It happened again.
In my email was a question and a request that I only wish I could fulfill on “How do I get more customers without having to sell?” Ummmm — you can’t get more customers without selling.
If you want customers without having to sell, you’ll have to get a job — or you can read Diane Helbig’s (@Dhelbig) new book “Expert Insights: Business Gurus Share Tips to Accelerate Your Business Growth” and never look at selling the same way again.
120 Pages of Small Business Experts’ Greatest Hits
Diane Helbig is an internationally recognized business and leadership development coach, author and radio show host. While she excels at all things related to small business success, she’s best known for her practical and effective sales advice and consulting.
Over the last five years, she’s hosted the popular online radio show, Accelerate Your Business Growth, where she features small business experts who dole out their proven sales and marketing strategies for getting customers, keeping customers and making more money.
“Expert Insights” is a Compilation of Her Best Interviews
Helbig has culled more than 120 interviews down to just 11. That’s just the top 10 percent of all the experts she’s had on the show. This book is a small business owner’s dream. It’s tightly focused on those key topics Helbig feels small business owners need to focus on if they want their passion to transform from a hobby to a profitable business.
Kudos to Helbig for Caring About Our Time and Attention
What I loved most about “Expert Insights” is how Helbig appears to be in the background; meanwhile she is the grand architect of what information is included and how it’s presented. At first, I have to admit that I was a little critical of the book thinking “How is Helbig the author when this is nothing more than a retelling of interviews?”
But as soon as I started reading, I could see Helbig’s deft hand in topic selection, rigorous attention to critical elements of the experts’ advice and her ability to let the expert shine while she controls the lessons learned.
And when you think about the fact that all of this happens in less than 120 pages, you will thank her for respecting your time and attention.
A Quick Tour of “Expert Insights”
“Expert Insights” takes you on a nice journey that starts with Jim Smith Jr., an internationally renowned speaker and personal power expert who opens the book with a conversation around exemplary service and the power of a killer experience.
From there we move into Wendy Weiss (The Queen of Cold Calling) and her powerful re-contextualization of cold calling. She nails our two biggest fears about cold calling; that it’s about manipulating people and that the goal is to get people to buy from you in one call.
She writes:
Neither of these should ever be the goal. First off, every cold call should be done in steps; it should be more about building a relationship with the person on the other end of the phone than trying to ‘sell them.’ Secondly, if you know this, you’ll be able to relax a bit more and not come across as the dreaded telemarketers, someone they want to avoid.”
With these foundation chapters under your belt, you’ll be ready to head into Entrepreneurial DNA, where Joe Abraham describes that basic entrepreneurial styles and helps you identify exactly which style you are and how to best leverage that style.
Then there’s Kerry Heaps, President of Kerry’s Network, who dives deep into Follow Up Techniques and shows you how to think differently about following up.
Helbig also includes chapters on perception management, writing, charisma, negotiation, business models and ends with a chapter on “Great Ideas for Your Small Business.” Yes, there are other topics that could have been included, but these are those critical few that matter most to generating sales and are often ignored or passed over by businesses that aren’t growing at their potential.
Ideal for Time-Strapped Business Owners Looking for Focus
“Expert Insights” is the book you want to take on your next business trip for airplane reading or to pick up on a restful Saturday or Sunday. This is the kind of book you read with a notebook and a pen at your side, grabbing bits and pieces of great advice that you can easily put on your to-do list.
I say it’s ideal for time-strapped business owners because there is zero fluff in this short book. Helbig has carefully pared away at all the things that might distract you from your goal of bringing more customers and more cash into your business.
If you want to get more customers, keep more customers and make more money, read “Expert Insights” and turn these tips into to-dos.
[“source-smallbiztrends”]