The SmallBizLady Buzz - Issue 178

When preparing for a B2B Sales meeting, use my 4-Step Sales System to prepare. It will help you walk your clients through how using your product will solve their business challenges.

Step 1. Pre-call Planning — Understand the customer’s goal for the sales meeting. Whenever possible find out the names and titles of who will be in the room, how much time you have, any technology available in the room. If using slides, never have more than 10-12 slides, and print color hard copies for small groups of 10 or less. It’s best to prepare handouts just in case the projector isn’t working in the conference room.

Step 2. Pain-Points — Understand the customer’s pain points. Make sure the client knows that you know their company background, broad strategy, and their problem. Read their 10K or order a DNB/Hoovers report to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your target customer.

Step 3. Story— Everyone responds to a story of success. Lay out case studies. Talk specifically about how your product or service worked with a similar client or in their industry and the results that it generated. Clients respond to measurable results.

Step 4. Ask— Never close a sales call without asking for the business or at least clarifying the next steps in their internal purchasing process.

When your presentation focuses on the voice of your customer, you will stand out. Rise above focusing on your company’s services and features and instead find your purpose by maximizing your benefits to your customer.

Now check out the featured article of the week, 10 Holiday Sales Tips to Help You Prep Ahead for the Best Season Yet

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10 Holiday Sales Tips to Help You Prep Ahead for the Best Season Yet

September is here, and the unofficial countdown to the holiday season has begun. I always advise small business owners to plan for the holiday season early, but it’s even more critical this year. Given the unique challenges we’re facing (from the economy to hiring to a resurgence of health concerns), you need to jump-start your holiday sales strategy if you want to hit your goals. To guide you in some key areas, I’m offering ten holiday sales tips that will prepare you for your busiest, most profitable season yet! Continue reading....

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The Become Your Own Boss Course launches on October 10th!

If you want to position yourself to launch your dream business in 2023, you need to register for this 10-week course. We will walk you through the Emerson Planning System to develop a life plan, get your finances together, validate your business idea, determine your niche customer, build your marketing message, complete a business plan and you’ll finish the course with a polished pitch deck. You'll be ready to close customers on day one!

All students will receive a copy of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months and The Become Your Own Boss Workbook. The course is being offered through a partnership with Drexel University. All classes are virtual, and students will be eligible to receive continuing education CEU) credits. Only 50 slots are available. Register today!

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Know When Your Emails Are Opened

Mailtrack is an unlimited email tracking system for Gmail. It provides real-time notifications and link tracking for email campaigns, mail merge and pdf documents. If you want to know if you email has been opened or how many times it was read, this is a great option. With that information, you can completely change the nature and frequency of your follow-ups.

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Podcast: Hiring Your First Sales Team with Kristie Jones

Checkout my recent podcast: Hiring Your First Sales Team with Kristie Jones

Kristie Jones is the go-to expert for companies wanting to build, grow, or scale their sales or customer success teams. She started Sales Acceleration Group in 2016 to help owners and founders increase revenue, reduce churn, and be able to scale more quickly.

Her 20+ years as a sales leader in the SAS space fuels her passion for helping bootstrapped and venture-backed founders. For more information, head over to SalesAccelerationGroup.com.

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Melinda F. Emerson, “SmallBizLady” is America’s #1 Small Business Expert. She is an internationally renowned keynote speaker on small business development, marketing and social selling. Melinda is also the president of the Quintessence Group, an award-winning marketing consulting firm based in Philadelphia, PA, serving Fortune 500 brands who target small business market. LinkedIn named her a Top Voice for 2019 in Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In addition to being a former NY Times columnist, she is frequently quoted by media organizations including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News. She is the host of #Smallbizchat LIVE and The SmallBizChat Podcast. A prolific writer, Melinda has published more than 5000 articles on her blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com. Her small business advice is widely read reaching more than 3 million entrepreneurs each week online. She is the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, Revised and Expanded and Fix Your Business, a 90 Day Plan to Get Back Your Life and Reduce Chaos in Your Business.