Transform Yourself from a Salesperson into a Businessperson

If I told you that one of the most important characteristics of
sales excellence in today’s hypercompetitive business
environment was not to be a salesperson, would you think you
subscribed to the wrong magazine? Well, I have a good reason for
saying it. I’m not really saying you shouldn’t be a salesperson.
I’m saying that to be a top sales professional, you have to be a
businessperson because businesspeople make the most effective
salespeople. And why is that true? Because what you are really
selling is business improvement. In terms of selling, what do I
mean by “businessperson”? A businessperson is someone who can
transcend the product or service she is selling to reach higher
ground the ability to understand, articulate, and drive the
contribution her business can make to the client’s business.
What is the business value of your product or service? To
communicate this to your prospect convincingly, you must be more
than a sales rep. You have to be a businessperson and, using
business competencies, view and present your offering as
platform upon which your prospect can achieve their business
plan going forward. Characteristics of a Businessperson Being a
businessperson not only means developing these business skills,
such as the ability to read and interpret financial statements,
but it also involves a way of thinking and being. Here are some
of the behaviors and traits I have observed in sales winners
people I would also consider businesspeople: uThey know that if
they give their customer what he needs, they will then get what
they need. uThey make rational decisions, rather than allowing
emotion to guide them. uThey follow orderly procedures and
processes, rather than taking random actions. uThey plan for the
future and have the discipline and motivation to execute that
plan. uThey seek out the truth through insightful, probing
questions, rather than blindly accepting what they are told.
uThey accept responsibility for their own actions and for those
who work on their behalf. uThey know how to use technology to
improve not only their own but their customer’s business
position. uThey work for a win-win solution, knowing that
anything else will ultimately be lose-lose. If you don’t want
your client to treat your product or service as a commodity, you
have to differentiate your offering from your competitor’s. It
comes down to perception. If your clients see you as just a
salesperson, they won’t respect you the way they would someone
they viewed as a businessperson. Here’s how they think: A
businessperson is a professional; a businessperson is there for
the long haul. Salespeople are all the same, interchangeable;
they’re just after a quick buck. This perception, common among
top executives, is unfair, but it’s a fact of life. That’s why
people who sell for a living adopt titles such as Marketing
Representative, Business Development Manager, and Client
Acquisition Executive on their business cards. Take a good look
at yourself. Read the list of behaviors again. Can you identify
areas where you need to improve? What should you do? First,
accept the fact that you, and you alone, are responsible for
your own personal and professional growth. No one is going to
barge through your door and change you. You’ve already
recognized that a change is needed. That’s the toughest step.
Expand Your General Business Knowledge How much do you know
about business in general? Do you know how businesses operate?
What about your company? What about your three best clients? Can
you articulate their visions? Can you identify their short- and
long-term strategies? To survive and thrive in the information
economy, the most important skill you’ll need is good,
old-fashioned business know-how. You should know how businesses
operate, especially in the marketplace into which you sell.
Become familiar with concepts and current practices in business
strategy and planning, Internet commerce, business
collaboration, and change management, among other areas. One of
my clients, bidding to replace a company’s decade-old software
with a new product that would let independent agents enter
orders, asked how the company proposed to get the agents to
accept the changeover. There was a stunned silence. Nobody in
the company had imagined that the independents might resist the
idea. My client, having uncovered an unidentified risk, locked
up the deal by adding management services to the proposal.
Financial Statements Revisited The most important element of
business know-how is understanding how financial statements
represent a company’s financial position and how that company
compares with others in its market. If you can’t read and
interpret an income statement, cash flow statement, or balance
sheet, learn to do so right away. There are no shortcuts. Those
financial statements are as revealing of business health as CAT
scans, EKGs, and blood tests are of your physical health. You
don’t need to become a CPA, but a solid knowledge of financial
concepts and an ability to compare clients are key. If you
believe, as I do, that effective selling at the executive level
is about quantifying and proving the business value you can
contribute, then having business know-how is a vital component
of that approach. If you don’t have it, how do you get it? Here
are a few ideas: uTake a course in reading and interpreting
financial statements at your local college, at night school, or
(in the United States) with the American Management Association.
In Europe, try Management Centre Europe. uRead a book on the
subject. Do the exercises. uAsk your brokerage firm for guides
to reading and interpreting financial statements. Most large
brokerage houses have either a book or a comprehensive document
on the subject. uSpend some time with your own company’s CFO,
controller, or accountant. If you aren’t well versed in finance,
do you know someone who can interpret a financial report for you
in a pinch? uIf you have a close relationship with a client, ask
his CFO, controller, or accountant to walk you through the
company’s financials. This is a very powerful way to understand
how your client’s business operates. If you sell into a vertical
market, this approach will give you real insight into that
industry, which can be used when selling to other companies.
We’re not talking about sharing proprietary information, of
course, but industry norms median profit margins, sales costs,
revenues per employee, anything that will help you show how your
offering contributes to their business plan. I submit to you
that the timeless truth about sales is, “It’s all about money”
So if you can’t show your clients and customers how your
offering will earn or save them big money, you’ll never
consistently win the big sale. Action: Develop the skill of
zooming in and zooming out looking at your client’s company
from 40,000 feet, diving deeply into relevant details, only to
zoom out to the big picture again. More articles at
www.HowWinnersSell.com

Reward Your Customers

The formula for success for any business is to get your customers to make repeat purchases. There are a number of factors involved for getting repeat customers: pricing, quality of products and services, excellent customer service etc. One of the best ways is to reward your customers for their repeat purchases. Here are three effective customer reward programs you could implement:

Number Of Purchases

This program is based on the number of purchases made by any customer. You could give away a free product or service to any customer that makes ten or more purchases. To make the program more effective you could require a set time period that all ten purchases must be made by.

Dollar Amount

You can require a certain dollar amount be spent before the customer receives a reward. Tell customers if they spend over $50 in one month at your web site they get a 50% discount on their next purchase. You could also just reward one customer who spends the most every month with a bigger reward like a vacation.

Points System

Reward customers a point for every one-dollar they spend. Lets say customers can get a free computer for 300 points. That means customers will spend $300 dollars on your products and services to get enough points to get the free computer. To push slower selling products or services just offer more points per dollar spent for those particular items.

The kind of rewards you give should depend on what your business can afford. Cheaper rewards could be gift certificates, coupons, clothes, or movie passes. Expensive rewards could be jewelry, vacations, bed and breakfast gift certificates, electronics or computer equipment.

You may want to invest in a good database program to keep track of your rewards program. I also recommend contacting a legal professional for advice, set-up and the structure of your rewards program. I hope these ideas I’ve given you help make your business more successful.

A Profitable Growth Formula for Sales Managers

Sales organizations that successfully achieve profitable revenue growth do so through a sales system encompassing sales focus, the integration of organizational and people competencies, a balanced sales effort between new customer acquisition and current customer penetration, and employee engagement.

These organizations match sales resources to the best opportunities, often overlooking customary territorial boundaries or customer assignments and applying a “best in front” approach in the allocation of sales people to high value opportunities. They’ve adopted cross-functional team selling approaches – emphasizing collaboration to deliver value-adding solutions and hold sales/service teams accountable for improved customer-level results. In addition, they utilize their full organizational capabilities, and those of their external partners, to create an integrated product/service offering that enhances their customers’ business results, differentiate their value proposition from the competition, increase the average deal size, “win” the sale, and build durable customer relationships.

While highly effective sales organizations emphasize new customer acquisition, they also recognize that creating new customers is more expensive than penetrating current accounts. Furthermore, they know the temptation is great to discount the initial sale to “get in the door” – producing less profitable business through an expensive sales effort. So, they balance new customer selling with a focus on “deep drilling” current customers with existing and new products. They are also sensible about discounting. Pragmatic sales leaders know when and when not to discount, recognizing that in the long run significantly more discounted revenue is needed to equalize the profit generated from non-discounted sales.

Sales representatives in growth-focused sales organizations spend at least 55% to 65% of their time on direct sales activities. Their leaders achieve this concentration by:

Optimizing the number of current and prospective customers assigned to a salesperson;

Right sizing the type and number of technical and customer service personnel supporting the sales effort; and

Providing and insisting upon the utilization of sales automation tools to move opportunities through the sales funnel, create administrative efficiencies and facilitate effective customer management.

Sales leaders that are successful at growing profitable revenue understand the negative impact of turnover and the associated affect of uncovered or inadequately covered customer relationships on growth. They strive to retain their sales people by implementing practices that create employee engagement and a passionate commitment to growth. Among these are, creating organization-wide accountability for results, setting goals set at the individual sales person level, defining minimum performance thresholds below which no incentives are paid, and uncapping incentive opportunities.

Hate Follow-Up Phone Calls To Hot Prospects Who Won’t Call You Back? Stop Calling!

We all learned in Sales 101 we must follow up with our prospects until they buy. Unfortunately, while we’re busy trying to make all these follow-ups, some very fine prospects who are ready to buy now are flying under our radar.

The trick in sales is to talk to buyers. Rather than responding, “Duh!”, professional sales people find this the hardest discipline to execute. But like most successful strategies, it requires a tactical plan. If you’ve been relying solely on follow-up phone calls to close sales, why not try this plan for 30 days?

1. Create a follow-up activity series. If you use ACT! or another contact manager, assign the series after you send your proposal. If you close the sale, you can always end the series early. Your series could look like this:

0 DayProposal Sent

2 DaysFollow-up Phone Call

4 DaysFollow-up Email

7 DaysFollow-up Voice Mail

10 DaysFollow-up Email

14 DaysFollow-Up Voice Mail

30 DaysFollow-Up Email

2. Write a compelling voice mail script. Limit it to 10-15 seconds. (Time it!) Start with your name, company and phone number (which gives the recipient an opportunity to retrieve your number without having to wait for the entire message to play). Next, say your compelling message; then, a declaration about what you want them to do. Finally repeat your phone number at the end. I often give my email address as an alternative way to “return the call.”

My voice mail sales follow-up call goes something like this: “Hi, ___, this is Lori Feldman with Aviva, 800/264-5478. I just completed a project for another client who was as concerned as you are about ___. Listen to what happened when they bought my services: (Recap story). I have some additional ideas for (Company’s project for which I sent you my proposal. When are you available to discuss it? Here’s my phone number again and my email address, if that’s an easier way for you to contact me: (Phone and email address.)

3. Send a Fax. Once I get 30 days out from a sent proposal, with no feedback from a prospect, I figure it’s time to put him back in the prospect bucket where he’ll receive the regular direct marketing I send to all customers and prospects (ACT! Tips, User Group invitations, newsletters, etc.) However, because he was interested in my servicesenough to ask for a proposaland he hasn’t said “no” yet, I still want to give him his own follow up.

Based on the value of the proposal, I may put in a recall date every 30 days, or start emailing again, but first I’ll try my “last ditch effort,” a fax that says, “It looks like your needs may have changed since we last talked. Please check the appropriate box and fax it back to me at your convenience: 1) We’re still interested, but I’ve had no time to follow up with you. Try me in ___ days/months; 2) Our needs have changed, and we don’t need you! 3) We went with another vendor, sorry! 4) Who are you again?” Humor goes a long way, too.

It’s true that persistence pays off in higher close rates. But your prospect is busy, too, and sometimes you’re just not the high priority you think you are. Many potential customers prefer responding via email, which is faster and less intrusive in their day than a phone conversation can be. Giving a prospect several ways to communicate with youespecially when it cuts down on the time you’re spending with non-buyersis a more effective long-term sales strategy. When you focus selling time on buyers who want to buy today, your sales go up!

Lori Feldman is president of Aviva, a mailing list/database marketing and Internet consulting firm and an ACT! Software Certified Consultant. She is this year’s Direct Marketer of the Year, awarded by the Direct Marketing Assn. of St. Louis. Reach her at http://www.aviva-aviva.com/act.html

Packaging Maketh the Person

The multi million pound cosmetics industry is acutely aware
of the value of packaging. You’ll know this if you’ve ever
bought anything from those glamorous ladies whose counters
are always just inside the front door of Department stores.

However, from time to time we’re presented with surveys
about the creams we rub on our bodies which take years off
our age and make our skin as soft as a baby’s bottie. The
surveys tell us “Buy the cheap stuff or the own label one
from the supermarket, ’cause they’re all the same.”

But do we? Of course we don’t. Human beings are driven by
emotions not logic and never more so when spending their
money. People buy with their eyes, we love packaging. The
marketing and merchandising experts have it down to a fine
art and know the colours and shapes that we’re most likely
to buy. They then design their packaging accordingly and
make sure it grabs our attention.
The product in the packaging has to do what it says it’ll
do, however if it looks like it can do the business, then
we’re more likely to believe it can.

It’s just the same with people. Whether we like it or not,
people are likely to make judgements about us by the way
we’re packaged. They’ll then decide whether they like us,
whether they’ll give us a job or even just believe what we
say.
This seems to be so obvious. Yet I’ve seen professional
speakers with scuffed shoes, business leaders with outdated
suits and politicians wearing clothes that don’t fit them or
suit their shape.

A few months ago I attended a function where an accountant
was invited to speak about his business. He told the
assembled audience how efficient his business was and about
their attention to detail. However his tie was undone and
his shirt looked like he was breaking it in for a smaller
friend. His suit, though probably expensive, wasn’t the
right colour for him and merely drew attention to the fact
that its wearer liked his grub.
All of the things he was saying were totally contradicted by
how he was packaged.

Lawyers, accountants, plumbers or software engineers; it
doesn’t matter what you do, other people are very liable to
make a judgement about your abilities by how you’re
packaged. Your colleagues and your boss will all make
decisions about the quality of your work and your promotion
prospects by your dress and image.

There’s the famous story about the 1960’s pre-election
television debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard
Nixon. These debates were also heard on radio, which was
much more popular at the time. After the debates a poll was
taken of how TV and radio audiences had reacted to the two
participants. The radio audience voted for Nixon, however
the TV audience voted overwhelmingly for Kennedy. The TV
audience liked the look of Kennedy better than Nixon – they
liked the packaging.

We also tend to make decisions very quickly about people we
come into contact with. Psychologists have established that
we subconsciously make around eleven decisions about other
people within the first six seconds of meeting them.
Personnel managers have admitted in surveys to making a
decision about a job applicant within the first thirty
seconds of an interview, these decisions being made
primarily on how the people looked and carried themselves.

How we look will confirm or contradict what we say. Imagine
someone in a policeman’s uniform at your door telling you
he’s come to read the gas meter, I doubt if you’d believe
him. First impressions are also lasting impressions and
take a lot of changing.

Okay, so we can’t all have the perfect looks or the perfect
body, what ever that is. It doesn’t matter what shape you
are but it does matter how you package that shape, if you
want to make an impact on other people.

How you package yourself can also make a huge difference to
your self-confidence. Have you ever noticed how confident
and self-assured you feel when you dress in something you
feel good in? Particularly when someone genuinely
compliments you. How you dress can have a huge impact on how
you carry yourself and project to other people.

The problem is that many of us don’t have a clue as to what
really suits us and compliments our shape. This is why so
many business people are turning to an image consultant to
improve their personal impact. This may seem like a costly
luxury however consider the cost of restricting your career
or possibly not winning a new account.

Dress down Friday is a particular challenge for men. The
temptation for many guys is to pull on an old pair of chinos
and a worn out polo shirt and hope for the best. The only
thing is you end up looking scruffy and certainly don’t
impress anyone.

So what do you do? Well you could ask your nearest and
dearest to be honest with you and tell you what they really
think about what you wear. The thing is, you really need to
listen and take heed of what they say.

Buy some of the fashion magazines and keep up to date on the
latest fashion. It can also help to find a good clothes
store where the sales assistants will give unbiased advice.

It’s also important to look after the details. Do your
spectacles suit your face? Are you in need of a more modern
haircut? What does that cheap plastic watch say about you?
Men need to be careful about novelty ties and fancy socks
with a business suit. Women need to take care with make-up,
colours and perfume.

You may have a lot more to offer than a jar of anti wrinkle
cream or a packet of cornflakes; however no one is going to
pick you off the shelf if they don’t like your packaging.

EzineArticles Expert Author Alan Fairweather

Alan Fairweather is the author of four ebooks in the “How
to get More Sales” series. Lots of practical actions you
can take to build your business and motivate your team.-
http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

Too Much Empathy Will Cost You Money

Ever have a prospect start out your sales call by asking you “so how much does this cost?” as the first question out of his mouth? How you handle this question, and subsequent ones like it, will greatly influence the outcome of your sales-call.


Right now is an excellent time to examine some of your beliefs about selling. Do you believe that this is a reasonable question for the prospect to ask? Would this be one of your first questions of a seller if you were the prospect? Do you agree with saying’s like “The customer is always right.”?


If you agree iwht most or all of these beliefs, would you then answer his question directly with a price? Just because the prospect asks a reasonable question does not mean that the smart thing to do is to answer it. Doing this at the very least could cost you money that you did not know the prospect had. And, doing this could cost you the entire sale, if the prospect prematurely rules you out because you are “too expensive”.


People make buy, no-buy decisions for emotional reasons. Imagine that your buyer looks at a scale on which she weighs the emotional consequences of her decisions. If the sales call begins with your answer to “how much does this cost?”, which way do you think her scale tips? Gee, you don’t know because you haven’t had the chance yet to ask about this buyer’s budget or financial resources. Unless you are lucky enough to be priced right within her budget, chances are this scale is going to tip very negatively against you. And you are rapidly on your way to losing this sale. In fact, you may not even get a chance to finish this sales call now.


How do you tip the scale towards the positive, towards you? Ask questions to help the buyer discover his emotional reasons why he wants and needs your product now. Ask questions that uncover the consequences of not buying from you. Take control by turning the prospect’s question to you into a question back to him. This question could be as simple as “Do you mind if I ask you some questions first to see if you even need any of my products/services?”


Take control of the sales call up-front, and tip the scales in your favor.


© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown’s sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

Selling Abilities – Part 1

Selling “-abilities”: Reliability


(Part 1 of 4)


Most salespeople love to talk about their “-abilities”: Reliability, Upgradeability, Compatibility and Expandability. Salespeople feel stronger and more confident when they can use their ‘abilities’ to convince the customer to make a buying decision. But what happens when the customer still doesn’t buy? What happens when you keep repeating your abilities but get no response or pulse from the customer? Many salespeople overuse their company’s abilities. Repetition or sounding like everyone else has the affect of dulling a customer’s buying senses. So, how do you sell ‘abilities’ effectively? Lets start with reliability in this first of four articles.


Selling Reliability
In any selling situation whether product or service, mostly the former, the term reliability is bound to be raised as a point of contention or objection. Twenty years ago reliability was much more of an issue then it is today when it came to hardware sales. Today, with the improvement of semiconductor electronics, the consolidation of component on chips or boards and the reduced dependence on moveable parts (e.g., mechanical v. electronics), reliability is less of an issue when it comes to hardware.
Reliability as it applies to selling software on the other hand is another animal altogether. As programs have gotten more robust, requiring millions of lines of codes, they’ve become more susceptible to ‘bugs’ and operating system errors.


There are three basic strategies for overcoming reliability objections or issues with software and/or hardware products:


Strategy #1: References are only good when they are similar in company structure and needs. If you have customer with similar profiles to the company you’re trying to sell to, use that customer as a reference. The reference company should have a similar profile in terms of requirements (e.g., many offices distributed, over 1,000 employees who’ll access the system, etc.). Warning: Using a company’s competitor as a reference can backfire.


Strategy #2: Agree to set up an onsite trial where the software (or hardware) can be used and exercised to it’s fullest. This strategy is referred to as ‘beta testing’. One approach is to use one of the company’s smaller departments. The benefit to you the salesperson is that you’ll be able provide and support a more controlled environment. If the software or hardware works within the department, you will be able to leverage that success company-wide. Warning: These tests should only be done when your product(s) has passed your own ‘bug & crash’ test.


Strategy #3: Many large corporations have some type of certification program. Some of these programs are either done in-house or outsourced to some third-party company who specializes in testing products. Take a look at one of your appliances at home and you’ll note that it has been certified as reliable by some third-party laboratory (e.g., U.L.). If a company has an in-house certification program, the first step in the selling process is to get the product approved. Here is where a salesperson’s technical support team can play a key role in ‘helping and expediting’ the certification along. If the certification is to be done by a third party, all you can do is hope your product passes. The key here is to get your product(s) approved and “spec’d in” (i.e., specifications approved) by the company. Once this happens, a path is cleared for the salesperson to begin the selling process.


In all three strategies, a lot of selling has to be done, not some much about the product, but about your company. Buyers need to know that your product is highly reliable and that you are equipped to support it over the long run. Keep in mind that a buyer has to invest time and effort just to help ‘you’ sell them. Great salespeople understand that they are inconveniencing the company. Which is why great salespeople will do anything and everything to make sure the testing phase goes smoothly without undue demands on the potential buyer. These types of sales have long cycles and require patience, understanding and flexibility on the part of the seller.
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© 2003. Victor Gonzalez. All Rights in All Media Reserved. Victor Gonzalez is a sales trainer and motivational coach.

Palazzo Rollo in Lecce

The beautiful Palazzo Rollo sits in the epicentre of the historical centre of Lecce, just steps away from the square of the city’s main cathedral (la piazza del duomo), the city’s main square (Piazza Sant’ Oronzo) and the world-famous Baroque churches, for which Lecce is justifiably famous. Newly-restored, Palazzo Rollo (the Rollo Palace) couples luxury rooms with stunning surroundings, ample rooms, soaring ceilings and antique furniture with the instant ease and comfort of a Bed and Breakfast-styled atmosphere. All the rooms have a complete with fully-equipped kitchens, to prepare breakfast, private bathroom with shower, TV and air-conditioning. Guests also have access to the stunning -extremely romantic- rooftop-garden, with the best views anywhere in a city. This terrace is embellished with plants and flowers in the typical Mediterranean tradition, ideal for mild summer evenings. Parking is also available in the secure, enclosed courtyard, famous for the climbing vines that coat the walls with Oldworld opulence. Price 7 euro per day.

If you think that Palazzo Rollo is not exactly what you are looking for, click here to visit our catalogue for Hotels in Italy, and make a search for another hotel in Lecce: we are pretty sure that you can easy find the Lecce accommodation that can best fit your need for a perfect stay in Italy.

Unearth the Future with Incredible Accuracy

There are loads of ways of forecasting the future like psychic readings and currently magnificent psychic Anne Jirsch has discovered future life progression. This technique is relatively unknown. The wonderful method is possible to everybody who can be hypnotised. You should expect to go into a deep trance state and this might well happen through hypnosis and you may be directed to go forward into your future like nine tens years.

Future life progression, aka FLP, is the opposite of past life regression, aka PLR, you will go directly to a therapist or you might well purchase a download from the worldwide web and try it yourself. Future life sessions allow you to see the future with your own eyes and help you acquire a marvellous future. You might well use this marvellous method to see your boyfriend or unearth future destiny trends in the workplace. Check out Tarot Cards and learn their meanings from Anne Jirsch.

Anne Jirsch started her brilliant career as a tarot card reader in London and has a career spanning over 19 years. The magnificent future details that Anne acquires for her customers has made her one of the most renowned tarot readers in the United Kingdom. Anne Jirsch has gave future life progression to singers for innumerable years and has an extensive client base in England and America.

Internet Tip – Don’t Count Your Hit’s!

Do you have a hosting service that provides statistics for your website? Did you notice that the number of “hit’s” to your site is astronomical? Many individuals think that the number of “hit’s” tells you how many visitors you’ve had to your site. WRONG! The correct number to find would be the number of unique visitors or unique sites. Even if one person visited your site 4 times and viewed 10 of your pages, they’d count as “1″ unique visitor.

What do you do if your hosting service doesn’t provide “unique visitor” statistics? According to Jim Wilson, owner of one of the most useful sites on the web, www.jimtools.com, your “best bet is page views when dealing with your server logs. Another way to go is to use a service like WebTrends Live www.webtrends.com which does a pretty good job of figuring out total visitors and first time visitors.” Jim has written an excellent article on web traffic www.jimworld.com rafficreports.html

HIT: Every time someone views a page on your site, each page, each document they could download on that page, and each graphic on that page makes up the “hit’s” for that page. Example: one page with 4 pictures is equal to 5 hits.

PAGE VIEWS: Every time someone views a page on your site, the visit is also recorded in “page views”. Example: One page with 4 pictures is equal to 1 page view.

UNIQUE URL’S: Every time someone views a page on your site, during a 24 hour period of time, the page is logged as a unique URL. Example: One visitor viewing 1 page with 4 graphics would be counted at 4.

UNIQUE SITES: This is the number of unique visitors to your site. Example: Each visitor to your site during a one month period is counted as “1″ unique site, no matter how many times they visited your site.

Just to show you how the numbers vary, below are some numbers from my site in September 2001.

Hits: 77,158 Page Views: 10,855 Unique URL’s: 548 Unique Sites: 5347