1) ALWAYS top-down sell. I can't say how many time's I've observed someone loosing more revenue simply because they didn't ask for the max subscription or term of their product/service. You'll find not all customers are concerned about prices since they can use what they spend with you as a tax break on their business.
2) Start the pitch with a larger value products and if we can't close the big sale, follow up with a smaller product.
3) Get into the habit of not using the word 'hundred' when giving a customer a price. Hundred has a 'large amount' connotation to it. Rather than saying 'one hundred and nineteen dollars and 50 cents.'
Use: It's ONLY one-nineteen fifty for the year.' And follow up with features, functions and benefits of multi-year/unit purchasing.
4) Set your sights and expectations high! Imagine yourself where you want to be at the end of the day and that's where you be!
5) ALWAYS break down price to the smallest metrics. Example: Describe a product as $9.96/month initially, rather than whatever the yearly rate would calculate out to.
6) Handling resistance is the key to successful sales. ALWAYS handle resistance on multiple terms and initial sales pitches. If everyone always took NO for an answer then no one would be meeting their goals. You'd be surprised how many customers change their minds after they here the benefits of a product.
7) A sale is happening on every call. Either a customer is selling you on a reason not to buy, or you're selling them on the reasons why they should be buying.
8) Stay away from words/terms such as MORE, EXPENSIVE or COST when relaying the price of a product to the customer. Always precede a price by the word ONLY, even if it's a price like $4,454.90.
9) Using a customer's name throughout a sales pitch can help build rapport and create a more positive experience. Although it may seem simple, you'd be surprised how it can change the tone of a conversion. EXAMPLE: 'Jim, do you know how much are you paying for this service with [company name]
10) Every customer has dynamic needs so we must make our pitches dynamic. Stay away from 'canned' or repetitious pitches. Imagine what your needs are in your everyday life. Let's say you play guitar and you just pick up a brand new one. You think it's the best guitar you've ever played and you tell your friends about how great it is. You're not trying to sell it to them, but the conversion itself is fluid and pushes the features, functions and benefits of the guitar. They in turn may end up buying it if the time comes.
Remember, you have to act like your not selling anything to the customer, but recommending to the client. You are simply there to help them find the right solution. Nobody is going to buy anything, they are simply going to reflect on the recommendation they received. Always remember, sales is not the word. recommending is. Your goal is making them believe your helping them, not pressuring them. But don't be to passive. Some aggression is needed to succeed.
Показват се публикациите с етикет Business. Показване на всички публикации
Показват се публикациите с етикет Business. Показване на всички публикации
петък, 8 февруари 2008 г.
четвъртък, 7 февруари 2008 г.
Five Steps to Planning a Successful Business Exit
A business owner’s exit is a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. We’re not talking about selling a house or a car. This is a complex process that requires the technical expertise of a team of trusted advisors. The key to any successful business exit is planning. It must begin with personal reflection on the part of the owner regarding what he or she wants out of the business exit. Only then can the owner, along with his advisors, design an appropriate exit strategy. The five (5) planning steps outlined in this article are designed to help business owners define their personal goals, understand all the transfer options and work with an advisory team to execute a successful business exit plan.
Step 1: Define the Personal Goals of the Owner
Since personal goals intertwine so closely with the daily existence of a private business owner, it only makes sense to begin with the basic albeit crucial question, “What do I want to accomplish with my business exit?” The answer seems obvious--make the most money after taxes and fees. Often, however, it isn’t this simple. Owners have nourished and raised their businesses from infancy; they typically care a lot about who will take the reigns. Family members might also be involved in the business. Their fate will also be dependent upon what the business owner ultimately decides.
Aside from money, other motives for a business exit can include “transfers to family”, “transfers to employees”, “transfers to co-owners”, “partial transfers to gain some liquidity today but still run the company’s day-to-day business”, or “an initial public offering”. The decision often comes down to a question of liquidity. A substantial source of liquidity outside the business makes for a much easier choice.
However, more often than not an owner’s wealth is tied up in the business. The owner must therefore balance his financial and interpersonal goals in order to find the best possible exit strategy. Therefore, an assessment of the range of values for the business is the crucial next step.
Step 2: Understand that a Range of Values Exist for the Business
The value of a privately-held business depends largely upon who buys it. It’s not as simple as watching the ticker tape for today’s stock price. The type of buyer can impact both the price placed on the shares (or assets) of the business and the tax consequences to the selling owner. Value (net transfer price) is therefore a “range concept”.
“Internal” transfers to employees, family, and co-owners provide fewer dollars up front, but allow for greater “control” of the business, “continued income”, and flexible timing and tax characterization of payments to the exiting business owner. By contrast, “External” transfers to other industry players, financial groups, or by initial public offering command more liquidity “up front” while the owner relinquishes more control over the Company and the timing and tax characterization of payments. A closer examination of the transfer options can help an exiting business owner determine the right balance of money and control over the future of the business.
Step 3: Examine the Options Available for the Transfer of Shares
There are seven (7) primary purchasers of privately-held business stock (or assets). Below are listed the Parties to the Transaction and Types of Transactions Available (samples; not a complete list)
Internal Parties:
Employees - Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
Charity - Charitable Remainder Trust
Family - Gifting Program
Co-owners - Leveraged Buyout
External Parties:
Financial Groups - Recapitalization
Industry Buyers - Acquisition (at Synergy Value)
Initial Public Offerings - IPO (at Public Market Value)
Based on the primary goals defined in step one (1), an exiting business owner chooses the “party” to whom the business will be transferred. That designee, once chosen, will determine the limits or expansion of the Value. At the end of this phase, the process comes full circle as the Value (after taxes and fees) is matched against the owner’s goals. If the two meet as one, congratulations! A successful business exit strategy has been devised. Now it’s time to execute.
Step 4: Provide Full Financial Disclosure to the Buyer
This step isn’t going to be easy on the business owner. Assembling financial records and presenting them to a buyer/successor is a very time consuming, very personal survey of how the business is run. It can be huge psychological block for many exiting owners. Remember, any savvy buyer (or successor) to a business will need to understand the financial condition of the Company. When an owner fesses up to any “creative accounting” they may have employed over the years to help build wealth and reduce tax bills, the process goes smoother. Full disclosure is the best path to a seamless process. There is an old saying - “if the truth will kill a deal, then there is no deal”.
Not only that, but it may reward the owner in the end. Full disclosure is not about passing judgment, but instead affords the buyer (or successor) an opportunity to assess the business’s true profit potential. The astute exiting business owner will recognize this in advance. Why? Because most “creative accounting” practices depress the profitability of a business. Clear those away and the Buyer will recognize a higher earning power and in turn a higher Value for the Company.
Step 5: Assembling the Advisory Team – No One Should Go It Alone
Planning and executing a successful business exit strategy is a complex process that requires the technical expertise of a team of trusted advisors. It’s not the time to take short cuts or pinch pennies. Time and money should be invested in assembling the right team of advisors; a successful business exit is more than worth it. It should be viewed as an investment in success.
We must understand that business owners are independent “self-starters”. If they weren’t, their businesses wouldn’t be so successful and we wouldn’t be talking to them. But some of their strengths and characteristics can lead many business owners to attempt the “do-it-yourself” business exit strategy. This can create an unnecessary drain of time and money on both the business owner and their business.
A business owner’s exit is a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. It is an important milestone that is sure to provide any business owner with one of the most challenging yet satisfying sense of accomplishments.
So remember, planning is the key to any successful business exit because a proactive approach to an Exit Strategy is the only approach to a successful Exit Strategy. If you’ve come to the end of this discussion, you’re already ahead of the game.
© John M. Leonetti
Step 1: Define the Personal Goals of the Owner
Since personal goals intertwine so closely with the daily existence of a private business owner, it only makes sense to begin with the basic albeit crucial question, “What do I want to accomplish with my business exit?” The answer seems obvious--make the most money after taxes and fees. Often, however, it isn’t this simple. Owners have nourished and raised their businesses from infancy; they typically care a lot about who will take the reigns. Family members might also be involved in the business. Their fate will also be dependent upon what the business owner ultimately decides.
Aside from money, other motives for a business exit can include “transfers to family”, “transfers to employees”, “transfers to co-owners”, “partial transfers to gain some liquidity today but still run the company’s day-to-day business”, or “an initial public offering”. The decision often comes down to a question of liquidity. A substantial source of liquidity outside the business makes for a much easier choice.
However, more often than not an owner’s wealth is tied up in the business. The owner must therefore balance his financial and interpersonal goals in order to find the best possible exit strategy. Therefore, an assessment of the range of values for the business is the crucial next step.
Step 2: Understand that a Range of Values Exist for the Business
The value of a privately-held business depends largely upon who buys it. It’s not as simple as watching the ticker tape for today’s stock price. The type of buyer can impact both the price placed on the shares (or assets) of the business and the tax consequences to the selling owner. Value (net transfer price) is therefore a “range concept”.
“Internal” transfers to employees, family, and co-owners provide fewer dollars up front, but allow for greater “control” of the business, “continued income”, and flexible timing and tax characterization of payments to the exiting business owner. By contrast, “External” transfers to other industry players, financial groups, or by initial public offering command more liquidity “up front” while the owner relinquishes more control over the Company and the timing and tax characterization of payments. A closer examination of the transfer options can help an exiting business owner determine the right balance of money and control over the future of the business.
Step 3: Examine the Options Available for the Transfer of Shares
There are seven (7) primary purchasers of privately-held business stock (or assets). Below are listed the Parties to the Transaction and Types of Transactions Available (samples; not a complete list)
Internal Parties:
Employees - Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
Charity - Charitable Remainder Trust
Family - Gifting Program
Co-owners - Leveraged Buyout
External Parties:
Financial Groups - Recapitalization
Industry Buyers - Acquisition (at Synergy Value)
Initial Public Offerings - IPO (at Public Market Value)
Based on the primary goals defined in step one (1), an exiting business owner chooses the “party” to whom the business will be transferred. That designee, once chosen, will determine the limits or expansion of the Value. At the end of this phase, the process comes full circle as the Value (after taxes and fees) is matched against the owner’s goals. If the two meet as one, congratulations! A successful business exit strategy has been devised. Now it’s time to execute.
Step 4: Provide Full Financial Disclosure to the Buyer
This step isn’t going to be easy on the business owner. Assembling financial records and presenting them to a buyer/successor is a very time consuming, very personal survey of how the business is run. It can be huge psychological block for many exiting owners. Remember, any savvy buyer (or successor) to a business will need to understand the financial condition of the Company. When an owner fesses up to any “creative accounting” they may have employed over the years to help build wealth and reduce tax bills, the process goes smoother. Full disclosure is the best path to a seamless process. There is an old saying - “if the truth will kill a deal, then there is no deal”.
Not only that, but it may reward the owner in the end. Full disclosure is not about passing judgment, but instead affords the buyer (or successor) an opportunity to assess the business’s true profit potential. The astute exiting business owner will recognize this in advance. Why? Because most “creative accounting” practices depress the profitability of a business. Clear those away and the Buyer will recognize a higher earning power and in turn a higher Value for the Company.
Step 5: Assembling the Advisory Team – No One Should Go It Alone
Planning and executing a successful business exit strategy is a complex process that requires the technical expertise of a team of trusted advisors. It’s not the time to take short cuts or pinch pennies. Time and money should be invested in assembling the right team of advisors; a successful business exit is more than worth it. It should be viewed as an investment in success.
We must understand that business owners are independent “self-starters”. If they weren’t, their businesses wouldn’t be so successful and we wouldn’t be talking to them. But some of their strengths and characteristics can lead many business owners to attempt the “do-it-yourself” business exit strategy. This can create an unnecessary drain of time and money on both the business owner and their business.
A business owner’s exit is a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. It is an important milestone that is sure to provide any business owner with one of the most challenging yet satisfying sense of accomplishments.
So remember, planning is the key to any successful business exit because a proactive approach to an Exit Strategy is the only approach to a successful Exit Strategy. If you’ve come to the end of this discussion, you’re already ahead of the game.
© John M. Leonetti
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