Peggy’s Pointers

Do you know how to craft an effective 30-second commercial?  Most commercials that you hear at networking events really do not give you a clear idea of what that person is all about.

Some of the key elements of a well-crafted 30-second commercial will:

• Paint a verbal picture.
• Establishes you as an expert in your field.
• Profiles you and your company.

The standard 30-second commercial goes something like this:

Hello, I’m Lucy Jane and I’m an Account Rep with Joe Bob’s Freight Company. We are looking for prospective clients who ship anything. We have the best rates in town and provide excellent service.

Blah! Blah! Blah!

Using the 3 elements listed above here is how Lucy might re-phrase her commercial:

When was the last time that you had an order to ship and the freight company damaged it? It was returned by the customer and you lost money?

For the past 25 years, Joe Bob’s Freight Service has been rated in the top 5 out of 25 delivery service organizations in the region by the East Texas Business Journal based upon our excellent dependability, reliability and expedient services.

Today I’m looking for an introduction to Jimmy Joe, Operations Manager at Ralph’s Refrigeration Corporation.

My name is Lucy Jane and I’m the Regional Sales Manager for Joe Bob’s Freight Service.

When you are more detailed with explaining your target market, being more precise on the product and/or service you provide, and describe your value proposition thoroughly, your commercial will be more effective.

Source:  “5 Key Steps to Effective Business Networking” – Peggy P. Edge © 2012.

Hugh Prather wrote in “Notes to Myself,” “If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing then the desire is not to write.”

With the invention of social media, that is all we are doing now is writing.  All of us are writing about something–our likes, dislikes, our religious persuasion, our political stance, comments on cats, dogs, ex-husbands and wives, etc.

Because every single one of us is an expert in something, now we have the venue to spout out our innermost thoughts and opinions.

For years, I thought my only expertise was what I did for a living–packaging.  I don’t know everything there is to know about packaging but after 30 years in the industry, I think I’ve learned a thing or two about the subject.

Most recently I have discovered I know a thing or two about several other topics:  business networking; sales training; mentoring.  Why?  Because over almost 30 years in industrial sales, I have some pointers and tips that I can teach other, younger salespeople as well as share my expertise in having owned 2 businesses.

Wow!  I’m a writer now!  You can be too.  Pick up that pen and pad and write what’s on your heart.  It doesn’t matter if you post it on FB, Twitter or any other media but what happens is that it is exciting and exhilarating when you are finished.

Let me know what is on your mind that you are writing about today.

To be effective in your business networking, You’ve Gotta Look and Act Professional!

These tips seem simple enough but after many years as a leader in a business-to-business networking organization, these are some key elements that must always be kept in mind when preparing to attend these types of events.

• • Dress for Success – to be considered professional, you must dress like you mean business!
  • Bring plenty of business cards, pen, and paper.
  • Look people in the eye when greeting and speaking to others.
  • Always give a firm handshake.
    • Ladies, shake a man’s hand like you mean it.
    • Gentlemen, shake a lady’s hand like you would another man…do not give a soft or limp handshake.

Excerpt from “5 Keys to Effective Business Networking” by Peggy P. Edge © 2012.

Good Morning Everyone,

This blog is going to be all about tips, tricks, and pointers on how to have “The Edge” over your competition.

For 30 years, I have attended sales seminars, heard some of the best in the industry of leadership, management, sales and training.

I realized recently when my husband and I downsized our home that many things that we had collected over the years were going to have to be sold, given away, thrown away, or stashed in the attic.

One of the things that I discovered in cleaning out my office was folders on top of folders of notes from these many seminars that I have attended over the years since I graduated from college in 1976.

Back in those olden days, personal computers had not even hit the market.  They would not come along until in 1983-84 thereabouts.  At least that was my first recollection of their existence.

Therefore, when you went to any type of seminar, you received a handout of some sort and you took copious notes.

Some of you younger folks who are in sales might say, “What in the world can I learn from tips that are 37 years old?”  Well, oddly enough, the basics of selling one-on-one have not changed too terribly much.

For example, many sales organizations still rely heavily on cold calling.  They require even their senior account executives to do a certain amount of what we call “dialing for dollars.”

Now days, companies purchase lists of prospective clients that have been tailored made for their particular products and services, streamlined to reach their target market and have been given the name of the contact person to call.

Whether you have been in sales for 40 years or 4 days, your main objective that you have been given by your sales manager is “to go sell something today!”

I will be intertwining a variety of: sales techniques, do’s and don’ts of prospecting, examples of my many years of experience…some are quite humorous…like the time my boss was chewing on my leg as I drove him around to see some of my clients and I threatened to put him out on the side of I-35 in Dallas if he kept berating me!  Yes, that is a true story and I was a serious as a heart attack that day, even if it meant that I got fired.

© Peggy P. Edge, 2013