o Segmentation – forecast potential by product and by service

o Identify potential within new and existing accounts. Check marketing resources for new account development.

o Listen to your customers. Find the major pain that wakes them up at night. Take away the pain and become their distributor of choice.

o Promote the team-selling concept with inside sales and management. Make it part of your master territory plan. Become a team player yourself.

o Create these habits:

• Habit of Prospecting
• Habit of Planning
• Habit of Professionalism, Presentations, Appearance
• Habit of Goal Setting
• Habit of Record Keeping
• Habit of Tim
  Document Shredding and Document Security: Protecting Your Vital Information
  Document security and document shredding have never been more important before and are bound to impact our lives in a way that we just can’t imagine. If you see a proliferation of document shredding units or document shredders, you are witnessing the new wave of privacy protection.Document shredding, document security and what they mean to us is symptomatic of the world we occupy. The times that we live in today are new, wonderful and enchanting times where technology and a more evolved intellect ensure that the outmoded lifestyles of the past are but just a legacy remaining in the inner recesses of some of our minds. Information today is absolute power and the keeper of this Holy Grail remains strongeth for ever. That’s precisely why document shredding and document security have not only just rose in prominence but have advanced to a sophistication level that makes caro document shredding or Davison document shredding or even curtis document shredding look like the run-of-the-mill shredding technique.The reason why document shredding is important is because your identity is not just yours. Not unless you protect it. A glance of your newspaper over the past few months and you would stumble upon innumerable cases of identity thefts, of loss of property and money, and in some cases a loss of life as
  Sales planning is critical to sales success. Return on Time Invested (ROTI) should be key criteria that every salesperson should use when evaluating their account base. The biggest asset a salesperson has is their time. It is imperative that they manage this asset carefully. Time management is called the queen of the management sciences and the reason why they call it the queen of management sciences is that time management – needs to be “romanced” –salespeople need to go through a fundamental management course every 12- 24 months.

  A 120 Day Sales Plan is a great first step. This plan is the company’s first attempt to build an integrated business plan. Start by evaluating your territory with respect to economic conditions, competitive pressures, opportunities, threats and key customer and vendor objectives. What is really needed is to step back from the trees so you can see the forest. Some quality thinking will give you your baseline and then you can set your own goals, as well as plan out the major actions to achieve them.

  You will repeat this process later in the year. You should strive to be realistic and also stretch in setting your objectives. This means that your “gut feel” says there is an 80% chance that you will achieve 100% of your goal. The company is going to be making investments in resources and support so that a significant growth rate can be achieved. There will be some ramp up benefit during this planning window, so be open minded rather than optimistic or cynical.

  Your actual performance should be tracked against your goal to help develop some planning and forecasting skills.

  First you need to list your key objectives for the next 120 days. Next list the key action items that are required to achieve your plan. Each section item must have a brief task description, a tangible output (i.e. meeting held, quote submitted, credit approved, management visit made, return authorized etc.), a person named who is responsible for the output and a due date. Then interview your top 10 customers and work out your best estimate of their predicted sales and gross profit volumes. Finally, do this again except from a supplier perspective. It is not important to tie supplier volumes to specific customers. This forecast will be used for two purposes; To make sure that your inventory is adequate to support your efforts, and to see if any of the combined volumes are large enough to help negotiate a better purchase price. Build a sales and gross margin forecast of your top five vendors in terms of year to date gross profit volume. For planning purposes assume that volumes of all other vendors add up to your total customer forecast.

  • What will a sales plan do for me?

  A sales plan systematically provides focus on specific territory objectives that are congruent with overall corporate objectives.

  • Determine the following territory characteristics:

  o Segmentation – forecast potential by product and by service

  o Identify potential within new and existing accounts. Check marketing resources for new account development.

  o Listen to your customers. Find the major pain that wakes them up at night. Take away the pain and become their distributor of choice.

  o Promote the team-selling concept with inside sales and management. Make it part of your master territory plan. Become a team player yourself.

  o Create these habits:

  • Habit of Prospecting
  • Habit of Planning
  • Habit of Professionalism, Presentations, Appearance
  • Habit of Goal Setting
  • Habit of Record Keeping
  • Habit of Tim
    Time Management: The Overlooked Outline
    In this era when you are bombarded with deadlines and multitasking is listed as a job requirement, it becomes even more important to find easy-to-use tools to keep you as efficient and effective as possible.You were probably first taught about outlining in early school years when they told you how to create a story by listing three events within the body of the work and then developing those. In high school you might have had to turn in your outline prior to a term paper. Later you created a thesis. The function of the outline was to clarify your thoughts, review sequencing, and then add supporting details.If you were lucky enough to have taken a speed-reading course, the same ideas were presented to glean the main ideas from the passages quickly. You would have learned to look at the subject, sub-titles, first sentence of each paragraph, and the conclusion.Unfortunately, some of what you were taught has probably been put aside because you can wind up being too involved with the daily urgent details that bombard you constantly. You may find there is no longer any priority in a day as you simply go with the flow at that moment. Yet at then end of the week, you end up wondering what happened and what you actually achieved.Skim through the following outline to see how quickly and easily
    conditions, competitive pressures, opportunities, threats and key customer and vendor objectives. What is really needed is to step back from the trees so you can see the forest. Some quality thinking will give you your baseline and then you can set your own goals, as well as plan out the major actions to achieve them.

    You will repeat this process later in the year. You should strive to be realistic and also stretch in setting your objectives. This means that your “gut feel” says there is an 80% chance that you will achieve 100% of your goal. The company is going to be making investments in resources and support so that a significant growth rate can be achieved. There will be some ramp up benefit during this planning window, so be open minded rather than optimistic or cynical.

    Your actual performance should be tracked against your goal to help develop some planning and forecasting skills.

    First you need to list your key objectives for the next 120 days. Next list the key action items that are required to achieve your plan. Each section item must have a brief task description, a tangible output (i.e. meeting held, quote submitted, credit approved, management visit made, return authorized etc.), a person named who is responsible for the output and a due date. Then interview your top 10 customers and work out your best estimate of their predicted sales and gross profit volumes. Finally, do this again except from a supplier perspective. It is not important to tie supplier volumes to specific customers. This forecast will be used for two purposes; To make sure that your inventory is adequate to support your efforts, and to see if any of the combined volumes are large enough to help negotiate a better purchase price. Build a sales and gross margin forecast of your top five vendors in terms of year to date gross profit volume. For planning purposes assume that volumes of all other vendors add up to your total customer forecast.

    • What will a sales plan do for me?

    A sales plan systematically provides focus on specific territory objectives that are congruent with overall corporate objectives.

    • Determine the following territory characteristics:

    o Segmentation – forecast potential by product and by service

    o Identify potential within new and existing accounts. Check marketing resources for new account development.

    o Listen to your customers. Find the major pain that wakes them up at night. Take away the pain and become their distributor of choice.

    o Promote the team-selling concept with inside sales and management. Make it part of your master territory plan. Become a team player yourself.

    o Create these habits:

    • Habit of Prospecting
    • Habit of Planning
    • Habit of Professionalism, Presentations, Appearance
    • Habit of Goal Setting
    • Habit of Record Keeping
    • Habit of Tim
      8-Steps To Double Your B2B Sales
      If you’ve ever found it difficult to free up time from the normal daily grind of ‘putting out fires’ to learn how to increase your sales dramatically, these eight marketing steps will save you months of digging.These steps explain how to attract more business, how to sell more to your existing clients, and how to reactivate business that has drifted away. And the best part is, there’s no need to make major changes to your business and probably no need to spend more money on ads.What are these steps?1) Increase the total number of customers you serve. Getting new clients is essential. A business that fails to grow stagnates and dies. Unfortunately, getting new clients is often the only marketing method many businesses focus on. That’s a mistake. Whether you hire sales reps, telemarketers, use word of mouth, referral systems, ads, or some other marketing approach to get new clients, seeking new business is often the slowest, most expensive, and most risky method of making a buck. The next seven marketing steps require less effort and less money to implement and can be just as profitable.2) Increase customer retention. Recognizing and eliminating clients from drifting away is the same as increasing your revenues. Think about it. If you normally have an annual 30% loss of clients and you
      ng window, so be open minded rather than optimistic or cynical.

      Your actual performance should be tracked against your goal to help develop some planning and forecasting skills.

      First you need to list your key objectives for the next 120 days. Next list the key action items that are required to achieve your plan. Each section item must have a brief task description, a tangible output (i.e. meeting held, quote submitted, credit approved, management visit made, return authorized etc.), a person named who is responsible for the output and a due date. Then interview your top 10 customers and work out your best estimate of their predicted sales and gross profit volumes. Finally, do this again except from a supplier perspective. It is not important to tie supplier volumes to specific customers. This forecast will be used for two purposes; To make sure that your inventory is adequate to support your efforts, and to see if any of the combined volumes are large enough to help negotiate a better purchase price. Build a sales and gross margin forecast of your top five vendors in terms of year to date gross profit volume. For planning purposes assume that volumes of all other vendors add up to your total customer forecast.

      • What will a sales plan do for me?

      A sales plan systematically provides focus on specific territory objectives that are congruent with overall corporate objectives.

      • Determine the following territory characteristics:

      o Segmentation – forecast potential by product and by service

      o Identify potential within new and existing accounts. Check marketing resources for new account development.

      o Listen to your customers. Find the major pain that wakes them up at night. Take away the pain and become their distributor of choice.

      o Promote the team-selling concept with inside sales and management. Make it part of your master territory plan. Become a team player yourself.

      o Create these habits:

      • Habit of Prospecting
      • Habit of Planning
      • Habit of Professionalism, Presentations, Appearance
      • Habit of Goal Setting
      • Habit of Record Keeping
      • Habit of Tim
        Are You Bored By What You Do?
        Is your working life in the doldrums? Do you feel stuck in a rut? Uncertain about the future? Depressed by what you can see ahead? Still looking for a job that will fully engage your interest?If so, you're like millions of others who face each working week more with resignation than excitement. It's not that things are bad. They just aren't as good as you would like them to be.So would you like to be doing something you truly enjoy? Something that builds on your strengths and really means something to you?Of course you would.It's easier than you may think.What I've been describing is job:life alignment. When you're out of sorts with your job and your career, it's because you and the work you do are misaligned. It doesn't engage your interest fully. It doesn't play to your main strengths. It doesn't pay you enough in return for your effort -- and I don't just mean money. Payment comes in many forms and the most important to you may not be financial.What Causes Misalignment?Put briefly, what you're doing isn't lined up with the most important values in your life.Values are far more than simple beliefs or personal standards. The word has been hijacked by politicians and preachers and become debased in the process. Values are the source of everything tha
        pplier perspective. It is not important to tie supplier volumes to specific customers. This forecast will be used for two purposes; To make sure that your inventory is adequate to support your efforts, and to see if any of the combined volumes are large enough to help negotiate a better purchase price. Build a sales and gross margin forecast of your top five vendors in terms of year to date gross profit volume. For planning purposes assume that volumes of all other vendors add up to your total customer forecast.

        • What will a sales plan do for me?

        A sales plan systematically provides focus on specific territory objectives that are congruent with overall corporate objectives.

        • Determine the following territory characteristics:

        o Segmentation – forecast potential by product and by service

        o Identify potential within new and existing accounts. Check marketing resources for new account development.

        o Listen to your customers. Find the major pain that wakes them up at night. Take away the pain and become their distributor of choice.

        o Promote the team-selling concept with inside sales and management. Make it part of your master territory plan. Become a team player yourself.

        o Create these habits:

        • Habit of Prospecting
        • Habit of Planning
        • Habit of Professionalism, Presentations, Appearance
        • Habit of Goal Setting
        • Habit of Record Keeping
        • Habit of Tim
          Getting Into Your Desired Job Position
          When we look for a job, we wanted to be working in the field we specialize or plainly have an interest with so we can utilize our knowledge and talent. Some of us successfully got what they want while others looked for different fieldwork due to different circumstances.In these days, it is hard to look for a job. Employers look for an edge that makes you different from the rest. Moreover, the edge that employers look for is experience. When applying for a job that you desire you must at least have the experience or have knowledge on the position you are applying. However, when an employer sees that you have the potential, they will provide a free training for the position we applied.How employers knew who would fit for the position? The answer really depends on us applicants’ performance during the application. When we pass our resume either online or walk-in, the employer must get a good impression from the resume that we submitted. What we wrote in the resume is what exactly we can offer to the company, so be careful not to be too arrogant in making a resume, be precise, limit yourself on what you know. Never put anything in the resume that we actually do not know.When an employer likes what he sees in your resume immediately he will ask for an interview, now during the interview it is ok
          ng territory characteristics:

          o Segmentation – forecast potential by product and by service

          o Identify potential within new and existing accounts. Check marketing resources for new account development.

          o Listen to your customers. Find the major pain that wakes them up at night. Take away the pain and become their distributor of choice.

          o Promote the team-selling concept with inside sales and management. Make it part of your master territory plan. Become a team player yourself.

          o Create these habits:

          • Habit of Prospecting
          • Habit of Planning
          • Habit of Professionalism, Presentations, Appearance
          • Habit of Goal Setting
          • Habit of Record Keeping
          • Habit of Time and Territory Management
          • Habit of Self Development

          o “A” players balance time

          • Prospecting
          • Account Development
          • Maintenance

          Before we continue, we need to list exactly what an “A” player is. An “A” player must have the following characteristics:

          1. Appearance – personal, vehicle and sales material

          2. Pride – in yourself, your company and your profession

          3. Confidence – in yourself, your company and your product/service

          4. Sincere and trustworthy

          5. Desire to achieve – wants to help others get what they want and, in turn, earn a higher income

          6. Excels in time and territory management

          7. Does not ignore prospecting

          8. Creates definitive, comprehensive, documented sales plans for all major accounts

          9. Never visits a customer without a call plan

          10. Seeks self development

          11. Enjoys selling

          12. Persistent

          o Sources of Resource

          • Eliminate small, highly unprofitable accounts
          • Reduce call frequency on your buddies
          • Reduce call frequency on accounts close to office
          • Create team concept
          • Don’t try to be all things to all customers
          o Create “To Do” lists
          o Plan each call
          o Create master plan on all key accounts
          o Set measurable objectives
          o Create weekly itineraries
          o Complete weekly call plans
          o Schedule account and territory reviews

          • Be professional, thorough, and document everything. For New Customers include all pertinent information like Company Name etc. and then briefly describe the scope of the project and what the customer wants.

          • You also must have a Customer Cost Savings Evaluation. The following is an example of this.

          Customer Name: __________________ Sales Representative: ___________________

          Month Savings Achieved: _____________ Amount of Monthly Savings: ___________

          To our Valued Customers,

          Our sales representatives have a major part of their incentive plan linked to their ability to help you reduce your costs. This form is the means that Corporate Management will use to measure their effectiveness. Your best judgment of true cost savings is defined as the best measure of their success. In the space below please provide a brief, and specific description of the results of our mutual efforts. Each major success should be documented on a separate form.

          Many of our mutual cost savings opportunities go beyond the industry, “three bids and a buy”, mentality. Changes and innovations in your purchasing practices may offer significant opportunities. We are willing to consider any changes in our practices that may help in this endeavor.

          Your sales representative can provide additional details upon your request.

          SITUATIONAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COST SAVINGS IMPACT

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