Top Secrets Of Promotional Products Sales

Pursuing unqualified prospects is a waste of time. Lately, I've also been on a bit of a kick in terms of commitment versus interest. If you're interested in the possibility of working with us, that's very different than if you're committed to getting the results you want in your business and working with us to do it. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the pursuit of unqualified prospects. Welcome, Jay! Jay: Hey, it's so great to be here again, David, and I always love the topics that we get into. I think usually, or mostly, especially in my case, I'm in pursuit of just any prospect and I don't give a lot of thought to are they qualified, are they not? It's like, just send me all the leads and all sort through it, and I'm sure that I'm wasting a lot of time doing that. David: It's funny, isn't it? It's like just looking for warm bodies. Anybody who can fog a mirror, right? And to some extent, that's part of every process. Because we

When we think in terms of what makes us different from our competitors, a lot of it should be addressing who is our ideal target market? And it's largely going to consist of people who want to do business the way that we do business, and then matching up our style of business with the way that they want to do it. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will ask the question, what makes you different? Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you for asking me to be with you again. David. I love this question because if we don't know what makes us different, I think it becomes harder to sell or to present yourself or anything else, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and playing to your strengths. Well, that's obviously something that we should be doing, but I've met a lot of people that don't have a self-awareness. They wouldn't be able to answer this question, and so they don't really know where to focus and they're kind of haphazard. David: Yeah. In the promotio

Building and strengthening client relationships is critical. Some people feel like they can get more attention from a salesperson calling than they get at home because maybe they feel like this person's listening, paying attention and then asking about it. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing strengthening client relationships. Welcome back. Jay: Hey, David, once again. It's great to be here and I think that this is another really, really important topic. The key word for me is relationships. I think that oftentimes you see people with a business model who want to "turn 'em and burn 'em," so to speak, and they don't think about that word, relationships and how important it is. David: Yeah. And very often, even if they don't intend to do it, the tendency among many salespeople is to get in there, make the sale, move on, get to the next one, get to the next one, get to the next one. And when it happens this way, it's very difficult to r

To earn what you're worth, you need to find and eliminate the bottlenecks. Consider this: When you're outproducing what you are earning, that creates friction. It creates a bit of tension. And in most well-run organizations, the organization says, "this person needs to be compensated more." And if that's not happening in the organization you're with, if you are outproducing what you're earning, it means that there are plenty of opportunities for you somewhere else that will actually recognize and appreciate that value and reward you accordingly. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be asking the question, are you earning what you're worth? Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David, it's great to be with you again. And as I was thinking about this question, I realize I'm not sure I know what I'm worth. I know some people that say, you know, my time is worth this much money, and if I'm not making it, then I've got to change something or do something. I'm no

Very often, inferior competitors play the price card: Jay: I get that question. "Well, I talk to your competitor and they're less expensive than you are." Well, now I have to find a way to let them know, yeah, we are more expensive, but there's a reason. And it's because we're very good at what we do and we have certain guarantees that they don't, or whatever it is. David: Yeah. A pack of cigarettes is cheaper too, but that can also kill you. No, that would not be a good answer. But sometimes it's what we feel like saying... David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host, Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the idea of losing business to inferior competitors. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: It's good to be here, David, and this is one of the most frustrating things for me when I know that I have a better product, I have better customer service. I know this because I've heard complaints about my competitor and all of these things, but you lose it to them for whatever reason. Well, that

When we're doing business-to-business or business-to-consumer outbound calls, those fears can be founded. Call reluctance can seem very real. They might very well say no. They might be rude, obnoxious, belligerent. They might say all kinds of things that you don't want to hear. So that's all true. That could happen. One of the things that helped me a lot though, is recognizing that we are not doing it for them. We are not doing this for the people who react like that. We are doing it for the people that we are ultimately going to help. And we can't get to the people that we are going to ultimately help without having to go through some of these people sometimes in between. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the topic, Is Call Reluctance Real? Jay: Listen, it's a pleasure to be here, David, and let me tell you, this is one of my biggest issues. I know it's real because I have a job where I spend a lot of time on the phone and man, t

If you want to avoid feeling overwhelmed, it's often just a good idea to take a moment and consider: What exactly is it that I'm struggling with at the moment? What are the specific things that make me feel overwhelmed? Then, what's the one thing I really need to be doing right now and what's the next step I can take toward making that happen? David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be continuing our discussion on how to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David. It's good to be back and I'm really glad we're following up on this topic because after we recorded the last podcast, we kind of sat around and continued the discussion and thought, we need to share this with everybody as well. Before we were talking about self-awareness. But it really occurs to me that who you surround yourself with, especially on those days when you're feeling overwhelmed, that's going to be really important. David: Absolutely. And as you said, we start

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, consider which version of you is showing up. Some days we start out and the you that shows up is the focused, motivated, energized, action-taking you. And some days the you that shows up is the unfocused, unmotivated, lethargic, non-action-taking you. And when we recognize this in advance, we can do a couple of things. One is to say, okay, I don't really like the me that showed up today. You know, can I get myself in gear? Can I take some sort of action? Can I get myself motivated? Or will I at least take the next step? Will I take one small step in the direction of accomplishing what I've told myself and others that I intend to do? David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the topic of how to avoid getting overwhelmed. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David. It's great to be here, and this is such an important topic, especially for the entrepreneur. There are so many different things going on, and you know, ofte

When we think about how to handle indecisive prospects, we each have to recognize our own tolerance for pain. How long am I willing to chase? How long am I willing to wait? How much am I willing to sacrifice in terms of my own time and my own self-esteem? Right? And it's different at different stages of life. I spent so much time in the past just trying to accommodate people who, ultimately, it wouldn't have made sense to accommodate in the first place. And so for me, I've recognized that it's not always a good idea to just do that. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing indecisive prospects. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David. Thank you so much. This is the bane of the existence of so many salespeople because you think you have somebody, they see the benefits, but they just can't seem to make up their mind and you know that you can help them. You know that if they would just do this, they would be on their way to a better place, but y

When prospects don't respond, think in terms of what gets your attention, what gets you to respond? What makes you want to respond when someone else is reaching out to you? That can also be a great indicator of what you may want to be saying to the other person to try to get a response from them. Now, they might not respond to exactly the same things that you respond to. But it's possible they will, and it's not a bad place to start. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarlane and I will be discussing why people don't respond. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you so much David. This is something that frustrates me in the process when I've made a good faith effort, I'm expecting a response and I get crickets and it, you know, it's one of the hardest things to deal with in sales because you got to constantly be remotivation yourself and when you're not getting a response back, it's hard to stay motivated. David: It is. And it's hard to not take it personally sometim

I've seen situations like that where people are making excuses instead of sales. Somebody had planned to sell something and was talking about it for a long time, and all the dominoes had to be lined up just right before they'd flick it, you know, flick one of them and get it going. And ultimately nothing happened. Sometimes we have a great idea, but then it's like, "oh, it seems like too much work" or "I don't want to do it," or "I'm scared," or whatever the deal is. And unfortunately, you're building bridges to nowhere when you do that. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing making excuses instead of sales. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you so much, David. Such a pleasure to be here. And I'm excited about this topic. And I'm just going to be brutally honest upfront. I'm guilty of this very thing. As I've been involved in sales and sometimes numbers would drop, and the first thing I'm saying is, "well, it's this," or, "well, it's that."

To grow your client base proactively, you have to do more than just post stuff. It's about initiating conversations. And if you think of your social media content as your first contact, and you recognize that the goal of the first contact is to initiate a second contact (which means to get a response,) then your likelihood of success is going to be greatly increased. David: . Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, co-host Jay McFarland, and I will be discussing the topic of growing your client base proactively. Welcome, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you for having me on. I'm super excited about today's topic. David: Yeah, it's great to have you here. Jay: Yeah, I, I know this is a big question for businesses. I've heard the phrase, if you're not growing, you're dying. And so growth is a constant thing that you have to be thinking about. How do you do that proactively? David: It's a great question because so often we get caught up in the day-to-day of what's going on. Particularly in the early stages of a bus

If you think in terms of seasonality and counter-seasonal selling, does your business have a normal seasonality? Something that you know and can plan for? It's important to look at that. Look at your history. See if there are peaks and cycles that you might not even be aware of. If it's random, if it seems to go in peaks and cycles, try to figure out why that might be the case. If you look at certain types of clients that do business with you in certain times of year, that might be a good clue in terms of what kind of counter-seasonal business you might want to look at. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing counter-seasonal selling. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you so much, David. You can have those booming months and then all of a sudden the bottom drops out and are you ready for it? Do you have a plan? And can you even survive it? And I think this is where a lot of companies fall down. And they don't survive it. Because they're not

When we talk about selling beyond features and benefits, we did sort of discuss the idea of trying to elicit some emotions from people. try to find out what they really want. Then we can start to focus more on emotions and experiences. What is the emotion you want to have them feel when they are taking advantage of this purchase? What is the experience you want them to have after they've purchased it? David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the idea of selling beyond features and benefits. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you so much, David. This is an important topic for me because I feel like so often if we just convince them that the features are perfect for them or the benefits are perfect for them, then we'll get the sale. When as so often, what we've talked about, it's more about relationships than it is features and benefits. David: Yeah, and we did touch on this topic a couple of weeks ago in the podcast, and I thought it was worth

To maximize trade show revenue, switch the mindset from, "I'm here to meet people and give away stuff" to "I'm here to collect leads." This changes the entire dynamic. When she did that, she came back from the trade show, we were having a conversation and she said, "I've never had a show like that. I got so many leads. I have all these people I'm going to be following up with. You know, we had great conversations." And all it is, is a shift in the dynamic, a shift in the strategy and the overall approach. Going from "I'm here to be here and to see people and schmooze" to "I am here to collect leads, follow up on those leads and make sales." If you do nothing other than that, you're going to maximize your revenue from trade shows. David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing how to maximize trade show revenue. Welcome, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you for having me on, David. I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday and have big plans for the great new

To hit the ground running in 2023, we can start by taking responsibility. Whenever we blame outside factors for things that go wrong, we immediately forget that there are things we can evaluate in ourselves to say, okay, well even if this is the case, even if this was just a terrible prospect, are there things that I could have done better and differently in this circumstance to create a better outcome? And almost inevitably, the answer is going to be yes. But in order for that to happen, we have to consider it. And we have to think, is this actually what I want to do? And if you do that, you're just going to feel better about yourself. You're going to feel better about your situation. Because you're allowing yourself some level of control in the situation rather than simply delegating the failure to outside factors and assume you're a victim and there's nothing you can do about it. David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing how to hit the grou

Today, we'll discuss how to use the Big APE™ this week to plan the new year. Very often we say we're going to prioritize time with our family and our loved ones. And we do this every year, January 1st, going to spend more time with the people we care about, the people we love. And then by March, it's back to life as usual, right? So if we decide what we're going to prioritize, who we're going to prioritize, and again, the flip side, what am I going to deprioritize? Who am I no longer going to prioritize in terms of allocating time? Those things as well allow you to live a far more proactive life. And it allows you to really start living the kind of life that you want to engage in. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing using the Big APE this week to prepare for the new year. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Well, I'm so glad to be here. David. I have to tell you, after Christmas my number one tendency is just to kind of want to detox, you know,

I think the best holiday gift is to make the most of ourselves, when it comes to personal development, whether that means sales and marketing training, whether it means personal training, whether it means meditation, whatever it is for you, prayer, whatever it is that allows you to get to a place where you can really focus, really be present, and be your best for yourself, and those around you, is really important. David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host, Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the best holiday gift you can give yourself and your family. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you so much, David, for the opportunity to be here. And I love this question. It's a little off track from some of the things that we normally talk about. But I think as we talk about running your own business and the amount of time that it takes, taking a little bit of time out to think about your family and how you can make their holidays special, I think it's a critical topic. David: Yeah. And o

When you think about the idea of quiet quitting, and sticking with it, that just seems to me to be a soul-sucking activity. If you keep going back to the same job that you can't stand and you're producing at low levels because you don't like the way you're compensated, do something better for yourself! David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing Quiet Quitting. (Whispers) Hi Jay. Welcome. Jay: Yeah. Hey, David. It's great to talk to you. We live in a world where these new terms pop up and keeping up with the terms is so difficult. So I think, first of all, we should probably define it for people. If they haven't heard the term quiet quitting, what is it referring to? David: Okay. Well, I looked this up before we got on here because I wanted to have a definition that isn't just me talking off the top of my head. Basically what they said online, when you Google it, the first one that came up said, quiet quitting refers to a rising trend where

Are you invisible to your target market? Do they even know you're alive? This goes back to the idea of money versus time. Because one of the advantages of social media is that if you have more time than you have money, you can spend more time posting and contacting people directly on social media. If you have more money than you have time, then you can run ads and you can get your ads in front of people without having to sit in front of the computer all day. So there are definitely different ways to accomplish this. If you want to become visible though, you have to have one or the other. You have to have time or money. You can't be out of both. Well, I have no money and I have no time to do this. Well, at that point, you're out of business. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, cohost Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the topic of, Are You Invisible to Your Target Market? Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you so much, David. This one is tough for me because when you know you ha