We are recruiting for a new Million Makers team! Million Makers are an enterprising group ofstudents at Royal Holloway who put their enterprising skills to the test to raise money for the Prince’s Trust in a short amount of time.

To join the team you must be available to attend the weekly meeting which will take place at 5pm every Monday in the Enterprise Lab, Orchard Building.

You must be committed to the team until the end of this term, but in return will gain invaluable skills and experience.

If you are interested in getting involved please email me at president@royalhollowayentrepreneurs.com or come along to the meeting next Monday.

This year’s National Student Enterprise Conference, proudly sponsored by Google and Shell LiveWire, is the place to explore disruptive innovation and business models.  Discover how you can ride the disruptive wave to entrepreneurial success!

• £1,000 will be given away to the student with the best business pitch at our pitching competition courtesy of Shell LiveWire
• keynotes from top entrepreneurs
• workshops with industry experts
• panels of movers and shakers
• Q&A sessions
• startup crash courses covering everything from financing to building an all-star team
• master classes taking you a step further…

A new breed of Entrepreneurs – September 2012 start

Looking to become an entrepreneur? Here’s your chance to learn from the very best.

Backed by Brent Hoberman (Founder of lastminute.com), Charles Dunstone (Carphone Warehouse) and Sir Nigel Rudd, the New Entrepreneurs Foundation programme offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs – and get paid for it!

They’re on the hunt for the UK’s brightest and most entrepreneurially-minded young people to embark on this fantastic 12 month full-time programme starting in September 2012.

What are people saying?

Have a look at the video channel to hear from those who are currently on the programme, plus some thoughts from entrepreneurs:http://vimeopro.com/user9580917/new-entrepreneurs-foundation

What does this programme offer?

• EXPOSURE: spend a year working with and learning from an established entrepreneur, seeing the reality of life running a growing and successful business (and getting paid).
• TRAINING: receive training in business, strategy and finance from senior figures within companies such as McKinsey, Diageo, Deloitte and a number of leading business schools.
• OPPORTUNITY: Build your network to launch your career or start your own business at some point in the future.

Who should apply?

They are looking for people who have a passion for business and entrepreneurship plus the leadership skills to drive a business forward. There are no minimum academic requirements.

CLICK TO APPLY: http://www.newentrepreneursfoundation.co.uk/application-form or visit the website at http://www.newentrepreneursfoundation.co.uk

2. Positive Mental Attitude
Each of us develops communication techniques for trying to get our way in life. You are involved in selling when you want someone to do something every single day, so use your use persuasion skills to persuade someone to act into purchasing your products or services. Most people fail in sales as they are not resilient to people saying NO. If your target customer is only 1% of the market, then you should expect to receive 99 no’s before you get one yes. So expect and be resilient to those negative messages.
http://youtu.be/CjAIWzyMwC8

3. The Importance of Product or Service Knowledge
Have you ever been into a shop to buy something only to be disappointed when it is clear none of the assistants can answer your questions simply because they do not know the products? Product knowledge or lack of it makes a huge difference between those who make the sales and those who miss out. Everyone agrees, that without having a good understanding of what you are selling you are going to fail.
http://youtu.be/iiOvLJshcxQ

4. Figuring out your Target Market
http://youtu.be/MdLJoSsrsg0

5. Making Telephone Calls
Successful cold calling essentially relies on your own attitude towards cold calling. Cold calling is traditionally the most challenging part of the selling process, yet can be the most profitable.
http://youtu.be/9633aa5Xljg

6. Finding New Business
http://youtu.be/YJnKk5vUoaI

7. Time Management
It’s important that you develop effective processes for managing your time to balance the conflicting demands of time for generating new leads, networking, account management and following up.
Sort out your environment!
http://youtu.be/DRD8iph4890

8. The importance of keeping today’s customers
Everyone in your business should focus on today’s customers without exception. These customers pay the bills and therefore are key to your survival. New sales should be a small part of a successful business and therefore should be done by and only consume a small number of people.
http://youtu.be/dSNkhSoKcWY

9. Meetings & Appointments
Thorough preparation before a sales call is critical to achieving a good conversion rate of potential clients into firm orders. You need to make sure you’re knowledgeable about your client’s needs as well as your own. In the sales meeting, if you struggle to answer any objections or queries or appear to be underprepared, you will almost certainly lose any potential sale.
http://youtu.be/-Xw7FaorHOk

10. Non Verbal Communication
93% of our communication is nonverbal communication and is broken down as follows:
· 7% verbal
· 38% tonal
· 55% physiological
Given that selling is largely about communication and that 93% of that is nonverbal communication it would make sense for you to examine nonverbal communication as a persuasion technique, wouldn’t it?
http://youtu.be/oVcG18Vxves

11. How to Sell Yourself
Take for example the insurance industry. There are so many insurance agents out there. Say you know Charlie, Louise, and Daniel and all three of them are from the same insurance company. All three of them approach you to tell you about their company’s insurance products. All three of them are selling to you the same product. What makes you buy from Charlie rather than Louise and Daniel?
Basically, one thing… you like and trust Charlie much better than the other two. As you can see, selling yourself is much more important that selling your product.
http://youtu.be/pS9qLRAnX9Y

12. Why People Buy
We can split the reasons why people buy into a number of factors which you need to understand before starting to sell. A person will have one or more of these factors which you can then base your sales strategy on.
http://youtu.be/Jty00aL94mA

13. Questioning Skills
Questions are the best way to find out information about your prospective client and ensure you understand their needs and develop a firm relationship with them. If you ask the wrong questions, you’ll probably get the wrong answer, or at least not quite what you’re hoping for, so think about the questions before hand and plan them into the meeting.
http://youtu.be/QyG2TmEhG3g

14. Effective Listening Skills
The most important skill you can develop as a sales person is the ability to listen and understand what your prospective clients are telling you. There are two forms of listening active and passive. Most people develop lazy passive listening skills which mean they hear the words, don’t process the aural sounds into understanding and follow through with feedback.
http://youtu.be/C8zNx_IarUw

15. Identifying Needs
You will need to help the prospective client recognise all aspects of their needs. At the end of this stage, the customer must be able to define all their needs and be able to discuss them in a prioritised order. A successful entrepreneur will be the one who can get the customer define his/her needs in a way that closely matches with the solution he/she is trying to sell.
http://youtu.be/cOndTLWNSiI

16. Selling Your Benefits
A well created benefit is a psychological trigger that compels a person to some action to purchase, due to their nature and the needs they have. It should be used to manipulate the sales encounter so that action is taken to buy a product or service by overcoming all possible sales objections and enticing the buyer to take action NOW.
http://youtu.be/kcpicxs7_vs

17. Powerful Presentations
This is the time where opportunity meets capability and you have to meet the challenge. The presentation contains seven powerful points to get across to your prospect.
http://youtu.be/nVz4qYbyxjQ

18. Turning Quotes into Orders
If you are dealing with a committee who need to have a democratic process in deciding to purchase your product, you have to understand who and what you are dealing with. So research the problem and ensure you can influence the outcome.
http://youtu.be/7dx-QLDdoVQ

19. Objection Handling
Objections are a normal step in the sales process, in fact if you don’t get them you should worry. As they are normal, you should plan for them and be controlled in your handling of them. Therefore we have a simple step by step process to handle objections.
http://youtu.be/XLUX_5NVZwg

20. Dealing with Multiple Decision Makers
http://youtu.be/3NuGhtslwdU

21. Providing Pricing and Discounts
One of the hardest tasks as an entrepreneur is deciding on what to charge people. You want to make a profit, gain market share and develop a meaningful brand which consumers respect. However, this doesn’t come out with a number which you can enter into paypal or your customers hand.
http://youtu.be/6ty9iBrw8Ps

22. When to Close the Sale
The aim of the sales process is to move the suspect to a prospect to a customer. This stage is about moving them towards the customer by closing the sale.
http://youtu.be/Y8N6sjMIqUQ

23. Closing Techniques
There are over 99 closing techniques, so here are just three techniques you can remember, use and develop as your own to sell your products. The key factor is to make it your own and be able to use it in the heated sales situation, thereby ensuring your success.
http://youtu.be/prRFhWSd_1c

24. Organising the Next Steps
The sales presentation and your handling of meeting objections should deliver a positive response. However, we all know there are three possible outcomes: Yes, Maybe and No. You need to be prepared for these and ensure you can manage each outcome in a highly professional manner which will ensure they want to continue building a relationship wih you.
http://youtu.be/fv7OpZSeOno

25. Consultative Selling Techniques
Consultative selling is about getting an in-depth understanding of the problem and then creating an intelligent, effective and creative solution. It’s about collaboration, building trust, adding value to the relationship. You will need to enter the relationship with the mindset of a consultant and base your Q&A sessions on finding their key drivers. You will need to focus on them and not wining the sale, so you can create solutions. Don’t be afraid to say not for me, pass on contacts who could help or provide expert advice.
http://youtu.be/LPGPzwmaCIA

26. Negotiation Skills
Negotiation is the art of reaching an agreement by resolving differences and leaving the other side intact and positive.
http://youtu.be/qqQGNFdo8sg

27. Sales: What could go wrong?
We know that things will go wrong, they just do, but you need to understand where the risks lie and how to ensure you manage the customers expectations and continue to build the relationship.
http://youtu.be/Og5uPP2m9vw

28. Account Management
The easiest sale you will ever get is from an existing customer. The fastest way to get new customer referrals is from from existing customers. The best way to improve your business is by getting feedback from existing customers. Ok, I think you understand, you have to build a good relationship with your existing customers.
http://youtu.be/9MqyQztNF_0

What is McKinsey Innovate?

McKinsey Innovate is a social enterprise competition for UK students. It aims to promote creative and entrepreneurial spirit by supporting student teams in launching successful social enterprise in their communities. It is sponsored by McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy firm who provide support and guidance to the client organisations in all sectors and industries.

Who can take part?

The competition is open to all UK undergraduate and postgraduate university students regardless of the subject they study. We are looking for groups of 2-8 creative and enthusiastic individuals with a great idea and a desire to create change. You can enter with a social enterprise that is at any stage of development: from a brand new idea, to a business that is already running and you are trying to grow. In 2011, the vast majority of entries (and our winner) were very early stage ideas.

Why should I get involved?

This is a unique opportunity to create real difference to your community. All teams will receive feedback to help develop their enterprises; our semi-finalists will be offered the opportunity to attend a workshop with some of the UK’s social enterprise leaders, and the winning team will receive seed funding and ongoing support from McKinsey consultants to transform their idea into a real social enterprise.

Realise your social enterprise: and have fun!

http://www.innovate2012.mckinsey.com/apply

The best applications will be invited to
Stage 2- Interview (all interviews will take place on 27 Feb)

An Awards ceremony will be held on 19th March in the evening, which you must attend in order to find out whether your application was succesfful. 

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION 25TH FEB

Open to Royal Holloway Students Only
Email me at president@royalhollowayentrepreneurs.com if you have any questions or would like some help with your application