Learn how to best manage your retirement plan in light of recent government changes.

Original post by Malcolm Fleschner

From your opening line to fielding questions, learn how to wow an audience of any size.

Original post by Malcolm Fleschner

A little over a year ago, I bought a domain name. I built the skeleton pages, but did not yet have content. A week and a half ago, I was finally able to add content, applying standard on-page optimization. (I could not add content before now, because the related “widgets” did not […]

Original post by DazzlinDonna

I want to finish the segment on objections before moving on.  I realize that this is pretty basic stuff, but if you don't master the simple stuff, the more advanced stuff won't work anyway.

There are three objection-handling techniques that should be in the mental tool kit of every sales pro. Here they are:

TECHNIQUE #3: THE PRESTO-CHANGO. When the objection surfaces, magically transform it into a benefit. You do this by agreeing with the objection and then relating it directly to a specific benefit, like so:

Prospect: “The service fee is too high for this equipment.”
Sales Pro: “Yes, our fees are higher than the competition, which is probably why we consistently win the Acme award for best service.”

TECHNQUE #4: THE INSTANT REFRAME. This time-honored technique works well for the ubiquitous “it costs too much” objection. In your response, change the cost metric so that the amount seems trivial.

Prospect: “I want a $500 discount on this car.”
Sales pro: “I hear you. Let’s see… you’ll have this car for, let’s say, five years. That $500 comes out to about a twenty-five cents a day. So, if I understand correctly, you can afford this car if you pass on buying a cup of coffee every week, right?”

This works best in cases where you sense that the prospect really does want to buy but needs some sort of price concession in order to feel better about the deal.  Warning: never try this technique on an accountant.  

TECHNIQUE #5: THE DELAYED GRATIFICATION. When all else fails, you can push an objection off the table by promising to answer it in the future:

Prospect: “I heard that you’ve got some dissatisfied customers.”
Sales Pro: “I have our specific customer satisfaction ratings back at the office. Would you like a copy?
Prospect: “Yes.”
Sales Pro: “Consider it done. Were you aware that our products are the only ones endorsed by Ultra-Gadget magazine?”

With any luck, the prospect will consider the objection “answered” and will buy without actually seeing the information. The trick here is to keep the sales conversation going rather than letting the objection block the sale.  (Needless to say, you must fulfill your commitment, even if the prospect has already purchased the product.)

By the way, the three techniques above are based partly on personal experience (I use #3 so frequently, it's almost automatic) and partly upon a conversation with sales guru Tom Hopkins.

Original post by Geoffrey James

It’s been a rough 24 hours. I had to make an emergency upgrade to a dedicated server for one of my sites to handle an influx of traffic. I got 3 hours of sleep last night, and the rest of the time has been spent being STRESSED OUT. But there’s nothing like a […]

Original post by DazzlinDonna

New Google Pay Per Action Options. Google has launched a new model adwords model. They advertise it as:

Increase your advertising reach while paying only for actions that you define. First, you’ll create an ad and define the action that you want a user to perform when they visit your site, such as signing up for your newsletter or purchasing a product. Then you’ll set the amount that you’re willing to pay when this action is completed. Finally, you’ll install conversion tracking code on your website so that we can verify when an action has been completed.

Original post by deucetwo

Can you remember the last time you reviewed your agreements and policies? If not, it’s probably time for a checkup.

Original post by Malcolm Fleschner

Support resources for entrepreneur moms are plentiful, but if you find yourself needing more, you can always start your own.

Original post by Malcolm Fleschner

Just a quick tidbit here. Google is currently updating backlinks, which have not yet propagated to all DCs. The tidbit is that Google lost quite a few backlinks in this update, going from 1,750,000 to 1,480,000 reported links. Yahoo also lost some, going from 1,990,000 to 1,780,000. MSN, on the other […]

Original post by DazzlinDonna

A weekly look at the latest products and services designed to help you run a better business.

Original post by Leslie Taylor