A client of mine called me the other day looking for some advice. He owns and operates a small distribution business and as he put it is considering investing in CRM technology, with the aim of helping his business through automating his sales and customer reporting.
The catalyst event for this call was that one member of his sales team had recently left the company taking with him a long list of contacts, and presumably with time customers.
Author Keith McFarland, a former Inc. 500 CEO, has spent years researching thousands of private companies and interviewing their leaders — in an attempt to identify the secrets of “breaking through.” Here are six of his most surprising findings.
Earlier this year Forbes reported on the 2000 biggest companies in the world.
According to the Forbes website
These 2000 companies based across 60 countries, account for $30 trillion in revenues, $2.4 trillion in profits, $119 trillion in assets, $39 trillion in market value and employ 72 million people worldwide.
Not surprisingly Banking dominates in terms of numbers with 315 entries with Oil and Gas a somewhat distant second with 123 entries. The country with the most entries is the US although countries such as China, India and Brazil are rapidly catching up when compared with previous lists.
Ireland has ten entries in total with five in the top 1000.
It’s been all over the media, has been the chosen topic for many a conversation, it’s official; WE ARE NOW IN A RECESSION. So how do tell the facts from the fiction? And most importantly what will it actually mean for your business?
I remember working for a company a few years back where the senior management were really big fans of using psychological profiling for the selection of new sales staff. They had hired a profiling company to create a psychological template for their ideal new hire and always tried to employ sales people that matched up closely.
As an entry-level sales organisation, they previously had experienced huge problems with hiring and retention of sales staff and profiling was initially seen as a tool that could identify natural sales potential and limit human error on behalf of the sales managers. By the time I got to work with this company , their belief in profiling had become so strong that experience and performance during interviews were seen as secondary considerations when it came to deciding on whom to hire.
The Top 10 Sales Articles is a website that I have been meaning to post about for a while and they gave me a good reason this month when they featured one of my articles Ten Reasons to take Notes during a Sales Meeting.
Thanks a lot guys, needless to say that I have been a fan of the website since it started in April 07. It is top quality on-line resource for anyone who is interested in sales and business development knowledge and advice.
Everyone at one time or another has had an idea for what they thought would make a great business, however only a very small few ever end up turning this idea into reality. So what then are the most important bits of turning your idea into a viable business?
Seeking out other professionals who will act on your behalf as referral partners is an excellent and production way of securing high quality leads.
Here’s an article on the subject by C.J. Hayden. C.J. is the best-selling author of “Get Clients NOW! (AMACOM, 1999)”, “Get Hired NOW!” and “The One-Person Marketing Plan Workbook”. C.J. is a career and business coach who teaches people to make a better living doing what they love. She is a former corporate productivity consultant with over 25 years experience in business and management. C.J. has been speaking and training professionally since 1978, and coaching since 1992. She has been featured in numerous books and magazines, and widely profiled internationally by newspapers, radio, and TV. For more information, visit www.getclientsnow.com.
I just came across a great blog called YoungEntrepreneur.com founded by brothers Matthew and Adam Toren. Enthusiasts for enterprise and having many years hands on experience , the brothers have extensive knowledge in strategic marketing, advertising, public relations, small business research, strategy management, international business and business planning. Their much anticipated book, ‘The Innovative Entrepreneur.’ is expected to be hitting book shelves very soon.
