Cold Calling: Annoying or Effective?

Cold calling definitely has a bad rap. We have all had the experience of sitting down for dinner when the phone rings. Reluctantly we answer and it is a long distance telemarketer who is reading off a script; not giving us a chance to cut in. We eventually have to blurt out, “Not interested.” Receiving calls at home is disruptive however cold calling is still a great strategy to use if you have a B2B product or service.

There is no better way to directly reach and begin a sales dialog than with cold calling. Marketing does a great job of getting potential customers to your door but picking up the phone and making those calls gets you immediate results.

The other problem is the fear around cold calling and the rejection involved. Here are some tips that will help to ease the fear as well as increase your results.

1. Prepare a script for each niche or vertical market you are planning to target. You can easily purchase lists that can help you zero in on your target market. You may have several niches or vertical markets you want to focus on. The script should be short and to the point. The caller on the other end wants to know three key things. You need to quickly state who you are, where you are calling from and what’s in it for them to listen to you any further. Don’t try to download a lot of information. The purpose of the first call is to simply find out if they are interested in learning more about your company. It is not advised to use any tricks to get through to decision makers. Be straightforward and forthright with the purpose of your call.

2. It is a numbers game. It may take many dials to finally get someone to pick up the phone. With voice mail and caller ID, less and less people will answer their phone. You will also need to be prepared with an upbeat voice mail script. Be sure to keep your tone energetic.

Since this is a numbers game, track the number of dials you make in a day. Set goals for number of dials or connects with decision makers. Make a game out of it. The doldrums of making these calls can affect your tone and energy. Find ways to keep it fun. Set yourself up the night before with your list, script and anything else you need in front of you. Don’t dilly dally between calls. This is where many sales people lose steam. Immediately after a call, go right to the next; no matter what happened in that call.

3. Care but not that much. This is probably the most important. When I was a fledgling sales person myself, I was so afraid of cold calling. When I realized the worst thing to happen is someone I don’t know and will never meet could hang up on me, I thought, “Who cares.” For every no you get, you are that much closer to a yes. It could take 20 calls or 100. If you don’t care that much, you will be able to keep your energy up because the next call could be a yes. It could be that next big deal that could take your company to the next level.

4. Smile and dial…literally. Your smile will come through the phone.

Sure there’s a lot of controversy about cold calling. There are many people out there who say that cold calling is dead. Tell that to the businesses who are still striving and surviving in this economy who have not stopped dialing the phone.

Don’t stop your marketing efforts but think about this. What if you could sit down for an hour a day making calls to your dream clients? One of them will say yes…I will guarantee it!

Your success is our mission!

Sincerely,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com

5 Sales Myths and What's the Real Truth

I know I’m in a business that many people gag when I tell them what I do. I can see it in the faces when I tell them that I provide sales consulting and training. Then when I tell them that I actually LOVE sales, they give me an even weirder look. I promise you. I’m not crazy.

In every country and in every moment, sales is happening whether you are in a bazaar in Turkey or the boardroom of a Fortune 100 company. So why do we despise or dismiss it so much. I have a saying which is, "If your business isn't selling, are you in business?" At the end of the day, the entire purpose of a business is to sell something.

So let's dispel some myths and get to the truth about sales.

1. You have to be aggressive and arrogant to close a sale.
False. I think this may be the number one reason why we despise sales. Somewhere along the line, someone has been too aggressive and we were turned off by that. It can be one bad sales experience that makes some people make a decision about all sales people. Without a doubt, being aggressive is one way to close the sale but it does not build long term relationships. In the new world of selling, it’s about building long term relationships with the right clients for your product or service. By focusing on this, you will build sustainable revenue streams with loyal customers.

2. Sales is all about playing golf and smoozing the potential customer.
False. Sales is not just about playing golf and having fun. I’ve heard employees not on the sales team think sales is all fun and games and may even have resentments about it. Selling does take skill and technique. It’s about building relationships not about entertaining people. It’s about communicating value in a powerful way that compels the potential customer to buy. The value needs to be communicated as it applies their needs and problems otherwise they will hear, “Blah blah blah.” Do this right and you will have a happy customer, golf or no golf.

3. If I sell someone, they may not like me.
False. Okay, at the risk of sounding sexist, this one may apply more to the women out there. Selling does not need to be an uncomfortable process. You can actually learn to enjoy it as I have. How can someone not like you if you are authentically listening to their needs and problems? How can they think you are being pushy if you are making sure your product or service is the right fit for them? When you shift the paradigm from chasing your potential clients to developing a relationship built on mutual respect, your new clients will love you.

4. Sales scripts will make me sound slick.
False. You have to be prepared. You have to know what is unique about your product or service. This starts by understanding your business from your mission and vision to developing your Unique Selling Proposition. I’m not suggesting that you write out an entire script that sounds like the callers trying to sell you long distance. Breakdown your services into bite sized benefit phrases. Then you can mix and match the phrases that meet the needs of your potential client. And if you have a sales team, you will want your entire team to know these phrases so they can present your solution consistently.

5. Using sales tactics is bad. My product / service will sell itself.
False. People have actually said this to me. They have completed all their marketing and now they are going to wait by the phone for the orders to come in. Oh how I wish that were true. Sales is necessary in every business. Yes, the internet has made it much easier to make a transaction without having direct contact with the customer but that is not the only person you will be selling to. You will need to sell your investors, partners, employees, etc.

Sales is critical to every business. Let’s set aside the couple of bad experiences and think of all the good ones we have had too. Every single thing around you right now is something that was sold to you, so sales can’t be all that bad. Shifting the sales paradigm can happen right now…with you.

Your success is our mission!

Sincerely,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com/
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com/

How to ask the right questions to help you close the sale

When I was a fledgling sales person selling computers to the government, our sales trainer would say, “The quality of your questions determine the quality of your paycheck.” This was a commission only position but asking the right questions eluded me and therefore, I was struggling.

I was so anxious to get my pitch out that I did all the talking. Plus I thought if I asked a lot of questions, I might bother the prospect. So I made a zillion calls and through the force of this volume was able to make and exceed my numbers.

I took additional sales training and finally learned a systematic approach to asking the right questions. The reason you want to ask the right questions is to:

1. Build Rapport
2. Develop trust in the relationship
3. Show the potential client that you are interested in their needs
4. Qualify the potential client to see if they are right for your business

When your goal is to understand the needs of your prospects to ensure that your solution is right for them, these questions will be critical to this goal.

To give credit where credit is due, this is the Dale Carnegie Questioning model and it works extremely well,

1. Ask “As Is” questions
“As Is” questions are questions about their current situation. Some examples are:

What are the challenges you are currently facing?
Why did you select your current vendor?
What are you hearing from your customers?

2. Ask “Should Be” questions
Should be questions are what the prospects is hoping to achieve.
Some examples are:

Looking forward 6 months, where would you like to be?
If you could wave a magic wand, what would be different?
What do you want to hear from your customers?

3. Ask “Barrier” questions
Barrier questions are what is blocking them from achieving their goals. Some examples are:

What’s preventing you from achieving these objectives?
What is holding your company back from making the transition?
What is the level of urgency for making this change?

4. Ask “Pay Out” questions
Pay out questions invokes emotion from your potential client by asking them to imagine they have achieved their goals.

If you were able to…what would that mean to your company?
What would it mean to you?

Okay, now that we have gone through this questioning model, I am going to give you my secret question. This question allows people to feel comfortable telling me everything important to them. I don’t have to remember all the questions above because of this question. Here it is:

Tell me about…(your company, your goals, etc.)

Then be quiet. Quiet your mind as well as don’t interrupt. Take notes if you need to and come back to fill in the blanks. This question is selling magic!

One last note here, if you have not developed rapport from the beginning of the relationship, your prospect will not feel comfortable answering your questions. You will need to ask permission to proceed and earn the right to ask these questions. Once you have mastered this, your sales success will explode.

Your success is our mission!

Sincerely,

Joanne

www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com

The difference between being a pest and being persistent

Have you ever wondered how many times you should contact a hot prospect but worry you might be perceived as a pest? We have all heard that persistence in selling is important but when is it too much.

The standard statistic for the number of “touches” is between 7 to 10 times. The average sales person will stop at 5. This means that you can set yourself apart with the additional touches. A “touch” can be a call, voice mail, email, etc. However this type of persistence works best when you are in the beginning of the sales cycle or the prospecting stage. The goal at this stage is to find a qualified prospect who is interested in learning more about your product or service.

Make sure that you bring value to every touch. This means you will have to get creative. You can send information or articles that could be pertinent to their industry, congratulate them if they have won any recent awards or provide them with some new ideas of how you can help their business.

When can these touches go from being persistent to being a pest? Here are a couple examples:

1. When you leave the same voicemail over and over.
2. When you call too many times in a short period of time.
3. When you do not build rapport and seem to be interested in them
only for a sale.

In order to avoid being a pest once you are further along in the sales process, you will want to also follow a few rules:

1. Be sure to always set up a follow up action and set a date for next call while you are still on the phone.
2. Ask questions about when they will move forward.
3. Ask questions about the factors they will be considering to move
Ahead with your product or service.
4. Be straightforward. Let them know that you want to be sure that becoming your client is the right choice for you and the prospect.

You can be persistent without being a pest when the approach is thoughtful and smart. Don’t be afraid to be direct and let your prospect know that you are excited to work with them so you will continue to stay in touch. Your new clients will appreciate your honesty and your persistence.

Your success is our mission!

Warmly,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com

What are the qualities of a great sales person?

I get asked this question all the time and have found that there are some consistent qualities of a great sales person in the new rules of business and selling. I was part of a panel discussion a couple weeks ago where there were differing opinions on the qualities of a great sales person. One person was convinced that hunger was the magic ingredient. His sales people were so persistent that they angered his clients and he got complaints about them. The close of the sale is only the beginning of the relationship. I believe it's important to start off on the right foot.

You must be able to:
1. Show them that you understand their needs or problems.
2. Communicate the value of your product or services to your prospect powerfully.

When you are able to do this, I have found that it is not necessary to call to the point of anger with your prospects.

There are new rules to selling which makes these qualities important in a great sales person.

1. Ability to listen
The ability to listen and not pitch is critical in modern selling techniques. Prospects do not care about your business, how long you have been in business or any of the fancy widgets you think is important. A prospect wants to know that you understand their needs and their problems. I heard a quote once that perfectly explains my point which is, "Listen to understand, not to respond." You want to listen for information or clues the customer is telling us, anything from their successes and obstacles, to stories about their children or hobbies. All this will help with the selling process. You also want to be listening for emotional clues about how they feel about your product or service or any fears they may have with moving forward.

2. Ability to empathize
Along with the ability to listen to your prospects, you will also want to be able to empathize with their needs and problems. This means that you are able to put yourself in their shoes and see your product or service through their eyes. This will help you present your value proposition base upon what’s important for them.

3. Have a strong desire to learn and be coachable
Some of the best sales people I have ever met are always ready to learn something new in sales and personal development. They understand that sales is always evolving and they want to improve their skills. They also do not take it personally when someone provides them with feedback or a better approach to their techniques. They are always open to new ideas, scripts and ways to improve their performance.

4. Have a positive attitude
Yes, we have all heard of this before. Now more than ever, this is critical. We all hear the media droning on and on about the problems in our economy. However business must go on! We cannot come to a standstill in our businesses because of these events. Let me put it this way too. Have you ever gotten a tele-marketing call from someone who sounds down and out? Does it inspire you to want to do business with that company? No. We must put our fears and problems aside to sound enthusiastic and energized. This will be attractive to your prospects and encourage them to want to build a relationship with you.

5. Care but not that much
Now this is the secret to my sales success. If someone does not want to do business with you or even continue the sales discussion, there is no reason to take that personal. Not everyone is my customer. My job is to continue my search to find those businesses who are the right customer. When I take this approach, it is never personal. Also, I want to spend my time with the prospects that have the greatest chance of becoming a customer. To do this, I need to quickly brush off any rejection and move on to the next great new prospect who could turn into my great new customer.

Whether you have a sales team or you are selling your own products or services, these are skills that most of us have or can easily learn to foster.

Selling can be fun and by utilizing the skills above, it can also be easy.
Your success is our mission!

Warmly,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
www.salessolutionsusa.com
http://www.breakthroughsalesystem.com/

The Science of Six Degrees of Separation and Sales

I was watching a show on one of the discovery channels about the science of 6 degrees of separation. I was surprised to find out this theory goes back before Kevin Bacon. The idea dates back to a 1967 experiment by Stanley Milgram, who tried to determine how many acquaintances it would take to pass a letter between two randomly selected people. The result is it took six steps or fewer to bridge the gap between any two people. Since 1967, there have been various groups of mathematicians and scientists who have worked to prove this theory.

So, how does this apply to business and sales?

Well, whether or not the scientists prove this theory, we can still leverage the concept in our businesses especially with tools out there like Linkedin and Twitter. For many of my clients, the challenge is getting in front of key decision makers to begin a sales dialog to sell their products or services. However, your connections to key decision makers may not take an obvious path. For example, if you want to reach the Director of Marketing at a company like Yahoo, you may be able to leverage relationships around you that you wouldn’t normally think of. You neighbor’s uncle’s wife’s hair dresser may have gone to high school with the Director of Marketing at Yahoo. This would be a great way to get an introduction to this decision maker.

When I was in corporate sales, we did not have tools like Linkedin or Twitter. This makes it even easier than the scenario above. Look through your connections to see who they are connected to and ask for introductions. People are always eager to help. Once you get that introduction, set up meetings either by phone or face-to-face.

Once you get these meetings, it will be important to be prepared with your sales skills. You will want to make the right impression and start your sales dialog off with a bang!

Your success is our mission!

Warmly,

Joanne Hernon
ph: 888.856.3185
www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joannehernon

What is sales anyway? Wouldn't you like to know...

There seems to be a lot of different opinions about sales out there.I thought I would share mine since I talk about and provide salesanswers every day. Simply put, "Sales" is: Creating and building relationships, communicating value and closing the sale. This last part is what sets sales apart from marketing.

How can this information help your business?

You can use these three as the corner stone of your sales and marketing strategies. It is so important to be strategic and focused on how you continue to keep new leads coming into your pipeline. This will help stablize your income if you focus on the following techniques to brining in new business.

1. Focus on creating and building relationships with your ideal customer. I am sure you have heard this before, but everyone is not your customer. Focus on the types of customers who will bring youthe highest return. 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your clients. If you focus on bringing in more of the 20%, you will growyour revenue exponentially.

2. Communicate your value to your specific ideal client from their point of view. You want to demonstrate you understand their problems and needs. Then you can demonstrate how you have the solutions. By communicating your value this way, you will build trust and customers need to trust you to buy from you.

3. Closing the sales seems to be the trickiest for people. I hear from my clients that they are not good closers. If you focus on the above, I can guarantee that closing will be much smoother. And don't forget to ask for the sale!

Closing is so easy when you focus on your ideal customer and youcommunicate your value from their point of view. New business with the right clients will help you build a sustainable and profitable business. Not to mention how much more you will enjoy yourself as you create your success.

Your success is our mission!

Warmly,


Joanne Hernon
ph: 888.856.3185
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com/
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com/
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joannehernon