Take Flight – Business Growth Strategies with Business Coach Dan Holstein

As a business owner, you're in the business of solving problems and that's a given. But is dealing with challenges a negative experience for you? Or do you see it as an opportunity to learn?

As strange as it may seem, you want to be in difficult situations. When the water gets turbulent, you've made progress.

It means you're on the right path, and that you're growing. Trying to find an opportunity to learn from the problem is the difference between complaining about it, and making an attempt to fix it.

It's time to change your mindset and accept that dealing with challenges is great because they create opportunities for you to grow.

But what about your team? How does your approach to problem-solving affect them?

A great leader doesn't tell their team how to think. A great leader shows them how to think.

You should lead by example and give your team a taste of how it's done, and what mental approaches are good, and which ones don't work - that's the kind of learning style that brings incredible growth to your business.


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Does your marketing pass the 'So What?' test?

You may not have heard of this test, but you are using it every day when you decide whether or not to pay attention to someone else's marketing.

If your marketing doesn't pass the test, then the time, effort, energy and money you put into it is being wasted.
In this week's episode, we discuss you how to pass the 'So What?' test and make your marketing as effective as possible.

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In this fifth and final video in my series on how to improve your sales, I take a look at the after sales follow up. You see, following up with customers is critical even when you’ve already made the sale. While you may be tempted to think your job is over, there's more to the sales process.

Specifically, you want to get your customer engaged in whatever the next steps are. Do they need to send you some info so you can get started on something? Do you need to give your clients some details so they can start taking action? Or do you need to set up a series of meetings? Clearly explain whatever that next step is.

Buyer's remorse can sometimes happen when a person buys something, and then it gets quiet which leaves them feeling like they were ghosted. Make sure to do your after sales follow up so you can reassure the customer that it was the best decision for them to make the purchase. You can do this by continuing to follow up with them professionally, and guide them through the next steps to your product or service fulfillment.

Now, one reason why following up with customers is so important is because of the 3 R’s - Reviews, Recommendations, and Referrals. Following up with a customer is your opportunity to ask for a recommendation or introduction. But these have to be EARNED, so make sure you first deliver amazing customer service throughout the process as well.

The after sales follow up is important because it helps maintain customer trust and cement your relationship. If you meet or exceed the customer’s expectations, it can result in positive reviews that will help you get more business down the line.

For all of these reasons, following up with customers is a step that should not be overlooked.

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Book a discovery call to see if Coaching is right for you and your business - https://kaizenperformance.com/lets-have-a-chat/

Listen to the other 4 episodes in this sales improvement series:
 Effective Sales Mindset - Part 1
 Customer Buying Cycle - Part 2
 Sales Process - Part 3
 Sales Conversation - Part 4


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For this fourth video in my mini series on how to improve your sales, I share how you can structure a sales meeting. When having conversations with customers, it’s important to make the most out of your time together. With the right structure, you can make all of your sales conversations more effective for everyone involved.

The effective structure that I like to use for every meeting is TAO: Time, Agenda, Outcome. Let me briefly explain what this means, and I give you an example in the video.

First, establish time. Make sure that you fit your meeting into the amount of time that you have available. If you know beforehand that you won't be able to have an effective sales meeting within the given time frame, then reschedule. When conversations with customers go too long, it’s best just to continue another time.

Next, ask yourself, why are you in a sales meeting? Does the customer know why they're there? Both you and the customer need to know the reason for the meeting when you sit down together.

Lastly, the outcome. Make sure you and your prospective customer are on the same page as to what's going to happen next. That way, there are no surprises for either of the parties.

There you have it. A simple method for organizing your conversations with customers. Try it out in your next sales meeting and let me know what kind of results you get!

www.kaizenperformance.com
Book a discovery meeting today to see if coaching is right for you and your business: https://kaizenperformance.com/lets-have-a-chat/

Listen to the Complete Sales Series:
Effective Sales Mindset - Part 1
Customer Buying Cycle - Part 2
Sales Process - Part 3
Following Up AFTER The Sale - Part 5


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www.kaizenperformance.com

Today, to continue my mini series on how to improve your sales, we specifically look into 3 TIPS on how to improve your sales process and increase business. To have an effective sales process, you'll want it to be consistent and replicable. And we cover exactly how you can achieve that in this video.

You may not exactly be conscious about it but you already have a sales process. It just actually refers to how you engage with your customer from the time you make your very first interaction, until the time that they decide to buy. Those series of conversations and decisions that lead up to the purchase make up a sales process.

Having an effective sales process ensures that you don't miss any of the questions you need to ask or the steps you have to take to close the sale.

Learning how to improve your sales process and increase business starts with building rapport and trust with the customer. Develop trust by demonstrating professionalism, honesty and integrity.

You also have to determine fit to ensure you can truly help solve your customer's problem. Does your partnership make sense?

Don't forget to establish a consistent and comfortable way to ask for their order. This step is an integral part of the sales process. Many salespeople just wait for the customer to be the one to ask if they can buy, which often leads to a missed opportunity to close a sale.

Integrating these tips into your ways of working will surely help you learn how to improve your sales process and increase business in return.

www.kaizenperformance.com
Book a discovery call:
https://kaizenperformance.com/lets-have-a-chat/

Listen to the Complete Sales Series:
Effective Sales Mindset - Part 1
Customer Buying Cycle - Part 2
Sales Conversation - Part 4
Following Up AFTER The Sale - Part 5


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Watch this episode on our YouTube Channel
Schedule a Discovery Call with me
www.kaizenperformance.com

Today's video in our series on improving your sales is about the customer buying cycle. Essentially, this is the customer decision making process that leads to someone making a purchase, and it includes several criteria that are important to understand so you can improve on your sales process.

First of all, there’s the time frame that respective customers have. Whereas a larger company might have a longer buying cycle due to their more sophisticated structure, smaller-scale customers are able to make decisions more quickly. Doing sales means you'll need to be ready for both situations, whichever one might apply to your customer.

The key to making a sale is getting in sync with whatever your customer’s time frame is. When you integrate your sales process with the customer buying cycle, you can help facilitate a deal by staying sensitive to the customer decision making process that is going on.

Just keep in mind that no matter who you’re dealing with, you may have to forget about your own time frame in order to accommodate theirs.

Besides being responsive to your customer’s time frame, you should also ask questions. Are you talking to the right decision maker? Do you understand what their key decision points are? Are you providing them with the necessary information in a timely fashion?

Allow the customer decision making process to take its own course, but be there to provide support along the way. When you allow your sales process to work in tandem with the customer buying cycle, you give yourself a much greater chance of successfully closing a deal and improving your sales figures.

www.kaizenperformance.com
Book a discovery call: https://kaizenperformance.com/lets-have-a-chat/

Listen to the Complete Sales Series:
Effective Sales Mindset - Part 1
Sales Process - Part 3
Sales Conversation - Part 4
Following Up AFTER The Sale - Part 5


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Watch this episode on our YouTube Channel 
Schedule a Discovery Call with me 
www.kaizenperformance.com

Sales Series Part 1:
Recently, I’ve been asked by many people how to get improved sales figures. The key thing is to prioritize customer goals and solve customer problems. In this video, I discuss the importance of having the RIGHT and EFFECTIVE MINDSET when it comes to approaching customers for sales. This 5-part video series will help you attain the sales improvement you want for your business.

Do you think of  salespeople as pushy, aggressive, and tricky? Often business owners have a negative perception of sales, as a function. But to do well in sales, it has to be approached with a healthy mindset.

Having a negative mindset about doing sales or about what being a salesperson is can prevent your business from doing as well as it should. With this type of thought process, you or your sales personnel may not be prospecting or approaching customers enough.

Running a business and wanting to achieve improved sales figures means having to recognize the professionalism that comes with sales, and learning to prioritize customer goals so you can solve customer problems.

In this video, I'll help you find out what your clients' pain points and goals are, and how to be of service to them.

Achieve the sales improvement that you desire with an effective sales mindset!

www.kaizenperformance.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danholstein/

Book a discovery call: https://kaizenperformance.com/lets-have-a-chat/

Listen to the Complete Sales Series:
Effective Sales Mindset - Part 1
Sales Process - Part 3
Sales Conversation - Part 4
Following Up AFTER The Sale - Part 5

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Watch this episode on our YouTube Channel 
Schedule a Discovery Call with me 
www.kaizenperformance.com

As a business owner, your business valuation is something you take seriously. After all, you’ve poured years of continued effort, time, passion, and resources into building your business to what it is today. You’re proud of it. You have a deeper understanding of the journey since its inception, the challenges you’ve met along the way, and how you’ve conquered them. If I were to ask you what you think the value of your business is, you would naturally give it a high figure.

While this is understandable, it can be subjective in the eyes of the open business market. The emotional attachment you have to your business alters your judgment. Potential buyers will value your business based on logical processes and business value fundamentals.

For your business to have a high market value, you need to grow its value. Here’s a strategy to help with this:

1. Get a Certified Business Evaluator to do your business valuation for you. They will be able to tell you the value of your business on the open market.

2. Analyze the list of value drivers and constraints keeping your business from reaching its maximum value.

3. Prioritize, and start to eliminate the constraints. This will increase your business’ value.

4. Improve the value drivers, and leverage their potential to grow your business.

This week, I challenge you to take these steps towards increasing the value of your business. Should you need any help getting started with this, feel free to contact me.

Remember, your business is a saleable asset that will generate real wealth for you!


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As a business owner, you have a list of tasks and goals that you've set and that you wish to accomplish. You're efficient, so you face the goals head-on, intending to get them done as soon as possible. But here's the million dollar question. How realistic are your timelines for achieving all of your business tasks?

When it comes to time allocation, do you find that you overestimate what you can get done in any given time frame?

Do you take on too many tasks in close succession?

What about buffer time? Are your deadlines too close to one another?

Do you even have a way of accurately knowing how long each task will take?

The trouble is, if you find yourself falling behind and missing your timelines, that sense of failure can be very discouraging, leading to a negative domino effect with subsequent goals and business tasks.

If this happens to you, and you can resonate with any of this, you're going to want to watch this video to the very end, because I'm going to share 2 strategies to help you with your goals and how you approach time allocation.


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Are you experiencing low profit in your business, but aren’t sure what to do about it? Well, there are a few things you can do to increase profit.

It's not uncommon for me to come across a business where there's a lack of profitability, and when we dig in, we often find that these businesses are over-servicing their clients, or they're just not charging enough for the great value that they're providing.

Often this lack of profit happens because the founders lower their prices when they get started or when they change markets. By doing so, they’re able to attract cost-conscious clients, but they also end up with low profit.

One simple way to increase profit is to think about the value exchange triangle. This is a triangle comprising three elements of your business: price, quality, and service.

If you're offering great quality and service, you're probably running around servicing your clients all the time and not making the money that you should be. If this is the case, you should find people who truly value the quality of the product or service you provide.

On the other hand, you could be charging enough and offering great quality, but then you may not be able to service your clients as quickly. There’s always going to be a trade-off.

Keep in mind the value exchange triangle as you think about your low profit. It could be that you’re too focused on quality and service without having an appropriate price. If you want to increase profit, make sure your prices reflect your value.


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