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Octane Results: Sales

Sound and Background Music in Retail Stores

27 November, 2017

By Dean Cherny, EO Australia-Victoria member and Managing Director at Marketing Melodies and storePlay.

We all go shopping. Some of us try to limit our shopping time to the obligatory grocery run, others browse all the latest collections for a hobby.

We have one undeniable thing in common though: we are all influenced by the many sensory cues we receive while shopping.

In this article, we will have a look at the processes at work, with a particularly strong focus on sound and music.

Categories: FINANCES PR/MARKETING Sales Technology

Tags: Dean Cherny EO Australia EO Australia - Victoria eo melbourne Marketing Melodies music retail storePlay

How to Make a Selling Proposition Truly Unique

29 September, 2017

By Ashton Bishop, CEO at Step Change

Are you selling a product or a service? If you are, then you know that having a selling proposition will make an impact and ultimately make the sale.

However, it is not enough to just have a selling proposition. It needs to be enticing. It needs to be original and clever. And most importantly, the message needs to hit home.

So it should not just be a selling point but a unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is what your business stands for.

One of the things we always tell our clients at Step Change is that they can’t be everything to everyone. By having one strong USP, your business gets to occupy a unique place in your audience’s mind, and you can focus all your efforts on creating products and services that your customers would actually love.

Categories: Coaching FINANCES general PR/MARKETING Sales

Tags: Ashton Bishop selling Step Change Unique Selling Proposition

5 Ways to Capitalize on the Back-to-School Mentality to Help You Grow Sales

20 September, 2017

Have you ever noticed how people become more serious at the beginning of September? Gone are the lazy days of summer and in front of us are four months before year-end. People develop what I call the “back-to-school mentality.” I see it as much among adults as I do among students. In the corporate world, vacations are finished, meetings that didn’t happen over the summer are now on the calendar and decisions are being made.

Why are corporate people more serious during the last four months of the year? Here are a few reasons. Executive decision makers have until year-end to make things happen before their reviews. Not only do they need to complete initiatives on their list to receive bonuses and great scores, but also, those looking for promotions must showcase themselves to management. Further, many decision-makers have to use their annual budgets before they lose their annual budgets.

What does this mean for business owners and salespeople? Opportunity! Below are five ways captured sales opportunities while helping corporate decision-makers achieve their goals.

Categories: Best Practices PR/MARKETING Sales

Tags: Caryn Kopp Kopp Consulting prospective sales sales

4 Reasons You Should Not Be Streaming Music at Your Business

6 September, 2017

By Dan Cherny, EO Australia-Victoria member and Managing Director at Marketing Melodies and storePlay.

Streaming music services, such as Spotify or Apple music, have reshaped the way we consume music. Never before could we carry millions of songs in our back pockets and match playlists to our mood, at any time we desire. This great experience in personal music consumption triggers an important misconception among entrepreneurs looking for instore music though: “If Spotify/Apple music works so well in my personal life, why not use it in my shop, bar, restaurant or other business venue?” In this article, we provide a number of reasons why you should not. Both from a legal and a marketing perspective.

Reason 1: It is illegal

Whenever a business distributes music, it is obligated to pay mechanical rights. These are fees due the rights holders, as compensation for the fact that their creations are duplicated. Before streaming, these were physical, mechanical copies. Hence the term mechanical rights. The fees are much lower when the copies are intended for personal use as opposed to public use, such as instore music. Spotify and Apple music only cover these rights for personal use, so the music is not suited for public use. Furthermore, article 4 of Spotify’s own user agreement clearly states that only personal use is permitted. The reason is that Spotify’s deal with the major labels does not include commercial use.

Categories: FINANCES PR/MARKETING Sales

Tags: Dean Cherny EO Australia EO Australia - Victoria eo melbourne Marketing Melodies retail Spotify storePlay streaming music

Why You Shouldn’t Write Your Own Sales Copy

14 June, 2017

By Larry Alton, business consultant

At some point, every entrepreneur needs to write copy for his or her company’s website, sales pitches, blogs, and other marketing materials. It’s at this moment when you have a decision to make. Do you choose to write your own copy or hire a professional writer to do the heavy lifting? While there’s a case to be made for both sides, most successful entrepreneurs have found that it’s far better to hire a copywriter.

4 Reasons to Hire a Writer

From a business perspective, there are so many different costs associated with keeping your operation up and running. It can be tempting to try and bring some tasks in-house in order to save a little money. However, copywriting isn’t something you can afford to jeopardize.

Categories: Best Practices PR/MARKETING Sales

Tags: blog content content marketing marketing website writer

Why Narrowing Your Marketing Focus Is a Good Thing

7 June, 2017

By Ian Altman, an internationally respected and sought-after expert on business.

Often businesses employ a sales and marketing strategy in which they try to cast a wide net, in an effort to not miss anyone. But by casting a wide net, it is easy to forget that the real goal of sales and marketing is to attract the best potential customers, not just anyone with a pulse. In business-to-business sales and marketing, focusing on the number of leads or prospects is misleading—and likely attracts prospects that are a waste of your time.

Start attracting the best potential clients and valid sales opportunities to grow your business. Here’s how.

Categories: LEADERSHIP PR/MARKETING Sales

Tags: clients ian altman marketing prospective sales sales

Marketing Is Fluid. Embrace the Changes.

24 May, 2017

How your marketing shifts as your business grows

By Payman Taei, founder of Visme and HindSite Interactive

Regardless of the type of business you’ve decided to start or the industry you happen to be operating in, much of your success will come down less to any one major decision and more to those smaller but meaningful ones. This is why your priority at any given time is never “Begin a successful business.” Rather, your goals involve carefully navigating the different phases in the lifecycle of a startup in order to slowly but confidently move from idea to execution—startup to established business.

The types of decisions that you’ll be making in the seed and development phase of your business are very different from the ones you’ll be focused on during expansion or even maturity. You’re not trying to conquer the industry at the start: You’re trying to play to the strengths of your current stage so you can safely and effectively move to the next one, and so on. In many ways, the same is true of your marketing efforts.

Categories: Best Practices PR/MARKETING Sales Technology

Tags: best practices business plan entrepreneur marketing Payman Taei startup visme

Flashback Friday: How to Raise Financially Intelligent Children

27 January, 2017

By Clint Greenleaf

This article was originally published in the March 2014 issue of Octane magazine.

I’m a lucky guy. I tricked a beautiful, caring woman into marrying me; my three kids are healthy and often well-behaved; and most of my businesses have been successful, affording me a great lifestyle. But all of this luck leads me to one constantly nagging fear— that the trappings of this great life will yield unbalanced, bratty children who will grow up to become knuckleheads.

Categories: Best Practices members Sales

Tags: children clint greenleaf education finances parenting

Flashback Friday: The Art of Engaging

28 October, 2016

In all corners of the world, entrepreneurs are playing an integral role in the development of communities, economies and industries. And it all starts with engagement. For Rosemary Tan, a member of EO Malaysia and EO’s former Global Chairman, the art of engaging has helped her find success and significance in business and beyond. In this featured interview, Rosemary shares the highs and lows of her entrepreneurial journey, the value of EO leadership and how through engagement, she continues to find new value in herself, her business and her life.

Your family has played—and continues to play—a major role in your life, encouraging you to get the most out of everything you do. How have they contributed to your success?

RT: I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for my family. I am the oldest of six siblings, and am blessed to have everyone so close by; we stay in touch regularly and meet every Sunday for a three-generation dinner. My grandma taught me how to seize every opportunity and ‘taste’ everything in life at least once. My dad, who was a successful entrepreneur, taught me the value of hard work and that experience is the best MBA you can get. And my mom, who’s a paraplegic, taught me the power of perspective and to always lend a helping hand. I am truly blessed for the strong foundation my family has given me, as well as the many lessons they’ve provided over the years. My family inspires me to engage the world every day to see what it has in store.

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey Inspirational international Project Octane Sales WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Tags: octane rosemary tan

Unleashing Millennials: Changing Your Mindset to Change Results

11 July, 2016

Mindset is everything. In this video, Jason Forrest, an EO Fort Worth member and Chief Sales Officer for Forrest Performance Group, challenges the mindset of “loser millennials.” He offers mindset and behavior changes to unleash this generation’s potential: Change how you see millennials. Understand what drives millennials (they desire to be coached, inspired, and part of a team). Tap into their whys to access their strengths. When you change the way you see millennials, millennials change (along with your results).

Click here to view this video!

Categories: Coaching FINANCES Make a Mark Sales Video

Tags: entrepreneurs' organization EO Fort Worth jason forrest millennials video