Daily Biz Solutions

Mobile Technical Institute’s newly released Spring/Summer Success Seminar Series schedule for Mobile, AL business training and computer training classes is now available and can be viewed at www.mobiletechwebsite.com.

Hands-on computer software application training classes include Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft Office 2007, Computer Basics, Crystal Reports, and more.

Professional development classes offered at the MTI’s Mobile, AL training facility during spring/summer 2009 include: Internal Investigations Essentials, Customer Service Essentials, Leadership Essentials, Behavior Based Interviewing, High Impact Public Publicity, Buyer Driven Selling, Grant Writing Essentials, and more.

Mobile Technical Institute specializes in convenient training solutions focused on the needs of employers and employees in Mobile and Baldwin counties in Alabama and Jackson and Harrison counties in Mississippi.

MTI’s training solutions include hands-on instructor-led computer classes, dynamic professional development seminars, custom corporate training solutions; continuing education credit for a wide variety of licensed professionals, online training classes, and certification testing. The institute also provides on-site training nationwide, and provides a variety of human resources consulting and information technology consulting services to a diverse group of clients.

For more information, call 251-478-6848 or see www.mobiletechwebsite.com.

Buyer-Driven selling is a customer-focused approach to selling.  You talk to a client or a potential client.  You uncover a need.  You fill that need.  They buy your product.  You service the client.  They’re happy.  You get paid.  The first two steps in a Buyer-Driven Sales approach are (1) building trust and (2) building belief.  Trust is something you build with your prospect or client.  Belief is something you build in yourself.

Cultivating Client Trust
So, how do you develop trust? In order to get a client to trust you, you have to be trustworthy.  You have to do what you say you’re going to do. If you tell the decision maker that you’ll call on Tuesday then call on Tuesday.  Otherwise, you lose credibility.  Those little things that you do initially will make or break you. 

Further, you have to want success for your clients.  You have to want to help them.  You have to keep your survival instincts – “What’s in it for me?” in check.  Of course, we all go to work every day to make a living.  If they stopped giving us money, we’d stop showing up.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t really care about your clients.

If you’ve got to go somewhere every day, why not go somewhere where you really believe you can make a difference?  You have to look for what’s in it for them – your clients, not for you.  Here’s the hard part – if you don’t, you probably won’t.  Either you care or you don’t.  Can you succeed without really caring?  Yes, but not to your fullest potential.  Someone who cares more will always out-sell you. 

Building Belief in Yourself
It is also imperative that you believe in your product and in yourself.  If you don’t have that basic belief, then you need to figure out why and fix it.  If you get to the end of a presentation and you’re scared to ask for the money, then you don’t believe in something.  You either don’t have confidence in your ability to recognize a problem and solve it or you don’t think you’ll be able to deliver what you promised, or maybe you think your product is inferior. 

So, how do you fix this?  If you don’t believe in yourself, go to a seminar, read a book, take a class.   All of these things build your knowledge and your confidence.  If you know more, you feel more qualified to do the job.  If you don’t know your product, learn it.  Know the strengths and weakness of each product you represent.  Know that if your client has a problem, you can find a solution.  You’ll never be scared to take the call, make the appointment or ask for the order if you know your business. 

If you don’t believe in your product, go back to “you don’t know your product”.  You could still be the problem. If you are a decent sales person and your product just stinks – why would you continue to convince people to buy it?   You can sell an inferior product but you shouldn’t have to. 

Preparing to Succeed in Consultative Selling
If you believe in who you are and what you represent and know your product then your clients will trust you and you will get the order.  Using a buyer-driven approach to selling is always the best way. It’s simply the best solution for you and best for your clients.

About the Author
Michelle C. Ritter is a the owner of E-Worc.com, a web design and sales consulting company where she works with many types of product and service based industries in developing sales and marketing plans and effective online programs. She specializes in cross-industry communication and teaches a series of seminars for Mobile Technical Institute & MTI Business Solutions, that focus on teaching others to enjoy success in sales by learning how to speak in the language of the buyer.  Register online for Ritter’s next Mobile, AL sales training seminar.

A new AARP national survey has found that workers age 50 and over are satisfied with employer-based training programs offered to them (79 percent), and they participate in those programs in large numbers.

But while two-thirds (67 percent) of workers questioned online said that they received all of the training they had desired or made no requests in the previous two years, one in four (24 percent) reported that they were able to participate in only some of the training desired. Another 8 percent said they were unable to participate in any of the training desired.

The inability to participate in work-based training was especially acute with low-income and less-educated individuals. For example, more than eight in ten (85 percent) workers with at least a four-year college degree had taken employer-based training within the previous two years, compared to only 50 percent of workers with a high school degree or less.

Given the somewhat uneven participation rate, the study called for working to ensure “that training opportunities are offered and clearly communicated to all workers,” including those with less formal education.

The report also suggested that organizations consider creative ways to bridge the educational barrier by making training more appealing to those with less education by customizing approaches to training, depending on workers’ needs.
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