"Our "sales cycles" are short and efficient; our prospects make quick decisions.": True or False (for your business

There are FOUR reasons why it takes too long for us to close a piece of business. And there are FOUR corresponding ways - PATHS - to fix this problem, once and for all.

Your company's MESSAGE is not attracting your IDEAL prospects. If you are attracting the wrong prospects in the first place, you are wasting your time, energy and money. How do you define an ideal prospect? Ask yourself the following questions: Whose problems am I solving? What kinds of businesses? What kinds of people? Business owners? Presidents? CFOs? CIO? VP's of Sales? How important is it for these people to solve the particular problems my business addresses? Would they have the authority to spend the money on my products or services? Are they the final decision makers? Who else would get involved in making the final decision? For more on creating a MESSAGE follow the link "Want to Jump Start Your Sales? STOP Marketing!"

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"I am satisfied with the QUALITY of opportunities in our sales pipeline": True or False (for your business)?

There are FOUR reasons why a company's sales pipeline - a list of business opportunities waiting to be closed - does not have enough Quality of prospects in it. And there are four corresponding ways - PATHS - to fix this problem, once and for all.

FIRST PATH You are not clear about what makes an IDEAL prospect. How do we define an ideal prospect? Ask yourself the following questions: Whose problems am I solving? What kinds of business? What kinds of people? Business owners? Presidents? CFOs? CIO? VP's of Sales? How important is it for these people to solve the particular problems my business addresses? Would they have the authority to spend the money to buy my products or services? Are they the final decision makers? Who else would get involved in making the final decision?

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We always have more prospects in our "sales pipeline" than we can comfortably handle": True or False (for your business)?

There are three reasons why a company's sales pipeline - a list of business opportunities waiting to be closed - does not have enough quantity of prospects in it. And there are three corresponding ways to fix this problem, once and for all.

FIRST PATH Your MESSAGE to your market does not have a strong enough "What's In It For Me?" component. A crucial component of attracting a large quality of prospects to your business is your MESSAGE. A very important part of this message is a blunt, no-nonsense SOLUTION statement to a problem that they are struggling with. Example: A busy executive who is conscious of his dirty shoes hurrying to catch a flight to an important business meeting reads these words at the airport: "Two- minute Shoeshine." Would the message get his attention? How many more executives like him would the shoe-shine shop attract? What's your blunt, no- nonsense WIIFM (What's In It For Me) message for your market? Is it attracting a sufficiently large quantity of prospects? What KINDS of prospects does attract? Follow the link "Want to Jump Start Your Sales? STOP Marketing!" for more on why and how to craft such a message.

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We EXCEED our sales and revenue expectations every month, month after month: True or False (for your business)?

If you think about it, there are only five reasons why you would not be exceeding your sales goals consistently and five corresponding ways - or PATHS -to make sure that you do.

FIRST PATH You don't have the RIGHT prospects in your "sales pipeline." The key component of attracting the RIGHT kinds of prospects to our business is your MESSAGE. This is a "blind spot" that trips even the savviest of businesses. The right message will attract the right kind of prospects. The WRONG message will attract the WRONG kinds of prospects - who will waste your time, your energy and your efforts. The most fundamental of all the messages is a 10-word slogan or a 10-second commercial. Is your 10-second commercial or a 10-word slogan targeting your ideal prospect? I have written tons of stuff on how to create your business' core message. Follow the QuickLink "Want to Jump Start Your Business? STOP Marketing" on the right hand side bar for more.

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"Our net profits are consistently and dramatically higher - two to five times - than the average in our industry:" True or False (for your business)?

If you answered "True" to the above question, you don?t need to read this article further. If your answer is "False," think about how important it is for you to achieve dramatically high profits that endure beyond one's lifetime. If the answer is "not important" then again, you don't need to read this article further.

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