1) You want it when?
2) Don’t worry about ROI… it’s a fad
3) Yeah sorry we didn’t have time to proof that
4) Well I have to pay for my BMW somehow
5) Is that deadline flexible?
6) Can’t you take it out of next year’s budget?
7) I’ll just have our intern take care of that for you
8) You’ll have to come and visit our spanking new Manhattan office
9) I bet that down-sizing sucks, huh?

Drum Roll Please…
10) We find that retainers work out best for our clients

More than ever before clients are “in the drivers seat.” There is an old adage that goes “you can have high quality, great customer service or low price…pick two.” In our current times many clients are demanding all three. Obviously that business model is not sustainable for the long-term. Providing high quality and great customer service costs money. Businesses continuing to provide both and giving low prices will simply not survive.

So how can we compete and still maintain positive cash flow?

Here are 5 Negotiating Tips for Tough Times:

1) Take away – The first step is to take services or products out of the equation. If the customer wants a 10% price reduction then take out the 10% with the lowest profit margin.

2) Provide Additional Services - Provide additional services that are high value to the client but low cost to you. The risk with this method is that clients may expect these services to be included in the future.

3) Extend Terms – Providing more flexible payment terms can help your client’s cash flow but obviously negatively impacts yours. But you do preserve the integrity of your pricing. Be careful extending terms to far (e.g. beyond 90 days). Each day that goes by reduces the impact of you receiving payment. See if you can get a larger down-payment if possible to off-set these terms.

4) Meet Them Half Way – This is one of the most common negotiating methods. This method can help quickly close business but can have risky long-term impacts. Going back to the client in the future with standard pricing can be very difficult.

5) Walk away – If none of the methods above work you need to be willing to walk away. This can be painful but you will still have the respect of the client and keep your pricing models intact. You will find that your clients might still do business with you or try another firm. However, if the other firm is competing on price inevitably the quality and customer service are unsustainable.

We hope these negotiating tips help you maintain the profitability and cash flow to thrive now and into the future. If you would like to discuss ways we can help you improve your margins and cash flow. Please feel free to call me directly at 800.287.7198 x705.

All the best-

Dave

Nielsen’s fourth quarter Three Screen Report – a regular analysis from Nielsen’s Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement™ initiative, which analyzes video and related consumer behavior – reveals that Americans continue to view video at a record pace. The typical American continues to increase his/her media time, watching almost 35 hours of TV, 2 hours of timeshifted TV, 22 minutes of online video and 4 minutes of mobile video, while also spending 4 hours on the Internet each week. In addition, Americans now spend 35% more time using the Internet and TV simultaneously than they were a year ago – spending up to 3.5 hours each month surfing the Internet and watching TV at the same time.

I just got back into the office this morning and starting opening my mail. Amongst the normal invoices their were two direct mail pieces. One from a national wireless company and the other from a consulting company.

The national wireless company had addressed the piece to “Wireless Decision Maker” and the consulting company addressed to “David Dee”(instead of David Gee). The pieces obviously went straight to the circular file. It baffles the mind to think that companies don’t take more time to get qualified lists prior to launching marketing campaigns.

This plays to the old adage that response rates are based “60% on your list, 20% creative and 20%.” When purchasing your list ask your vendor how often they update their list.

Remember, the best way to get an accurate list is to call directly to your prospects and get the names yourselves. You are assured of list accuracy and therefore maximize your campaign performance. This can take a significant amount of time but it is well worth it.

If you don’t not have the internal resources to make these calls there are companies to whom you can outsource. This is a new service we provide so feel free to call 800.287.7198 for details.

The Great Recession of the United States has resulted in more than 8 million people losing their jobs. There once was a time when if you got laid off from your job, you picked up a bootleg copy of Photoshop and became a web designer. But as far as I can tell, 97.3% of the people who have lost their jobs in this recession have emerged in social media as something like expert consultants. In any case, speaking as someone who has run a small business for nearly a decade, here are a few tips for all of you newly christened recessionary entrepreneurs:

1. Have a Plan B. Let’s face it, the only reason you’re even messing around in social media is because it seems like the thing you’re supposed to do right now. Sure, you know how to post tweets and update your Facebook status, but really, what else have you got? When things don’t go as you want them to in this space, and they won’t, you’re going to need a backup plan. Many opt to continue looking for a “real” job with a “real” company while they launch their startups and collect unemployment. It’s a good strategy for most people.

2. Get on LinkedIn. If you want to connect like they used to do at Chamber of Commerce functions back in the day, get on LinkedIn, polish your profile and get active in groups. Don’t even mess around with Twitter. It’s addictive and pulls you down into places that are hard to escape. Sure, you can do some networking on Twitter, but mostly you’re going to end up trying to sell people on your business — and they’re going to laugh at you.

3. Prepare for failure. Fifty percent of all new small businesses fail within the first year. That number jumps to 95% over the first five years. It’s a fact; deal with it. When you’re prepared to stumble, you stumble less. Write that down.

4. Don’t go looking for free or reduced pricing on branding, content or design services just because you’re a startup. Would you drive to the Bank of America headquarters, take the elevator up to an arbitrary floor and ask someone in a random cubicle to do your landscaping? Do your homework. Develop a plan. Know the market. Know rates. Be realistic about everything. Some of us are actually committed to our professions as small-business entrepreneurs and don’t have the resources to directly invest in your endeavor.

5. Grow rhino skin. You may well have the best idea on the planet, but you’ll never know if you don’t try to sink it. Before you share anything with the world, walk around your idea with a sledgehammer and beat the hell out of it. Then invite others to do the same. Entrepreneurship is no place for people with onion skin.

Credit to “Jim Mitchem” from Advertising Age.

We have entered the era of accountability. Those people who never added any value to the bottom-line of their organizations are rapidly find themselves on the unemployment line. Those who realize that their job description has expanded and are willing to expand their skill set will survive and thrive.

One of the key areas to increase your value in your organization is to focus energy on building the top line(revenue) of the organization. Let’s face it most companies have already trimmed their costs to the point any more will be detrimental to company success. So the bottom-line growth needed to come from revenue growth.

So we are left with increasing price and/or increasing volume. In most sectors increasing price is not an option (in face of increased competition and shrinking customer budgets). So…We all need to get involved in increasing company sales volume.

Here are some quick tips to get your “non-sales people to sell.”
1) Set sales goals (within non-sales teams)
2) Provide fundamental (professional) sales training
3) Provide selling motivation (e.g. team contests, bonuses etc.)
4) Coach the selling skills
5) Add accountability (e.g. sales targets)

We are presenting “But Sales Was Not in My Job Description” at the MTA conference in Minneapolis March 1st-March 3rd.” If you would like to discuss the content or learn about other ways to train/motivate non-salespeople to sell give us a call 800.287.7198 x.701.

All the best-

Dave

From time to time we like to share non work related posts. Enjoy this pic of my wife and her Valentines Day Surprise! Caesar is the newest addition to our wonderful family.

Ok, so now I am a believer. I confess I have been extremely skeptical about the ability of social media to deliver tangible sales results for our business and other B2B segments.  Social media for B2C is a slam dunk decision but I along with most of our clients have been skeptical of ROI on social media for B2B.

We began blogging for a couple of years ago, have been consistently updated LinkedIn in  the past year and began Tweeting regularly about 3 months ago. We have 290 Twitter  followers to date and 385 LinkedIn connections. This has taken considerable time and effort. Up until two weeks  ago we frankly had no sales results to show for it.

We had been trying to get into an account for the last few months and were having a tough time reaching the decision-maker. So I decided to take a shot at reaching the person through LinkedIn. I had no connection nor did any of my immediate contacts. So I tried to connect to the decision-maker completely blind (with little belief in getting a response). Two days later…BAM! We get a return email expressing interest in our new Bungee Loyalty Program and a day later had a webinar. Next week we are going to be delivering a proposal…I will keep you posted on the results. In the meantime enjoy this dynamic and insightful Social Media ROI video.

Dave

I am excited to begin the UW-Madison spring semester. I am sure my marketing students are waiting with bated breath to gleam pearls of wisdom on Sales Management from me…or get the highest possible grade and graduate.

In all seriousness, I look forward to providing the students pragmatic sales management insights to foster growth in their new careers. Sales management insights are helpful whether students decide to enter the field of sales management or any other business functional area.

Best wishes to my students for a educational and fun-filled semester.

Dave