Sales Lessons From Baseball

Baseball, I remember the first time I went to a game. Going through a dark tunnel opening up to w wide green field. This

was as good as it gets. The big leagues.

It’s about individual efforts and the team.

1) A baseball team is made up of individual players who know how to play together.
2) Every great baseball player started out as a beginner.
3) Every Major Leaguer started out in the minors
4) All Pros are coachable
5) Baseball players warm up and practice before every game
6) Baseball players learn the fundamentals until they are automatic
7) All baseball players go through slumps
8) All baseball players make errors
9) All baseball players LOVE the game

The down side

1) Very few baseball players make it to the big leagues
2) Very few baseball players can lead
3) Very few baseball players can hit a home run or get that clutch hit
4) Errors in judgment can cost you your career
5) Cheaters do eventually get caught
6) There is not prize for second place
7) For fans to be loyal to the team the team needs to be loyal to the fans

Larson Notes & Satire: To succeed in baseball or sales you need to believe not just in yourself but in your teammates, you have to believe you and your team will win. You need to believe in your coach and your leadership.

So ask yourself
Who are you playing for?
Are you a winner?
How much do you practice a day?
How much of you is in the game?
Where is your loyalty?

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-1294
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws

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P.S. We make teleprospecting for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you sould add teleprospecting into your marketing mix call today and find out.

I Got A Guy. . Is it you?

I Got A Guy Is it you? If you follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter or my Facebook Business Page you might have noticed at times I post products or services I do not do, and say I Got A Guy. So who are these guys and what are these products and services? My Customers If you are one of  my customers your one of  MY Guy's and I do everything and more to get you sales leads and customers. I do what I said I would do for your marketing and then I give that little bit extra! E-Mail Marketing If Email is your channel of distribution use it wisely. Think before you share your latest blog, a sale or to just share information. Choose wisely. Make sure what you are sending is useful information and worth their time. Good subject, engaging content and always a call to action.   Direct Mail Direct Mail is seen as a dinosaur by many but before you dismiss it do your research, it has proven to be beneficial. Don’t forget to apply the golden rule 40/20/40 the success of your direct mail marketing efforts are going to be dependent upon three factors – 40% of your success will come from how effective your mailing list is 20% will come from everything else (design, the copy text etc.). 40% will depend on how compelling your offer is. The takeaway here is do not spend a whole lot of time and money on flashy graphics, layouts. It might not win creative awards but it will bring business to your door. And isn't that what we want, more sales? And keep in mind the mail box is next to empty. Its your job to fill it. For all you printers out there we don't print but do use print services. Telemarketing / Teleprospecting Telemarketing is the glue to make this all come together. You pick your plan from straight hourly to straight incentive with NO long term contact, no hidden costs. Additionally we can put a telesales plan together with as few as 10 hours a week keeping it in balance with your company’s staff, growth projections and marketing budget. It gives you the unique ability to go make sure they are getting your message, the ability to ask questions on what you sent and come away with information you need to take then farther down the sales pipeline and it gives you immediate feedback.  Then regardless of the call and how it went ASK FOR THE ORDER! If you are afraid to ask we are not. So let us ask for you. When you're ready to change the look of your email, take a look through the “design” tab to set background colors, borders, and other styles. So you want to be one of My Guys? If you want to be one of MY Guys give me a call me at 847-991-1294. We have a program that is right for you and a little bit more. And if nothing else you now you know what "I got a guy" is when you see it posted Larson & Associates We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better

Copyright ©2020 Larson & Associates, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Larson & Associates 678 N Eagle Ln   Suite 201 Palatine IL 60067 847-991-1294 howard@larsonassociates.ws www.larsonassociates.ws

Get Open, Stay Open, Be Safe

We are all out here fighting the good fight Day after day. Trying to make a sale, Trying to get your product manufactured and shipped! Here at Larson & Associates one of my product services is our: Outsourced Sales Management & Sales Professionals. http://www.larsonassociates.ws/Outsourced_Sales I use this area of my work very sparing. I am very particular in who I am willing to get in long term connections with. One of the few is with Mark Myers at Estimator Cloud https://www.estimatorcloud.com But these dark times, dark times indeed and call for very expanded special relationships. To this end I picked up two companies that I saw with products you all need and might not have a resource for. The time and need for companies, shops and factories like yours to get open and stay open is now! I Want You All Open! I want you open and I want you to stay open! I can't do my main line of work which is to market you with telesales, telemarketing, teleprospecting & target marketing  to achieve consistent desired and sustainable growth if you are not open. If you have a plan to reopen I applaud you. If you don't, I know some people in the business who can assist you. What I am doing is promoting a line of products from two different companies to help see that happen. One in particular that got me very excited is Penetrexx. Penetrexx This iis what I call the bridge product which will keep you safe between disinfection cleanings. This is the one product that is probably not being used in a company, factory, restaurant or any other work facility. The one product that gives you lasting surface protection. If you are open or are planning to open I expect you have a plan for disinfecting but let me ask you about surface integrity between treatments? Penetrexx is that bridge product you can use  that will reduce the build up of bio-films and microbial colonization. Penetrexx currently holds both EPA and FDA regulatory approval for use in animal protein production and human health care. In a recent hospital study Penetrexx out performed standard hospital protocols by more than 4 to 1 in head to head ATP counts.    In stock ready for shipment: Penetrexx (RTU)          32oz Bottles      4 bottles           $139.80 Penetrexx (RTU)          1 gal Bottle        4 bottles           $359.80 Penetrexx (RTU)          5 Gal Pail         $429.95                     Penetrexx (RTU)          55 Gal Drum    $3,715.79                  Penetrexx (RTU)          275 Gal Tote    $18,915.26 Plus shipping and handling The Rest Of The Product Line We Are Carrying For Facility and Personal Care Hand Sensitizer Non-Alcoholic  MediDefense Hand Santizer is a revolutionary new alcohol-free formula with an advanced technology proven to extend germ fighting protection. Additionally being non-alcoholic it will not dry out your hands like alcoholic based hand sensitizer. In stock ready for shipment: mPulse Hand Sanitizer 2 oz. Spray     24 bottles $119.76 mPulse Hand Sanitizer 7.5 oz. Foam     12 bottles $119.88 mPulse Hand Sanitizer      1 GL Jug 4 bottles $174.08 Plus shipping and handling *Note i can get alcohol based hand sensitzers and they are less expensive. Masks  Product Information-Masks and Gloves  3-ply  Payment required upfront  Units Price 1,000 $.69 5,000 $.39 10,00 $.36 25,000 $.35 50,000 $.33  Gloves Gloves-Nitrile Units Price 5,000 $.31 10,000 $.30 25,000 $.28 50,000 $.26 100,000 $.24    DISCLAIMER: MASKS AND GLOVES ARE A FAST MOVING PRODUCTS AND THIS PRICING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITH EACH SHIPMENT FROM MANUFACTURES. LARSON & ASSOCIATES PRICING IS BASED ON RAW COSTS OF INPUTS USED TO MANUFACTURE, MARKET SUPPLY, AND DEMAND.LARSON & ASSOCIATES HAS NO CONTROL OVER THE AFOREMENTIONED COSTS AS THEY ARE DICTATED BY THE MARKET.  LEAD-TIMES QUOTED ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PRODUCTION QUEUE INCREASES DUE TO DEMAND AS WELL AS SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES ARE BEYOND OUR CONTROL. ANY CHANGE IN PRICE WILL BE COMMUNICATED PROMPTLY. ALL ORDERS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE, NON-RETURNABLE AND NON-CANCELLABLE.  If we can help you get open, stay open or to just stay safe let us know. We are here for you! Making Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better

Copyright ©2020 Larson @ Associates, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Larson & Associates 678 N Eagle Lane    Suite 201 Palatine IL 60067 847-991-1294 howard@larsonassociates,ws www.larsonassociates.ws

Rule Of Number 2

Sometimes The Best You Can Be Is The Supplier In Reserve The Rule Of NUMBER 2 So what is the rule of number 2? Sooner or later your prospects #1 supplier is going to mess up. I do, you do and yes your competition will, which brings us to this unique period in history. Supply lines are stained, frayed, cut and even broken so it is your chance, maybe your best opportunity to present yourself as the viable alternative. The go to guy. The guy that can do it when all others can't.  But they will not call you if they don't know you are out there! Mohammad Ali said it best. You don't trade punches with the champ. You got to beat the champ! Right now if I were you I would be hammering away with each right and left I could.  I would be marketing and selling the heck out of my business to let people know I am open and able to do what we do best, MARKET! Muhammad used the right hand to lead, and then the hard LEFT! It's time to throw your left hook. Slumps are for the other guy, This is the time when you just pick yourself up off the mat again and again. Get up one more time with us. No matter how hard it is, this is the fight of a lifetime and you can win! I don't care how long you have been in sales, or been in business. This is your moment. Your moment to shine.   When you can’t seem to close the sale despite your best effort. Remember they need you now more than ever. Pick yourself up and market.  When each call or conversation that you do get seems that much harder than it ever was before. Pick yourself up and market. The pressure is on, the volume is down and you just can’t get that deal to click. Pick yourself up and market. Understanding that we can influence this cycle, spot problems, change behaviors and avoid repeating mistakes that lead to slumps in sales. But if they can't find you they can't buy from you. So, pick yourself up and market.  Larson & Associates we usually don’t like to brag, but we have a secret where we can successfully predict when a sales slump is going to happen, well, nearly 95% of the time that is. After all, no one is perfect, right? Do you want to know our secret to avoiding sales slumps? It really is quite simple, it all comes down to: Prospecting. Yes prospecting. Sales prospecting is one of the most important aspects of an organization, let alone a sales process.   Right now, today, someone out there buying what you are selling or making.  All companies, in good times and bad, have to fill their pipeline with good leads in order to acquire customers. Helping you prospect, how it works and what it means for your sales is a big part of how our secret can work for you. Sales slumps have a way of self-perpetuating, with the lack of sales eroding our confidence and expectations of positive results, which in turn makes it even more difficult to return to the good form we have lost along the way.  In sales the natural reaction is to fight off the pressure and panic with a quick fix, by ‘digging’ for more sales. Digging in places where you know the sales were, looking for that next pot of gold. This is what went wrong in the first place, stop ‘digging’ where the sales were, trying to work that same ‘claim’ endlessly and move on to new ground.  If there is a trick to prospecting it’s doing the work to make it ‘work’. The only real way is to get back out there and start making the calls, working the leads. Initiating conversations with cold sales calls that now with what is going on in the world and  the events where is your prospects mind at? these are still the ‘nuts and bolts’ that hold the process together. Opportunity is out there, your job is to find it, through prospecting. So if you are finding yourself in a slump right now, you are not alone. Don't feel bad we are all in the ring fighting the fight. And if you find yourself on the mat, take a deep breath, fill your lungs and hold it for a second, deep breath, get up and start punching. Pick up the phone and call that prospect who has always said no. You might be surprised. Make the commitment. Invest your time, your energy and your emotion into actions that you can control. So go on. Sit down and pick-up the phone. Go knock on some virtual doors. Send out some e-mails. Work your Linked-In, Twitter and Facebook social network and groups. Start asking for orders. Ask for referrals. Talk to any and everyone about what you do.  At Larson & Associates we are always ready to put forth that extra effort, to work hard and persevere in everything that we do for you. We can help you avoid the corona virus sales slump, overcome marketing anxiety and map out new places to ‘dig’. The more you do, the more you get. It really is that simple.   We Make Good Companies Great And Great Companies Even Better Call For the Larson Marketing Planning Guide: Yes, for a free pdf or word doc copy of our Marketing Planning Guide  just email to howard@larsonassociates.ws and I'll email it out to you. Then I can sit down with you and show you how you could be making 50% more in sales! Even more if your an under 500K company and have the grit. Just ask for either the short get running fast version or the long hard one.

4 Steps To Corona Success

4 Steps To Corona Success As you know I have now been in business for over 45 years. Not that you care about that but what you might care about is the knowledge that 45 years gives a person. Knowledge that I am able to give and use for my clients.  I started my company right at the tail end of the 1974-75 stagflation recession. Call it Lady Luck but timing was really on my side. 4 years of growth and  then the 1979-1982 energy crisis and super inflation. The 1991-92  Federal Reserve response downturn. The  dot-com / 911 of the early 01-02s. Great Recession of 2007-08 and now, the Great Lock down of 2020.  Enough of the history lesson. If you have never gone through this kind of fun before sit back and fasten your seat-belt. This is where you find out what you are made of, or not. Yes right now The Impossible Might Take A Little Longer.  This is where officers eat last, like owners and C-suites having to hold paychecks or forgo a few perks they got when times were good. I can hear all the business consults out there groaning but hey, sometimes you need to do it. So as we walk though the 4 steps together, imagine where you are in each the stages and I guarantee you are in one or all of these stages in one way shape or form. Right now they are our new reality until they are not. 4 Steps to Success Survival  Survival Restart Winning New Reality You are or will go through these steps in one way shape or form. And you will survive, You will need o restart what you are and how you do it. You had better win and you must embrace the new reality as it pertains to you and your business Making Good Companies Great and Great Companies Even Better Survival We did not ask for this to happen but its here so look it in the eye and face it.  Get your house in order. Family, Faith, Health: Get these key elements on your side,they are the bedrock of your support Calm your employees and Independent Contractors. These are the people who will help to lift you out of where you are now. Calm your customs to assure of your survival. Without them you have no business so let them know you are going to be here for the long run Calm your suppliers. You might need t to push for terms or rem,ember cash is king and if you can pre buy they might be giving some crazy discounts right now Calm your creditors. Even if you might be late with a payment if they know before hand and are not blindsided you can keep your good guy status with them. Restart Now, yes right now you need to be marketing and selling hell out of yourself. Use me. Use my competition  Do it yourself but just do it.  Clog the phone lines Stuff the mail box Fill the band width Jam the airwaves Work the Social Media world Put up those billboards If you like the way I think talk to me about the Larson Way. For Business to business marketing we know what we are doing and can get it done even if difficult times. If you are more consumer based I might not be the best marketing company for you to be using and I can either send you off to one of my friends who work the consumer world or not but do not get paralyzed into doing nothing. Nothing brings a slow death. Winning Go for it. Right now there are people buying things other than toilet paper. they are out there buying what you are selling. ASK FOR THE ORDER! The economy is like a sling shot. It is building, building, building, until it lets loose and ZIP all this pent up need becomes NEED IT NOWs. This is the time to grab marketing share even if no one is buying, What am i saying? Think about it. They will buy sooner or later and if you are the only person calling on them, if you are the only one in their head, you are the one who will get the orders.  New Normal So sit down and take a deep breath and have a sip of coffee. The New Normal is coming. Your new is not going to be my new so work out what is going to be reality for you. For me I got lucky back in '06 when gas in Illinois hit $3.00 Gallon and I took my company virtual I was ready for "working from home". It has allowed me to attract some of the finest talent in the country. IL, MN, TX, LA, FL, CT, NE, AZ. A new direction a new way of doing business more efficiently. Moving back into full multi-channel marketing we added direct mail and email marketing, content development, blogging and enhanced social media marketing but the thing that makes it all work, the glue to our success is still personalized prospecting by a real live person. No auto dialer. No recorded message. No bull pen. But 1 person handing your account so they get to know you, your company and can represent you. I'm sure there are lessons I need to incorporate into my business. I am trying to think about what gives the best back to my family, my employees and independent contractors, my customers, my suppliers and yes my creditors. I'll be happy to talk with you about your reality or I have about a dozen or so business constants who understand my way of thinking I can hook you up with with. If you are a business consultant and want to learn more about the Larson Way so I might recommend you give me a call at 847-991-1294 The Comfort Zone So whats next for Larson & Associates? Growth? Perhaps but seriously, right now, as I type this, I don't know what that is going be. What I do know is I enjoy being the big fish in a little pond.  I do know is there is no comfort right now, that is for tomorrow. There is no relaxing, that is for the day after tomorrow.  If you have the grit, if you have the tensity, if you have the perseverance, if you have with will to succeed, this period of unrest is what you have been waiting for. It is your time to grow and become successful beyond your wildest dreams. I know because the greatest growth I ever had was during a down turn so if I can do it, why not you! And I would love to be part of helping to make you go from good to great to even greater. As for my core company, I'm not looking to be the kind of guy everyone wants to use for their marketing and lead generation. But for the discerning person and company, the one with the hunger and the grit who wants to grow faster at or faster than 4 times the GNP, I'll sit down and have a cup of coffee. Sadly right now a virtual cup of coffee. If you like my way, the Larson way, let's do some business and make some money. Make Good Business Great and Great Businesses Even Better!

45 Years Of Larson Yes I have been in business for 45 years and we are not stopping now. Sure I could retire but as my father always said "Don't retire, retread". I do wonder how I got to where I am now. But then, I don't. I mean I grew up with a printing press in the family basement.  I born to be in printing, advertising, marketing and it's been one hell of a ride. I tried not to be an ad man. With a Double Major Biology/Philosophy from Northland College you can see I was really educated for going into marketing. My marketing degrees came later From University of Wisconsin Madison, thank you. From working as a pressman on a 1 Color Solna 125, a 2 color Heidelberg Speedmaster and yes a little gray Multilith 1250 to doing tts coding for a VIP Typesetter. Building one of the largest dry transfer companies in Chicago to buying one of the first 36" wide Lasermaster ink jet printers. Working on projects with and for companies such as  Leo Burnett & J Walter Thompson, Field Container & FCL Graphics to Binks Mfg & Simmons Beds, Freeman Decorating, Hall Erickson & Brightline, Hollister and Molex. Enesco & Roman, Heidelberg USA & Graphtec Digital Solutions . From 1 man to fortune 500 businesses. Business To Business Lead Generation Telemarketing Target Marketing Making Good Companies Great and Great Companies Even Better 435 Bennett Road, Elk Grove Village IL This was the start 5000 square feet. My father moved his design company out of the basement and had the front 3500 and I took the back 2500.    3 printing presses, paper cutter, a Mergenthaler VIP, an  18' Consolidated Camera. 1 shift to 2 shifts. A second VIP and a new Borrowdale process camera.  Growing by over 25% a year by 1979 we had taken a 250K company to over hitting over a million in sales and it was time to move. If you have never grown at double digits or hit 1 Million in sales let me tell you its rush.  175 Gordon Street, Elk Grove Village IL We bought the 175 Gordon building in 1986 from one of our customers, NCL Graphics which gave us the room we needed to grow and expand. More equipment such as a $600K Berthhold Typesetting System an Linotype 330L. With 46 employees we where on fire. It was here we created the "Center For Creative Arts". Using the Downtown Chicago model of having independent talent in one location we brought in highly specialized independent talent all to one address. Typesetting, photostats, dry transfers, design, air brushing , illustration, color copies, trade show and pop displays. Bringing together 14 different creatives all under one roof. 1550 Spring Road Oak Brook IL Thank you Apple. The Mac changed everything. Pricing went down. Quality went down and we got caught flatfooted. Typography basically disappeared from the face to the earth in 3 short hard years. Our 3 largest accounts got bought out and/or moved out of the Chicago area and the United States went into a "little" recession. So I moved to smaller digs. I will spare you the details but with my father, who was the creative genius, and he really was a genius, retired because of a minor stoke, it was time to regroup and rethink company direction. As this was all happening I got a call from a past salesman who use to work for me. Many of you have heard the story but, Tom was working for a website design company and was maybe one paycheck from getting the rubber key when he called me up and asked if I would make some cold telemarketing calls for him.  Now he was the kind of guy who could sell ice to an Eskimo but he was NOT a cold call guy. So we worked out a deal. I made some calls and I set him up with some appointments. He closed them and... his boss found out, calls me up and said "I want to hire you, you're great." Upon which I said I have a company and I'm not looking for a job. Jim countered, ok I want hire your company. And in 1 week I changed from being what you might call a 2 bit graphic arts company into a telemarketing company. 678 N. Eagle Lane Palatine IL The move to our present configuration came when gas hit $3.00 a gallon in 2006. I did not need to do a 30 mile round trip drive down to Oak Brook when I could do a 30 foot commute to a spare room in the house. A step back? Hardly. It has allowed me to attract some of the finest talent in the country. IL, MN, TX, LA, FL, CT, NE, AZ. A new direction a new way of doing business more efficiently. Moving back into full milt-channel marketing we added direct mail and email marketing, content development, blogging and enhanced social media marketing but the thing that makes it all work, the glue to our success is still personalized prospecting by a real live person. No auto dialer. No recorded message. No bull pen. But 1 person handing your account so they get to know you, your company and can represent you. 45 years and still running So whats next? Growth? Perhaps but seriously, I enjoy being the big fish in a little pond.   I keep looking, testing, trying new things. The tools might be different but the rules remain the same. If you know how things work, it works. People buy from people they know and trust. Additionally I have partnered with Estimator Cloud a complete cloud based estimation system for Print, Sign, Large Format and Display companies. Why? It does what is suppose to do. No BS. It is easy to use. And it has a fast set up in 1 to 2 days. Give me a call and I'll get you a demo, I don't care if you are using a different system. Try it, you will like it. As for my core company, I'm not looking to be the kind of guy everyone wants to use for their marketing and lead generation. But for the discerning person and company, the one with the hunger and the grit who wants to grow faster at or faster than 4 times the GNP, I'll sit down and have a cup of coffee. Sadly right now a virtual cup of coffee. If you like my way, the Larson way, let's do some business and make some money. We Keep Getting Better To Make Good Business Great and Great Businesses Even Better!