One of the most exciting times in anyone’s life can be starting out or taking over a small business. So many times the lure of no longer ‘working for the man’ inspires people to head out into the unknown and try their hand at business ownership.
One of the most important considerations when setting up your business is how you are going to manage your records and report to the relevant people come tax time. As you will find out once you get going this needs to be done in the most efficient and easily handled way as possible.
Unfortunately this is where a lot of people have trouble, myself included. As with many business owners the common and the more well known accounting packages are usually the first port of call. With their flashy sales pages and endless lists of features and functions it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that this is what you need to run your business successfully.
Well I am here to tell you that unless you are looking at turning your business into a fortune five hundred company within the next twelve months there is a much easier way of doing things! While many packages offer a fantastic range of features and will just about make your coffee for you while you try and sort it all out, for a small business many of these features are a time waster rather than a necessity.
As anyone that has had any experience with small business will know saving time doing mundane tasks is very important and while bookkeeping is an essential part of business imagine having to spend night after night just learning how to use your new accounting software. This is no joke, some of these larger packages can literally take days of learning and that’s before you even start to enter the records that have started piling up.
This is the road that I took, until I got fed up and started researching what was available to make small business accounting what it should be – a simple, hassle free part of what you do. To my surprise there were many packages available that took the pain out of setting up and controlling business accounting needs and I urge you to take a look before condemning yourself to hours of frustration at your computer!
More information on Simple Accounting Packages for personal and business use can be found at Simple Accounting Software. Find out how simple small business accounting can be at Simple Accounting Software
I love sales, but it was not always this way. Like you, I have had some bad experiences with salespeople that really affected my opinion.
Fear of rejection is also a common reason for business owners to dislike sales. Between the old school “used car salesman” experiences and the rejection, it is no wonder people have a bad opinion of sales. Much of the dislike of sales comes from not having a successful system.
After getting my business degree and working a few years, I realized that I was pretty good at sales and could make good money in sales. I received some of the best sales training available and did make some good money in sales. Let me share my secrets to success with you.
1. Believe in your product. When you know in every cell of your body that there are people who will absolutely benefit from your product, you will be doing them a disservice by NOT telling them about it. You must truly believe that your target market will receive value for the price. For example, I know a woman who sells household products with a network marketing company. She is not a trained business person by any means, yet she sells a lot of product because she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that her product changes people’s lives for the better.
2. Listen. Most of the time, your prospect will tell you exactly what you need to do and say to close the deal. Let them talk and pay close attention! You might want to start taking notes from the first contact.
3. Genuinely care about your prospects and their problems. Don’t you know when someone is just trying to sell you something and doesn’t really care about your problems? Enough said.
4. Ask questions. Take charge of the sales meeting, guiding the prospect to the conclusion. Ask questions whose answers will allow you to give the prospect the information they need to make a decision. Find out what they have been doing without your product and what problems they need solved.
5. Give a free sample. This is probably the best strategy you can employ. You know when you are in the grocery store and the nice lady gives you a taste of the newest salad dressing or frozen dinner? It helps you make the decision to buy or not to buy. Same concept! Share your brilliance. Give first and see how it comes back to you. Even if they don’t purchase from you immediately, they may tell everyone about your product and how terrific you are, then make a purchase for themselves later. One note: do not expect the prospect to make a purchase just because you gave them something for fr’ee. It does not work that way, one for one, but it will come back to you if you give with no immediate expectation of a return.
6. Anticipate objections. Prepare for your sales meetings by brainstorming a list of all the reasons why somebody would say ‘no’ to your offer, then figure out how to overcome each objection. Go one step further and address all objections in your ‘pitch’ before they are even mentioned.
7. Ask for the sale. There is an old saying in sales – “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” You can be subtle about it and feel good about your close, but you need to ask. Try my favorite close: “How would you like to move forward?” Then be quiet! Let them take all the time they need to think it over. There is another old saying in sales – “He who speaks first loses.”
These 7 Secrets will take you far in your sales meetings. Once you have figured out what works best for you, your product and your target market, do it exactly like that every time. It may become old for you, but the prospect has never heard it before, so don’t change it. Put some positive energy into it and don’t forget to ask for the sale!
Copyright (c) 2009 Audrey Burton