Aug

4

5 favorite tips from the Little Red Book of Selling

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I was given The Little Red Book of Selling by the CEO of my company and was told that everyone who worked for us was asked to read this book by Jeffrey Gitomer. After a few chapters, I quickly realized that this book was not just about selling, but also about strengthening your career through improving other essential business skills. These five tips stuck out to me when I went back and reviewed the book after I was done:

1. The most powerful person on your sales team is your customer.

Any satisfied customer will hopefully lead to referrals and more sales but what Gitomer describes in the book is using your best customers from the beginning of your sales process and not just after. One way to go about this is to have one of your loyal customers do you a favor and contact a potential client (if you have a strong relationship, they will be happy to). Of course, there are many other ways to get your customer involved like getting testimonials from them, but try to think of new, creative ways to spread their message to potential clients.

2. Your voicemail is a key to getting new customers and creating word-of-mouth advertising.

I don’t think many people put much thought into their voicemail away message, which is why this is a great way to stand out from the crowd. By having a creative or humorous message, your clients and potential clients will hear it, leave you a message, then most likely talk about. This should lead to a much higher overall message rate which should lead to more sales and stronger future relationships.

3. Humor not only helps make the sale - it also helps build the relationship.

Most people like to separate fun from work and I never really understood why (I am sure you probably agree). There are times to be serious and times where humor is appropriate during business hours and client meetings and I definitely think the right mix of both will lead to an increase in sales. It is up to you use your best judgment in each specific case if humor is appropriate or not and, if so, what type of humor. Just remember, it never hurts to make your potential customer laugh.

4. Creativity is a science that you can learn.

Gitomer recommends several books on creativity that have helped many people become more creative. I also believe that exposing yourself constantly to creative environments and creative individuals, you will learn how to be more creative as long as you are motivated and take notes. My favorite combination is when I come across something or someone that is both creativity and funny. Some of my favorite TV shows and movies for example are both creative and made me laugh. Once again it’s simple - exposing yourself to creative material (such as books, movies, etc.) and environments will help you learn how to be more creative.

5. Networking builds rapport that leads to appointments and sales. Lots of sales.

Everyone knows just how important networking is to having a successful career but many people avoid networking because they are too shy or afraid to meet new people. The first step is to get over this fear because it will be a major hindrance on your career advancement. Start slowly by attending small networking events with like minded people who you can talk to about your interests and not just the weather. It’s essential to keep in mind that you have nothing to loose when it comes to approaching new people at these events.

So those are just 5 out of the hundreds of tips given in his book. I recommend it to anyone, not just people in sales. Because Gitomer practices what he preaches, he has been able to become more successful from coaching people and organizations in sales. Remember, just reading and studying his sales techniques and tips is not enough to accomplish anything. It’s about hard work first, then sales techniques second.

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Aug

2

iPhone screenshots after App Store

Filed Under Apple | Leave a Comment 

I thought it would be cool to share my current iPhone apps now that it has been a few weeks since the App Store has been available.

Here are the screenshots (click on each one for full view of screen):



Apps in order of appearance:

Twitteriffic, BeeJive (technically not an app but I still prefer to use this over the AIM app), WordPress, Remote, Facebook, Google, Monkey Ball, Loopt, Jolt, Kyte (have not used this yet - only installed it because I thought it would allow live streaming to web), Yelp, Bank of America, Labyrinth LE, Tap Tap, NYTimes, Pandora, Crash Kart, Salesforce, AP Mobile News, iBeer (bought this by accident - definitely not worth the $3), iPint, Urbanspoon, Restaurants, Shazam, Light, Twinkle, vSNAX, Currency.

So far, I have been installing new apps a couple times a week as they become available or I hear about them. I’d love to see links to your own screenshots and let me know if you have any questions about the apps I currently have installed.

To take a screenshot on your iPhone, simply hold down the Home button then simultaneously hit the Power button and the screen will flash. The screenshot is now in your image library.

Update: Since this post, I have rearranged my icons for better organization and grouped similar apps on the same screen (main iPhone apps, games, social tools, etc).

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Jul

31

The application “Facebook” cannot be opened solution

Filed Under Apple | Leave a Comment 

I recently kept getting this error when trying to launch the facebook iPhone application. I did some research and found that I was not alone.

It seems like the only solution to get it working again is to simply remove the facebook app completely from iTunes and the iPhone then reinstalling it from the App Store. I tried to restart the iPhone and that did nothing but you should try that first. When you go to download the app again, you may be prompted with this dialog box:

Just click OK and once it’s done downloaded, sync the iPhone and your done. It should now work and you will have the latest version. I have also been having several issues with downloading app updates and getting them to sync properly once they are downloaded. Hopefully these bugs will be fixed with the next iPhone software update.

I can also imagine this simple approach will work if you are getting a similar error message with other applications.

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