This week on More Than a Few Words, I had the opportunity to sit down with Matt Nettleton, sales coach at The TrustPointe.

Matt has a wealth of experience working with individuals at all levels of organizations. In this conversation Matt explains to be successful in sales, a prospector needs to “find the pain” when speaking with prospects.

Sales skills are just one half of the selling process, which begins with a clear picture of your target customer.  If you enjoyed Matt’s tips on how to more effectively “find the pain”  and would like to see how this is incorporated into a complete sales process, be sure to check out “From Random Strangers to Raving Fans” seminar, jointly taught with Lorraine Ball. You can find out more information on Sandler Training at Trustpointe here.

After one of the longest recessions in the last 50 years, many of us have forgotten how to operate our businesses in an expansionary economy.  But the recession is over, and it is time for a change in strategy!  In today’s podcast I talk about the single most important strategy for small business owners in the recovery … consumer spending!

If you enjoy today’s podcast, mark your calendar, and join me at the Rainmaker Main Event on Tuesday, March 30th, from 5:30 – 7:30,  as I explore this topic, in more detail.  Till then, I hope you enjoy today’s episode of More than a Few Words!

I had a chance to sit down recently with Dave Anderson of Pinpoint Multimedia to talk about video.  Dave, a video strategist shared some tips for small business owners considering adding video to their website.   He says:

• When you can’t be face to face, Video works
• It is on 24/7 – It is working while you sleep, but keep your audience awake with short, relevant content
• Video is great for Marketing/Sales, Training and Communicating to Employees and Customers
• Keep your content concise  and relevant to a targeted audience!

To here the rest of the interview, click the link

This week I interviewed our graphic designer Taylor Brough.  A graduate of  The Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Art at Indiana University, Taylor brings a unique artistic style to our design projects.

In the last 18 months, he has truly masted the art of the WebBanner and the effective 6 x 9 postcard, but his favorite projects are definitely his logo designs:

Click here to listen to the interview

About a year ago, Ingrid Cummings invited me to be a guest on her radio program Rubicon Salon. In the course of the hour, we talked about marketing, social media and staying ahead of your competition in an economic downturn.

While the entire program is too long for More Than a Few Words, I thought it would be fun to share a few excerpts over the next few weeks.

In this  segment, we talk about the shift in marketing strategies, from push to permission based and the challenges and the rewards for business owners who adopt this approach.

From the interview: “While the medium has changed, the fundamental methods have not.  It is still about identifying your customer and talking to your customers in the places they are most likely to find you!

Click here to listen to the interview.

This is another installment of More Than a Few Words

As a small business owner, there are days I feel like I have been run over by the economy. There I am minding my own business, driving along, when along comes the economy moving full speed ahead in a downward direction. 

It is easy to make excuses and let the impact slow me down! But I have big plans for 2010, so I konw I can not let the external factors like the continued sluggish performance of the economy distract me from my goals and objectives.

What about you?  Do you have a plan to keep your small business focused?   That is the topic of today’s pod cast!

What is Hullabaloo?  Well if you are as old as I am, and odds are you aren’t you might remember a TV show from the 1960′s .  It featured musical performances by folks like:  Sammy Davis Jr., Petula Clark, Paul Anka, Jack Jones, and Frankie Avalon.  I included the links so you could figure out who I am talking about.

Anyway, I am off topic, because the Hullaabloo I am really excited about being a part of the Spring Hullabaloo hosted by Address Two .  I interviewed event organizer, Nick Carter the other day about the program and learned a few things.

I got a run down on who was speaking, why Nick organized thte program, and discovered Nick can’t spell Hullabaloo!  We had a good time recording the conversation and I hope you will enjoy the interview and the event.

Date: Thursday, April 22nd
Time: 1:00-6:00 PM
Where: Crowne Plaza (Union Station)
What: Sales & BizDev Training
For questions, call 317-594-9550 or email contact@addresstwo.com.

Listen to the Podcast:

Around the world, large canyons exist because of the steady drip of water.  The small, but constant impact wears down the rocks, eroding the surface, and cutting a path where there wasn’t one.

The same process works in customer interactions.  It is easy for a prospect to miss or ignore one message,  a consistent,  small campaign, of email, print, or some combination of both, can wear down objections and open up a door to a sales opportunity.

At roundpeg, I have been experimenting with targeted drip campaigns or marketing sequences.  This is a process in which I identify a small audience with a common interest,  send them a series of messages  over time on a specific topic.   We have been really pleased with the results of our first camp How to Write a Business Plan in Ten Weeks.  As a result we have added programs on  Web Design, PR and have several more in the works.

I spoke recently with Barb Jones of  Stellar Infusionsoft Coaching about our experiments with Marketing Drip Campaigns or Sequences as she calls them.  It was fun to be the interviewee not interviewer for a change!

If you are still sending mass emails to thousands of people, you are probably being ignored by most of them.  Now is a good time to consider an alternative,  more focused approach.  There are a number of tools which will help you create  campaigns like this.

For small business owners,  we recommend AddressTwo. It is what we use, and have found the ability to do both email and print campaigns from the same data base a real plus. And in the interest of full disclosure, we are a partner provider for AddressTwo, so we can help you get started.

“For larger firms, with more robust requirements,  Infusionsoft offers many terrific features including extensive customization, templates for both emails and sequences, and trackable links that allow you to adjust to every choice your prospect/client makes or doesn’t make.” 

This decade is about personalization, so consider using a drip campaign to personalize your email.

I am interrupting my series on small business planning, to include an interview with my friend, Laina Moloski dropped by the other day to talk about all the new changes at C & S Consulting which include her new books, and new web site.

In this first podcast we focus on her new book: But it is My Business in which she shares tips and realistic ideas for small business owners.

From ideas on how to terminate employees to tips on sales and planning, Laina approaches the process of owning a business with humor and serious advice.

The book will be launch on March 30, but it is available now for preorder at http://candsconsulting.biz/

With Matt Nettleton

This blog has been very focused on business planning for the last two weeks.  I think it is time to change it up just a little. Today I want to share an interview with sales professional Matt Nettleton.

I am an active participant in a Sales Training Class with Matt Nettleton of Trustpointe. I love his direct, no nonsense appraoch to building my business. One of the things we have focused attention on lately is the difference between my average customer and my ideal customer.

The average customer, are the clients I attract now. But the ideal, are the clients I want to do business with. Doing business with these companies will help me grow my business over time.

Want to learn more about the difference? Take a moment, and listen to the interview with Matt