Owners and investors sell, management sells; the clerical and the technical staff sells; faculties, artists, volunteers, and governments sell . . . and they sell to each other as well as to customers, clients, and patients. Selling is one of life's absolutes, but it is not absolutely accepted.

Most people are uncomfortable with their "selling" role. Some have such an aversion to selling that they believe "selling" is a four-letter word spelled with seven letters. It is not. Nor is it a necessary evil that is done by someone else. For any enterprise to function well, all involved in it must take the attitude that whatever they do is a form of selling.

If it is true that everyone sells, it is also true that everyone buys. In order to be successful at selling, one should have an understanding of why people buy or don't buy, and what influences their buying decisions.

"Internal Selling" is the single most important selling function in any business. If ideas, policies, suggestions, attitudes, services, and products cannot be "sold" inside the business, they may never have an opportunity to be sold outside to customers and clients. Ineffective internal selling is where the profits are lost.

You are never selling to one person. There is always the seen or unseen "3rd-Party" who influences every sale. It could be a friend, a colleague, a business partner, an associate, etc. If you do not consider this 3rd-Party, you will not have a successful sale.

People planning to start a business. Just because people can pronounce and spell "entrepreneur" does not automatically make them one. While some have experience in one or two areas such as finance, operations, personnel or sales, few have expertise or experience in selling.

Small businesses that want to develop and grow. Some businesses are facing a turning point. It could be because management doesn't see that they, too, are in sales. Others need to move beyond the first entrepreneurial stages into growing and expanding their company. If these businesses are to survive or grow management must make substantial changes and sell those changes to others in the firm and to their public.

Larger firms needing to re-evaluate and change their sales programs . . . to their public and people. More often than not, their problems stem from decisions made by people who were so removed from the selling picture that their decisions were detrimental to sales.

I consult with management on many business activities, each of which can affect an individual's, firm's, and organization's success:

• Communications as "selling" situations.
• Business decision-making and how it relates to sales,
• Non-selling business functions, i.e., management, finance, operations, support, delivery, etc. and the role they play in how others view the information, products and services being offered,
• Business planning and business plans.
• Turning incoming ideas, information, products, and services into outputs,
• Methods for reaching potential and current customers and clients,
• Any of the topics or themes as set out in my seminars.

I am open to working with my clients at their place of business, at a mutually agreeable place, by phone, or via e-mail.

Web Site Critique Service . . . Critiquing Web Sites from a Selling or Sales Point of View. Some web sites are created by designers and developers who have great graphics and/or technical skills, and some are done by do-it yourselfers. Few, if any have experience in sales or selling. Because of this, may sites are not generating the results they expected due to factors that get in the way of making the sale. This service is designed for:

• Firms/people with web sites and web site developers who wish an outside opinion of the selling aspects of a site,
• Web site developers who wish a critique while the site is under construction
• Web site developers looking to approach a prospective client about a makeover of a site,
• Web site developers asked to submit a proposal for a web site makeover

Ambassador Of Selling Seminars: The seminars are geared to specific business topics listed in this brochure. Although the seminars are designed as half-day programs, any topic can be adapted to shorter formats, starting at 20 minutes in length, or extended to full-day or multiple-day formats to meet specific needs. The basic selling seminar, "There Is More To Sales Than Just Selling" covers the following topics:

Redefining selling The functions of selling Your 4 selling situations Your 4 selling opportunities The 10 tools of selling The profession of selling Defining customers Customers' 3 fears Why people buy Why people don’t buy Reaching customers — who, and how

Customers' 3 buying situations Understanding the customer Making it easy for customers to buy Concepts of added-value The prime purpose of making presentations 5 goals for all presentations "Business Calisthenics" — exercises that help keep business healthy

Other seminars are:

• "An Unconventional Look at the Complex Subject of Selling"
  
• "Selling Change . . . Pain or Progress, Revolution or Evolution?"
  
• "Giving GOOD SERVICE When Giving Good Service Is Not Good Enough"
  
• "Two Sides Of A Trade Show
  
• ""Selling For People Who Do Not Like To Sell"
  • "The Art Of Selling Art"
  • "Yes, Technically Trained People Can Learn To Sell"
  • "Beginning Business, How To Achieve Your Goals"
  • "If I Wanted To Be A Salesman, Why Would I Have Gone To Graduate School?"
  • "Selling: Invest In It, Bank On It"
  • "I'm An Accountant . . . I Add, Subtract, Multiply & Divide, But I Don't Sell"
  • "Selling Yourself . . . The Business Is You!"

Find additional seminar topics for professional and technical fields in the Ambassador Of Selling Brochure. For a copy, please send an email request or go to the guest book.

Trade Show Seminars and Services I approach my trade show programs from both the exhibitors' and buyers' points of view by teaching each what the other's trade show problems are. Both the buyer and seller must be successful at their jobs if they and the show are to succeed.

• Seminars prior to a show: "How Exhibitors (or Buyers) Can Get More Out Of A Trade Show"
• Seminars at a show: "Take-a-break" discussions for both buyers and exhibitors during a show,
• Consulting with exhibitors on selling and display at a show.
• Working with or accompanying buyers at a show.

Writing Articles Many of the articles on my web site on selling and related topics appear in local, regional, and national magazines, newspapers, and trade journals under the Attitudes For Selling banner. Requests for reprints or for new articles for Association and business newsletters are welcome.

Association and Organization Programs Associations and Charitable Non-Profit Organizations are formed to help their members and participants advance in their common interests and to bring worthwhile efforts to the public. The Ambassador Of Selling services and seminars can be tailored to meet these goals through speaking at luncheons and dinners and offering specialized training for staff, members and volunteers on topics related to business, selling and services.