Team New Horizons

You're Aware that You Have Weaknesses. Now What.

Posted by JuJuan Buford Entrepreneur & Author @JSBUFORD

 

We all have them. Blind spots. Idiosyncrasies that don't serve us. A paucity of skills in a specific area. Maybe an academic deficit, like not understanding the biology behind television commercials' potential to persuade. Self awareness is key and can definitely allow you to identify and remedy these challenges. Still, we are what we are. Flawed.  

Weaknesses can lead to deleterious results or present an opportunity to grow stronger. Here are a couple suggestions.

Delegate Them.  Admittedly, this is fast becoming my favorite solution. If you are a righty, why masquerade as a lefty? I believe ardently in personal and professional development, plus massive action (BIG PLUS), however the pace of business is far swifter than it was 5 years ago or even 5 minutes ago. Play to your strengths like tomorrow is not promised, because it's not. Do you.

If you are not good at marketing or sales. Let me be brutally honest here. If you are walking around with the attitude that you are not good at sales, and you're committed to this attitude. Quit. Ever hear the axiom, begin with the end in mind? You're doomed. Quit. Accept the fact that you're lying to yourself, either because of fear of failure or fear of work.

Have you ever been on a date before? Did you make it to the second date? Are you married? Smile. Salesmanship is in your DNA.

Ok, so you have room to grow when it comes to marketing and sales. You're best at delivering the service or producing the product. Hire someone who is incredible at marketing and sales. Take inventory of your network and find affinity partners (people who are swimming in the same ponds, rivers, and oceans you are with complimentary wares) and couple their access or name recognition with your expertise. Don't be stingy. Or find individuals or groups who already have an affinity for your value proposition, and enlist their support: social media, conference calls, trade fairs, etc.,.

It works in reverse as well.

Most importantly, do not starve the baby. When it comes to acquiring professional support, seek help from legitimate individuals and resources at all costs. You didn't attend school and pass the bar in your state. Seek real, ideally specialized, legal counsel. You didn't graduate with an accounting degree. Find an accountant. Marketing is one of the most highly specialized, heady, intellectual endeavors ever, and so many don't get it.

Some of these resources (shameless, but discreet plug) are not nearly as expensive as you may anticipate.

Edison did not become wealthy because the light bulb was invented. He was able to sell and scale. Marketing in combination with learning how to transition from hustling your derrière off as an individual, to hustling your derrière off as an owner, to hustling your derrière off as a CEO are drastically different worlds.    

Incorporate Systems.  Maybe it's time to consider a partnership, a board, or some form of structural accountability. Maybe you are impulsive or you take a couple milliseconds too long to make BLINK (Malcolm Gladwell) decisions. It's ok. Many of our strengths and weaknesses are often sitting right next to each other.

Maybe, it's time you actually invest in reevaluating your business plan and securing the guiding hand of a business coach to insure you adhere to it. Informally survey your clients more frequently post sale, or create follow up protocols (not email) to better identify what you're deficits are and create reminders of what will be required to address them. The uglier the truth, the better it may be for you, assuming you're willing to take steps to address what's discovered.

Invest in Personal & Professional Development Constantly.  I can literally smash an entire 300 to 400 plus page book in a 24 hour period of time, and quickly synthesize the content or data into immediately applicable action steps. I can listen to a speech, parse it, memorize it, recalibrate it, and deliver it in my own voice as quickly as I hear it.

I can live in my mind for hours and be completely ok with it. And once I see something in my mind, I can apply it and adjust with mind blowing efficacy without having done the thing before. And then I become bored, immediately. It's not very efficient.

It's my gift. It's my weakness. Temporarily.

Here are more efficient, healthier ways to improve. Drive time university. Turn off the radio and find someone who has what you want, YouTube them, or buy their audio training.

Read ten pages a day = approximately 300 pages a month = approximately 12 to 15 good books per year = What many pay tens of thousands of dollars for every year in the form of a university education. Let's be clear. I'm not knocking a university or college education, for the trolls out there. It's just an interesting equation to consider, with a huge ROI. Trust, that if you read ten pages a day of a good book regarding any endeavor or intellectual pursuit, you will be a different, more improved YOU at the end of the year.

 Looking to secure big business resources for small business dollars. Click this link: Small Business Solutions

 

 

jab, jab, Right CROSS

Posted by JuJuan Buford Entrepreneur & Author @JSBUFORD

If youre going to change things, you have to be willing to be disruptive initially. Be the tip of the spear and be willing to jab, jab, right cross soft, old underbellys.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201603/leigh-buchanan/rebel-athletic-custom-cheerleading-uniforms-startup.html

The Secret to a Perfect Cold Calling Script

Posted by JuJuan Buford Entrepreneur & Author @JSBUFORD

If you’re reading this article, chances are you desire simply to become more proficient at cold calling, or you’re looking for the secret to overcoming both the dreaded arduousness of the endeavor altogether. So here’s the secret………..

THERE IS NOT ONE. NO SECRET STRATEGY, ELIXIR, OR PERFECT SCRIPT. ALL THE AFOREMENTIONED ARE NONEXISTENT. However, there are a couple steps you can take to improve your success ratio.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

Don’t take rejection personally. A waiter approaches a table, suggests a Caesar salad as an appetizer, and inquires whether the patron desires steak as their entrée. If the patron declines the steak, the waiter does not retreat into a posture of spite or broken disappointment. It’s simply on to the next. When fishermen take to the lake they understand that their bait is for the fish that desires a particular taste. They don’t spend too much time pontificating on how, why, or obfuscate nonstop. They continue to throw out a line.

Let’s assume you have a genuine, solid value proposition. Keep throwing out the line. Cold calling is a numbers game and don’t let anyone convince you differently. Yes, the more skilled and experienced you are, the more effective you’ll become. Isn’t that the same with everything? Walking, learning how to potty, etc., etc.,. Most just aren’t willing to learn from the experience of cold calling a large quantity of prospects, because they’re too busy trying to get through the activity.

IT’S ALL IN YOUR MUSIC

Those on the receiving end of your call can hear your smile or your frown. Consider for a moment. Before, you graced that receptionist, operations person, or small business owner with your voice, they’ve already been pitched dozens and dozens of times from individuals who often times have no interest in really understanding what’s important to them. As fatiguing as it is to make the dials, think about how fatiguing it is to have to answer them all day.

Divorces happen. Negative clients happen. Lawsuits happen. Children spilling strawberry syrup all over the carpet happens. Traffic tickets happen.

You’re music needs to be positive, upbeat, energetic like an emotional defibrillator. Not over the top, but your voice needs to feel like sunshine, rather than some kind of blue. Meditate, review your mission statement or vision board, read an inspiring quote, read ten pages of a really good, positive book, or imagine a more bountiful future. In other words, get your music right.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE PERFECT SCRIPT

There are scripts that you execute with frequency. And those that you don’t execute with frequency. The ingredients in the secret cold calling script, are execution and ratio. Don’t get me wrong though, there are really, really bad scripts out there. Here are a couple suggestions concerning the elements of a good script…especially in the B2B market.

• Immediately identify who you are by name, the company you're with (project confidence), pause (take a breadth), and ask for the person (the decision maker) whom you’d like to speak with. Here’s a hint. Call initially to acquire the persons first and last name, and call back asking specifically for that person by name.

 

•  What is your value proposition? Be able to capsulate it in one sentence or ask a question that provokes one to consider what the impact would be of your service or product. In other words, take a moment to truly consider, what’s in it for them. This is not the time to talk features. This requires repeating. This is not the time to talk features. 

 

• Don’t sprint away from sharing the approximate expense. Be honest. Perhaps approximate. However, don’t sprint away. For example, “for less than the cost of a cup of coffee a day.” Or be clear about whether your service is a la carte. However, if it is not a la carte, it’s not going to go well when you’re sitting eye ball to eye ball. 

 

• What is the success rate, conversion rate, measureable impact, or results. OMG! I use to mess this one up, and did so recently during a lunch appointment. Even the most practiced of us, have a bad performance every now and again. If you cannot answer this question in less than one sentence, particularly if the decision maker inquires about it (meaning they’re genuinely interested), it is the kiss of death. 

 

• Do not convince, sell, give a comprehensive features overview, tell your life's story….you get the point. SET THE APPOINTMENT. The goal is to whet the appetite, not shove a Whopper down their throats. You are not going to acquire a client (there is a difference between a customer and a client) over the phone cold. You want the appointment (permission) to inform the decision maker with enough information to make an educated decision.

 This small plate just almost turned into an entrée. More to come.

ZIG ZIGLAR MOTIVATION: "How to Get What You Want"

Posted by JuJuan Buford Entrepreneur & Author @JSBUFORD