The 4 Things You Should ALWAYS Do

Sales are the key of any entrepreneurial enterprise. To be a good sales person, there are 4 things that you should always do as written by David Cowper, the author of "Mega-Selling Secrets of a Master Salesman". Here they are;

1. ALWAYS be on time.
Showing up late ruins your relationship with a customer. This demonstrates a lack of respect for their time.

2. ALWAYS do what you said you would do.
This adds to you and your business' credibility. You want to make sure that your word respected, and by always doing what you say you will, this reputation will build.

3. ALWAYS finish what you start.
Your drive and determination are what will pull you through. You are not a quitter, and people will be amazed by what you can accomplish.

4. ALWAYS say 'please' and 'thank you'.
These simple words go an awful long way. Being polite is not always remembered, but being impolite always is.

By following these 4 'Always', sales and business will be easier.

Start Ups Should Start Selling Yesterday

Being a start up requires a lot of set up. But setting up your business should never be what is preventing you from starting to sell.

Why?
- Getting awareness about your product takes a long time. Research on how many customer touchpoints it takes to get awareness varies from 5 to 32. Either way, starting early will get you ahead here.
- Getting customers to finally purchase your product also can take time. They may know about it and be interested, but it could take them months to be ready to buy. Most business to business sales take 6 months before someone buys, and this can be much longer based on the pricetag and the complexity of the sale.

So how do you sell early?
Figure out the 5 things that you'd have to complete before you feel like you can start selling. You'll be surprised that 80% of the time it is only 5 things, and 80% of the time you can finish these 5 things in a lot less time than you might have thought. For instance, you may think that you need to have;
- business cards
- a website
- a proposal
- a contract
- shipping all organized
- packaging
- inventory

But when reviewing this To Do List, all of these may not be necessary to sell.

- If you are selling over the internet, business cards may not be necessary.
- If you are selling to referrals or have a product, a website could come later.
- A proposal and a contract can be developed once you get that warm lead.
- Shipping is often taken care of by the customer, especially if they are bigger than you.
- Packaging and inventory don't stop you from selling. Having a prototype could get you some interested customers. Start getting the awareness as early as possible!

Sales are the make or break of many businesses. By starting early you are able to get cash in earlier, can continue to design what you are doing based on customer feedback, and you are starting to build awareness about your company which takes a long time to build.