Many business ventures provide an opportunity to grow your business by adding sales representatives or marketing consultants etc. There is much to be said about the opportunity to garner high-revenue yields when building a direct sales organization however there is a popular temptation that aims to derail the focus of a successful duplication strategy and dooms over 95% of those involved.
Quality Over Quantity
Most of those in old school MLM and Network Marketing opportunities were (and are still) taught to over-sell potential benefits and promote inaccurate expectations of the business to anyone and everyone, regardless of ability or skill set, with the goal of purely adding numbers. This is motivated by the erroneous belief that headcount equals growth. A challenge quickly presents itself when they realize that an increase in organizational size through this recruiting methodology does not typically equate to an increase in organizational revenue, which after all, is truly the yardstick we use to measure the success of any organization. It does in turn create an organization of needy underachievers that eat away at your time and suck the energy out of your ability to grow and lead.
This also rings true for any business or corporation attempting to grow its sales force. Achieving ultimate recruiting success relies heavily on the ability to duplicate a proven, effective business system with the strategically selected high-effort entrepreneurial individuals who will drive the business as passionately as you do. It is the only way to ensure the long-term revenue growth of your organization.
Regain Your Leverage – Don’t Be Desperate
This can only occur if we are able to attract and then quickly evaluate a candidate’s skill and ability early on in the process. What I am saying is that you need to become discerning about who it is you desire to bring into your organization. Accurately doing so is vital not only to estimating how much coaching time and effort the prospective candidate will require in order to independently drive their business, but also how to best go about equipping, empowering and training them in a way that best unlocks their potential. What we’re really vying for here is to effectively identify those high-effort individuals who can quickly assimilate and implement what has been taught.
Effort Is The Key
When I’ve consulted with hiring managers of corporations, I would teach that they must identify each of their teams’ personality types in order to effectively communicate, instruct and empower each to get the results they desired. However, in a direct sales model a novice really doesn’t need this tool in their tool kit to be successful because what I want my team to do is purely empower and manage effort….that’s it. I have found that since effort is the key ingredient here, I can teach a less experienced individual how to focus on identifying and managing effort quite easily.
In these situations, my goal is to prevent my team wasting time on those that will not provide a good ROI, which is a big complaint that I hear because it is a stumbling block for so many. The second biggest complaint I hear is creating value for the training effort and help you provide them. Much like a child, if value is not established for your time from the beginning they will continue with that perspective and be habitually needy.
The other shortfall to catering to that mindset is that in the end, you will have actually robbed them of the satisfaction of achieving independence. Remember, we want to empower those that want to take the bull by the horns, not be lassoed to “Dr Phil” them. Let another business opportunity take on that responsibility, but I would strongly advise against shackling yourself to those types of projects.
It All Starts In The Recruiting Process
It all starts with identifying the effort level of any viable candidate quickly and accurately. This is essential because the pattern will be set by the time they come aboard and you will find yourself to be locked into a high-maintenance mentor rut. Plus, the added bonus of early identification is knowing who not to actively pursue. But how do I determine that so early in the process?
Every manager in any structure feels that the time and effort they provide is rarely valued and often taken for granted. To correct this, there is a method I teach to achieve quick effort identification while at the same time increasing the value of the instruction you provide within the recruiting process. I employ a technique I call an “effort pass-code” and found it to be very helpful. It provides a platform for the candidate to earn your time, creating a partnership rather than a parent child relationship.
Put A Pass-Code On It
“Effort pass-coding” involves finding out what they need from you, and then committing to meet that need on your terms once they complete a related task (earning the effort pass-code) which will allow them to become a vested partner in receiving what they request. If I’m trying to identify a candidate’s true effort level, I will “effort pass-code” as many things as possible. It’s pretty neat because there are so many opportunities to apply the technique.
If for an example, if I am asked to spend some time to discuss the business opportunity specifics or provide answers to marketing questions, I state that I would love to, but I need them to do something to help them prepare. I need them to gather information on the topic, take notes and be prepared to discuss them with me, which will allow our conversation to be far more productive. I then ask them when they believe they can get that done. I schedule a time for them to call me on the deadline they made.
Maybe you have an application process or paperwork that needs to be completed. This is a great way to have them complete those and find out how effort driven they are.
You can find out a lot about a person from how they handle that type of interaction. How far out did they place the deadline? Did they follow through on their commitment? How eager were they to get that done when you placed a little obstacle in the way? Pay attention because this is exactly how they will deal with obstacles in the business if they come onboard. From that information I have found that I can typically place people in one of four effort categories.
The four main effort level categories are:
1. The All Star – High effort, high achiever. Self motivated and desires to be independent.
2. The Talent Tease – Masquerades as if they are an All-Star in order to gain leverage and have you come after them. You chase after their potential but realize that they are not self-driven and in the end, realize that you want success for them more than they want it for themselves.
3. The Jogger – This is more of an analytical person. It’s not bad to have joggers on your team because of their consistency. Their analytical nature makes their sales process longer but they respond to “effort pass-coding” but will typically set the deadlines farther out to make sure they do a good job. They are information gatherers so give them assignments and point them in the right direction. Have a fear of failure so they desire to do it right and their perfectionist nature makes their pace slower.
4. The Eeyore – Yes from Winnie The Pooh. They’ll make you want to rescue them. Don’t do it – just stay away.
So when recruiting, your immediate focus should be to quickly identify the effort level of your candidate or prospective addition to your organization through “effort pass-coding”. Remember that it is not quantity but rather the quality of the individuals added which will drive your revenue. Another added benefit is if your organization has an internal training program and coaching system, which will take a lot of the “heavy lifting” off of you and free you to continue to grow your business. Additionally beneficial is a business, which is positioned where prospects are pursuing you to earn the opportunity to be a part of the organization. This totally alters the scale and gives you the leverage to be more discerning about who you will bring into your sales organization and spend time training.
Though more difficult, most business opportunity processes can be easily tweaked to incorporate these strategies. If not, there are enough good business opportunities out there that have a system and culture that gives you the freedom to determine who you want to work with. As a resource to provide information about identifying the right opportunity for you; read the article “From The Business Chiropractor: Getting Your Business Spine in Line”. It’s was written purely for the purpose of identifying and determining if a business opportunity is the ideal fit for you.
Your Coach & Fan
Patrick Daugherty The “Biz Coach”
CEO of “Learn2Earn it now” Training & Support
Creator of [http://TheBizcoachBlog.com]
Author of: “The Success Steps For Building Wealth Online” [http://members.Learn2earnitnow.biz/ss] The step by step training program that teaches serious online entrepreneurs how to earn money online by launching an internet marketing home business. Learn SEO along with Internet marketing training, affiliate marketing programs, effective social media marketing, getting free traffic and everything you need to know to design any online home business opportunity to reach your goals. All the keys to earn money online are the same and we teach you all of them! You can also learn about how to get FREE coaching and support for your business!
WARNING: We teach people to semi-retire in 12months. It is designed only for those who are truly serious about realizing those goals!
The process of non directional trading has been heavily used during the last decade since the dangers of market trading has drastically increased. This poses highly probable risks of losing money and investments due to the declining economic condition brought about by the recession. This has led many investors and traders to find security amidst this crisis.
Using the principles of non directional trading traders and marketers can easily put their money in the right place and secure all their investments to generate a significant amount of earnings for their livelihood. The first principle established in the non directional trading program is that money should be treated as a liquefied form of commodity since its intrinsic value depends on so many economic factors which can be considered unstable at times.
The best use of money to enhance one’s security in investment is through the currency trading scheme which uses the actual money as the source of business. Basically, the money is traded for another form of currency which has a higher value. This would help the trader gain money through the interest earned in the transaction.
After which, the currency that has least value would be sold prior to its depreciation to minimize losses. This process helps traders to ride the wave of the economy no matter what direction it goes. Non directional means that trader would earn from the economy no matter what direction it goes. This is possible by using both the losses and gains of different economies from different countries. This is best exemplified through currency trading motivated by non directional trading.
Do you really know how your search marketing efforts directly impact your overall online initiatives and business goals? Are you confident that you are properly allocating your online marketing resources across channels?
For many marketers, it’s not always crystal clear. Web analytics is definitely foundational, but measuring marketing metrics in narrow silos leads to missing valuable, big-picture insight that could change the way you invest your budget.
Overall business goals should serve as your destination, and the metrics and analytics can be viewed as the directions to help get you there. Without a good analytics strategy, you are essentially running aimlessly in the dark. When multiple channels are involved in your online marketing strategy, it is essential to ensure that all channels are working toward a common goal or set of goals – all paths leading to the final destination.
Even more important, it’s not just about what you measure, but what you do with the data. When you clearly identify your goals and align all marketing channels, it’s easier to see what’s working, what’s not, what areas need improvement, and quick fixes that can boost performance across channels.
To accomplish our ultimate business goals, the focus needs to move beyond simply counting clicks and their sources. Each lead and every source of traffic needs to be analyzed to see where to best spend our time and resources. This process involves taking our analytics data and weaving it into the very fiber of our business models.
DIVE DEEP DOWN THE FUNNEL
If you are only looking at clicks (number of clicks and/or the cost per- click), time on-site, or on-site conversions (including cost-perlead or conversion rate metrics), it’s time to evolve. Not all leads are created equal. Two leads might bear the same cost to acquire, but that doesn’t mean they will perform equivalently well further down the sales funnel.
For example, one of our business-to-business clients was spending $110,000 per month with Google and other search engines, with its campaigns well-optimized based on cost-per-lead metrics. However, at the end of the day, many of the leads they received were unqualified. They didn’t move further down the funnel into quotes and, ultimately, sales.
After a few changes to their metrics process – namely, implementing post-Web analytics by tying the data into its CRM to gain access to a deeper data set – we were able to move the focus down the sales funnel to the quotations-issued level. This simple step resulted in the release of 43 percent of previous AdWords and other search engine marketing spending. They were then able to reallocate that money to other marketing channels and online campaigns. At the same time, the company experienced a 21 percent lift in software sales from the remaining AdWords campaign.
This example highlights the fact that optimizing marketing efforts with analytics can be a great step toward more efficiently reaching the overall business goal. Additionally, with extra marketing dollars, this company was able to focus on optimizing other channels and revenue streams.
IMPLEMENTING POST-WEB ANALYTICS
Plenty of hype surrounds post-click analytics, but much of it is just that – hype. Savvy marketers have been looking at bounce rates, click paths, lead scoring and multiple conversion streams for several years now. What’s far more exciting than post-click marketing is post-Web analytics.
This means integrating your Web analytics system into your sales force automation system (if you’re working on generating leads) or into your CRM system and customer database if you’re an e-commerce power. In other words, run your Web campaigns based on something more akin to the total expected lifetime value of a customer, rather than a guess on what a Web form or first e-commerce sale might be worth. In our experience, the clients we have taken just one step down the path of “post-Web” (for instance, managing Google campaigns on a keyword / category level to cost-per-qualified lead, rather than cost-per-web form), typically change the way they spend money online by as much as 45 percent.
Start by creating custom fields in your CRM system
(Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, etc.) for the information you want to capture. And remember, only measure what matters. Next, add hidden fields for each of these variables to all lead forms on your site. The hidden fields will pull information about the visitor from cookies, eliminating the need for you to ask the question, how did you hear about us? Of course, you will want to test all your forms to ensure the process is working and that they are easy to understand and be completed by your visitors.
Finally, process the data. Put the data captured from Web analytics into the custom CRM fields. You can then use this data to optimize paid search spend. Use it to integrate relevant keywords into your SEO efforts and optimize press releases. Also use it to determine the offers that your customers are most interested in, and then make sure you are offering the same thing across all channels.
USE ONLINE DATA TO INFORM MULTI-CHANNEL CAMPAIGNS
For many businesses, a great number of conversions happen in the real world, not online. Use what you learn online through your marketing and post-Web analytics strategy to inform offline campaigns. What works well in e-mail might also work with direct mail. Successful online video spots can be expanded into television ads. Do you get a lot of clicks on a particular banner ad? That eye-catching ad might make a good billboard or print advertisement.
Search is one of the most measurable marketing channels available, giving you invaluable insight into your customers’ wants and needs. However, the sheer amount of data you can capture from search campaigns can sometimes be a pitfall for marketers who are overwhelmed by information overload. This is where goal-setting is so vital to the success of search analytics.
Paid search is perhaps the best online source to shape offline campaigns because it can help uncover the keywords and benefits that resonate most strongly with your target audiences. But it doesn’t stop there. By keeping an eye on the origin of your clicks, you can even discover new audiences and sources for leads. Your ads might be getting clicks from a corner of the Web you never considered a part of your target audience. By exploring these sources you can then dig deeper and find the portals where that particular audience spends their time on the Web, even offline, thereby opening new channels of exposure for your brand.
One of the biggest advantages of today’s online tools is the power to integrate multiple layers of data. By taking advantage of these systems you will find not only the channels that offer the best return on investment for your business, but entirely new areas of expansion and profit.
Apogee Search, a division of Leads Customers Growth, LLC is one of the largest search engine marketing [http://www.apogee-search.com] services firms in the country today. Our corporate headquarters are located in Austin, Texas, long recognized as a center of Internet innovation and expertise.
In a world talking nonstop about social media and Internet marketing it maybe easy to forget that sometimes good ole’ direct mail is the way to go. I’m not saying that technology doesn’t have its place in advertising and marketing, it’s just that Direct Mail is still worth mentioning the tried and true.
I built a great online coaching program with my former business partner utilizing lots of wild direct mail campaigns. The bottom line? Even though you do have to deal with printing and postage costs, if you know they are a quality prospect and you know the value of a new client (to you) then why not spend a little to mail them something if it might be what puts them over the edge?
Before we go any further let me explain what I mean by a “quality” prospects. I am not referring to a list that you purchased, borrowed or rented. I am talking about a list of people that you have collected overtime who have “raised their hand” so to speak. They may be old clients, Ezine members, or someone who requested information from you at one time. Once you have your “quality” prospects organized you will want to set a budget for your mailing. You will be sending not one but a series of several mailings and depending on how long your list is, if you outsource or do it yourself, and how creative your mailing pieces are, you can rack up quite a bill if you’re not careful. So keep in mind what each new client is worth to you and then set a budget for the entire mailing series.
Now you’re ready to get started. Here are some tips for planning and implementing your Realtor direct mail campaign.
1. Plan on doing a series of 4 to 8 mailings. The more the better.
2. Make your mail fun to read, tell a story, have a “star” (even if he’s a cartoon you make up)
3. If you want to eliminate all of a potential clients reservations and win them over it’s probably going to take a while don’t be afraid of the 5-7 page letter
4. Include testimonials (if it’s a situation where that is appropriate) and pictures with them if you can
5. Include bonuses if you can
6. Have a deadline offer and stick to it
7. Use highlighting, captions, different fonts, print and colors to draw attention to the key portions of the letter so that the “skimmers” can get the picture without having to attempt to actually read the whole thing.
8. Write as if you are talking to one person
9. Include the word you frequently
10. Spend your time talking about benefits not features
Are you ready to take the next step toward turning your Realtor skills into profitable information products and automated continuity programs that can earn you massive (and practically passive) income?
I will lay out for you the step-by-step process I used to build a highly automated coaching company that generated over $50,000.00 per MONTH (with practically no overhead), in less than 4 years.
This includes:How to choose your specialty, systematize it, market it and deliver it to your clients, all served to you on a silver spoon.