Small Business Loans for Superstorm Sandy Victims

Small Business Loans for Superstorm Sandy Victims
Kyle Porter of SalesLoft: Mining Relevant Information For Sales Reps
Someone Already Has The Patent
J.C. Penney Sales Drop Despite or Because of Innovations

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST

Many small businesses have been hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Food trucks got washed away, retail shops are reeling, many have still not re-opened, transportation companies have been hit hard, and many others have been forced out of business or have taken a serious body-blow from Sandy.

One company that is doing their part is Accion. Accion is a global nonprofit micro lender. Their stated vision is to build a financially inclusive world with access to economic opportunity for all.

They recently announced their Sandy Recovery Business Loan Program. It's geared toward individuals who own businesses who have been hit and impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The loans range from $1,000 up to $25,000.

One great thing about Accion is that they are a non-bank micro-lender. That means they have much more flexible underwriting criteria than banks and they obviously don't shy away from small loans.

Also, for the first 3 months you make no payments and pay 0% interest. After 3 months the loan locks in at 4.99% for up to 48 months. There are no prepayment penalties and the loan closing costs are a standard 3-5% with a $30 application fee that's only paid if you're approved.

The basic criteria are pretty simple:

They want FICO scores of 525 and above.
If you have any past due debts it must be less than $3000.
You must show adequate cash-flow to support the loan payments.
No bankruptcies in the last 12 months or foreclosures in the last 24 months.
No late payments on your rent/mortgage in the last 12 months.
At least 6 months of sales history.
You must own fewer than 4 mortgaged properties.

This is pretty basic stuff but, as with any loan application, there is no guarantee that you'll be approved. The hardest criteria may be that you need to be in an area impacted by Sandy.

This is very cheap money…get it now if you've been impacted by the hurricane. Accion is a great organization that is doing great things globally. Be part of that while you rebuild your life and business!

Hurricane Sandy, Brooklyn, New York Photo via Shutterstock

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Kyle Porter of SalesLoft: Mining Relevant Information For Sales Reps

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST

In today’s world, it’s easy to suffer from information overload and no one is immune to this, even in the world of sales. With so much information to be had about clients, businesses, individuals, companies and more, how does one determine what’s important and what’s not when it comes to utilizing that information to make the sale? Tune in as Kyle Porter, CEO of SalesLoft.com, joins Brent Leary to share his solution – one that mines relevant information for sales reps and delivers it back in a meaningful way.

* * * * *

Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what you do?

Kyle Porter: I have been selling software, hardware and services my entire life. But I have always been looking for ways to use technology to drive additional business value.

We started SalesLoft last year in September, alongside David Cummings who is the CEO of Pardot, which is a marketing automation company. We found sales professionals were suffering from this fundamental lack of a relevant information on the companies they were selling to.

We realized we could connect with CRM systems and mine out the information that was relevant about companies and people for each individual sales rep and deliver it back in a meaningful way.

Small Business Trends: How do sales folks leverage "social" to create relationships today?

Kyle Porter: I think first and foremost you have to look at it from the buyers' side. Research studies are saying that 60% of the purchasing decisions are made prior to even dealing with the sales rep, so the sales rep is forced to up his or her game.

Sale reps are finding new ways to qualify; finding new ways to connect; and so that data and information is a way to do it. So I think the challenge is separating the noise from the real good content, and using the good content to your advantage in a quick and actionable way.

Small Business Trends: You mentioned the impact on CRM with a service like yours?

Kyle Porter: So what we want to do is we want to create a CRM system, or change a CRM system so that when the sales rep comes in they're rewarded for adding value in it, adding information. We do that by appending all of these carrots, if you will, or these information triggers and intelligence alongside of that data.

So it is really the future of CRM as making it valuable not just for the executives and managers, but making it a really awesome tool for the people who are putting that stuff in on a daily basis.

Small Business Trends: In addition to putting it in, do you help them once they get certain pieces in? Do you help them fill out some of the other pieces of information on a particular contact?

Kyle Porter: We are not necessarily focused on adding a bunch of information back in the CRM, but delivering you a stream of intelligence, so it is not updating names and phone numbers, address and emails. But it is saying:

“Here's all the stuff that is happening with those companies and people; here are the technologies they are using; all of the business news; all of the jobs that are posting in their social feeds.”

All of that stuff.

Small Business Trends: How critical is the speed of information to sales today?

Kyle Porter: I think speed is extremely important when we look at how buyers buy and how relationships are formed.

I talked to a guy from IBM recently, and he said that 8% of their clients were 80% of their revenue, and that 100 million dollar deals are generated from their customers, and these sales guys know the grandkids middle name.

So this level of sincerity for them to manage those relationships and show they are looking out for the best interest of the client, social has just added all of this information.

Small Business Trends: We went from 80/20 to 80/8? It’s kind of fascinating when you think about it. Is that the impact that social has if we do have an access to this information, where we are able to really target the people that are really driving business?

Kyle Porter: Social is about people – period. When you have more information on people, you have the ability to mine out who are the right people to talk to, who are the ones that aren't a good fit, when is the right time to talk to those people.

Small Business Trends: How challenging is this new environment for folks stuck in their traditional ways of doing their job?

Kyle Porter: It depends on the sale, to be honest with you. When you look at those IBM fifty million, 100 million dollar sales, they are not kids making those sales, those are CIO's and those are gray hairs – and it is gray hair to gray hair. And that is going to happen until those gray hairs are no longer around.

But I think it is very important that the young generation understands social, and understands the important factors that the gray hairs brought to the table which is the actual reason why social matters, which is people and the relationships.

Small Business Trends: How do you attract these folks that have the certain skills that will allow them to be a really good sales person in this particular era?

Kyle Porter: I learned from one of my mentors, David Cummings of Pardot, three things that are the most important when hiring somebody:

They are self-starters.
They are helpful.
They are positive.

So he looks at every single hire from that lens and we have done that as well as we build the business. It has been really helpful for our recruiting in that sort of thing.

Small Business Trends: What are the tools needed to attract the social sales?

Kyle Porter: One of the tools that I think it is an extremely important is email and….

Small Business Trends: Wait a minute….email?

Kyle Porter: There is a huge difference between Outlook and Google Apps for Business. Let's say that I wasn't working for SalesLoft, I wouldn't go work for another company if they made me use Outlook today.

Yesware is an awesome tool for sales. I think that what we are seeing is that Google has taken the cake when it when it comes to email. So that is the first one to be honest with you.

Then I think CRM obviously is very, very important.

Small Business Trends: Kyle where can people learn more about what you guys do?

Kyle Porter: Go to SalesLoft.com

Kyle Porter by smallbiztrends

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Someone Already Has The Patent

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 05:00 AM PST

business cartoon

You think I’d have written this more recently considering the big tech patent wars going on, or maybe very recently with the patenting of DNA actually being discussed, but it’s actually a much older cartoon.

Who knew a little cartoon from the past, based mostly on wordplay, could be so prescient?

Maybe I should go back and check out more of my older work again.

The post Someone Already Has The Patent appeared first on Small Business Trends.

J.C. Penney Sales Drop Despite or Because of Innovations

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 02:30 AM PST

As the Holiday season gets under way, one iconic retailer has more worries than most. J.P.Penney has suffered three consecutive quarters of losses despite, or perhaps because, of attempts to reinvent the brand. Last November, new J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson started making changes to combat historically sagging sales. Johnson had great success with innovative work at Apple and Target, but things aren’t working so well with J.C. Penney. How long will the company have faith in his leadership? Today’s roundup looks at J.C. Penney’s efforts and what other business owners can learn about improving sales and turning a brand around.

Shop ‘Til You Drop

Priced to move. For about a year, J.C. Penney has been making changes. The boldest move, according to observers, was Johnson’s decision in February to radically change the price structure at 1,100 locations. Johnson planned to eliminate about 600 sales a year that were popular with shoppers but tough on profits. Instead, the store put in place a three-tiered pricing structure that permanently lowered prices on all items in the chain by about 40 percent and offered month-long sales on select items and occasional clearances throughout the year. Bloomberg Businessweek

Everything must go. Johnson’s unorthodox moves and the resulting plummet in retail sales have led many to question his strategy. One blogger suggests there are at least five lessons other entrepreneurs can take from what some already call a “pricing strategy failure.” From the beginning, Johnson has admitted his approach is unusual but insists he still believes it will pay off. The question remains whether changes instituted to reverse declining sales will do irrevocable damage to the chain instead. Hammad Siddiqui Blog

Lessons in Leadership

Project your values. A big part of the changes at J.C. Penney, whether right or wrong, have to do with the faith placed in Johnson as a leader. Certainly, some of this faith is based on his past successes. Johnson was the force behind Apple’s revolutionary retail stores and Target’s “cheap chic.” But there’s much more to leadership, explains entrepreneur and consultant Gary O’Neil in this video. Real leadership is about how you embody your values, not simply the systems you put into place. N2ITIV Solutions

Be authentic. There are many qualities that go into great leadership. John Twohig, co-founder at social media marketing agency the Ahain Group, gives a rundown here of some of the basics. They include connection, vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and more. All small business owners are leaders in a way. How you incorporate the elements of leadership in the decisions you make each day is extremely important. Your leadership shapes your company and determines its ultimate success or failure. Tweak Your Biz

Customer Focus

X marks the spot. Early reports on J.C. Penney’s losses have focused on how customers are clearly rejecting the changes in the company’s pricing structure. Regardless of what the end result may be, customers are crucial to any business. Know every segment of your customer base and the preferences of each when it comes to the products and services you offer. For example, Rieva Lesonsky warns businesses in general not to leave generation X out of the picture. This crucial group sandwiched between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials is a force to be reckoned with. Ultimately, make sure you are not leaving anyone out when considering your marketing, pricing, and overall strategy. Grow Smart Biz

Loyalty works both ways. A company can get along very well if it always pays attention to its customers and always treats them well. But, as business owner Anthony Karibian explains in this post, when a trusted business stops being competitive and treating you right, all bets are off. Karibian tells the story of how a trusted cab company opened the door to a competitor simply by letting its prices slowly increase while at the same time decreasing value. bOnline Blog

Pay attention to marketing. Marketing is another key to success, particularly if that marketing communicates effectively with the customers you are attempting to reach. Effective marketing also requires creativity, but don’t worry if you’re not the creative type. Check out these tips for effective and innovative marketing. You don’t need a big budget or a genius for promotion says guest blogger Lance Trebesch. If you have some suggestions for effectively marketing a business, please share them with our community below. The Frugal Entrepreneur

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