Businessmen are faced with challenges on a daily basis that tend to give rise to stress. Balancing all that their jobs demand from them, as well as fulfilling the role that is needed in the home can prove to be a taxing juggling act. Especially in a lackluster economy, stress seems like an epidemic. "Nearly half of the 500 small-business owners surveyed in the United States reported increased stress because of the sluggish economy, with 35 percent reporting they regularly lose sleep and nearly a quarter saying their health had suffered," says Denver Post reporter Aldo Svaldi. Loss of Economic Security is the Greatest Stressor Loss of economic security is cited by the Washington Post as the greatest stressor. Executives are in a unique position because they are not only worried about their own financial wellbeing, but often are responsible for the security of a multitude of sales people under their leadership. Here are 5 ways to cope with and reduce business stress. Remember the bigger picture. Often we can let our problems get the best of us, even giving them power over us. Focusing on life as a whole and thinking about what is going right can often renew our perspective. Jotting down things that are going right is a good practice and will remind you that your present circumstances are not the whole story. Keep a clean work area. Cluttered desks and unorganized office space can contribute greatly to your anxiety. Taking a few moments in the morning to clear your office of any trash and put documents in places where you will be able to find them will save you time and energy. Exercising this type of control over your environment will boost your morale and give you a sense of power over your life. Practice meditation. Meditation could include slow breathing exercises. Former medical professional at the Washington Post, James Gordon, reports that simple meditative exercises have helped financial advisors, child-care workers, and veterans find an inner place of peace. Breathing deeply and slowly will relax your body as well as refresh your perspective. Focus on helping others. Though it would seem like time spent on doing simple acts of kindness would take away from the work you are trying to tackle, simply helping others will serve you well when stressed. Forbes cites the University of Pennsylvania’s studies that prove this fact. Focusing on service rather than your own issues will help you overcome your issues. Take control of your circumstances. Responsible individuals resist the temptation to procrastinate. When you are proactively solving your problems and fixing what you have control over, you are building within yourself a confidence that you have control over your own life. You’ll see the positive results every time you insist on getting things done. Are you taking control of your stress? Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/siimonreynolds/2013/03/25/6-ways-to-reduce-business-stress/ http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-09-29/news/36867089_1_anxiety-and-depression-stress-relaxation-response http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_22206437/small-business-owners-coping-greater-stress

Communicating messages over email is almost an art form. In email marketing, businesses don’t have the opportunity to present themselves with a smile and a firm handshake, leaving them with the delicate task of trying to capture the targeted individual’s interest with just a few words. Yet, email marketing has proven to be a smart investment for those who are able to execute it properly. In order to master the art of email marketing and keep customers and prospects coming back, businesses must first know what not to do. Email Marketing: What not to do Don’t send a blanket email. More often than not, a blanket email that has a piece of general information is not going to be relevant to your recipient. A solution to this is simply asking each registrar what demographic they belong to and sticking to that. Inc.com uses the example of a retail clothing salesman first pointing a man to the women’s section. Be sure to send relevant information. Make it simple. Though it’s tempting to make it an elaborate and fancy message, the user is much more likely to click on an email that has a simple format. A useful practice is setting one primary option, perhaps including a single, easily clickable link that will require less thought. Asking too much of the reader will guarantee a negative response. Consider the mobile use of the recipient. As NBC’s Suzanne Choney reports, "A striking 87 percent of smartphone owners check the internet or email on their phones, including 68 percent who do so generally every day." The increased use of mobile devices requires attention when building an email. A poorly formatted email on a phone will not only frustrate users and guarantee less clicks, it will make your business look less professional. This can be remedied by following the instructions above and making it clickable and easy to read. Make the subject line appealing. As said before, email marketers have a very small window of opportunity to catch the attention of their targeted audience. If the reader is not immediately interested in what you have to say, you can expect a quick delete. But with an exciting and announcing subject line, you can avoid being deemed as irrelevant. This requires great attention to who exactly your subscribers are, and what exactly they want. Don’t send too many. The final and most important of all not-to-dos when it comes to email marketing is not flooding the inbox of your recipient. We’ve all unsubscribed from email lists for this reason: we’re tired of having to delete so many. Obviously an increase of sales will be the reward if email marketing is done right, but getting carried away and sending too many will reverse your fortune. Are you email marketing effectively? Sources: http://www.inc.com/charlie-graham/email-marketing-mistakes.html http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/25-percent-use-smartphones-not-computers-majority-web-surfing-122259

Ron Shapiro, co-founder and Chairman of Shapiro Negotiations Institute (SNI), was featured in the Sports Business Journal’s 2013 class of Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business. Ron, along with the other 5 Champions, was recently honored for his achievements during a special ceremony on April 3 at the IMG World Congress of Sports in Naples, Florida. Ron was unable to accept the honor in person, so his son, David Shapiro, spoke on his behalf. Here is the brief video summarizing Ron’s accomplishments, experience, and expertise in the sports world as well as David’s speech:

According to Sarah Kilborne of the Huffington Post, email marketing enables companies to do three things at once: remind, promote, and boost sales. If done right, email marketing will do all three of these things, while building a stronger loyalty to your company. Quickly becoming embedded in the marketing world, email marketing, along with social media and mobile marketing, will grow to 26% of all advertising by 2016. According to Forrester’s interactive marketing forecast, advertisers will spend $77 billion on these marketing techniques. With numbers like these, executives who want to increase business sales and establish connections cannot afford to not advertise their company over email. But what are the benefits of this vital tool? Advantages of Email Marketing It saves time. When considering marketing techniques like those that involve mail or the telephone, you can see how email marketing carries a significant advantage. Less time and energy spent = more profit. Email marketing is a great improvement because it only takes a few hours to send a mass email to a very large audience. You can personalize emails. After a user registers with you on the web and subscribes to your email list, you can send them emails that have their name in them, outdating the old marketing techniques like phone calls that had a stereotypical salesman tone to them. This causes the targeted individual to feel more a part of your business. It enables you to communicate frequently. Email marketing has revolutionized the way companies stay in touch with their customers. Companies are able to keep their customers informed with less effort. However, flooding user’s inboxes with your emails will likely provoke frustration! It is less costly. Because it doesn’t require a team of marketing professionals, designers, or employees, email marketing has become one of the least costly ways of advertising a business. You can track users. Email marketing provides a usable and precise way to determine what your users are up to. Certain email marketing platforms offer businesses ways to monitor their customer’s interest in the emails, identifying what the company can do to make it more appealing. It is a green way to advertise. An obvious benefit, but one that can be overlooked, is how much better for the environment email marketing is. Email marketing is a smart decision that benefits the planet. This will likely be looked upon favorably by your customers who are trying to be more environmentally friendly. Are you taking advantage of email marketing? Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-s-kilborne/book-email-marketing_b_2502168.html http://www.forrester.com/US+Interactive+Marketing+Forecast+2011+To+2016/fulltext/-/E-RES59379?objectid=RES59379

There is no reason to have the members of your company’s team participate in an online training program if they are not going to implement what they’ve learned. This kind of training means that those who take part will be held accountable for their learning, and in most workplaces, the effectiveness of this accountability must be clearly delineated. The Kirkpatrick Model of Learning Measuring effectiveness of learning can be a somewhat amorphous process, but the most concrete way of actually determining learning effectiveness is by making sure that team members are achieving business objectives that have been set for them. This, however, cam be something of a confusing process. Interestingly enough, the measure is not necessarily about ROI. Because ROI refers largely to a tangible return of input to output, the measure of something like learning is a little fuzzier. The best way to achieve an accurate measure of long-term results, in the end, is probably to distinguish between accountability and effectiveness - objective number crunching versus the individual and overall team usefulness of the training. You’re improving workers - not numbers. The Kirkpatrick Model was created in the 1950s, and remains widely implemented today. The model relies on four well-researched levels of measuring learning. As you go up the ladder, the actual process of measuring becomes a little less concrete. Reaction. This refers to the participants’ thoughts and feelings about the training, which can be difficult to gauge. The best way to "measure" the response to learning is to solicit individual reactions through surveying or feedback sessions. Learning. What actual knowledge was gained? This is about the actual content of the training. Was it straightforward and transparent? Was the material clear and well delivered? In a school setting, results here would be best measured by administering a quantitative exam. In a work setting, this level of learning may be best understood by conducting an interview or observation. Behavior. We’re getting closer to achieving real results. The response to training in changed behavior is all about how the learning has been applied in a practical way. Is behavior different now, and if so, how? Is the change positive? Is the change sustainable? Results. Here we are - the greatest measure of learning effectiveness, and also in some cases the least tangible. How is the training affecting the overall environment and the actual outcomes within the workplace? Learning Effectiveness and Accountability When we talk about learning effectiveness, we’re talking about measuring outcomes, right? Person to person, measuring results is not so difficult. When it comes to implementing change, it is easy to observe what each team member is doing. With regard to the entire organization, the measure of how a process has changed as the result of blended training is a little harder to figure out. By letting these trainings be counted as an expense rather than an investment, business leaders are saved the project of objective measuring, an impossible task that does not necessarily provide concrete answers.

Anyone who works in sales knows that there are a lot of potential pitfalls - and they happen all the time. Avoid huge potential hitches by following these tips. Don’t trust a verbal agreement. While, according to this Forbes article, it’s not always legally required to have a written contract, it definitely serves as insurance. This is because a verbal agreement is completely impossible to prove, which means that it is very, very easy to lose a deal. The worst possible case, here, is if you’ve already communicated that it’s a done deal to the leadership team. Not true - not until you get it clearly in writing. Getting your contract in writing will also avoid dealing with a shady situation if the person who made the verbal agreement on the other end is not qualified to make that call. What if they’re not the decision maker? Get in touch with someone who is, schedule that person in, and make sure the deal is set. Always be prepared when you’re on the phone. Anyone who has worked in sales and had to make cold calls has probably experienced this. If an hour goes by and you have yet to connect with someone, you’re probably hitting the call button over and over without really paying attention to the dial tone. And then - suddenly - someone picks up! Rather than stammering at the speaker and trying to deliver your pitch with no warning, make sure you’re prepared. Know whom you are calling. Know why you are calling them. This means getting your research done beforehand, so that you’re able to start your chat with the reason for the call, and with some knowledge about the company you’ve got on the line. Still caught off guard? Don’t sweat it - just be transparent. If you crack a joke and admit that you were caught off guard, many people on the other end - even high-status executives - will be willing to forgive and forget, and you may even get a laugh out of them. Speaking of research… If you think you are prepared to make the call and you are already halfway through your pitch, avoid being blindsided. The person on the other end will know if you have no idea what their company does, and they will be highly inclined to call you out on it. When you do make the call, the very least you can do is to give the client’s website a quick once-over beforehand. Better yet, keep the webpage open while you are on the phone so you can quickly refer to it in a pinch. Working in sales is a challenging job, but with the right tools on your tool belt, you will be highly prepared to do your best and make sure all your potential clients are impressed.

Prospecting is arguably the most underrated part of the sales process. What many salespeople fail to realize is that putting in the proper time and effort into prospecting can make all the difference between a wasted week and a killer sales period. It is crucial that our partners develop the right systemic approach to prospecting. Here are four critical errors to avoid when it comes to prospecting.  1. Your Salespeople Are Not Prospecting At All. A disturbingly large number of sales professionals fail to do any prospecting at all. It may be due to "call reluctance" or even a skewed belief that proper prospecting is ineffective, but really, any prospecting is better than no prospecting at all. If your sales force is reluctant to prospect for whatever reason, you need to instill in them the right habits and tools to properly prospect.  2. Your Salespeople Talk Too Much. Generally speaking, salespeople need to feel comfortable talking to new people in order to succeed. However, many salespeople, especially young salespeople, make the mistake of talking too much when they are meeting with a prospect. Whether they are jumping right into the pitch process instead of asking the important questions, or attempting to preempt objections by overwhelming the prospect with information, if your salespeople are talking too much at the prospect, your company is losing sales. If you suspect that your salespeople are tanking their relationships with prospects by talking too much, there are a few valuable habits and tools that you can coach them on. First, you need to ensure that your salespeople are familiar with active listening and how to employ it to put the prospect at ease. Second, you need to coach them on your firm’s expectations for relationship building with the prospect. There is a time and place to hard sell, and the first time you meet with a prospect is definitely not the time or place.  3. Your Salespeople Make Presumptions About the Prospect. There is no quicker way to lose a prospect than by making unnecessary assumptions and presumptions about the prospect’s business. If your salespeople rush in to say things like "I can help you!" or "I know exactly what you need!" they are essentially disrespecting the prospect’s authority as a decision maker. Once again, if your salespeople are making this critical error, you may need to coach them on active listening as well as the proper way to point out the utility of your products or services.  4. Your Salespeople Forget the Goal (or Do Not Have One).  What is the goal when you meet with a new sales prospect? Arguably the goal is to make a sale, period. More often than not, however, the right goal for a first meeting with a prospect is to create a personal relationship on which a sale can be built later. If your salespeople are not approaching a new prospect with a concrete goal, they are at risk of damaging the relationship with the prospect. Remind your sales force that they must be goal oriented in their prospecting.   Sources: http://www.doncooper.com/top-ten-prospecting-mistakes-salespeople-make/ http://www.oneminuteu.com/default.taf?page=content&id=3027 http://www.inc.com/ss/4-mistakes-young-salespeople-make#3 http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/16-the-10-biggest-goofs-salespeople-make http://www.tcwmag.com/5-mistakes-salespeople-make/

Here are some troubling numbers for you: - Fewer than 55% of all sales reps regularly make their quota - 65% of all sales professionals give up on a sale after hearing their second "no" from a decision maker - 7 out of 8 companies will never achieve profitable growth, despite having adequately detailed strategic plans. If you are concerned that any of these statistics might eventually apply to you and your company, it is time for you to rethink how you approach your training, motivating and supporting your sales force. First, take stock of your situation. Have you identified your star performers, core salespeople and bottom third reps? If you have not yet grouped your sales force accordingly, you are missing a valuable opportunity to appropriately motivate your sales team. Super Sales Studs. Some people are just that good at sales. These are your superstar salespeople. Typically, they make making their quota look effortless and they do it by selling ice to the Inuit. These people tend to be almost entirely motivated by financial incentives, but they are the first to leave when a ceiling if placed on their ability to earn. Bottom Third. If you have developed an onboarding program that instills your sales team with the appropriate habits and tools to effectively make sales quotas, your bottom third should be made almost entirely of new people. Your bottom third are the first to become discouraged and can often not be counted on to do anything more than show up in the morning. Core Professionals. Your core performers probably do not get that much of your attention on a day to day basis. Core salespeople can be counted on to make their quota most of the time. They show up to work and will accomplish whatever task you hand them, but because they are not struggling or rocketing to the very top, you often miss the fact that they too can benefit from coaching and motivation. So now that you have figured out into which category each and every single member of your sales team falls, you can begin to coach them to be the best salespeople they can be. Here are some general rules and guidelines for being the most effective coach possible:  Find out what motivates your sales force. Apply individualized coaching strategies consistently. Allow your salespeople to invest themselves in their future with your company. Listen before you speak. Understand that small incentives yield big returns. With the proper coaching, even your bottom third will see massive improvements to their sales performance. Make sure that you are taking time each day or week to individually coach and support your salespeople.   Sources: http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/04/the-secret-of-sales-performance-infographic.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=linkedin http://www.wikihow.com/Motivate-Your-Sales-Team http://saleshq.monster.com/training/articles/991-how-to-motivate-your-slacking-sales-team- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-marketing/sales/seven-ways-to-motivate-your-sales-team/article11778433/ http://www.success.com/articles/1445-how-to-motivate-your-sales-staff http://blog.affinityexpress.com/2013/02/15/10-tips-for-supporting-the-sales-team-in-todays-environment/ http://intelligentdemand.com/resources/support-your-sales-team/ http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2012/10/how-to-coach-and-develop-winning-sales-teams.html

If you have been paying attention to legal news, you know that by this point in time, the United States government is building its case that Apple - headed at that point in time by the late Steve Jobs - engaged in a nefarious price fixing scheme for eBooks in the iBooks store. The courts ordered the release of a series of emails between Jobs and a number of News Corp. executives, including Rupert Murdoch’s son. Beyond the legal implications of the emails, reading them over it becomes clear that Steve Jobs had mastered many tactics about negotiations that added to his success. Here is what we can learn about the art of negotiation from Steve Jobs: 1. Listen Before You Speak. If you read the emails carefully, you will be able to notice that Steve Jobs never once makes an assumption about Harper Collins or News Corp. without getting direct confirmation or clarification from a member of the News Corp. team. By taking the time to get adequately informed, Steve Jobs sets himself up to give his terms without the risk of getting surprised by his opponents. 2. Present the Options. When Steve Jobs presents the options to News Corp., he is clear, concise and certain. In writing, Steve Jobs’ presented options look especially powerful because he numbers them and keeps each option to two sentences tops. By keeping the options brief, Steve Jobs is ensuring that News Corp. is aware that these options are the only options. 3. Speak Respectfully. The incredible thing about the Apple/News Corp. emails is that, despite the fact that the conversation is certainly heated, Jobs is never derisive or disrespectful. At all times during the negotiations process, he is careful to remain courteous and level-headed. While these three tactics added to his success, we disagree with his last tactic of backing them into a corner. He used the trick of slowly but surely backing the opponent into a corner where the only viable option is for them to acquiesce to your desires. While this may have added to his short-term gain, he could’ve improved by thinking more about the other side’s objectives to create a "WIN-win" deal that would’ve aided the advance of the relationship, deal, and further benefit both sides in the long term. Steve Jobs will be remembered as a lot of things. He brought us the iPhone, the MacBook and A Bug’s Life. He is now also being called a "ringmaster" in an eBook price fixing scheme. No matter how this lawsuit shakes out, he should also be remembered as a good negotiator whose willingness to hold fast resulted in many successful business maneuvers.

Take a minute to think about how you incentivize your sales force. Do you rely solely on the commission they can earn with a yearly or quarterly bonus thrown in for good measure? If so, you may be missing out on one of the most powerful ways to motivate your sales team. The fact of the matter is that not everyone can be sustainably motivated by commissions and bonuses. Some members of your sales force may prefer smaller, more regular incentives to motivate them to meet and exceed their sales goals. To find out how to best incentivize and motivate your salespeople, try this little thought exercise: Ask sellers how they would like to be rewarded if you have no money to spend, if you have $100, if you have $1000, or if you have unlimited dollars.  You may be surprised by the answers. Perhaps your top seller would prefer the opportunity to leave work in time to catch her son’s t-ball game more than she likes an extra few hundred dollars at the end of the quarter. Maybe your newest member feels a little shabby and would appreciate a gift card to a haberdashery to commemorate a training milestone. Once you have a good handle on what would truly incentivize your sales team, you will be able to begin a campaign to keep them motivated. Start Small. There is no reason why you should roll out a massively expensive campaign. Some of the best incentives are small ones. Here are some small (re: reasonably priced) incentives you can try for your sales team: Buy lunch for the top seller of the week. Gas compensation for quota-makers. "Earn" a day off by meeting and exceeding sales goals. Public commendation on the company social media websites when goals are met. (Bonus: It’s free!) Allow top salesperson to run a training session for newer sales professionals. (Also free, and for many people the opportunity to grow as a coach and leader is a huge motivator.) Don’t Forget to Recognize the Team. It is easy to remember to thank and incentivize your top sellers when they meet and exceed their goals, but it is just as important to commend the whole group when a given team meets their goals. Even if some members of the group did not meet their individual quota. Here are some ideas to recognize a whole sales team: Bring in bagels/donuts and coffee for team breakfast. (Food is a powerful motivator.) Consider increasing their commission, if feasible for your business plan. (Especially if this team consistently meets and exceeds their goals.) Give this team more autonomy in day-to-day operations. (They know what they’re doing, let them run with it!) Ultimately, offering small, regular incentives will provide your sales force with regular motivation to meet and exceed their sales goals, which is key to the growth and profitability of your business. Take some time to figure out the best incentives for your sales team and then put your plan into action. You will be amazed at the results!   Sources: http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/04/the-secret-of-sales-performance-infographic.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=linkedin http://www.wikihow.com/Motivate-Your-Sales-Team http://saleshq.monster.com/training/articles/991-how-to-motivate-your-slacking-sales-team- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-marketing/sales/seven-ways-to-motivate-your-sales-team/article11778433/ http://www.success.com/articles/1445-how-to-motivate-your-sales-staff http://blog.affinityexpress.com/2013/02/15/10-tips-for-supporting-the-sales-team-in-todays-environment/ http://intelligentdemand.com/resources/support-your-sales-team/ http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2012/10/how-to-coach-and-develop-winning-sales-teams.html