62 Tips to Get Unstuck in 2013

62 Tips to Get Unstuck in 2013

1. Believe in your vision and gifts when no one else believes in your vision and gifts.
2. Start your day with 20 minutes of exercise.
3. Make excellence your way of being (versus a once in a while event).
4. Be on time (bonus points: be early).
5. Be a celebrator of other’s talents versus a critic.
   

Beware the humble office printer

When you think about protecting your business from security risks, what comes to mind? Most likely, you’re not thinking about your office printers. But you should.
Printers found in many businesses these days do more than just print. Many of them also scan, copy, fax and receive print jobs through a network connection. Like a computer, printers are equipped with processors, hard drives and operating systems—and are thus susceptible to the same threats that commonly plague PCs.

Selling Is Persuasion, Not Force

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet.

---

Your client’s contract is up. You need the renewal. But your client is dragging their feet. So you decide to ratchet up the pressure and start withholding. You withhold support. You withhold some orders. You believe that by withholding, you can ratchet up the pressure on your client and get your contract signed. They need you, and you have the upper hand. Or so you think.

Or maybe you want to create a sense of urgency, so you make your dream client a time-sensitive offer. If they don’t place their order by the deadline, “poof,” the offer disappears. Now they have a compelling offer; scarcity works. Or does it?

These are both tactics. They both sometimes work. But they’re force, not persuasion. And selling is persuasion, not force.

Tips to handle those difficult callers

It’s a classic love-hate relationship: the IT help desk and the end user. Without IT, end users wouldn’t have the technology in place to do their jobs; but without end users, IT wouldn’t have a job. It’s a twisted symbiosis; one that’s made more distinctive by a sharp cultural divide and near-polar agendas.

How to win an argument by email

American proverb goes, “The more arguments you win, the fewer friends you have.” Well, possibly – but
the fact remains that in business you are going to have arguments sometimes, and you are going to try to win them. However, as long as you stick to a few golden rules, you should be able to keep the process friendly.

Of course, resolving disagreements in writing is clearly not the ideal way to do it; it’s always better to talk face to face or pick up the phone. But in our increasingly interconnected world, much of our communication naturally happens in written form, via letters, emails and instant messaging. And when you’re trying to make a point in writing, without the

New HP Color Printers to Make Pro Prints In-House

HP introduced three new LaserJet Pro and multi-function printers (MFPs) today that make it easier for small and midsize businesses to produce extremely high-quality color documents and marketing materials without the need for external vendors – and without sacrificing print speed. Sounds pretty great, right?

The new HP LaserJet Pro 400 color M451 delivers both speed and color vibrancy for businesses and is perfect for printing professional-quality collateral (think promotional flyers, invites, invoices, etc.) at

The (New) Skills You Need to Succeed in Sales

by Lynette Ryals and Javier Marcos 

Seven Ways to Improve Your Email Response

Here are seven suggestions to help you craft more effective email campaigns and get better response rates.

1. Subject LineFirst impressions are critical in any form of communication. When people receive an email, the first thing they see is the subject line,

Selling Starts with Understanding the Buying Process

Sales processes usually are linear representations of a sequence of activities a salesperson has to follow in order to be successful. While the sales process might provide guidance to the salesperson, it’s inadequate for monitoring the progress of a potential deal. In the end, it does not matter what the salesperson has done; buying happens when the customer has reached a certain state of mind.

So we have to take the customer’s buying process into consideration. Most descriptions of buying processes focus on activities from the customer’s point of view. Understanding what the customer is thinking with respect to a potential purchase is what really matters. Considering the buying process as a type of change-management process has inspired the following simple, cyclical, four-stage model.

Fact or Fiction - Saving on Printing Costs

There’s a lot that goes on between clicking “print” and holding your high-quality printed page. Today, HP Supplies Guys Thom Brown and Michael Borg take us under the hood of the printer to show how ink, toner and paper work with the printer to create good-looking, long-lasting prints.

People always ask me about the best ways to save on printing costs like ink and paper. Well, there are many simple things you can do to get the most value out of your HP printing system, so today I want to share with you the truth on some popular tips and tricks that will and won’t help you to save money on supplies.

Networking a Printer: It’s Easier than You Think

I remember when having your own printer on your own desk wasn’t just a status symbol, it was a necessity. The reason was printers didn’t communicate with other printers at that time, never mind other computers. Like many former necessities, however, the need for dedicatedprinters has all but disappeared and in a way makes it easier to manage and customize to your needs rather than technical specifications.

Most of the advances in printing technology directly benefit smaller companies because they make

HP explains why printer ink is so expensive

There's a perception that ink is one of the most expensive substances in the world," says Thom Brown, marketing manager at HP.

Plan Your Sales Call Strategy

   

It's the question that goes through the mind of a salesperson during every call: How is the target reacting to my pitch?

Duplex Printing: Printing on both sides of the paper

Double-sided printing, also referred to as two-sided or duplex printing, allows you to print on both sides of the page, cutting your paper use by up to 50%. Find out how to determine your printer’s automatic duplexing capabilities, and how to adjust your printer settings to use them.

Automatic double-sided printing can cut your paper use by up to 50%!

Automatic duplexing benefits

Automatic double-sided printing allows you to print on both sides of the page without having to stand by

Top 10 Sales Trends for 2013

by Steve W. Martin 

What are the top business-to-business sales trends for 2013? Here's my list based upon my experience of studying some of the world's best sales organizations this past year.

HP: Winning in India depends on how much loss you can bear

One of the largest technology companies in the world, HP is facing stiff challenges, what with constant changes in its top management and strategies over the past two years. HP IndiaManaging Director Neelam Dhawan, who took over the India operations in 2008, has navigated the company through these tough times. In an interview with Harsimran Julka, she spoke on the year that was, and whether HP would cut PC prices in India to take on rivals like Dell and Lenovo. Excerpts:

HP India Managing Director Neelam Dhawan

How was 2012 for HP in India, considering we saw declining growth in PC industry?
I am glad this year is over. 2012 was a tough one, especially the first half, for a couple of reasons. We saw the forex rate going from Rs 44 to a dollar to Rs 55, which caused havoc with imports. The GDP growth of the country was really slow and political (and corruption) issues reported in the press against

The Best Sales Leaders Are Trend Hunters

Sales is all about hitting your numbers. The rapid fire, adrenalin-infused process of nailing monthly and annual sales targets comes with the territory. But who's aiming for targets two and three years out? It's not just a job for strategy; the best sales leaders are hunting for trends.

Future growth isn't about gut instinct or reading tea leaves to find the next big thing. Sales leaders we spoke to in writing the book Sales Growth systematically invested time, effort, and resources in figuring out where growth will come from next. Despite all the short-term pressures, the best are looking at least 10 quarters ahead. "In our international operations, we introduced a three-year sales planning process to get beyond the 90-day mentality of 'How will I make my number this quarter?'" says William Teuber, Vice-Chairman of EMC.

How to charge a high price and still get customers

That is indeed the power of a premium brand. And contrary to the popular opinion, you don’t always need to spend huge amounts in marketing and advertising to create a premium brand. Remember, any great brand is built over two steps: make your customer a promise of quality that the customer values, and then consistently deliver on that promise.Have you ever wondered why do you go to a specific store to buy a certain product? For example you may buy your sweets from a particular shop. Now, there may be other shops that sell the same sweets, but once you are convinced about the quality or consistency of one shop, chances are, you will be willing to drive out of your way

Top Reasons Salespeople Lose Business

by Steve W. Martin  

It's the question asked by anyone who's ever lost a sale: What went wrong?

Was it something I said? Was it something I /didn't/ say? Or was our product not up-to-snuff versus the competition?

HP launches multi-function printer at Rs 18,306

NEW DELHI, DEC 4: 

Hewlett Packard (HP) India on Tuesday launched Hotspot LaserJet Pro multi-function printer, an all-in-one with in-built wireless Internet, priced at Rs 18,306.Besides print, copy, scan and fax capabilities, the new printer will come with latest mobile printing technologies including HP wireless direct, HP ePrint and Apple AirPrint.

The company said it is targeting customers in the small office/home office (SOHO) or a small business (SMB) set-up through this new printer.