Author Archives: Melissa D. Whitaker

Melissa D. Whitaker Signs Publishing Deal

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Melissa D. Whitaker Founder/President of Melissa Whitaker International Signs Publishing Deal with CelebrityPress to Co-Author New Book

 Melissa D. Whitaker will team up with Brian Tracy and several leading experts from various industries to release the new book, “Beat The Curve: The world’s leading entrepreneurs and professionals reveal their secrets to outperforming the status quo in health, wealth, and success.” by CelebrityPress.

Schaumburg, IL–September 10, 2015 – Melissa D. Whitaker, Founder/President of Melissa Whitaker International, has joined Brian Tracy and a select group of experts and professionals to co-write the forthcoming book titled, Beat the Curve. Nick Nanton, Esq. along with business partner, JW Dicks, Esq., the leading agents to Celebrity Experts® worldwide, recently signed a publishing deal with each of these authors to contribute their expertise to the book, which will be released under their CelebrityPress™ imprint.

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Do you have a higher purpose?

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Compassion Trip – Baja Mexico June 2015

It has been heavy on my heart since 2011 to be able to give back in a much bigger way.  Do you have a higher purpose?  Do you know what your higher purpose is?

MWI was honored to participate in a 7 day compassion trip to an orphanage located in the Baja California region of Mexico.  The orphanage provides care for 90 children in a loving environment.  The Mission provides seven family units of 12 children between the ages of 2 to 20 years.  Single moms live with the children providing a loving home atmosphere while a married couple provide the oversight of ten teenage boys.  A nursery mother provides around-the-clock care for newborns and toddlers.  Infants with special needs, such as cleft lip palate or other physical disabilities are also lovingly care for by experienced staff.

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Management: Boosting Summer Sales

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As summertime gets underway it is important to re-direct your team to activities that are productive.  It is easy to buy into the summertime mantra of relaxation.  Some sales managers and sales reps regard low sales production during the summer as unavoidable. Others see it as a more challenging, but not impossible, time of the year to make sales. Those who have a plan during the summer months will see their pipeline increase.

Here are some questions to discuss with your sales team:

  • “What are the monthly averages for sales during June, July & August of the last three years?”
  • “Which summer month is typically the lowest in sales?”
  • “What vertical markets can we target during the summer months?”

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7 Quick Ways to Kick-Start Sales This Summer

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Summer’s in full swing and it seems like every week holds a holiday or employee vacation. All of that disruption can wreak havoc on your productivity and leave projects lingering.  Sales can take patience and juggling through all the craziness of summer schedules.  Be intentional and implement these 7 tips to skyrocket your sales.

Here are 7 quick tips to keep summer sales flowing:

1.  Plan Your Day

It is easy to give in to the summer idea of relaxation however it is important to keep activity moving through the summer months.  Taking 15 minutes at the end of your day to plan tomorrow can increase your activity

2.  Create Urgency

It is easy for prospects to use the summer as an objection and a reason to put off meeting until later.  Create urgency by stating the value of what you have to offer and how it will benefit them with immediate results.

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Prospecting in the Summer

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“It’s summer. No one is around. Why prospect?” WRONG!

It is summer – get out there and prospect even more! Summertime is the perfect opportunity to fill your pipeline full of “ideal clients.”  Here are 10 ideas on how to ramp up and fill your pipeline/funnel:

  1. Attend local events
  2. Potential Prospects – Attend their sponsored events to learn about their company
  3. Friday Afternoons – Great time to make connections with decision makers
  4. Use social media to make more connections
  5. Research ideal clients – make a targeted list of prospects
  6. Do a Customer Survey – Touch current accounts and see if you offer additional products and services.
  7. Re-connect with leads that went cold – Take a look at past leads where the timing was not right.  Make an effort to re-connect, now may just be the right time.
  8. Have a growth mindset – Think positive about all the great connections and ideal clients you will come in contact with this summer.
  9. It is about them – not YOU.  Remember to always create value for your prospects and show the ways you can expand their business.
  10. Have fun – summer is a great time to meet new people.

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Sales Are Down: Transform With A New Mindset

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As managers we often get the job of delivering bad news. We have the responsibility of standing in front of the team as a leader. We play the numbers game constantly, running between upper management and our team to keep everyone satisfied. When the numbers are down, it gets stressful.

Heading into a team meeting and saying:

“What’s going on here? Why are all these numbers down? What are each of you doing each day?”

So many times in business we like to play the blame game, quick to point fingers instead of resolving the issues.

As managers it is important to re-pack the problem. Transform the negative numbers into a challenge. Create a new mindset.

Create a new mindset by asking purposeful questions that ignite your team. Give them the power to transform the situation.

Here are some purposeful questions to help you:

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Voicemail: Strategize for Connection

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In sales there has always been a controversy about voicemail. Do you leave one or not? In today’s busy B2B sales market, voicemail gets over-looked as a key sales strategy. Did you know that the average sales representative leaves about 16 hours of voicemail in a month? That is a lot of voicemail! Why then are we not strategizing this important tool more? Use voicemail as a valuable prospecting tool.

Most of the time sales people put little thought into what happens after the BEEP.

“Hi, this Bob with ABC Company. I would love to speak with you. Give me a call back at 555-5555.”

Voicemail is a tool that you have complete control over.  After the BEEP – is your chance to shine!

Here are a few tips to build a strong voicemail strategy:

1.  What results do you desire from the voicemail?  Define the action that you are looking for so that you can create the right call to action.  Are you looking for a call back?  Are you looking to connect online?  Are you looking for them to take your call the next time?  When you define the specific result you desire, then you can craft a proper message. Continue reading →

Before the Meeting: Right Impressions

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As salespeople you know the three second rule – that people are forming opinions about you in the first three seconds of meeting you.  However, in this digital age people are now forming opinions about you before you even meet.  Are you making the right impression before the meeting?

Here are 10 tips to keep you making the right impression:

Online Profile:

  1. Make sure that your online profile especially on LinkedIn is professional.  Executives will research those that they are scheduled to meet with.  They want to know if this person is worth their time.  Keep your online profile up to date.
  2. Restrict your privacy on Facebook and other social sites.  You do not want business associates having access to questionable information about you.
  3. Have someone take a professional photo of you to use on social media for business.  Keeping in mind that you are a brand.  Your image is important.

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6 Top Reasons Managers Don’t Coach

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Your #1 priority as a Manager is to develop your people.  Building a “team of ultimate fighters” isn’t going to happen overnight.  However, by implementing a step by step approach over time, you will have a winning team, and be able to make quicker decisions.  Being a coach is a vital part of your job.  Not only do your employees look to you for direction, they need on-going coaching to understand and measure where they are today, and what steps to take to achieve greatness.

“Effective coaches focus on what they can do now to make what they want to happen in the future happen.” – Jim Stanley

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Do You Wonder Why You Aren’t Further Along?

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If 2015 is going to be your year, then your commitment level to achieve greatness has to be taken to a higher level.  The reality is we are all human and many times we don’t want to take that extra step or push through when we’re tired.  We are our own worst enemy.  However, we all have greatness in us, we just have to have the discipline and commitment to realize our potential.  Turn your pain into greatness.  I know you can do it!  Do you?

Watch this video on commitment to inspire you what you are capable of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dtnI1CyL9k

“You have to want to succeed as bad as you want to breath.”

Greatness