Free Printables to Save Time and Money

Just imagine how many times you have gone to the market in search of a calendar that is beautiful and suits your style. Have you ever managed to find any till now? Stop glaring on those dull paper pieces and welcome to the world of free printable calendars. Here are 10 Reasons; why you should use free printable calendars

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Recent Google Page Rank Update on Year End 2008

Seems Google wanted to have smiles on the faces of new webmasters who had launched their websites in last couple of months. It just unfolded its Sandbox with updates to the PR ranking for the new websites. Incidentally we got medium level update to one of our client websites which is in the loan modification business, while there was some sort of stinginess on part of Google to provide the similar PR to two other client websites we have been working on, as both of them got just PR 1. But still its at last enthralling to kick their businesses with full flow in search engines now, at least Google.
By far the trend that we can see in this PR update of google is something as not much differentiability for the websites already having the PR assigned. maybe for some people it has got for some. One thing I am sure about is that Google PR has got nothing to do with your traffic or search ranking anymore. So just keep rocking guys !

ah yes, would like to mention that we need not be dependent on Google toolbar for seeing the PR updates. thanks to firefox for having such nice addons like seostatus

BrowseWire Consulting Group - A dream come true

We are inching towards achieving first milestone by creating our own Business consulting firm for online as we have been planning for long time. Myself, Hitesh, Dinesh and Prashant have been on our toes for last couple of days as we have been neck deep involved in getting the office infrastructure in shape for 9-10 now.
At last we can say that we will have it working at our Chakkr (Shimla) Location. We hope it grows by leaps and bounds.
Thanks Guys for being with me, to trust me and being Us (Browsewirians).

Yahoo promoting Firefox and IE promoting Yahoo.... thats a bit strange

Recently it's been observed that Yahoo d been promoting Firefox 3 as its preferred browser and wanted users to download its customized version. This is evident as Yahoo might be thinking that Google would most probably focus on Chrome now than just Firefox as a result Yahoo can get its share from open source browsers like Firefox. as you can see below



Yahoo recommending Firefox












Customized Firefox edition by Yahoo

But more interesting this we have observed when we starting using the latest version of IE 8. Here Internet explorer has given Yahoo search as the default search engine for search bar (see below) while Live search is second option. Does Microsoft still thinks that it will take over Yahoo ? That's in fact a reasonable question if we do not think that this is by mistake in case of IE browser.
Anyways the search battle field is becoming more and more interesting day by day as many other search engines are ready to take on their share. a few to mention are Cuil, Quintura and Clusty.

Slow loading Web Pages and AdWords Quality Score

Google has announced that landing page load time will now become a factor in the AdWords Quality Score.



The impact of page load time will be negative rather than positive. That is, if your page loads slowly your Quality Score will be negatively affected. If no problems are found with the page load time then it will have no affect on Quality Score, with one exception. If your keyword is graded "No problems found" and marked "Load time is faster than the average in your server's geographic region" your landing page Quality Score may be positively affected.

According to Google, the addition of this metric is to enhance users' experience. Of course, there's a spin-off for advertisers too. The quality of the landing page is something that's often overlooked by advertisers. Often, when visitors fail to convert the quality of traffic gets the blame. When pages are slow to load, people get frustrated and are less inclined to stick around to see what's on offer.

You will have the opportunity to make changes to your landing page before the new metric comes into play.

The AdWords FAQs say:

"Beginning in March 2008, you'll be able to see a grade for your landing page's load time in your AdWords account. 'Load time'
refers to the amount of time it takes for a user to arrive at your functional landing page after clicking your ad.

"Four to six weeks after your load time grade becomes visible, it will begin to impact your landing page quality and, therefore, your Quality Score. We recommend working to improve your load time during this interim if it's received a low score."

Google does provide some tips for improving load time.

* Use fewer redirects.
* Reduce the page size by using fewer, smaller, and more
highly-compressed images.
* Do not use interstitial pages.
* Minimize the use of iframes on your landing page.
* Contact your webmaster or webhosting provider to discuss
other ways of improving your landing page's load time.

You can also check out a list of best practices for improving your load time here:
http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html

Getting appointments by Cold Calling and Scripts

The scripts below are based on a book called "Cold Calling Techniques that Really Work" by Stephan Schiffman. To understand the scripts, you'll probably want to read the book.

Tracking data

When selling, it's important to keep track of the numbers. It is important for many reasons. Keep track of:

1. The number of dials you make
2. Messages left
3. People you reach
4. First appointments made
5. Number of people who give three "No's".
6. Messages returned
7. Number of new leads added to the intranet

We will also be tracking total number of sales visits and number of sales. Eventually, we'll get a handle on the value of our pipeline. Then we can work out how many calls we need to make each day to reach our goal.

Elements of a cold call

1. Get the person's attention -- saying their name is enough
2. Identify yourself and your company -- give a commercial for the company
3. Give the reason for your call -- the objective of the call is to get an appointment
4. Make a qualifying/questioning statement -- give an opportunity for the lead to respond in kind (ie. favourably)
5. Set the appointment

Sample scripts

It's important to follow scripts. Here are some sample cold call scripts that we are currently using. Please add new scripts below if you find them to be successful.

1. Eric's Version
   Hello Ms. XXXXX, this is John Doe from AcmeSoft here in San Francisco. We have helped CitiView Property Management Group improve their customer service to\ the point were they are increasing their portfolio of clients at a rate of 2 properties per week for the last two months and it's not stopping. The reason t\ hat I'm calling you today specifically is so that I can drop by and tell you about our new customer relationship management strategy and how it can increase \ your portfolio of clients. I'm sure that you, like CitiView, are interested in having more properties to manage, right? (wait for positive response) That's\ great, Ms. XXXXXX, I think we should get together. How about Thursday at 2pm?

2. Initial contact
   Good morning Ms XXXXXX, this is John Doe from AcmeSoft. The reason I'm calling you today specifically is so I can stop by and tell you about our new issue tracking system that helps property managers keep track of their work orders. I'm sure that you, like CitiView, are interested in improving your customer satisfaction.

   (Positive response.)

   That's great Ms XXXXXX, let's get together. How's Thursday at 1pm?

3. Third party endorsement
   Good morning Mr XXXXXX, this is John Doe from AcmeSoft. We provide a computer system that helps property management companies keep track of the all the outstanding service requests and work orders. The reason that I'm calling you today specifically is that we've just completed helping CitiView Property Management Group here in San Francisco and we were extremely successful in increasing their sales and customer satisfaction. What I'd like to do is stop by next Thursday to tell you about the success we had at CitiView. How's 1pm?

   OR

   "Hi, My name is ... and I've helped CitiView property management get three new customers every WEEK for the past month and it's not stopping! I'd like to se\ t up an appointment to tell you all about it. Is 10am on Tusday good?"

4. Referral script
   Good morning Ms XXXXXX, this is John Doe from AcmeSoft. We provide a computer system that helps property managers keep track of their work orders. The reason I'm calling you today specifically is that XXXXX just suggested I give you a call to set up an appointment. I wanted to know if Thursday at 1pm would be okay?

5. Follow-up script
   Good morning Mr XXXXXX, this is John Doe from AcmeSoft here in San Francisco. The reason I'm calling you today specifically is, when we spoke last _________ \ you asked me to call back today to set an appointment. Would Thursday at 1pm be good for you?

Dealing with the gatekeeper

Tell the gatekeeper what you want to speak about to the lead. (eg. I would like to tell Ms XXXXXX about the success we've had with our computer system that helps property management companies.) If you can't get through, call someone else.

Turning around common responses

People generally don't say no outright. They will give a response. The first response is probably not going to be their real reason. It's the second that really matters. Here are some tips for turning round first and second responses. Don't try to turn round more than three answers. At this point simply say: "Okay, I'll call you back later."

No thanks, I'm happy with what I have
It's great that you have XXXXX system. We recently spoke to EBMC and they said that what we had would really complement their current software. You know something, we should get together. How about next Thursday at 1pm.

I'm not interested
Well Mr XXXXX, a lot of people had the same reaction you did when I first called -- before they had a chance to see how what we do will benefit them. We should get together. How about next Thursday at 1pm.

I'm too busy
Ms XXXXX, the only reason I was calling was to set an appointment. Would next Thursday at 1pm be okay?

Send me some literature
Can't we just get together? How about next Thursday at 1pm?

Any other response
Well that's okay; let's get together anyway.

The Ledge

The main reason for calling is to get an appointment. In general, you don't want to spend more than 2 or 3 minutes on a call. What happens if the lead asks a question that leads into an extended conversation? Here are some examples:

Tell me about what you do?

You describe what you do. The lead then says something like: "oh, we don't need that". You reply:

You know, that's what other people said who decided to work with us. We really should get together. How's about next Thursday at 1pm?

We don't want to use a computer system to track issues

You say: "Well, what is it that you do use?" Whatever the lead replies, you can say:

That's great Ms XXXXX, Then we should get together because we work with other companies that have done the exact same thing. How about next Thursday at 1pm?

I don't make that decision.

You say: "Well what do you do? What's your role there?" Whatever the lead replies, you can say:

You know something. We should get together, because we really complement those things you are doing.

I'm the wrong person to talk to?

You say: What do you do? When they reply to that, you either ask for the appointment again or you ask who the right person is.

Leaving a message

This message works 80% of the time for business to business cold calling. That is, leave this message on your prospect's answering machine and the prospect will return your call 80% of the time if you do it right. The following script presuposes that Acme Property Management is a competitor of the lead (that is, the person your calling is in competition to Acme Property Management.)

This is John Doe. My telephone number is 415 641 0342. This is in regard to Acme Property Management.

You can also do that similar thing with a receptionist (a really sharp receptionist will ask for more detail right away.) If you start leaving those messages, just be prepared when they call back. Don't use the cold call script when they call you - they probably think you're a potential customer so let them down slowly :-) Basically tell them that you met with the people at Acme Property Management and they liked what you have so you thought the prospect would want to set up a meeting to talk with them about it.

Sales Lead Tracking -- Your Pipeline is the key to selling your pants off

A sales pipeline is a very important concept in selling because it is the recognition of the origin and result of each sale. Each sale starts as a lead -- which is a phone number, a name, an email addres, a referal or someone who walks into your store -- they are leads. From there, you qualify the lead, which means, you make sure this person is capible of becoming a customer -- either they have enough money or the right size outfit for your product. For instance, you might sell mini-vans, and a good qualifying question is: Do you have any children. If so, you might try to sell this person. If not, you would try to sell them another vehicle that isn't so family oriented. From there, after you've qualified a lead, you sell to them and you either get a "continue", an "advance" or a "decline." I'll explane those later. A "continue" can turn into an "advance" which can turn into a customer -- or a sale. chiching.

So a sales pipeline goes like this:
lead ---> qualified lead --> continue/advance --> customer --> repeat customer

Some products have a quick pipeline. Some products have a longer pipeline. Generally, the more expensive the product, the longer the pipeline (although that is only a general rule.)

An important part of selling is to keep track of the ratios and numbers so you can understand your pipeline and improve it. How many calls does it take to get an appointment? How many appointments does it take to get a sale? And so on. Eventually, you'll find that it generally takes 10 calls to make an appointment and 10 appointments to make a sale, for instance. Then you'll realize that if you made 1000 calls last month and made $5000, then you'll want to make 2000 calls to make $10,000. Once you start knowing your numbers, you start to understand your pipeline.

Suppose you make 100 calls one month and get 20 appointments for the next month, but that next month you're busy going to appointments so you didn't make any calls -- how many appointments will you have on the third month? None. That's because you didn't feed the pipeline.

Of course, if you've done any sales already, you're quick to realize that If you made $20000 in sales this month, it's because you made 2000 calls last month. Or something like that. That's the sales pipeline in reality.

You can draw sales pipeline like this:

* Leads *
* qualified leads *
* cont. *
*advances *
*sales!*

That's a pretty lousy ascii graph of an inverted pyramid -- basically -- it takes many leads to make one sale.

The key to selling is making the calls. You have to get in front of 20 people every day, belly to belly, and talk to them. This keeps your pipeline full. I can tell you how you can never fail in sales -- don't make a call.

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Leading the Leads Down Your Pipeline