Ever been in the situation where you’ve called a sales prospect over and over with little or no response? We’ve all been there and we’ve impatiently written off the prospect as dead because we didn’t want to face another non responsive call.

Next time you are prospecting and this happens, think of this: its a well known fact that sales people give up on sales prospecting calls far too early. A few more calls and the sale is likely to be yours. Also consider the fact that being diligent in following up will prove your commitment to the sales process and gain respect from your prospective buyer.

With a little patience and perseverance that opportunity you are about to write off as dead could turn into a sale. Go dial that number, smile and think of the closing the deal. Here are some pointers that will help: 7 tips for turning cold calls into hot leads.

Fiona Walsh, CEO, FM Walsh & Associates Inc., www.fmwalsh.com

It’s easy to say “make business development a game,” but it’s way more complicated than that, right?

Rule #1 of the new Business Development Game…have fewer rules!

Isn’t life already bogged down with an awful lot of rules? Surely some of them aren’t necessary. How about trying this instead:

1. Make a list of your clients
2. Grade each with 1-3 stars based on how much you enjoyed working with them, the more stars the better
3. Cross off all the clients with only one star
4. Add an extra star to the remaining clients who are profitable to your business
5. List why you like the clients with 3 and 4 stars and look for commonalities like industry, type of work, age, gender, etc.
6. Start marketing to more of the clients who fit the bill for enjoyment and profitability.

That’s it. Yes, really!

Quit making up complicated rules that don’t actually exist and just start where you are right now with what’s already working. Do more of what works, less of what doesn’t.

And have some fun out there.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

Whenever you’re hunting for new business opportunities it’s vitally important to stay curious. When you get attached or desperate, you lose all of your creative and intuitive powers. It’s like putting on a pair of blinders and heading out in to a forrest. You’ll never see anything but what’s right in front of you and therefore will miss over 270 degrees of view. Often times the most exciting opportunities are already in your life, it’s just that you haven’t noticed them in that way. When you turn on your right brain, get creative and innovative, and are curious about what opportunities are all around you – you start to notice things in a new way.

Take notice over the next week of your ability to remain curious and see what opportunities you can spot and furthermore hunt up.

All the best,

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc

There are tons of opportunities all around you to build your business. In the local newspaper, on business blogs, at networking events, in the shape of the person in line next to you in Starbucks.

The key is to be curious and talk to people. Every day. Ask them what they do and listen to their answers. And if you see a potential solution you can offer, then do it. Don’t start giving yourself all the reasons why they won’t be interested.

Finding new business opportunities is not some deep, dark secret. Neither is it complicated. Know what you do (the solution you provide), know who you do it for (your target markets) and then go out and start contacting people. That’s how you build successful business. One contact at a time.

Fiona Walsh, CEO, FM Walsh & Associates Inc., www.fmwalsh.com

If I told you that in order to grow your business you’d have to crawl around on the ground on your hands and knees, looking for leads in assorted cracks and crevices, and likely getting your new dress dirty in the process, I’m guessing you’d hesitate. Procrastinate. Avoid.

With that description, who wouldn’t?!

I’ve just described the traditional Easter egg hunt, originally a pagan ritual later adopted by Christendom to celebrate birth and growth. But in this version, kids hunt down coloured eggs or egg-shaped candies that have been hidden throughout the house or yard. It’s a game kids love and adults delight in orchestrating.

How might your attitude toward the dreaded Business Development be changed if you were to change your perspective and view it as a game. A game where you are rewarded each time you find a prize.

Chocolate, anyone?!

Hunting up opportunity, i.e. business development can be fun. You just need to relax and turn it into a pleasurable game.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

When you’re hunting for new business, and especially when you’re a single shingle entrepreneur, it’s important for you to stretch your resources. One of the easiest ways to do that is to find the watering holes where your niche markets hang out together. If you can have an opportunity to speak to your target audience in a group, you’ll get far greater results than if you tried to find them and speak to each of them individually. Start today by profiling who is your niche market? What are their commonalities? What kinds of books/mags/websites etc. do they read? Where do they hang out? What do they watch on TV?

Once you’re clear on who they are and where they can be found (aka the watering hole), hunting becomes a walk in the park.

Happy Hunting!

All the best,

Heather White

CEO, 2020 Communications Inc.

Even with my Psych degree in hand, even I forgot what is probably the easiest way to realign yourself and channel your passion for business – take care of your basic needs! As women especially, we are so good at taking care of everyone else and ensuring that their needs are met. But, what about us? If you’re having trouble connecting with your enthusiastic, passionate self, ask yourself “am I taking care of my basic needs?” It may be a simple concept, but, don’t ignore it’s importance. It’s impossible for you to be passionate when you’re tired, or haven’t fueled your body with nutritious food, or are trying to buy the farm when you haven’t paid the heat bill in the house. Take a trip down memory lane and revisit Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to make sure you’re giving yourself the best chance to be passionate and if you’re not, do yourself a favour and get back to basics.

All the best,

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc.

There is one definite inevitability in life and that is, of course, death. Not usually a topic that most people want to talk about or frankly think about, but, nevertheless something that we cannot escape. Personally, my consideration of the concept is something that has given me an incredible amount of strength thus far. Whenever I have a desire to do something there is the almost immediate reaction from my mind. Sometimes it tells me why I can’t do it, sometime why I shouldn’t, sometimes it just laughs at my plans. I’ve heard many theories about why this happens, why do we get in our own way, why would we stop ourselves from giving something a try? We shouldn’t! We have to go for it!

When I watched the below video I was further convinced. The man on the video has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only months to live. In this, his last lecture, he gives a moving, practical, matter of fact speech about how and why to live a life in pursuit of your dreams. There is no time to put things off – we have to pursue those things that we have a desire to!

A version of Randy Pausch’s last lecture as seen on Oprah

All the best,

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc.

It is possible that the cell phone has done more harm than good for business. It leads to bad manners, worse work product, and disruption in focus. I know people that spend hours on their cell phone each day, or typing out emails 20-30 times a day. This is a waste of time. Books like the Four Hour Workweek suggest checking messages/email 2 x a day. This makes sense to me. You control your technology, not the other way around. This week, I want you to track your calls/emails on your iPhone/Blackberry. On Friday, count how many total you had (voicemail/email). How many were necessary? How many disturbed work you were trying to accomplish. Unplug for a while each day and see your productivity grow. If you can’t turn off the phone, you have some serious dependency issues you need to address. I used to be that guy, but realized that being tied to technology didn’t serve me. Try something a bit different and next week (after you get your counts from this week), try to drop the number of calls/emails you take/respond to by 50%. You will likely see no drop in opportunity, but a huge return in productivity. Try it, you might like it.

Cheers,

C./

www.GhostCEO.com or if you are feeling brave: www.ChrisFlett.com (rated “R”)

As entrepreneurs, we have to be lifelong learners. But we don’t all have time to go back to school. Well, there’s so much information out there that if you know how to organize it, you can still benefit hugely – and so can your business.

There’s a great line from Goodwill Hunting where Matt Damon says “You dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education you coulda’ picked up for a dollar fifty in late charges at the Public Library.” Well, now you don’t even have to go to the library.

 To organize streams of information, you can use Google applications like Reader and Alerts. These have been around for years, but I’m still surprised to find many of my colleagues have never heard of them. Once you have a Google account, you can filter streams of data from news and blog sites to easily scan headlines in categories that you set up. For instance, I have a category for many of my local Vancouver-based business colleagues that I’m in touch with, so whenever one of them publishes an article on their website, I see it. Just Of course, you can do the same thing through your web browser, but I find the Reader format seems to work for me.I also have a Google Alert that creates a feed for “small business tips”, so anytime anyone in the world writes about this, I can check the latest tips.

If you have a mobile device like an iPhone or other MP3 player, you can also listen to audio podcasts with all kinds of great information. For example, the iTunes University site offers free lectures from many great institutions including Harvard and Oxford. Imagine listening to an Ivy League lecture once a day, perhaps on your commute or while you’re at the gym, on just about any topic you could mention – for free.

Linda Chu
CEO – Out of Chaos, Professional Organizing Solutions
www.outofchaos.ca