HOW TO TURN PROSPECTS TO CUSTOMERS

How to turn prospects to clients

With a good marketing program you are assured of creating many prospects. But all prospects do not—and should not—convert to clients.

Here are tips to help you convert prospects into clients.

Take Action Immediately

Not immediately following up with prospects causes them to go cold. Then you are right back where you started. Some prospects will likely forget meeting you. Or, they may think you are not interested in serving them. Furthermore, your response time to a lead’s request is an indication of your response time when he is a client. So take action quickly when you receive a telephone inquiry, a trade-show lead, a referral, or other lead.

Focus on Referrals

Referred prospects are the most valuable. When you receive a referred lead, the selling has already been done. If you act quickly on referred leads, it will reflect well on your source, and he will be inclined to refer you again. If you delay on a referred lead or handle it poorly, don’t expect to receive any further leads from your valuable referrer.

Evaluate the Lead

Some follow-up on every lead is a good idea. You want to separate the suspects from the prospects. Evaluating the lead will enable you to follow up more quickly with the better prospects. Ask the lead or the referral source about problems, needs and wants, the decision process, and his or her ability to pay your fees. Ask these questions as early in the process as you can.

Have a Follow-up Plan

An automatic follow-up system will make it easy for you to follow up in the same way every time. Set aside a definite time for contacting and courting a new prospect. Unless you set aside time in your calendar, you may have trouble fitting it in. Prospect value can dissipate rapidly. If you are fully booked, fire off a letter or call the lead to set a specific time to meet.

Add the Prospect to a Mail List

Every professional should have a marketing database. When you obtain a lead, the information should be permanently recorded in your database. “A” prospects should receive regular and personal attention, whereas “C” prospects can be handled by mail. (Handling of “B” prospects can depend on your load.)

Give the Prospect to Someone Else

If you cannot follow up the prospect, or if the lead is of little interest to you, give it to someone else in your firm. Selling is a team effort. Ask your designee to keep you informed as to the progress of the prospect. Offer to help when the prospect gets close to closing.

Conclusion

A pipeline full of good prospects is critical to the steady growth of a firm. A full pipeline enables you to be selective and to follow up with the best leads.

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Google and Walmart; Great Partnership

Google and Walmart; Great Partnership
The partnership announced between Google and Walmart is the strongest step yet to prevent Amazon from becoming the dominant voice platform in people’s homes. It’s a win-win for both companies: Google supplies the infrastructure while Walmart supplies the products.

Google still in the retail game
Google has attempted to fend of Amazon’s growing share of product searches by integrating more into the path to purchase, including last mile delivery with Google Express, but without much impact. Google Express floundered in 2015 and Amazon’s product search share continually grows. With Walmart as a partner, Google benefits not only from Walmart’s product catalogue, but also its strong motivation to keep pace with Amazon and its expertise in retail--it’s not a coincidence that Google Express’ annual fee was eliminated as well.

Full Integration
This is not a trial. This is a full integration.  Walmart will have the largest product catalogue on Google Assistant. Shoppers will be able to have access to Easy Reorder on Google Express to easily reorder past purchases made in store and online.
But the big moves will come next year when in store pick up (often with a discount) and the ability to purchase fresh groceries go live. Walmart’s dominance in stores and groceries are advantages over Amazon. However, their strength has weakened a bit since Amazon purchased Whole Foods this summer.

The stakes are high
Both companies understand the stakes are high as voice commerce starts gaining traction among consumers. Now is the time to compete to avoid a winner take all scenario in voice commerce and that winner is looking like Amazon. The success of both companies’ foray into voice commerce is dependent on the perfect execution of this partnership.

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What I learnt about successful people

What I learnt about successful people

What I learnt about successful people prompted me to take a moment to reflect upon how they had gotten to this point, and the lessons I learnt along the way about what it really takes to achieve success. Here’s what I realized:

1. Your career progression is not limited by your background or education

It was reported that some of the most successful entrepreneurs’ like Bill Gate founder of Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg founder of Facebook and many other successful entrepreneur are either college or university dropouts.  Then I realized a degree isn’t all what is required to lead anyone down the right career path. Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates have no A-levels, and before starting a career in his Facebook and Microsoft respectively.

So, to be candid, when it comes to career success, your background doesn’t need to matter, neither does your education. What matters more is your potential, your ability to recognize that potential, and your level of proactivity in finding out how to really fulfill it.

2. Success comes as a result of hard work and effort

In any walk of life, if you want to become successful, you have to be prepared to work hard for it. This sounds obvious, and everybody believe this in theory, but not everyone is willing to practice it.  A wise man once said success is no accident, it is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do that guarantee success.

You will be guaranteed a success without a doubt if you put in an extra effort if you put in an extra hours and effort to research, learn, practice and be sure to maintain those routine of going an extra mile to get the required result. With this your carrier will never lose momentum and you will grow from strength to strength. When you put a lot of hard work into one goal and you achieve it, that’s a really good feeling because you don’t get anything in life without hard work!

3. Knowledge is power (and breeds success)

I you a part of the category of people that didn’t take much interest in politics, business or current events, and as a result you have limited knowledge of the world around you. You wouldn’t be able to contribute to conversations, and you wouldn’t be able to form or express opinions and you will lack confidence in communicating.

Therefore, to become successful in a business environment, you need to gain knowledge of the world around you, especially within your field or industry. It’s simple – read the news daily, check out relevant blogs on social media and pick up industry magazines. Make this a habit.

An even simpler but incredibly effective approach towards building your knowledge is to always be inquisitive and ask lots of questions – you’ll soon learn what you need to know, and it will stick. Your inquisitive mind shouldn’t ever be discouraged, no matter how senior you get. Remember – true experts always learn.

4. Successful individuals lift people up instead of stepping on them to get to the top

Research shows that most influential managers are the most amazing role model when it came to leading people and developing a positive culture. They made their employee feel good about themselves; they make work fun and had faith in everybody’s abilities. And the less influential managers are the complete opposite – they ruled with fear and spent most of their time trying to catch people out for doing the wrong thing

Great managers are the ones that always support and develop their employee. They know that having good people beneath them who feel motivated, positive and empowered to do their jobs, and do their jobs well, makes their lives easier and contributes to the organizations’ on-going success. As a result, they try to do the same-encouraging, motivating and developing their team members. This makes for a more productive, fruitful and positive working environment. It also means that they can continue to progress and take on more responsibility.

5. Success is a journey – celebrate the wins and more will follow

Successful people have goals and ambitions. They have clear ideas of what they want and where they want to be, and they have a plan on how to get there. They dream big and set goals along the way, and they always celebrate when they reach these milestones.

If you want to be successful, imagine what you want to achieve, consider how you’ll get there and set yourself realistic and measurable goals. Don’t lose track of the end goal, but be mindful that you won’t get there overnight. Be patient.

6. Successful people ask themselves “what’s next?” but not at the expense of recognizing where they are and what they’ve achieved

If you’ve been guilty in the past of being promoted and immediately thinking to yourself “right, what’s next?” Whilst there’s nothing wrong with being ambitious, you can recognize that this kind of thinking can result in you placing too much pressure on yourself, meaning you don’t always celebrate or give yourself credit for your most recent achievement. Just like in professional sport, you need to give yourself some time to recover before you start working towards your next goal.

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Basic Steps to Start-up A New Business

Basic Steps to Start-up A New Business

A lot of people think that starting a business is difficult and that it requires large amount of capital. A lot of would-be-entrepreneurs get stuck early in the process because they think that only a certain type of person has that quality and what it takes to become a successful business owner. The reality is, that most of the people have what it takes: a good idea, the right amount of capital and the creativity.

But what most of the people lack, is patience, determination and the ability to plan. A business owner can easily become overwhelmed in the early stages of starting a business and the key to it is that the business owner is required to have working plan and he must stick to it. Thus a business owner must use something simple which guide him.

Bellow are the key steps to follow to start a new business:

1. Take time to brainstorm

An idea is always great, but a business owner is required to give it legs. But The first essential step which every business owner must follow is that he must research his potential market. His job as a new entrepreneur and a future business owner is to think about every aspect of his business. Come up with answers to every question which either a stranger or a potential investor might ask the business owner. For example try to find answer these questions:

Who is the target market for the product?

What could go wrong and how will the business owner solve it?

Are there additional products or services that the business owner could tie into his main offering?

What are the main things which a business owner wants his customers to know about him?

By preparing answers to these questions ahead of time, the business owner would become a more confident and a trustworthy business owner when it comes to trying to attract the attention of the right stakeholders.

2. The business owner must create a business plan

After the business owner has taken the time to answer the questions about his business or the product idea, he must use them to put together a concrete business plan.

The main parts of a business plan include the executive summary, a company description (as to what makes the company unique), a market analysis (the competition and the target demographics), the company's structure, a description of the service or the product line, the marketing and the sales strategy, its financial projections -- plus any other additional useful information.

3. The business owner is required to surf for the start-up funds that are required
A business owner can't start a business without capital. He is required to determine what he has, what he will need and how he will fund the business. If he plans to seek investors to fund or finance it, he is required to start writing a business plan. he must Research the costs that are associated with his business. He must Know how much money he will need and decide where it could come from.

4. Cconsult or Hire a good business attorney

The businessman is not necessarily required to have need an attorney on a retainer. An attorney can advise the businessman about things such as drafting of contracts, reviewing business owner's lease and determining the right business structure. However, the best way to find a good attorney is either by referral or through networking.

5. The business owner is then required to hire a good accountant

An accountant will work in conjunction with the attorney and they will play an instrumental role in determining the best form of ownership. The accountant can also help the owner to establish bookkeeping and other record keeping procedures which the business owner is required to keep on track for years.

6. Decide on a Suitable business structure

The business owner has a lot of choices which include sole proprietorship, partnership, Private Limited Company or Limited Liability Partnership. The Personal liabilities, taxes, paperwork and regulations vary greatly among the different legal business structures. The business owner's attorney and accountant help to play a key role in assisting him in this important decision.

7. Decide on a business name

It seems obvious and simple, but the name is how the business will be known to the world. The right name says a lot about the business. The business owner must make a list of all the potential names and he must then narrow the list down to the one that best describes the company in a few words, while being catchy, easy to remember, easy to pronounce and easy to spell. The business owner must also consider how it would translate to a web domain name.

8. Get all necessary permits and licenses

Along with a business license, the business owner is also required to get additional licenses depending on the type of business and local laws. Many professionals, such as contractors and real estate agents, are required to licensed in the states in which they work. Additionally, he may need licenses to manufacture and/or sell specific products such as liquor, firearms or even lottery tickets and these licenses might be Import Export Code, Fssai License and so on. The business owner must thus Research all the licenses that are applicable in his state. It's also extremely important to know the zoning laws before the business owner opens a business.

Whether the business is a day or a year old, the business owner or a would be business owner must continuously set goals in order to move his business forward. He must Examine the competition, employees, investors and peers which helps him decide what new goals are needed to be set and what needs to happen in order to be successful.

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Every startup founders should understand Crowdfunding

 Every startup founders should understand Crowdfunding

Most people have heard about cryptocurrencies. Some have heard about ICOs. Few actually understand them. This post will tell you why ICOs are important news for startup founders. It will tell you how it all began and why the crowd is the best investor. In the process, you will learn about a prodigy of our time and see what communist regimes did wrong. In the end, founders have gotten a new tool for fund raising. Use it.

In 1997, a new era began.
For the first time ever, a rock band asked their fans to fund their upcoming tour. The fans went online and pledged $60,000. The press called it crowdfunding.

A decade later, crowdfunding would fund everything from paintings to high tech gadgets. In 2012, a dock for iPhones became the first project to raise more than $1 million on Kickstarter. Still, the biggest breakthrough was yet to come.

Crowdfunding mainly benefitted physical products. This makes sense, because physical products have tangible value. In comparison, software hadn't benefitted much. It was simply too hard to define what backers were pre-paying for. But that was about to change.

In 2013, a Russian prodigy named Vitalik Buterin made history. He designed a completely new Blockchain named Ethereum. It would prove to become a breakthrough in crowdfunding. Vitalik was 19 years old.
Ethereum makes it easy for developers to create new cryptocoins. And that is immensely important because cryptocoins solves the biggest problem about crowdfunding software.

Cryptocoins allows software projects to provide a tangible asset to backers. The projects can mint digital coins that represent a specific value. A simple example would be a coin that can buy a song in a music app. Anyone wanting a song could buy the coin. If enough people buy the coins, the founders have enough money to build the app. That’s called crowdfunding.
But that’s not all. If the backer no longer wants the coin, he can sell the coin someone else with a click of a button.
Already, ICOs have outpaced VC funding. And it's just getting started. I am about to tell you why.

The key to successful investing

Investing is fundamentally about information. The information investors need is this: How big will the demand be?
If you can assess how many people will use a new product, you also know how much to invest in the project.
How accurate you can assess the demand depends on how close the investor is to the demand. In other words, to the users.

The communist experiments of the 1950s show the consequences of making investment decisions too far from the demand. At the time, Moscow and Beijing decided how much food farmers should grow. But the communist elite had little feel for the true need. Economists call it: misallocation of resources. The consequences were catastrophic.

VCs exist because they have better feel for the demand for tech products than the big pension funds. In theory, VCs have superior information and can make better investment decisions.
However, there is a group with an even better feel for the demand. And that’s the users. They are the ultimate source of information because they are the demand side.

Why ICOs are great news for founders

Crowdfunding allows users to vote for products they want with their money. In aggregate, users are the ultimate investor and allocator of resources. If 100 backers need a product, the project receives exactly the right amount of funding to fulfill the demand.

For many software startups, the invention of cryptocoins is heaven sent. Most founders spent an enormous amount of time and effort to convince VCs that they have a market. Sometimes they succeed, but the investor takes a risk premium. The risk premium is unfair terms. Like milestones, liquidity preferences and downside protection.

But thanks to a young Russian prodigy, software startups can do what artists and gadget-makers have been doing for the past five years. To raise funding directly from users. And because users don’t have to guess the demand, they also don’t require risk premiums. The money comes without a nasty set of legal documents and a rigid due diligence.

Luckily, many have already taken advantage. As of this writing, software projects have raised more than $1 billion through ICOs. And many more will follow.
Many critics will point to fraudulent and overhyped projects. All of that is true. But that always happens in the early days of great innovations.

In time, ICOs will mature and software founders will finally have an alternative to the exhausting VC pitches.
At Accelerace, we will do our best to help founders take advantage.

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