5 Killer Mistakes – Part 3
The last two posts covered the first four of the killer mistakes you can make that will not only cause you to lose your fish, but possibly your entire company. Today we’re going to talk about the fifth killer mistake: Up Cash Creek Without a Paddle.
Even when business is good there’s still a chance of running out of cash flow. You have to always be prepared for a slow in sales or a surge in expenses. One of the keys to balancing your cash flow is to get your clients to pay on time. This can seem like a nightmare, but it is absolutely essential to a successful business.
Here are some tips to speed up the payment process:
- Always send invoices on time and adjust your records for potential audits.
- Learn how the client processes payments on their side and find out precisely where to send invoices.
- Find out who’s in charge of processing orders and payment so you know who to contact if needed.
- Have a follow-up procedure in place, just in case.
- As a last resort, call your contact to ask questions.
- Always make sure your invoices are correct before sending them out.
You also need to make sure your cash flow is protected. You can do this by:
- Always knowing which accounts need to be paid and when.
- Negotiating with your suppliers for the lowest cost possible.
- Having a bank contingency plan in place.
- Building your own investor network.
These are all great ways to protect the cash flow of your business and prepare for fish transitions and slow sales. These last few lessons are all about finding and catching your big fish clients. These clients are essential to your success, and you need to take the time to work through each of these steps carefully and correctly for the best success.
If you need help with any step of the process of catching your fish or subsequent big fish clients, try our FREE guided tour at www.profitenhancementacademy.com/guidedtour for access to a wealth of great tools and resources as well as our business coaching staff.
Stacey@pegcoaches.com – 404-951-9023
Philip@pegcoaches.com – 713-823-8253
5 Killer Mistakes – Part 2
In the last post we covered the first two of the 5 biggest mistakes you can make in dealing with big fish clients. Today we’ll cover the third and fourth mistakes: taking on more than you can handle and putting all your eggs in one basket.
Taking on More Than You Can Handle
When you take on too much, your business can’t keep up, and therefore, you can easily lose control of everything and find yourself barely functioning. You want your business to be successful, no doubt, but you need to have a plan for how you will handle the growth. Your clients expect great customer service and highly quality products/services, they don’t know or care about your behind the scenes operations to get those things done.
Look for these signs that you are taking on more than you can handle:
- Clients’ needs aren’t being met.
- Employee morale is low, clients are upset and you’re in a panic.
- You have to react in emergency mode to save accounts.
- Your current clients are suffering from trying to keep up with new business.
- Profits are going down.
- You are trying to pick up the pieces of your business.
- Your clients/customers leave.
- Resources are being reallocated.
There is a trick called the Mock Fish Plan. This plan can help you react positively when you are facing some or all of these challenges and help you get your business back on track. This plan will:
- Help increase sales in a short period of time.
- Alter your products/services for the better.
- Fulfill promises that you made to your clients.
There are six steps to this plan:
- Bring in your best team and have them all help to meet the fish’s needs.
- Review your operational system.
- Anticipate future problems better.
- Communicate better.
- Include costs in your quotes.
- Always have a back-up plan.
Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket
You can allow your company to become dependent on any one fish. Eventually or for certain periods there is going to be a slowing down period with your fish. In order to stay in the game you need to diversify.
If you’ve ever mishandled a fish, you could drive away other potential fish as well. In order to keep balance and prepare for a strong future, there are a few things you can do:
- Stay in the loop and try to know what’s going on inside your fish’s company.
- Constantly reinvent yourself and stay at the top of your industry.
- Stay exclusive.
- Try to secure multi-year commitments and contracts.
- Spread your contracts out.
- Price your products/services correctly.
You also need to work to reduce your dependency on your fish. This can generally be measured in sales or profits. Take a look back at the process we’ve used thus far to snag more fish to keep this all in balance.
These are the ways you can help avoid the killer mistakes that can make you lose it all. If you need help with any of these tips or tricks, try our FREE guided tour at www.profitenhancementacademy.com/guidedtour.
Next time we’ll talk about the last of the killer mistakes and how to combat it from hitting your business hard.
Stacey@pegcoaches.com – 404-951-9023
Philip@pegcoaches.com – 713-823-8253
5 Killer Mistakes – Part 1
There are 5 big mistakes you can do that will kill a deal with a big fish:
- Not meeting the client’s expectations
- Mishandling a client crisis
- Taking on more than you can handle
- Putting all your eggs in one basket
- Up cash creek without a paddle
Any one or any combination of these has the potential to not only kill the partnership, but to have the ability to take down your company as well. We’re going to take a bit of time to talk about each one of these. In this lesson we’ll cover the first two.
Not Meeting Client’s Expectations
It’s essential you give your clients exactly what you promised during the negotiation portion of your relationship. If an event does happen where you cannot meet the client’s expectations, not only do you have to find a way to fix the situation, but you also have to find out where it all went wrong.
A couple of things could have contributed to this problem:
- Bad salesmanship. This could mean the salesperson was trying too hard to seal the deal and didn’t listen to the client’s needs.
- Lack of communication. This breakdown occurs between the salesperson and your operations department.
In order to avoid these mistakes, you need to put a clear plan of action into place for all of your sales staff to follow:
- Think before you speak.
- Give yourself a break.
- Perfect your process.
- Pre-format over-deliverables.
- Stay hands-on throughout the entire process.
- Define success.
Mishandling a Client Crisis
Crises will happen, but how you respond and fix them will define your company and interaction with your clients. You need to respond quickly and effectively. This will help you gain even more trust and confidence from your client.
Some simple tips can help you deal with any client crisis:
- Take responsibility and apologize no matter who is at fault.
- Act swiftly and effectively.
- Step in and take control of the situation.
- Never point fingers or place blame.
- Stay in constant communication with your client.
- Stay calm throughout the situation.
- Keep your eye on the ball.
Now that you know the top two mistakes you can make to kill a big fish deal, you’ll know better how to avoid making these mistakes in the first place and know how to put a plan of action into place in the case of a crisis.
If you need help with any of this, try our guided tour at www.profitenhancementacademy.com/guidedtour.
Next time we’ll talk about the 3rd and 4th killer mistake you can make in working with big fish clients.
Stacey@Pegcoaches.com – 404-951-9023
Philip@pegcoaches.com – 713-823-8253
Keep Up the Momentum
In the last post we talked about negotiating with your big fish and how to nurture and build on the relationships you are creating. Today we’ll talk about the power your fish has and how to utilize that for your benefit.
One of the most important aspects of this is to keep your cheerleader cheering. This refers to the ally you created in the company and who needs to stay loyal to you in order to continue a profitable partnership with your fish. You can keep your champion going by offering or doing a number of things to show appreciation:
- Share the limelight.
- Help them thank their company with new products and services.
- Emotionally connect them to your company.
- Know when to leave them alone.
- Keep your “family” happy.
- Stay on the front lines.
Now that you have some ideas of how to build solid relationships, you need to seek out people with whom to build these relationships. These alliances will help you get bigger clients that stay with you for the long run. You can often get in the door by offering them something they need:
- Power
- Information
- Better work experience
These are all great ways to feed your alliance. You need to go into a relationship considering the things a big fish can offer you besides money:
- The opportunity for your business to expand
- The opportunity to learn from the experience and find ways to grow
- The opportunity to improve your processes, systems and other means of doing business
These are some of the best ways to keep your alliances going strong and your partnerships fresh and content.
If you need help with any of these tactics, try our FREE guided tour for great tools and resources that can help you every step of the way.
Or reach out to us:
Stacey Sagues – Stacey@pegcoaches.com 404-951-9023
Philip Lewis – Philip@pegcoaches.com 713-823-8253
Bring Them Flowers
There are a few things you need to do and consider to prepare for your first face-to-face meeting:
- Make a list of what you want to accomplish during the meeting.
- Anticipate potential concerns from the client.
- Check to make sure you are completely prepared.
- Listen more than you talk.
- Bring support staff with you.
- Use and respect the client’s format.
- Always follow through.
- Ask for what you need and seal the deal.
- Simplify your prospect’s life.
- Find ways to boost your credibility.
- Build and nurture relationships.
- Learn from “no.” Find out what didn’t work so you know how to change it for the next time.
Each of these is important to do both before and during your presentation. With confidence behind your company and product you will catch that big fish. The next step of the process is negotiation. This can seem a little intimidating, but with a few tips and tricks it can become natural to you.
Here are some tips to help you negotiate successfully:
- Build a pricing strategy and stick with it.
- Prioritize what you plan to offer. This should include what really matters to you and what you are willing to give in on.
- Don’t give in too quickly.
- Negotiate with a person, not a “company.”
- Don’t let their answer be that they would like to, but can’t.
- Don’t sell yourself short.
- Mitigate your pricing. If you go too low you won’t be able to raise it back up, and you need to make a profit.
- Don’t sacrifice quality for the deal.
- Your services should always count as costs.
- Boost margins with add-ons.
- Handle requests for proposals with the utmost care.
These are the ways you can ensure both parties are getting the best possible outcome from the partnership. Once you start meeting or working together, it is important to continue to build your relationship in order for that representative to become a big ally for you. They will be more likely to vouch for you and build on the partnership you have with their company.
We like to call this person a champion. They are a champion for your company and can bring a stronger, brighter future to your company. Here are the characteristics of a great champion:
- They are respected by supervisors.
- They are socially networked.
- They think in the best interest of their company’s long run.
- They are able to quickly navigate through the company to get things done.
- They are willing to give credit to another person.
- They share the same business philosophy, values and vision as you.
Now that you know how to negotiate what is best for both parties and build on relationships, we’re going to talk about how to use your fish’s power to the best of your benefit.
If you need help with any of the negotiation or courting processes, check out this FREE guided tour to get access to a wealth of great tools and resources to improve your success.
Or reach out to: Stacey Sagues or Philip Lewis
Stacey@pegcoaches.com or Philip@pegcoaches.com
404-951-9023 713-823-8253
Why Your Employees or Clients Need Disability Advocacy Services Protection
Here are some very interesting statistics I want you to consider:
- Today 4,103 working Americans will experience a disabling accident or illness.
- So far this year, 1,694,538 working Americans have suffered a disabling accident or illness.
- Accidents are not usually the culprit. Back injuries, cancer, heart disease and other illnesses cause the majority of long-term absences.
- The average length of a long-term disability claim is 34.6 months.
- 65% of working Americans have no income protection plans (that is more than 90% of people who make under $50,000 a year).
As an agent or broker you need to be discussing these points with your clients, but what do you do if the client cannot afford long-term income protection or if they cannot even qualify for coverage?
Disability Advocacy Service (DAS) is the solution to their needs. For $8 a month (less if employer sponsored) DAS provides access to income and health care by covering the employee, spouse and dependent children. If you are offering short-term income plans like Critical Illness, Cancer, STD or others, DAS will help take care of your employees’ and/or clients’ long-term needs.
If you are an employer or a broker for any Health or Voluntary Benefits, please reach out to us!
Stacey Sagues – Stacey@pegcoaches.com or 404-951-9023
Philip Lewis – Philip@pegcoaches.com or 713-823-8253
Statistics on Disabilities for Working Americans and a Case for DAS (Disability Advocacy Services)
According to the Counsel for Disability Awareness (CDA), 831,000 people have experienced a disability SO FAR THIS YEAR! Now consider some of the numbers of income protection and disabilities from the latest CDA survey:
- 65% of working adults report having no private disability insurance.
- Half of those surveyed said they’d tap savings or investments to pay their bills if they couldn’t work. However, 57% said they only had enough money to pay for 6 months or less of bills.
- Most adults say savings and investments would be their number-one resource in the case of a disability; however, according to the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Census Bureau, only 38% have an emergency fund to fall back on.
- Most disabling conditions occur OFF the job.
- Medical problems contributed to 62% of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2014 — an estimate of over 500,000. This is a 50% increase over results from a similar 2001 study.
- 67% of respondents believed disability insurance was too expensive.
Think about your own situation for a moment. You may have a little money in savings, but how long would that last you if you were out of work? The same thing applies to your clients!
DAS costs $8 a month on a voluntary plan (even less for employer sponsored plans) and provides access to income, health care (Medicare regardless of age), and to retirement if necessary.
Learn how agents and brokers all over the U.S. are using DAS in their book of business to provide an affordable solution to large portions of their client base. If you are an employer, contact us as well. We can address this issue for your employees!
Literature? Refresher on DAS? Help in approaching clients? Give us a shout!
Stacey Sagues – Stacey@Pegcoaches.com – 404-951-9023
Philip Lewis – Philip@Pegcoaches.com – 713-823-8253
Who’s Your MVP?
In the last post we talked about making first contact with your prospective big fish and how to make a positive first impression. Today we’re going to talk about feeling out the personality of your big fish to match them to the right salesperson.
You need to do this in two steps:
- Profile your salespeople’s personalities.
- Match the right salesperson to your target fish.
There are essentially three different selling personalities:
- Sage
- Pal
- Pit Bull
The Sage
This salesperson offers knowledge, experience, comfort and trust. They can make a concerned customer feel at ease. In order to be successful they need plenty of information, a demo of the product/service, references and case studies, if possible.
The Pal
Much like it sounds, this is a salesperson that excels at building relationships. They can instantly relate to the prospective client and make them seem like old friends in no time. They work best with clients who are looking for friendship and information and with clients who are in a similar peer group as the salesperson. This can include anything from age and culture to hobbies and nightlife. While sharing experiences can be beneficial to creating a new relationship, your salesperson must always keep it professional and dignified. The resources this personality type needs is help pairing with the right client, an entertainment (or schmoozing) budget and the right information to meet the client’s needs.
The Pit Bull
Obviously, this personality type is a little more aggressive than the others. They are all about business and the bottom line. While this may seem harsh to a lot of people, there is a set of business people out there who all want the same thing and respect someone who can get down to business and the benefits of a partnership. This salesperson will need to be trusted with a little authority as they will likely be closing deals on the spot. They’ll need plenty of resources and access to products and services. They are best placed in environments where they can work independently, exercise their authoritative discretion and seal deals quickly.
These personalities can all be successful when each is used in the right selling environment. You can easily see how matching the right salesperson for the client can secure more big fish for a longer period of time.
If you need help figuring out which of your salespeople fit into these three areas, try our FREE test drive and work with one of our amazing coaches to get your big fish plan in action.
You can reach out to: Stacey Sagues or Philip Lewis
Stacey@pegcoaches.com 404-951-9023
philip@pegcoaches.com 713-823-8253
The Perfect Bait
In the last post we talked about how to learn about your big fish and prepare for the first contact you’ll make with them. This first contact is essential to your success. You need to instill confidence in them. They need to know you can fulfill exactly what you are offering on time, at a good price and at the quality you promise.
Today, we’ll actually go through the big approach and how to make that perfect first impression. Before you put together your approach plan, you need to choose which big fish you’re going after. Take a look at your notes and the research you’ve done about prospective fish. Then decide which one will be the easiest approach to start out with.
There are a series of things to go through in choosing which fish to start with. They are:
- Position Your Business
- Compile Your Hit List
- Select the Best Target
Position Your Business
You need to position your business to make the first move by listing your revenue streams, identify and list your operational procedures, where your fish is initially positioned, your big-customer research, and putting it all together.
Compile Your Hit List
Start with a list of all the companies you’ve been considering. Then narrow it down to the ones who know could use your products or services. Don’t overlook obvious choices, whether they are big or small. Even small companies could be big fish in the future.
Select the Best Target
Once you’ve got your list narrowed down, you need to decide which one is the best fish to start with. You need to consider a couple of things:
- Which have the most purchasing resources to spend?
- Does their company vision compliment yours?
- What are their employee incentive programs as they relate to your products/services?
- What’s the company’s real need for you?
- Will the partnership lead you off-course?
Now you should have a target in mind to start with. It’s time to plan your approach and execute that plan.
Here’s the step-by-step plan to help you make a good first impression:
- Build and analyze your database. Divide your leads into three different categories: hot leads, great fits and secondary leads.
- Send out introductory mailings to your target to introduce yourself, your company, services, products, and vision. They need to be short, clean and concise.
- Follow up with your first phone call 2-3 days after they would have received the mailings. During the phone, call find out whom you need to be speaking with in the future and try to set up a meet with the right person.
- Follow up your phone call with another mailing that thanks them for taking the time to speak with you and offer more details about your products/services. Use this letter and opportunity to set up a meeting to do a presentation.
- Follow up the letter with another phone call a couple of days after they would have received the letter. This phone call is to help you further develop your relationship with the prospective client. You should also be able to set up a presentation meeting with them.
- Call again a week later if they haven’t agreed to a meeting or presentation. Ask if they received your creative letter (the second one) and if they have a minute when you can stop by and introduce yourself in person.
Now, don’t be upset if you don’t seal the deal right away. Some people simply take a little longer to woo. This can all be a little intimidating at first, but when you know you are offering a quality product/service, you can’t go wrong.
Once you’ve gone through this process and make first contact (and hopefully a good first impression), it’s time to put your best face forward, which means sending the right salesperson to seal the deal.
If you need help putting together your approach and make a good first impression, try our FREE test drive to work with a coach and have access to a wealth of great resources and tools.
Stacey Sagues – Stacey@pegcoaches.com | 404-951-9023
Philip Lewis – Philip@pegcoaches.com | 713-823-8253
Did You Know? DAS!
Disability Advocacy Service – Large or Small, It’s a Fit for ALL
Disability Advocacy Service is a one of a kind non-insurance service. DAS is a way for individuals to gain access to long-term income and health insurance (Medicare) by obtaining a social security disability insurance (SSDI). This low cost service can either be employer or employee paid, and you do not have to have LTD or STD in place.
DAS has proved itself as a viable alternative to costly LTD policies from 3 to 1,000 employees, but what about the really big accounts of 100,000 or more? Yup – fits perfectly in those cases as well. Here’s how:
Large retailers (you know who they are) have a workforce that does not have many benefits. Whether they are an online ordering company, a consumer electronics manufacturer or big retailer, they are all looking at improving their employee’s experience. Turnover at these places hurts when they have semi-skilled good employees they want to keep but move on in search of better benefits.
DAS is being looked at as a very inexpensive employee incentive in many of these large corporations! LTD policies are next to impossible to afford (unless you are in management in these firms) and targeted low cost benefits are being sought to enhance and maintain the workforce.
Look at your book of business. I am sure you have some larger accounts that do not buy, cannot afford or even be underwritten for LTD. DAS is a perfect fit!
We can work with brokers to provide further information to their clients, or we can work directly with employers.
If you would like further information, contact us at: Stacey@pegcoaches.com or Philip@pegcoaches.com.