The only time I think testimonial won’t work is if they are from the wrong source. For example if you have a testimonial from your local Brownie leader it won’t mean much to big corporates. In that case it will be quite irrelevant. Your testimonials need to be meaningful to your target audience.

Personally I think the more testimonials the better. Use them wherever you can. If you have a gap in your sales letter or a space at the bottom of it, use a testimonial. You can use them in almost any form of marketing. Dan Kennedy who is a sales and marketing guru subscribes to this train of thought. He uses as many testimonials as much as possible.

Now some people may say how do you break into the corporate market and use testimonials to help you when you haven’t worked with corporates before? Do you use testimonials from other market sectors? Or do you leave them out altogether?

• Ask my previous corporate employers for a reference. You may not have worked for them as an outside contractor but they will still know you and be able to comment on your work ethic. You can use this as a legitimate testimonial, even if you just use selected extracts. Anything along the lines of “She was a valued team member” or “He achieved the top sales results” shows your commitment to work.

• Draw on all your previous experience. While employed you may have worked with a certain big name corporate. Don’t try to make out as though they were your client, but you can say that you have done work for them. It’s quite legitimate to say you conducted corporate sales training on how to generate business insurance leads, for example.

• If you have a coaching business and you’ve mostly worked with individuals you can still use their testimonials. Think about how many of your clients work for large companies. Ask them for a character reference to add to your testimonials.

Testimonials are an important part of building credibility in your industry. Take every opportunity possible to collect feedback from your customers. Post these testimonials on your business to business website. Use them in sales letters, leaflets and brochures. You can even use them in presentations and seminars. Word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools. Testimonials are effectively written word of mouth referrals that you can use again and again. Be diligent about collecting testimonials and don’t be shy to use them. If you’re and expert and other people endorse that it is the best way to grow your business.

I’m not anti-cold calling at all. If I felt it was the best way to promote my business I would do it in a heart beat. In fact when I started my business I was doing effective cold calling training. There is a place for it with large businesses selling their products and services because they have the resources to make it work effectively.

But what I found is that as a small business owner there are downsides to cold calling. More importantly there are more effective ways to attract corporate customers.

You can set up an internet online marketing advertising business and you may even be an expert in providing creative marketing solutions. But if you are the person cold calling your prospects to tell them that, it doesn’t really align with the positioning of you being an expert in the industry. They’ll never say it, but what they’re thinking is: “If you’re such an expert, why haven’t I heard of you?” An expert is someone you hear about from a colleague of friend. You read about them in the local newspaper. You hear about their talks and seminars and you can read up about them online. If you want to market yourself more effectively, you need to position yourself at an expert.

Cold calling unfortunately is never going to be as effective or deliver the same results. There is a big difference between cold calling clients or have them call you. Attracting corporate customers is all about expert positioning.  As a small business owner you have limited resources but your expert positioning is possibly your biggest asset. Your knowledge and expertise is at the heart of your business to business selling success. And your expertise is much more believable if other people are talking about it rather than you selling yourself in a cold call.

So how do you let corporate customers know about your expertise if not by cold calling?

There are a few methods I’ve used that I have found to be very effective. It’s part of my one-to-many marketing strategy.  Here are three examples of strategies that have worked for me:

• Take out classified adverts for specific target markets. Not big glossy adverts. I am not trying to sell in the classified adverts, I am just trying to get customers to raise their hands and say “Yes I am interested in that”

• I have used direct mail advertising very effectively. Even though it requires some investment, I know it gets my name out there and it gets customers calling me.

• I also use articles which I get printed in targeted trade publications. This gets my voice out to my target market and helps my positioning as an expert.

Using these methods is far more effective because you are getting corporate customers to step towards you. The best part is that this is possible with small business resources and you can target anyone, even large corporate customers.

You are not chasing after them. Instead you are getting them to call you. Every incoming call is a potential customer who is already presold. What a great sales opportunity!

Now, I’m going to make it real easy for you.   If you want to say “Bye-bye” to cold-calling – then I’m inviting you to listen in to this amazing FREE Success Series (FREE for limited time only) =>  10 big B2B Selling Experts are sharing their secrets with you.   Register here:   www.sellingtocorporatessummit.com

On the call you will discover:

• 6 key ways to know if working with corporate clients is right for you
• 2 types of service providers that won’t sell well to the corporate market
• 5 of the biggest advantages you will have when working with corporate clients
• 3 tried-and-true ways to get your foot in the door with corporate clients
• How to play up your small business status to get more corporate clients wanting to work with you
• The Strategic Alliance Strategy you can use to get their current vendors promoting you (for free!)
• 3 quick start tips you can use today to find your ideal corporate buyers
• 3 major myths you may be telling yourself that’s stopping you from landing lucrative corporate clients

It’s all going to be covered at the 1^st ever “Selling To Corporates” Success Summit – September 2011.

Angelique will be joined by 10 other marketing experts including …  Bernadette Doyle, Angelique Rowers, Ian Brodie, Tom Searcy, Ari Galper and MORE!    FREE online event for LIMITED time only.  GRAB your ticket while you can:

Click Here For More Details

On the call you will discover:

• The single biggest mental shift you can make to sell to corporates in no time
• Why pitching your services and products will never work
• The secret process you can use to get your corporate prospects actually talking to you
• How to identify your hidden sales triggers that make your prospects go into “fight or flight” mode
• Why focusing on the sale is actually why you’re losing huge contracts
• How to follow-up after sending information, without “chasing your prospect”
• How to easily move the sales process forward without having to put pressure on your prospect
• How to sell authentically and with integrity to corporates…and actually land a ton more clients
• The #1 sales technique you must never do again…and why this is critical to your success in promoting your products and services
• How to intentionally shift the way you present your products and services so you are actually heard

It’s all going to be covered at the 1^st ever “Selling To Corporates” Success Summit – September 2011.

Ari will be joined by 10 other marketing experts including …  Bernadette Doyle, Angelique Rowers, Ian Brodie, Tom Searcy, Pete Bennett and MORE!    FREE online event for LIMITED time only.  GRAB your ticket while you can:

Click Here For More Details

So many small business owners make this mistake. I had a guy describe his business to me and he said: “We provide a complete printing solution to small to medium sized companies”. Now that may well describe what his business does, but it doesn’t really describe what his customers need. He is not speaking his customer’s language.

I have something I call the “wake up in the morning test”. If I am thinking about something and I wake up in the morning, what is the phrase I use to describe what I am looking for? To use the example above: If I was looking for a printer would I wake up and think: “I need a company that provides a complete printing solution to small to medium sized companies”.  Or would I think: “I need a printer for my conference invitations?”

What should you be saying on your Business to Business Website?

In your small business you can create a very effective home based marketing campaign by simply learning to speak your customer’s language.  Robert Collier, a well known copywriter describes this perfectly. He says: “One of the keys to selling is you have to enter the conversation that is already going on in the prospect’s mind.” In other words shift your thinking away from what your business does and start talking in terms of what your customers could be thinking and feeling.

Put it this way. If I am walking down the street and I’m thinking “I need to find something to wear for that function next week.” Those are the thoughts my mind is processing. If I happen to turn a corner and there in the shop window I see a tailored suit in the perfect colour, do you think I am just going to walk on by?  Of course not! I’m going to go into the shop, have a look at the price tag and try it on.  Chances are if it’s in my budget and fits well I’m going to buy it.

Marketing Tips to help you start Attracting Corporate Clients

• Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Think about the language they would use if they were searching online for your services. What could they be looking for and how would they describe it?
• Run through the “wake up test” to help you start thinking in your customer’s language. Think of what you do as a business but don’t stop there. What ‘wake up test’ phrases might customer use when looking for what you offer?
• What pressing needs might your customers have? What solutions might they be looking for? What targeted marketing solutions will speak directly to these needs?

When you learn to speak your customer’s language you can have directors of large companies dropping what they are doing to call you. You can have them hooked simply by speaking directly to their need and offering a solution. Corporate sales training is most effective when you are speaking your customer’s corporate language.

If you want to learn how to attract corporate customers  and turn your corporate sales leads into profit, then I have something special for you and it’s FREE (for a short time only).   Register for the www.SellingToCorporatesSuccessSummit.   You’ll learn from B2B and Corporate Sales Experts like Angelique Rewers, Tony Parinello and Tom Searcy.   They are just 3 in a line-up of 10 experts.   Remember, just one web marketing tip could be the tip to totally turn your business around.   Enjoy!

On the call you will discover:

• How to leverage being a freelance trainer to get your foot in the door with your ideal corporate clients
• 4 powerful ways to overcome the top challenges you may face when getting in front of your potential corporate clients
• Why being aggressive in your marketing actually does not work…and how to be yourself to get more clients!
• How to stand out from the overcrowded trainer market when selling to corporates
• The easiest way to increase your rates when working with corporate clients
• A simple 5-step system you can use to get more clients to hire you!
• The #1 mistake you may be making right now that is easily costing you thousands of dolloars in lost leads…and how to quickly turn this around in your favor
• Why talented trainers are discouraged in their search for the ideal clients…and the single fastest way to creating more success for you today

It’s all going to be covered at the 1^st ever “Selling To Corporates” Success Summit – September 2011.

Sharon will be joined by 10 other marketing experts including …  Bernadette Doyle, Angelique Rowers, Ian Brodie, Tom Searcy, Ari Galper and MORE!    FREE online event for LIMITED time only.  GRAB your ticket while you can:

Click Here For More Details

A lot of people that work in a stuffy corporate environment can be miserable. They work set hours, often long hours. They constantly feel they have to watch their back, and they are ever fearful that they may make the wrong decision. To make things worse, things such as praise or validation are often in short supply. Thinking back, those are probably some of the reasons you and I left the corporate environment and became entrepreneurs or our own small business owners.

So how can you use this to your advantage?

One thing about my work – is that I love what I do.  Likely you do too.  You’re likely passionate about your offering.   You could be doing something specific like working on marketing plans for financial advisors or something more general like offering business marketing consulting services – whatever the case, you can be the breath of fresh air than an organization needs. You can be the person who provides validation and encouragement.  You can be the person walking around a corporate business spreading fairy dust. Being the person that can see solutions, listen to ideas and encourage people in their work is like working magic in the lives around you.

Once you learn how to build relationships business to business business consulting can be a lot of fun.

The thought of having to deal with internal politics used to really put me off. That’s not who Bernadette Doyles is, I used to tell myself. But then I started to learn how to play the game. And I actually started to enjoy it. It is not just about learning how to make political manoeuvres.  It is about understanding the game, understanding how corporates work. When you can do that everyone wins.

• Understanding how corporates work helps you provide targeted marketing solutions to corporates. Knowing what is important to people in the organization, what their motivations and interests are help you to meet those needs more accurately. It helps you to become invaluable to the organization.

• Understanding how corporates work helps you to create real business proposals that actually win you clients. When you understand the corporate dynamics you learn to write proposals that speak to more than one person. It is not just a summary of your first meeting. Rather it is a winning business proposal that can be understood by anyone in the organization.

• Understanding how corporates work helps you to understand the importance of business continuity. Remember corporates don’t like to rock the boat. They want results, but they don’t want dramatic changes. Understanding this ensures you use the right language when presenting business proposals to your customers.

• Understanding how corporates work helps you to come up with new strategies. If you understand that the decision making process may be lengthy, it can force you into thinking of alternative products or services that can be easier to sell.

Being an entrepreneur and yet being able to understand corporates is a very strong position to be in. It means that you can offer real value to their employees and their organization. It’s not just about political game playing, it’s about learning to play the game so that you can be the breath of fresh air every organization needs.

Learn how to win big business with corporate clients – even if you’re not a big business yourself.   Use it to your advantage.   We’ll show you how at the www.sellingtocorporatessummit.com. You can register for FREE for a short period of time.   Enjoy!

Yes getting to contracts is important for your business, but it’s not just about the money. I know I felt let down because I felt there was a genuine meeting of minds and then – nothing! It’s happened to most of us.

Let me share what has really happened here – in this scenario.

Most likely the person you met with is not the final decision maker. These days in corporate businesses, most decisions are made by committees or someone higher up. As an answer to that problem some people might tell you that you simply have to get in front of the final decision maker. In smaller or medium sized businesses this may be possible but in larger corporates this is not so easy.

The good news is that it is still possible to get your business proposals signed off.  You can get your creative marketing solutions accepted without having to go right to the top. As an example: it is possible to sell to Virgin without having to meet Richard Branson.

Remember if you are using  a true Attract Corporate Clients system your primary business contact will have invited you to the meeting. Of all the people you meet in their organization they will be the most enthusiastic. That’s not where you have to put your hard business selling skills to test. Your challenge instead is to find out who else in the organization has influence on making the decision. Do this at your very first meeting.  Even better, find out on your initial call: Who has the power to veto the decision? Who has a vested interest in it?

What I learnt early on is that when I set up first meetings, I never see just one person. I always make sure there are as many of the business decision makers there as possible. When I walk into a corporate office I want to be able to build relationships with as many people as possible. I don’t want the success of my consulting proposal and ultimately my business to be relying on just one person.

When you start to build relationships across an organization you get to understand many different points of view. In this way you become much more valuable to the organization because you have a much better understanding of their needs, challenges and interests.

As a consultant you can be the person that connects people, ideas and departments. You can find a way for everyone to win and for no-one to appear to be wrong. That is exactly what will attract corporate customers to you.  Most corporates don’t have a connector, someone that can provide corporate business solutions form an objective point of view.

This is the value you can promote in your business to business ecommerce ventures. Then it becomes more than a once off business contract. You can establish a long term working relationship and become invaluable to your corporate clients. It’s a win-win for both parties. You benefit from the business as you are someone that they want to work with long term, and they get to enjoy greater business continuity.

Want to know how to be an expert at winning contracts with Big Business.   Register for the www.sellingtocorporatessummit.com .  It’s totally FREE for a limited time – so be sure to grab your free ticket and learn from marketing experts like Bernadette Doyle, Ari Galper, Angelique Rowers, Ian Brodie and MORE ….

On the call you will discover:

• 6 key ways to know if working with corporate clients is right for you
• 2 types of service providers that won’t sell well to the corporate market
• 5 of the biggest advantages you will have when working with corporate clients
• 3 tried-and-true ways to get your foot in the door with corporate clients
• How to play up your small business status to get more corporate clients wanting to work with you
• The Strategic Alliance Strategy you can use to get their current vendors promoting you (for free!)
• 3 quick start tips you can use today to find your ideal corporate buyers
• 3 major myths you may be telling yourself that’s stopping you from landing lucrative corporate clients

It’s all going to be covered at the 1^st ever “Selling To Corporates” Success Summit – September 2011.

Angelique will be joined by 10 other marketing experts including …  Bernadette Doyle, Angelique Rowers, Ian Brodie, Tom Searcy, Ari Galper and MORE!    FREE online event for LIMITED time only.  GRAB your ticket while you can:

Click Here For More Details

On the call you will discover:

• The single critical decision you must make to attract your ideal corporate clients
• How to create a system that gets your customers wanting to work with you
• 4 stealth marketing techniques you can use to get in front of your targeted prospects
• Why cold-calling may actually be killing your business
• The Expert Positioning strategy that easily attracts the perfect clients to you
• The Laser Beam Method to landing your target clients once and for all
• The single biggest fear your client has…that can make or break your deal!
• Why being a small business is a benefit when working with corporates
• The Quick-To-Cash process you can use to get more yesses from your ideal corporate clients

It’s all going to be covered at the 1^st ever “Selling To Corporates” Success Summit – September 2011.

Bernadette Doyle will be joined by 10 other marketing experts including …   Angelique Rewers, Ian Brodie, Tom Searcy, Ari Galper and MORE!    FREE online event for LIMITED time only.  GRAB your ticket while you can:

Click Here for the Details