Advisory Boards as Business Development Engines
A well constructed and professionally managed advisory board can bring amazing benefits to a company. A poorly designed and managed one is usually a colossal waste of resources. The difference often lays not so much in the idea of an advisory board, but in the execution of that idea by the senior management team, and particularly the CEO, of a company. In many cases, the productivity of a company’s advisory board is an indication of the effectiveness and sharpness of focus of the senior management team.I learned this lesson early in my career when I discovered how to leverage the needs of a client base and fund the launch of my company using customer’s money. This was the company that also taught me how an advisory board, if appropriately structured, populated and managed, can radically improve a com

Touchless Technology Helps Keep Your Restrooms Clean and Healthy
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Do You Have What it Takes to be a Successful Petite Model?
Want to break into the petite modeling industry but wondering if you have what it takes to succeed? There are lots of magazine and commercial modeling opportunities for good modeling jobs. Take this quiz to find out if you qualify to be the next top face in the petite modeling industry. Answer honestly. These 15 questions will tell you what your chances are of being able to make it as a top paid petite model.1. Are you between 4 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 7 inches tall?2. Do people often tell you you're pretty or cute?3. Do you have nice eyes, are they almond shaped?4. Do you have a really nice smile and straight white teeth?5. Do you sit and stand in a straight manner with correct posture?6. Are you friendly and work well with others?7. Are you a size 9/10 or smaller?nalist Jennifer LeClaire talked with Dan Ball, a Miller Heiman Sales Consultant based in Atlanta, Ga., who works with several Fortune 500 clients in the region. Ball shed some light on his successful approach to negotiating by communicating value every step along the way.

Sales Performance Journal: What is the proper mindset going into successful negotiations?

Dan Ball: You need to go in with the mindset of trying to maximize not only the value that you get out of the relationship, but also what the customer gets. You also need to go in knowing what your desired outcome is.

SPJ: How does the salesperson break the ice, so to speak? What is the best strategy for breaking down those walls of resistance or overcoming salesperson stereotypes at the onset?

DB: Have the best interests of the customer in mind--as well as your best interests. Make sure your product or service is a good fit and meets each buyer’s interest. Be sincere and remember, people buy because they believe what you’ve told them. As soon as you ship the product or perform the service, they consciously or subconsciously check back to see if they got what they paid for. Make sure they see the value in what you’ve sold.

One of the key things to remember is that negotiation is not an event in itself. It is a process made up of a series of meetings. Communicating the value of your products and services throughout the sales cycle can have a huge impact on negotiations. Negotiation actually begins prior to your first sales call, and doesn’t end until the customer has realized the value of the solution that he bought from you and its positive impact on his business.

SPJ: How do you create the perception that you are working with the buyer as opposed to against the buyer?

DB: Throughout the sales cycle you are trying to uncover the interests of the customers and what they are trying to fix or accomplish, or, in some cases, avoid. You are trying to understand the buyer’s personal and business drivers. The CEO is looking for something different than the production line manager. What are they tasked with? What are their goals? How are they measured? Cost will always be an issue but it certainly shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

SPJ: What are a couple of common negotiation pitfalls and how do you avoid them?

DB: Not underst

SPJ: How does the salesperson break the ice, so to speak? What is the best strategy for breaking down those walls of resistance or overcoming salesperson stereotypes at the onset?

DB: Have the best interests of the customer in mind--as well as your best interests. Make sure your product or service is a good fit and meets each buyer’s interest. Be sincere and remember, people buy because they believe what you’ve told them. As soon as you ship the product or perform the service, they consciously or subconsciously check back to see if they got what they paid for. Make sure they see the value in what you’ve sold.

One of the key things to remember is that negotiation is not an event in itself. It is a process made up of a series of meetings. Communicating the value of your products and services throughout the sales cycle can have a huge impact on negotiations. Negotiation actually begins prior to your first sales call, and doesn’t end until the customer has realized the value of the solution that he bought from you and its positive impact on his business.

SPJ: How do you create the perception that you are working with the buyer as opposed to against the buyer?

DB: Throughout the sales cycle you are trying to uncover the interests of the customers and what they are trying to fix or accomplish, or, in some cases, avoid. You are trying to understand the buyer’s personal and business drivers. The CEO is looking for something different than the production line manager. What are they tasked with? What are their goals? How are they measured? Cost will always be an issue but it certainly shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

SPJ: What are a couple of common negotiation pitfalls and how do you avoid them?

DB: Not underst

ey see the value in what you’ve sold.

One of the key things to remember is that negotiation is not an event in itself. It is a process made up of a series of meetings. Communicating the value of your products and services throughout the sales cycle can have a huge impact on negotiations. Negotiation actually begins prior to your first sales call, and doesn’t end until the customer has realized the value of the solution that he bought from you and its positive impact on his business.

SPJ: How do you create the perception that you are working with the buyer as opposed to against the buyer?

DB: Throughout the sales cycle you are trying to uncover the interests of the customers and what they are trying to fix or accomplish, or, in some cases, avoid. You are trying to understand the buyer’s personal and business drivers. The CEO is looking for something different than the production line manager. What are they tasked with? What are their goals? How are they measured? Cost will always be an issue but it certainly shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

SPJ: What are a couple of common negotiation pitfalls and how do you avoid them?

DB: Not underst

the buyer?

DB: Throughout the sales cycle you are trying to uncover the interests of the customers and what they are trying to fix or accomplish, or, in some cases, avoid. You are trying to understand the buyer’s personal and business drivers. The CEO is looking for something different than the production line manager. What are they tasked with? What are their goals? How are they measured? Cost will always be an issue but it certainly shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

SPJ: What are a couple of common negotiation pitfalls and how do you avoid them?

DB: Not understanding the business impact your products and services can make on the customer’s business. It’s a mistake to continue pushing product. You need to sell the business solution.

Delta recently went through negotiations with its pilots. The airline was trying to reduce pilots’ salary because it needed to cut costs to stay in business. On the other side, the pilots were looking at how pay cuts would impact not only their salary, but also their retirement package and other benefits. Both Delta and the pilots gave a little and got a little to preserve the pilots’ benefits and the airline’s future.

SPJ: When is positional bargaining, like haggling, appropriate and when is it a big mistake?

DB: Bargaining and haggling are pitfalls. The other party may come into an interaction with a strong demand or position. You can’t negotiate a position, but if you understand the drivers behind the position you can develop solutions during the negotiation for the underlying problems that are causing people to take that position. Discovering interests behind their position leads to finding common ground on which to agree.

SPJ: What types of issues cause people to take certain positions?

DB: It comes down to what they think the solution should look like and not being willing to look at alternatives. When people are going to buy a car, for instance, they go on the Internet and do research. They find out what is the manufacturer’s cost and add a margin. That’s what they are willing to pay. They have made an assumption as to how much profit they will allow the dealer to make on that sale. They take a position. But if they only buy the car on price, they may be surprised when the service department is poor. So the salesperson needs to understand and communicate the value he brings and justify his price based on his impact on the business.

SPJ: How does the salesperson protect against manipulation and control?

DB: First of all, recognize it for what it is and then deal with it as the tactic, as opposed to reacting to it. If a buyer is sitting behind a nice desk and he seats you in a chair across from him that’s eight inches lower than his, just tell him you are not comfortable there and move to another location so you can be eye level with him.

Then there’s the tactic where the buyer has a fading memory. They make a