It is the end of the first quarter of 2016 and without a doubt we are facing turbulent times here in South Africa, other parts of Africa and the world in general and most of us are looking for quick yet effective ways to bust our sales

targets regardless of the economic and political conditions locally and internationally

At times like this each and every one of us have to take control of our own economies to maximise our sales and business results.

On April 14^th and 15^th I will be conducting a 2 day “Bust Your Sales Targets In Turbulent Times” seminar / workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa to help ensure that you bust those monthly sales targets.

Before I tell you about this 2 day “Bust Your Sales Targets In Turbulent Times” seminar / workshop let me offer some value upfront (which I believe is always important) with eight quick proven ideas to bust your sales targets immediately. We will call them “The Big 8.”

Note: If you want to learn more about the 2 Day seminar / workshop immediately and read The Big 8 ideas later just go to the bottom of the article where you will first find the details on the Bust Your Sales Targets In Turbulent Times seminar / workshop.

With The Big 8 ideas let’s start with a foundation thought. Professional selling is, “Continually walking into the world of uncertainty on a daily basis…certain of your success because you are practicing and using on a daily basis the winning habits, skills, processes, attitudes and methodologies used by those who are already succeeding at the highest possible level in your profession.” What I’m saying is that the “bank of success factors” are already there and proven. All we have to do is implement them on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. I am going to share some of those with you. Know that no one thing will bust your sales targets. It will be the compounding effect of a number of habits, skills, processes, attitudes and methodologies that you implement. What I’m going to do right now is give you 8 of the many quick ideas that could help you start right now to bust your sales targets in turbulent times. Remember, planning is important although “Action Creates Clarity.”

1. Stay in front of clients more often

Set a target for yourself and your people that each week by Thursday at 4pm everybody has 70% of their appointments for the following week (of their self-controlled proactive time) already booked and 30% for the next week. This helps with a fast start for the week, which gets the momentum going early in the week. Put in an Incentive each week for everyone in reference to reaching this appointment target. Add to this idea two early morning appointments each week and one late afternoon appointment. Starting earlier and ending later will increase sales. It increases the activity of being in front of clients more often. In turbulent or challenging times we need to increase our activities. On one survey only 12% of the sales force would take three “No’s” from a client and keep on calling. That 12% wrote over 80% of the sales in the group surveyed. Don’t give up too early. Be sure to add value on each contact…it is not about frequency to the level of annoyance without value add.

2. Phone in batches.

When setting appointments have your people sit down and phone clients in batches. That way you and your sales people gain momentum and energy with each call. Momentum and energy draws people to you and puts you in the maximum performance area where your mind is sharp and in the flow. Often it is necessary, although phoning in between doing other things doesn’t build momentum and it can often be disruptive to the flow. The key is to “get in the zone” and stay there.

3. Use meeting requests

The fact that most clients are running at capacity it seems to be getting more difficult to make contact with some clients by phone to set an appointment. Some of my clients are having great success sending meeting requests with a brief “captivating” reason for the meeting. Meeting requests are becoming a way of life. They’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of positive responses they are receiving. This is outside of the box thinking.

4. Think share of wallet

Often we don’t need more clients we need more from the clients we have. Selling today is really about putting the client first. Develop a formal or informal client-needs analysis approach. Narrow your questions down to ones that truly help the clients explore all of their immediate, medium and long term needs, wants, preferences and desires. Last year I invested a fair amount of my time with one of my major clients conducting two and three day sessions with their acquisition and relationship managers, teaching them skills using a specifically designed Needs Analysis Questionnaire. It is becoming their competitive edge because it builds relationships, forces the salesperson to invest time with the client, the right questions are asked, all opportunities are identified and the clients feel they are finally being listened to. It also makes collaboration with other divisions and other providers more effective. The Marketing Analysis Questionnaire that I developed and used as a broadcast salesperson earned me the equivalent of several million rand a year over 30 years ago in Canada. If you think a needs analysis questionnaire is too traditional try developing a deck of cards with the top 20 needs, desires and preference a client may have. Toss them on to the client’s desk and ask the client to put them in order of preference of what it is important to them as a company and let them expand on each one with you asking questions and gathering more information. One of my clients often experiences the CEO calling others in to be involved. This is a great informal way to do a needs analysis. Make notes and / or record the session. Remember, be “Client Focused, Solution Driven And Relationship Sensitive.”

5. Think big

Many of my associates within the speaking and training industry ask me how I write million rand deals. I always ask how many million rand proposals do you have in the pipeline. They often say none. My answer… you will only write million rand deals if you have million rand proposals in the pipeline with a million rand value to the client. What I am saying is go fishing where the fish are. Here is an exercise I did with my team that gave us more than 300% increase the following year. We asked ourselves this question: “Which companies, organizations, institutions or government departments could invest R20 million or more, R15-20 million, R10-15 million, R5-10 million, R2-5 million, R1-2 million in a given year if we gave them a good enough reason to do it. Then we filled in the names of the companies and organizations in the appropriate category and came up with ideas on what they may need and proceeded to calling on these clients with a specific tailored strategy in mind with frequency of contact over a given period of time. Sales really jumped that year and we landed several of these clients. Focus on the right prospects and clients with the right frequency with the right database (frequency of contact) selling tools and methods with the right solutions. Categorize your clients/prospects AAA, AA, A, B and C. The Ds (Disengage) you don’t need.

6. There is gold in those hills

Put a special emphasis on your Develop clients. We categorize present clients under Retain and Develop and the prospects under Regain and Gain. In the Develop column you find the gold that is near the surface. A Develop client is someone who you are receiving a small amount of business from who has the potential of spending much more with you. A competitor may be their supplier of preference. Put a frequency of contact strategy together, along with value-add ideas, and conduct a proper needs analysis. You already have a relationship of one degree or another with the client. Accelerate your effort and build the relationship. Sooner or later in most situations the competitor will drop the ball and you are sitting in an excellent position to bring the majority of the business to you.

Remember, 81% of all conversion business comes from the fifth call and onward. Be there when they are ready to move.

7. Everyone is in sales

If you are alive you are in sales. In other words, we are all in the business of influencing others. If we are not directly in sales then we are in the business of supporting others in our company that are in sales and their clients. No sales, no jobs, no companies. Get everyone involved in sales. In small to medium sized businesses the business owner is often the best salesperson. Also senior executives in corporates are often the best salespeople as well. Don’t forget this. Clients and potential clients like to hear from the top person. Put together your own list of clients and get in front of the right clients more often. That could give you a big increase. Also have your service and support people involved. Have them make telephone calls in reference to client satisfaction and how and when your company can be of more help. Even your credit department needs to look for opportunities for additional sales. Give all your members (support people etc.) personalized business cards with their name printed on it and teach them how to prospect with the business cards. When one of my sons was 12 years old he gave his business card to an executive on a chairlift while going up a ski mountain. The president of the company called me personally to hire me. He was very impressed that Shane had a business card, a title and was part of the business. I’ve had some technicians in automobile dealerships bring in more clients than some of the salespeople because they were given personalized business cards and shown how to use them. The business cards will also give a sense of ownership and motivation to staff who have never had a business card. By the way both Nedbank Swaziland and MTN Swaziland took my suggestion and did this and it helped improve the results on their happiness survey with staff and management. (Group Cultural Audit).

8. Sales or revenue

Keep in mind that there is a difference between sales targets and revenue targets. I’ve had clients that hit their sales targets but missed their revenue targets because the revenue from the sale may come in over a 3-36 month period. In the early part of a 12 month period put a special emphasis on a “fast start” and try to have 70% of your annual sales target sold at the halfway mark. That helps with the revenue. Put in short term incentives for over-achieving in the early months. This also can be done in a given month. How about incentives that help salespeople hit monthly targets early? Try WIN IN TEN – by the 10^th of the month 45% of monthly target is reached. What about PLENTY AT TWENTY – 90% of monthly sales target achieved by the 20^th of the month. Also, be sure to measure. What gets measured gets managed and what gets managed gets done. Put a “peg in the ground”. The difference between a goal and a dream is – a goal is a dream with a deadline. The dream could have been “new stadiums in Soweto, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth here in South Africa. Chances are it would not have happened. It probably would have been “someday we will do it.” We won the bid for the 2010 Football World Cup. The deadline for the stadiums was June 11, 2010. They all got built on time. It became a dream with a deadline…which is a goal. Be innovative…think outside of the box and remember planning and ideas are great, but it’s action that creates clarity. Take your pick from the “Big 8” and start moving towards busting those sales targets in turbulent times.

I trust these busting sales targets gems have been of value to you.

It would be my pleasure to host you and your people on April 14^th and April 15^th, 2016 for “Two days of proven revenue boosting sales and personal marketing strategies / tactics / skills that can help you dramatically improve your results immediately.”

Following are the details of the event. Our capacity for attendees is limited. Please book early to avoid disappointment. If you wish to communicate with one of my associates or me personally in reference to the event or other matters I can be emailed at bill@kbitraining.com or you can phone me on +27(0)11-784-1720 in Johannesburg.

The event is not a FREE SEMINAR or LOW PRICED SEMINAR utilized to sell you a more expensive package. It is two days of down-to-earth proven strategies, tactics and skills that can be put to work immediately back at the workplace. It is not just a teaser, it is a two day program focused on helping you and your team to be even more effective in grabbing market share in these turbulent times resulting in more sales and profits.

To help you get to know me better, I have included a 52 minute podcast link with me on Timothy Maurice Webster’s UnBranded show on Cliffcentral.com that was recorded on the 26^th of January 2016. http://cliffcentral.com/unbranded/unbranded-powerful-personal-brand/. You may want to play this at a sales meeting and have a discussion with your team about what was of value and ideas that could be implemented.

Thank you for investing your valuable time with me. I look forward to meeting you personally.

Bill Gibson.

Executives-Business Owners-Key Staff-Sales & Marketing Professionals-Industry Professionals-Industry Marketers-Association Personnel & All Those Who Want To Succeed In Turbulent Times Will Benefit By Attending

           Bust Your Sales Targets In Turbulent Times        

International Speaker / Author /

Sales & Marketing Specialist

Bill Gibson

Thursday, April 14^th and Friday, April 15^th, 2016

Registration – 7:00am – 8:00am        Seminar – 8:00am – 4:30pm

CedarWoods of Sandton, 120 Western Service Road, Woodmead, Sandton, 2148.

Bill Gibson And His Processes And Systems Deliver Results

“It is the best money we have invested / spent in 12 years even including capital investment. The return on investment has been awesome. Our entire business has a totally different mind-set and direction. After the 2 day seminar we have retained Bill as a business coach as well…he is by far the best sales & marketing professional in the business.

Brendon Cowley and Nick Grange – Owners of C3 Shared Services (Pty) Ltd 16 March 2016 “Leaders In Intelligent Security Solutions.”

“The concepts you are teaching allowed me to build “Attooh” into a R100 million businesses in the last 2 years, Bill thank you for sharing!”

Wouter Snyman, CEO – Attooh Insurance Brokers, Pretoria and Cape Town 27^th January 2015

“Bill, I reviewed all three presentations and the “team task” case study. You are a master at interpreting a client’s needs, requirements and listening to his brief and then delivering true value. Looking forward to a powerful and enjoyable two days of LDP training.”

Jacques Kotze, Head of Facilities & Procurement – AURECON Group – Africa, Middle East

“When Nedbank adopted your program some 10 years ago, I really embraced it and over the past 7 years, I have taken a newly formed and relatively small sales team in Pietermaritzburg and doubled its size, both in terms of people and in asset size, in the first 3 years. We then split it into two area teams (commercial and agric) and we were able to double the portfolio again in the space of 2 to 3 years and are currently on target to double it again in the near future.”

John Bush, Area Manager: Nedbank Limited, KZN Inland, Business Banking 26 March 2015

About The “Bust Your Sales Targets In Turbulent Times” Two Day Program

According to Bill Gibson, (Spoken To Over One Million People World Wide) and the author of the book Boost Your Business In Any Economy, “the best and most easiest time to grab market share is in a down or turbulent economy.” Why?

• The competition are depressed, without energy and immobilised with fear.

• The “advertising and marketing noise level” is much lower and it is easier to be heard and seen with less marketing investment and effort.

• If you have the right solutions people want to hear them…never before have your clients and customers needed real bottom line assistance.

“A larger share of a smaller shrinking market is often bigger and better than a smaller share of a larger aggressive market”, cites Gibson a Canadian living in South Africa.

“The keys”, he says, “are to get proactive, get aggressive, double your training and development efforts for yourself and staff, stay away from the negativity, get even more positive and pro-active, utilise additional creative selling efforts and “charge forward” with the continual use of the basics that work in your industry”.

His message has been helping thousands of business owners, executives and their staff continually “bust sales targets and grab market share through innovative sales and marketing, strategies, tactics and skills.”

At this Two Day seminar / workshop you will be shown how to:

• Take a “Down Economic Cycle” and switch it to an advantage with clients and customers resulting in a shift to a positive pro-active approach to succeeding in turbulent times. (Increase morale, sales and gain market share).

• Take control of your own economy by staying in front of clients more often and focusing on what really counts. (Staying out of the melodrama of other peoples’ lives, ignore issues you cannot control and “focus on and mind your own business” and stay on track).

• Implement the “Targeting Process” that has helped take Wouter Snyman’s company Attooh to a R100 Million in a few short years and helped many South African companies achieve major sales growth in a very short time period.

• How to effectively “Win Back” lost or past clients.

• Sure fire ways to attract and gain high value clients.

• Turning low volume clients into big retain clients.

• Keeping and growing your best clients and creating high barriers to entry for your competitors.

• Launch a “Most Wanted” client’s program that can boost your annual sales results.

• The five stages of getting to and staying at the Unity Stage of your client relationships.

• Making Social Media “add to your income and your daily performance” rather than “reducing your income and taking away your daily productivity.”

• Get up and stay up both mentally and physically during tough personal and business times. (A person’s ability to perform is only equal to their motivational and attitudinal level at the time…attendees will pick up “easy to apply” tips to keep themselves up and continually performing).

• Turn objections and hurdles into sales with ease.

• Sell to and connect with anyone, anywhere and anytime utilising the “Quick Read” tool.

• Talk less and sell more by being client-driven and solution focused with the needs analysis approach to selling. Listen so others will talk and talk so others will listen.

• and much much more.

Your Training And Development Investment:

R5 995 including vat per attendee (Lunch and Tea Break included)

3 or more attendees…ask about our group rates

Payment Methods: Quicket / EFT / Credit Card / Debit Card / Cash at the time of booking

Each Attendee Will Receive:

• Handouts of the slides Bill Gibson uses plus copies of “How To” Tools for future reference and sustainability.
• A Certificate Of Attendance from Bill Gibson, Knowledge Brokers International SA (Pty) Ltd.
• Plus R5 800 in Special Bonuses (No Charge). See below.

Special Bonus:

Each participant will receive Bill Gibson’s Boosting Sales & Profits With Focus Selling Program on a USB Memory Stick which includes 12 Audio Tracks and a 345 Page Learning & Implementation Guide valued at R4, 000. Bill also will include on that USB Memory Stick, a 90 Page Objection Handling Guide with 103 Common Objections we get in selling and examples on how to handle them valued at R1, 800. Total Value in Bonus Products R5, 800…FREE!

Bill is one of the world’s most credible masters on how to Bust Sales Targets In Turbulent Times. Be There…Seats Are Limited. “Book Now!”

To Enrol Right Now And Secure Your Seat Via Quicket click here: http://www.quicket.co.za/events/15872-busting-your-sales-targets-in-turbulent-times/#/

For Additional Assistance:

To use an Alternative Method Of Payment rather than Quicket, for Group Rates, to have someone contact you with More Information On The Event or for a FREE copy of Bill Gibson’s Quick eBook Guide to

“Making Your Tradeshow Booth Or Expo Stand Really Work” contact us at: bill@kbitraining.com or Phone +27(0)11-784-1720

Knowledge Brokers International S.A. (Pty) Ltd

5 Sandown Hills, 103 Katherine Street, Sandown, Sandton, 2196

Tel: +27(0)11-784-1720 Email: bill@kbitraining.com

“If you have found this blog article to be valuable for you and/or if you think one of your associates may be interested in the two day program “Bust Your Sales Targets In Turbulent Times,” I would be grateful if you “shared” it with your Social Media Networks. Also feel free to circulate it by e-mail or other means internally within your organization or externally to your clients, suppliers and personal and business network. Thank-you!”           – Bill Gibson

Bill Gibson is a Canadian who is living in South Africa. He is an international speaker and author and a developer of sales, service, marketing, collecting, employee morale building, personal development and entrepreneurial training programs and systems. His blog is www.bill-gibson.com and his website is www.kbitraining.com. He can be reached at bill@kbitraining.com or phone +27-11-784-1720 in South Africa. You can follow Bill Gibson on Twitter: @billgibson1, connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gibsonbill or Knowledge Brokers International SA Pty Ltd Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/knowledgebrokers?ref=hl