Taking Your Business Online - Going from Brick and Mortar to the Internet (Part 1)
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Should I?
So your thinking about taking your business online. Maybe you have a website and now you want to sell some of your products online but you don’t really know how to do it. Before making this move there are five questions you should ask yourself.
What advantages can a retail website give me? You should be able to identify some concrete advantages you will get from this move such as increased sales, increased exposure, increased traffic in my real world store.
Can this move negatively impact my business? You have to determine if you have the time or staff to effectively manage and market your new website.
Can I handle the increase in Business I will receive? Online orders will create new opportunities but they can cause you problems. Evaluate your system of distribution to make sure you are prepared. If you run a retail business, you may not be setup to handle the shipping requirements of online orders. Prepare your company for order processing, shipping, returns, etc.
Will I sell products or just provide information?Some businesses just do not work on the web. Yes, It’s true. A perfect example is the automobile industry. Several years ago one manufacturer tried to sell the public on the idea of buying a car online. You may have seen the commercial where the customer is picking the color of his car online, then the guy shows up to deliver it while his buddies eat pizza and watch tv. Well, it was a bust. Nobody wanted to buy a car online. Car shopping is personal and much of the time an emotional decision. You want to feel how the car drives, are the seats comfortable, is there enough leg room, how big is the trunk. You want to know what zero to sixty in a nanosecond feels like. So, rather than sell cars online, they changed their strategy from selling to providing as much information as possible to the consumer.
Can my products be delivered economically and easily? It’s quite different selling MP3’s online than it is toilet paper. MP3’s are easy to deliver. They are simply downloaded. Toilet paper though is bulky, hard to package and cost more just because of it’s size. Oh, and let’s not forget that you can buy toilet paper in almost any merchandise, grocery, convenience, bait and tackle…..well you get the point.
I firmly believe that all business should have some presence online. I don’t care what you do. The public today assumes that they can hop online and within one minute find your website and get hours of operation, location, phone numbers, etc. So, to answer the question, Yes, you should.
Part two will discuss the steps required to get started online.
The Hosted Advantage
A hosted application, also known as Internet-based application,, web-based application,,online application, and Application Service Providers ,(ASPs), Software as a Service, (SOAS) are applications where the software is installed on servers that are accessed through the Internet instead of the more traditional software that is installed on either a local server or on individual PCs. This is sometimes called a thin client.
With broadband Internet access becoming the standard and connected 24/7, Hosted applications are expanding rapidly due to a number of advantages they provide.
Hosted applications are not suitable for every situation, but this model does provide a number benefits.
Since the application is hosted on the service providers equipment, there is no cost for equipment and support. High priced network administration is handled by the hosting provider. Hosting providers also provide higher up-time than most in-house operations can attain. Hosted applications can usually be securely accessed from any computer with an Internet connection providing great flexibility for remote users or access to systems from your customer’s location. Disaster recovery is the responsibility of the hosting provider who have implemented robust and redundant backup and recovery systems. Growth is easily handled by upgrading bandwidth, disk space, memory and many other resources which are handled by the Hosting provider. Many of these applications are offered with no long term commitment and can even be tested in a free trial environment.
The two main concerns with the hosted model are internet access and security. If your connection is down so are you. A good provider will enforce strict authentication processes and data integrity and, in most cases, data on a hosted environment is more secure than that hosted on a private network with less sophisticated security systems.
Examples of hosted Applications
- SAFARI - Sales Fulfillment and Accounts Receivable
- QuickBooks Online - Business Accounting software
- PaceTracer - Contact Management Solutions available at www.carterss.com/pacetracer.aspx
There are many more ranging from simple hosted email to ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Systems.
If your in the market for a software solution, I would urge you to take a long look at hosted solutions.
14 Cold Market Prospecting Tips
Cold calling, and Cold Market Prospecting does not have to be intimidating or hard. The worst thing that can happen is your prospect will say “no”. If you Accept this, getting started is much easier.
Tips:
1. Know your presentation until it sounds like a conversation, not canned. Practice, practice, practice. This allows you to be interrupted without losing your train of thought and will give you confidence.
2. Call with the attitude that your time is just as valuable as theirs without being arrogant.
3. Have a good system of tracking your calls. Know who you called, when you called and how many calls you made. Without this you may think you are making more calls than you really are and wondering why you are not having more success. Just as important to know when you are headed is to know where you have been.
See what PaceTracer can do for your call tracking.
4. Ask for the decision maker. Most likely it will not be the person answering the phone so you need to make the gatekeeper feel important. Ask for the person by name if you have it.
5. When you do get them on the phone, remember that the first ten seconds they will not remember what you have said. Never start with “How are you?” Instead say his or her name and then “I know you are busy so I won’t take but just a minute of your time. Then introduce yourself. You are not asking for their time, you are taking it.
6. Do Not Talk Fast. It will not keep you from being interrupted.
7. There is no right or wrong time to call. Businessmen are available during business hours but call doctors in the evening.
8. Leave them friendly and receptive. You have the opportunity to call back. Never ask if you can call back, just assume you can. If they ask that you do not call them back, mark them off your list. Your time is too valuable to overcome that.
9. You will get “nos”. It’s going to happen. If you get enough, you will convey that negative in your presentation. Stop calling, go over your presentation and get your confidence back before you blow one more prospect.
10. Questions are good. The most difficult thing is keeping your cool when they start asking questions. If they are asking questions, you have their interest. Listen to what they are asking. If you do not know the answer, do not be afraid to say – That is a good question. I don’t have the answer at my fingertips but I will get back with you. You have their interest – Keep it!
11. This is a numbers game. The more you call, the better your chances of success. You call three a day, you fail. You call three hundred a day, you will succeed.
12. Never meet a stranger. Do not prejudge. Everybody you meet is a prospect. Learn how to get to know a stranger. You can cold call without a phone.
13. Everytime you make a sale, ask for a referral. This is a instant in with your next call.
14. The most important — Learn to ask for the sale. They will not say yes unless you help them.
Written by: Mike Carter
Contact Management - What is it and what can it do for me?
Contact Management is simply a system to keep track of associates and tasks related to them. One of the main features of most contact Managers is simply tracking contacts names and information such as phone, address, email and so on. These systems are used by business professionals and sales people to keep track of who they need to contact, when they need to be contacted and what they need to be contacted about.
As a entepreneur, you will constantly be adding to your contact list, whether they are vendors, partners, prospects or personal. It is vital to keep up with them. If your business has anything to do with sales or opportunity sharing, then you can’t live without a system to keep up with your calls.
A good system will first and for most be intuitive and simple to use. Adding contacts should be one click away and allow you to add as much or little information as you desire. Second, call scheduling will let you set dates times and details about who you need to call and when to call. When the time approaches, you should be notified that you have a scheduled “appointment”. I use the word call here as a generic term since you may also schedule a meeting in person or send an email or even a letter. These scheduled reminders can be used for any type of contact.
At a glance, you should be able to see your past activity and who has been called recently. Each contact should give you a detail of all “calls” you have made to them. Notes for each call will let you know why you made the call, what was discussed and the outcome or action item that resulted from the call.
Contact Management is an integral part of any business. If your in a Home based business, Network Marketing organization or MLM you need Contact Management.
Take a look at PaceTracer. A solution designed just for the Network Markeing Professional or Home business owners.