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

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

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.

Feeling blah about work and business? Feeling like you are missing the passion and fire you used to have? Working harder and longer isn’t going to bring it back. But I know what will.

Find yourself a really cool project to work on. Something that stretches you, excites you, invigorates you. Perhaps something you have been thinking about doing but haven’t really found the time to do yet. Yes, I know you’re probably thinking: “I’m so busy now – I can’t fit in anything more!”

Here’s how a really cool project could refuel you:

1. Whenever I start something new, and often it feels like a lot of work that I really don’t want to do, I always find myself attracting bright, talented people to the project and all kinds of unexpected doors open.
2. The sheer joy of doing something new and different gets me excited and passionate. It makes me realize that if you want to have an impact, you have to try uncharted waters. That’s truly how you make a difference.
3. When you pull people together that are excited and passionate, things move quickly, which means you don’t have time to moan about how overworked you are. You are having too much fun instead!

So if you are having a case of the February ‘blahs’, then do something memorable!

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

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.

I hear a lot of people complaining that they need to get stuff done but don’t seem to have the energy to complete it. I was reading a great article by Cheryl Richardson and she offered this great piece of advice: You get passionate about getting things done only when you have the energy to do them. Forcing yourself to do things, pushing yourself constantly when your mind and body are not ready, is a waste of time.

You can reconnect with your passion for business by recognizing your own natural flow of energy and become a lot more productive.

Find yourself procrastinating on getting something done? Stop pushing. Sit back and relax and wait for the motivation to get it done. Much of the time we are just pushing ourselves to get stuff done that just isn’t that important.

So here’s Cheryl’s simple prescription: “”If you have the energy to do something, do it. If you don’t, don’t do it.” Sounds great, I said, but what about the nagging voices in my head that tell me I have to get things done first? “Ah, you see, this isn’t about your to-do list or your cluttered desk” she said. “This is about your mind. You need to learn to manage your mind by telling it to rest while you wait for the energy you need to get a task completed. If you move with the energy rather than against it, you’ll not only be happier, you’ll get more done in less time. But remember, you have to be brave enough to challenge the voices in your head that tell you you’re shirking your responsibilities or that if you wait too long, the energy may never come.”

Please click here to read the whole newsletter.

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

It’s not that the passion that lives within us is ever that far away, but it is true that it can become dormant if we don’t activate it. Sometimes that activation comes from a profound idea or thought, a stimulating conversation, a book or article that your read….or…a Flash Mob:

Watch the video here: Vancouver 2010 Dancing in the Streets Flashmob

How’s that for inspiring your passion??

All the best,

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc

Passion is not something that can be manufactured. In his book, “Good to Great”, Jim Collins points out that the best companies don’t say, ”Okay folks, let’s get passionate about what we do!” Using common sense, they approach it from another direction entirely: “We should only do those things that we can get passionate about.”

If you or your staff lack passion about your product or what your company stands for, then sit down and figure out what will make you passionate. Is it better customer service? A new product line? A different marketing message? A new target market? I have a client who went from barely making a profit every month, to running a 7-figure business with a new sales team in place and she just became a national distributor for a big product line. She wasn’t passionate when she started working with me –she was barely hanging on. She worked hard to get clear on what kind of company she wanted to build and that’s how she found her passion. She started building what she wanted, not what other people thought she should build.

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

I think passion is another one of those words we toss around, assuming the meaning, but often not digging deep enough to understand the essence. Passion to me is alignment. Alignment of your natural gifts and talents with an arena of expression. Passion is the skater with a sheet of ice, the skiier with snow covered mountain peak, the golfer with a plush green fairway, the teacher on stage with an audience watching.

I think the biggest barrier between you and your passion is your knowledge and acceptance of yourself. Our whole life we are conditioned to believe that we are not good enough. That we have to learn more, earn more, say more, do more in order to reach some holy grail of accomplishment. This paradigm no longer serves us.

In the silence and stillness of your life is where you will hear your inner voice of wisdom talk to you about your true passions. From there, your job is to be open, to be honest and to be willing to take the necessary inspired action steps that will lead you on a path of alignment.

Passion is not something external that you need to go out and get. It’s internal and you simply need to allow it to come to the surface of your life.

Be brave!!

All the best,

Heather White, CEO 2020 Communications Inc.