Talk Summary

• Sales ... In other words ... How to Generate More Leads and Find Customers
• First Identify who it is you sell to - Who is your ideal client?
• Who buys your product or service
• Consider What makes you buy
• Understand Your Goals
• Identify Your Resources
• Set Your Attitude
• Essential Sales Skills - Maintaining Self-Confidence and Good Listening Techniques
• Develop the right questions to use and when to use them
• Understanding Buying Signals
• Upselling
• Building Strong Relationships
• How to make appointments - don't Cold Call  
  

Who will benefit?

For owners of small businesses and anyone who wants to increase their sales of a product or service.   

Short Biography from Allan:

With a detailed knowledge and experience in sales and marketing, my expertise is in assisting clients in increasing their sales and profits by working with them to achieve their objectives.

I do run workshops in Sales and Sales Development and have presented these to multi-national companies, but the majority are aimed at SME business owners.

In addition, I am a distance learning tutor for Foundation Degrees in Marketing and Project Management at Somerset College and Plymouth University.
My objective, quite simply is to work creatively and effectively with  clients to meet all their objectives, while developing and delivering very practical sales training and sales development workshops.   

If you would like to come along, to help us with numbers please contact Julie Atterton-Gunn at julie@somersetwire.org. 

 
If you don't get chance to let us know, don't worry - you are still welcome on the night. For details on how to find us visit our website at www.southwestwire.org

Summer Social – THURSDAY 30^TH JUNE 2011

OLIO &

MAIN COURSES

BAKED SEA BASS WITH PESTO - sea bass fillet baked with green beans and pesto, drizzled with lemon oil and served with crushed new potatoes

MASCARPONE STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST - succulent chicken breast filled with mascarpone, wrapped in prosciutto and roasted, served with vegetables and crushed new potatoes

PANSOTTI IN SALSA DI NOCI - egg pasta parcels, filled with ricotta cheese and spinach, served in a walnut cream and Parmesan cheese sauce. (Suitable for vegetarians)

DESSERTS

TIRAMISU - typical Italian desert, made with mascarpone cheese, eggs, sugar and cocoa powder

PANNA COTTA - a set vanilla cream desert topped with a fruit compote

COPPA TORTA DELLA NONNA - Vanilla ice-cream with short pastry crumbs swirled together with lemon sauce, finished with almonds and pine nuts

FRUIT SALAD - for those who want to keep it simple

Mary collecting her national award from ITV news presenter Steve Scott in Bristol on 15th October 2009

Our Christmas gathering last month was very enjoyable with lovely food at the Greyhound in Staplefitzpaine and a fantastic, inspirational talk by successful international business woman Modwenna Rees-Mogg.

Modwenna founded Angel News after moving to Somerset with her husband following years of working for banks and investment companies in the city.

She realised that there was a huge lack of information about companies which had been funded by investors and sought a way to connect them.

Although she started Angel News as a hobby, to keep her brain busy while having her four children. It soon developed into a fully fledged business which puts on events for budding and existing entrepreneurs and runs an online newsletter.

Angel News enables investors to monitor the marketplace as well as giving businesses expert advice by speakers from Proctor and Gamble, Greenpeace and Lloyds TSB to name just a few.

Modwenna gave us all hints and tips on how to make our businesses stronger in these increasingly bleak times as well as comments about the future of business. She also gave us all a signed copy of her successful book, 'Dragons or Angels'.

We particularly liked her observation on appealing to younger businessmen and women whose primary digit is the thumb – they’re so used to using their thumb for texting!

Her ambition and determination were both impressive and breathtaking, along with her ability to pace herself and not to be overwhelmed. She is certainly a woman who sees no reason to consider failure is an option and views every business and businesswoman as an opportunity and a contact.

Anyone wanting more information about Modwenna and what Angel News can do for you email modwenna@angelnews.co.uk or contact www.angelnews.co.uk.

Business Survival With Graeme Crosbie, ActionCOACH

How to Survive and Grow Your Business in Turbulent Times!

Last Meeting: Members' Showcase

Our two showcases included Carly from Thoroughbred Design and Print with “Design and Print … that works”.

Carly gave a great and interactive presentation, highlighting all the angles you need to think of and information required to really market your business effectively both in print and promotional material. 

She explained that you can carry your brand through across many different items: Letterheads, cards, complement slips, calendars, mugs, brochures, umbrellas, coasters, you name it—she can print on it.

 
Carly also gave an insight into the processes used and why sometimes a DIY job can cost you so dearly. More information about Thoroughbred can be found on her website www.tbdp.co.uk.

Our second showcase was life coach Julie Atterton-Gunn on how to “Manage Yourself and Make Great Choices for 2009”. 

Julie gave a very motivating session on ‘Shoulds’ and ‘Coulds’ which was really helpful. She explained how much easier it is to make the right decision if we use different languaging.

Julie has a great website explaining all the tools she uses for coaching, NLP, EFT etc at www.phoenixflying.co.uk.

Focusing on and getting what you want - with Paula Carnell

Our Christmas meal was brilliant with over 40 of you there—our thanks to The Monks Yard and our guest speaker, Paula Carnell.

Paula is an inspiring and unusual mix of a creative artist and successful business woman. She is a strong believer of The Law of Attraction, making it work for her in her professional and private life. She now
commands over £10,000 for her paintings, a figure that she has been planning and working towards – making it happen.

As a founder member and then Director of Business link Somerset, and having sat as a trustee for a large Dorset Art Gallery, Paula understands the issues of small businesses in Somerset and also knows how government and larger institutions can assist and restrict enterprise.

Paula let us into her secrets for staying focused, getting the results she wants for both her professional and personal life, and which tools she uses to stay on track. We have had so much positive feedback from you. It was a great and extremely positive way to end the year.

The Internet—How to Get Your Business Found—with Eugene Mulligan

Thank you to Eugene from EGN Webcraft for giving us an invaluable advice on how to be found on the internet and how to survive in the world of Blogging, Twittering and Long Tail Marketing!

Eugene explained the importance of making sure your website is well optimised, has good content and excellent keywords and phrases.

He also explained many tricks of the trade and took the mystery out of Search Engine Optimisation, Google Adwords and explained the importance of online networking on sites such as Linked In and Ecademy.

If you missed this excellent presentation and would like a copy of it please contact Eugene on Tel: 01460 242023  or Email: enquiries@egnwebcraft.co.uk

September18th—Network Audit with Kath Gigg 

For many of us running small businesses, networking can be one of the most effective means of marketing. Our time is very important and funds are always limited - which is why it is important, not only to be confident in networking itself but also to make sure we are networking in the right places. This means places which are relevant for us and our businesses.

In the session Kath provided valuable insight into:

· understanding why we network.

· examining the networks we use and what they give us.

·  how to spot the gaps or duplications in our networking activity.

· how to prepare an action plan to improve the efficiency of our networking.

It was a great evening with lots of opportunity to talk to each other about our businesses and take a look at where we network at the moment.

It was also very interesting to see how many boxes were ticked by SWIRE!

Summer Social at The Olive Tree with Ann Ross, EFT Master & Entrepreneur Coach - July 17th

Our guest speaker for the event was Ann Ross, EFT Master—one of only 29 in the world. Ann holds speciality business workshops such as ‘Designing Your Own Destiny’, ‘Creating a Millionaire Mindset’ and ‘Create Inner Change Now’ in Canary Wharf .  She runs Executive & Corporate Retreats for entrepreneurs who want to transform their business and their lives.  Her popular coaching teleclasses, ‘Say YES to success’ which combine EFT & TAT are fun, powerful and get results! 

Over the last two years she has doubled her own income and helped a corporate events company create a £1,000,000 business within its two year goal using her coaching techniques.  She has also helped a Regional Director of a large company win a contract for £5.7m.

We had a great evening and The Olive Tree did us proud. Ann had a very interesting and moving story to tell and the whole evening was relaxing and enjoyable.

Why Good Girls Don’t Get What They Deserve! – Kate Dobson—last SWIRE event on 12th June

The attendees at the most recent Swire event were treated to a whistle-stop tour of planning and control in business. From setting goals and easy measurement techniques to ensure businesses keep on track.

The event was great, interactive and insightful. Everyone left with practical tips on how to keep businesses on track especially in challenging times.
Kate has a financial background and she is totally fascinated by businesses both large and small. Her passion and empathy with women in business shone through in an excellent evening.

Her goal for the evening was to help us understand how to achieve our dreams - how to harness the power of our minds and realise our potential. 'If you know where you are going you will get there' she exhorted, encouraging us to write down these goals – then you call it a business plan!  'It only takes a little bit more than good to be outstanding so put the effort in to be just that little bit better.' Success leaves clues so using the experience of others who are successful is always a good idea (some call this modelling!).

'There is power in deciding what to do and just doing it....don't allow those negative thoughts....be careful what you think!'

Kate introduced us to the triad of the unconscious mind - the focus (what you think about), the physiology (the horse knows if you are smiling) and the language (always be positive).

For me one of the best parts of the session is when we were given time to write down our unrealistic goals, 1, 3 and 5 years ahead. When we suspended reality it was amazing how easily the goals came, and once written down we are a step nearer to achieving them.

Kate simply and clearly went through the three figures we need to know about our business to run it properly - turnover, gross profit margin and net profit. If we know these then we have everything we need.
Kate used excellent examples to illustrate her messages and all the attendees will now I am sure monitor their business thinking about a pilots course on long haul flights and the constant monitoring and adjustments that have to be made to arrive at the correct destination.

Everyone left the meeting feeling positive and energised, with really practical ideas of how to develop their businesses and most importantly how to monitor each area to ensure timely corrective action to be taken if necessary.
If I could only take one thing from the session it would be 'only make new mistakes' - I can live with that!
Our thanks to Kate Dodson of Shire Business Synergy Ltd—01256 338408.

The Mind and Body Spa—– Thursday 24 April

Sometimes life for the small business owner can feel as if it is becoming just that little too demanding . Do you recognise any of the following:

That foggy feeling of not seeing the wood for the trees?

Where do I start?
Overwhelming feelings of frustration?
So much to do, so little time to achieve it?
Headaches/tension?
Everyone seems to be demanding something of you?
Can you recall the last time you did something for yourself – “me” time?

The wealth of experience showed through Becky and Sarah’s presentation of the Mind and Body Spa. The evening was both interactive and humorous with the audience as willing participants receiving practical tips to take away and practice in managing and avoiding stress.

Or—to keep up that feeling of Stress Becky (tongue in cheek) advised us to:

BECOME A WORKAHOLIC!

Put work before everything else, and be sure to take work home evenings and weekends. Keep reminding yourself that holidays are for sissies.

DISCARD GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS!
Schedule in more activities every day than you can possibly get done and then worry about it all whenever you get a chance.

BECOME NOT ONLY A PERFECTIONIST BUT SET IMPOSSIBLY HIGH STANDARDS!
...and either beat yourself up, or feel guilty, depressed, discouraged, and/or inadequate.
Simple approaches such as:
Take small steps to change your life
Give yourself credit for what you have done
Let go of negativity – learn to let go when something goes wrong
Do “off duty dressing” – change your clothes as soon as you arrive home.
Just say no. “thank you very much for asking me, but my answer has to be no”
Give yourself a break occasionally and pamper yourself – you deserve it

were just a few of the tips from the evening together with the very relaxing hand message that Sarah guided the group through. The hands hold much stress and just a simple hand massage can be very relaxing.

A big thank you goes to Becky and Sarah and we wish them every success.

Thursday, 6th March 2008

Low Cost, High Value Marketing for Small Businesses - Russell Crisp

arie Andersen formerly of Advent Islands (soon to re-launch as InSight) came and talked to us last Thursday 17th January at our new venue in Parmin Close, Taunton.

The evening was spent exploring ‘NLP Within’ – a different approach to recognising qualities and traits within yourself.

Historically, NLP – or Neuro Linguistic Programming - has been about trying to change other people with no emphasis on self. NLP Within is different, encouraging you to acknowledge those things that can make you feel unsteady and looking at different ways of dealing with them.

Very often the input you receive as a child and developing adult from those close to you has a big impact on your outlook. These inputs are referred to as old tapes – messages you hear over and over, which are often negative and are not necessarily how you would feel or approach things naturally.

‘Reframing’ is a useful tool which can be used with any negative situation or feeling. It is used to turn negatives into positives which often makes a big difference to your outlook on life. Understandably there are going to be times where they may not be a positive side, and of course it isn’t possible to be happy all the time!

‘Chunking’ is a term used for breaking things down in order to help see the bigger picture – like when a child is learning to read and has to break down words into syllables. This is also a useful tool, especially if you are having difficulty coping with lots of things at once!

Marie did an exercise with us to encourage us to question NLP and to see how much we had picked up from the evening. This was very successful and a lot of our questions were answered.

For some it was more difficult to understand, but hopefully everyone went away with something they could use in day to day life. The main message was intention. If your intention is positive you can only mean well. If your intention is negative then you can only do harm.

For some people this can be a difficult process both in understanding and accepting the need for change. I was one of these people and I am happy to admit that as someone with many negative old tapes the ability to perceive things in a more positive way has enhanced my life a great deal!

The general opinion was that it was a lot of information to squeeze in to a couple of hours and that a whole day would have been ideal!

If you are interested in finding out more about NLP Within, or attending one of Marie’s introductory courses, please give her a call on 01935 840256. She would love to hear from you!