Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Job-Interview-Criteria.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Job-Interview-Criteria.html Some suggestions for conducting an efficient and effective job interview. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/GOAL-Setting-for-the-Key-Areas-of-Your-Life.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/GOAL-Setting-for-the-Key-Areas-of-Your-Life.html If Goal Setting (and Getting) is capable of making you more effective in your business, then surely it makes sense to apply this same skill to every important aspect of your life. In this template, we provide you with a system for setting those personal Goals that will make sure that, once attained, your Financial Freedom is but the means to enjoy the things that really matter in your life. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Tracking--Diagnosing-Sales-Performance.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Tracking--Diagnosing-Sales-Performance.html One of my clients was recently wrestling with a common business challenge - a contracted professional salesperson who was not delivering results. She was uncertain about the correctness of insisting on a report of his activities because her initial request had been met with, "I don't have time for that. I'm busy getting out there seeing people. What do you want: Sales or reports?" Like most "half truths" this one caused her some angst: She did want sales; activities were not what she was paying for - but the arrangement wasn't working, and she could not see why. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Systems-for-Business-Growth.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Systems-for-Business-Growth.html What Are Systems? Now, some people may think of "systems" as sets of technically sophisticated interacting parts, designed to accomplish some complex result (and, in some cases, they may be all of that) but in the vast majority of cases in business, systems can be simple, little things. For example, you might develop "systems" for answering the phone, handling emails or running meetings. So, one definition of a system might be: "A plan for achieving a desired end result in an efficient and certain way."You may develop a simple system for answering the phone so that you consistently create a positive impression. You might develop a more complex system for opening your office in the morning so that no time is wasted; the alarm is turned off (saving a call from the security firm); your "Open for Business" sign is switched on (saving you http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Winning-Sales-by-Understanding-Your-Sales-Process.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Winning-Sales-by-Understanding-Your-Sales-Process.html Your Present Selling System. If you’re in a business that is more than a few years old, it is a certainty that someone within that business has developed a system – or a habit - of selling that works for your market – if only in part. If that system is not the best it could be, then your sales are less than they could be. It’s really that simple! Does it stand to reason then that, if you understood the system you have evolved to sell your product (we’ll use “product” to include services), you may be able to use that understanding to improve or optimise your system – and increase your sales thereby? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Increase-Sales-by-Understanding-Your-Sales-Process.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Increase-Sales-by-Understanding-Your-Sales-Process.html As a business coach, at some point early in my relationship with my clients I'll ask them to map out their sales process and it never ceases to amaze me that some of those really smart businesspeople have never sat down to look at how they sell, how they train their people to sell, and what works - or doesn't! I'll often get the response, "Well, we just sell it to them", which doesn't give one much traction when it comes to assessing or improving sales. The first two things you need to know in order to be able to assess your selling process are real answers to the questions, "Why do people buy what you sell?" and "Why do they buy it from you?" http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Salespeople-What-Works--Commission-or-Retainer.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Salespeople-What-Works--Commission-or-Retainer.html One of our coaching clients asked for some thoughts on structuring rewards for their sales people, and the following notes arose from our thinking on the subject. On reflection, even though it's just an outline, I thought it may be relevant to some of you, so here you go: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Lower-Stress-At-Work-Is-Just-Good-Business-Manners.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Lower-Stress-At-Work-Is-Just-Good-Business-Manners.html Few things within a business are guaranteed to raise tensions, shorten fuses and lower productivity as are simple bad manners and yet, when times get tough and stress rises, good manners are often an early victim. When the erosion of good manners then leaks from team relations into customer relations (as it inevitably must) that, in turn, costs sales - not just immediate sales, but all of the remaining sales you would have made to that client had you retained them for years to come, and the sales of all the other people whom they were miffed enough to discourage from dealing with you in future! http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Coach-Your-Business-Team-To-Recognise-A-Profit.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Coach-Your-Business-Team-To-Recognise-A-Profit.html After years of paying bills, lodging tax returns, balancing debtors & creditors, doing bank reconciliations and lodging financial returns for your business, it's understandable if you've fallen into the error of thinking that "everyone understands money" and "everyone knows what a profit is!" But does your team know what a profit is? Keep reading for Your Reality Check. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Marketing-Your-Business--Getting-Your-Customers-to-Market-You.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4168/Marketing-Your-Business--Getting-Your-Customers-to-Market-You.html Most everyone in business have nutted out a way of selling or they would not have survived to this point. There may not be a lot of science in the way they sell but, hey, when they can find an interested party it has worked so far. And that may just be the point: Most of the people I know in small-to-medium businesses confess that when it comes to finding more "interested parties" to sell to - when it comes to marketing - they are almost totally at sea.