I just got off the phone with one of my book readers who claims to possess an unusual “acoustical” gift.

Sounds are important to him, he remembers them well, and he can easily do vocal impressions of John Wayne and Richard Nixon, to name a few.

Assuming he’s right, which media should he emphasize in his marketing?

Obviously, he would make a good telephone communicator, right? And cold calling should be a walk in the park for him.

Someone who is a great writer could pen articles and books and I’m sure his or her emails would be nothing less than sparkling.

People who make wonderful first impressions face-to-face should be naturals at networking, wouldn’t you agree?

Great public speakers should conduct seminars and offer speeches to various groups of potential buyers.

Each person, in other words, should highlight his gift, and make sure to exploit it for all it’s worth.

But people don’t do this, for what I believe are five reasons:

(1) Most folks don’t really know their strengths, and what they’re better geared to than other things.

(2) People who think they know their strengths are often wrong. That would-be-phone guy, the one with the amazing ear for sounds, is currently struggling with his cold calls. He admits to letting prospects seize control of conversations. I spoke with him over the course of 15 minutes, and listening isn’t his problem. He doesn’t sound CONFIDENT, and so he doesn’t seem credible, which is a mighty problem if you’re selling financial services.

(3) Our entire educational system is obsessed with eliminating weaknesses; not with accentuating strengths. The barely passing grade on the child’s report card is analyzed to death, while his excellent grade in another subject is nearly ignored.

(4) We don’t respect skills or abilities that seem to come to us, effortlessly. To an extent, we even feel a little guilty for not having to work as hard as other people for mastery.

(5) We get bored with what we have already learned to do, and relish challenges and difficulties.

Public speaking was famously ranked the number one fear of Americans, ahead of death, itself, in the BOOK OF LISTS.

Clearly, if you’re afraid to address groups, you’d be a fool to build your sales and marketing campaign around public speaking.

Likewise, if you have phone fear, don’t try to dial-and-smile your way to success.

Direct mail may be your cup of tea.

Take time to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and when you have, forget about fixing your shortcomings. While personally rewarding, it’s not nearly as useful as selling to your strengths!

Organizing an event or a workshop to the public is the best way to increase your company contact network, generate more sales, and get your company known to the public in the shortest possible of time.

There are 6 things that you must take note of so as to get the best results from your event:

1. Who are you inviting to your event? You must know the target audience for your event. For e.g. your event is an Internet Business focus group. Do you know the gender, age group, and income level of your invitees?

It is important to know who customers are, so that you can suit the theme of your event to the audience.

2. Make your event meaningful. Do not pitch your products and services straight away. Teach them something that they do not know. Provide them with meaningful and valuable information before you start to sell your services or products.

3. Try to get as many people to your event as possible. If your budget allows, make your event as impressive as possible, so as to add credibility to your business.

4. Get a good event management company to host the event for you. You will not want to hire someone who will screw up the whole event for you. Get a good emcee that knows how to control the flow of the event, and has the ability to repeat any product offers to your guests effectively.

5. Remember to network around! The main purpose of organizing an event is that you can network your invitees face to face. Make them feel welcome and appreciated and they will be your loyal customers in the future.

6. Follow up quickly. After the event, send a personalized “Thank You” email to your invitees. Ask them for feedback and suggestions, so that you can improve the next time round.

A good event or workshop planner will ensure that all the 6 things mentioned above get done. If you do not have time or confidence to fulfill all the above, do hire a professional event management company to help you to do organize the event.

80% of Americans are shy in at least in some situations, according to Dr. Phillip Zimbardo of Stanford University, who reported this finding in his book, SHYNESS.

That makes shyness a more universal disability and a more vexing problem than excessive smoking or drinking.

I’ve trained boisterous, burly 250 pound salesmen who have no trouble exuding confidence when closing deals face to face, but they break into a cold sweat when they’re asked to get on the phone and make a few calls.

How can you cope with this malady and succeed?

I have a different take on this topic than most, because I see shyness as a HABIT, and not as an inborn personality characteristic. I consider it a set of behaviors that we repeat because we find the results rewarding.

How can that be?

Well, let’s imagine a backyard barbecue. A shy person could elicit attention and sympathy because she doesn’t seem to be having any fun. Attention is reinforcing, and one can get it on a fairly consistent basis by acting shyly.

Moreover, shyness enables us to avoid what we anticipate will be even more painful episodes and encounters. If you can sidestep having to serve on that industry conference panel you’ll reduce the possibility that you’ll look foolish before an important professional audience when it’s your time to stand and deliver.

Every time you avoid a disastrous outing you might reward yourself by silently saying, “Whew! I dodged another bullet!” and feel relieved.

The key is to work at breaking, or at least better managing, the avoidance habit.

Instead of saying “no” to potentially face-losing encounters, we should practice saying yes. By doing what Dr. Albert Ellis calls “shame attacking” exercises, we can peel away our resistance to acting more extroverted.

For instance, as a kid I recall being shy, taking rides with my parents and hearing them, and their friends, remark, “He’s so quiet!” I assure you I was the loudest guy on the playground and athletic fields, but yes, the art of conversation with adults wasn’t my strong suit before adolescence.

I had to work at public speaking to overcome my fear of it. I did just that and before long I enjoyed performing, in forensics, debate and in drama.

Building on my new communication skills, I put myself through college and graduate schools in sales and management and even taught public speaking at the university level for several years.

But I have found that shyness is an ongoing battle, and we never totally and completely defeat this foe.

In other words, if we don’t practice shyness attacking behaviors on an ongoing basis, relentlessly, we will RELEARN and succumb again to our shyness.

For example, there have been times in my consulting practice when I haven’t had to sell very often. A few big clients, and some very successful indirect marketing initiatives, have been lucrative enough to keep me involved delivering programs without having to repeatedly sell more of them.

So, from time to time, I’d get rusty and more significant, my sales reluctance would build to the point that I would have to force myself to cold call. Of course, once I succeeded, I reminded myself of how effective I am, and I zapped any timidity that had built up to that point.

You may have heard the expression that the best way of taming our fear is to perform repeated acts of courage.

If you’re shy, and you want to succeed, this isn’t an option.

It’s a necessity.

You may feel especially vexed by shyness if you tell yourself that you shouldn’t be feeling it. Looking back at having wrestled with it successfully, before, you might feel some shame that it is bothering you again, particularly if you're in a high-profile setting in sales, management, consulting, or professional speaking.

I suggest thinking of battling shyness as the dues you have to pay, periodically. If you haven’t chipped-in for a long time, you simply have a bigger balance to pay off, but believe me, you can do it!

How many times have you heard "The only reason he got the business was because he golfs with the owner." Well more than once I am sure. So is that the foundation for a great sales person. Absolutely!! Networking and knowing your customers is the key to success. As you start to build your client base it is a necessary step. Once you determine your target clients, you must get in their and introduce yourself to as many people as possible from the dock worker to the president. This is essential to have a firm foundation as you grow your business. In business, people change jobs all the time and if you only have one contact at a company you will be out the door as soon as your contact is replaced.

But if you have done your job and networked throughout the organization you will be a valued resource. Not just another sales person. Offer your services to accounting-make their job easier. A few ideas EDI billing, pre-auditing and batch billing. If they have a billing discrepancy fix it quickly. Get acquainted with the IT personnel. Offer computer solutions to make their day to day work easier. Meet with the people who utilize your product not just the person who is buying from you. Find out what they need to create a better work day. It all goes back to the famous saying if they like you they will buy from you and the more people who like you in an organization the less likely you are to lose the business in fact you will gain as they grow and develop. Selling is a process that networking is a key element. Good luck and good selling!

Bad debt is not something anyone enjoys but believe me, it is listed as a financial statement item for a reason. Because it happens from time to time. A client may appear to be the nicest and most cordial of clients, but when it is time to pay, they are no where to be found. What can you do about it?

The Example: Let's say for example that you have a new client. This client would like you to perform Service "A". You complete Service "A" and bill the client. You wait for a few days (if you are emailing the billing) and nothing. You have decided to wait a couple of weeks. Then you send a reminder invoice thinking the client has either misplaced the original or never received it. Again, you wait awhile before you email them to ask for payment.

An email returns to you and they reply, "Yes, I received it and I didn't agree to this dollar amount. Revise the invoice to a lower price and I will pay it." Uh-oh...this isn't a good sign.

You decide to tell the client that the fee for Service "A" stands and kindly remit payment. No response.

Before you know it, the client is furious and feels you are ripping him or her off.

Okay, STOP.

The Basics: Before Service "A" is performed, did you get a contract together to spell out what the service is and what the fee shall be? Did the client sign it? Okay, then you have a leg to stand on. You say you DIDN'T get a contract signed before starting work? YOUR MISTAKE!. And, to add salt to the wound, you don't have a leg to stand on in court.

Depending on the dollar amount, you could take your client to small claims court to collect your fee. Unless you have a straightforward contract that is signed by both of you, odds are you wouldn't win. Not to mention there are court fees and costs associated with small claims court.

How to Collect: Refrain from getting into a name calling contest or hurling accusations and ultimatums. If you HAVE A SIGNED CONTRACT - Decide what you want to do. If you are willing to go to court, then notify the client in writing and allow them one more chance to pay. If they refuse, then off to small court you will go! If you DON'T HAVE A SIGNED CONTRACT: Ask them kindly once more via email or certified letter (return receipt) and ask for the client to remit payment by a certain date. Try to work out some sort of arrangement to get your fee, whether it is monthly installments etc.

Client Refuses to Pay, PERIOD: Say hello to the general ledger account, "BAD DEBT" and remember the experience. When money is involved, it is unlikely that you will make the same mistake twice. Wish the client well and ALWAYS maintain your professionalism. Let them know that you are writing the fee off as Bad Debt and let it go.

Next time, I bet you won't have to say "hello" to bad debt anymore!

Xerox is known all over the world as being the # 1 photocopier manufacturer. The Xerox Corporation is a company that has definitely proved thought its practice that the “right management” and the ability to be flexible can lead to a great success no matter how stiff the competition is. The history of its outstanding management starts in the 1980’s, when the company changed its market strategy and introduced a new kind of management that lately transformed into their fantastic quality management practice.

Their program “Leadership through quality” against the Japanese competitors set new quality standards for the market and opened their way to success. The program established the manage-for-results as the primary goal for all of the operations within the company. The expected results were improved productivity and increased revenue growth achieved through the quality-oriented strategy. After experiencing difficulties on market before the company opened a new era in management and created a model that will lately be followed by almost every single one company.

The quality philosophy of the company- the customer-demands orientation- is one of the most remarkable traits that makes Xerox an upstart company. The customer-based orientation was the first one at that time, due to the major orientation of the companies on the quantity, not quality of manufacturing. This philosophy is completely based on the quality of every aspect of the company’s activity, including the final product. It starts with the employee’s management and ends up in the final result of their work – Xerox products. This final result started being evaluated from the objective point of view of a customer. The three factors that are taken into account the most are: the customer, the process and the people. The goal of the company was, is and will be “Total customer satisfaction”.

Basically saying the customer was to become the “quality controlling team” of the company. This philosophy is reflected in their introduction of Total Quality Management (TQM). The main change that this management philosophy brought to the Xerox Corporation was moving from a production-based over to a customer-based company. The Total Quality Management of the Xerox Corporation includes principles that are used by the company’s employees and directors: strong customer focus, entrepreneurial spirit of the employees, integrations through market focus and quality control. Nowadays, owing to this philosophy the company is eager and able to meet all the requirements that the customer has. The satisfaction of the customers became the criterion of evaluation of the company’s work.

How do you train your sales personnel? Perhaps a better question would be…Do you train your sales personnel? As silly as this may sound a lot of organizations hire a salesperson and tell them to go get it. I have personally dealt with such an organization and this was considered the norm. Why? Because they have always done it this way! I suspect a lot of individuals have heard this comment from other organizations.

Past experience has shown me that the normal way a lot of small companies hire salespeople is by word of mouth or recommendation from a friend or customer. More times than not this method is flawed from the beginning. Depending upon your industry or product offering you may have experienced something like the following dialogue.

Question: “Do you know anyone you would recommend for a job”?

Answer: “Yeah, Joe has been with me forever and he needs to make more money and I cannot afford to pay him. He would be great for your job. OR

Question: I need to hire a new salesperson to call on your account and several others in this area. Do you know anyone who would be a good fit?

Answer: Why yes, my son (Daughter) is looking for a job and they know this business well. They will make a great salesperson.(Watch out for this landmine)

There are many more examples but hopefully, you get the picture. Why do we as business owners or managers spend so little time hiring the individuals who will represent us in the marketplace? Keep in mind I am not speaking of Fortune 500 organizations because companies in this arena spend a lot of money and hours interviewing and investigating. Small or medium sized businesses sometimes do not believe they have the time or money to recruit and hire properly. This is a tragic mistake.

The mistake is compounded when after hiring a warm body for the position the owner, sales manager or whoever is available may train the new employee for at least 2 days. Sometimes this training takes place in a distribution center where the new employee may be subjected to negative comments from various individuals. Perhaps if the new employee is lucky he will be placed with a marginal salesperson and told to ride around with him or her for a few days. The marginal salesperson is chosen because the top performers do not want to be bothered nor do they want to give away any “secrets.” The marginal salesperson knows all of the right language to use on a sales call and he will be everyone’s best friend. A lot of coffee may be consumed and a lot of the world’s problems may be solved but your products will not be sold and the new employee will learn quickly how to perform bad habits.

Should the new employee be astute enough to ask he or she may inquire as to sales manuals, product sheets, account information sheets etc. A typical organization will have some of these items but not all. New employees may receive all manner of explanations as to why the territory has not much available information. The employee may even be told that the lack of information and performance is the reason he was hired. He has to turn this train wreck around. Not wanting to appear timid the new salesperson will gather up as much bravado as possible and shout to the rooftops how he will be the savior for whom the company has been looking. All the while he may be thinking, what kind of mess have I gotten myself into?

The owner or sales manager most likely will sit back and wait for the rain to fall from the sky because this new salesperson told everyone he is the best thing since sliced bread and he will show the existing sales force how to make hay when the sun shines. ( Pardon the use of metaphors.) Reality will set in around the 60th day of employment when the new salesperson has done very little to earn his keep (with good reason) and the owner or manager will begin to get a little nervous. At this point the owner of my old company used to tell me to “put them on the get well program.” Translated this meant to reduce their draw from a living wage to starvation wages. This move usually achieved the desired result. The new salesperson quit and the process began anew. By the way, at this juncture the adage defining madness as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, needs to be stamped on a decision maker’s forehead.

Old globalization was marked by the quest of colonial powers such as France and the Netherlands for more raw materials, cheap labor and new markets, conditions that translate into an ultimate objective for more profits. Countries such as Malaya and Vietnam were transformed into markets and suppliers of people and products via combinations of military conquest and cultural subjugation. The old globalization was carried out through direct colonial rule or a government composed of compliant local elite ultimately responsible and accountable to the colonial power. After World War II a concerted effort was made to revive international trade and investment.

Liberalization of international trade and liberalization of international investment are the objectives of globalization advocates. Liberalization is considered as the answer to the marked decrease in the rate of corporate profits particularly in the US in the past two decades.

Neo-liberals have praised free trade as the way to promote the interest of small agricultural and industrial producers. Through free trade, the logic goes, these people will be able to offer their products to a wider market, increase their sales and therefore their income, and help wipe out global poverty.

Unfortunately, in real life, liberalization seems to work more for multinational corporations than small agricultural producers and workers. The problem is today’s free trade is really not free trade. There is no level playing field when their governments give subsidies to multinational corporations, enabling the latter to sell their products below cost of production in the international market, a practice aptly called dumping. It is understandable, in this context, why globalization and liberalization have become increasingly unpopular concepts and programs among the global poor.

This is a very prosperous time for most people living in developed nations today. Consumers continue to desire the latest and greatest in virtually every economic sector. Could it be that this unprecedented prosperity is actually setting up many businesses for catastrophic failure?

There are those who believe that today's boom times will never end. Others believe we are nearing economic collapse. Both are extreme views and I personally subscribe to neither. I believe that business activity follows a cycle. Some so called experts try to predict when these cycles of boom or bust will end. I can't predict when, but I will say that there will be some degree of contraction at some point. No one can predict how dramatic the adjustment will be. But it will take place as it always has.

Here is the problem, as I see it now, in the marketplace. Sales are so strong that many businesses no longer feel they need to 'earn' a prospect's business or 'retain' a customer's loyalty for the future. I certainly recognize that there are many fine businesses, both large and small, that work tirelessly on providing great service and ongoing customer satisfaction. Sadly, there are many more which do not.

So often today, business owners and managers feel that if a selling opportunity to a prospect is mishandled or if the prospect is underserved, it doesn't really matter because there will be plenty more volunteers walking in shortly to eagerly part with their cash.

What else would explain the lack of proper and ongoing training in businesses of all types today. Even in places that have traditionally exhibited high standards, people will take your money without verbalizing a simple thank you before moving on to the next sale.

Businesses that don't sincerely respect their prospects and their customer base will find that when the economy retracts, as it surely will, prospects will take their business to operations that haven't lost sight of who it is that really pays them.

Businesses that have been sloppy by underserving prospects or that have lost the basic courtesies of business will be lost in the contraction. Businesses that over promise while constantly under delivering will be footnotes in economic history. That's because they are losing sight of a basic consumer need. The need to be treated with respect and dignity.

By now, you’ve read about estimating media costs in Part I and setting accurate expectations for production costs in Part II. Now it’s time to tackle the notion of paying an advertising agency for its time.

Agency fees can be a confusing concept for clients who are new at building budgets. Many agencies charge their time separately from hard costs. It used to be that agencies worked on media commissions. They would charge companies the “rate card” rate for media, and then keep as their fee the difference between that rate and what they can truly negotiate with media partners. As marketers became more independent from agencies, they wanted to track the real cost of media, and hence separate agency fee contracts were born.

Some clients scoff at paying an agency a fee above and beyond the work they create. The reality is that a good agency can be your business’ best strategic partner. You can get the thinking of a Big 5 consulting firm for a fraction of the cost. Today’s agencies are more than souped-up design; good agencies will be interested in building your business, and have ideas for you that extend way beyond words on a page.

Agencies charge for their time managing, strategizing, and partnering on their clients’ businesses. The typical cost structure is staff costs plus overhead plus a reasonable markup, for the time the agency estimates it will take to execute the specific scope of work you mutually agree on. Large agency networks dictate a markup of at least 20%, so a well-negotiated price from an agency will be less than that… but don’t forget to compare agencies’ overhead ratios, as some agencies have tonier office space and more extraneous expenses, so total cost will be higher. It might be fun to go to a slick office building for meetings and be wined and dined by agency principles… just know in advance that you are helping to foot the bill in the name of overhead!

A final word of advice: don’t let the process of budgeting intimidate you. You are capable of determining how much you can and should spend on marketing. Most companies spend 5-10% of annual gross sales, but you can meet your goals on far less, depending on what those goals really are. Once you have a rough idea, an agency can help determine how much their negotiating power can save you in media and other factors that will help you fine-tune that number. Good partnerships are marked by disclosure on both sides of the table, so share as much as you can with your agency.