Bye Bye

This is my final day of internship at 3R Sales & Marketing. It has been a great experience which was intellectually rewarding. I built my luck finding this internship online and both Peter and I gambled, since we didn't know each other before, but the gamble paid of. I must admit that I have been fortunate to have had him as a mentor.

From planning to make this an online journal of my weekly activities to becoming an online weekly advice posting, I hope that you enjoyed my blog as much as I enjoyed writing it.

All the best in your future,
Joachim

Hire smart...because success doesn't come without people!

Hi,

I hope you had a great week.

Last Friday, Peter presented me a heavy (very heavy) custom made Dublin Crystal piece of art entitled Excellence Award 2005 with my name and 3R (all laser engraved). Which is great, since it shows that I have at least reached Peter's expectations.

A part from this great event, this week, I have worked on a sales survey that tries to understand the pain staking problems sales managers have. Questions range from CRM to sales methodologies.
I have also added from researching questions to Peter's Interview sheets, that he uses to screen and select sales reps. Speaking of that...3R is launching a separate website, www.hireasalesrep.com, specializing in the search for the perfect sales rep which most business owners are struggling with. Have a quick look!

This week, I offer this last advice (and somewhat atypical):

Through out this internship, I have been reading a lot of different books including "The 10 day MBA" by Steven Silbiger (which pushed me to buy "The portable MBA in Marketing") and I realized that I already had learned like +90% of the content of those books at IFI. And yet I will graduate there not with a MBA, but with a Bachelor.

You might be wondering, what about the advice: well, there is nothing more valuable than have a MBA academic brain with a Bachelor degree...since the return on investment is only higher. Of course, you have to then screen the different personalities to find what you are looking for...yet if you are looking for a businessperson capable in international marketing or managemenent, IFI is a very smart place to start.

Joachim

After-sale...don't switch your mind OFF!

Hi,

I hope you had a great week.

This week, I have been continuing to promote 3R online. I have also been helping Peter out with his tax report by typing all his travel expenses in the last 5 months. In addition, I have been working on a press release with Peter: if you are a newspaper editor and interested in having Peter as a columnist, let us know. Finally, I have been doing the usual promotional tracking.

This week, I offer this advice: once that you have sold, don't dump your prospect-turned customer! After the purchase, your customer will have a period of doubt: "Have I taken the right decision? Was that the right choice?" Send your turned customer a thank you card for example and let them know that you are there for any additional help if needed. Have a great customer service mindset, and the "word-of-mouth" will only be more positive! With more "easy" sales to follow...

See you in a week and all the best until then,
Joachim

Why are your customers buying from you?

Hi,

I hope you had a great week.

This week, I have continued our online promotional campaign by sending Peter's articles to websites. I have also done some promotional tracking. Finally, I have been doing some copywriting for 3R's new proposal version.

This week, I offer this advice: Ask kindly your customers to describe your company and your services. Try and find out what exactly decided them to buy from you. You might discover that your selling arguments are not their buying reasons. If so, then you are lucky you got them as customers in the first place! Use this technique to have new and more powerful selling arguments. And you might as well ask them for a referral...

See you in a week and all the best until then,
Joachim

This is my last month

Hi,

I hope you had a great week.

This is my last month at 3R so I hope that you enjoy this blog as much as possible in the weeks to come. ;-)

This week (which was shorter because of bank holiday which I hope you all enjoyed well), I have been researching websites where we can post 3R articles so that publishers can use them. I have started to post articles.
Peter and I have also checked the online survey that I encouraged him to create (from a 900 pages educational book that he asked me to read) and it is really exciting to see the results. Thanks for all of you who took part in it!

This week, I offer this advice: Measure and Monitor you marketing results. Like my Scottish marketing teacher liked to say, marketing is all about results. What is your return on leads? Your return on sales? Your return on profit? Once you have the data, then you can better plan the future. How about changing your ad spending, from the local newspaper to online? Did you consider decreasing your price to generate more volume? You should always test and monitor your results in order to be more productive (even though it is full of numbers...).

See you in a week and all the best until then,
Joachim

P.S.: the new 4 weeks show on Channel 4, called "Make Me A Million" at 10PM is a must watch! I saw the first episode yesterday night, and I loved it. Basically, it is a competition between 3 successful entrepreneurs to each mentor a team of 2 to great financial success. Entertaining to watch yet educational (from the advices given by the entrepreneurs to the mistakes made by the apprentices).

Offering a garantee and keeping it!

Hi,

I hope you had a great week.

Great news! Last week, I told you about the survey that I created. Well, Peter with some modifications will include it in this month newsletter! If you are not yet subscribed to our SUCCESS newsletter, don't forget to subscribe now! (it's free and it's powerful if you act on the information we give you).

This week, I have continued to work on the lead generation project. In addition, I have done some promotional tracking. I have also done some sales assement reports.

This week, I offer this advice: you need to increase the confidence and trust in your prospect before making a sales. By giving assurances you will reduce the notion of risk in order to close the sale more easily, faster and more often. Are you offering any garantee right now? If not, why not? Don't forget to keep your promises once offered because your reputation is at stake!

See you in a week and all the best until then,
Joachim

Public speaking: valuable promoting!

Hi,

I hope you had a great week.

I have discovered something amazing: this blog is ranked first, if you search "internship sales" or "internship marketing" in http://blogsearch.google.com/.
If you are looking indeed for an internship in sales or marketing, I will be leaving end of November 2005 to continue my studies, so you are welcome to apply to experience 3R. (it's great!)

This week, I have continued to work on 3R's database by filing and editing the data sent by Peter. The accumulated knowledge is quiet amazing. I have also done some promotional tracking. In addition, I have worked on the new homepage of 3R exploiting my knowledge from my reading. I have finally created a detailed survey that I asked Peter to send to the SUCCESS subscribers to have better intelligence.

This week, I offer this advice: One of the cheapest way to advertise yourself is public speaking. Think about it? How much does it cost you to give a speech in front of prospects except some of your time? Research the organizations that your potential client belong to and try to give a speech there. Of course, it shouldn't be a selling presentation!

See you in a week and all the best until then,
Joachim

P.S.: any suggestions about my blog? Please let me know at joachim@3r.ie