Are you looking for a sales and marketing professional who will work with you to grow your sales, increase you marketing effectiveness, and be a sounding board to help you tweak your ideas? I will work with you as a guide, a coach, or mentor rather than as a traditional consultant who takes control. I teach, and personally use, heart centered, soft sell sales and marketing techniques.
In my service company in El Paso, I grew sales and profits for the first five years in a declining market. My market of printer maintenance disappeared due to technology changes and, as my main accounts were manufacturers across the border, improvements in local Mexican service companies.
I finally returned to Southern California and went to work for an international consulting company that specialized in small and mid-size businesses of all types. I applied what I’d learned as a small business owner as well as working for major corporations and for small and medium businesses. I advised clients on organizing for management and on getting control of profits and expenses. After 43 months working as a consultant for two firms, I started my own company and returned to sales and marketing consulting, where I have done subcontract work for a local nonprofit consulting firm whose clients are small manufacturers.
I’ve also invested a huge chunk of the past three years studying, applying, and mastering Internet marketing, social networking and social media to have the knowledge and skills to help my clients. The Internet becomes increasingly important to any business’ success and should be an integral part of any marketing plan — though not the only part of it.
The sales skills I help clients develop are for people who view selling as a service, who genuinely care about their customers and clients, and who want to be paid for adding value – value seen from the customers’ viewpoints. They result in long term, profitable relationships. In the process, you and your sales team will find selling fun, fulfilling and mutually rewarding. (See “Hate Selling? Let’s Make Selling Fun.”)
I have successfully used heart centered, soft sell sales and marketing for 30 years to develop relationships and profitable, repeat business with customers and clients. Some of my most memorable experiences come from connecting with clients and customers. I get excited when I hear your success stories from making that connection too. I love it when the light goes on while I’m teaching you something, when I can tell you got it.
Although I have used this style of selling in retail sales, most of my sales experience has been in outbound, direct business to business sales. I have sold both tangible products and services. I’ve consistently been a sales leader. In my position as vice president of sales and marketing for a computer dealer in McAllen, Texas, my customer focused approach resulted in one contract worth more than $1,000,000 dollars in services over a two and a half year period of time. My top three accounts in 1997 produced annualized service contract revenue of $625,125. (Service contracts were generally more profitable than PC and computer product hardware sales.)
To be in integrity with my values, I’ve had to find sales style that respects customers. I started this search in 1979 after I left the U.S. Air Force following 9.5 years of service and four years at the USAF Academy. At this time, nationally renowned sales trainers taught a hard sell approach using control, manipulation and pressure. My heart centered, soft sell sales and marketing approach is the result of my search.
Interestingly, more and more sales trainers and businesses today are recommending these new soft sell methods of selling because they work. Customers want to know that you care. You show this by listening and asking questions to understand their needs and wants before starting to sell.
I would be delighted to discuss how we can apply heart centered techniques to get better results from your sales and marketing. Please contact me at john@johnaberle.com or call (626) 393-9741. Be aware that when I am with clients or in a seminar, I will not answer the phone. In that case, please leave a message about what you want. I will call you back.
