Every sales professional needs a website.

Any sales person who sees themselves as, or wants to be seen as, a professional needs a website.

At the very least if you don't have a website, you should have a blog. S.B.I. ( http://blogorbuild.sitesell.com/lee111.html) can help you evaluate your options here and help you create a blog or a site that will get you started on the path to creating a self-marketing system.

Why do you need a self-marketing system?

The answer can be found in Frank J Rumbauskas' book Cold Calling is a waste of time: Sales Success in the information age on www.NeverColdCall.com. If you want to be successful then you need to be seen as an equal to your prospect, or existng customer. You want to be seen as an expert that they want to consult about a given topic. Rather than a pesky sales rep who insists on using up their time.

To be seen as an equal to a customer you need to position yourself so they can find you and your site for information and advice.

I am grateful to Stuart McMaster for getting a guy called Dennis Sobey of D.B.S. Associates ( www.dbs-associates.com ) to run the best sales training courses I have ever been on, for Relcross reps. That is what we were before the course put us on the path to becoming true sales professionals.

I learnt many things from Dennis, but one thing was all about the probing pyramid. The first layer of which is finding out as much as you can about your client and their needs before progressing to the sales pitch.

By having your own website you can get a lot of background information without wasting you or your clients time. This makes your meeting more productive and is appreciated by your client. This makes you look like a true consultant who is worth listening to. This in turn helps you to benefit from the best form of marketing - word of mouth. Your client will freely recommend you to their friends and colleagues saying how professional you are, and suggesting they go to your website or blog.

Now, I hear you say, but my company has a website, why do I need one? Well in some cases it is as Ann sieg says in The Renegade Marketer ( http://dunraven.therenegadenetworkmarketer.com/ ), it can be dangerous to rely on your companys' marketing efforts. This is because, as Frank Rumbaauskas says, your organisation might slice and dice the leads that come in from your work.

By having your own self-marketing system you have control and can feed into the company system. My system is based on what I call Gratitude Marketing. By having information for level 1 of the probing pyramid gathered before I get to the meeting, clients are grateful to me for using their time efficiently. I am grateful for their time and recomendations.

So your self-marketing system works well for you, your company and your client.

For more information on this drop me a line to culbowie@aol.com.