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The Cookbook 
December 2009 Newsletter

What's Cooking?

Greetings!

Winter is rapidly approaching. The Twelve Days of Christmas are right around the corner. The winter advisory informs us it will be cold today, cold next week and pretty much cold until April. It's time to Heat Up Your Sales!
Q1
Q1 2010 planning has many blockbuster theme selling events including these twelve:

Jan 1: Happy New Year
Feb 2: Groundhog Day
Feb 7: Super Bowl XLIV
Feb 10: Chinese New Year
Feb 14: Valentine's Day
Feb 15: President's Day
Feb 16: Fat Tuesday
Mar 14: Daylight Savings
Mar 17: St. Patrick's Day
Mar 20: 1st day of Spring
Mar 21: Easter Sunday
Mar 30: Passover

Do you have a plan to Heat Up Your Sales?
Twelve Places to keep business cards:
Briefcase              Purse
Gym bag             Wallet
Cell phone case    Backpack
Carry-on bag       Golf Bag
Garment bag
All Suit Coat & Overcoat pockets
Bicycle saddle bag
Glove compartment in every car you drive
Sales tip: never, ever run out of business cards. If you do run out, knucklehead, ask for one of their cards, write your contact info down and hand it back.
December Green Partner:

barry
 
Don't let a legal problem control you. Barry can help you take charge of your situation.

Accidents  |  Business
Criminal  |  Family
     Real Estate  |  Wills & Trusts

Ask anyone what kind of law Mr. Greenberg practices and the unanimous answer is "Winning."

Click or call Barry: 630.416.4747
support troops
Sales Kitchen:
We can help you cook up 2010 planning solutions that heat up your sales.

We have solutions to:
Sell Better.
Sell Faster.
Sell More.

MikeCooper
Mike Cooper
Sales Kitchen 630-548-9723

We hope you enjoyed this newsletter. Merry Christmas!

Heat Up Your Sales
2010 Sales Planning
What do a sales plan and a New Year's resolution have in common? They both receive a lot of hype at the beginning of the year but we forget about them after a few short weeks.

A sales plan keeps us focused on selling activities that lead us to sales success. A sales plan tells us if we are doing the right things and holds us accountable for our actions. There are dozens of ingredients in a successful plan; here is a sampler:

Goals & Objectives (Month, Quarter, Year)
  Sales Revenue; New customer targets;
  Sales Force Productivity:
     Maximize the quality and quantity of sales calls

Sales Reporting System (monthly sales reports)
  Goals must be Realistic, Measureable and Achievable

Accountability (Monthly results meetings)
  Identify action steps to maintain momentum or get back on track

Customer Knowledge & Competitive Knowledge

Merchandising Calendar (Themed quarterly sales events)
  Quarterly key selling initiatives

Continuous improvement (quarterly training modules)
  Product experts; Company experts; Category experts

Implementation & Execution

Sales planning includes management commitment. Most business owners and professionals are too busy with day to day operations to give the commitment to sales planning.

Heat Up Your Sales in 2010. Set yourself up to start the year strong.  Do you have a sales plan?
Twelve Reasons to Say 'Thank You' to Your Customers
 
for their business
for the nice compliment
for suggestions
for trying something you recommend
for their responsiveness
for referrals
for being patient, or unruly
when they say no
when they make you smile
for making your job easy
for exceeding your goals
for their support

Thank you for your business.
Twelve Sales Habits of Successful Salespeople

Set goals and be accountable.
Take notes.
Listen. Ask the right questions. Listen.
Tell the truth (it's easier to remember).
Always network. Join the Chamber of Commerce.
Business cards are always handy.
Prepare and practice your presentation.
Always on time.
Return phone calls and emails in a timely manner.
Knows how to say 'Thank you'
Focus on the customer.
Show enthusiasm and maintain a sense of humor.

Twelve Sales Tips of Christmas
Build a better relationship at the Christmas party.
Hand written Christmas cards.
Conduct a Christmas satisfaction survey.
Turn your Christmas party into a Selling event.
Conduct Christmas bonus sales incentives.
Donate to a special charity; raffle something of value.
Invite current customers to your event; not just employees.
Invite potential customers to your event; begin a relationship.
Reconnect with prospects that said, "No".
Focus on the customer: underpromise and overdeliver.
Invite distributors to your event: remind them they are important.
Show enthusiasm and maintain a sense of humor.
Very Cool Links:  
Turn your computer into a Christmas tune jukebox click here
Sales tip of the day click here
National Geographic's 2009 Photo Finalists click here
Follow Sales Kitchen on twitter or connect with us on Linked-in.
Sales Tip: Always network. Join the Chamber of Commerce. Both Aurora's and Naperville's Chambers have dozens of networking events. Click on a logo: 
twitter linkedin aurora  chamber2009  frontrow
Increase the quantity & quality of your sales calls from the Front Row.

The 3 B's of selling: be bright, be brief & be gone.

www.SalesKitchen.com

We want to be your sales management partners.