Networking, both in person and virtually, is a time consuming process; yet it can pay off big if done right! How do you get the most out of your networking investment? What should you be doing? What makes the most sense? Everyone goes to networking events to, well, network. But what does that really mean? How do you make the most of each event, each conversation, to leverage yourself into significantly more business and stay comfortable doing it?

Join your fellow independent consultants as Lisa Peskin from Business Development University will show us not only how to network but how to be comfortable meeting the people at each event to deliver a high Networking ROI.  The meeting is on Monday, January 9, at 7:30 am, at Intelligent Office, 1150 First Avenue, Suite 501, King of Prussia, PA 19406.

Please RSVP and let us know you are coming.

About Lisa Peskin

Lisa Peskin has more than 25 years experience in sales performance and management. Throughout her career, she has developed an award-winning reputation as a motivational and results-oriented sales professional. After a successful career as Vice President of Sales for Automatic Data Processing (ADP), running a 40 man sales force, Lisa launched her own sales training, consulting and coaching business in 2003.  Since then, Lisa has helped thousands of sales professionals and sales managers increase their sales through training, just in time support and programs designed to maximize opportunities and drive ROI.

Scott Messer of Sales Evolution shared his Salesperson’s Bill of Rights with our recent meeting on guess-free selling.  One of Scott’s main points was that, as consultants, our sales process should focus on determining whether a prospect is a good fit for us, rather than proving whether we are a good fit for the prospect.

Of course, there is much more to it than that, but the Salesperson’s Bill of Rights proclaims the expectations a prospect must meet before they can become a client.  There is no reason, says Scott, that you have to give up any of these rights in order to win a customer.

The Salesperson’s Bill of Rights

• You have the right to earn a profit
• You have the right to have calls and emails returned in a timely manner
• You have the right to appointments kept or cancelled with adequate notice
• You have the right to ask questions
• You have the right to NOT answer questions
• You have the right to necessary information
• You have the right to make them qualify for you
• You have the right to say “No”
• You have the right to treated like a partner, not a Vendor
• You have the right to have access to the right people
• You have the right to get commitments and have them honored
• You have the right to a decision, be it a “yes” or a “no”
• You have the right to paid on time
• You have the right to not give “free consulting”
• You have the right to “no guessing”; to know what happens next, by who, by when
• You have the right to earn as much as you want to earn
• You have the right to know the truth and to honesty
• You have the right to say What you are feeling
• You have the right to use your time however you see fit
• You have the right to be treated with respect as a sales professional
• You have the right to not do business with someone who doesn’t qualify
• You have the right to feel good about yourself
• You have the right to cooperation from your prospect or client
• You have the right to break the rules
• You have the right to referrals and introductions

Source:  Sales Evolution

Join your fellow independent consultants as Scott Messer of Sales Evolution discusses how independent consultants can overcome the challenges they face in selling their consulting services, on Monday, November 14, at 7:30 am, at Intelligent Office, 1150 First Avenue, Suite 501, King of Prussia, PA 19406.

Please RSVP and let us know you are coming.

Participants in this program will learn strategies for overcoming these common sales challenges:

• Determining if the customer qualifies for you and not the reverse
• Getting out of your own way to close more deals
• Discovering the outcome customers seek, their dream, and selling it back to them.
• Maintaining control of the sales process

About Scott Messer and Sales Evolution

Scott Messer’s career as a business development professional and serial entrepreneur spans over 30 years. Before starting Sales Evolution, Scott held various sales, sales management, and executive positions at Union Carbide, American Chemsol Corporation, Griff Machine Products Company, Ultimate Software Group, Data Flow Information Systems, Compuware Corporation and Growth Dynamics.  He brings to Sales Evolution a blend of leadership, management, and communications skills along with a diverse background of experience from large, established companies to early stage ventures. Scott has an uncanny ability to cut through the static and get to the real issues in any buying situation. His skill and knowledge of Sales are easily transferred to those clients that need to learn a better way to elevate their sales efforts. This is why so many clients turn to him for coaching when confronted with those really tough deals that need to go forward.

• You hate the idea of selling your services
• You are not sure what is holding you back
• You don’t want to sound like a salesperson all the time
• You don’t have a process for building your pipeline
• You are suffering because of the economy
• You wonder why some seem to sell so effortlessly
• People who should hire you …don’t

…Then this workshop is for you. Dan Caramanico, author of the book The Optimal Salesperson, has been acclaimed by CEOs and consultants around the country. His book was rated one of the ten sales books you must read in 2010 by SellingPower Magazine.

You’ll learn about the effect that hidden strengths and weaknesses have on your sales and profits. You’ll hear real world case histories that will shed light on lost opportunities, slipping margins, resistance to prospecting and slumping sales. You’ll learn the truth about so-called top producers and why they produce in any economy. But this is a true workshop so you’ll discover an effective sales process you can use the minute you leave the meeting. In just one short hour, you’ll learn more about growing your practice than in an entire lifetime of consulting!

This meeting will be held on November 8, at 7:30 am, at Intelligent Office, 1150 First Avenue, Suite 501, King of Prussia, PA 19406.

Bruce Govan participated in a panel at a Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network meeting, where he explained the value of building relationships with your “competitor” consultants through settings such as MACN. While they may be competitors, they may also represent potential resources that can help you better serve your clients.

No one person can possibly answer all client needs. Bruce related a story where he was called by a “competitor” who had been hired to conduct an in-depth assessment of a skiing resort. The competitor didn’t ski, but Bruce was an avid skier and could help with the assessment of that aspect of the business. Not only did he get more business, he also got several days of free skiing.

Part 2:

He will be joined in his discussion by Bruce Govan, Founder and President of Govan Consulting, LLC. Bruce Govan’s experience includes management roles in Reliance Insurance Company, EDS, and Genesis Health Ventures before founding Govan Consulting, LLC in 2002. Govan Consulting, LLC offers consulting, speaking, and training in business process management and project management to a wide range of clients.

James Chan, Ph.D., founder and president of Asia Marketing and Management, has 25 years of consulting experience advising U.S. firms in exporting American-made products and services to China. He is the author of Spare Room Tycoon, a book on 70 lessons of 40 men and women, including many members of the Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network, and James Chan himself, who turned their personal passions into profitable businesses.

Monday, March 8th at 724 West Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA. 7:30am to 9:00am. The cost is free. For information and directions, please visit the MACN website at www.maconsultants.com.

The Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network (MACN) is an open association of independent consultants in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. We meet regularly to learn how to grow our consulting practices, improve our skills as consultants, and strive to serve our clients more effectively.

• Why experience doesn’t mean success in sales
• What does assure success in sales
• The simple sales truths of sales
• The difference between “prospects” and “real” prospects”
• How to use the technology of today to get results in sales.
• How to be more effective with your sales time

You will enjoy and learn from this informative, 45 minute, session conducted at the February 8th meeting.

Presenter: Michael McGrail; President, The McGrail Group

Mike McGrail’s Corporate experience includes Sales and Marketing Management roles in divisions of IBM, EXXON & M&M Mars before founding The McGrail Group (TMG) in 1990. TMG is focused on results, offering consulting programs in Strategic Management, Sales Development, as well as Personal Productivity.

His consulting clients range from Fortune 500 companies to small entrepreneurial companies. He has assessed thousands of individuals for job fit in sales and management.

Bruce Govan’s experience includes management roles in Reliance Insurance Company, EDS, and Genesis Health Ventures before founding Govan Consulting, LLC in 2002. Govan Consulting, LLC offers consulting, speaking, and training in business process management and project management to a wide range of clients.

Monday, October 19th at 724 West Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA. 7:30am to 9:00am. The cost is free. For information and directions, please visit the MACN website at www.maconsultants.com.

The Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network (MACN) is an open association of independent consultants in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. We meet regularly to learn how to grow our consulting practices, improve our skills as consultants, and strive to serve our clients more effectively.

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Why do sales processes break down? There is one uncomfortable question – that has to be asked – that few salespeople dare.

People make buying decisions not so much on the things they like about your product or service as much as on hidden issues you don’t know about. How many times have you been in a sales situation where you had all the characteristics they said they wanted – i.e., you were local, carried the right kind of products, had required resources, and maybe even came in with the lowest price – but you still didn’t get the deal? If you’re like most sales folks, this has happened more than once, and you don’t have a good idea why.

Even if you’ve done a good job of qualifying the prospect, have identified how they buy, who’s involved, figured out the price, and have done a great demo, the deal isn’t ready to be sealed until you ask…

“Can we spend some time talking about why it doesn’t make sense to move forward with this purchase? What are the things we haven’t talked about that would keep you from moving forward?”

“Wait a minute!” I can hear you say. “You want me to ask why it doesn’t make sense to buy? I thought the idea was to make a sale, not convince them why they shouldn’t buy from me.”

Let’s pause for a moment. When you make a purchase, what goes through your mind before making the final decision? The answer is all the reasons and perceived risk why it doesn’t make sense to buy. It’s human nature. Some of the reasons often include:

• Pre-existing relationships
• No money
• Too expensive
• Haven’t checked out other options
• A contract still in effect
• No authority
• A previous bad experience
• Institutional inertia
• “We need to get three bids or send out an RFP”
• Etc., etc, etc.

Like you, your prospect has to get past their hidden objections or they won’t pull the trigger and buy. By getting them to open up and share what they’ve concealed, you’ll uncover these hidden deal killers and can help them come up with the answers to solve their own objections, or rehearse them to overcome the objections of others in the company involved in the decision making process.

Bottom line: Until you ask that hard, uncomfortable question that uncovers and resolves the unspoken issues in your prospect’s mind, they won’t move forward. Help them come up with answers and close the deal.