Month: January 2016

Having a CRM system doesn’t mean you no longer have to pick up the phone!

 

  In many types of businesses a salesman is required to close sales. This is not only true for big ticket items like cars and airplanes, but a myriad of different types of businesses too numerous to be named.

Even for most of the items on your grocery store shelves, a salesman probably was involved to get the supermarket manager or chain, interested enough to provide shelf space for that particular product at some point in time. Even though new automation marketing may provide prospect data and up to the minute d detailed information on how your prospects interact on your website, this information alone will usually not close the sale.

 

This is quite obvious basic information, of course, but no company with a CRM system (Customer Relationship Management) software should be unclear that the CRM software is merely a tool to provide additional data for the salesperson, and to help find the prospects who are ready, willing, and able to buy at the current time.

 

Face to face visits, (when possible), phone calls, Skype calls, webinar events, presentations, etc. are where sales are made. Everything else is just background to the actual sale. Sometimes the amount of data can be a little distracting, but keeping all eyes on the prize should prevent this.

 

The relationship between the salesman and the customer is the most critical one a business has, and all the advertising in the world, cannot substitute for the personal relationship that exists there.

 

Sales and marketing managers also need to make sure that this fundamental level of contact with the customer is taken care of. Tracking calls, visits, and all of these one-to-one connections with prospects is just as critical as the detailed information you receive from a CRM, if not of greater importance. CRM systems, once costly propositions restricted to entrerprise-level companies are now highly affordable, even for the smallest business.

 

For more information, click the link below. click here —-> Affordable Automation for Everyone  

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David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

What can we learn from Lewis Burns about being an entrepreneur?

Lewis Burns is an artist, musician, teacher, philanthropist, and I'm sure he wears many additional hats,  but I do not know him personally.  We just connected recently on LinkedIn.

eigen foto

eigen foto (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

From his LinkedIn profile, it states,

"Lewis Burns is a Talbragar-Wiradjuri man born in Dubbo, NSW. He has been learning about his Aboriginal culture for as long as he can remember. He continues to practice and respect these life skills each day and still learns and grows from this ancient knowledge.

Lewis' love of his heritage is evident when you speak with him, and depicted even more in his Aboriginal crafts, traditional dancing, didgeridoo performances, mural paintings and teaching. He is very dedicated to sharing what he knows with others to help keep these customs alive. Lewis paints in traditional Aboriginal and contemporary styles.

He has exhibited and performed both within Australia and overseas with his handcrafted didgeridoos. Each piece of Lewis' artwork tells a story…..a story that will live on forever through the generations, as the artwork is handed down from one family to another"

So what can we learn about being an entrepreneur from him? 

  1. Be honest – Be proud of who you are, where you have come from, and be true to yourself.  Lewis Burns exudes his heritage in everything he does.    

  2. Be original  – Lewis Burns certainly has this covered.  He has an abundance of originality. His art shows a careful study and beautiful reflection of his obvious love of animals, and the natural environment. In this age of copy-cat Internet marketing and hype, Lewis truly stands out.

  3. Be ubiqitous.  Lewis is everywhere.  He is on LinkedIn.  He has a Facebook page for his business, Red Earth Gallery.  He is on Twitter, and Instagram. I invited him to MarketHive, (a new social network for entrepreneurs, membership by invitation only), and he joined right away.

  4. Be conscientious – Be a philanthropist as much as you can.  Give of your time and talents to less fortunate and disadvantaged groups.  Lewis shows boys at a local juvenile detention center how to make and play didgeridoos.

  5. Be a teacher – whatever your special talent and skill, learn to teach it to others to pass on your knowledge. In Lewis case, I think wherever he is, and whatever he does, he is teaching his love of his culture, his heritage, and his love of all things.

So, my suggestion for all new or experienced entrepreneurs is to purchase a didgeridoo from Lewis Burns, (they are extraordinarily beautiful), and one of his online courses on how to play it.  Then try to emulate him in everything you do, from your daily marketing, to your respect for your fellow man, and nature, and the divine in all things.

You will be a better person, and a better entrepreneur for it, and this world will also be a better place in which to live.

Note: See more on Lewis Burns on the social networks, and his website at:

http://lewisburns.com/

English: Various types of Didgeridoo. Top: A t...

English: Various types of Didgeridoo. Top: A traditionally crafted and decorated didgeridoo. Middle: A bamboo souvenir didgeridoo. Bottom: An undecorated traditionally crafted didgeridoo. Photo taken by myself in July 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

English: A demonstration of Australian musical...

English: A demonstration of Australian musical instrument 'didgeridoo' during 'December Night' celebration at Balboa Park in San Diego, California in 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden