Mitchell Selling Dynamics Newsletters

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Newsletter for 4Q2007

Gonna Hold Down Costs

When my son graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Michigan with a 3.96 GPA in Mechanical Engineering I offered to take him on a trip to Europe as a way to show him how proud I was.

Of course we had a FANTASTIC time roaming around Europe with bicycles and European Rail Passes for over a month. But when we got back and I went through all the bills I found that we spent a total of $12,000 of which $8,000 was for lodging.

This got my mind thinking about how to avoid hotel bills and save all that money.

So I bought a van and trailer and plan to head south in the winter and sleep in the van and play golf whenever I can.

I will keep you posted with how I am doing or you can call me on my cell phone any time to find out first hand. 248-361-7911

My van and trailer

Newsletter for 3Q2007

Microsoft FrontPage Is Gone

Apparently, Microsoft has replaced FrontPage as their web development tool.

Microsoft replaced FrontPage 2003 with two products. One is called SharePoint and the other is called Expression Studio.

The following link confirms that FrontPage is gone.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/frontpage/default.aspx

SharePoint is for developers who are putting together web pages that will be very online collaborative.

Expression Studio has a suite of software packages that helps you create html pages and work on graphics.

We have always like the simplicity and low price of FrontPage and now we are being forced into using programs that are more expensive and will require some learning curve.

Not sure that we like this... but time will tell as we evaluate alternate products to do simple ways to do web page development.

Newsletter for 2Q2007

The telephone is more helpful now

It has been said that a sales person should try to make all his customer contacts in person. While I agree with this in principle I have found that "the times they are a changing".

Surely, nobody can challenge the phone for shear volume of contacts. We have found that an aggressive sales person can make as many as 125 phone contacts in one day. However, we have also found out that an average outbound tele-marketer will usually average about 70 phone calls a day.

Contrast this with face-to-face visits numbering four to ten per day.... with the norm being closer to the four than the ten. So the phone wins in shear volume. (I remember actually making 12 face-to-face visits one day in Los Angeles but I think that was some kind of record).

Good sales people will tell you that a phone contact is not nearly as valuable as a face-to-face visit. However, the phone contact can be greatly enhanced today with technology.

Technology enhances the telephone

Using a fax-from-PC program such as WinFaxPro, a sales person can create a very nice looking Microsoft Word document and fax it directly from the PC in as little as 45 seconds.... as long as you have a modem and a phone line to the PC.

Further, a GREAT looking html document can be created in Microsoft Front Page with colors and links to graphics for pictures, videos, graphics and logos. This html document can be turned into Stationery in Microsoft Outlook and emailed to a prospect along with PDF format catalogs also in as little as 45 seconds.

Both of these technology tools can be used to enhance a phone call and be completed in under two minutes, making the phone call a much better customer contact than it was years ago.

Many of today's sales managers were brought up years ago when the technology tools like WinFaxPro and Microsoft Outlook did not exist and therefore they tend to shy away from promoting phone contacts. Also, being at home "working" can have many distractions from children and loved ones so it takes a lot of discipline to WORK from home.

Newsletter for 1Q2007

Why do I need sales training?

This is a question that I am often asked. My answer is simple: "Companies do a good job of teaching their employees about the products and services that they sell but they often overlook two important needs that most sales people have. These are 'how to manage time' and 'how to manage relationships'. Good sales training will help with these needs."

Does it matter where I put my name tag?

After many hours of contemplation I can hereby make the proclamation that they should be worn on the right side of your body. For a man, the right lapel would be perfect. My reasoning on this is that when you shake hands with someone you normally use your right hands and a name tag on the right side is the most readable.

Are you going to teach me something NEW?

Here is another question that I am frequently asked. Many sales managers and business owners hope that there is going to be some magical method of increasing sales quickly without work and without being competitive. Wouldn't that be nice? My nearly 40 years in sales have taught me that sales come from doing simple things properly. Providing value through our products or services and providing personal value through our own experience and personality are the keys to sales growth. Sure, there are new tools that technology has given us but there are still many very successful sales people that don't use any technological tools. Among the many simple things are being nice to people and treating them with respect.