Sales Vs Marketing

What is the simple difference between Sales and marketing????


Marketing is everything that you do to reach and persuade prospects.
The sales process is everything that you do to close the sale and get a signed agreement or contract.

Time to Leave the Company?

Below is a interesting article i read in

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/09/when_to_leave_your_company_to_advance_your_career.html?othersrcp=15246&wExp=N

How will you respond when opportunity knocks — and how can you prepare for success once it does?


First, think about why you're considering the change. If it's because you feel like you're not moving forward in your current company as quickly as your peers, don't rush into a new company. Instead start by soliciting what I call the feedback that really counts: how you are perceived by those who make promotional decisions in your company. What skills have you demonstrated? Which do you need to develop? And is there anything holding you back that you need to know about? Talented managers often get frustrated by their pace of career advancement, sign on with a new company, and run into the same problems that were an obstacle in their prior organization.
For example, Frank was a highly-skilled finance manager who advanced quickly early in his career based on his technical knowledge and desire for results. Over the past few years, however, his progress had stagnated, and he missed out on several promotions. Senior executives were encouraging. Hang in there; your time will come; things will open up soon. When he asked why he wasn't getting ahead, his boss suggested that he improve his "communication" skills. This surprised Frank since he prided himself in his ability to speak and write clearly, and communicating to his team had always been a priority. When he probed for specific examples of communications issues, it turned out that Frank was right. His communication skills were fine — it was his inflexible, "my way or the highway" style that was holding him back. According to his peers, he needed to listen better and not get locked into his own position when there were differences of opinion.
Unfortunately, Frank saw this as "playing politics" and an unnecessary impediment to getting things done. Anxious to move ahead, he used his contacts in the industry to find a new position — but ended up leaving his new job after only nine months. The official reason was that he wasn't a cultural fit. On one level this was true, but it didn't address the finer point. Frank had joined a highly-collegial firm that valued collaboration and consensus decision making, and his new peers described him as arrogant and unwilling to learn how the company did things before rushing to try to sell his plans to senior management.
It's usually easier to tackle leadership problems like Frank's in your current company where you know the business and the players than in a new organization where people are less forgiving. Don't underestimate the challenges of trying to address them when you join a new company, since you'll be facing a lot of pressure to learn the ropes, develop a new set of relationships, and produce results fast.
That said, there are certainly times when you should explore the outside job market to increase the pace of your career advancement.

It's probably time to consider moving on if you face one of the following situations:

1) you've been passed over multiple times and have not succeeded in ferreting out the real scoop about the skills you need to display to move ahead; or

2) you are locked in your current position by a long-tenured manager and have been unsuccessful in engineering a move to a new part of the organization.

If that's the case, the company may implicitly be telling you that it's quite happy to see you continue in your current role.
If venturing into the job market as the economy rebounds is on your radar screen, now's the time to take some proactive steps. How strong is your external network? Too often managers focus virtually all of their attention on their companies and become internally focused, thus cutting themselves off from outside perspectives and sources of information. If you're in that boat, get active in industry and professional groups or civic/community organizations that can expand your range of contacts.
Beyond serving as your eyes and ears regarding new job openings, members of your network can help you determine whether a new company would fit well with your style. In what kind of environment do you thrive? Do you prefer a fast-paced company that stimulates a fair amount of internal competition or a more methodical firm that puts a premium on planning and getting everyone on board with new initiatives? Keep in mind that most external searches take four to six months to complete — and then the company gives you a weekend to decide whether or not to accept a job offer. If the time is approaching for you to test the outside market, get out ahead of the curve and build a network that can quickly put you in touch with people who know the new firm and help you know if you'll be part of the 50 percent of new hires who will make it.

Brainteaser I

Why are manhole covers round?

Here's how to "solve" this brainteaser (remember to speak and reason out loud while solving this brainteaser): Why are manhole covers round? Could there be a structural reason? Why aren't manhole covers square? It would make it harder to fit with a cover. You'd have to rotate it exactly the right way. The pipes below are also round, so fitting them might be easier, as might be making them. So many manhole covers are round because they don't need to be rotated. There are no corners to deal with. Also, a round manhole cover won't fall into a hole because it was rotated the wrong way, so it's safer. Looking at this, it seems corners are a problem. You can't cut yourself on a round manhole cover. And because it's round, it can be more easily transported. One person can roll it.


-- Read this article in http://blogs.vault.com/blog/interviewing/the-6-trickiest-interview-questions-and-how-to-nail-them/?othersrcp=15243&wExp=N

Customer Expectation

What do your customers really want from you? No matter what your industry, your customers want more than just great products and workable solutions.

What they really want to know is that you--personally--are the type of person whom they can trust to get the job done. Here are the seven things they want to see in you:

1. Independent Thinking

Customers want to know that you'll represent their interests, even it's not in your own financial interest--and particularly when the proverbial chips are down. (Of course, it's your job to make certain that the chips stay up.)

2. Courage

Customers want to know that you can be trusted to do the right thing. They expect you to tell them if buying what you're selling is a mistake, or not truly in their interests. That takes real guts.

3. Pride

The best customers don't want you to truckle and beg. Because they're trusting you to deliver, they want to work with proud, successful people who can handle even the most difficult tasks.

4. Creativity

Customers don't have the time to sit and listen to cookie-cutter sales presentations. However, they always have time for somebody who can redefine problems and devise workable solutions.

5. Confidence

Customers are taking a risk when they buy from you. They both need and expect you to exude the kind of confidence that assures them you'll do what it takes to make them happy.

6. Empathy

Customers want you to see the situation from their perspective. They want you to understand where they are, how their business works, and the challenges that they face--not just intellectually, but in your gut.

7. Honesty

Above all, customers want you to be honest with them. In fact, the previous six values are built upon a foundation of honesty. Without honesty, you have absolutely nothing to offer any customer.


---- Read in a recent mail fwd

Customer Relation Quote

What sells? Good products and services are important but good relationships and references open doors and close deals.

Customer LifeCycle

Prospective Customers: The First Phase of the Customer Life Cycle

Before your customers are actually your customers, they are simply prospects who may or may not be aware of your product, brand, or company. Your job, as a marketer, is to first make them aware of your product, brand, or company and then peak their interest enough that they will convert to an active customer or user. Once you have their interest peaked, of course, your next job is to provide the trust, security, and incentive that they need to overcome any barriers or obstacles and become a registered or paying user or customer. This phase of the customer life cycle – the process of converting a prospect into a customer or user - is often the most challenging. It involves a marketing acquisition budget as well as an awareness of what will transition prospects from "just interested" into fully engaged.

 

New Customers or Users: The Second Phase of the Customer Life Cycle

So, now you've converted a prospective customer or lead into a paying or registered customer. That's great and shows that you have some real marketing skills. However, ideally you want your new customer or user to be a customer or user who has a long term relationship with you, not just one who purchases one time and then never returns. Think of this phase of the customer life cycle as though it's like the early phases of dating. Your new customer has been "sold" enough on you to go out on one date or make one purchase, but they're not sure if you're a long-term commitment yet! It's your job to build a relationship with them so that they continue to return, interact, and purchase from you for a long time to come. Again, the quality of your product or service will certainly matter here, but so will the way in which you communicate with your customer and show them that you respect their privacy, time, and, most importantly, business.

 

Active Customers or Users: The Third Phase of the Customer Life Cycle

Now you've converted a prospective customer into a paying or registered customer. This is the stage at which you need to not only impress the customer with the quality of your product, but also follow-up with them to build a relationship, make them feel important to you, and ensure that, when they think of you, those active customers think of returning to you. If we're still using the dating analogy, think of this as the time when you make sure that you're always being polite and wearing your best clothing when you communicate with the customer!

 

Repeat or Loyal Customers or Users: The Fourth Phase of the Customer Life Cycle

If you've managed to get a customer over the first two hurdles, converting them from a prospective customer or lead to an active customer and then from an active customer to a repeat customer, you should be congratulated! Earning loyal customers who will make repeat purchases or visits to your website or service is quite a marketing accomplishment. Once your customers become repeat customers, the aggressiveness and frequency with which you want to communicate with them will diminish, but it certainly won't disappear. You'll want to make sure that customers are being reminded that they are important to you, as well as being given reasons and incentives to remain loyal. There's always a competitor out there ready to move in on your user or customer base. Your best tool to retain customers who have become repeat or loyal customers is to keep an ongoing dialogue with them through all of your marketing communications channels, including email.

 

Lapsed Customers or Users: The Fifth Phase of the Customer Life Cycle

Unfortunately, even a loyal or repeat customer may eventually lose interest or contact. When a customer has gone a significant amount of time without interacting with your brand or company or purchasing a product, they are referred to as a "lapsed" customer. In most cases, you will break your lapsed customers down into two to three groups. It's common to consider short-term lapsed, long-term lapsed and "seasonally lapsed" customers differently. However, how you define what those groups are (and perhaps how you develop your own segmentation for lapsed customers) will depend greatly on your product, industry segment, or customer base. If, for example, you sell shoes, a customer who didn't purchase from you once a quarter would easily be considered lapsed as shoes are a constant and ongoing need. If, however, you only sell snow boots, you wouldn't expect customers to purchase from you over the summer, so the time between purchases to define a lapsed customer and the point in the year when you would want to contact lapsed customers would be different. Essentially, a lapsed customer is a customer who has not made a repeat purchase within a time frame that you have defined as the time between which active customers typically make purchases.

Inactive or Abandoned Customers or Users: The Sixth Phase of the Customer Life Cycle

Of course, some lapsed customers may eventually turn into inactive or abandoned customers who no longer purchase or interact with your company. Some of these inactive customers will have reasons for no longer having a relationship with your company that you cannot control, such as a bad experience with customer service or a change in their financial situation. However, many inactive customers may simply have forgotten about you, been lured away by competition, or simply need an incentive to re-purchase for you. Customers in this phase of the customer life cycle should be divided into two groups – customers who should not be communicated with at all any more and customers that you hope to win back via a customer communication or marketing campaign.

Of course, within this customer life cycle, different customers will have different values (some will spend more and be worth more to acquire, retain or win-back). However, no matter how big or small the value of the customer, their customer life cycle and relationship with your company, product, or brand will most likely follow the cycle or path outlined above. Fortunately, if you know the likely life cycle or pattern of a customer, you can make changes to your customer communications or marketing strategy to try to optimize the length of time and the value that a customer brings to your business.

 

 Reference: http://www.comm100.com/

 

Good One on Attention and Concentration

Napoleon Hill said the following words about attention:

“Controlled attention is the act of coordinating all the faculties of the mind and directing their combined power to a given end. It is an act, which can be achieved only by the strictest sort of self-discipline.”

“Learn to fix your attention on a given subject, at will, for whatever length of time you choose. You will have learned the secret to power and plenty! This is concentration.”

“Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don’t want!”