The Sales Manager Minute (Better Known As 60 Seconds)

Each week you will have the opportunity to educate your BNI “Marketing Team” on how to identify prospects, open a conversation, ask relevant questions, and get permission for you to speak to the prospect about the possibility of doing business, and to inform members of your target market for the week. (The Sales Manager Minute is not about selling to Members!)

Your “Marketing Team” can do this most effectively if they understand WHAT you have to offer and WHY the prospect would be better off using YOU rather than a competitor.

To achieve this, the Sales Manager Minute is divided into 5 specific sections:

* Section 1 – Introduction (15 seconds)
* Section 2 – Focus Area (15 seconds)
* Section 3 – Story / Testimonial (15 seconds)
* Section 4 – Call for Action (10 seconds)
* Section 5 – Memory Hook (5 seconds)

Each of these sections has a specific role to play in providing your “Marketing Team” the required information to bring you business.

We suggest you use the template below to prepare your weekly Sales Manager Minute so that you have all areas covered, and also proportioned to the time allocated.

SECTION 1: Introduction (15 seconds)

This is the part which remains the same every week. This is the opportunity for Visitors to hear who you, where you are located and the range of services that you provide.

· MY NAME IS: ________________

· MY POSITION & COMPANY NAME IS:___________

· MY OFFICE IS LOCATED AT: (Use landmarks, NOT the physical address)

You want your members and visitors to associate a landmark with your place of business. You want them to think about you and your business every time they drive past the prominent landmark. (The actual address is not important as they will refer to your name card if they need to visit you.)

· MY CLIENTS ARE: (Where we look for prospects)

By sharing your typical client base, members will find it easier to identify your target markets. e.g. type of industries, age group, gender, geographical locations, special needs…

· OVERVIEW OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, INCLUDING:

A. Service 1
B. Service 2
C. Service 3

You may have a long list, but restrict yourself to three at a time. You may remove introduce a “new” service and remove an “old” service each week. So each of your service will have at least 3 weeks air time. (...or you may only want to change a service every two weeks, it is up to you.)

· PAYMENT / FINANCING OPTIONS:___________

Do you offer a free consultation, do you accept credit cards, provide a money back guarantee, instalments, easy payment plans, etc. This section may not be relevant to certain professions.

You may be thinking that all of the above cannot be done in 15-20 seconds but with practice and preparation you will be surprised at the amount of information you can impart to your “Marketing Team”

Over time, your “Marketing Team” will memorise facts from your “Sales Manager Minute” and will be able to repeat them to your prospects!

SECTION 2 - Focus Area (15 seconds)

Choose ONE area from Section 1 (overview) and start to get more specific.

Here are some ideas for starting this section…

* This week I would like to focus on…
* Recently, I have had several people come to me for…
* This week I would like to increase my business in the area of…
* Today I would like to talk to you about… (a specific type of business person, e.g. Estate Agent or Florist, either as a prospect or source of business)
* I’d like to discuss a special we’re offering…

In order to effective in this area, you will need to plan your marketing strategy.

After identifying your target market, you will have to break them into different segments.

Then design a promotion strategy to target one specific segment of your target market per month (or whatever period that is appropriate to you).

Your membership in BNI is long term, therefore your marketing strategy has to reflect that. Do not try to cover everything at once in your sales manager minute. Your members will become confused with the information overload.

The strategy is to sytematically train your "marketing team" in one area of your business. Once they understand it, then move on to the next area. This way your "marketing team" will understand better, remember better, and be clearer on the different target markets required for each aspect of your business.

SECTION 3 - Story / Testimonial (15 seconds)

Tell a story relating to the focus area above, highlighting your Unique Selling Proposition (USP), your value added services, the benefits of your services and/or the differentiating factors from your competitors.

Remember to differentiate and emphasise on your BENEFITS, not features.
* Who you have helped...
* What their problem, complaint or difficulty was...
* What you did for them...
* Why others would BENEFIT from dealing with YOU in the same circumstance...

All of us remember stories better. The story becomes the “ammunition” for your “Marketing Team” to share with their prospects, and secure the permission for you to call.

Express your story by using props wherever possible. SHOW & TELL!

I have always suggested to members to build their stories around a genuine happening. You can then add, delete or modify the details and produce a story that focuses on the above elements.

Whatever you do, it is very important that the story come across as something genuine and believeable.

Never overclaim!

SECTION 4 – Call for Action (10 seconds)

After sharing what you do in Section 1, your focus area of the week in Section 2, reinforcing your competitive advantage in Section 3, it is now time to ask your “Marketing Team” to bring in the business for you in Section 4.

Ask your “Marketing Team” to take action by saying any of the following:

“Who do you know who …(requires your services)”
“An ideal referral source for me would be a ….(target market)”
“A contact sphere that I am looking for…..(target market)”
“A good referral for me this week……..(target market)”

Another alternative is shown below. I like this one as it is more specific in the action required and the result desired.

“This week, I want you to look out for …… (specific situation), if you see …… (someone in the specific situation) ……tell them that you have a friend who can ……(provide a specific solution/ benefit). Would it be okay if I get him/her to call you?”

You must always ask your members to take action and it has been shown that those who do get more referrals than those who dont'. This is very obvious, yet you will find members skipping this section of the sales manager minute.

Successful world class chapters hand out a "Listen for Referral" sheet to their members to record down the call for actions of members. By writing down the target markets, each members would then be more effective in getting the desired referals for their fellow members.

If your chapter is not practising this, then be the one that initiate this in your chapter.

SECTION 5 – Memory Hook (10 seconds)

End your Sales Manager Minute presentation with a powerful memory hook.

The more powerful your memory hook, the more it will be in the minds of your “Marketing Team”. This will translate into more business opportunities for you!

Memory hooks can be in different forms with different functions. In his book, “Seven Seconds Marketing”, Dr Ivan Misner shared 7 different types of Memory Hooks.

1. Draw Attention to Your Name
Getting Them to Remember Who You Are
e.g. You can expect to get more with Les – (Realtor)

2. Highlight Your Company Name
Connecting Who You Are with What You Do
e.g. When you need a phone, think Executone – (Telecommunication)

3. Communicate Your Profession
Reminding Them of What You Can Do for Them
e.g. My paintings say a thousand words, so you don’t have to – (Artist)

4. Tell Them Quality is Important to You
Showing Them You Are Serious About Your Work
e.g. We don’t just sweep things under the carpet, we clean them. – (Carpet Cleaner)

5. Educate As You Sell
Telling Them What Your Business Does
e.g. Would you rather pay taxes on your interests, or earn interests on your taxes? – (Tax Consultant)

6. Rhyme It or Sing It
Making Them Hum Your Ad for Hours
e.g. Before the problems hit Your foyer, call Julie your friendly lawyer – (Legal Services)

7. Play With the Words
Getting Them to Laugh as They Hand Over Their Business
e.g. If you feel like shooting your relatives, call XYZ Studio – (Photographer)

All major companies use taglines and your memory hook is just like a tagline. If these multi-millionaire companies see the value in memory hooks, why shouldn't you?

JUST DO IT!