neighbor approaches. What do you do? You have choices:

• Sit in the den and watch television• Sit on your couch and read the newspaper• Approach them by telling them all about yourselfOr• Approach them and get them talking about the

neighborhood.The last suggestion is the one that fits the role of

host well. It’s the same role that should be played in a booth. Your exhibition booth is your place of busi-ness for a few days. Instead of trying to sell products and services to visitors who happen by, simply wel-come them and try to find out what their needs are.

The right approach will make the difference be-tween success and failure of your exhibit plan.

Exhibiting

Pushy sales people have no business at a trade show

By Barry Siskind

Barry Siskind is author of Powerful Exhibit marketing. He is also President of International Training

and Management Company who offers a number of services to exhibitors including the creation and

implementation of a mystery-shopping program. Contact Barry at barry@siskindtraining.com for more

information. For More Articles by Barry Siskind Click Here

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 7

Cut Costs withCustomization

Scott's Vertical CustomLists allow you to choosethe specific industry orbusiness area you areinterested in. Stoppaying for contacts youdon't need or will nevercontact.

Save Time onNiche Prospecting

Shorten your prospectingand sales cycle byreaching only qualifiedcontacts, who canappreciate thespecialized services youprovide.

Master YourTarget Market

Our custom lists aredesigned to help youdiscover newprospects and gaindeeper knowledgeabout a specificindustry.

Maintain Accuracy& Increase Reach

Scott's Vertical CustomLists exceed CanadaPost's requirements at97.2% deliverability orbetter. Reduce wrongnumbers, wrongaddresses, and missedopportunities.

Browse VerticalsScott's Vertical Custom Lists span across multi-ple industries, segments, and job functions.Browse our featured verticals by clicking here.

Scott’s Verticals allow you to create a more effective marketing campaign for your niche products.By refining your list to the specific industry or business area that you are targeting, you will:

Scott’s Vertical Custom Lists give youthe custom information needed to makeyour sales process more cost-effectiveand productive.

Your Piece of theSales Pie is Ready.

ScottsDirectories.com

Contact us about ourvolume discounts!Email your request, or contactour List Rental Departmentdirectly at1-800-387�-6598

Sales KnowHow Q1 20108

Reliable Sources of Information for Sales Professionals

ONTARIO MANUFACTURERSOntario Manufacturers is the publication that launched Scott's Directories in 1957. Complete and comprehensive coverage of Ontario manufacturers right across the province (see our lineup for other Ontario-based lists including Ontario Industrial & the Ontario ALL)

DIRECTORY OF CANADIAN HEALTHCARE PERSONNELOur Directory of Canadian Healthcare Personnel is specifically designed to give you immediate and easy access to detailed information on Canada's rapidly changing health care industry. Accurate and up-to-date, the Directory of Canadian Healthcare Personnel will save you valuable time and money.

US ADvERTISINg & MARkETINg ExECUTIvESLooking to identify and contact advertising and marketing executives? The Advertising And Marketing Executives Database contains names & titles of more than 42,490 advertising and marketing executives, along with full profile of the employing business containing essential company facts. Comes with unlimited usage.

MEDICAL DEvICE REgISTERThe only one-stop resource of every medical supplier licensed to sell products in the US. This 2009 edition offers immediate access to over 13,000 companies, and more than 65,000 products - in two information-packed volumes. This comprehensive resource saves hours of time and trouble when searching for medical equipment and supplies and the manufacturers who provide them.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EMERgINg INDUSTRIESThe Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries details the inception, emergence, and current status of nearly 120 flourishing U.S. industries and industry segments. These focused essays unearth for users a wealth of relevant, current, factual data previously accessible only through a diverse variety of sources. This volume provides broad-based, highly-readable, industry information under such headings as Industry Snapshot, Organization & Structure, Background & Development, Industry Leaders, Current Conditions, America and the World, Pioneers, and Research & Technology.

QUEBEC INDUSTRIALThis is the very best Quebec Industrial database you'll find. Our publication includes manufacturers, manufacturers' sales offices, wholesalers, wholesale agents, and distributors located anywhere in Quebec.

ONLINE BONUS - Transportation profiles and firms

For more information or to place an order please visit us atwww.scottsdirectories.com

Just some of the over 350 titles of databases available from Scott’s Directories

EMAILS!Dentist Emails available for personalized e-blasts. Click here for more details

CANADIAN DENTAL DIRECTORYOur Dentists Directory is your best source for over 17,500 Canadian Dentists coast-to-coast.

CANADIAN RESIDENTIALMAILINg LISTCanada’s largest householder database, compiled from a variety of public directories. This dynamic database averages over 98,000 changes every month for deliverability you can trust.

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 9

Exhibiting

By Barry Siskind

One of my favorite places to buy books is Amazon.com. If you are one of millions of book buyers like me, you are familiar wi th the typical Amazon.com listing. Their

history is noteworthy. Amazon started selling books on the in-ternet in 1995. Over the past decade they have grown to the point that they sell more books, DVD’s, CD’s M3P’s software, videogames, electronics, apparel, furniture and toys on-line than anyone – anywhere in the world. Why? Because they have a formula that works.

Picture an Amazon.com listing and think of it as above and below the line.

Above the line you find the title, price, shipping dates, in-ventory levels, number of pages, publisher, language, ISBN number, and the details about what’s inside the book. There’s no fault here. Everything you need to know is clearly spelled out. But that’s not why people buy books particularly if it is an author they hadn’t heard about before. They need more than details which bring the discussion to those things that are below the line. These include information about the author, citations, customer rated reviews and a section called, “What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this page?” Above the line points the purchaser to the details and below the line reveals the experience. Which do you think is more important?

This same analogy applies to an exhibit program. What do your signs and graphics say? Are they filled with information about products and services? What about your literature? Is it teeming with enough information to sink a supertanker? And what about your booth staff? Do they fill hours at the show telling people all about the features and benefits of your prod-ucts and services?

If you answered yes to any of these then it’s time to stand back and re-think your approach.

It all comes down to understanding the difference between remembering and knowing. Remembering, which is prone to error, requires a deep mental level of processing information that is often referred to as the “episodic memory.” Knowing on the other hand triggers a familiarity which interestingly enough

is often without the details of a specific product or service. This is referred to as the “semantic memory.”

The lesson to learn is that knowing lasts longer and has a more powerful impact on decision making than remembering. When I decide what to buy on Amazon.com, I often refer to the items below the line. This is because to have an experience on-line, the best I can do is find out what other people feel.

But in a show environment we have the advantage of face-to-face contact. Our customers have an opportunity to touch, hold, smell, taste and hear our products and services through one or more of their senses. It’s when we harness the power of presenting below the line that we create a lasting impact.Here are few quick pointers;• Your front line booth staff should be passionate about the

product and services they represent.• They should leave the customer with a positive feeling about

doing business with your company.• Signs and graphics should focus on experience rather than

details.• Literature should utilize lifestyle photos.• It’s little stuff that makes the greatest impact.

This last point focuses attention on an important quirk of hu-man nature. People who expect a certain level of service be-come very critical when it slips even one iota. When dealing with the public you and your staff should constantly try to pro-vide extras that go above the standard. It’s these little things that often solidify the knowing part of memory.

Whether you are in your showroom or at a trade show, leave your customers with a positive experience and you will remain top of mind when it comes time to place an order.

Create a lasting memory for your customers

Barry Siskind is author of Powerful Exhibit marketing. He is also President

of International Training and Management Company who offers a number

of services to exhibitors including the creation and implementation of a

mystery-shopping program. Contact Barry at barry@siskindtraining.com

for more information. For More Articles by Barry Siskind Click Here

Sales KnowHow Q1 201010

Investments

By Bill Sayers

How often do you get into a sales situation and find your-

self uncomfortable with the sales person you are dealing

with. You don’t trust them, you don’t like them – there

is something about them that just isn’t right. They have

just finished the corporate sales training and are using

all the latest techniques. They are too “polished” in their

approach. More often than not it is because they are not

being themselves. They are not being their “real” self.

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 11

BE YourSElfWe all have different personalities, backgrounds and ways in which we behave. The more you are comfortable with this and use to your advantage – the more real you become. How often do you meet someone and before they speak or you meet them, you judge them by how they look, their race, their gender or their clothes. Yet once you begin speaking with them you are immediately at ease and enjoy your conversation. The reason is that they are comfortable with who they are.

There is a Buddhist question: What happens to a fully enlightened man who wanders into a “Black Tie Only” event, in jeans and a tee shirt? The an-swer: He doesn’t notice.

If you are always trying to be like someone else then how can you be real? I think you can take traits of someone you admire or who is a men-tor and make that trait a part of who you are. I believe that to be a wonder-ful way to help you grow and improve yourself. I always say that I want to be “Jack Gear” like or “Bill Davis” like in parts of my behaviour. I admire both men for the influence they have had on my life, yet I don’t want to be them.

Being real means thinking for your-self, acting upon the things that are im-portant to you, taking a stand on issues that are most important to you and asking for what “You” want. I believe, based on my experience and from ob-serving sales people for years, that you can’t be anything else but yourself to be successful.

The University of Toronto did a study years ago. They placed a large group of 3 – 6 month old children in a room for an afternoon. They all wore diapers and the only thing that identified each child was a number on their diaper. The medical team observed the children and made notes of their observations. Eighteen years later they brought the now 18 year olds into a room for an af-ternoon. (They wore clothes this time)

By simply observing the behaviour of the teens and the notes from 18 years earlier, the team of doctors was able to identify 96% of the teens based on their behaviour from 18 years earlier. We are who we are.

GEt REAlThe Oxford dictionary defines real as: actually existing as thing or occurring in fact, genuine, rightly so called, not artificial. Actually existing and genuine – that is what you want to be. If you are having an off day, in a professional and friendly way, let your customers and prospects know that. They will ap-preciate your honesty and “genuine” behaviour.

Observe how top sales people be-have. They are relaxed, they know what they need to accomplish and they are real and genuine. People like to be around them. They are true to their internal values and they are true to their company values.

As I say to sales people, your goal is to be honest, tell the truth and ask for what you want. You can only do that by being yourself. You may be able to ask for what you want – you certainly can’t be honest and tell the truth when you are not being yourself.

HOW dO I dO tHIS?It means taking responsibility for what is happening in your world and taking a “realistic” approach to how you are going to deal with the issues at hand. It means that you control and create your own “reality”.

Watch how customers are reacting to your presentations and conversa-tions. Are they involved and participat-ing or are you having to draw out infor-mation and get them to participate. If your work is all one way, it may be that you are not being real and honest with yourself and your customer. Ask your top customers for a reality check. Get them to provide feedback on how they view your work and interaction with

them. Ask them to give you honest feedback. You may want to integrate this into your customer reviews. One easy way to get a sense without ever asking anyone is to look at your results. If they are not very good – you are not being real. Paying attention to your re-sults is another way for you to be hon-est with yourself. It allows you to make the appropriate changes and correc-tions. It lets you take responsibility for your actions and to make the changes to be successful.

In this type of economy, more so than any other time, it is important you are the “real deal” for your customers and team. When no one seemingly has the answer and every decision is a challenge – you must be able to come across as someone who can be trusted and believed. If not – you are just an-other sales rep.

WE ARE WHO WE ARE!Sayers says: How real are you? Are you being yourself in all your sales situa-tions? Watch your behaviour in the next few weeks and observe how you react and behave. Do a reality check. When were you yourself and when were you trying to be someone else? If I was to ask your top customers how they view your behaviour – What would they say?

Bill Sayers is an inspirational speaker and

a visionary business leader. He has spent the

past 29 years in the "Sales" arena. He started

his career as an inside sales rep and worked his

way up the corporate ladder to the level of VP of

Sales at an IBM company. During that time he

worked for Revelstoke Lumber, King Products,

Linotype, Ryder Transportation, GE Capital IT

Solutions and IBM.

Bill is able to communicate powerful concepts

in a manner, which enables practical application

in the business world and drives profitable

results for his clients. His goal is to help sales

people ignite their passion for the game of sales.

Passion - Process - Performance

www.thesayersgroup.com

Sales KnowHow Q1 201012

Sales

254is the number of selling days in 2010; assuming you work a

mere 10 hours a day, that's 2540 hours of selling. (I know, you work weekends too). How will you maximize it?

Let's for a moment pretend that each hour was equivalent to $100. Your quo-ta for next year is a 12% increase over 2009. How will you invest your cash, your $254,000, and your time to realize or ex-ceed the required returns?

Well if you've reading The Pipeline, both this monthly edition and the more frequently published blog edition, you know we always focus on execution; execution of a sound plan built on met-rics, action, review and adjustment. To successfully achieve the returns on in-vestment required we need to create a balance, much like you would in an invest-ment portfolio. The balance delivered by diversification based on asset class or spe-cific securities; all the factors that go into answering: what is the best investment

strategy to ensure a 12% return?Starting at a high level the first question

is where to best place the money, equity or debt, derivatives or pulled funds, gold or commodity stocks, etc. Drilling down, looking at equities, will you be looking at growth or value stocks, high-tech or health, not to mention the selection of individual companies? Always striving to achieve growth, minimize or balance risk, and as always realize enough returns to satisfy the expectations of the clients, that is your company. Approached like that, sales can be simplified for many, compli-cated for others.

How does this translate to selling? Again at a high level, what are the big "asset" groups, i.e. how much of the $254,000 do I invest in Account Man-agement, I guess that could be bonds; security, perhaps less aggressive growth, but solid organic growth if handled well. Clearly the percentage of time you would put to this or any other activity (asset)

would depend on a combination of ex-pected returns versus other activities, previous experience with that group, and the overall make up of your territory. If you are trying to aggressively grow, you may invest your time prospecting, growth stocks, what percentage of time/portfolio will that represent?

You would then repeat the process for other "assets" or activities, lead gen-eration, admin, planning and prepara-tion, e-mail, voice mail, fire fighting. The underlying criteria being that you are al-ways proactive, avoid being reactive; ac-tively managing your funds, not taking a passive approach.. As soon as you spend more time being reactive than proactive, it is a clear indication that you are not in control, and at risk of losing your capital – time.

One of the most overlooked activities in both sales as in investing is planning and research. It is said that most people spend more time researching a purchase

“254”

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 13

By Tibor Shanto

of a flat screen TV than they do in buy-ing stocks in their retirement plans. It is similar in sales, as a rule, sales people spend little time planning and being pro-active. We always do an exercise with the sales professionals we work with, asking them to tell us all the key activities they

need to do to be successful. Planning is almost never on the list, in fact if not for that one guy in Chicago, I would be able to say never. Planning is just not on their minds. Even after it is introduced, people nod acknowledging it, but then go right to rationalizing why they just don’t have the time. In essence what they are saying in the metaphoric context used in this ar-ticle is that they do not see enough value in the asset, in planning.

As with investing many are also driven by emotion rather than rationale. A lot of "investors" hang on to stocks that will never recover in the hope of it making a miraculous rally. Sales people keep op-portunities in their pipeline when they know the sale will never happen, spend-

ing time and resources on dead opportu-nities rather than proactively prospect-ing for new revenue opportunities. It is always hard to understand how fear of failure can be less than fear of rejection faced in prospecting.

So the question for 2010, as it always is in sales, how will you allocate your time for optimal success? Will you then manage to stick to your plan while re-sponding to market conditions, stick to a

discipline of planning, review and adjust-ment? At the end, it is a simple and very much like being an investor, do you have the discipline or not? There is a clear dif-ference between a prudent and success-ful investor and the fluctuating results of a speculator.

What’s in Your Pipeline?

Tibor Shanto is Principal with Renbor Sales Solutions Inc. Find out how he has helped dozens of organization with execution – from filling their pipeline with real prospects – to driving real revenue.

You can also read the blog edition of The Pipeline at www.sellbetter.ca/blog. For more information on helping your team sell bet-ter, write to: info@sellbetter.ca. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it, or call 416 671-3555. You can also follow Renbor on Twitter http://twitter.com/renbor.For More Articles by Tiboor Shanto Click Here

“One of the most overlooked activities in both sales as in investing is planning and research.

Sales KnowHow Q1 201014

Marketing

?What is Marketing?

I am often asked what the difference is between sales and marketing. Marketing researches the opportunity, prepares the strategy,

produces the tools to inform the prospect and places the potential sale on the table. The Salesperson then picks up the ball and confirms the opportunity, contributes to the strategy, uses the tools to inform the prospect and moves the opportunity off the table and into the cash register.

Marketing is everything from how you answer the telephone, correct spelling in your correspondence, and SEO to the words and graphics of your emails, tweets, website and brochures.

The essence of marketing is very simple. It is saying the right thing to the right person at the right time. However, knowing what to say, when to say it and who to say it to is much tougher.

Marketing is a collaboration. In small business you often wear both the sales and marketing hats. It is important to maintain objectivity. I urge you to include others at as many stages of the process as possible. They may see something you don’t or they could add ideas you haven’t thought of. Mistakes can be minimized and opportunities capitalized upon.

Every day new and exciting elements and challenges are being tossed into the marketing mix. There is no reason to be overwhelmed by all these choices. Seek out professional advice in the form of marketing suppliers or go to seminars or workshops. There are many qualified marketing resources to help guide you through this exciting jungle.

Marketing takes on many forms including, but not restricted to; research, decision making, customer service, supplier relations, sales calls, planning, rethinking, constant re-evaluation, late night deliveries, early morning presentations, brochures, business cards, advertising, trade and consumer shows, marketing plans & programs, lead generation materials, sales presentation materials, direct marketing programs, database development & management, telemarketing, print production, public relations & publicity, strategic alliances, sales training, marketing training, internet, website, SEO, social media, link popularity, emails, blogs, newsletters, corporate identity/logo design, sales meetings and much more.

WHEn dO yOu nEEd tO StARt yOuR MARkEtInG? The minute you have the first inkling of an idea you must start researching the target group, the competition, the need for the product or service itself. Integrate this information within the product/service, packaging, price, distribution, communications tools and every discussion you have about it from that first moment on.

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 15

By Eric Gilboo d

Eric Gilboord is a specialist in making marketing easy for business

owner/operators and any staff with sales or marketing responsibility.

He demystifies marketing so they can use it to generate sales today

and grow their businesses faster.

Eric is a popular speaker, coach, columnist and author of many

articles and books on moving a business up to the next level. The Expert

Business Calls for Marketing Advice...That's Easy to Understand.

For more information please visit: www.EricGilboord.com

!1. Be honest and clear about your target group. Your target group is not all adults or all females, or all females with blue eyes. Get as close to the core of your target audience and be honest with yourself about who is really buying your product or service.

2. Follow a defined sales process and follow up at each stage of the process. There are many books and courses that outline well defined sales & marketing processes. Find a process you believe in and follow it loyally.

3. Be completely up-to-date on your competition. Know what your competition is going to do before they have done it and prepare yourself. Learn from their mistakes and from their successes.

4. Put your client/customers needs before yours. If you put your customer before yourself they will notice and remember at decision making time.

5. utilize new technology. From the internet with your website, e-mail, SEO, link popularity, blogs, social networking, to cost effective-low run-4 colour printing, to contact management software and voice mail, it is much easier today to compete with larger companies.

6. love what you do. Customers want to be with winners and loving what you do will get you through the tough times.

7. Be as up-to-date as you can on your industry. Vertical industry publications will help to keep you informed of trends and opportunities. Read up on your industry and your customers.

8. Have a written Marketing Plan. The old expression “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there” has never been more true. Everyday you are faced with new challenges and opportunities. If you don’t have a road map that included some planning and decisions it is very easy to drift for a long time, never quite succeeding.

9. Have a point of difference. Be clear and concise about what product or service you offer and how you are different from competitors.

10. Constantly re-evaluate your business. Every meeting, presentation, and discussion you have about your business is reason to re-think what you are doing. Challenge every aspect of your business and make it better every day.

And that's According 2 Eric

10 Habits to Becoming A Successful Marketer

r

Sales KnowHow Q1 201016

Around this time of year, everyone begins thinking about making resolutions and getting organized

for greater productivity in the New Year. If I could pick a single goal for everyone, it would be revamping those time-sucking meetings!

Meetings can eat up your day if you let them. Ever seen the Dilbert cartoon about preliminary pre-meeting meetings? Does it feel like you're stuck in that Dilbert car-toon and can't get anything effective done? Well, you don't have to take it anymore! Keep these things in mind when dealing with time-stealing meetings.

REFuSE FAcE-tO-FAcE MEEtInGS WHEn unnEcESSARyDetermine if you really need to meet in person. How many times have you attend-ed a meeting and asked yourself, "Why am I here?" Hopefully, by now you've started protecting your time from every person who wants a piece of it. If my clients want to meet in person, I charge a consulting fee. For telephone calls, no charge. Ninety percent of the time, a conference call will suffice. Extra travel time and expenses are involved when meeting in person, so avoid it unless dialogue and brainstorming are required.

Do not accept a meeting invitation if the requestor can't state in one sentence the exact reason you're meeting. For example: • To inform our department of changes in the holiday pay policy.• To sell management on our division's plan to automate payroll processing.

• To brainstorm the best way to resolve the association's budget deficit.• To determine realistic sales goals for each region for next year.• To discuss the critical skills required for successful performance as a first-level su-pervisor.

cAncEl MEEtInGSMeetings can be important; they allow for the exchange of ideas and play an impor-tant role in the dynamics of the workplace. But not all meetings have the same value. With a limited number of hours in the day, you need to pick and choose when a meet-ing is appropriate and when it isn't. Always think twice before calling a meeting. If you have the flexibility to choose, you should al-ways think twice about agreeing to attend one, too. If you feel like a good deal of your day is wasted by meetings, consider the fol-lowing:

Is the meeting simply to exchange infor-mation? If so, an email might do the trick just as well, and save everyone a lot of time.

Is there travel involved? An elevator ride is one thing; real travel is quite another. Whether the meeting will include attend-ees from across town or across the country, always stop and consider whether a con-ference call or webinar meetup might be just as effective (I use www.gotomeeting.com). Sometimes the face-to-face is criti-cal. Other times, it just doesn't matter, so why waste travel time?

What's your role? Maybe your place could be taken by an assistant who can take good notes. Just make sure that if decisions

need to be made, whoever's taking your place is capable of filling in for you. Others will be annoyed if your absence turns into an inconvenience for them.

If you do need to be there personally, find out exactly what's needed of you. If only one item on a two-hour agenda in-volves you, perhaps you can handle that matter first and leave the meeting early. Or ask what time to show. Spending half of your day in meetings waiting for your agen-da item can be a frustrating time-waster.

lIMIt AttEndEESMore is not merrier. Think through who re-ally needs to be there. Don't worry about hurting someone's feelings if they aren't included. If you simply want to keep a stakeholder or player in the loop, select them as "optional," instead of "required." Always assume that higher-ups have much more profitable things to do than sit in your meeting. Think about how much people are paid, and ask if your meeting is worth an hour of their pay PLUS what they other-wise could have been doing if they weren't stuck there.

Only invite people if they have a direct contribution to make to the meeting objec-tive, and the desired decisions would not be able to be made without them. If their presence is only required for ten minutes, give them the first ten minutes, and then allow them to graciously depart.

MultIPly yOuR HAndSHave meeting requests and responses go to your delegate (if you have one), not to

Resolve to Stop the

MEEtiNg MadNESS!

Productivity

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 17

you. Don't wade through all the responses; that's why you have an assistant. In Out-look, under Tools, Options, Delegates, se-lect "Send meeting requests and responses only to my delegates, not to me." Brilliant.

AvOId MEEtInGS On FRIdAySMany departments and teams decide as an informal policy to schedule meetings Mon-day-Thursday if at all possible. Too many people try to take long weekends or duck out early, making scheduling and resched-uling a nightmare on Fridays, plus you'll end up with a lot of no-shows. I try to leave Fri-days open for personal appointments. I find if I put a doctor's appointment in between business meetings, something always hap-pens to derail one or the other. It's hard to get my mind switched between different realms in any case.

dIStRIButE yOuR AGEndA EARlyAlways send or request an agenda and in-clude it in the text portion of the appoint-ment, or include it as an attachment. A basic agenda should include a statement of purpose, any logistical considerations, the decisions to be made, a list of the topics to discuss (in priority order), who's respon-sible for that item, and how long you're al-lotting for each one. Ask participants if they have any changes to the agenda items to let you know in advance of the meeting, so you can make adjustments if necessary. Once you get into the meeting, follow the agenda diligently, so you can ensure all points are covered, decisions are made, and the objective is achieved.

SEt yOuR MEEtInG'S lEnGtH YourSElfDon't let Outlook pick the length of your meeting; the default is one hour, so that's how much time people normally schedule meetings. Instead, match the length of the meeting to the purpose. If you've done an agenda and you've determined you'll only need forty minutes, then manually change the invitation and schedule for that. Oth-erwise, time will expand to fill the amount of time available. If you've promised folks you'll be out of there quickly, people tend to work toward that goal. If there's slack time, more socializing will naturally occur, and an hour will definitely get used. Some people try to build in "buffer" time; don't cave to this habit. I purposefully under-schedule and announce the goal at the beginning, so everyone is actively moving forward.

uSE OnlInE ScHEdulInG FOR Out-SIdE PARtIESAccording to an international research of online scheduler Doodle, profession-als spend 5 hours a week with setting up meetings alone (see "www.doodle.com/about/mediareleases/survey.html" 1st International Study on Scheduling Trends 2009). HYPERLINK "http://www.produc-tivitypro.com/newsletters/Doodle.com" Doodle.com is an online polling tool to find a good day/time for participants to meet, especially helpful when they don’t work at your company. I particularly like the Out-look plugin. It provides an online display of optional meeting times allows all partici-pants to indicate their preferred times and

enables the organizer to choose the final slot. Done. There is no toggling between participants’ calendars and no inefficient email chains—obtaining the availability of external parties is made effortless. By en-gaging participants, Doodle makes schedul-ing transparent and very flexible, regardless of whether they use online or offline calen-dars, paper planners, or no system at all.

AllOW EnOuGH BREAkSProvide at least one break for every hour and 15 minutes, max. Let attendees know at the outset what to expect. If you keep rambling on, and they aren't sure when they'll get a bio break, they'll just start get-ting up randomly and sneaking out. Clearly state at the beginning, "We'll meet from now until 10:00, and then we'll break until 10:10," etc. If you're meeting over a lunch hour, it's also common courtesy to provide food.

BE cOnSIdERAtE OF tHOSE In OtHER tIME ZOnESIf you're in the Pacific Time zone, and some of your meeting participants are calling in from the East, a 2:00 meeting puts them into departure time. Realize that people may have childcare commitments at the end of the day; an afternoon meeting (or vice versa for early mornings on the West Coast) can severely inconvenience folks and reduce the odds of attendance.

StRIkE A BAlAncE On ScHEdulInGIf you schedule a meeting too far out, you'll get a bunch of cancellations and requests

Resolve to Stop the

MEEtiNg MadNESS!

By Laura Stack

Sales KnowHow Q1 201018

to reschedule as you get closer – or you'll just get trumped by someone higher up. If you wait to schedule a meeting until the last minute, it's hard to find a block of time when most people are readily available. So it's best to schedule 2-3 weeks in ad-vance. Anything sooner or further off than that is fraught with scheduling challenges and conflicts.

IMMEdIAtEly InFORM tHE MEEtInG lEAdER OF cOnFlIctSIf you have a change in your calendar but don't want to "rock the boat," you inconvenience more people the longer you wait. It takes effort to work schedules around appointments, so as soon as you know, raise the flag. The chair can determine if they can make it without you or if the meeting should be moved.

cOnFIRM EvERytHInGI've often shown up for a meeting but the other person "for-got." You'd like to think all adults are responsible and will do what they say they'll do, but it's always better to dash off a quick email: "Looking forward to seeing you on (date) at (time) at (location). Let me know if something comes up." I don't make people confirm that things are correct; I ask them to let me know if there's a change. Also make sure you get directions and map it out well in advance of trying to run out the door. I look at my calendar for the next day before I leave work and make sure I'm ready to roll on everything. Confirm with attend-ees, too, when it's your meeting. Open the original meeting request, select Actions, and then New Message to Attendees.

JOuRnAl yOuR MEEtInG nOtESMany people don't know how to use the Journal feature in Out-look, or even what it's for. If you've ever accidentally clicked it, you'll get a pop-up box that asks you if you're SURE you want to turn on the Journal. Most people freak out and click NO. Next time, click YES. Open a new Journal entry, select Meeting in the Type dropdown, type up your meeting notes, put in the day/time of the meeting, indicate in the Contacts field the people at the meeting, and select a Category for the meeting name or project. When you pull up a Contact and click the Activities tab, you'll be able to see the Journal entries (notes) from every meeting you've ever had with that person. You can also pull up your Journal entries by Category to review meeting notes as far back as you'd like. OR give your notes to your assistant, have him type them up in the text field of the original meeting notice, save, and send a message to attendees (under Actions).

ScHEdulInG MEEtInGSDo you find that it's close to impossible to get five or more attendees that are available at the same time and the same date? When key players are overbooked, it can take hours just to schedule a single a meeting. If you’re not on an exchange server, try my favorite: Doodle.com. Here are three questions you should ask yourself whenever you schedule a meeting:

Do we really need all these people? Make sure you aren't in-viting anyone who doesn't need to have a seat at the table. Not only does it make scheduling more difficult, but you'll either (a) waste their time or (b) bend over backwards to accommodate someone who isn't going to show up anyway.

Can we keep people in the loop without inviting them to ev-ery meeting? Some meetings are full of wallflowers who need to know what's going on but don't necessarily need to contrib-ute. Publishing meeting minutes or distributing essential infor-mation electronically can save time and shorten the attendee list. Also, take a look to see if some work areas are sending multiple representatives. By choosing a single designee from each area, you can make sure everyone is represented without having everyone in the room.

Do we need to meet at all? This is a question you should ask about EVERY meeting, not just the hard-to-schedule ones. Any meeting that doesn't have a clear objective (if not a formal agenda) should be on the chopping block.

SORRy, HE'S In A MEEtInGMeetings are the bane of business productivity – but we couldn't do business without them. This is one of the central ironies of modern business, but there it is. Email and a quick phone call can only do so much. Face-to-face (or at least voice-to-voice) contact for minutes or hours at a time is often (if not always) necessary to achieve the synergetic interactions that drive accomplishment.

That doesn't change the fact that it's amazingly frustrating to spend half your day in meetings and meeting preparations when you're trying to get things done. You see, to a corporate cog living for 5 PM Friday, this might be productivity—but to the SuperCompetent among us, it's a potential intrusion on our productive time, requiring that we give up something else in order to make progress. After all, they're not making days any longer yet; all we've got are 24 hours.

Make it a productive day! (TM)

© Copyright 2010 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.

© 2010 Laura Stack. Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and

professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with

Maximum Results in Minimum Time®. She is the president of The Productivity Pro®,

Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in

high-stress organizations. Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars

on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces. She is

the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion

Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004). Laura is a

spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the

CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems,

Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M. To have Laura speak at your next event, call

303-471-7401. Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly

productivity newsletter. For More Articles by Laura Stack Click Here

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 19

Overview We have one goal with this unique workshop. Combine our marketing and sales expertise to help Small and Medium Sized Business achieve the success they need and deserve. Matching up good marketing with intelligent focused sales practices is an unbeatable combination and very doable. Sales and Marketing can work together to achieve a greater result. The secret is simultaneous execution. Our workshop provides a straight forward methodology, step by step process and action plan for SMB owners and leaders to easily integrate into their business and achieve greater revenue and market share immediately. Join us as we deliver a hands-on, highly impactful and unique workshop that will equip you to generate more leads, source more prospects and consistently convert them to more revenue.

The calls are important to keep you going. We don’t want you to miss out on the many benefits of coordinated sales and marketing. We’ve packed the workshop with proven techniques and steps focused specifically on how to:

Implement a step by step process. Utilize an integrated approach to your new business development and revenue generation. Maximize sales and marketing with a healthy dose of social media to get you to a level playing field. Practical execution of proven techniques and real world practices and applications used by many very successful companies today, including best practices to promote your brand. So bring your questions and get the answers you need.

Enjoy this exciting half day workshop and 4 conference calls for after event follow through.

Sponsors

Presented By Tibor ‘Sales’ Shanto & Eric ’Marketing’ Gilboord

Event Locations Click location to register. Toronto (Markham) Feb. 5, 2010

London, Ontario Feb. 12, 2010

Ottawa Feb. 19, 2010 Event Time 8:00am - Noon

Half day interactive workshop. Full breakfast. 4 conference calls for follow through. Bonus $299 credit toward your next purchase from

Scott's Directories* Pays for the entire workshop. Just $299 + GST for everything. For more information and to register visit: www.WhenSalesMetMarketing.com

Marketing Will Find More Prospects Sales Will Close More Customers

*For purchases made within 90 days of attending workshop.

Ontario Manufacturers - Book & CD - May 10 Ontario Industrial - CD - May 10 Ontario All - CD - May 10

Events Calendar

upcoming Scott’s Product Releases:

upcoming Events

New Releases and Upcoming Events

Canadian Schools - Book & CD - April 10

Quebec Industrial - Book & CD - Jan 10 Quebec All - CD - Jan 10Directory of Canadian Healthcare Personnel - Book & CD - Jan 10 Canadian Dental Directory - Book & CD - Jan 10Canadian Municipalities - CD - Jan 10

January

May

April

Sales KnowHow Q1 201020

HRPA 2010 Annual conference & trade Show January 27-29 Metro Toronto Convention Centre South Building For three days you will exchange ideas with peers from around the globe, explore the latest HR issues and topics, and engage with the world’s leading business minds.Registration Details at www1.hrpa.ca/conf2010/

When Sales Met MarketingFebruary 5 (Toronto); February 12 (London); February 1We have one goal with this unique workshop. Combine our marketing and sales expertise to help Small and Medium Sized Business achieve the success they deserve.Registration Details at www.whensalesmetmarketing.com/workshop-details.html

Art of Marketing March 2 9am – 5pm ET Metro Toronto Convention Centre This one day forum features six internationally renowned bestselling authors and leaders who will share an exciting blend of cutting edge thinking and real world experience on today’s most critical marketing issues. Click the following link to apply a $50 Discount to your ticket: www.theartofmarketing.ca/register/step1/promo_code:CN25

(Ottawa) 9

New Releases and Upcoming Events

WebinarsPRESEntEd By BuSInESS ExPERtS WEBInARSClick events to register - $99 per connection - Save 20% at checkout with this discount code: 47fbcda4

February 16 1:00pm ETdevelop a Mystery Shopping Program for your next ShowMarch 10 1:00pm ETturn your trade Show Booth into an Experiential EnvironmentApril 15 1:00 pm ETrun Your own Pre-Show Program

PRESEntEd By tHE PROductIvIty PRO®Click events to register - $29 per connection - Enter coupon code OUT2010 to receive some extra bonuses

January 25 4:00pm ETcool Productivity tools: using technology to Stay Organized, Efficient, and connected February 22 4:00pm ETOrganizing the Home Office: Setting up your Space and Systems for SuccessMarch 29 4:00 pm ETConquering Digital Quicksand: Avoiding time-Sucking Habits in a Web 2.0 WorldApril 26 4:00pm ETHow to tame your tweets, Focus your Facebook, and lasso your linkedIn: using Social Media to Maximize Profits and Save time

Sales KnowHowQ1 2010 21

tHE PROductIvIty PRO® 2010 MIcROSOFt OutlOOk WEBInAR SERIESClick events to register - Enter coupon code OUT2010 to receive some extra bonuses

January 25: Customizing Your outlookFebruary 22: Inbox/Outbox/Sent Items/drafts, etc.March 29: tasks – the daily to-do list, create a new task, Recurring tasks, etc.April 26: calendar – Recurring Meetings, Sharing calendars, etc.

Timings:outlook version 2003: 12:00 pm EToutlook version 2007: 2:00 pm ET

Attention Readers Submit your own events and products release dates and Scott’s will be happy

to list them here for no charge.

Contact pstuckey@scottsdirectories.com

Sales KnowHow Q1 201022

Reader Survey

If you would like to sponsor a survey

to the Sales KnowHow

readership, send us an email today.

Contact

pstuckey@scottsdirectories.com

Take our reader survey and qualify for a chance to win a $100 Gas Card.

tEcHnOlOGy QuEStIOnnAIRE: How much does your business value

information on technol gy?

CLICK HERE

Win a $100 gas card

DiD You KnoW? Scott's Directories offers e-blasts to Executive email

addresses - you pick the job functions you

want to reach.See our ad on

contact us today for more details.

the next page or

o

Powered by

E-mail Prospecting The Right Way.

Select from Canadian executives and decision-makers across the most sought-after industries and marketplaces in our economy.

Visit ScottsDirectories.com to learn more.

Find out how a CRM solution from Microsoft Dynamics can help your business:Call: (1) (877)-886-5783 or email: canmbs@microsoft.com

Explore the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics® CRM

Work is hard enough. That’s why Microsoft made Microsoft Dynamics® CRM Online so easy to use. It’s CRM software that everyone gets because it works like the familiar Microsoft® software your people already know. So if they know Microsoft Offi ce Outlook® they know Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Try Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online at no cost for 30 days.

Start your free trial here:http://crm.dynamics.com

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Ad.indd 1 9/21/09 2:39:54 PM