S
Successful Selling
- Original Poster
- #1
Although this post is based around my business idea, I thought it may be useful in helping other small businesses understand the value of a mentor or consultant. I got the idea of using a mentor from reading an article in the Sunday Times last week. Before I've invested a penny, my friend has reduced my risk and given me some useful advice.
There have been a few developments with my business idea and I thought it would be good to run it past the forum. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or concerns, please let me know.
To keep you up to date, this was my original business plan;
My idea I have is to provide a cheap, 1 day course for small businesses helping them produce a realistic sales pitch, which they can then use on a day-to-day basis to increase sales.
The course will need to fit in with my 9-5 mon-fri full-time job. Therefore I was thinking of running the course at weekends. I realise this maybe my first problem, but was actually thinking it could also be used as a selling tool as well.
The other key concern is my target audience. By definition, the fact that Im targeting small businesses means their budgets could be very small. Therefore I plan to charge £55 for the course. My main objective would be to give the participants a basic understanding of the components of any selling situation and then provide a realistic script for them to take home and use.
I plan to sell the course on an evening when I get home from work. I will get my leads from yell.com and will telephone them from around 7pm (when I get home from work) to 8.30pmish.
That was my original plan. However there have been some major changes. This was mainly due to conversation i had with a friend. He has his own business and has raised some interesting points, suggesting Im taking some unnecessary risks.
The first thing he pointed out to me is that Im putting undue pressure on myself. This is because he suggested the first thing I need to do is book a venue. This will, at the very least, will require a deposit. Once I have paid that deposit I will need to secure places on the course. As hes rightly said I have no idea of how easy or difficult this will be. Therefore why am I trying to sell 10 places, when I dont even know if I can secure one.
The second concern of his was my understanding of the requirements of small businesses. He understands the value of my idea and also knows my sales background, but suggests although I have experience working with small businesses, is my course based around what they want, or what I can provide? Of course, its the latter. Therefore, Im going to run a training course based around my sales ideas and experiences, which is not the aim.
Thirdly, working on the principle that every time someone has a bad experience, they tell ten people, he has asked the question; why do I want to invite 10 small businesses on my first course? If I mess this up, Im potentially informing 100 people how bad I am.
Therefore, baring these factors in mind, hes advised me to put this plan on hold for a few months.
This is my new business plan;
In the mean time, Im to sell myself to individual small businesses, providing specific one-to-one sales training. The idea is; I still contact small businesses but instead of trying to sell them a training course, all Im trying to do is secure a meeting with them to discuss their specific selling requirements. From this there may be an opportunity for me to provide my services as a consultant, helping these businesses secure more sales. This also means I can adapt my services to suit their specific requirements. Whether they want me to observe them selling their products, provide them with specific ideas for new leads, helping them plan a sales pitch/script, or even train other staff members, I can produce a schedule which would suit their specific requirements and budget. This means, even if they can only afford £40, after an initial free consultation, they can still obtain vital information on new selling techniques which can help them move their business forward.
At the same time, I am also satisfying my other business concerns. My overheads are reduced to a phone bill, my knowledge of small businesses increases dramatically and I remove the pressure of having to sell the course. If this wasnt enough, he also suggested, that if things did, for what ever reason go wrong, only 10 people would get to hear about how bad I was not 100! Although he suggests I shouldnt be thinking this way, he says I still need to take these factors into consideration.
So, here I am. My business principle is still the same, but my operational procedure has dramatically changed.
As of tomorrow night, I will start to contact small businesses promoting my services. Im sure there will be twists and turns along the way and I will try to keep you all informed.
As I said at the start, any thoughts, suggestions, comments or concerns welcome.
Many thanks
There have been a few developments with my business idea and I thought it would be good to run it past the forum. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or concerns, please let me know.
To keep you up to date, this was my original business plan;
My idea I have is to provide a cheap, 1 day course for small businesses helping them produce a realistic sales pitch, which they can then use on a day-to-day basis to increase sales.
The course will need to fit in with my 9-5 mon-fri full-time job. Therefore I was thinking of running the course at weekends. I realise this maybe my first problem, but was actually thinking it could also be used as a selling tool as well.
The other key concern is my target audience. By definition, the fact that Im targeting small businesses means their budgets could be very small. Therefore I plan to charge £55 for the course. My main objective would be to give the participants a basic understanding of the components of any selling situation and then provide a realistic script for them to take home and use.
I plan to sell the course on an evening when I get home from work. I will get my leads from yell.com and will telephone them from around 7pm (when I get home from work) to 8.30pmish.
That was my original plan. However there have been some major changes. This was mainly due to conversation i had with a friend. He has his own business and has raised some interesting points, suggesting Im taking some unnecessary risks.
The first thing he pointed out to me is that Im putting undue pressure on myself. This is because he suggested the first thing I need to do is book a venue. This will, at the very least, will require a deposit. Once I have paid that deposit I will need to secure places on the course. As hes rightly said I have no idea of how easy or difficult this will be. Therefore why am I trying to sell 10 places, when I dont even know if I can secure one.
The second concern of his was my understanding of the requirements of small businesses. He understands the value of my idea and also knows my sales background, but suggests although I have experience working with small businesses, is my course based around what they want, or what I can provide? Of course, its the latter. Therefore, Im going to run a training course based around my sales ideas and experiences, which is not the aim.
Thirdly, working on the principle that every time someone has a bad experience, they tell ten people, he has asked the question; why do I want to invite 10 small businesses on my first course? If I mess this up, Im potentially informing 100 people how bad I am.
Therefore, baring these factors in mind, hes advised me to put this plan on hold for a few months.
This is my new business plan;
In the mean time, Im to sell myself to individual small businesses, providing specific one-to-one sales training. The idea is; I still contact small businesses but instead of trying to sell them a training course, all Im trying to do is secure a meeting with them to discuss their specific selling requirements. From this there may be an opportunity for me to provide my services as a consultant, helping these businesses secure more sales. This also means I can adapt my services to suit their specific requirements. Whether they want me to observe them selling their products, provide them with specific ideas for new leads, helping them plan a sales pitch/script, or even train other staff members, I can produce a schedule which would suit their specific requirements and budget. This means, even if they can only afford £40, after an initial free consultation, they can still obtain vital information on new selling techniques which can help them move their business forward.
At the same time, I am also satisfying my other business concerns. My overheads are reduced to a phone bill, my knowledge of small businesses increases dramatically and I remove the pressure of having to sell the course. If this wasnt enough, he also suggested, that if things did, for what ever reason go wrong, only 10 people would get to hear about how bad I was not 100! Although he suggests I shouldnt be thinking this way, he says I still need to take these factors into consideration.
So, here I am. My business principle is still the same, but my operational procedure has dramatically changed.
As of tomorrow night, I will start to contact small businesses promoting my services. Im sure there will be twists and turns along the way and I will try to keep you all informed.
As I said at the start, any thoughts, suggestions, comments or concerns welcome.
Many thanks
