Get new business every day with your own 30 second commercial
As a newcomer to a breakfast networking group last week, I was reminded how important it is to be able answer the question “so what do you do…?” concisely and in a way that both grabs attention and leaves a lasting impression.
Most of the attendees were lucid and confident, but there remained others I spoke with who were only ever going to make a dreary and easily forgettable impact on their peers.
If your career in business means you regularly meet new people – and who’s doesn’t? – then it’s critical to be able to create and present a personal 30-second commercial, often called an “elevator pitch” in the States.
It’s the basis of personal networking, self-promotion, and pretty much everything else you need to stand out from the crowd in an over-crowded world.
Here are my top 10 tips for making that first impression –
1: Talk benefits, not just features. “I’m a lawyer who makes sure people don’t get ripped off in property deals” rather than just saying you’re a property lawyer.
2: Be conversational and confident. Don’t hesitate, fidget or blather, and always present with a smile and a twinkle in your eye.
3: Don’t use jargon and particularly not industry-specific acronyms (OMG!)
4: Boast a little. It’s ok to start a sentence with “My key strengths are…”
5: Fulfil a need. Reminding the listener that you’re a qualified Zeppelin commander marks you as quirky and interesting, but a little redundant.
6: Tailor to your audience. Investors want to hear how they can get returns, customers how you can solve their problems, and potential partners why you’re going to be a success together.
7: Use power adjectives such as “astounding” and “spectacular” over mundane words like “ok” and “good”.
8: Be prepared for follow-ups. If you’ve been convincing and engaging up to now, you’ll get questions. Rehearse the answers to any likely comebacks.
9: Review and revise regularly based on feedback. Conversely, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
10: Test your commercial on a 7-year old. If they don’t understand every word of it, you’ll lose half your target audience before you get a chance to finish!
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Free sales for small effort
Totally Free Sales! (Well almost)
If I told you that there is a way to increase your sales by 18% without paying for advertising, making any calls, or even making much effort at all, you’d probably think I’d finally lost my marbles.
In fact, you can achieve all that by the circulation of a regular e-newsletter to your existing clients. The caveats are that it does take a small amount of effort, and that 18% is the average extra new business I’ve experienced across 8 clients who’ve been running an e-newsletter I helped them design monthly for at least 6 months.
Here’s my 10-point action plan for creating easy, low-cost incremental sales –
1 – Collect email addresses for all your clients and prospects, if you haven’t got them already, and collate them into a database. Make sure to regularly update with new clients and prospects.
2 – Promote no more than three offers in each newsletter. Clients don’t want to just read about your products, and you can always lead them to more detailed stuff via links to your website. Then add handy free tips which could help your clients in their business.
3 – Make it unique. These days, most people get loads of newsletters. Fill yours with passion, fun and useful information to make it stand out from the herd.
4 – Make it look great. Use headlines, bullets, graphics and HTML so your customers’ eyes are drawn to it.
5 – Make it IT friendly: no more than about 800kb for easy download, and have it scaled to fit most screen sizes. Your web-team can help you design the first one, or they can do them all for a modest agreed monthly payment.
6 – Ask for feedback. You don’t want to be publishing stuff nobody likes for more than one issue.
7 – Make contact easy. Bold phone numbers and clickable email links are simple and essential components.
8 – Add an unsubscribe link. It might sound negative, but it’s better than repeatedly winding up a good customer if they simply don’t want your regular updates.
9 – Post each newsletter on your website. If you have been including useful tips as well as just product offers, they can form a valuable online resource for some time to come.
10 – Continue all the above monthly for maximum effect!
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries
If I told you that there is a way to increase your sales by 18% without paying for advertising, making any calls, or even making much effort at all, you’d probably think I’d finally lost my marbles.
In fact, you can achieve all that by the circulation of a regular e-newsletter to your existing clients. The caveats are that it does take a small amount of effort, and that 18% is the average extra new business I’ve experienced across 8 clients who’ve been running an e-newsletter I helped them design monthly for at least 6 months.
Here’s my 10-point action plan for creating easy, low-cost incremental sales –
1 – Collect email addresses for all your clients and prospects, if you haven’t got them already, and collate them into a database. Make sure to regularly update with new clients and prospects.
2 – Promote no more than three offers in each newsletter. Clients don’t want to just read about your products, and you can always lead them to more detailed stuff via links to your website. Then add handy free tips which could help your clients in their business.
3 – Make it unique. These days, most people get loads of newsletters. Fill yours with passion, fun and useful information to make it stand out from the herd.
4 – Make it look great. Use headlines, bullets, graphics and HTML so your customers’ eyes are drawn to it.
5 – Make it IT friendly: no more than about 800kb for easy download, and have it scaled to fit most screen sizes. Your web-team can help you design the first one, or they can do them all for a modest agreed monthly payment.
6 – Ask for feedback. You don’t want to be publishing stuff nobody likes for more than one issue.
7 – Make contact easy. Bold phone numbers and clickable email links are simple and essential components.
8 – Add an unsubscribe link. It might sound negative, but it’s better than repeatedly winding up a good customer if they simply don’t want your regular updates.
9 – Post each newsletter on your website. If you have been including useful tips as well as just product offers, they can form a valuable online resource for some time to come.
10 – Continue all the above monthly for maximum effect!
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries
Monday, 16 February 2009
Gain market share in bad times
Survive and thrive – it’s all in the maths.
We’re in an economic downturn, right? Everyone feels financially vulnerable, with markets and property values falling faster than Robbie Williams off the end of the charts.
Every day your customers are telling you they’ve got no money, that their expansion plans are on indefinite hold, and that they may even have to lay people off so they can ride out the storm.
Aside from the fact that much of the doom and gloom is self-perpetuating and self-fulfilling (you think it’s bad, therefore it becomes so), what can ambitious business owners do next?
The first thing to do is look at some maths. How much of the total market for your products or services did you enjoy back in the “good times”? Unless you have a unique offering, chances are you would never have met much more than 10% (at best) of the available demand in your sector.
One of my clients is in car leasing. Last year they financed 200 cars, which represented about 1% of all cars leased in their area.
This year, they’re on track for only 100 cars, which still equates to around 1% of the now depressed market.
The market doesn’t need to bounce back – you simply need a bigger share of it!
Instead of resigning themselves to similar results next year, they want to get back to 200 cars in 2009. I’ve shown them that although the market has contracted, there’s nothing to stop them getting a bigger share of it. In fact to recover their position, the market doesn’t even have to bounce back; they simply have to double their market share to 2% of the available business!
Whilst their competitors are battening down those hatches and tightening their belts, a process which inspires neither customer confidence nor loyalty, they need to pick up just a tiny proportion of disillusioned clients from each of them to get their business back on track.
There’ll never be a better time to gain new customers, and if you can impress them now when they really need you, they’ll probably stay with you for ever.
I’ll leave you with this thought – If my clients double their market share now to 2%, when the economy bounces back to normal they’ll be doing 400 cars a year; or twice as many as they ever did before!
Like I said, it’s all in the maths.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com - business consulting that works!
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
We’re in an economic downturn, right? Everyone feels financially vulnerable, with markets and property values falling faster than Robbie Williams off the end of the charts.
Every day your customers are telling you they’ve got no money, that their expansion plans are on indefinite hold, and that they may even have to lay people off so they can ride out the storm.
Aside from the fact that much of the doom and gloom is self-perpetuating and self-fulfilling (you think it’s bad, therefore it becomes so), what can ambitious business owners do next?
The first thing to do is look at some maths. How much of the total market for your products or services did you enjoy back in the “good times”? Unless you have a unique offering, chances are you would never have met much more than 10% (at best) of the available demand in your sector.
One of my clients is in car leasing. Last year they financed 200 cars, which represented about 1% of all cars leased in their area.
This year, they’re on track for only 100 cars, which still equates to around 1% of the now depressed market.
The market doesn’t need to bounce back – you simply need a bigger share of it!
Instead of resigning themselves to similar results next year, they want to get back to 200 cars in 2009. I’ve shown them that although the market has contracted, there’s nothing to stop them getting a bigger share of it. In fact to recover their position, the market doesn’t even have to bounce back; they simply have to double their market share to 2% of the available business!
Whilst their competitors are battening down those hatches and tightening their belts, a process which inspires neither customer confidence nor loyalty, they need to pick up just a tiny proportion of disillusioned clients from each of them to get their business back on track.
There’ll never be a better time to gain new customers, and if you can impress them now when they really need you, they’ll probably stay with you for ever.
I’ll leave you with this thought – If my clients double their market share now to 2%, when the economy bounces back to normal they’ll be doing 400 cars a year; or twice as many as they ever did before!
Like I said, it’s all in the maths.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com - business consulting that works!
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
CRM for success
Get the sales cream with CRM
Most businesses know their products, their message and their market well enough to produce a sales strategy that works pretty well. But they forget how important TIMING is in the whole mix.People will buy when THEY'RE ready, not when YOU’RE ready to make a sale.
We all know sales calling can be a tedious, stressful time-consuming process, which is sometimes easier to ignore. After all, if the customer doesn’t buy now, he’ll come back to us when he’s ready – right?
Wrong! Your “customer” will buy from the last person he talks to before he’s ready to make the decision. If that’s not you, it will be one of your competitors.
So, you have to be in front of your customers when they're ready to buy. In other words, you have to follow-up constantly to stop someone else catching their attention!
And in today’s contracted market, the last thing you want to do is to leave business, and money, on the table for someone else to grab.
Fortunately, there is a simple and easy way to ensure that you leave no stone unturned, and no opportunity open to your competition.
It’s called a Customer Relationship Management system, or CRM for short.
This is basically a log, detailing the last contact you had with your customer, and containing a date and time for the next agreed contact with them.
In the old days, this could have been no more than a note in your diary, or some kind of card index. I know people who still use a 1-31 filing drawer-based system for their personal follow-ups.
In 2009, however, there’s no excuse for not running a fully automated system, often linked in with your email software. If you’re not yet using MS Outlook for email, diary and task management, try it out right now, as it’s an accessible and cost-effective way to keep on top of things.
In fact, one of the main reasons my clients log on to their PCs in the morning is to open their CRM systems and check for that day’s follow-up calls.
I read an industry survey recently which estimated that a staggering 99% of SMEs don’t effectively follow up on sales enquiries. I want you to be part of the enlightened 1% this year, so get that CRM system in place, and use it religiously!
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
Most businesses know their products, their message and their market well enough to produce a sales strategy that works pretty well. But they forget how important TIMING is in the whole mix.People will buy when THEY'RE ready, not when YOU’RE ready to make a sale.
We all know sales calling can be a tedious, stressful time-consuming process, which is sometimes easier to ignore. After all, if the customer doesn’t buy now, he’ll come back to us when he’s ready – right?
Wrong! Your “customer” will buy from the last person he talks to before he’s ready to make the decision. If that’s not you, it will be one of your competitors.
So, you have to be in front of your customers when they're ready to buy. In other words, you have to follow-up constantly to stop someone else catching their attention!
And in today’s contracted market, the last thing you want to do is to leave business, and money, on the table for someone else to grab.
Fortunately, there is a simple and easy way to ensure that you leave no stone unturned, and no opportunity open to your competition.
It’s called a Customer Relationship Management system, or CRM for short.
This is basically a log, detailing the last contact you had with your customer, and containing a date and time for the next agreed contact with them.
In the old days, this could have been no more than a note in your diary, or some kind of card index. I know people who still use a 1-31 filing drawer-based system for their personal follow-ups.
In 2009, however, there’s no excuse for not running a fully automated system, often linked in with your email software. If you’re not yet using MS Outlook for email, diary and task management, try it out right now, as it’s an accessible and cost-effective way to keep on top of things.
In fact, one of the main reasons my clients log on to their PCs in the morning is to open their CRM systems and check for that day’s follow-up calls.
I read an industry survey recently which estimated that a staggering 99% of SMEs don’t effectively follow up on sales enquiries. I want you to be part of the enlightened 1% this year, so get that CRM system in place, and use it religiously!
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
Reading and meeting for a Tremendous Life
Reading and meeting are the keys to a Tremendous life
Like many in business, and with an interest in the success habits of others, I’m an avid reader.
I was reminded again of the power of a well written phrase when I picked up an article celebrating the life of Charles “Tremendous” Jones, an inspirational American speaker, author and life coach who died in 2008.
For six decades he toured the world imparting his wisdom and touching the lives of millions of people, but the one thing he’ll be remembered for above all else is a simple 26-word mantra –
“You are the same today as you will be next year except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read.”
It’s a beautifully simplistic view of course, but how true! If you read nothing and meet no-one for 12 months, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be particularly successful.
It’s also a given in that statement that it matters what you read and who you meet. If you read the Beano and meet only the postman every day, you’ll get what you get.
In a life devoted to advancing the understanding of business fundamentals, Jones published nine books, all of which have become reference works of their kind.
I’m about to re-read my copy of his 2 million selling “Life is Tremendous”, still available online and in bookshops.
Peppered with memorable quotes such as “To know what to do is wisdom. To know how to do it is skill”, his output consistently redefined how we should think about generating lasting wealth and happiness.
Like many business icons, he was a passionate philanthropist, and firmly believed not only that to receive anything you first have to give something, but also that giving is simply returning what you owe anyway. “Everything I have was a gift from someone”, he said recently.
Charlie also said that the secret to success is two words – “I will”, as against “I’ll think about it” or “I might”, or (God forbid) “I can’t”.
This year I’m going to follow Charlie’s “Tremendous” guidance. I WILL meet some more exceptional people, and I WILL read some more amazing books. I hope you do too.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
Like many in business, and with an interest in the success habits of others, I’m an avid reader.
I was reminded again of the power of a well written phrase when I picked up an article celebrating the life of Charles “Tremendous” Jones, an inspirational American speaker, author and life coach who died in 2008.
For six decades he toured the world imparting his wisdom and touching the lives of millions of people, but the one thing he’ll be remembered for above all else is a simple 26-word mantra –
“You are the same today as you will be next year except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read.”
It’s a beautifully simplistic view of course, but how true! If you read nothing and meet no-one for 12 months, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be particularly successful.
It’s also a given in that statement that it matters what you read and who you meet. If you read the Beano and meet only the postman every day, you’ll get what you get.
In a life devoted to advancing the understanding of business fundamentals, Jones published nine books, all of which have become reference works of their kind.
I’m about to re-read my copy of his 2 million selling “Life is Tremendous”, still available online and in bookshops.
Peppered with memorable quotes such as “To know what to do is wisdom. To know how to do it is skill”, his output consistently redefined how we should think about generating lasting wealth and happiness.
Like many business icons, he was a passionate philanthropist, and firmly believed not only that to receive anything you first have to give something, but also that giving is simply returning what you owe anyway. “Everything I have was a gift from someone”, he said recently.
Charlie also said that the secret to success is two words – “I will”, as against “I’ll think about it” or “I might”, or (God forbid) “I can’t”.
This year I’m going to follow Charlie’s “Tremendous” guidance. I WILL meet some more exceptional people, and I WILL read some more amazing books. I hope you do too.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
No whine in 2009
No Whine in 2009!
I’ve been isolating myself from pessimists for as long as I can remember. As soon as I feel a negative “vibe” from someone, I always make a mental note to be in a different room next time they’re around.
That particular skill is one I’m calling on more and more these days, as finding people without the doom-bug can be quite tough.
One thing which hasn’t changed with the economic climate is pretty much a fundamental law of the universe. Whether or not you believe some of the more spiritual stuff preached by Dale Carnegie, or in recent publications such as “The Secret”, it will always be an irrefutable fact that you get back what you put out.
If you think negatively, you will get negative results.
Even more obviously, if you say and do negative things at work, those around you will mirror those words and actions, producing a spiral of bad outcomes for your business.
The fact is, thriving in 2009 is far from impossible; here’s my 3-point plan to ensure that you keep your ventures on track when others are falling off the rails.
1. Review which of your goods or services are selling best, and focus on making those even more attractive. Pricing, features and delivery can usually be tweaked if you look closely enough. Conversely, consider dropping whatever isn’t selling well or making you a profit.
2. Use PR to get your message to the market cheaply, and ahead of the competition. Standing out from the crowd as a fashionable, desirable business can cost less than you imagine. Newspapers, TV and BBC Radio offer great opportunities for entrepreneurs to broadcast interesting, recession-busting stories.
3. Banish negativity from your business. If suppliers are talking doom and gloom, agree with them and get better prices and longer payment terms. If customers are whining, find out what it would take to make them happy again. If staff or colleagues are getting you down, re-arrange your office so you don’t have to listen!
In summary, identify the key success factors which made your business great in the past, promote them and focus on them, whilst eliminating waste and negativity.
I know 2009 is going to present some brilliant opportunities; make sure you are set up to grab them with both hands! Merry Christmas.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com - business consulting that works!
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
I’ve been isolating myself from pessimists for as long as I can remember. As soon as I feel a negative “vibe” from someone, I always make a mental note to be in a different room next time they’re around.
That particular skill is one I’m calling on more and more these days, as finding people without the doom-bug can be quite tough.
One thing which hasn’t changed with the economic climate is pretty much a fundamental law of the universe. Whether or not you believe some of the more spiritual stuff preached by Dale Carnegie, or in recent publications such as “The Secret”, it will always be an irrefutable fact that you get back what you put out.
If you think negatively, you will get negative results.
Even more obviously, if you say and do negative things at work, those around you will mirror those words and actions, producing a spiral of bad outcomes for your business.
The fact is, thriving in 2009 is far from impossible; here’s my 3-point plan to ensure that you keep your ventures on track when others are falling off the rails.
1. Review which of your goods or services are selling best, and focus on making those even more attractive. Pricing, features and delivery can usually be tweaked if you look closely enough. Conversely, consider dropping whatever isn’t selling well or making you a profit.
2. Use PR to get your message to the market cheaply, and ahead of the competition. Standing out from the crowd as a fashionable, desirable business can cost less than you imagine. Newspapers, TV and BBC Radio offer great opportunities for entrepreneurs to broadcast interesting, recession-busting stories.
3. Banish negativity from your business. If suppliers are talking doom and gloom, agree with them and get better prices and longer payment terms. If customers are whining, find out what it would take to make them happy again. If staff or colleagues are getting you down, re-arrange your office so you don’t have to listen!
In summary, identify the key success factors which made your business great in the past, promote them and focus on them, whilst eliminating waste and negativity.
I know 2009 is going to present some brilliant opportunities; make sure you are set up to grab them with both hands! Merry Christmas.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com - business consulting that works!
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
Surviving redundancy
Make redundancy the start of a new life
I was with a friend of mine last weekend, who shared with me the seemingly bad news that, after 12 years grafting as man and boy for a major energy company, he had been just made redundant.
His severance package of almost a year’s pay gave him, I observed, the luxury of being able to consider his next move without worrying about next month’s bills.
I understood his natural desire to find another job as soon as possible, but, I asked him, why not take the opportunity to become self-employed?
Without straying too much from his field of expertise, there will be many companies to whom he could offer his services as a consultant.
He would be spreading his income risk across more than one source; paying less tax, taking control over where he works and when, and would be able to employ others, thereby multiplying his earnings.
His clients (including maybe his former employers) would benefit from transferring the financial burden of using his services from that of a fixed cost employee to that of a variable cost consultant, paid by the hour/day/project.
Here’s my 5-point action plan for anyone facing redundancy –
Offer your employer the prospect of retaining you as a consultant, particularly if your role or your particular skills were unique.
If the company already engages consultancy firms, go and talk to THEM about becoming a consultant in your field.
Consider teaming up with other colleagues in a similar position to form your own consultancy business. Your accumulated experience, offered on a variable cost basis, could be hard for an employer to resist.
Don’t panic and take the first, or any, job you are offered. Your new boss could sideline you again at any time in the future, and you will be back to square one again.
Talk to others who are already consultants in your industry. They are likely to be suffering far less than their employed counterparts in today’s climate, and should be happy to give you some pointers.
Most consultancy businesses were started by people who were previously employed in similar roles, and some grow to be massive global ventures.
For many though, the simple knowledge that never again will they have to hear the words “We’re going to have to let you go”, will be incentive enough for them to join the ranks of the self-employed.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
I was with a friend of mine last weekend, who shared with me the seemingly bad news that, after 12 years grafting as man and boy for a major energy company, he had been just made redundant.
His severance package of almost a year’s pay gave him, I observed, the luxury of being able to consider his next move without worrying about next month’s bills.
I understood his natural desire to find another job as soon as possible, but, I asked him, why not take the opportunity to become self-employed?
Without straying too much from his field of expertise, there will be many companies to whom he could offer his services as a consultant.
He would be spreading his income risk across more than one source; paying less tax, taking control over where he works and when, and would be able to employ others, thereby multiplying his earnings.
His clients (including maybe his former employers) would benefit from transferring the financial burden of using his services from that of a fixed cost employee to that of a variable cost consultant, paid by the hour/day/project.
Here’s my 5-point action plan for anyone facing redundancy –
Offer your employer the prospect of retaining you as a consultant, particularly if your role or your particular skills were unique.
If the company already engages consultancy firms, go and talk to THEM about becoming a consultant in your field.
Consider teaming up with other colleagues in a similar position to form your own consultancy business. Your accumulated experience, offered on a variable cost basis, could be hard for an employer to resist.
Don’t panic and take the first, or any, job you are offered. Your new boss could sideline you again at any time in the future, and you will be back to square one again.
Talk to others who are already consultants in your industry. They are likely to be suffering far less than their employed counterparts in today’s climate, and should be happy to give you some pointers.
Most consultancy businesses were started by people who were previously employed in similar roles, and some grow to be massive global ventures.
For many though, the simple knowledge that never again will they have to hear the words “We’re going to have to let you go”, will be incentive enough for them to join the ranks of the self-employed.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
Let them moan!
Let them moan!
Regular readers will know I have a magnetic repulsion to negativity; in particular to anyone who tries to drag me down into their whine cellar with them.
Something happened this week though, which made me think we should be grateful for those people who constantly find things to moan about.
Maggie, one of my clients in the contract catering industry was waiting for a call from a big potential customer after she’d put in a rather large tender. Sure enough, the phone rang and her contact at this firm asked her how she was. Maggie replied in her usual cheery way that she was fantastic and that business was great, thanks! He seemed taken aback by her upbeat mood and when she told him that she had loads of work lined up, so she was now focussing on delivery rather than sales, she heard him take a big deep breath.
“Well”, he said awkwardly, “I was calling to tell you that we had unfortunately decided to go with your competitor on this job”. Maggie hid her disappointment professionally, until the customer continued, “But, you know what? I’ve been dealing with this guy over there who always goes on about how bad things are. In fact he said his firm would give me a discount because of the recession, and to be honest, he always sounded desperate to get the work. Give me ten minutes and I’ll call you back!”
When she picked up the phone a short while later, she was greeted by the same customer confirming that he’d talked to his MD, who’d agreed to give Maggie the whole contract, worth over £120,000 in the next 12 months. He added that the other quote was for around £20,000 less, but they just couldn’t face the prospect of dealing with this miserable guy for another year!
What’s the lesson here? Well, apart from the obvious “People buy from people”, there’s another more subtle message.
If you emit positive thoughts, words and deeds in everything you say and do, you will actively attract success.
In fact, these days, the moaners’ predictions of doom and gloom are far more likely to be self-fulfilling prophecies, and you will, like Maggie, find it even easier to steal their business with a smile on your face.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries
Regular readers will know I have a magnetic repulsion to negativity; in particular to anyone who tries to drag me down into their whine cellar with them.
Something happened this week though, which made me think we should be grateful for those people who constantly find things to moan about.
Maggie, one of my clients in the contract catering industry was waiting for a call from a big potential customer after she’d put in a rather large tender. Sure enough, the phone rang and her contact at this firm asked her how she was. Maggie replied in her usual cheery way that she was fantastic and that business was great, thanks! He seemed taken aback by her upbeat mood and when she told him that she had loads of work lined up, so she was now focussing on delivery rather than sales, she heard him take a big deep breath.
“Well”, he said awkwardly, “I was calling to tell you that we had unfortunately decided to go with your competitor on this job”. Maggie hid her disappointment professionally, until the customer continued, “But, you know what? I’ve been dealing with this guy over there who always goes on about how bad things are. In fact he said his firm would give me a discount because of the recession, and to be honest, he always sounded desperate to get the work. Give me ten minutes and I’ll call you back!”
When she picked up the phone a short while later, she was greeted by the same customer confirming that he’d talked to his MD, who’d agreed to give Maggie the whole contract, worth over £120,000 in the next 12 months. He added that the other quote was for around £20,000 less, but they just couldn’t face the prospect of dealing with this miserable guy for another year!
What’s the lesson here? Well, apart from the obvious “People buy from people”, there’s another more subtle message.
If you emit positive thoughts, words and deeds in everything you say and do, you will actively attract success.
In fact, these days, the moaners’ predictions of doom and gloom are far more likely to be self-fulfilling prophecies, and you will, like Maggie, find it even easier to steal their business with a smile on your face.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries
Focussed Upstream Networking for success
FUN takes practice!
One of the hardest things to do in business, as in life, is to make connections with those people who can truly enhance your prospects for success.
Most of us are reasonably good at networking, but often only in a close comfort-zone, interacting with those in a similar position to us. Doing that can be great for shooting the breeze and comparing tales of woe, but isn’t always a recipe for creating any radical change.
I have a friend and client with a plot of land which he wanted to develop, but wasn’t sure what to build or how. He asked me who I knew who might be able to help him. I suggested he picked the phone up to the wealthiest and most successful property developer in the City over recent times. I’d met him recently, and felt sure he would listen to my friend’s dilemma and try and help.
Sure enough, when asked “can I have the benefit of your opinion on a project I am considering?”, Mr Big invited my friend to come along to his office, and not only offered advice, but is now working with him to create a fantastic new site which will reap far more than either of us had imagined.
The technique we used there is what I call FUN, or Focussed Upstream Networking. It’s a massively powerful way to move your business forward, and easier than you think.
Start by making a list of the ten most successful/wealthy (often one and the same) people you know. Even if you only know someone else who knows them, put them on the list if you can get their contact details.
Then, email or call each of them with a (very) brief intro and a request such as “I’d like to get the benefit of your experience on…” or “as I know you’ve been very successful at…can you spare half an hour to look at my situation?”
You’ll find most people are flattered and more than happy to open up to you, and you will create at least 2 or 3 worthwhile lasting relationships.
Remember the key is to choose your network carefully, and always be looking to expand it outside of your current reach.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
One of the hardest things to do in business, as in life, is to make connections with those people who can truly enhance your prospects for success.
Most of us are reasonably good at networking, but often only in a close comfort-zone, interacting with those in a similar position to us. Doing that can be great for shooting the breeze and comparing tales of woe, but isn’t always a recipe for creating any radical change.
I have a friend and client with a plot of land which he wanted to develop, but wasn’t sure what to build or how. He asked me who I knew who might be able to help him. I suggested he picked the phone up to the wealthiest and most successful property developer in the City over recent times. I’d met him recently, and felt sure he would listen to my friend’s dilemma and try and help.
Sure enough, when asked “can I have the benefit of your opinion on a project I am considering?”, Mr Big invited my friend to come along to his office, and not only offered advice, but is now working with him to create a fantastic new site which will reap far more than either of us had imagined.
The technique we used there is what I call FUN, or Focussed Upstream Networking. It’s a massively powerful way to move your business forward, and easier than you think.
Start by making a list of the ten most successful/wealthy (often one and the same) people you know. Even if you only know someone else who knows them, put them on the list if you can get their contact details.
Then, email or call each of them with a (very) brief intro and a request such as “I’d like to get the benefit of your experience on…” or “as I know you’ve been very successful at…can you spare half an hour to look at my situation?”
You’ll find most people are flattered and more than happy to open up to you, and you will create at least 2 or 3 worthwhile lasting relationships.
Remember the key is to choose your network carefully, and always be looking to expand it outside of your current reach.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
Do something mad today!
Do something mad today!
The businesses which are surviving and thriving in these challenging times are often those with an innovative approach to selling fairly ordinary products or services.
Here’s some of the striking and effective things my clients are doing to get themselves noticed –
Turbocharge your voicemail – Everyone one hates leaving messages, and yet most of us record the same dreary “I’m either out of the office or in a meeting…blah-blah-blah” for our callers to listen to. If you call a certain Birmingham IFA you will hear “This is Dave’s son Luke. Dad’s out earning money to pay my school fees. I really like my school, so leave a message and I’ll make sure he calls you back” The kid’s 8, and Dave gets everyone leaving messages, mostly good humoured too. He reckons it’s improved his business.
Call your bank and ask for marketing ideas – A client in the property business did just that, last month. The bank suggested he set up a programme of seminars for the New Year, using advice from their resident expert in that field, and with an extended overdraft to fund the project. Although they won’t always make it obvious, your bank has a vested interest in making your business successful.
Ask your customers for advice – Next time you meet, or call a client, ask him “What could I do to make my products/services even more appealing to you?” or “Who else do you know who could benefit from my products/services?”, or “If you were running my business, what markets/products/opportunities would you be looking at for the future?” Everyone is flattered when you ask for their advice, and you’ll get some surprisingly useful answers.
Develop a 30 second personal ad – This is a concise, comprehensive and entertaining description of what you do, given verbally every time you hand out a business card. Designed to express precisely why your customers do business with you, it needs to be learned by heart and used consistently without variation. A client of mine in the IT industry reports a 100% increase in actual business connections from handing over a card since he started doing this.
If you try any of the above, I’d be keen to hear from you with your experiences!
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com - business consulting that works!
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
The businesses which are surviving and thriving in these challenging times are often those with an innovative approach to selling fairly ordinary products or services.
Here’s some of the striking and effective things my clients are doing to get themselves noticed –
Turbocharge your voicemail – Everyone one hates leaving messages, and yet most of us record the same dreary “I’m either out of the office or in a meeting…blah-blah-blah” for our callers to listen to. If you call a certain Birmingham IFA you will hear “This is Dave’s son Luke. Dad’s out earning money to pay my school fees. I really like my school, so leave a message and I’ll make sure he calls you back” The kid’s 8, and Dave gets everyone leaving messages, mostly good humoured too. He reckons it’s improved his business.
Call your bank and ask for marketing ideas – A client in the property business did just that, last month. The bank suggested he set up a programme of seminars for the New Year, using advice from their resident expert in that field, and with an extended overdraft to fund the project. Although they won’t always make it obvious, your bank has a vested interest in making your business successful.
Ask your customers for advice – Next time you meet, or call a client, ask him “What could I do to make my products/services even more appealing to you?” or “Who else do you know who could benefit from my products/services?”, or “If you were running my business, what markets/products/opportunities would you be looking at for the future?” Everyone is flattered when you ask for their advice, and you’ll get some surprisingly useful answers.
Develop a 30 second personal ad – This is a concise, comprehensive and entertaining description of what you do, given verbally every time you hand out a business card. Designed to express precisely why your customers do business with you, it needs to be learned by heart and used consistently without variation. A client of mine in the IT industry reports a 100% increase in actual business connections from handing over a card since he started doing this.
If you try any of the above, I’d be keen to hear from you with your experiences!
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com - business consulting that works!
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
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