Don't Get Greedy

While maintaining adequate levels of gross profit is important to a healthy bottom line, some businesses insist on charging high prices that are either not justified or too far out of line with their competition. Some businesses have the mistaken impression that their products/services are so much superior to their competitors' that they can command significantly higher prices. While in some cases a higher price can be justified, there is a definite threshold for pricing with most products/services. In fact, what some businesses consider high value products or services, many customers or prospective customers consider a commodity. In other cases where a product or service does indeed enjoy some sort of competitive advantage, the business attempts to squeeze an inordinate amount out of the customer by pricing at extremely high levels. Know your market, your customers and be objective about your products/services and price accordingly. When customers do not equate price with value received, your business is setting itself up for trouble.

Technology and Sales – A Love-Hate Relationship

Here's a good article from my friend and colleague, Bob Ritter, on using technology to help make you more successful as a sales professional. Enjoy!

Russ Lombardo
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By now most sales executives accept the need for technology, even though many still love to hate it. Then there are those sales people, probably the majority, for whom technology is a love-hate relationship which swings back and forth, albeit one-sided.

But strange as it seems, I love my technology! Oh sure, there are time s when I feel frustrated because I don’t get my way. Some times my expectations are too high. But in the final analysis, I’d truly be lost without it. It’s hard to imagine life as a salesperson without it!

You ask, “What’s so special about my technology?” To begin with …READ MORE

30 Ways to Show Your Customers Are Always Right

When you're a start-up with few employees and few customers, it's easy to stay on top of what customers want and what they're getting. But as you add more customers and employees, you add links to the customer service chain. That creates the potential for growth and the potential for poor service along the way. That's why creating a customer service policy and adhering to it is so important. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that your clients receive excellent service every step of the way. Read Full Article

Marketing vs. Sales: What is the Difference?

What is the difference between marketing and sales?Let's think about this question for a moment. Without marketing you would not have prospects or leads to follow up with, but yet without a good sales technique and strategy your closing rate may depress you.

Marketing is everything that you do to reach and persuade prospects. The sales process is everything that you do to close the sale and get a signed agreement or contract. Both are necessities to the success of a business. You cannot do without either process. Read Full Article

Top 10 Things You Must Know Before Implementing CRM

Planning to implement a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution for your company? You better plan ahead before diving in. Check out this list of the Top 10 things you must know before implementing CRM for your business. Although they may seem quite simple, a lot of experience, as well as some common sense, has gone into these tips. As your company continues to grow and as you plan your customer relationship strategy, please keep these tips in mind. And as usual, please contact me if I can be of any assistance.

This short, 1-page tip sheet can save you a lot of time, effort, and nightmares. Click HERE to download (.PDF format).

Russ Lombardo
russ@PeakSalesConsulting.com
919-559-2395

New Microsoft Accounting Software for Startups

Microsoft has just introduced its new software aimed squarely at relieving the specific pressure points of startup entrepreneurs.

Office Small Business Accounting 2006 is fully integrated with the entire Office suite that you may already use. It brings the ease of use of household programs like Word and Excel to the prickly function of accounting; leapfrogs the competition with its contact-management capabilities; and adds integration with other Office functions at the deepest levels.

Office Small Business Accounting 2006 also provides you with a single picture of your company’s finances, your customer relationships and your employees’ growth-enhancing activities... Read Review.

The Eleven Commandments of Marketing!

The following marketing tips are from my friend and colleague, Steve Dekany, President and Founder of The Marketing Company. Enjoy!

Russ
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OK, these Eleven Commandments didn't come from the Mountain. And they're not carved on clay tablets, but on a high-tensile polyfiber instead. Yet any marketer worth his or her salt must follow these commandments in order to find the Promised Land...Read More.