Your Kid Can Become the Next Bill Gates

Altair 8800, January 1975

I recall reading an interview with Bill Gates a while back where he talked about how chance had played a big part in his success.  He was fortunate that the school he attended had a computer and that his parents were well off enough to buy him an early PC.  Granted he had a lot of talent and worked really hard, but he got an early start with computers in large part by being in the right place at the right time. 

I remember those early years of the PC, the late 70's and early 80's.  Those PCs were not what they are now. They were mostly kits or very clunky boxes of wire & solder.  They were also very limited.  You couldn't really do much with them, but the fascination was that they were programmable.  They were a little expensive, about $300 at the time.  Most people did not buy a PC until 10 years later.

Fast forward 40 years.  There is a new technology that reminds me a lot of those early PCs.  The technology is called 3D printing. 3D printers create three dimensional objects by using a “printing” process not too dissimilar from your desktop inkjet printer, but instead of extruding ink they extrude materials like plastics, metals, ceramic powders, or even edible material.  They are clunky and expensive and can't really do much, but they have an avid nerd following.   

To my mind this is the kernel of what will be a great new technology in about 10 years.  If you want your son or daughter to be the next Bill Gates buy them a 3D printer now.  Prices start around $300.

MakerBot 3D Printer

Who Uses Facebook in Your Area?

Many small businesses compete in a relatively small geographic area, perhaps within 20-30 miles of their business storefront.  Attorneys, restaurants, dentists, and banks are examples of these types of businesses.  Local businesses need cost effective ways to reach potential customers, especially those local people who are most likely to become new customers.

St Clair county is located in the southern portion of Illinois, in the eastern section of the St Louis metropolitan area.  Largely rural & suburban, the county hosts a large Air Force Base, several large businesses, and many small to medium sized businesses. The county is in many ways a typical Midwestern area.

The infographic below shows some of the demographic information that can be derived directly from Facebook about the people who use Facebook in a particular geographic area.  Based upon the demographics below, it is clear that these Facebook users in St Clair County would be a good fit for many types of consumer businesses.

Facebook business pages are by far the most common way to market on Facebook.  Business pages are simple to build and free.  Another, less common, method is to use Facebook ads.  Facebook ads can be an even more effective way for business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses to reach local customers since these ads can be focused on specific demographic segments.  For example a Wedding Planner might want to focus their ads on young women who are engaged.  Chiropractors might want to focus on people interested in health & well-being.

The demographic information above was gathered from Facebook by creating an ad campaign, selecting a geographic area (country, state, city, or zip codes) and then recording the audience size as you adjust the campaign targeting parameters.  You will notice that "County" is not one of the geographic options available.  For our infographic we gathered the zip codes in St Clair County and entered them individually into the ad campaign.

Perhaps you should consider using Facebook to identify consumers for your business.

Which Social Media Platform Is Best For Your Business?

Social media platforms differ significantly in audience size, functionality, usage rules, and audience demographic.  It makes sense to consider the age and gender of the social media platform's audience when choosing a platform to work with.

The Sales Funnel…the what?

     Many of you have heard of a funnel cloud…but what about a Sales Funnel?  A sales funnel is simply a sales process that uses a systematic approach to sell products and services.  There is a growing amount of published literature available that approaches Sales as a process, from the view of an engineering discipline.

     Why would you want to use this process?  Because you would have a well thought-out process that would include management of both the seller and buyer, standardized customer interactions, and measurable revenue generation.  One of the major advantages of approaching Sales as a process; there are a multitude of tested design and improvement tools available from other successful process-oriented businesses.  Applying the familiar principles of quality and process engineering should also work for a sales process.

    The steps or stages in a sales process will vary for each business, but they would usually follow the following elements;

 Initial contact
 Application of Initial Fit Criteria
 Sales lead
 Need identification
 Qualified prospect
 Proposal
 Negotiation
 Closing
 Deal Transaction

Or perhaps some alternative steps could be the following;

 Prospecting/Initial contact
 Approach-planning of the sale
 Approach
 Needs assessment
 Presentation
 Meeting objections
 Gaining commitment
 Follow-up

In general these are the typical steps taken in traditional sales, but they may vary depending upon the situation.  Mapping your process provides a starting point for analysis and continued improvement.  The elements in the list above have been described and flow-charted in published literature.  In at least one example they depicted a cross-functional approach that integrated areas such as sales, marketing, customer service, and information systems.

A sales process can reduce risk by controlling the flow of deals based upon information or execution of procedures that move you to the next step.  These steps walk a sales person from meeting the client to closing the deal.  An unpleasant sales experience can be analyzed and, in some cases, shown to have skipped essential steps.  A solid process can also dramatically impact forecasting accuracy and predictability in revenue results.

Some additional sources of information on this topic include;

Mind Tools, Essential skills for an excellent career

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com, The Sales Funnel Explained

Math Marketing, Sales Funnel Calculator

Sales Management Insight, Sales Funnel

The Funnel Principle: What Every Salesperson Must Know About Selling , by Mark Sellers

Success Secrets of the Sales Funnel: The Proven, Scientific Selling Method of Going from "Hello" to the Contract , by Ray Leone

Keeping the Funnel Full: The Definitive Authority on Solution Selling, by Don Thomson

Use one of the sales processes described in the publications above, or develop and tailor a Sales Funnel for your organization.