Jul 04 2018

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Client Retention, Marketing, Sales

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7 Warning Signs You Have a Difficult Customer

If you have been in business for a while, you may have unfortunately had to deal with a difficult customer that refuses to pay, drags the job out so that it eventually becomes unprofitable, or keeps you up at night because of the way they behave and treat you personally. Every trade or construction ...

Feb 07 2018

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Marketing, Sales

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7 Unexpected Ways to Differentiate from the Competition

7 Unexpected Ways to Differentiate from the Competition Some may feel that we have to do the big things in business in order to stand out from the crowd; to make a difference. However, in my experience I have found that it is the little things that we do on a consistent basis that are […]

Dec 19 2017

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Sales

Stand Out From the Competition in 2018

Stand Out From the Competition in 2018 Why should customers buy from you rather than your competitors, doing it themselves or doing nothing at all? Before you can answer this you need to know your competitors (find your competitor analysis template here). How do you compare? What makes you more uniq...

May 23 2017

PROTRADE United

Financial, Marketing, Sales

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The difference between ‘gross margin’ and ‘mark-up’

The difference between gross margin and mark-up A mistake in the use of these terms can lead to price setting that is substantially too high or low, resulting in lost sales or lost profits, respectively. The difference between margin and mark-up is that margin is sales minus the cost of goods sold, ...

Feb 23 2017

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Sales

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Maintain the Competitive Edge When Quoting

Maintain the Competitive Edge When Quoting When you’re quoting and quoting and quoting, after a while you can have the experience of just going through the motions. You may even find yourself losing enthusiasm and trying to win new work feels like a pain in the bum! There is a common pitfall w...

Feb 09 2017

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Marketing, Sales

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How to Attract and Convert Quality Leads

How to Attract and Convert Quality Leads What does your value proposition tell future customers? It’s important to begin by observing that your brand and your value proposition are very tightly related. In other words: your brand (logo, designs, language choice etc) expresses indicators about your b...

Jan 25 2017

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Client Retention, Sales

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Personalised Proposals to Win More Sales

Personalised Proposals to Win More Sales Closing a sale is much easier when you present your sales prospect with a professional sales proposal instead of a run-of-the-mill quote. First, if you are using straight quotes for larger potential clients – stop it. Don’t only use those automated quot...

Jan 12 2017

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Marketing, Sales

How to Win More Business in 2017

How to Win More Business in 2017 With a new year just kicking off, business owners are excited by the prospect of what 2017 has in store. Hopefully, you will have set some time aside by now and created your financial goals. Regardless of what industry you’re in, if you are looking to turn a [&hellip...

Jun 09 2016

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Financial, Sales

Identifying Your Financial Goals

With new business opportunities a-plenty it is vital to be prepared. Why not hit the ground running with these tips for setting financial goals? Review the Previous Year – This is the perfect time to reflect. Consider the challenges, changes and improvements you made throughout your business, and wh...

May 26 2016

PROTRADE United

Client Retention, Marketing, Sales

Customer Retention & Referrals

Investing money in your marketing to bring in new customers is one thing, but are you utilising the client base you already have? Remember you have already laid the groundwork and overcome the toughest challenge; these customers already know you, like you (with hope) and have purchased from you. Usi...

May 19 2016

PROTRADE United

Marketing, Sales, Time Management

Ensure a Return on your Marketing Investment

Every lead you acquire in your business has a cost. As a small business owner you have 3 main resources with which to invest into attracting a new potential customer. These are: Money, Time and Energy If a marketing activity does not cost you much financially then usually there will be a time and en...

May 12 2016

PROTRADE United

Sales

The 8 Steps of a Sales/Quoting Process

There is no one way to design a sales/quoting process. There are many options, however considering that most businesses have no process at all, take on the one below as a starting point. The 8-step process below has proved to be successful in hundreds of businesses. You can then fine tune and tweak ...

May 05 2016

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Sales

Stand Out From the Competition

Stand Out From the Competition Why should customers buy from you rather than your competitors, doing it themselves or doing nothing at all? Before you can answer this you need to know your competitors (find your competitor analysis template here). How do you compare? What makes you more unique, more...

Apr 28 2016

PROTRADE United

Client Retention, Sales

5 Simple Ways to Increase Sales

5 Simple Ways to Increasing Sales People buy from those that they like and trust. What makes a great communicator is their ability to bond with other people, build a strong rapport and create a level of trust in the relationship. Most often, you only have a short amount of time to build rapport and ...

Apr 21 2016

PROTRADE United

Business Development, Sales

Simple Low Cost Ways to Instantly Improve Your Brand

Your brand is so much more than just your logo; it is the key personality attributes of your business and is reflected in everything you and your team do. The perception that potential customers have of your business from the first point of contact will directly influence their decision whether or n...

Nov 24 2015

PROTRADE United

Client Retention, Sales

Improve Sales through Networking (that actually works!)

Networking is important in sales, however if you routinely return from a networking event with a pocketful of business cards that aren't useful to you; you need to rethink your strategy.

Nov 17 2015

PROTRADE United

Client Retention, Sales

How to Create a Flood of Customers

Customers usually increase as your business grows, so it is important to know how to maximise new customers and keep them satisfied and happy.