tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80160271425625659172024-03-18T03:45:27.178-04:00Dave Hanron - The Business Outsource GuyWelcome to my outsourced services blog. I've developed this blog to share my expertise developed over my 25+ years of sales experience in the communications industry involving phone billing and services,call centers,IT solutions, cloud services, social media,and various other servicesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-39816392847973846162017-10-01T19:18:00.000-04:002017-10-01T19:35:56.682-04:00Relationship, Relationship, & Relationship – It’s all in the “Channel”<div class="MsoNormal">
Channel sales is an interesting topic. Having been in “The Channel” in various sales
& senior management roles for more than 23 years, I’ve seen a lot. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The same trade shows years after year, some changing names,
several times. Same cities, same
hotels. How many times have you been to
Caesar’s in Vegas? Or the Venetian? Remember Jay Leno performing at Comptel? Magic Johnson speaking at Embarq? (one of my favorites) How about all the logo
changes you see on the polo shirts of our Channel peers? </div>
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<br /></div>
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Seems like every year we’re saying:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hey John, I didn’t
know you left Company xxx?”.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Dave, I’ve been with Company yyy now for 6 months. Greatest place I’ve ever worked! Here’s my new card”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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All too familiar, right?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But one thing never changes in the “Channel”. The simple fact that agent partners buy on
relationships - not product, price, commission, or bonus. (OK, maybe a few buy on commission & bonus). That’s the main reason we work in the “Channel”
vs working in “Direct Sales”. Relationship
is what wins business in the Channel.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvNMTFrrlUVmP4hPJnGAeN0NS8E-rjRuyg_hsHTTQJsH42aAuBloICrLvj1zQGB10WxjPAAeo1psE004zgCaYqKn1q0-UkTAppSTHu2hm2q9dqBrhkG55FZZu2zU2LxwuPpxalv7PqJbm/s1600/Two+Men+coffee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvNMTFrrlUVmP4hPJnGAeN0NS8E-rjRuyg_hsHTTQJsH42aAuBloICrLvj1zQGB10WxjPAAeo1psE004zgCaYqKn1q0-UkTAppSTHu2hm2q9dqBrhkG55FZZu2zU2LxwuPpxalv7PqJbm/s1600/Two+Men+coffee.JPG" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
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My partners have customers they’ve worked with for more than
20 years. A direct sales rep stands no
chance of penetrating that customer because the partner has the relationship. It’s just another example of people buying
from people. It takes a different kind
of sales professional to understand how Channel sales works and then thrive at
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The days of convincing a partner to use your product simply
because it’s a great product are mostly gone.
Too many companies these days have the same products. Now if the partner (or often times, a friend
or master agent of that partner) has known the Channel Manager for years, the
odds of the partner listening to the new product pitch are greatly
enhanced. One thing I’ve learned over my
2+ decades working in the “Channel” is that I’ve made a lot of good friends all
over the country at a lot of companies. I
do most of my business with the people I’ve had the longest relationships
with. I learned a long time ago from a
gentleman I owe most of my success to, that the only way to be successful in
the “Channel” and last your entire career, is to build a solid reputation as an
honest & responsive sales resource for your partner. I’ve done my best to follow that advice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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If someone calls, answer the phone. If you miss their call, call them back. Not “within 24 hours because that’s your
company rule” but rather call them as soon as you’re free. Maybe it’s on your commute home or before you
run out to dinner. If you see their
email on Sunday, return it. Trust me, it
goes a long way in building the relationship.
Channel sales is 24 x 7 x 365. Or
as close to that as you can come.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I recently sat through a seminar with one of the nation’s
largest Masters, reviewing some Q&A they had done with their partners. You know what their #1 issue is in a Channel
Manager?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
#1. RESPONSIVENESS<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Not price, not commission, not SPIFF but Responsiveness. That says a lot about what a partner thinks
is important and I agree.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And remember, you may not always have the ideal product for
a customer, so if your product doesn’t fit and you know it, tell your
partner. If you’re my partner and you
know my product isn’t the best fit, tell me.
I’d rather hear “No, doesn’t work on this one Dave. We’ll try again on the next one” than spend
cycles on something I’ll never sign<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s all relationship in the Channel. The more we all work on it and understand it,
the more money we’ll all make. And along
with all the friends and the Vegas trips, money plays a little role in it too!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
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Happy Selling…<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com69tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-91145622094479994082016-09-24T20:12:00.000-04:002016-09-25T08:39:37.462-04:00Dial Up Your Sales Efforts<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Tired of endless Prospecting without Results?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hundreds of thousands of people try and fail at sales every
year. Ever wonder why?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Some people are just born sales professionals.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Most have to learn the trade and work hard
every day learning new techniques.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">With
today’s social media, there’s plenty of material to choose from when looking to
expand your knowledge and understand what has made others successful.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgr_e3m_NkChN4rzsOV1PAch8NEVPhA-_q0uYVvOYyC6VKqyhYJGYaT0sUal25LprnaeVAg1gyfGDk3Jm1QwsGfjuqinXG-Q0RDm1vTl92e5IA3VhtDS3COIDxy5l3EgeGWeepQACRpK-/s1600/sales+dial.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Here’s my 2 cents for this week…..</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There’s really 4 phases to sales, regardless of product
line:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgr_e3m_NkChN4rzsOV1PAch8NEVPhA-_q0uYVvOYyC6VKqyhYJGYaT0sUal25LprnaeVAg1gyfGDk3Jm1QwsGfjuqinXG-Q0RDm1vTl92e5IA3VhtDS3COIDxy5l3EgeGWeepQACRpK-/s1600/sales+dial.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgr_e3m_NkChN4rzsOV1PAch8NEVPhA-_q0uYVvOYyC6VKqyhYJGYaT0sUal25LprnaeVAg1gyfGDk3Jm1QwsGfjuqinXG-Q0RDm1vTl92e5IA3VhtDS3COIDxy5l3EgeGWeepQACRpK-/s1600/sales+dial.png" style="cursor: move;" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Prospecting</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Discovery</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Presenting</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Closing</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’m going to focus on #1…Prospecting.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Prospecting is merely finding people or businesses to sell
your product to.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It involves deciding who
is the proper contact and how to best engage them.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">In my 25+ years of sales, I’ve learned many
techniques to open doors.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Regardless of
the methods you choose, one thing remains constant:</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">You MUST develop and stick to a consistent
outreach plan.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Most sales take multiple contacts before a prospect will listen
to your offer.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have had the best success
in the last 5 years using a combination of electronic messaging (includes
email, Twitter messages, Linkedin inmails, and videos) and the old fashioned
phone call, spread out over a 2 week outreach period.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My style has been electronic message of some type (your
choice, email or Linkedin) on Day #1.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Day #2 involves a live phone call, including leaving your name and
general message (practice your pitch!) if you get voicemail.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I often use Day #3 as on “off day” with no
contact.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Day #4 is another phone call,
with no message if I get Voicemail.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">(Everyone
has Caller ID so you get your message across without actually leaving one.)</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Day #5 ends the first week with a different
form of electronic message.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">If you
emailed the 1</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> time, try Linkedin the 2</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">During week 2, I will try the more "social media" style
contacts.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have had great success using
Twitter.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Many professionals will not
have their work email on their phones, but will get a notice if they receive a
Twitter message.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Twitter is an underused
ace in the hole.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Since it</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> is so rarely used in
business, people find it differentiates you from the crowd.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is my favorite technique.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The next few days can be designed however you feel most
comfortable, combining all the mentioned contact techniques in a pattern.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Try mixing it up, and see what works best for
you.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">After two weeks of attempts, I’ll put the prospect into a
follow up stage, giving them a break for 2-3 weeks before starting another
round of communications.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is not
uncommon for me to go through 4-5 rounds of outreach before I am able to
actually engage a prospect.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Persistence
pays in sales.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">That is a common trait in
all successful sales professionals.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There is no golden rule that guarantees a prospect will talk
with you, but following a designed outreach plan can help increase the odds of
engagement for you.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Happy Selling!</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-77987029376099198702016-04-24T11:11:00.001-04:002016-05-01T19:12:38.387-04:00What's Your Average Sales Cycle?<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">What’s your average Sales Cycle?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">90 Days? 120 days? 180
Days? Longer? Really depends on your industry. In the telecommunications arena where I have
spent my career, the transition to internet based voice and cloud based data
has pushed us towards the 180 day mark.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGf_oEEh2T-OYIs_TOojAzAqeef_MNs0B1-Q_hxmnRpgWvDejDB7aLWKw4p8ScTCvIfOC8G5wJYFPviTMFWfEbh7FeHJn5dUAfHWFTZyKxW74N0UdAmMYslG3ZiXU8fQYJH6wqCWKGdyS/s1600/modern-sales-cycle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGf_oEEh2T-OYIs_TOojAzAqeef_MNs0B1-Q_hxmnRpgWvDejDB7aLWKw4p8ScTCvIfOC8G5wJYFPviTMFWfEbh7FeHJn5dUAfHWFTZyKxW74N0UdAmMYslG3ZiXU8fQYJH6wqCWKGdyS/s200/modern-sales-cycle.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Accepting the fact that the sales cycle is this long is your
first step to making the timeframe work for you. Once you have resigned yourself that the
customer’s new service will take 6 months to get installed, the next question becomes
“How do I get paid for my efforts?” Six
months is a long time without a paycheck.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We all know the sales manager pitch “Keep your funnel full and deals
will close each month. Anything less is
not enough activity”. I guess that’s
partially true but in some sections of the telecom industry, there is far too
much background work required for a sales professional to keep up the level of activity
to have a large deal close every month.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Working in the Channel, my focus has been on agent sales for
the last 25 years. An agent often sells
many products, offered by many different suppliers. Managing all the different offerings,
timelines, quoting processes, order paperwork, etc. can be daunting.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Independent sales agents work hard, leveraging personal
relationships, business relationships, referrals, past job connections,
industry peers, and other various prospecting techniques to find a new
customer. Add in the face to face
meeting with the prospect, the info gathering effort, design work across multiple
suppliers, presentations, decision making time, contract review, provisioning,
installation, cutover, and customer training, time is at a premium for the
agents prospecting efforts. I know very
few agents who can manage all of these needs well enough to close a large deal
every month to sustain their income.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So how do the successful agents keep consistent revenue
growth coming into their agency? The #1
technique involves shortening the sales cycle and getting commissionable
products on board immediately.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have developed a highly successful technique to provide a “Roadmap
to New Technologies” and give the independent agent an opportunity to have commissionable
services installed within 14 days, and commissions in the bank within 30 days. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6TBAwOSVHXpt6mA66DVUNHOAwUWlLmlmd0UPmDCmh4jecfKSGhZkNdosUvkukUpnha-qwfEdL7Zna84yu5VHQI0B8hG3oMtfi_T0WbGAy2mL_vCpAH5dhMXlpz85CmfKtMeQJCxFjBJA/s1600/salesroadmap_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6TBAwOSVHXpt6mA66DVUNHOAwUWlLmlmd0UPmDCmh4jecfKSGhZkNdosUvkukUpnha-qwfEdL7Zna84yu5VHQI0B8hG3oMtfi_T0WbGAy2mL_vCpAH5dhMXlpz85CmfKtMeQJCxFjBJA/s200/salesroadmap_0.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Using my company’s network services, we provide our agents
the opportunity to turn a prospect into a revenue producing customer without
interfering in the long term solution.
In fact, we make the transition easier, providing a clean, electronic
inventory on all current services, in one concise invoice, available on a state
of the art web portal. All with $0 cost
to convert, and no term or volume commitment to sign. When your new solution is ready to cut over,
simply send me an email and let me know which services to disconnect.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of the key advantages we can give you is building
credibility with your new customer.
Rarely are you the only bidder on a project, but using my services allow
you the opportunity to show a client what your agency is able to deliver, while
others are talking solutions that won’t be installed for 6 months. You’ve cleaned up their inventory,
consolidated their billing, and typically saved them some money while doing
so. All without requiring a contract! My solution is delivered on a month to month
basis. Best guess is you’ll be the only
sales professional in the bidding with this advantage in your sales kit. And we'll pay you for it!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This approach has allowed my agents to gain a 30% growth in
commissions from my company over the last 12 months and it shows no sign of slowing down.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I‘m happy to share more information on how you can take
advantage of this technique and see more commissions flowing into your bank
account within 30 days.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Drop me a note at </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">dave@davehanron.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
or on Twitter at “@DaveHanron”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com60tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-7288387155251020332015-06-21T11:26:00.000-04:002015-06-21T11:39:10.149-04:00Product or Technique? The "Roadmap to Success"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWJDqWAxZrwghxZbDRyBIC7a_ix7_ephJs3mhY9Zffmj_mohkvAvXa415-u8c-ILb52Jk4qQQ0KfgPZRYfVD1hWo6ZNeMrRXT3_jXqIKn5GfxCvZMOVexokZKKSzamk8mtw1V2yX59B3g/s1600/roadmap+to+success.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWJDqWAxZrwghxZbDRyBIC7a_ix7_ephJs3mhY9Zffmj_mohkvAvXa415-u8c-ILb52Jk4qQQ0KfgPZRYfVD1hWo6ZNeMrRXT3_jXqIKn5GfxCvZMOVexokZKKSzamk8mtw1V2yX59B3g/s200/roadmap+to+success.png" width="200" /></a>In the world of Channel sales, just about every independent
sales Agent operates with multiple products in their sales kit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of your industry, the product set
will typically range from entry level services to the most cutting edge
technology available, paired with everything in between.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how does the Channel Sales executive convince the Agent
to sell their product over someone else's?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lot of factors can play a role in this decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s examine a few…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><u>Residual Income</u> – just as in direct
sales, the amount of commission to be made in the comp. plan will drive what
the Agent sells on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
the Agent makes 20% residual on Widget A and 7% on Widget B, he/she is going to
sell Widget A whenever possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simple </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><u>Support</u> – Support from the Channel team
also plays a critical role in the Agent’s decision on who’s product <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to sell on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the sales support on Widget A is better
than that received on Widget B, easy decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It becomes complicated when Widget B provides exceptional support while
the sales team support on Widget A is less reliable or even non-existent. The extra sales support makes Widget B easier to sell, and becomes a viable option as you should close more sales with Widget B, offsetting the lower residiual number vs. Widget A.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><u>Customer first</u> – We hope every Agent
sells with the best interest of their customers in mind but we know that is not
necessarily the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many times the
products are driven by Factor #1 (residual Income) rather than customer
needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s unfortunate, but it’s
reality.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><u>Training</u> – the amount of training
provided by a Channel team can be critical in persuading an Agent to choose one
supplier over another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you take the
time to visit your agents, train them on the latest product offering your
company has, and arm them with customer success stories and references, it
helps build confidence in your business model and will drive more opportunities
your way.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So with all these factors plus many more in play, is it best to confront
the factors head-on or try another proven method to drive business?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
IMO, accepting the fact that your Agents are going to sell
other companies’ (even your competition) products is the first step to being
successful in the Channel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to convince them to do otherwise simply doesn't work. Once you
understand the model, how you adapt your business model to the competition is
critical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have found developing a “Road map to Success” by using your
product and illustrating how the Agent can add your product line to every
potential sales opportunity they come across is the quickest and easiest way to
grow business with your Agents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By
developing and training your Agents on a technique to put your offering in
front of every prospect, you will see more interaction and more sales
revenues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The key is to differentiate
your product by highlighting your advantages over your competition and
illustrating why only your product will fit the “Roadmap to Success”, close
sales quickly, and make more money.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To learn more about my “Road map to Success” and how I have
successfully driven more business by integrating a “Road map” approach, drop me
a note at <a href="mailto:dave@davehanron.com">dave@davehanron.com</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy to share my thoughts. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Have a great “Road map” in place already? I'd enjoy sharing
your comments with my readers</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-88142398714763714372014-07-13T20:34:00.000-04:002014-07-13T20:34:40.687-04:00Phone calls? Emails? On site visits?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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A lot has been said about sales prospecting techniques over
the years and what works and doesn’t work…..</div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhubBl73PGFjrImajVWOQqm0wY_NcPHX9Fc_dIvXzvEeVqaimPppURoYlKiQ-6LLIYCWEPuzqEZSag-SSPkJYBCdLM0L-rEiDgYzmCtbQRVi2L1bIoXt5Rgi1ADokdJkjKowvj9iceZyWP/s1600/sales+call.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhubBl73PGFjrImajVWOQqm0wY_NcPHX9Fc_dIvXzvEeVqaimPppURoYlKiQ-6LLIYCWEPuzqEZSag-SSPkJYBCdLM0L-rEiDgYzmCtbQRVi2L1bIoXt5Rgi1ADokdJkjKowvj9iceZyWP/s1600/sales+call.jpg" height="136" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sales Cold Call?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Having worked in sales for more than 25 years, both in front
line sales and executive roles, I have my own personal opinions on what works best
and what is really a waste of time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I’m not here to give my two cents worth, because I’m a strong advocate that
everyone’s sales technique will be different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And you should do what brings success to YOU, not what someone who says they are an expert in sales is telling you to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liken it to a baseball player…..some
players can hit a fastball better than a curve, and other players are vice
versa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But both players can end up being
Hall of Famers.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What doesn’t change is what’s important…having a meaningful
conversation with a decision maker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
how do we accomplish that?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI2OQeqmKo8oABXJWfhUlXMK2s8F1_M65sCDDRl59t8opZ9oexDAIs_GFeQgGI9SV_2KqOd9pGrHfKlh9OrgYNydDeJbUmGu7X11Q91o8PR5xGfRoiRm8zMbNzPEvKLfS6RQOidYqPXHNI/s1600/email.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI2OQeqmKo8oABXJWfhUlXMK2s8F1_M65sCDDRl59t8opZ9oexDAIs_GFeQgGI9SV_2KqOd9pGrHfKlh9OrgYNydDeJbUmGu7X11Q91o8PR5xGfRoiRm8zMbNzPEvKLfS6RQOidYqPXHNI/s1600/email.jpg" height="124" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you prefer email?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There a 3 main goals to accomplish when prospecting a new
client.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b>Be Brief</b> – no one likes to read a long email or
listen to a long drawn out message<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <b>
</b></span></span></span><b>Do your homework</b> – have some direct knowledge of
the business or person you are reaching out to….it shows you’ve taken the time
to do research</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b>Bring Value</b> – it’s wonderful you have a great
product, but that doesn’t mean someone is going to buy it. Turn it around to show
how you bring value or cash flow to your prospect</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Sales” is a profession and it takes a professional to
succeed at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sales rarely come on the
first contact with any prospect, and often don’t close until the 5<sup>th</sup>,
6<sup>th</sup>, or even 10<sup>th</sup> contact with the customer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bottom line is you have to be creative and
find ways to stay engaged with your prospect even when you don’t have a meeting
or call scheduled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is here where the
“Email, phone call, & site visit” come into play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All great ways to stay in front of the
customer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another easy, yet often
overlooked method is social media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here's a tip that works great for me.....Many
companies maintain blogs today and even if your prospect isn’t the writer of
his company blog, you can be sure they follow it and would see a comment on it
if you were to make one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
personally had great success with this method over the years.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t overlook Linkedin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Send an invite to your prospect after a couple contacts; I wouldn’t
recommend sending it too early in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Too presumptive for me….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIn891E8WIOnbBgVbEnUFdRdxPdTVOqzFbWJ-hg4a3Re1m3EVwxxFzH_mVKA21KjZM1Az-bIHBzEW8iVjr-riK3Nv85gm1_UeI33xBZEAuSz7M761HwpEXW6fUAaxc6E4kR5vXMiMs7sk/s1600/follow+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIn891E8WIOnbBgVbEnUFdRdxPdTVOqzFbWJ-hg4a3Re1m3EVwxxFzH_mVKA21KjZM1Az-bIHBzEW8iVjr-riK3Nv85gm1_UeI33xBZEAuSz7M761HwpEXW6fUAaxc6E4kR5vXMiMs7sk/s1600/follow+up.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ALWAYS Follow Up!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><b>Don’t give up!</b></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>......Often
it takes me 2 or even 3 cycles of 6 to 7 unanswered contacts to finally get
in front of a prospect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they don’t
answer you in your first go around, push a follow up out 4 months and try
another cycle of contacts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that
doesn’t work, push it out another 6 months and try again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using a CRM tool will help you keep your
schedule on track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Salesforce, Outlook,
ACT!, and any one of a number of more systems will do a nice job.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember my earlier baseball reference?…..My favorite quote
that I post in my office to remind me to follow up, follow up, and then follow
up some more:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“ It’s hard to beat a person who
never gives up”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-- Babe Ruth</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me know how you run your sales business?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to learn a new technique every day….you
should too</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-63268360246346448092014-02-23T14:52:00.000-05:002014-02-23T14:54:31.838-05:00What Makes a Good Vendor?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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Having worked in Channel Sales for 20+ years, I have had
many varied experiences with my Channel Partners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have seen people produce many, many thousands of dollars in sales, consistently
year after year and make tons of money with my programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have also seen the opposite end of the scale,
Channel Partners who sign a marketing agreement and either never produce a single sale,
or close but a few sales over the years.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So what is it in a Channel Sales group that drives an “Independent
Sales Agent” to use one supplier over another?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have my ideas which I try to run with faithfully with my team of
Agents, but I’m really curious what you think?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The most important item I have found over the years,
required to even get an Agent on board, is a good, meaningful <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Product</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without a marketable product, there’s no
reason to sign an agency agreement in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let’s assume for this discussion we have a
great product…….</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbNVCz3n2mu9uNwcnAW7j60dV8drDmPdb24mxp9Yh3C3sciYxzCAPcjm-rT68dun8i9g7IN6AdGnwQ27xZHS7bGLKLe2FySYmBJcX_lCFXpvzV8bde_rqSH-MAPkAwMhcsKGKnFw4HKEE/s1600/Sales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbNVCz3n2mu9uNwcnAW7j60dV8drDmPdb24mxp9Yh3C3sciYxzCAPcjm-rT68dun8i9g7IN6AdGnwQ27xZHS7bGLKLe2FySYmBJcX_lCFXpvzV8bde_rqSH-MAPkAwMhcsKGKnFw4HKEE/s1600/Sales.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><i>A good Channel Team will drive more sales</i></span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After product, IMO, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Responsiveness
</b>is the next most important reason to choose one supplier over another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If an Agent sends in a quote request, and has
it returned within the same day, they have a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GREAT Supplier to work with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the time to return a quote extends itself,
it exponentially reduces the opportunity to close a sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve heard of sales agents waiting days to
get sales quotes, only to be told when they do present it to the customer, the
prospect has already selected another vendor and has an install date scheduled……..ouch!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(As this is my #1 important trait, for the record, my team at <a href="http://www.granitenet.com/">Granite Telecom</a> turns simple, non-complex quotes around in 24 hours or less) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Relationship </b>is a
vital cog in any partnership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to
be as involved in my agents sales efforts as possible and do my best to contact
them at a minimum, once every 3 weeks by phone or email, with in person visits
every 6 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Covering the entire United
States and Canada, visiting even this often is a challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For more regional reps, a monthly stop by
would be great to cultivate the relationship with your Channel Partner.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Customer Experience</b>
or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Service </b>runs a close 4<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your company can provide a top notch
customer experience to the sales agent’s customers, you’ll have a better
retention rate, meaning long term residuals, which is the name of the game in
agency sales.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have loads of other components I think fit in somewhere,
just not sure where to list them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
“financial stability of your company”, “price”, “sales ability”, “promotions”, “SPIF’s”,
“commissions”, “flexibility” and many more……</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts on how these components line
up when you’re choosing a supplier…..maybe all of my fellow Channel Managers can
learn a thing or two from our sales agents?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-48633100435302238572014-02-16T10:41:00.000-05:002014-02-17T08:49:03.465-05:00 How Long Should You Wait on Hold?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b>How Long Should You Wait on Hold?</b></div>
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I hear the comments every day…..”You won’t believe what
happened to me yesterday!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…. “I waited
almost 40 minutes to get through” ….”You’d think they’d hire more people to answer
the phones”….” I can’t believe I waited that long only to get transferred”…”That’s
the last time. I’m moving my business”.....… and so on.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1S4gWhZEhPwy3e_-5OgUr6jjMWcPoYC6J5uqR5MLxBLz6qaHf064VoAjlupbbhzZ38u1ENVxarG5S2i1QWz2SwCcsrDd-xw5_1hWPQ8BkuKglL7XyoOSiEAnN-TsYQ9-PF8i942XRCZ4-/s1600/call+center+frustration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1S4gWhZEhPwy3e_-5OgUr6jjMWcPoYC6J5uqR5MLxBLz6qaHf064VoAjlupbbhzZ38u1ENVxarG5S2i1QWz2SwCcsrDd-xw5_1hWPQ8BkuKglL7XyoOSiEAnN-TsYQ9-PF8i942XRCZ4-/s1600/call+center+frustration.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Hold times can last up to 13 minutes</i></span></b></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"></span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b> </b></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Granted, working in the communications industry, I might be
exposed to more of the complaints than the average worker but it is certainly a
sore spot when someone has a poor experience with a company’s customer service
organization.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve all made that dreaded call during our lunch hour to
try and ask a question about something, maybe your cell phone, your cable bill,
insurance bill, or even in the worst cases, the calls to file for unemployment
benefits or Cobra insurance coverage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
personally have had loads of these experiences, with some hold times exceeding
an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is FRUSTRATING.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Take a look at a couple of these examples of hold times from <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/companies-that-put-you-on-hold-the-longest/">CBC News</a>…..</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Continental Airlines, 13 minutes<br />
2. Air Canada, 10 minutes<br />
3. IRS (Personal), 9 minutes<br />
4. Amtrak, 9 minutes<br />
5. AT&T Customer Service (General), 8 minutes<br />
6. Delta Air Lines, 7 minutes<br />
7. Southwest Airlines, 7 minutes<br />
8. JetBlue Airways, 6 minutes<br />
9. ACE Hardware, 6 minutes<br />
10. AARP Healthcare, 5 minutes</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shocking, huh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually would argue that the time to get a resolution is actually longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many times do you get transferred and put
back into the queue?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something to think
about?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We each have tolerances in our business in order to balance
operating costs with customer satisfaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The discussion here is what level of hold time are you willing to accept
before you start losing customers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
as hold time goes up, you <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WILL LOSE</b>
customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a fact.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have seen many statistics pop up over the years to measure
hold time. “ATA” or “Average Time of Answer”, “AHT” or “Average Hold Time”, “TIQ”
or “Time in Queue” are just a few that come to mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually use this statistic as a major
selling point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My feeling is providing a
service with little or no hold time presents a professional solution and
portrays a service orientated company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If the operations of a firm are designed around short hold times, it
means the company cares about its customers and will go to any means necessary
to deliver a first class customer experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is the type of company where I want my business to go.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRA8hZXYWY78bGnDFapHndhGPoW-pVcgPMF2sv63RML25AncDGTHaLW_9h00f17ek1GsxhbQmrt5N6GpSLbOdkUUByvWgCMpcfn9tJBBU9nPjuF9euNw1J5AHfGVsIX1_jF835YBmPRX8D/s1600/happy+call+center.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRA8hZXYWY78bGnDFapHndhGPoW-pVcgPMF2sv63RML25AncDGTHaLW_9h00f17ek1GsxhbQmrt5N6GpSLbOdkUUByvWgCMpcfn9tJBBU9nPjuF9euNw1J5AHfGVsIX1_jF835YBmPRX8D/s1600/happy+call+center.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where do you put your business and why? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Do you think hold time affects customer retention rates? </span>Let’s find out what we all think…….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
…….And just for the record, my company, Granite
Telecommunications, answers all <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>customer
service calls with a live person on average in less than 8 seconds 24x7x365……..</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-77073010679854979272013-12-15T10:48:00.002-05:002013-12-15T10:54:16.427-05:00Technology Reflection 2013<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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As 2013 comes to an end, we all have a couple of slow weeks
to close that last big sale before the Holidays, wrap up our loose ends in the
office, and plan for a great start to 2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By reflecting on what went well this past year, and reviewing those challenges
that didn’t quite go the way we hoped, achieving a quick jump out of the gate
for next year is possible.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One thing we have seen over the past couple of years is a
quantum leap in new technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cell
phones are changing by the day, from the iPhone5 to the Galaxy 4, the iPad has
developed into the 2<sup>nd</sup> generation iPad Mini and iPad Air, and
wireless and cloud IT services have skyrocketed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYe7y26iTv2ZjgTNcYgHZKo2yObDjXeF5SowLLLontWim0CBmTXXU6Zmgt6s12GMsJDndA9A8lR-3Us4vic8TtuRg1_1Bd6qCG3_U8YnYDIQjb2DaZ2bNSiOubvuZswQwIYrjV0aoDqWTL/s1600/Early+adopters.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYe7y26iTv2ZjgTNcYgHZKo2yObDjXeF5SowLLLontWim0CBmTXXU6Zmgt6s12GMsJDndA9A8lR-3Us4vic8TtuRg1_1Bd6qCG3_U8YnYDIQjb2DaZ2bNSiOubvuZswQwIYrjV0aoDqWTL/s200/Early+adopters.JPG" width="200" /></a></i></b></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Technology Adoption Graph</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how do we decide on our business plan to incorporate the
changing technologies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we jump right
in with the newest equipment, or do we sit back and wait for the kinks to get
worked out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a great question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’ve
been in sales or marketing, I’m sure you seen some variation of the graph to the right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people are “Innovators”, some are “Early
Adopters”, some are in the “Majority” and still others are “Laggards” when it comes to adopting new ideas and products.</div>
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<br /></div>
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A small percentage of the population falls into the early
and late stages of technology, but 68% of the market falls into the “Majority”
phase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the market that
successful businesses typically target.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While some companies are “Innovators” (think Apple), many of the Fortune
100 companies adopt their business plans to focus on winning the “Early Adopter”
market. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how does this affect your business?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working in a Channel Sales management role, I
often see my Partner’s dealing with changes in their product sets from their
vendors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many providers simply eliminate
older technology and change their compensation plan to drive Agents to their
newer technologies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, a good
sales person will take about 5 minutes to break down a new comp plan and sell
what makes them the most money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I
do…......but does the sales person make more money selling new, unproven technology?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
If I had a $1 for every time someone told me the
following statement, I’d be a very wealthy person and would probably be retired
:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“ I don’t sell your company’s type of services anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My customers don’t have a need for that any
longer”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wow!……..that would be a powerful statement if it were
actually true.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Selling the new technology is certainly flashy and gives the
appearance to your prospects that your company is on the “Leading Edge”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is, focusing on the new technology
being pushed by your provider can effectively limit your prospect bucket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As 68% of businesses don’t adopt new
technology right away, according to the “Adoption Graph”, you’ve immediately
reduced your market to 32% by thinking this way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to avoid this issue, I recommend to
my Partners to consider switching to another vendor for their current product
set, while integrating the new technology via their existing vendor who is targeting
the “Early Adopters”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By incorporating
this process into a business plan, you’ve effectively maintained your prospect
bucket at nearly 100%, meaning almost every company you talk to can buy something from you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By offering the newest and greatest products through one
vendor and older, more proven technology through a 2<sup>nd</sup>, 3<sup>rd</sup>,
or 4<sup>th</sup> vendor, you have a more complete product line and can meet a
variety of customer challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
will ultimately lead to more sales. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
can’ think of the last time I visited a car dealer who sold only one model, nor
does Walmart carry only one brand of TV’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why would you limit your agency’s portfolio by eliminating a product
set used by 68% of businesses.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
During these last couple weeks of 2013, take the time to
reflect on your product portfolio and determine if it makes sense to try and
hit all sections of the “Adoption Graph”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You may see it helps make 2014 a better year!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-5589295497542519102013-12-04T19:56:00.000-05:002013-12-04T20:16:48.310-05:00Would You Return This Call?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->Telephone Cold calling…Email…SMS
Text…Twitter…Linkedin…Facebook…Webinars…and more.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
All standard techniques for sales professionals to try and
drum up business leads and get in front of qualified prospects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes these methods work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More often than not, they don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because you’re delivering the wrong message.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxLiDn6GgeYFEGgUw9EQ4wnkE9JHc0vYS7RxhaM1ygOVTuN4Dh9QiG07DwVhLYg0rTczmP7OvcXXJfGNH_LekkbGBaKNExdDlALU4S9P22sPuEzoYJKz2fSeicaTf5enaF5E8dhBhzOYP/s1600/cold+call.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxLiDn6GgeYFEGgUw9EQ4wnkE9JHc0vYS7RxhaM1ygOVTuN4Dh9QiG07DwVhLYg0rTczmP7OvcXXJfGNH_LekkbGBaKNExdDlALU4S9P22sPuEzoYJKz2fSeicaTf5enaF5E8dhBhzOYP/s320/cold+call.jpg" width="212" /></a>How many of us have gone into one of the big box stores and
run into the poor person walking around with the dreaded clipboard?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of us!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The person is typically trying to get your attention, offering a deal of
some sort, completely different from the product you went into the store to
buy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do you most often walk away
after saying “I’m not interested”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
are these people getting such a low conversion rate?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are not offering a service YOU think YOU
need at the moment and your time is valuable.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That is the underlying problem sales professionals are
facing every day during their prospecting efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We email, call, text, tweet etc. to people WE
perceive as prospects, interrupting their daily work and expecting them to drop
everything and respond to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This just
doesn’t produce enough results.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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So how do successful sales professionals get their prospects
interest?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The top sales producers have
learned the technique of creating a sense of need with their prospects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have redesigned their message from
selling their company’s value proposition to offering a sure fire method to
grow their prospect’s business.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Consider this scenario, left on voicemail…..</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
”Hi Mr. Customer, my name is Kevin from ABC Inc., and I’d
like to speak with you about my “Widget” program for your company and the value
it brings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could you
please give me a call back at 781-123-4567”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pretty standard stuff for a voicemail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you think Kevin is going to get a call
back? Pretty unlikely……</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now a different approach…..</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hi Mr. Customer, this is Kevin from ABC Inc. calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m looking to arrange a brief 15 minute call
to discuss how your company can grow a new revenue stream using the same
program I designed for …(a company within your prospects industry)……<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please drop me a quick call @ xxxxxx or email
with an appropriate time and I‘ll confirm via Outlook invite.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you think “Kevin’s”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2<sup>nd</sup> message will get a better response rate?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Absolutely it will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By delivering the same message but creating
the impression of a new income stream, “Mr. Customer” is more likely to
respond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not guaranteed by any means,
but more likely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might take a few
follow ups to get a response, but any CTO or COO will tell you unless you
create a way for them to benefit from your call, they will not give you the
time to make your pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Kevin
didn’t even mention the product in his 2<sup>nd</sup> message.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Creating a perceived need for a product or service will help
justify the prospect agreeing to give you the time on their schedule to make
your pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Try imagining yourself in
your prospect’s chair and consider what would make you return a call on your
product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once you’ve crafted the right
message, you’ll see your prospecting efforts return more set appointments which
will lead to more sales…….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Have a great opening pitch? I'd enjoy hearing about it..... </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Good selling……….</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-32053950737947299482013-10-26T19:52:00.000-04:002013-10-28T19:53:30.866-04:00Sales exclusivity – Does it limit potential or add value?<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Having been in a variety of senior sales and sales
management positions over the past 25 years, I’ve worked in and managed both
direct and channel sales groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
both cases, one major decision always seems to pop up……this issue of
“exclusivity”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What exactly does the term “Exclusivity” refer to in
sales?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The term really can have a double
meaning in sales agreements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglilW-qSrJfpzAwGRZdGs5VCWjOWZw2C2GjkhQ8ky1VFisn4deBzqYmZXLiaLzIMA6VaPXHQy8NZcmwWnE_lyhcqk5qcAoaqBtcYuckI780Z4k6dQfnijDkfavmCesl0OHjNdrhYz5SlEh/s1600/exclusivity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglilW-qSrJfpzAwGRZdGs5VCWjOWZw2C2GjkhQ8ky1VFisn4deBzqYmZXLiaLzIMA6VaPXHQy8NZcmwWnE_lyhcqk5qcAoaqBtcYuckI780Z4k6dQfnijDkfavmCesl0OHjNdrhYz5SlEh/s320/exclusivity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In one case “exclusivity” can be granted to a sales person
or company to be the only person authorized to sell a certain set of products,
or be the only authorized sales agency in a specific geographical region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could be a state, county, country etc.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The second definition can be written where a sales person or
company can only sell one manufacturer’s product line, thus becoming an
“exclusive” agent for a particular vendor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In return for accepting this type of arrangement, the sales agent can
typically negotiate favorable terms and pricing for the product.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But is “Exclusivity” hindering the sales organization’s
success?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a debate that has been
going on for years and will continue for the foreseeable future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have witnessed organizations who sell only
one product or brand become highly successful and profitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, I have also often seen these
relationships sour as technology passes by the product, or competition
developing a better, more price competitive product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just recently, the drug manufacturing company Merck lost
it’s “exclusivity” to sell the drug Singulair when it’s patent expired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to <a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/article/merck-profit-down-as-loss-of-singulair-exclusivity-hurts-sales-20130730-00331">NASDAQ.com</a>, Merck & Co. “reported
a 49% decline in second-quarter profit, as the drug maker continues to feel
sales pressure from patent expirations”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is a big impact from the addition of sales competition to the
playing field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously a positive In
making the case that “exclusivity” helps drive increased profits.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the other side of the fence, being an “exclusive” agent
limits your options to a present to a potential customer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While price limitations is an obvious result
of this situation, consider other issues:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>your prospect may have had a bad previous experience with your
manufacturer, your product may not have the right features, your install or
delivery requirements may not fit, or the prospect may just like to make a
choice rather than be “sold” on a solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In any of these situations, “exclusivity” can hurt your sales efforts
and can often lead to a lost sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
“exclusivity was good for business, Walmart would carry one type of vacuum, one
brand of potato chips, one brand of laundry detergent, and so forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all know they don’t, and they are
America’s largest retailer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So at the end of the day, is “exclusivity” worth it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still up in the air but it’s fun to
discuss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, I think limiting
yourself to one type of anything is a bad idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After all, how many of us own more than one car and have all of the same
type of vehicles in our garages and driveways?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are 4 cars in my family, a Cadillac, a Toyota, and 2 Chevy’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yes, I have 3 different brands of HDTV’s
too!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So much for “Exclusivity” in my family!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How about you?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-80573103421660843942013-07-20T18:17:00.001-04:002013-07-20T20:40:38.202-04:00Copper Phone Lines – End of the Road or Just the Beginning?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the Bell companies continue to migrate their service
focus away from their legacy copper networks, pushing new technologies like
FIOS, Ethernet, fiber, satellite, and wireless, are businesses witnessing the
end of an era?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQjdzuLLq20MwbrteL5zK75hKih5U0ZTn3LY-fZ8u6Qbh3OldoD3VunqUT8MAPyFl-aVtDyrRLGNc-B_vuhzYSq8kwVoUme8VzJCpLuV5YISSapYeQVjwzpI8-n7pylmpck2wm34kWnZp/s1600/telephone+pole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQjdzuLLq20MwbrteL5zK75hKih5U0ZTn3LY-fZ8u6Qbh3OldoD3VunqUT8MAPyFl-aVtDyrRLGNc-B_vuhzYSq8kwVoUme8VzJCpLuV5YISSapYeQVjwzpI8-n7pylmpck2wm34kWnZp/s200/telephone+pole.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Copper lines are in every neighborhood</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Copper phone lines have been around since the invention of
the telephone in the late 1800’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alexander
Graham Bell is credited with designing the first electromagnetic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>telephone in 1876.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Copper lines have been in use ever
since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number of copper lines in the
United States peaked at 186 million in 2000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since then, more than 100 million lines have been replaced with newer
technologies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, the legacy copper network is expensive for the
incumbent local carriers to maintain, and they continue to move resources out
of the copper network and into the new transport methods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The copper wire gets wet during storms and corrodes,
causing outages and requiring constant repairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
what happens to us, the consumer, who has relied on “copper” to form the
backbone of our national communications networks for the last 130 years?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Manholes can be a disaster for a repair tech</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The decision by the bell companies to reduce their support
structure for their legacy networks has opened a door of opportunity for a few
wholesalers to enter the market and offer consolidated billing services,
discounted rates, and an exceptional customer experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it’s common to hit an IVR platform, and
be placed in a call queue for up to 20 minutes when calling your local phone
companies, using a wholesaler can deliver calls answered by a live person,
within as little as 8 seconds, 24x7x365.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another benefit delivered by these wholesale providers is
the ability to consolidate billing across traditional company boundaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you own a </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
multi-location business, and
have offices in Verizon territory in the northeast, locations in AT&T’s
footprint in the south, and others in Centurylink’s territory in the
northwest,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you now have the capability
to combine all these locations on to a single invoice, with a single point of
contact for all your moves, adds, changes, new installs, billing questions,
etc. The service comes with an online web portal, providing your business with unmatched visibility to your services, circuit inventories, repair tickets, adds, changes, and installs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the wholesalers work through agreements with the various
bell operating companies, switching your services to one of their platforms is
as simple as signing a “Letter of Authorization” or “LOA”, and having an
electronic transfer occur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lines
physically remain on the Bell network, with only the customer service and
billing functions being moved.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The best part of all is because of the massive buying
volumes the wholesalers bring to the market, among all these benefits comes the
best one of all, a reduction in price of up to 30% off tariffed rates.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you are interested in learning how to take advantage of a
wholesale arrangement for your business, please reach out to me @davehanron on
Twitter or email me at <a href="mailto:dave@davehanron.com">dave@davehanron.com</a>
and I’ll be happy to assist you.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-22710232677863329282013-07-05T18:54:00.000-04:002015-06-21T11:43:59.157-04:00A Friend’s Perspective on Your Business<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Friend’s Perspective on Your Business</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over my 25+ years as a sales professional, I’ve come to
realize that none of us will ever know all there is to know about any of our
professions…..and sales may perhaps be the hardest one of all to conquer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I’ve attended dozens of conferences and seminars,
hundreds of webcasts, internal training, external training, new hire training, I
even once took a course on how to train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still, with all this training, I will never fully understand all there
is about selling.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I have worked with loads of other sales professionals….
some old, some young, many my age, and learned something good or bad from each
and every one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our early
years, it seems easy to pick up closing techniques, prospecting tricks, and
perceived shortcuts to success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later in
my career, I’ve found it more likely to observe people using methods that
involve new styles, like social media, SEO, self-branding, and using other
modern systems to succeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, the
information available to us through the internet is almost infinite.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But to put this all into perspective, is using Hoover’s
or Jigsaw or Linkedin to research companies and prospects any better than the
old school method of “dialing for dollars” out of the phone book?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure; I guess it would depend on what
works for you….</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0bUKtqx7VqmPldsIQzOsypi13fNWP05xdRo235h1KCMZ67D0XHqMzFpSlqETz_wBFtaWce37-j0WU8M7-6bIBTca9vkHEJIEvadadgRwxnFcvbvxlN2d_XtADggHYGP3cmNtFUCGYfJp/s1600/friend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0bUKtqx7VqmPldsIQzOsypi13fNWP05xdRo235h1KCMZ67D0XHqMzFpSlqETz_wBFtaWce37-j0WU8M7-6bIBTca9vkHEJIEvadadgRwxnFcvbvxlN2d_XtADggHYGP3cmNtFUCGYfJp/s320/friend.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But over the years, I have learned that the best method
to get a neutral perspective on how your sales pitch works is to simply run it
by one of your personal friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
a lot of friends outside of sales and many work in fields completely removed
from my product line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no better
test for your pitch than running it by one of your friends who has no idea whatsoever
what you really do for work and what you really sell.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If you can maintain the interest of your friends with
your sales pitch and at the end of your five minute pitch, they understand your
product, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you’re on the right track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have even had the pleasure of hearing some
great ideas from some of my friends which I have put into play and had great
success with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consider this a bonus,
but it happens more than you think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
just takes you to practice perhaps the hardest sales skill of all…Listening!</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So the next time you’re at a lunch, a ballgame, a cookout, or
perhaps on the golf course with one of your friends, take a couple minutes and give him
or her your pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might be surprised
at what comes of it…and you might even discover they have a great contact or
two for your to reach out to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had
them all the time but never truly understood what you did or what you sold? </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But be prepared...good friends are brutally honest. Just as quickly as they'll tell you your clothes don't match or you car is filthy, they'll tell you your delivery stinks! If after you've finished, they still have no idea what you sell, you need to go back to the drawing board and rework your story.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I'm looking forward to hearing how successful you are in the coming weeks after you try this technique. If there's someone's friend out there who's had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of someone's sales speech, I enjoy hearing about that too. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So let's get out there and engage our Friends!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-80835351164630979252013-06-26T20:50:00.001-04:002013-06-26T21:10:10.178-04:00Learned Something Today…Keep it Short!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While working on my prospecting today, I decided to take
advantage of a training perk my company offers and signed up for a 30 minute 1
on 1 with our sales coach, Lori Richardson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Considering myself a pretty polished sales professional, I
thought it would be worthwhile to exchange ideas with Lori and see if I could
tweak some of my intro emails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
been getting some pretty good results, receiving responses on about 1 out of 10
intro emails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10% response isn’t bad…….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxvU6qp8ZQIltEgZInYbrk1x1Hq1VlPhgY_DvesJWm21NmFXJrXu6QBDyyNV2D5u5UNhyyu5kAZJOEIbT9Uq5JfdwzFgGn8puLhEc6bxVnjhqFQkfEM70moYV2DlJcx7yYqMXawNDTlAK/s1600/Score+More+Sales.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxvU6qp8ZQIltEgZInYbrk1x1Hq1VlPhgY_DvesJWm21NmFXJrXu6QBDyyNV2D5u5UNhyyu5kAZJOEIbT9Uq5JfdwzFgGn8puLhEc6bxVnjhqFQkfEM70moYV2DlJcx7yYqMXawNDTlAK/s1600/Score+More+Sales.JPG" title="" /></a>I had sent my templates to Lori prior to our discussion and
awaited my feedback.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked back and
forth about certain verbiage, much of it surrounding our individual
styles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have always felt that if you
can walk away from a training session or seminar with one concept or technique
to help improve your skills, it was a worthwhile expenditure of your time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lori gave me a great suggestion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After I expressed my concern over the length
of my emails, Lori pointed out that today’s buyers are typically getting the
first view of my emails on a mobile device.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In order for me to gauge the effectiveness and impression my emails were
making on my prospects, she <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>suggested I
send them to myself and see what the message looks like on my own mobile
device.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I followed her advice, sent myself the message, and was I
surprised!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I thought my messages
may have been a little long, when I saw them on my mobile device, I almost
deleted it myself it was so long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
immediately began revising the messages and by day’s end I had crafted a new,
condensed message, with far less substance about my own company, and left more
anticipation about my company’s “Story” that I couldn’t wait to share.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sent out about 15 of the new version this afternoon and
the results were wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I received
almost instant replies on 6 of the 15.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
response rate of 40%, compared to the 10% I was getting with the longer
message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My next 2 days are already booked with intro calls with qualified
prospects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have ample time blocked off
to send another 20-30 “feeler” messages tomorrow, hopefully filling up my
calendar for the following week.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want to improve your prospecting results, try this simple
exercise and send yourself your message and review it on your mobile
device.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might be surprised what you
find……</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If your company offers a similar benefit and make a sales
coach available, use it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter how
good you think you are in sales, you can always learn something new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You will too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lori Richardson is a professional sales coach and the President
of Score More Sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She can be reached
at lori@scoremoresales.com</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-68873592181833325662013-06-19T22:14:00.001-04:002013-06-19T22:31:06.640-04:00To "InMail" or not to "InMail"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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I wanted to touch on a controversial topic in this
edition of my blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure this will generate
some great comments for all of you to enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the explosion of social media outlets these days, we’ve
all become familiar with mainstream sites like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and You
Tube.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are all personal sites and
while they are sometimes used for business purposes, they remain predominantly
for personal use.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLn3FM7HXogOdNmBXNWBd6kUJtz-a_hKrK1BNXiPLjknYsGWaT_gT2SBaOwe75wsJ9fyCbGaCrNAryPnT4iIjw7DO58Zl4JkzC10z8m7GNPhQyLXoMj31o9w6V9E6UXgt2DycPl9ISjE3T/s1600/linkedin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLn3FM7HXogOdNmBXNWBd6kUJtz-a_hKrK1BNXiPLjknYsGWaT_gT2SBaOwe75wsJ9fyCbGaCrNAryPnT4iIjw7DO58Zl4JkzC10z8m7GNPhQyLXoMj31o9w6V9E6UXgt2DycPl9ISjE3T/s200/linkedin.jpg" width="200" /></a>Linkedin on the other hand, has become widely accepted as
the professional version of Facebook, currently used by more than 200 million
business professionals to stay in touch with other business professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like on Facebook, Linkedin users build a
network of “Connections”, and have the ability to send private messages to our
connections.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the cool features of Linkedin is the ability to send
an “InMail” to a professional who you are not connected to, looking either to
connect or begin a business relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is this feature of Linkedin I want to cover in this segment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have read multiple articles both supporting the use of “InMails”
and despising the use of “InMails”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
will try and recap both sides and then give you my perspective on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, I’m sure the comments will
provide a lively debate on the topic…….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For many C-Level’s, receiving unsolicited “InMail” seems to
be a turnoff and is considered “Spam”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Suggestions on contacting them range from connecting first, then sending
a direct message, to submitting your request via their company website, to
getting an introduction from a mutual acquaintance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“InMails” are just another method to cold
call someone, and “I don’t take cold calls”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hmmm…….interesting position.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEFjpukMpZouZ-06MHgyJDrEjrQHQBwyBjzj20jg9llhl791tXcIc-TpIlTQHMg4M-EnadDy0HXbkp_QKGUDQn6vCCE4VJSqaIxkX1IhD6sw8jHKzdeba7z8xCapt3sSwuanJ0J91ExW6/s1600/inmail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEFjpukMpZouZ-06MHgyJDrEjrQHQBwyBjzj20jg9llhl791tXcIc-TpIlTQHMg4M-EnadDy0HXbkp_QKGUDQn6vCCE4VJSqaIxkX1IhD6sw8jHKzdeba7z8xCapt3sSwuanJ0J91ExW6/s1600/inmail.jpg" /></a></div>
From the “InMail’er” position…..InMails are not on
free Linkedin accounts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pay for
InMails, people should respond to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, I’m trying to connect with someone I may not know but I’m doing it
in a professional manner, on a network designed for professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone doesn’t like the InMail offer,
they can reply “Thanks but no thanks”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
harm no foul. …….OK, different thinking from both sides.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s my take on the “InMail technique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, I have been a business professional for
more than 30 years and spent the last 25 in various sales and sales management positions, so I could be a bit biased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Referring back to some of my previous posts
on the art of cold calling, most of today’s C-Level decision makers were
yesterday’s sales professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20
years ago, executives would answer their own phone, or take a walk in visit
from a sales person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not today
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Too busy.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Make an appointment.” “Talk to my assistant.”
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Send me your info via my website.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve all heard the objections.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Linkedin provides a medium to contact the C-Level prospects
that we all want to reach and have the opportunity to speak with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have taken the time to join Linkedin,
I think you should use it to its fullest extent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that includes InMail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t want to accept InMails, there’s
a field in your account setting where you can shut them off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have them turned on, then be
professional and respond to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember, the sales person has a job to do, and that is SELL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If InMails work for them, I say all the luck
to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next time you receive an “InMail”, remember, your company has
sales people who are probably using the same prospecting methods and you expect
results from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are not responding
to other companies’ professionals, how can you expect any different results when
your sales staff is reaching out to your prospects?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And while I'm on the subject, my last personal pet peeve……..please get rid of the “Send your
inquiry to <a href="mailto:info@abccompany.com">info@abccompany.com</a>” on your company website!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least give the sales professionals a
fighting chance to get their foot in the door…….give them at least a name to
f/u with rather than a dark hole.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I look forward to what should be an interesting collection
of comments……..</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-23822388573248645612013-04-13T11:50:00.001-04:002013-04-13T12:03:12.691-04:00100MB, 10GB, 2 TB? Where Does It End?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bandwidth, speed, RAM, CPU’s, storage, backup, video,
mobile, wireless…..bluetooth……crazy isn’t it?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have evolved so quickly with our technology that the
communications industry is in full acceleration mode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mere 20 years or so ago, dial-up internet
was being born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The US Postal Service
was delivering free disks to us offering programs like “150 Hours Free” of
dial-up internet from companies like Delphi, AOL, Prodigy, Earthlink, Ziplink,
UUNET, NetZero, and Juno. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Only a few years ago, DSL was the new trend for businesses
and homeowners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DSL provided a major
upgrade over the 9600 “Baud” or “Bd” available on dial-up modems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DSL is still available today and can reach
speeds of 7MB or faster.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To jump forward, T1.5, DS-3, OC1, OC3, coax, FIOS, fiber,
Ethernet over copper “EoC”, and Ethernet over Coax provide loads of bandwidth
options in today’s market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The need for
bandwidth is growing so quickly, cellular technology, once thought of as the
answer to our needs, is having a hard time keeping up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the onset of 3G, 4G, now 5G devices,
cell network providers are struggling to meeting the needs of cellular
users.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many cell providers are currently
deploying “hot-spots” where they provide a land based bandwidth option to off
load some of the traffic on their cellular network.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqckV4NQ6xvUDW3XqLol6jZyUW8MH04Ucn0IR6xsnDjSKJbxG9ObWPuivoGDwwgBYMckd17aTT4AhzjrHk5PKRNaGhyUCNfZRFAW_Entj5d0GCoZpaNKeijU7KxwAxzZoQfNAJqW9riHH/s1600/10MB+computer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqckV4NQ6xvUDW3XqLol6jZyUW8MH04Ucn0IR6xsnDjSKJbxG9ObWPuivoGDwwgBYMckd17aTT4AhzjrHk5PKRNaGhyUCNfZRFAW_Entj5d0GCoZpaNKeijU7KxwAxzZoQfNAJqW9riHH/s320/10MB+computer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><i>Remember these types of ads?</i></b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To utilize all this bandwidth come new devices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer do we buy the “10MB computer for
$5999”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now we have laptops with 1TB
hard drives and 5GB of RAM, tablets, smartphones, iPads, iTouchs, Droids,
Kindles, and even desktops.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While the improvement in peripheral equipment has been
incredible, this has led to a need for even more powerful back office
processing…..namely the onset of the “Cloud” technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The advantage of the “Cloud provides IT
departments the capability to maintain enterprise level processing equipment
with little or no CAPEX expenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Cloud providers are in the business of providing state-of-the art equipment and security to private companies. With
the click of a mouse, a company's IT Director can increase servers, add RAM, double
storage space and many more conveniences.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today’s cloud providers maintain secure, state-of-the-art
data centers across the United States and provide inherent redundancy for your
data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s nearly impossible to keep up
with the advances in technology and bandwidth today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> For a private company, technology is quickly passing by the capabilities of the average IT staff. The cost of constantly upgrading in-house equipment, increasing bandwidth, staffing, security, power, backup, etc is heading beyond the reasonable expectations for any company but those in the Fortune 100. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So where are we heading?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m guessing we’ve all got some great ideas and some good
speculation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d enjoying hearing your
thought and having my readers participate in the discussion…..any comments,
thoughts?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you’re looking for direction or advice on your networking
or processing needs, please drop me an email at <a href="mailto:dave@davehanron.com">dave@davehanron.com</a> or reach out to me
via Twitter @DaveHanron and I’ll be happy to help.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-12146294333917108292013-02-23T19:05:00.000-05:002013-02-23T19:13:59.933-05:00Cloud Services - A Leap in Technology or Simply Outsourcing?<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cloud Services – is it the next step in technology or is it
just outsourcing your IT needs?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What a great question!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hear it a lot from both my prospects and customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In years past, companies have begun to allow
3<sup>rd</sup> party companies host their data servers in remote locations, on
the premise it provides better disaster recovery and better security than housing on-site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does it really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s discuss…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While the practice of keeping your equipment in a remote
location (commonly referred to as “Co-Location services) has been around for
some time, the actual benefit is up in the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, co-location does provide some added piece of mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typically “Co-Lo” facilities come with
emergency power supplies, diesel generators, battery backup, 24 hour security, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sounds good, and you can probably save some
cap-ex costs by not having to build the power grid yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throw in the added value of saving the real
estate costs of housing it yourself and co-location seems like a reasonable way to go.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZifSb5noA7ozENaX0my45GfxWwBuWWjEUbyfQ4F6qho2fyIX5cQ6yc82mPztIyUlu1i8DRN0CBK60Vh7fyEsJMggn-CKXpV3Lu41f84Z8f3nwbnZukCIh3rjk2mvEuUPMZ6S1PyNNDYh/s1600/What-is-Cloud-Computing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZifSb5noA7ozENaX0my45GfxWwBuWWjEUbyfQ4F6qho2fyIX5cQ6yc82mPztIyUlu1i8DRN0CBK60Vh7fyEsJMggn-CKXpV3Lu41f84Z8f3nwbnZukCIh3rjk2mvEuUPMZ6S1PyNNDYh/s320/What-is-Cloud-Computing.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Cloud Computing comes with many advantages</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With cloud services, you get all the benefits of
co-location, plus a lot more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer
are you using your own servers, paying your own maintenance fees, or paying the
salary of the IT guy to visit the co-lo site every time you need to change some
hardware.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Using c</span>loud services gives your company
the benefit of state of the art, enterprise grade equipment with 24x7x365
on-site monitoring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the right
provider, your data is automatically backed up at multiple data centers across the
country, providing true disaster recovery protection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you live in Boston, your data could be
backed up in California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would take quite
a disaster to reach across the United States!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you need to add hardware, you visit the web portal to the server on
your local PC, make a couple entries on a web page and Voila!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have additional server space within a few
minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer are you dependent on
waiting for a new server to be built and shipped from your vendor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen this take process up to 4 weeks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After we discuss these facts, the conversations with my clients usually then quickly turn to “But my
IT staff has been with me for years. I don't want to eliminate their jobs. They have families to support. ” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sure they do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cloud services doesn’t need to reduce
headcount.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The use of cloud services simply
changes <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the focus for your IT staff, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>allowing them to concentrate on issues
critical to growing your business, rather than maintaining it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By removing the daily chore of monitoring the platform and network, they now have the time needed to create
the new software program your marketing group has requested; they can finish
the bandwidth reports your CFO has been waiting for to evaluate network
costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are loads of projects they
can do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take a quick look at the IT task
schedule at your next staff meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s plenty to do…….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The age-old saying “Time is Money” comes back into play and
creates more revenues for your company because the use of cloud services will
add time back into your IT staff’s day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It may even save you some money too!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3JO0qSUb_-90TuzIRc6ucLRB4XnUo1elYCOqm0UaB1gav1pAi8NayXK5RiSQJAjnS28IXEE-MWMZ78Sgq2I7QNKcS6c0giIgpO6PlnCFRGyXosCSHx1Nb-kgsmGjfjAh9R4Zi0fvvFzX/s1600/free+30+day+trial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3JO0qSUb_-90TuzIRc6ucLRB4XnUo1elYCOqm0UaB1gav1pAi8NayXK5RiSQJAjnS28IXEE-MWMZ78Sgq2I7QNKcS6c0giIgpO6PlnCFRGyXosCSHx1Nb-kgsmGjfjAh9R4Zi0fvvFzX/s1600/free+30+day+trial.jpg" /></a>If you’re interested in more detailed information on the benefits of
cloud services for your business, please reach out to me via email <a href="mailto:dave@davehanron.com">dave@davehanron.com</a> or via Twitter
@DaveHanron.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can also tell you how you
can get a free 30 day no-risk trial in the “Cloud”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If anyone has some other benefits of “cloud services” I’d
enjoying hearing about your personal experiences……</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com91tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-25486692529825604232013-02-14T11:11:00.000-05:002013-02-14T12:41:05.991-05:00Let's Talk VoIP<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’ve all heard the phrase “VoIP” but how many of us really
understand it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let’s start with the definition….”VoIP” stands for “<u>V</u>oice
<u>O</u>ver<u> I</u>nternet <u>P</u>rotocol”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ok everybody knows “VoIP” now, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lots of today’s companies throw around “VoIP” as a buzz word
in their marketing efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever heard
of Skype, Magic Jack, and Vonage?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are all over your television and they all use VoIP technologies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next question…..What is “Internet Protocol”?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Wikipedia</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
defines “Internet Protocol as……. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">IP is the primary protocol in the Internet Layer of
the Internet Protocol Suite and has the task of delivering packets from the
source host to the destination host solely based on the addresses”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The <strong><span style="color: blue;">Business Outsource
Guy</span></strong> (Me) defines “internet protocol” as:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>"the method used to take a human voice
and convert it to a digital signal which can then be sent across the caller’s
internet service to another person and then converted back to a human
voice"</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>VoIP is to the telephone as HDMI
is to your TV signals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve all lived
the latest craze to convert from analog TV to digital TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think we all agree our picture is
better with digital & high definition signals!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As VoIP technology continues to
evolve, the voice quality will also reflect similar advances in quality.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s a simple
non-tech example to understand the basic science on analog vs. digital signals:</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3lzTq4qVdV9RVjxz0w6u8fg9kHDauviDy8W6N01D9U4FAXVf9nofPP90dk0_jgXLe0BPYZ7wSkOX2n7L22y6epSs7odGRcOMQ9jPIILgox1CVI65SwA6MKE89ycL5ajuR4DCpxsySP-f/s1600/analog+voice+signal+diagram.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3lzTq4qVdV9RVjxz0w6u8fg9kHDauviDy8W6N01D9U4FAXVf9nofPP90dk0_jgXLe0BPYZ7wSkOX2n7L22y6epSs7odGRcOMQ9jPIILgox1CVI65SwA6MKE89ycL5ajuR4DCpxsySP-f/s320/analog+voice+signal+diagram.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Analog Signal Diagram</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you tie one
end of a rope to a tree 100’ away from you and shake it, you will see the rope
move in a wave type motion, with bigger waves closer to you and diminishing waves
as you get closer to the tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine
this is your voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you call your
neighbor, you’re very close and your voice sounds great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you call you cousin in Europe, they are at
the other end of the rope and your voice sounds weak and far away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now take a picture….if you gave one to your
neighbor next door and one to your cousin in Europe, the picture looks exactly
the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No deterioration of quality
between the two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same theory works with
your voice on digital service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>VoIP
technology is layman’s terms, takes a picture of your voice and transmits it to
the person you are calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No reduction
in sound quality.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDw_m7Sa7v3OitlpZq-994aK0wGxKYJAz9EcRSWhGx3sgWtyYBs3NqWIDORnDTC9v3w3KJFzNAOpaHxZhaCW6IwqGiuQ5hwu29i1gtQ-dznSLzlamGgy7AVzddCTZjqwweTmQaAej0_Gt/s1600/digital+signal+diagram.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDw_m7Sa7v3OitlpZq-994aK0wGxKYJAz9EcRSWhGx3sgWtyYBs3NqWIDORnDTC9v3w3KJFzNAOpaHxZhaCW6IwqGiuQ5hwu29i1gtQ-dznSLzlamGgy7AVzddCTZjqwweTmQaAej0_Gt/s320/digital+signal+diagram.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Digital Signal Diagram</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">VoIP has a great
future and it looks like we’ll all soon be using it for better or worse. If I
can answer any specific questions, please enter them in the comments sections
and I’ll be happy to respond.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like more information on how to
utilize VoIP technologies for your business and take advantage of some
wonderful equipment and service packages, drop me a quick note at </span><a href="mailto:dave@davehanron.com"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">dave@davehanron.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> or @DaveHanron on
Twitter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-86177719687322346532012-12-29T09:53:00.000-05:002012-12-30T20:47:43.006-05:00Part 4 - Cloud Storage<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Understanding Cloud Storage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this segment of my “Cloud” discussion, I’d like to
explore the recent growth in businesses utilizing the “Cloud” for their storage
needs……<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In past years, businesses would purchase servers and
maintain them at their business locations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>IT staffs were responsible for maintaining the servers, constantly
updating storage capacity and maintaining adequate bandwidth for the business’
customers to access the information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sounds simple?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, it worked
OK, but not great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">IT staffs needed to order new equipment to add storage
capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This came with lag time in
getting the equipment and the added capital expense (CAPEX) of buying the
additional equipment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throw in the need
for additional network bandwidth and the time to have it installed, we’re now
looking at a significant time period before a new program or offering could be
implemented.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There were other detriments to this approach…..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disaster recovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take the recent super storm Sandy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It knocked out businesses all along the
eastern US seaboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many companies were
unable to open their doors for weeks, resulting in unknown loss of
business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re an auto parts store
in NJ, when a loyal customer calls from California looking for the custom part
they always get from you, and no one is available to take their order and
fulfill the shipment, do they wait for you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nope, they feel sorry for your situation, but they call your competition
whose business remained open and get the part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You might or might not ever get that customer back!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think about it, what is the value of a lost
Customer?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYky8wLp_9fcJdQJdfXY93BfqX9SLSMNxuGtTXKAnpp5Y45bdoARxYgeFfqwrV8qtM4RlgZ2DjjHzLXOtGQvQ4FUjK1JChVBVg5P8PkuAV7KgVjokCaQOLpFe6rbTGOXjVH0NbflTx6K9Q/s1600/cloud+computing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYky8wLp_9fcJdQJdfXY93BfqX9SLSMNxuGtTXKAnpp5Y45bdoARxYgeFfqwrV8qtM4RlgZ2DjjHzLXOtGQvQ4FUjK1JChVBVg5P8PkuAV7KgVjokCaQOLpFe6rbTGOXjVH0NbflTx6K9Q/s1600/cloud+computing.JPG" height="259" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">How can all of this be avoided?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest advances in technology have
created an opportunity for small and mid-sized businesses to improve their IT
solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Cloud Storage” enables a
business to take advantage of virtually unlimited storage capacity, unlimited
bandwidth, disaster recovery, and data backup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All in a one-stop location, and at VERY reasonable prices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By determining the size number of CPU’s,
amount of RAM, size of required storage, and amount of bandwidth, companies can
easily and quickly upload their IT needs to a cloud provider and free up both
CAPEX dollars and their IT staff’s time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today’s cloud providers have large data centers throughout
the United States, providing inherent redundancy for a business’ vital
data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gone is the lag time to add
storage or bandwidth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additional storage
or access can often be added in minutes from a computer terminal through the
cloud provider’s portal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine adding
100Mb of additional bandwidth for your new promotional video in a matter of
minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the outdated method of
self-hosting, this could take 60-90 days and involve substantial upfront build
out costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The use of a “Cloud Storage” solution makes sense for every
business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer does a business have
to maintain equipment rooms, back-up generators, off-site storage for
retention, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cloud solutions
solve all the problems, and help a business focus on what they do
best….improving profitability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The advantages of entering the “Cloud” are vast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A business can upload any number of hundreds
of supported platforms for use on the “Cloud”, including Microsoft Office,
Exchange, Lotus, Salesforce, VMware, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The cloud package can be customized and/or the business owner can choose
from a pre-packaged option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monthly
costs can start at under $100.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A very
small price to pay for peace-of-mind and an upgraded IT solutuion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m always happy to help explain any of my topics….to get
more information on available cloud offerings, please contact me either via
email at </span><a href="mailto:dave@davehanron.com"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">dave@davehanron.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> or via
Twitter @DaveHanron<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com84tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-76195325156539953772012-10-20T17:57:00.000-04:002012-12-18T21:56:21.279-05:00100 mbps Residential Internet vs 100 mbps Business Internet..Why the Price Difference?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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“Why can I pay ~$115.95 at home for 100Mbps internet download
speed but 100Mbps download speed for my business is $2800 or more per month?”</div>
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<br /></div>
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This is a great question and becoming more and more
popular as people look for high speed internet access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s take a look at the
reasons behind it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTiUxP5UgCr02VTeXrCHXXhX7vRAPE984ANR7mmj5sI0itr-dvh" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" class="rg_hi uh_hi" data-height="185" data-width="273" height="135" id="rg_hi" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTiUxP5UgCr02VTeXrCHXXhX7vRAPE984ANR7mmj5sI0itr-dvh" style="height: 185px; width: 273px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><i>A view of a typical 100-500 mbps fiber cable</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In residential areas, there are multiple families on a
single street or in a specific block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The local carriers will typically install a large capacity “pipe” or
cable into a central location in a neighborhood and then divide the bandwidth
amongst their clients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The large
capacity cable will usually be in the 500Mbps range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 500Mbps pipe would cost the carriers ~$4,000
in monthly expenses to install and maintain at a reasonable profit level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Remember, the carriers are in business to
make money.)</div>
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Before we go any further, it’s important to understand the
difference between “asynchronous” and “synchronous” transmission capabilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Synchronous transmission refers to communications
where the sending and receiving speeds are exactly the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asynchronous transmission has different
speeds on the sending (uploading) and receiving (downloading) ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the key to understanding the costs
differences we are discussing.</div>
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Now that we understand the difference between “Synchronous”
and “Asynchronous” let’s continue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
your home you may select an internet plan with “Up to 20/5 download upload
speeds”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now exactly what does this
mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, understand you are NOT
getting a direct link to the carrier, rather you are on a type of shared
service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The carrier will split off a
portion of the large capacity pipe going down your street and put a “drop” (the
drop is the connection from the pole to your home) in to give you internet
access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you read the fine print, it
will say “speeds not guaranteed”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
can’t guarantee speeds on this type of service because they are dependent on
how many users are simultaneously using the pipe in your neighborhood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can almost always see the difference in
performance at 3:00 pm vs. late night or early morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because schools get out at this time and the students are all doing
their homework, using the internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
MIGHT get the 20mbps download and 5 upload speed at 3am when you’re the only
one in the neighborhood using it, but I doubt it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some carriers are even offering businesses 100 mbps download, 10 mbps upload for under $500 per month. Not guaranteed speed, but it sure sounds good. I wouldn't want my business with 15 or more reps running applications using it though. You'd better have a good backup program for them. They'll have plenty of spare time waiting for the screens to move.<br />
<br />
You can check the actual speed of you connection for
free at <a href="http://www.speedtest.net/">www.speedtest.net</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s the one from my home connection at 3pm
on Saturday……</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuEjQsNCZOcr8zL3WeMo0m_6fQVYu253MyhRdorM8FgOo-wdN6yRL40VJhOnXhn_trJen_NdLUBnhDdW5DfgO77Vt8rzOl3ouj80hR3HfyhGIH_Hl8YZ0T-ELN1NLse_mYjwoK6DIN6zB/s1600/internet+speed+chapman+road.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="56" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuEjQsNCZOcr8zL3WeMo0m_6fQVYu253MyhRdorM8FgOo-wdN6yRL40VJhOnXhn_trJen_NdLUBnhDdW5DfgO77Vt8rzOl3ouj80hR3HfyhGIH_Hl8YZ0T-ELN1NLse_mYjwoK6DIN6zB/s320/internet+speed+chapman+road.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The carriers will also provide a residential type router (they're not very expensive, which is why the carriers are willing to send you a
replacement whenever you report trouble).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How many times have you called to report a problem, only to be told to “Unplug
the router for 30 seconds, then plug it back in?”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to usually have
to wait to have a replacement router mailed to you.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now let’s look at your business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With true “Business Class” a carrier dedicates
a single large capacity “pipe” to one customer and will guarantee the 100mbps/100mbps
speeds. (Don’t get fooled by false claims from sales people about their service
being “Business Class”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember
asynchronous vs synchronous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the carrier
is quoting you 100mbps/10mbps speeds, this is merely residential service masked
as business class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True business class
has synchronous speeds.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Business class service comes with a business
class router which is capable of being troubleshot remotely and will rarely fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> These routers are substantially more expensive and far more functional than the ones you get at home.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">If you want a great question for the sales rep pushing business internet at 100mbps/10mbps speeds, ask them what their guaranteed MTTR is? That's "Mean Time To Repair" should you ever experience a outage. I'd love to hear what you think of their answer? True Business Class internet access should have a MTTR of no more than 6 hours before credits are issued.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Finally, let’s look at the pricing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On residential service, the large capacity
pipe (in this example let’s assume 500mbps) is broken down for multiple
residents use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 20/5 speeds, with only
lower speeds guaranteed (remember the fine print), they can put up to 100
customers on one pipe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>100 customers
@~$115 per month equals $11,500 in access fees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This leaves the carrier with a tidy profit.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The true Business Class pipe is typically priced in the
$4,000 (based on bandwidth & distance to the central office) range per month, equaling the price we talked about earlier to provide
the 500mbps capacity and maintain a reasonable profit level in the residential neighborhood.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There are certainly other factors that go into the access
costs and reasons behind it but we’ve touched on the high points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As many carriers have exited the small to medium size business markets and no longer maintain a field sales staff due to profitablility issues, be cautious when working with a field sales rep offering "Asynchronous" service as "Business Class". It's true, it comes at a lower price, but you get what you pay for.<br />
<br />
If you need additional info or have
questions, please let me know in comments and I will try and address them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to contact me directly to discuss the
options you may have for internet and/or cloud access for your business, please complete my “For
more information” form or email me at Dave@davehanron.com</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com129tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-86709203178353081222012-10-13T08:26:00.000-04:002012-10-13T08:26:36.949-04:00Part 2: "SaaS" vs "PaaS" vs "IaaS"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In my previous segment, we covered a general overview of
“Cloud Services”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We mentioned “Public
and “Private” clouds, and gave some examples of each type.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In this chapter, we will be discussing “Cloud
Computing”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are 3 major types of
“Cloud Computing”:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Software as a Service (SaaS)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Platform as a Service (PaaS)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPRb3_SHshm9-GNbbbCutpfzD7nXvVQgVxw4PhlH3aJ1iewUNNdKV811lYlSvMzoxjfGjYCM7gfHVlGz3VV1zm-TSbfEWPaXxlHe3p3M5Vw32XpZWCKobXXJ_h8avSLZkFt2lIhXUJQd-/s1600/expedia.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPRb3_SHshm9-GNbbbCutpfzD7nXvVQgVxw4PhlH3aJ1iewUNNdKV811lYlSvMzoxjfGjYCM7gfHVlGz3VV1zm-TSbfEWPaXxlHe3p3M5Vw32XpZWCKobXXJ_h8avSLZkFt2lIhXUJQd-/s200/expedia.gif" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's a basic screenshot of Expedia </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Software as a Service (Saas) should be a familiar term to
many of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Loads of sales folks lay
claim to selling “SaaS” services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
what exactly is that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SaaS refers to a
program where the Customer utilizes a platform belonging to a provider (the
company who owns the application) which runs on a cloud service
infrastructure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good real world
example of “SaaS” would be the travel service provided by Expedia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The consumer goes to Expedia's website and
enters information on the destinations, dates, and times for their travel and
Expedia’s “SaaS” returns available options to choose from and offers booking
capabilities.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsWZqQ6BuPaIfwBxYCOZW9RBWZjpyZWniGgs-41FAuyx6gmaj7jsuQGeqEYxQDAzycSAYCZl1xd7lL_N-mfhMzgTxe8f-DFAi5JcQq3K99GPEB5rjX1uSiaNkg2lMj-LArKxSKxWXRN4z/s1600/zimbra.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsWZqQ6BuPaIfwBxYCOZW9RBWZjpyZWniGgs-41FAuyx6gmaj7jsuQGeqEYxQDAzycSAYCZl1xd7lL_N-mfhMzgTxe8f-DFAi5JcQq3K99GPEB5rjX1uSiaNkg2lMj-LArKxSKxWXRN4z/s200/zimbra.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zimbra is a type of "Paas"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Platform as a Service “PaaS” is a bit more complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In “PaaS” a company can create their own
applications and merely run them through a provider’s platform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A popular example of a “PaaS” in use today
would be Zimbra Desktop which enables a person to aggregate accounts across
platforms (like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Zimbra) and social accounts (like Facebook
and Twitter), to make reading and posting information more simple.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds are created
consisting of virtual machines (servers, storage, routers, firewalls, etc)
which are made available to companies on demand to run their own in-house applications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The hardware is housed in a "Data Center". </span>These applications are harder to identify, as
one of the main purposes of IaaS is to allow the company to give the impression
the platform is exclusive to their company and hosted and maintained by their
staff. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The major advantage to IaaS is additional servers and
storage may be configured in minutes, not days or weeks, and allows almost
instant growth of network resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Multiple platforms can share a single physical server, but be completely
isolated from one another, ensuring a totally secure computing environment.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The ability to run multiple platforms on a single server
creates tremendous cost benefit to a customer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is little CAPEX (capital expense) associated with additional capacity
and the finance department can “pay as they go” for resources (CFO’s are
thrilled with this!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the proper
provider, customers can benefit from virtual control panels, firewalls, nearly
unlimited storage capacity, and many other features.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All this comes with savings in energy
consumption, real estate costs, network, hardware expenditures, and dollars
spent on IT resources.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In the next segment, we will explore the world of “IaaS”
in greater detail, touching on additional specifics and overall cost
efficiencies available.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I’m always available to assist individually should you
have “cloud” questions prior to my next entry. Please either email me at <a href="mailto:dave@davehanron.com">dave@davehanron.com</a> or complete my form
for “More Information” located on the side of my blog page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have any comments or questions, they
can also be entered in the comments section below.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-52368329840884181722012-10-06T11:09:00.000-04:002012-10-06T11:09:31.986-04:00The Next Chapter in Outsourcing...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In many of my previous posts, I’ve addressed some of the
networking angles and options for “Business Process Outsource” or “BPO”
products.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d like to take an opportunity to begin series of posts on
some of the processes behind the network which are available for you to take
advantage of, namely “The Cloud”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s start by explaining exactly what “Cloud Services”
are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is the official definition
from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computingl">Wiki</a>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
“<b>Cloud computing</b> is the use
of computing
resources (hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over a network
(typically the Internet).
The name comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for the complex
infrastructure it contains in system diagrams. Cloud computing entrusts remote
services with a user's data, software and computation.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSTk93BM8XSS312KMgk0NTCKKb6wR69w-73Pl7lpyfKtNtdy267foiFRb-ZAy-QgrcXyj61psPa-IZksQgTwww7lBwGHOn_SuPzGAFUerUTc8pY3FkLvyvGkRq6TteZX7PSjVHqhySjrK/s1600/cloud+services.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSTk93BM8XSS312KMgk0NTCKKb6wR69w-73Pl7lpyfKtNtdy267foiFRb-ZAy-QgrcXyj61psPa-IZksQgTwww7lBwGHOn_SuPzGAFUerUTc8pY3FkLvyvGkRq6TteZX7PSjVHqhySjrK/s1600/cloud+services.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a simple example of how you may already be using “Cloud
Services” in your day-to-day activities, if you use online banking services to
pay bills, write checks, or simply check your account balances, you’ve entered
a “Cloud” provided by your banking institution.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are many types of “Clouds” to consider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first type would be a “Public Cloud”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Public Cloud services are those that are
available to the general population and are available for free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the better know “Public Cloud”
applications would be Hotmail (hosted by Microsoft) and Gmail (hosted by
Google).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Services which are available in
the public cloud range from email, to blog hosting, to data backup, and to
calendars, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The second type of “Cloud” would be the one I am going to
discuss in the next few posts from “The Business Outsource Guy”, namely
“Private Clouds”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Private clouds are
just what the name implies, a private version of the public cloud, designed and
installed for a particular business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Private clouds have tremendous flexibility and can offer not only
revenue savings but also peace of mind for a company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Private clouds off-load the responsibility
for a business’ primary operating systems to a hosted solution provided by a 3<sup>rd</sup>
party vendor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By outsourcing to the
cloud, a company can realize operating and cost efficiencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It frees up valuable resources in both the IT
and technical staff, which can be better utilized to help close new revenue
producing sales and installs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my next few posts, I’ll try and focus on some of the
specific programs available through the use of a “Private Cloud”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many services which can be incorporated
into the cloud, including email, IP phone technology, internet security, asset
management, laptop security, anti-virus protection, software license
compliance, disaster recovery, data back up and archiving, encryption, and many
more….. Plus the “Cloud” can provide security for a business to allow secure
access, both remote and mobile, to their internal platforms, easing strains on
their internal IT department.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Check back for the next chapter on “Cloud” services coming
soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have any particular service
you would like me to address, please let me know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-44543548070009039732012-03-18T15:53:00.001-04:002012-03-18T16:18:05.858-04:00Colleges are "Missing the Basket" during March Madness<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some colleges are “<em>missing the basket</em>” this season during
March Madness.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOP1W25-yVZ1aC-uXEijQudz7s9bnWvJbYXeIAY7LfKCb9aD4PdCSNL-DAKq0k8yKrs8N8kIPvdpVFznwtm_-VsRqMGY10d6mfcNz7HgfIz-6CJ7HOE_G5doFbjeOng7XUPHQAP2_AL33/s1600/St+Mary's.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOP1W25-yVZ1aC-uXEijQudz7s9bnWvJbYXeIAY7LfKCb9aD4PdCSNL-DAKq0k8yKrs8N8kIPvdpVFznwtm_-VsRqMGY10d6mfcNz7HgfIz-6CJ7HOE_G5doFbjeOng7XUPHQAP2_AL33/s1600/St+Mary's.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With all the upsets during this year’s March Madness, a
great opportunity has developed to gain some valuable advertising for their
respective school through the use of social media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a perfect example of where a properly
managed social media program can impact enrollment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year we had Butler University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year we have Creighton, Belmont, and St
Mary’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While their alumni and friends
know where these schools are located, the average fan or more importantly, the
average high school junior or senior doesn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The use of a well-run Twitter or Facebook campaign could realize
immeasurable returns on enrollment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
$33k+ for <a href="http://www.creighton.edu/fileadmin/user/FinancialAid/Docs/12_13_undergrad_tuition_fees.pdf">Creighton</a>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$19k+ for <a href="http://www.collegeprofiles.com/belmont.html">Belmont</a>,
and $38k+ for <a href="http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/tuition">St. Mary’s</a>, successfully recruiting even a few students by taking
advantage of the publicity options available by participating in the NCAA
Tournament can be invaluable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all,
who wouldn’t want to go to a college or university whose athletic programs
offer the student body the opportunities to participate in big time college
athletics?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qTNsKlv8WWf8dPnqRWukFOogWjhfAH6MKVathUrX4BxBq-kVQAWod6_yr5UZulJBgehderPsUtctxIKyxphtr73GKns2BoQ2I79nVsGb273Xe7F4caqDN0AwCJe97Hwor6bxM_5JE_03/s1600/Belmont+University.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qTNsKlv8WWf8dPnqRWukFOogWjhfAH6MKVathUrX4BxBq-kVQAWod6_yr5UZulJBgehderPsUtctxIKyxphtr73GKns2BoQ2I79nVsGb273Xe7F4caqDN0AwCJe97Hwor6bxM_5JE_03/s320/Belmont+University.JPG" width="226" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If anyone can think of a better time to enhance your school’s
reputation and public awareness, I’d love to hear it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With all the options available today for
companies to take advantage of social media outlets, it’s surprising I’m not
seeing these schools “trending” on Twitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are many companies who provide outsourced social media
programs for those companies who don’t possess the computer skills or staff to manage it
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The extent to which a
company jumps in to social media can also be dictated, for far less overhead
cost than it would take to hire a full time staff to manage it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To find out more information on the available social media
options for your business or brand, please contact me @davehanron and I’d be
happy to help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com162tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-61969068669212626352012-02-03T19:50:00.000-05:002012-02-03T19:50:21.633-05:00SuperBowl XLVI Ads & Effect on Social Media Sites<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s that time of year again…..SuperBowl XLVI.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can’t wait to see how advertising and social media takes off during <strong><em>THE GAME</em></strong> this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether it’s Wes Welker talking about Tom Brady’s toilet, Gronk’s ankle sprain, Bill Belichick talking about retirement, or just the old fashion TV and radio commercials, all of these things will potentially be leading world-wide “trends” on Twitter and leading the way with “likes” on Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be interesting to follow the effect the ads and discussions have on the various social sites.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let’s list a few to follow……there are lots so I’ll list a few randomly (Stats as of 2-3-2012 7:00pm est)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhFKXIChKhpjs6b6APaI-DuId8_mjie_-8_WN-jbG0Ia9MZppwvlGg2Lac160LeqFe_hs8MTFT8Uma1BcS4_vOeM0Lav-1tOd6WWLAGx0QWXvW4a_WaP8_MmRDxOQweWONriJ_GTcPqYZ/s1600/toyota+superbowl+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhFKXIChKhpjs6b6APaI-DuId8_mjie_-8_WN-jbG0Ia9MZppwvlGg2Lac160LeqFe_hs8MTFT8Uma1BcS4_vOeM0Lav-1tOd6WWLAGx0QWXvW4a_WaP8_MmRDxOQweWONriJ_GTcPqYZ/s1600/toyota+superbowl+2012.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><em>Toyota </em></strong>is planning to highlight its newest Camry by showing a plant and some of its workers in Kentucky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Showing US production of its car may be just the kicker needed to boost its sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toyota’s Facebook page (Toyota) currently has 40,897 likes and their Twitter account (@Toyota) has 74,974 followers.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEppeG-GKNMXgwDN9cJLUeN684qbN8XG0o5KXanZYiKqz4DHP8pV_zNituTH1Vc92j-ne4kejFTh4n58J99SBbiTopRlqbGsjZyFb7XXPcMq47ykStWGp9U6M2hnPWAKQ9aDhHuKWd3Rac/s1600/Regis+superbowl+ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEppeG-GKNMXgwDN9cJLUeN684qbN8XG0o5KXanZYiKqz4DHP8pV_zNituTH1Vc92j-ne4kejFTh4n58J99SBbiTopRlqbGsjZyFb7XXPcMq47ykStWGp9U6M2hnPWAKQ9aDhHuKWd3Rac/s320/Regis+superbowl+ad.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><em>Pepsi </em></strong>is planning on using Regis Philbin in a convenience store skit, giving a customer a year’s supply of Pepsi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should be funny!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pepsi has 7,338,977 “likes” on Facebook and 632,785 followers on Twitter (@Pepsi).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gWpCFx6S1rU6Ph1oPg32-t5q_XMXnn9-fQX2WNdGXVtjBo9o6TSvqA2o8EJuG_oXyVYt24bjWmInDwKCH7tC3cIjmJUQJTg7SBhbDxwOjATL7cT23LYfHdv30y2OOiPue7GNQCoMFEPL/s1600/careerbuilder+superbowl+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gWpCFx6S1rU6Ph1oPg32-t5q_XMXnn9-fQX2WNdGXVtjBo9o6TSvqA2o8EJuG_oXyVYt24bjWmInDwKCH7tC3cIjmJUQJTg7SBhbDxwOjATL7cT23LYfHdv30y2OOiPue7GNQCoMFEPL/s1600/careerbuilder+superbowl+2012.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s a new one for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The job opening company, <strong><em>Career Builder</em></strong> is planning on showcasing why you should be looking for a new job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these tough economic times, this could be a good fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question will be are chimpanzees the right actors to deliver the message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have 147,601 “likes” on Facebook and 64,773 followers on Twitter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then we have <strong><em>Doritos</em></strong>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looks like no matter how attractive a woman may be to men, it can only get better when you cover yourself in Doritos!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wonder how this one will work?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doritos has 10,416 followers on Twitter (@DoritosUSA) and 2,728,151 “likes” on its USA Facebook page.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are many more to follow but you get the idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be interesting to follow up on this after the Superbowl to see which ad campaign actually returns the best results on social media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could this type of measurement be the future in calculating the costs of advertsing?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let me know what you think?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a favorite commercial coming up and know the statistics from Facebook and Twitter, please post in the comments for everyone to read and follow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Enjoy the game and GO PATS!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-42833118544440729992012-01-20T21:29:00.001-05:002012-01-21T20:00:03.145-05:00Sale vs. Process.....What's More Important?I had to bring this to my readers’ attention this week. As a seasoned sales professional, I witnessed a disturbing scene this past week.<br />
<br />
<br />
I was having my car serviced at the dealer and I was walking around on the sales floor looking at the 2012 models when I saw a gentleman walk in to the dealership, immediately go to a car and open the door. Sensing a potential customer, the salesman approached the prospective buyer. The man looking at the car immediately informed the salesman he had decided to purchase the particular vehicle he was sitting in.<br />
<br />
Sounds like an easy sale, right? Take the order and move on to the next one. Not in this case. Here’s how it played out…….<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuP5Awwk8g3nf0v8IDVy7lg9vleG27CMUh2YAJQbM5Gxyk3KMDfs4Vw2RYGe0WJSPGNpmHCFy5nDQmowt_xJdpRTQxL3uNgWShCQcKRYJFdtnbqHlMteOzGvvWn100XuqrIsNefWypXEr/s1600/car+dealership.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuP5Awwk8g3nf0v8IDVy7lg9vleG27CMUh2YAJQbM5Gxyk3KMDfs4Vw2RYGe0WJSPGNpmHCFy5nDQmowt_xJdpRTQxL3uNgWShCQcKRYJFdtnbqHlMteOzGvvWn100XuqrIsNefWypXEr/s1600/car+dealership.jpg" /></a></div>The salesman congratulated the customer on his decision and immediately began to discuss features, colors, warranties, financing, test drives, and trade ins, among other things. I was speechless! This sales person just made the most fatal mistake in sales: Talking himself out of a sale. One of the first lessons you need to master to be successful in sales is don’t talk after gaining acceptance on the sale. I’m sure the salesman’s intentions were honorable and he was trying to help, but the customer told him he wanted THAT car! Please just take the order, and send the customer in to the finance manager. This deal is done. <br />
<br />
In this case, the buyer explained to the salesman he had done his research through Consumer Reports and other internet sources and this was the car he wanted. He was convinced the price on the floor model was the best in the area and he was sold.<br />
<br />
The problem that was illustrated here is that there is so much emphasis put into training employees to “follow the company line” that basic common sense sometimes falls to the curb. There are many times when using the old “Assumptive Close” technique is the perfect solution. Managers and trainers need to be prudent when training new hires in their process so that they don’t brainwasher a sales professional to the point where they either aren’t able to or are afraid of the repercussions of going outside the proverbial “Box” and simply doing what they are there for….Selling the deal!<br />
<br />
So next time you’re sitting through (or maybe you are the one giving the training) sales training, try and remember that what you are hearing should only be a guideline on the sales process. Sales is a skill not everyone has, and sometimes it's difficult for those who aren't in sales roles to understand it isn’t always necessary to follow a rigid checklist of steps in the process to succeed. Many times it’s best to trust your instincts and proceed along the process you think will give you the best chance of securing the order. <br />
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If you follow this simple advice, at the end of the day, everyone will be happy…..the Customer will be happy with their decision, your company will have a new order, and you’ll have your commissions.<br />
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what do you think of the "Sale" vs. The "Process"? Which one takes precedent?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8016027142562565917.post-53114030386012853072011-12-07T12:37:00.000-05:002012-10-06T23:05:00.554-04:00Let's Talk Cold CallingLet’s talk sales cold calls for a little bit…… <br />
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Sales managers have been beating the concept of business development achieved through cold calls into sales professionals for decades. When I first started in sales at AT&T in the 1980’s, I had to go through a “role play” scenario where I made the initial appointment, sat with the client and fact found, then developed and presented a solution based program. My skills were “assessed” by a team of sales managers and trainers and I was hired because I followed what was considered proper process. I was practicing “Sales 101”.<br />
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When I was in my 20’s and starting out, this was overwhelming and I was brainwashed by the managers that this was the time proven method towards success in sales. After years of mediocre results following the classroom methods taught by sales managers, I learned cold calling is really a waste of precious time which a salesperson could better spend closing leads, not trying to generate them at a clip of less than 2% per attempt (and if you’re seeing 2% success rate on your cold calling, congratulations! You’re doing GREAT!) <br />
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Problem here is today’s companies typically have two types of executives: <br />
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The first type is people who have large capital to invest and fund the start-up of the organization. This is the true wildcard. Many of these people come from financial backgrounds, and feel the best way to run a profitable company is to watch every dollar and purchase the lowest priced product or commodity on the market. In the short term, this approach may save money, but the lowest price isn’t always the best option. In addition, most of the companies run by those with financial backgrounds look to buy low, and then sell their own product high. This inconsistent approach will in the long run, most likely cause the business model to fail.<br />
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The second type of executive is those that have worked their way up the corporate ladders, either through operations or sales. These are the most difficult folks to cold call. They’ve been through the ringer, know the “ropes”, and have used all the “tricks of the sales trade” that get taught to up and coming sales personnel. <br />
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Problem is this type of executive often manages today’s sales people, and employs yesterday’s sales management statistics (number of cold calls x close ratio = number of sales). This just doesn’t work. If you have a 2% success rate of presenting a proposal via cold calls, neither you nor the company will ever make any significant revenue. Think of the major league baseball player….if he had 2 hits per 100 at-bats, he’d have a 0.020 batting average and would be out of baseball within weeks. Why sales managers keep pushing the cold calling technique with results like this is puzzling?<br />
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So how do we develop new business leads, contact the appropriate decision maker, and close the sale?<br />
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Today’s intelligence explosion through the internet and other social channels is the wave of the future. Every show I watch on TV is trying to get their message (product) to “trend on Twitter” or be “liked on Facebook”. Many of us have fought the evolution of social media’s usefulness, but we need to accept the fact that it’s here to stay. Next time you’re sitting at home, watching your favorite show, pay attention to the “pop-ups” on the screen, telling you how to “follow” your favorite actor, or “like” your favorite product. <br />
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If social media is working for the most successful shows aired today, why can’t it be successful for your product and brand? It most certainly can.<br />
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Let’s look at a quick scenario…..last time you were interested in purchasing a new product, whether it be a TV, a car, a plane ticket, or almost any other commodity, how did you buy it? Did you run down to the closest store and buy the first one you saw? Maybe….but most likely you researched it on the internet and compared your options. This is what we need to accomplish for ourselves in our professional career.<br />
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If you are in sales (or looking to get into sales), sign up for Twitter. Start following a few people within your industry and before long you’ll begin to build a list of “followers”. As your list builds, you will see your name start to appear more prominently within the various internet search engines, creating a presence for yourself. If you work this over time, you will begin to see prospects contacting you, looking to buy your product. Most decision makers today will search on the internet for a supplier, and the more prominent you name is in the search results, the better your chances of being contacted.<br />
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I have written several previous posts about additional methods to assist on developing brands and increasing your search results. Check out “Can Twitter Really Do That for Me”, posted on 5/11/2011 and “Social Power by Use of Personal Sites” posted on 10/26/2010 for some more specific info on building a personal brand.<br />
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I’d enjoy hearing any suggestions you may have to help build a brand and drive customers to your sites. The more input we are get, the quicker we’ll develop new sales techniques to succeed in today’s information age.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13087846750226033365noreply@blogger.com15