SALESBOOST

STEP 1 Adjust your attitude

STEP 2 Improve time management

STEP 3 Manage conflict

STEP 4 Get involved

STEP 5 Target this niche: Fun runs

JUNE

PROPEL YOUR SALES FORWARD THIS MONTH

Send sales soaring with the power of positive thinking.

ADVANTAGES • JUNE 2014 3

BY CHRISTOPHER RUVO

4 ADVANTAGES • JUNE 2014

STEP 1BUILD A WINNING ATTITUDEJune is the perfect time to assess how your year’s objectives are developing – and to change course if need be. Sometimes, that change requires an attitude adjustment. Take our quiz to find out if your mindset needs improving and learn ways to make your outlook – and sales – more positive today.

ARE YOU POSITIVE? Here’s what your score means for you:

24-30 17-23 10-16

1 2 3

I think about positive past experiences to influence my current mood:

I feel optimistic that things will work out:

I feel that I am in control of my life:

I feel that I am a success in life:

I’m influenced by people and other things (music, books, shows, religion) that promulgate a positive message:

I motivate myself to exercise:

I feel the relationships in my personal life are in a good place:

I view issues at work as exciting challenges that can be overcome:

I practice moderation in eating and alcohol consumption:

I work toward goals that are attainable and challenging:

NEVER SOMETIMES ALL THE TIMEQUIZ YOURSELF

CHECK YOUR ATTITUDE

YOU’RE A WINNER. You’ve got a winning attitude that positions you for success. Keep up the good vibes by starting each day with a thought for how you’ll positively impact at least one person you encounter.

YOU’RE ON YOUR WAY! Sure things get to you sometimes, but you try to be optimistic and often succeed. To ramp-up your positivity, practice mindful-ness, analyzing when negative thoughts creep in with a mind to breaking those detrimental thinking patterns.

YOU’RE A WORK IN PROGRESS. The rain clouds may be gathered currently, but the good news is there’s a lot you can do to clear them. Start by read-ing the article on the next page. Then consider checking out books, videos and even motivational speakers that provide strategies for developing a more positive outlook.

ADVANTAGES • JUNE 2014 5

Watch this video where Tom Abbott, founder of Soho Sales

Coaching, delivers quick tips for improving sales through positivity. http://goo.gl/9cuQxi

CHECKLIST CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE❑ Take quiz and see if you have a positive mindset.❑ Review the five positive thinking ‘triggers’ and make a list of areas where you need to improve.❑ Read chapter one on believing in yourself in The Power of Positive Thinking.❑ Watch the two-minute motivational video.❑ Turn the page and complete the time-management exercise.

Congratulations! Choose a way to reward yourself and pin it to your bulletin board for motivation.

The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

READ THIS:

WATCH THIS:FIVE WAYS TO THINK MORE POSITIVELY TODAYA positive mindset directly contributes to improved professional performance. Start upping your sales game with these tips for cultivating a positive frame of mind.

SALES BOOST

Million-Dollar Positivity

A can-do attitude was a key ingredient in helping Ken Wittenberg and his team earn the business of a manufacturing client that is now poised to spend seven figures annually on promotional products and services. A group president at Summit Group (asi/339116) and Advantages Sales Rep of the Year, Wittenberg’s guiding principle is to focus on the upside – the solutions to challenges rather than the pitfalls. This philosophy helped power a nine-person Summit team he led through a six-month RFP process. By bolster-ing Summit’s strengths and brainstorming solutions to weaknesses in offerings relevant to what the prospect was requesting, the team developed an impressive proposal and won the coveted account. “When you put positive energy toward a positive outcome,” Wittenberg says “a lot of times you end up with one.”

KEN WITTENBERG, SUMMIT GROUP, SALES REP OF THE YEAR

Flip The Script On Negative Thinking: When negative thoughts assail, acknowledge them and then reframe them as positive thoughts, says Stacie Zinn Roberts, author of How To Live Your Passion & Fulfill Your Dreams. For instance, change “I don’t want to lose this client” to “I’m going to strengthen the relationship with this client through consultative service and cam-paigns that produce ROI.” Instead of “I don’t want to mess up this presentation,” visualize yourself delivering a dynamite pitch and say, “I’m a great presenter; I’m going to nail it.” Says Zinn: “If we consistently tell ourselves we’re good enough, we’ll start to believe it – and if we believe it, so will everyone else.”

Keep A Daily Gratitude Journal: Every day, write down at least five work-related things for which you are grateful and at least one thing you’re good at, or did well that day, with your sales, says Kim Bothwell, a nationally certified hypnotherapist. Then, spend five to 10 min-utes reflecting on the gratitude you feel. Over time, as you start to truly experience the sense of gratitude, your confidence, motivation and excitement will swell into a powerful momentum, helping to power your sales. “When a salesperson carries the energy of joy and confidence, clients recognize this,” says Bothwell. “They tend to trust people who project joy and confidence more.”

Take Care Of Yourself: In the hustle-and-bustle of modern life, many reps forget to properly tend to their bodies. That’s a significant issue, because a healthier diet, routine exercise and staying properly hydrated will give you more energy and an improved outlook that will translate into better work performance, says Jim Donovan, business coach and author of Happy@Work. “It’s the simple things that can get you out of a funk,” Donovan says.

Practice Building Rapport: Make an effort to develop meaningful connections with people you meet. “You will feel more positive about your future in sales if you’re an expert at rapport and can connect with anyone easily,” says Bothwell.

Surround Yourself With Positive People: Your posi-tivity train can be derailed by naysayers who harp on the negative. Avoid these people and instead socialize with folks who have good attitudes – people keen to build you up. “When you’re consistently around people like that,” says Donovan, “it’s going to rub off.”

ADVANTAGES • JUNE 2014 7

STEP 2MANAGE YOUR TIME EFFECTIVELYA few minutes browsing the Internet, some time chatting with co-workers, a couple hours spent on low-priority items and before you know it, the week is over and you’re far short of your sales goals. Want to be more successful? Follow these tips for maximizing productivity.

Sales guru Brian Tracy advises: Get a time planner of some kind and invest the time necessary to learn how to use it. The payoff in saved time and increased productivity will be enormous.

CHECKLIST PRIORITIZE AND MASTER TIME❑ Invest in a digital or

paper planner.

❑ Write to-do lists.

❑ Review daily activities.

❑ Rank them in A, B, C order in terms of importance.

❑ Turn the page for better conflict resolution strategies.

Congratulations! You’re one step closer to your reward.

ACTION ITEM:

Document Your Days. For anywhere from one day to one week, write down your daily activities and how long you engage in each. “This will give you a good snapshot of exactly how you spend your time,” says David Blaise, owner of Blaise Drake & Co, a consulting firm to the ad specialty industry. Eliminate The Time Wasters: If you’re honest, chances are the daily documenting will reveal you’re frittering time away, at least occasionally. Take the next step then and consider what activities you can engage in that would turn the wasted minutes into productive ones. “What are you not doing – or what could you do more of – that will help you increase your sales?” asks Blaise. Constantly Prioritize: Each day, reps should rank to-do tasks in order of importance. With the day’s neces-sities ordered, dig into the top priority. “Even if you get nothing else accomplished,” says Blaise, “it will still be a productive day if you finish that most important thing.” As you make progress, continue down the priority list, tackling responsibilities.

Establish A Schedule: When you try to do every-thing at once, you often accomplish nothing. To prevent that, schedule time for performing specific activities. Instead of checking e-mail every time your inbox dings, only look in on the unopeneds once every other hour and send responses then. Similarly, allot a chunk of time for making sales phone calls. The unex-pected will likely compel you to deviate from the plan, “but when there’s a schedule, it’s easier to get back on task after an interruption,” says Blaise. Make Good Time Management Second Nature: Even after you start using your time more strategi-cally, it’s easy to fall back into bad habits. A great way to combat this tendency is to establish a basic rou-tine for getting yourself on the right track daily. For instance, allow that your first action each day will be to prioritize your activities and then schedule time for them. “If you can master how you manage your time,” says Blaise, “your chances of increasing your earnings will rise dramatically.”

SALES BOOST

ADVANTAGES • JUNE 2014 9

STEP 3TAKE THE STRESS OUT OF CONFLICT RESOLUTIONWhen clients are irate, a positive, proactive approach can defuse their anger and put you in control. Use this proven strategy to find a speedy resolution – and lower your stress level.

We Can Work It Out: Resolving Conflicts Peacefully and Powerfully by Marshall B. Rosenberg

Congratulations! You’re one step closer to your reward.

READ THIS:

Turn the page and read how community involvement can build a better you.

COMMUNICATE THAT :a. you really screwed upb. you really carec. this is what you can do.

ACTION ITEM:Let Them Vent: When a quality client is upset, they want to be heard. If you interrupt them before they’ve had their say, you’ll only intensify their anger. As they speak (or yell), don’t tune them out; pay atten-tion. “Listen for feelings, and listen for the issue or problem,” says Barry Maher (www.barrymaher.com), an internationally renowned business sales trainer, speaker and author.

Stay Calm: When the vent concludes, hold your emotions in check and don’t get defensive. Instead, use words the client spoke to ask them if you correctly understand exactly what the issue is. Talk slowly, in a calm tone. This helps de-escalate the situation.

Sympathize: After ascer-taining the problem, tell the client you understand where they’re coming from and can see why they’d be upset. Phrases like “I understand you’re angry” or “I can see why this is frustrating” can go a long way toward cool-ing the customer down, says

Maher. Use them, even if the issue at hand isn’t your fault. The person may then begin to view you as more of an ally than an adversary.

Provide A Solution: Based on the particular problem, you may be able to suggest a solution immedi-ately. If that’s not feasible, assure the client you will do everything you can to find a workable fix. “Give them a timeframe in which you’ll get back to them with an answer – and then make sure you follow-up,” says Promo Biz Coach Rosalie Marcus (promobizcoach.com), an ad specialty indus-try consultant. Practice Prevention: Many common problems, says Marcus, can be nipped in the bud by taking pre-ventive steps that include: sending clients tracking numbers with the date when the items will ship; keeping the client in the loop with dates, times and exact product specifications; and connecting with a client after an order to see if they were satisfied.

SALES BOOST

ADVANTAGES • JUNE 2014 11

There are 1,409,430 tax-exempt organizations, including:

948,769 public charities

96,655 private foundations

364,006 other types of nonprofit organizations, including chambers of commerce, fraternal organizations and civic leagues.

Source: NCCS Business Master File 12/2013

STEP 4START VOLUNTEERING TODAYBy volunteering at local events and for community organizations, you can forge connections that lead to lucrative business relationships. Donating your time is a proven sales booster.

Chris and Kimble Bosworth, the husband-and-wife team that spearheads Proforma Printelligence (asi/491390), volunteered at an event they had a per-sonal interest in: the Nashville Brewer’s Festival. The move ultimately opened the door to a wealth of valuable clients that now provide the couple with nearly half their business.

After attending MAFIAoZA’s Music City Brewer’s Festival as patrons a couple times, the Bosworths decided to volun-teer at the event. Through a friend that works for Clear Channel Communica-tions, a mass media company that owns radio stations and presents live events (including the beer festival), the couple secured a spot working the T-shirt booth. “It’s a fun event, and we fig-ured why not pitch in,” says Kimble.

The grunt time on the shirt stand helped convince

the Bosworths that they could provide top-notch ad specialties for the festival. Afterwards, they met with the pro-moter and pitched a plan for delivering T-shirts, bags, cups, lanyards and more. Impressed, the client tapped the Bos-worths to deliver promotional products for not only the beer fest, but also other events it puts on. “We’re a turnkey solu-tion for them,” says Kimble.

Significantly, the Bosworths continue to volunteer at the shirt stand at the Brewer’s Festival – an activity that has facilitated their linking up with brewer-ies that have become loyal customers. Plus, the couple has built new client rela-

tionships through the other events for which it provides promotional solutions. “The connections we’ve been able to make,” says Kimble, “now account for 40% to 50% of our business.”

Turn the page for a case study on awareness runs.

Congratulations! You’re one step closer to your reward.

Intelligent VolunteeringTo get the most out of the volunteer experience, it’s important to get involved with an opportunity that’s right for you. Here are five tips for doing just that. Donate your time to a cause, organization or event that you are passionate about. Look for opportunities that match your skills. Know the time commitment required and be prepared to stick with it. Get family and friends involved. This can make volunteering more fun and keep you invested.Be tactful: Discussing your professional work with people you meet through volunteering is fine, but refrain from being “salesy.” Let the volunteering come first and business opportunities will arise naturally.

KIMBLE BOSWORTH

VOLUNTEERISM SITES TO VISIT

NONPROFIT STATS OF NOTE

Volunteermatch.orgAllforgood.org Idealist.orgDosomething.orgVolunteerspot.com

SALES BOOST

ADVANTAGES • JUNE 2014 13

STEP 5TARGET THIS NICHE:FUN RUNSFrom Seattle to West Palm Beach, communities across the country play host to running races like 5Ks and half marathons. Here’s how to target this great sales opportunity.

When it comes to the race market, Competitive Edge (asi/166088) goes the distance. The Des Moines-based distributor provides printed T-shirts and more for hundreds of races around the U.S., from 5Ks to marathons.

One key to pleasing race clients, says Owner David Greenspon, is the ability to execute an order rapidly. “Usually race organizers don’t know exactly how many shirts they’ll need until just before the race, so you have to move fast,” he says.

For many distributors, this reality necessitates partnering with a crackerjack apparel decorator who can screen-print expertly on cotton and performance polyester shirts. It also pays to partner with trusted apparel suppliers you've worked with on similar programs.

Competitive Edge is outfitted with a large in-house decoration department that enables the company to crank out thousands of shirts quickly. This capac-ity came in handy on a recent job the distributor put together for the Fiesta 5K, a fundraising event in Baltimore for the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research. The race buyer needed approximately 3,000 cotton shirts screen-printed with a seven-color logo for race participants. Timeframe? A week.

While the job size was small compared to many races with which Competitive Edge works, the multi-thousand tee tally was still no simple turn in the tight window. Still, Competitive Edge has pulled off Fiesta’s apparel order with aplomb each year since 2007, and the company knew how to handle things. “Races,” says Greenspon, “are an opportunity that’s in every community.”

MARKET: FUN RUNS

KEEPING PACEBIZ TIP: START PROSPECTING NOWMany races are held in September, October and November. Get a leg up on the compe-tition by connecting with buyers for these events now. Network through mutual con-tacts or use a site like www.runningintheusa.com to find information on nearby runs. After connecting, relate that in addition to shirts, you can provide items like moisture-wicking hats, clear drawstring bags, branded water bottles, pledge cards, race signs – items many buyers desire.

Rapid turn times Tech-infused moisture-wicking garments for longer racesCompetitively priced cotton shirts for shorter racesA long-sleeve shirt option for fall racesFemale-cut garments for races that attract serious runners

Congratulations! Go get your reward.

RACE BUYERS WANT…

Men’s Expert Tee (AI801) is equipped with moisture-wicking and odor-battling features. From Expert Performance T, asi/53404, 323-526-5865.

SALES BOOST