o Write down or review your annual and quarterly income goals. Break that down further into monthly income goals.

o Then decide how many houses, policies, hours or consulting, cars or whatever, you have to sell each month to achieve that goal.

o Decide what is your Prospect to Client Ratio, ie: on average how many people do you have to ask for business before you get a yes. In most cases depending on your product service and industry you may have to offer opportunity to between seven to 25 or more people before you someone actually says yes and gives you an order.

o Once you know your Prospect to Client Ratio, you can calculate how many qualified prospective clients you have to ask for business every week to achieve your goals.

For example if you need 5 sales a week and you have to ask 25 people on average before one person agrees to buy then you have to ask 25 people 5 days a week to buy.

When you do these calculations number of people you must ask for business could be up to five times greater than what you are doing currently. Do not be discouraged. Sales is like any business skill and like any muscle in your body, it takes time to develop and strengthen. If you hold steadfast to your goal and figure out how to generate necessary number of prospects coming through your sales pipeline, eventually you will find it workable to meet with number of prospects you need to achieve your goal.

Once you are asking enough people every week for business, next thing to look at is how are you asking. Are you asking timidly, can your prospects hear fear in your voice or do you convey confidence and enthusiasm when you speak to your potential clients? I hope you do latter. Even if you are making 100 sales calls a day if you are conveying anger, confusion or frustration in your voice no one will say yes. You must make your calls with enthusiasm and confidence.

The only way to meet your goals is to successfully ask for business as often as you can. Do not worry about who says no and who says yes, if you ask enough people you will definitely get some yeses. Focus on your goal, making your predetermined number of sales. When someone turns you down do not dwell on it, that depletes your energy and your self-esteem and makes it harder to ask next time.

At one of my recent public speaking workshops a participant gave me a page from a calendar that said on it "Hurrah, I did thing I feared most. Excuse me while I cheer. Now here I stand a stronger soul and all I've lost is fear. " Embrace rejection, remember every no is closer to a yes and you will gain more success for yourself and all you will have lost is fear.

4. If one of your customers happens to be a celebrity, their endorsement will pay huge returns. Many celebrities are willing to help a small business owner without expecting any compensation. A free tune-up once a year or an occasional dinner or some specimen lawn plantings, etc., would be a small price to pay to reciprocate for their generosity.

5. Find an expert in your field and offer them your product or service for free. You'll end up with an honest appraisal of your business product or service and quite possibly a testimonial from an "expert".

Set up your own system to collect testimonials and use powerful messages that you receive from them to grow your business.

© 2003 ODEC _______________________________________

Mike Burstein has been writing for SOHO and Small Business market for over 10 years. He has helped countless small business owners solve start up problems, create best practices, automate their offices, get free publicity and dramatically increase traffic and sales.

Visit http://www.SOHOWiz.com for latest FREE business tips. Email Wiz at: mailto:SOHOWiz@SOHOWiz.com

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