+1 Demo: Async load
What is Brainstorm Capital Group? Brainstorm Capital Group is a boutique venture capital firm that combines investors with inventors...and Brainstorm Capital Group provides the marketing and business expertise to change ideas to cash.
How does Brainstorm Capital Group do this? Every other Thursday night we host a free megamind teleconference that is overflowing with ideas. We have money men, idea men, and business men that are interested in taking their idea, and making a business.
However, not all people want to start a business, or have the expertise necessary to translate a great idea into a great business. This is where Brainstorm Capital Group comes in.
We are serial entrepreneurs. We know how to start a small business, market it, and sell products, without using traditional marketing means. What does this mean to you? If you are an inventor, we are able to bring your product to market at lower costs, which means higher profits for all.
If you are an investor, Brainstorm Capital Group is able to bring the products to market at a lower cost so that your investment is safer, and the profits are more likely to happen.
It is all about keeping costs low, and having the maximum amount of sales. Why not choose Brainstorm Capital Group to get your ideas converted to cash? No one does it better than Brainstorm Capital Group.
+1 Demo: Async load
A lot of people have ideas about having their own business, but they are discouraged because they think that they have no money. What they don't realize, is that they are entirely mistaken. They just have a different kind of capital.
Jeff Reibman, an outstanding sales manager, wanted to start a vacation club membership company. In doing the research, he discovered that he could do it, if he cut corners, for about $10,000. Unfortunately, he didn't have $10,000. What he did have, however, was a contact manager with people that he had made rich. He contacted one of these, pitched the idea, with a marketing concept that was unique, and got an offer of not just $10,000, but $15,000 to start the company.
What did he do?
1) He established a business plan, on the back of an Alehouse napkin. 2) He established a marketing approach that was viable. 3) He had done the research to discover the costs, and he had all of the information that he needed to know what the ROI and profit would be, based upon certain assumptions. 4) He made contact with people that he had already made rich, and shared the plan with them.
It was step #4 that was his "capital". He had already established a trust with these people, and they knew that they could depend upon him in the future, because he had already made money for them in the past.
My family had an RV park. It was filled during the winter time, but the summer months were slow. The only way that we could survive was to expand to enough sites so that our winter business would hold us over through the summer. We created the plans, established the costs, got the permits, and were ready to move forward except for one small thing. We didn't have the money.
What did we do? We went conventional and had three banks come out to the headquarters and give us bids. After we had selected a bank and gotten the money, my dad said, "I wonder if we could do that in a different way?"
We had retirees that stayed with us all year, paying 6 months of full rent, and when they were gone, six months of on site storage. We sent out a letter asking them if they would like to get a return on their money of 8% (bank rates were also 8%) by paying their full year rental up front, and we would give them a discount. We had so many campers send us their full year rent, that we were able to pay off the bank loan in two months, and we used that alternative financing technique for each expansion after that.
What untapped capital do you have? Do you have receivables? Do you have goodwill that you have established over time? Do you have skill sets that are valuable? Do you have a marketing idea? What assets do you have that you can covert to capital?
What if you have NO cash, NO skill sets, and NO goodwill established over several years? Can you be a broker?
Let's say that you want to be a print broker. You go to a print shop that does good work and negotiate to get discounts for work that you bring in. Then you start calling and knocking on doors. If you go out and hustle, you can find businesses that need work done, and if you can close the sale, you can write it up, take it to the printer, have the work done, and get paid by the customer. Your profit is the difference between what the printer charges, and what the customer paid. (Negotiating is critical in this process.)
The margins might be slim at the start, but as you start doing more volume, and establish a "book of business" your profits will rise.
What other businesses can you broker?
Don't let capital stop you from being a capitalist. Use your imagination and hard work to create your own capital.
+1 Demo: Async load
Every person has 24 hours in each day. We all have the same amount of time, however, some people are much more productive than others. How do they do it? Are there any time management "cheats" that can help you accomplish more that you did before?
Of course there are.
1) Make a list.
One of the best ways to get things done, is to know what you want to do. The old Franklin Covey system is what I use. Each night, just before you go to bed, have a notebook and jot down the things that you want to do the next day. Then, while you are sleeping, your subconscious can be thinking of this, instead of dreaming about baseball. In the morning, BEFORE YOU GET OUT OF BED, write down your list, by priority. Then start attacking that list. If you can accomplish most of the items on the list first, then the rest of the day will be easy.
2) What do you do first? Franklin Covey has four categories.
Urgent AND Important
Urgent but not important
Not urgent but important
Not urgent and not important
Use these four categories, and diligently strive to fit each item that you need to do into one of these four categories. Obviously, there will be some items that you might not be able to complete in one day, so do chunks of them on one day, and have the remainder move to following days.
3) Cross them off your list as you complete them. My Aunt Betty used to always celebrate after she had accomplished something on her list. (Maybe it was a drink of water, a treat, or sitting down and taking a break, it didn't have to be big.)
If you reward yourself after you accomplish each task, it will be seen as a positive accomplishment, and you will want to do more. If you don't celebrate, it will be seen as a chore, and you will avoid doing it. Celebrate!
4) CITO: If you have a business where you are making appointment, always strive for CITO, come in to the office. If you have a queue of people that are waiting in your lobby, and you take care of them one after another, that beats going to THEIR home or office and waiting for them. If someone no shows, you can work on your previous clients work while waiting for your next client to arrive. You should always have backup items on your list. If you have a gap in your schedule, work on that list. (Remember #1 and #2? This is where you can work on the urgent but not important, or the important but not urgent. Or even the not important, not urgent items.)
5) Schedule half hour meetings, instead of one hour meetings. If you have a half hour meeting, you will launch into the meeting quickly, and waste a lot less time. If you absolutely have to extend the meeting, you may do so, as long as it doesn't inconvenience anyone else.
Always be respectful of other people's time. (If you schedule half hour meetings by saying, "I have an opening between 3:00 and 3:30, I am then booked the rest of the day. If you want to meet, please be punctual, as I am very interested in your situation, and I want to make sure that we resolve it. If you show up after 3:30, of course I will not be available.)
If your client shows up late, reschedule, do NOT bump someone that showed up on time to see someone that didn't. If they complain that they drove a great distance, explain that you had an opening; they missed it.
You can reschedule, but you shouldn't bump people that showed up on time for someone that didn't. Be polite, but firm. If they are late, they just learned a lesson. If you accomodate them, they will be late again.
Never bend your rules for people that don't obey them. (If you have a gap in your schedule in an hour, explain that you are booked, but you have an opening at 5:30 to 6:00. would they like to reschedule for that time, but you have another appointment at 6, so please be punctual.
6) Establish rapport quickly, and then ask this question, "Can you tell me a little bit about your situation?" I also use, "I don't know if I can help you, but I know how to find out. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
You can also explain the process. "Let me tell you about how we work here. I will ask you a few questions to determine exactly what your situation is. Some of these are going to seem to be personal, but I need this information to help determine how to help you. Is that ok?"
By asking permission before you ask personal questions, and waiting for a positive answer, you will find that most people will be more than happy to answer any question that you have, if you give them a reason for the question first, and ask if it's ok.
7) Use open ended questions and closed ended questions. Open ended questions, such as, "Can you tell me a little bit about your situation" gather large amounts of information. It is free flowing and unstructured.
You must then clarify with a closed ended question, such as, "So you are looking to buy a house and need a mortgage?" By alternating open ended and closed ended questions you can guide the client through an interview quickly and painlessly. By listening, and writing notes, you can use intense listening skills to quickly establish the goal, and arrive at solutions.
8) Always clarify. "So, if I'm understanding you, what you want to do is...." If you know where they want to go, it is much easier to help them get there. If you are misunderstanding them, make sure that you clarify and find out exactly what their needs are, so that you aren't wasting their time.
9) If action is to be taken, make sure that you both agree on an action plan. Delegate who will do which actions, what needs to be done before that action is taken, and the expected results. You have just completed a tentative purchase order, which you can now fulfill. If they need to bring more money, or to pay for the service, spell out their responsibilities at this time, so that you can move forward. DON'T make them guess, tell them what you are proposing, and the cost. If you do this skillfully, they will not feel that they have been sold, but that you have discovered their needs, and you are a valued professional.
10) Make your goodbyes into future appointments. At the end of your session, shake their hand, and schedule an appointment for the next step. At that time, certain things will have been accomplished by both sides.
11) NEXT! After you are finished, walk them out, and greet your next clients. Do not chat for half an hour. They are busy (you have given them a list of the things that they need to do, and you have items that you have to accomplish as well.) Now you can greet your next clients.
If you have time (make sure that you do by structuring the appointment correctly), write down a proposal for how you are going to solve that clients needs, what steps you will need to take, and the timeline to accomplish them, before you greet your next client. If you only have a half hour for each client, allow yourself 5 minutes to accomplish this task. Do this while their meeting is still fresh on your mind, and you know exactly what their problem is. It will be easier now than at any other time.
12) Schedule your decompression time. If you want to just relax, schedule it. If you are married, have scheduled time with your spouse to make her feel loved and cherished. Don't let anyone violate that scheduled time. If you make her feel loved and cherished, you will find that it will be returned. If you make her feel that she is less valuable than a client, she will be upset. Make her feel cherished. If someone calls, allow the call to go to voicemail.
13) Schedule your day in half hour blocks, and keep track of your schedule. I was a mentor with a company, and our day was scheduled in half hour blocks. I followed that schedule religiously, and was able to accomplish more than I ever had before, because I used that tool to help be more productive. Use the tools that you have to be a dynamic and productive time management professional.
14) Be flexible, but use your tools wisely. Situations change, but don't abandon your schedule just because of a change. It should serve you, not be your master.
If you are a rigorous time management expert, and use all of the tools available to you, you will discover that you will have a drastic increase in your productivity, as well as your available time, that you can use as you wish. Don't waste time, you only have a fixed amount, it is up to you how you will use it.
+1 Demo: Async load
Every transaction involves risk and reward. If you sign up for a new cellphone, you are taking the risk that: A) the cell phone will work. B) The network will be reliable, and C) that your information won’t be stolen by someone else because the network is insecure. Why do you buy? Because you believe that the risks are outweighed by the rewards. If you didn’t believe that, you would never buy a product.
Since the fear of pain is always greater than the desire for gain, eliminating risks or minimizing risks is a more effective sales tool than emphasizing rewards. In other words, you must acknowledge the risks, address them, and minimize them before you tell about the benefits.
How do we do that?
1) Realize that there are always subconscious fears that lurk underneath the surface in a sales presentation. If you can bring those out, and eliminate them by giving information and asking questions, you can remove the risks.
a) You can’t tell someone that there are no risks. Instead, bring out the most commonly perceived risks and ask questions to impart information and the client will remove those risks. (If I tell you something, it might be a lie. If you tell me, it is always the truth, according to you. Let them be the truth teller here and have them eliminate the risks by answering your questions.)
Here is an example: By using a vacation club membership, you can save multiple thousands of dollars over the course of your membership. What are the perceived risks? It might be out of business in a year. State that it has had the same address and phone number for the last 30 years, and ask the client if they feel comfortable with a business that has kept the same phone number and address for 30 years? Is that an indication that they are stable? Does that indicate that they will be around for a long time, if they have been around for a long time already?
By giving a factual statement, and then asking the client to interpret that, you are having them validate the truth. If they say that they feel very comfortable with the fact that it has had the same address and phone number for 30 years, you have eliminated that nagging doubt. After all, they said it, so it must be true.
2) Ask if there are any other concerns? If you do this in a sympathetic manner, they will not feel that you are using high pressure tactics, but that you are trying to help them be an informed consumer. If there are no other concerns, try a trial close. “Are there any other concerns that would stop you from taking action today?” Then…shut up and listen. If you keep talking they will use your talking to stall. If you shut up, they will answer, hopefully with another objection. If they don’t have any objections, you will then need to discern if they are ready to proceed, or if your benefits are large enough to overcome their buying process objection (no one wants to be sold, but everyone wants to buy.)
3) If they raise an objection, simply do the backtrack, conditional close technique. Use their exact words of their objection, (“the price is too high”) and phrase it in the form of a question, “So, the price is too high? Assuming we can deal with that, are there any other objections?” Since most people have a processorial objection to any closing, they might have just thrown out an objection without thinking of it. By using their exact words, in the form of a question, they are hearing their own voice raise the objection. If it sounds silly to them, you can just go past it and move on. You haven’t lowered the price, you have handled the objection. If price really is the objection, raise the benefits, do not lower the price. This is a conditional close opportunity, and you can move forward with it.
By getting the risks taken care of first, you eliminate that fear, and allow the benefits to be larger than the costs. If you don’t manage the risks, they will be unsettling and cause a lost sale.
Risk reversal:
Risk reversal is taking the risk out of the equation for the buyer, so that there is NO risk to him, and all of the risk is assumed by you.
Example: "You must experience 100% satisfaction with this mattress, or we will give you back your money, and give you $20 for your trouble."
Why would you do a risk reversal, (Get Jay Abraham's book, "Getting Everything you can out of all you've got" for more information)? To completely remove the risk from the buyer so that there is no reason for them to not purchase.
Are there other risk reversal techniques?
What about: "If you are not satisfied within the first two weeks, return this item to the store for a full refund."
"You will experience a 20% improvement in your sex life after trying these pills, or you can return the unused portion and get all of your money back."
"This will be the best listening experience you have ever had in a portable sound system, or you can return it within 30 days and get a complete refund."
What you are doing is letting the buyer know that they don't have anything to lose. They have no risk. Now, if you have a great product, you will always have some people that return it, no matter how great the product is; however, since your volume will be increased so much, it is worth it for the small returns that you will have.
If you have a terrible product, and you know that it will make people unhappy, a risk reversal technique is a terrible idea, because people will demand their money back, and/or put you out of business.
Risk and Reward By Reed Sawyer +1 Demo: Async load
Every transaction involves risk and reward. If you sign up for a new cellphone, you are taking the risk that: A) the cell phone will work. B) The network will be reliable, and C) that your information won’t be stolen by someone else because the network is insecure. Why do you buy? Because you believe that the risks are outweighed by the rewards. If you didn’t believe that, you would never buy a product. Since the fear of pain is always greater than the desire for gain, eliminating risks or minimizing risks is a more effective sales tool than emphasizing rewards. In other words, you must acknowledge the risks, address them, and minimize them before you tell about the benefits. How do we do that? 1) Realize that there are always subconscious fears that lurk underneath the surface in a sales presentation. If you can bring those out, and eliminate them by giving information and asking questions, you can remove the risks. a) You can’t tell someone that there are no risks. Instead, bring out the most commonly perceived risks and ask questions to impart information and the client will remove those risks. (If I tell you something, it might be a lie. If you tell me, it is always the truth, according to you. Let them be the truth teller here and have them eliminate the risks by answering your questions.)
Here is an example: By using a vacation club membership, you can save multiple thousands of dollars over the course of your membership. What are the perceived risks? It might be out of business in a year. State that it has had the same address and phone number for the last 30 years, and ask the client if they feel comfortable with a business that has kept the same phone number and address for 30 years? Is that an indication that they are stable? Does that indicate that they will be around for a long time, if they have been around for a long time already?
By giving a factual statement, and then asking the client to interpret that, you are having them validate the truth. If they say that they feel very comfortable with the fact that it has had the same address and phone number for 30 years, you have eliminated that nagging doubt. After all, they said it, so it must be true.
2) Ask if there are any other concerns? If you do this in a sympathetic manner, they will not feel that you are using high pressure tactics, but that you are trying to help them be an informed consumer. If there are no other concerns, try a trial close. “Are there any other concerns that would stop you from taking action today?” Then…shut up and listen. If you keep talking they will use your talking to stall. If you shut up, they will answer, hopefully with another objection. If they don’t have any objections, you will then need to discern if they are ready to proceed, or if your benefits are large enough to overcome their buying process objection (no one wants to be sold, but everyone wants to buy.) 3) If they raise an objection, simply do the backtrack, conditional close technique. Use their exact words of their objection, (“the price is too high”) and phrase it in the form of a question, “So, the price is too high? Assuming we can deal with that, are there any other objections?” Since most people have a processorial objection to any closing, they might have just thrown out an objection without thinking of it. By using their exact words, in the form of a question, they are hearing their own voice raise the objection. If it sounds silly to them, you can just go past it and move on. You haven’t lowered the price, you have handled the objection. If price really is the objection, raise the benefits, do not lower the price. This is a conditional close opportunity, and you can move forward with it.
By getting the risks taken care of first, you eliminate that fear, and allow the benefits to be larger than the costs. If you don’t manage the risks, they will be unsettling and cause a lost sale.
