The Kelowna Rockets have put their support behind Jim Belshaw and the Soles4Souls campaign to raise 25,000 Pairs of Shoes in 25 days.

Jim Belshaw and Roy’s Shoes has entered in a partnership with the International Shoe Charity “Soles4Souls.”

Bring your gently worn shoes to the Kelowna Rockets vs Prince George Cougars Home Game at Prospera Place on March 13, 2010.

WE NEED YOU TO CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSETS

Estimates show that every person has 3 to 4 pairs of shoes in their closet that they are not wearing any more, but are still in good shape. We ask that you clean out your closets and convince your friends, neighbours and relatives to do the same.

We ask that the shoes be gently used. All footwear including sandals and boots are needed.
The drop off center will be setup close to the main gate on Game day!!!

Jim Belshaw
Roy’s Shoes, Boots and Repair
http://www.royshoes.com/
1627 Ellis Street
Kelowna, BC
V1Y 2A8
250-763-5696

To donate call:
Jim Belshaw
Roy’s Shoes, Boots and Repair
http://www.royshoes.com/
1627 Ellis Street
Kelowna, BC
V1Y 2A8
250-763-5696

With the end of the Olympics, it’s a great time to reflect on the journey that our Olympic athletes have taken to reach their goals. I was very taken by the number of athletes that found interesting ways to motivate themselves to reach the podium, through innovation or with goals and persistence.

Many of the athletes challenged themselves in untraditional ways to achieve great results or set forth on a path to change their lives by reaching for an Olympic medal.

As with any business, goals were set and the training and learning of new skills and tactics were accomplished.

A few examples of out of the box thinking were:

Speed Skating – Men’s Team Pursuit – Utilized a new tactic where they gave a gentle push to the slower skater in their group and kept that skater from falling back. This tactic was only revealed for the Olympic Games in this event and gave them a clear advantage to help win the race. The push off had never been used before in team pursuit. Two of the skaters came from short track where this technique is used. Incorporating this skill won them a gold medal.

Snowboarding – Women’s Snow board cross – As a young girl Maëlle Ricker had two dreams: to compete competitively in snowboarding and to compete in snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, despite the fact that Snowboarding was not an Olympic sport at the time. Ricker was forced to skip the 2002 Olympics because of an injury. At the 2006 Olympics she placed 4th in her event. In 2010 Ricker won the gold medal just minutes from her childhood home in North Vancouver and described the Olympic victory “like a crazy dream”. The gold was redemption for her fall and concussion during the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin. She said that “Turin was such a motivator for me. It just made me work that much harder and just go for it today.”

Alpine Skiing – Women’s Downhill – American Ski sensation Lindsey Vonn strives for dominance and consistency in every race. She does it under pressure, in good conditions and bad conditions, tough courses and easy courses; it’s a real testament to what an amazing athlete and ski racer she is. As an analytical perfectionist with great strength she skis with longer men’s skis which are more forgiving and allow her to smooth out the conditions on the course. This tactical advantage increased her times and allowed her to reach her goal and win an Olympic gold medal.

Skeleton – Men’s Skeleton – Jon Montgomery watched the Olympic competition as a young man and decided that he needed to find a way to experience the Olympic spirit. In 2002 he visited the track in Calgary and a love affair began with Men’s Skelton. In an interview with CTV, he stated that he has a tattoo of a maple leaf over his heart and also said that he hopes his gold medal performance inspires more people to enter amateur sports. When not skeleton racing, Montgomery works as a sales consultant and automobile auctioneer in Calgary.

Ice Hockey – As a young child Sydney Crosby envisioned winning the Stanley Cup and playing for Canada in the Olympics. Many sportscasters mentioned that, Sid the kid, was not having the type of Olympic Game they had envisioned for him. But when needed Sydney Crosby scored the goal that won the gold medal for Ice Hockey and set a new Olympic record for Canada of 14 Gold medals.

These Olympic athletes identified their areas of strength and weakness, created visions for themselves and determined areas to focus on in order to get the biggest payoff. They set personals goals reviewing weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly.

They also set achievable and believable challenges to move forward with their lives, and held themselves accountable by working with personal coaches and trainers.

March has arrived and the first quarter of the year is upon us. What can you take from these Olympic Games to help Build Your Business and propel yourself forward for this year and into 2011?

Donald Robichaud is the President of the FloodLight Consulting team and can be reached at 250-768-9415

http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/

February 24th to Saturday March 20th

Our goal is to collect 25,000 pairs of shoes in 25 days.

Local Okanagan social agencies as example; The Food Bank Store, Kelowna Gospel Mission, Now Canada, Kelowna’s Women’s Shelter etc. will all be offered footwear for their clients.

The remaining shoes will be shipped to the Soles4Souls distribution Center in Nevada where they will be sorted and shipped to where needed. Presently they have committed over 1 million pairs to Haiti.

Drop off locations

All Capri Insurance Locations: Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna, Pentiction
Roy’s Shoes
Ramada Hotel  Kelowna
Capital News
Astral Media - Sun Fm – 1150 Radio – Silk FM
Best Western Vernon Lodge
Penticton Lake Side Resort
OK Pizza
Wickerland Patio and Home
Spy vs Spy – The Spy Store

A $5.00 donation buys 2 pairs of NEW SANDALS

WE NEED YOU TO CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSETS
Estimates are that every person has 3 or 4 pairs at least in their closet that are not worn any more but still in good shape. We ask that you clean out your closets but convince your friends, neighbors and relatives to do the same. We ask that the shoes have no holes in the soles and in decent shape. All footwear including sandals and boots are accepted and needed.

It is also the GREEN thing to do. There are tons of discarded footwear in the landfills that when break down the toxic glue that holds our shoes together can leak into our water supply and atmosphere.

For more information call Jim Belshaw Roy’s Shoes
1627 Ellis St. Kelowna PBC 250-763-5696 cell 250-870-1191

Jim Belshaw
Roy’s Shoes Boots and Repair
1627 Ellis Street, Kelowna, V1Y2A8
250-763-5696
roysshoes@shaw.ca
http://www.roysshoes.com/
http://www.soles4soulscanada.com/

Would you like fries with your Order?

In this economy it’s important to add additional sales to your order without coming across as pushy. Every day sales teams are leaving out sales that customers would have willingly purchased with you.
In most organizations the salesman is so happy to make the initial sale that they actually forget or refuse to offer accessories items that will compliment the original purchase.

I learned a long time ago never assume that the person I was selling to was in the same monetary position as me. Sometimes we assume that because we are tight for money others are too, or we read about a recession and expect that everyone has tightened their purse strings. Not so!!

Every Product sold has an accessory item that will enhance the purchase. When buying a suit I am always offered or shown the appropriate shirt, ties, belts and socks that match the original sale. In the shoe business it’s the purse that matches the shoes or the polish that will help with the upkeep. In selling websites the up sell is the hosting package or the yearly SEO package that comes with the site or the newsletter attachment to market the products on the site.

When was the last time you bought just a hamburger? ” Would you like fries with your order? “, has become the staple of the fast-food industry.

Why up selling is so profitable?
The best part of up selling is that it’s practically effortless. Since it’s done after the customer has decided to go ahead with a major purchase, the hard part of the sales conversation has already been done. You’ve already established rapport, identified the customer’s needs, summarized, presented benefits, asked for the order and handled objections. Up selling is just presenting the information in a “by-the-way” fashion.

One of the most effective up selling techniques is getting the customer to use the product in your location. A hairdresser for example, might put hair gel in the customer’s hand and show them how to apply it themselves. By showing the client how to get the salon look at home, they create a value-added up sell.

At the retail level, it’s a good idea to group related and similar products then offer the add on at a package price. If someone is getting a haircut and you talk to them about shampoo and conditioners, it only makes sense to show them a package deal that groups hair products at a package price.

What to Offer?

Think about your business. What else can you offer customers or clients while they’re making their first transaction with you?

Can you offer:
• A discount on a related product or service?
• A volume discount if they buy more now?
• A special priced combination package including the initial product or service?
• Extended warranties or support packages
• Additional cables, batteries, cleaning products, etc……..
Your offer should include preferential special pricing. Most customers will accept the up selling offer when it’s a good value and the customer feels they are saving money.

The profit from the up selling portion often exceeds the profit on the initial product or service, because there are no additional expenses involved. The customer is already in the store and you have a captured audience.

Offer an incentive program to your sales team for up selling a specific line of accessories.

The Challenge

This week choose an accessory item in your business and offer it to every customer for the next month. You will add additional sales to your bottom line and increase your profit. Not everyone will buy, but if you don’t ask you’ll never make the sale.

If every day you service 10 clients and 3 buy a $25.00 dollar up sell accessory item, you will have an additional $75 dollars in the till. Now multiply $75 x 30 days in the month and you have now increased your totals sales for the month by $2250.00

Would you like fries with that order?

If you’re not making up selling offers to every new customer or client, start doing it now. It’s an easy way to boost your profits and Build Your Business.

Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight Consulting – Build Your Business – 250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

I was recently approached by a company to assist them with their sales process. In the interview I uncovered that they were struggling with sales because they did not have a sales process defined.

This company had one of the three owners dedicated to sales. The owner had sales experience, but was way over his head with this specific product and service.

Every company needs to have a developed sales process and apply the sales process to every sale. In thirty years of sales and marketing I have only run into a handful of people who are natural sales people. These gods of sales have a sales system in place.

Even the Sham Wow guy on TV has a system and recently he used the same system to sell the Slap Chop!!!

Sales people are more productive when following a specific sales process that details the steps along the way. This will allow them to process the prospect into a lead and then a sale.

As a company you should define your company’s sales process based on best practices within your team, your industry and your target market. Below you will find a sales process that can be applied to most products and services.

The Sales Process – The process for converting prospects into leads and leads into customers is much like playing a hockey game. You need a plan and set plays to move the puck up the ice. Not practicing and staying within a game plan can result in a waste of time and effort.

Engage. – This is the first milestone in the sales process and usually happens when a potential client makes an inquiry into your product, or service and this will allow you to introduce yourselves, your company, your offering and uncover their general need. This is your lead.

Qualify. – Once you’ve engaged the potential client and determined they fit your overall target profile, you need to qualify the lead further to make sure it’s a “fit” with your company and what you offer.

Assess. – Once you have qualified the lead you must assess the opportunity before expending the resources to develop a quote or proposal. Ask yourself: What are the specifics of their needs? What is the main decision-making factor? What is their budget? Do they understand your value proposition? Are they looking at the competition?

Proposal. – You’ve assessed the opportunity to the level required during the assess stage, and now it’s time to move into the proposal stage. Make sure your proposal process is appropriate for the buying cycle. Include validation of your services, testimonials, all terms, as well as credit, inside the proposal to avoid slowing down the sales process.

Close. – At this phase of the sales process, you must close and overcome any possible objections, negotiate terms, and close the deal.

SALE! – Hopefully at this point, you’ve done such a good job of managing your sales process that you have moved your lead to a sale. If at any time the sale fails you must analyze and refine for the next time.

This is an overview of the typical sales process and it is imperative that no short cuts are taken. Failure to follow your sales plan will lead to lost sales.

Having a company sales process will allow you to process sales more effectively and help you to ‘Build Your Business’.

Donald Robichaud is the President of the FloodLight Consulting team and can be reached at:

FloodLight Consulting – Build Your Business
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

There are a number of methods that you can use to build your business. Many of these methods may already be in use but they are rarely used as part of a total marketing system so they are not used consistently.

Most businesses have methods of marketing; however, most do not pay close attention to the results and frequency of implementation. The key to remember is that when something is part of a system, then it is repetitive therefore multiplying the effectiveness and guaranteeing significantly better results.

The best way to implement your marketing strategy is to use this guide and make sure that you answer the questions that are part of each concept.

The goal of you answering the questions is simple. If you take the time to answer the question, even if it is just in your head, you will take yourself to a higher level of awareness of how you are working in your business.

MARKETING WEAPONS

1. Business Cards – Your business card should have key contact information and must be distributed to everyone you meet. The goal of giving your card to everyone is placing you in the subconscious mind of everyone you meet.
Q: Do you give your card to everyone you meet or just people that ask you about your business?

2. Ask For Referrals – Everyone you develop rapport with both inside and outside your business should know what you do and be able to refer someone to you. The best way to get a referral is to give one first. It will pay major dividends for you.
Q: How many people you know who are in business that would appreciate a referral? What goes around comes around!!!

3. Have a Clearly Defined Message – Make sure that everything you do has a message about who you are and/or what you do. Hone your Elevator Pitch!!
Q: What is your message? What do you specialise in? Who is your target market and what are your services? What problems do you solve?

4. Voice Mail Marketing – Make sure your voice mail has special marketing statements. It is very important to place some type of reminder for the listener to ask you about something specific about you or your products.  An example of a voice mail marketing system is at the end of your greeting, you add the statement “Don’t forget to ask me about….!”
Q: How do I get people to ask me about my competitive advantage?

5. E-mail Marketing – This is very similar to voice mail marketing. Every e-mail you send must have as part of your signature, a special offer or a marketing message!
Q: What does your e-mail signature look like?

6. Testimonials – It is a must for you to get testimonials from your clients and referral sources. Your website and marketing material should contain a customer quote. These quotes give customers sub-conscious references to your services and the quality of them.
Q: How many testimonials do you have and are they from different types of sources so you can attach them to the appropriate marketing piece?

7) Community Involvement – Get involved with your community and increase your exposure. Individuals that participate in community activities tend to be compelled to want to help other members of the activity because of the common bond that is shared.
Q: What organization could you join that would surround you with the type of people that either could use your services or refer you to people that could benefit from your services while simultaneously giving something valuable back to your community?

8). Accessibility – Make sure you are easily reachable. Make clear to your clients the best way to reach you along with the best times to reach you. Add on your voice mail message specific times that you will be returning phone calls so clients know when to expect to hear back from you. When you return clients messages when you say you will, your credibility grows and so do the quality of your referrals.
Q: How much time do you need to answer your messages and when would be the best time of the day to answer your messages and return client calls? Do this daily.

Implement each one of these simple marketing weapons and “Build Your Business” in 2010.

Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight Consulting – Build Your Business – 250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is one of the most used methods to extend the volume and the quality of the traffic to an internet site using important content, internal linking, and back links from outside the internet.

Keywords can be searched by any search engine and will allow your site to be indexed. Keywords will appear in the natural search results of a search engine results page and therefore, they are a vital weapon for Search Engine Optimization.

There are a lot of factors that search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo use to rank websites, and not all search engines put the same weight on each criteria. Often, the better the meta tags have been researched the better your results will be and the more probable that the page rank will be higher. Also, text links inside the web site using , keyword phrases and terms will be vital as good search engine tools.

If your web content is relevant and ties into your keywords it can be very helpful. The writing and the proper placement of your content, will greatly improve the chance of you being found.

Search Engine Optimization strategies need to be a part of the total design and development of your website. Some of the basic parts of SEO are web designs, menus, content management systems and shopping carts, because these can be optimized easily.

Once visitors have visited your site they will need a call clear call to action which will allow them to engage with your product or service. Your job is to also make sure you have a clear message when the visitors find you.

If you need to discuss your Internet Marketing Strategies give us a call for a free one hour consultation.

Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight – Build Your Business
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

• Is customer-centered
• Determines where you’re most effectively reaching customers
• Identifies the marketing TouchPoints or tactical tools that would help your company reap greatest rewards
• Allows you to have a greater understanding of your marketing potential
• Ensures brand consistency
• Helps you build your business

Floodlights TouchPoint marketing system will help you improve your sales,  marketing and branding which will help you Build Your Business in Kelowna.

Donald Robichaud  FloodLight – Build Your Business – 250- 768-9415

www.floodlightconsulting.com

Well 2009 is over. Did you reach your goals?

Each year, people make New Year’s Resolutions, only to find that they didn’t achieve their goals, and then they make the same resolutions again the following year.

Regardless of the goal, one of the major reasons that people fail to achieve their goals is that they do not have a goal-setting process, or a formula for success.

So what makes a good goal? Goal setting provides a target to aim for so that you can make better decisions about how to utilize your time and effort for both business and personal achievement.

A good goal is one that is worthy of individual pursuit and is of course, highly subjective. So, far be it for anyone to define for you what your worthy pursuit ought to be! All goals, no matter what they are, start with a plan!

So what is your Goal-Plan? A good Goal-Plan is one that when followed, offers a reasonably high probability of success, given sufficient time.

Here are a few tips to get you started for 2010
• Identify areas of strength and weakness
• Create a vision statement for the year (What is your Purpose?)
• Determine which areas to focus on in order to receive the biggest payoff
• Set goals to achieve business and personal results
• All goals must be written (and reviewed weekly, monthly and quarterly)
• All goals must be believable
• All goals must be challenging (moving you forward in your life)
• All goals must be measurable and specific
• All goals must have a deadline
• You must hold yourself accountable for all your goals

Find other people to support and encourage you. It’s easier to make progress towards your goals if you have some support from a friend, coach, mentor, or a family member. Share your goals with them and the kind of support you desire so that they can help and encourage you to reach your goals.

This is a great way to begin the New Year!

With solid goals and a primary purpose you will be in a great position to “Build Your Business”.

Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight Consulting – Build Your Business – 250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/