Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Silent Treatment

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Prospects giving you the silent treatment lately?  I know how you feel as we all get that sometimes.  You draft the perfect email or rehearse your sales pitch for when you make the call and afterwards silence!!

You may even just be starting out in business and everyone is excited about the new idea. Then suddenly everything stops as apprehension and uncertainly sets in; now you consider if sales will match up to expectation.  Even big companies’ experiences the “silent treatment” so do not think it is peculiar to your business alone.

There is a pressure free way to re-establish communication when your prospects give you the “cold shoulder”.

  • So what can you do to bring negotiation back to the table?
  • So what to do when you get the ‘silent treatment’ from a prospective client, after all everything was going on fine and the deal was almost in the bag then nothing?

Hanging on to Hope

We all get caught up in trying to make a sale because all our hopes and desires are caught up in getting that deal signed. Before you start barging your prospects with emails and phone calls, it is wise to find out what brought about the silence.

When we consider our products and services and how to make a sale, we play out the outcome in our minds and fail to see an alternative route.  In an ideal world this should just happen but it is never so.  If our prospect then fails to act according to our expectations, confusion and frustration sets in and we may even feel betrayed, after all you spent time and money trying to make that sale.

So What Can We Do to Reconnect with Silent Clients?

Well a good way to solve the mystery of the ‘silent treatment’ is to properly diagnose the problem. You may huff and puff right here and say “if someone is unwilling to get in touch, how would I know their thoughts”.  Well, first things first; let go of the sale pressure in your communication with the unyielding client.

This scenario happened to me recently when I was chasing a prospective client. After much ado, I decided to ask “how can I help with your business” rather than the usual talk about my business offerings.  Luckily he was quick to point out where he was struggling and I was able to offer my assistance and the sale was done!

So simply put – when you get the cold shoulder, don’t despair, try to find out an alternative route and rectify the problem.

Sales confidence is an important aspect of business and if your prospects are not responding to your sales tactics this can dent your confidence and seriously affect your business.  You may blame yourself for a bad pitch, poor materials or ineffective emails strategies.  The truth may be the prospective client just doesn’t need what you sell right now.

Gain Focus – if you know what your prospects want, you can focus on what to offer them. Research can help you accomplish this and let go of some of those prospects you have been targeting for a while.  Letting go gives you time to go in search of prospects that are a better fit for your business.  Now you will start working efficiently and spend less time with dead-end prospects.

Know the Truth – once you are able to identify your prospects ‘pain’ and ‘truth’, you let go of what I call “stress of the unknown”.   You can let go of those open-ended conversations or emails that lead to nowhere.  I should mention though that some prospects might need you in the future but so don’t burn all your bridges.

The more relaxed we are with our potential clients, the easier and more open they will be with you which helps you identify their needs.

Reconnect with ‘Silent Clients’

Get in touch, preferably call them and let them know there is no sales pressure behind your call.  Ask them for feedback about your website, your products or services, your emails or newsletter.  Let them know how much you value their feedback.  Stress the important of their views being an essential part of your business growth to help you improve your services.

If you go about the silent treatment this way, you may be pleasantly surprised at your clients’ responses.  You get a better perspective of their ‘why’ and you will stop being frustrated and increase your productivity.

Business First Steps is passionate about business start-up and development.  Our brainstorming sessions at intervals to suit you will help you gain a new perspective of your business goals and objectives.  Each session is unique to you and your business and personalised to address your own needs with solutions that work and grow your business.  From start-up to up-and-running businesses, we care for them all.

Why Hiring a Consultant is Essential for Business Growth

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A lot of people with a business start-up plan would benefit from hiring a business consultant for a number of reasons. While many would-be entrepreneurs would go without this service to save money, it may actually cost them more in the end. Going without the consulting service doesn’t mean that the company will fail; it might just not perform as well as hoped.

The Benefits of a Consultant

If you have a business start-up in mind, there are some very good reasons why you should consider hiring a consultant before you get too deep in the planning process and completely miss your way.

A business consultant has a wide range of expertise in the entrepreneurial field these include:

  • Writing business plans
  • Assistance with loan or grant proposals
  • Company registration and licensing
  • Writing realistic marketing goals and even with creating a good budget
  • Support and assistance along the way

These are a wide range of details that are all very important in the life of a business. If you don’t understand each of them, the consultant will explain the intricate details to you. They will also help you with the completion of these tasks to start your business.

If you may have already created a business and marketing plan, a consultant can review your plan to ensure it is realistic and will lead to a viable business.  The Business consultant will also look at your ideas and plans to see if anything is missing. It is so easy to miss out on very important start-up tasks but these consultants have been trained to spot these things.

Start on the Right Path to Success

Starting a business is not an easy task, it takes a lot of dedication to develop a business idea and put the plan into action. That is why many people have ideas they carry around for many years without starting out.

There is also the post start-up tasks which include marketing and every day business activities to consider. The business consultant will lead you through these steps to understanding what it takes to start successfully. They will also discuss with you the use of any partners, joint ventures or employees if you are considering moving in that direction. Many individuals start off hiring staff and acquiring premises when this could be delayed and financial burden reduced. The professional consultant will let you know what is necessary or not for your business.

Other than these benefits of talking to a consultant, there are other areas that they can help you with. They can assist you with sales strategies, choosing marketing methods, cutting down on expenses, improving customer service, improving the product, seeing potential problems in the business model, and dozens of other tasks. These are all essential aspects to consider when running a business that not only survives but thrives.

When you, as an entrepreneur, go to a business consultant for assistance, it is possibly the best thing that you can do for your own success. It does cost money to review your business with a consultant and to obtain assistance with it. However, this will pay off in the end. Spending this money will make you more money as a result because you will understand how to make your business a better one. You will be able to control your costs and budget your expenses to a higher level. You will learn how to spot problems before they become too big to repair.
Business Consulting does not stop at start-up, it runs through the life of a business and those who cherish business success make use of the skill religiously.
These are all benefits of hiring a licenses consultant to assist you with your business start-up and they are all essential to the success of your company.

Business First Steps provides brainstorming sessions for start-up and existing businesses.  They help businesses focus on the right way forward, set and achieve realistic business goals.

Till next time, keep surging forward….Temi.