Did anybody see the article in the WSJ today titled “Entrepreneurs win tax case versus IRS”?

This could be huge for managed service providers, many of whom are structured as LLCs.

Essentially the case says that an entrepreneur can now use losses in one LLC or LLP to offset their income from another LLC or LLP.

That’s a big benefit to the small entrepreneur that has multiple irons in the fire.

Let’s say you have two businesses going.  In one, you have losses of $175k.  In the other, you received an income of $200k.  Under the tax rules that have governed up until now, you would be taxed at $200k in income for the year, not receiving any tax benefit from the losses you incurred.

According to the new rules, you would only be taxed at $25k, because the $175k in losses can be used to offset your income!

Talk to your accountant and see what you can do to take advantage of this.  Then share what you’ve learned with your clients that are business owners – they’ll love the insight.

MRC

Everyone has worked with or been sold by a great closer at one time in their career.

Some salespeople always seem to leave their appointments with signed paperwork in hand.   Others seem to always have a reason for not getting signed paperwork.

What’s the difference between these two types of people, and how can you learn from them?

I heard a quote from a representative of Basho, a sales training and software company based out of Boston, that so perfectly answered this question for me that I had to share it with everyone:

A great closer is willing to put the prospect into a situation of temporary discomfort in order to close the deal.

That’s exactly it.  That sums up the great closers from the average ones.  If you are a Sales Manager, put that quote on your list of “keepers” to share with your sales team.  Look for this ability in anyone you interview.

Everyone that has sold anything for a living knows that there comes a point in every sales opportunity where you could apply just a little more pressure and you’ll probably close the deal.  But most people don’t, can’t, or won’t do it.  Why?

Because it makes the salesperson uncomfortable to make the prospect feel uncomfortable.

Everyone has some degree of desire to be liked by other people; some have this desire much more than others.  In the case of sales people, this desire can be incredibly detrimental to being a great closer.  If you are so worried about making the prospect feel uncomfortable that  you won’t “go for the jugular” when the opportunity presents itself, your desire to be liked is taking over your ability to generate a high income as a salesperson.

I can already hear the comments coming from all of you that have been trained by a sales program that has taught you something like “if you sell right, you don’t need to close”, or “if you have to apply pressure at the close, your dealing with someone that shouldn’t really be buying your products or services.”

B.S.

Closing is, and will always be, a critical part of top sales achievers.  Don’t get me wrong – I am in complete agreement with the idea that in a relationship sales process like the one we have in our industry, you shouldn’t be giving a high-pressure sales pitch.

But even in a relationship sales process, there comes a point in 9 out of 10 deals where applying a little bit of pressure will result in a higher percentage of deals coming your way.  If you aren’t willing and able to do it (in a manner that is still professional), somebody else is and is getting more business than you are.

If you or your salespeople aren’t closing the number of deals you think you should, you are probably getting defeated by your desire to be liked.  Take an honest look at this factor for each rep and work on role-playing using strong closing statements and questions – it will pay off.

MRC

PS – we cover sales techniques and strategies in MSP Coach, our membership site for managed services providers looking to get a competitive edge in the marketplace.

I’m a big fan of goal setting and personal development.  I do a formal goal setting process every quarter, and keep an “annual plan” for myself that is similar to a business plan for the company.

That being said, I’m not a big fan of new year’s resolutions because I think too many people don’t take the process seriously enough and get fooled into believing that doing some wishful thinking once per year is going to help them achieve their goals.  Goals need to be something you stick in front of your face every day and constantly pursue, not something you dream up at midnight with 4 glasses of champagne in you and then forget the next day!

Over the last several years I’ve studied several different goal setting methodologies and developed a set of best practices that Ive found really work for me.  Here are the most important lessons I’ve learned about setting and achieving goals:

1. Set and review your goals frequently and regularly
2. Write them down and put them someplace that you’ll see them every day
3. When you set a goal, do something to move you towards its achievement as soon as possible, preferably right away – get momentum
4. When you achieve a goal, no matter how small it is, reward yourself for it – this teaches the brain that accomplishing things is “fun”
5. The most important lesson I’ve learned about goal setting: Know the reason “why” behind each of  your goals.  As Tony Robbins says, “If you have a strong enough why, you’ll figure out the how.”

Point number five is the most important thing you can learn about goal setting.  If you have a strong enough why, you’ll figure out the how.  Every time you set a goal, really think about the “why” behind the goal, and make sure you write it down as well.  Make it emotional and intense.

As an example, you may  set a goal to make $2ook in personal income this year.  That’s pretty motivating.  But money in and of itself is just paper.

The why behing the goal may be something like this: “To have enough money so that I can take my new bride on the honeymoon of a lifetime, to make her feel like the queen that I think she is, and to give myself the financial freedom to really enjoy my time with her!”

That puts some extra juice behind your goal!  Now that money means something!  I hope you get the idea.

By the way, my bet is that 90% of your employees don’t have a goal setting process for themselves.  Think of the fuel this is robbing from our company every day!  We realized this at Everon last year and rolled out a formal, quarterly goal setting process for our employees – it makes a huge difference.

I hope you find a way to use a goal setting process to really energize your 2009 – best of luck in the new year!

Mike Cooch

PS – If you’d like some details of the process we have for setting and tracking goals, I’ll be posting some content in our membership site MSPCoach.com.