Suddenly I realized I was talking to a human, not a machine. I was dumbstruck. The last thing in world I expected was to get Vice President of Sales in person. No one ever answers phones anymore.

My mind went blank; everything I planned to say totally disappeared. Words came pouring out of my mouth. I bumbled. I stumbled. I sounded like a blathering idiot. I would have hung up on me!

Sure enough, VP was quick to cut in, “We don’t need any of that. We handle it all internally.”

Under just about any other circumstances, I would have taken comment in stride and addressed it easily. Instead, I sputtered, “Oh ... Well, thank you for your time,” and got off phone as quickly as I could.

Shaking my head at my own incredibly stupid behavior, I started to laugh ... and laugh and laugh. It couldn’t get any worse. Now, I was ready to make calls.

LESSONS LEARNED

1. NEVER, EVER call your best prospects first. When you’re selling something new, there are always glitches to work out and new obstacles to overcome. I tell this to every sales group with whom I work. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times. “Practice on your B or C prospects - ones you can afford to lose.”

2. Have a voicemail plan AND a real person plan Even though 95% of time you’ll probably get voicemail, you must have a contingency plan in case a human answers.

3. Be prepared for common obstacles too. When you’re selling you can almost count on hearing things like, “We don’t need any” or “We’re happy with our current vendors.” Don’t be stupid like I was and say, “Oh.” There are much better responses. Plan for them.

4. Make process a learning opportunity. If you don’t get reaction you hoped for or you run into some obstacles that are difficult to overcome, simply consider that feedback. Look at what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Make changes and try again. Don’t let yourself be defeated by a few rejections. Figure out what needs to be different and experiment. It truly isn’t end of world unless you let it be.

5. Laugh at yourself - we all make mistakes. Sometimes I can’t believe I actually called my best prospect first. I knew better. I also can’t believe I didn’t prepare for talking to a real person. Again, I knew better. Don’t ask me where my head was that week. I guess I just wanted to get out there and make things happen. And I really did want to do work with that company.

Fortunately, conversation was so short I didn’t make any lasting impression. I think I’ll call Peter again soon and do it right this time!

Jill Konrath, President of Selling to Big Companies, helps small businesses win big contracts. She has FREE monthly e-newsletter, "Quantum Leaps Selling: Ideas & Insights to Increase Sales.” To sign up, send a blank email to mailto:jill@sellingtobigcompanies.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Aren't there any other matters to consider in deciding whether to incorporate or not?

Higher administration costs to comply with company law, payroll and bookkeeping is one factor. Another issue is pension planning. Extracting profits out of company as dividends rather than salary means that there will be no "net relevant earnings" and therefore pension contributions can't be made. But advent of stakeholder pension plans has meant that contributions up to œ3,600 per year can be made without need for any earnings. If a person does not wish to transfer funds in existing plans into stakeholder because of high charges, there is a way out: best net relevant earnings (i.e. salary) in five consecutive years can be used for making contributions for next five years, even if there were no salaries in remainder four years. It is comforting to know that entitlement to basic state pension is not affected by taking a salary from company at level of a person's personal allowances i.e. œ4,615.

Furthermore, an individual may decide not to bother with pension plans and instead invest in ISA. Often, these can be more efficient than pensions but that's beside scope of this article. If that option is taken, no salary is necessary.

Another factor is business motoring. It might be tax advantageous for an unincorporated business that owns many cars not to incorporate because if these cars have some private use there will be benefits in kind taxed on users. These are generally higher than straight apportionment between private and business for all car running costs in case of sole traders.

The conclusion is that there can be considerable tax savings waiting sole trader who decides to go down road to incorporation. But, one needs to proceed with caution and careful planning. And don't forget biggest advantage of incorporation, which is Protection from Personal Liability. Incorporating is one of best ways to protect a business owner from personal liability. Shareholders of a company are generally not liable for obligations of company. Creditors of a company may seek payment from its assets, but not assets of shareholders. This means that business owners may engage in business without risking their homes or other personal property.

Thank you for taking time to read this Article. I hope you've found it useful. If you have, please drop me an email and let me know what you think.

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