Selling for Life

Prospecting - Every Business Leaders #1 Job

Is your company experiencing any of these problems?
 
■     Buying decisions are being delayed
■     There is not enough new business in the pipeline
■     Salespeople have never had to sell in this kind of market
■     Not sure we have the right team
■     Salespeople are exhibiting "prospecting avoidance" like never before
■     Not enough salespeople are hunters
■     We don't have a pipeline; we have a pipe dream
 
Announcing the first in a series of webinars hosted by Tony Cole, CEO of Anthony Cole Training Group: Drive Your Sales Team's Prospecting Activities, Learn the Secrets to Driving Sales Pipeline Growth
 
Tony helps companies across the country increase top line revenue with effective prospecting techniques. 

Reserve your seat today and receive a 20% discount (please enter the code).
 

Good Selling!

Anthony Cole Training Group
www.anthonycoletraining.com
1-877-635-5371

Don't Ever Forget It!

Many of you have seen this before but it never hurts to remind ourselves.

A store owner wrote out this "credo" and gave each of his employees a copy of it:

"A customer is the most important person in a business.  A customer is not dependent on us, we are dependent on them.  A customer is not an interruption of our work, they are the purpose of it.  A customer does us a favor when they call, we aren't doing a favor by taking the time to answer.  A customer is not just money in the bank rather a human being with feelings and deserves to be treated with respect.  A customer is the lifeblood of a business.  Don't ever forget it."

How are you leveraging customer interactions to grow your business through introductions? 

Do They Have What It Takes?

Let's face it; it's a different selling environment today and it's going to continue to be difficult.  The effects of the downswing will be lingering in terms of client and prospect conservatism and cynicism.  So your salespeople will need to inspire comfort and confidence to encourage prospects to invest and move forward. Do your salespeople have the skills to sell in this environment?  If you're not sure or you think they need to develop a new or different selling approach, you should join Mark Trinkle, Sales Trainer with Anthony Cole Training Group,from 12 to 1 pm EDT on Wednesday, September 30, 2009.  Mark works with business owners and sales managers across the country and will be hosting a free webinar entitled "Are Your Salespeople Adapting to the New Economy?"   In this webinar, you will learn: 5 steps to help your organization adapt to the new selling environment How to identify if your people have the crucial elements and performance factors to be successful in sales An effective and perhaps different selling process to utilize How to create a sales success formula with specific action steps for your salespeople to take A new approach to developing salespeople called the Sales Force Academy Please register nowfor the free webinar from 12 to 1 pm EDT on Wednesday, September 30 or call us at (877)635-5371 and we will take care of it for you. Good Selling! Tony Cole President & CEO Anthony Cole Training Group www.anthonycoletraining.com 1-877-635-5371

Right Things, Right Time

In my work with salespeople I often hear excuses as to why they don't have enough sales appointments.  Not enough time with the other things I have to get done.  Updating my CRM is too cumbersome.  Too many meetings.  You get the idea.  With all of the sales tools available could it be that we just don't use them the right way and at the right time?  I recently read a post from Dave Kurlan of Objective Management Group that talks about sales toools and what can happen when they are used effectively.  Thanks Dave.

When Sales tools are used properly, they become tremendous solutions, for example:

• your salespeople update their opportunities in your Sales Force Automation application of choice (mine is Landslide.com) in real time (a minute here, a minute there)
• your salespeople create slides for presentations, proposals, webinars and demos
• those in your company that blog use it to generate credibility, visibility and leads
• other social networking, like the use of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are also used to generate leads
• email is used for updates but not in place of conversations that should take place on the phone

But how often do you observe your salespeople doing any of these things?

• taking a couple of hours, during the day to update the pipeline
• taking a couple of hours to work on a power point presentation they'll need next week
• spending time using a social networking site to communicate with others
• responding to emails that can wait until evening
• doing something other than focusing on finding, moving and closing opportunities

When your salespeople focus and play with the tools instead of using the tools to support their selling efforts, the tools become part of the problem. Am I suggesting a 15-hour work day? No.  You need balance, you should spend time with your family.  But salespeople must do the work that doesn't involve interacting with their prospects, at times when they can't reach their prospects.

Surviving the "Cold"

Most of you know that I am not a fan of the efficiency of cold calling.  Having said that, at one time it's exactly what I had to do to get started in sales.  Until your practice gets to the point where cold calling is a choice, here is an article that my buddy Chris Carlson sent me from Selling Power that might help.   

The Science of Cold Calling
A new study suggests timing determines cold-calling success
By Geoffrey James

Sales reps who hate cold calling will be relieved to learn that science has come to their rescue. A recent study suggests that cold-calling success may depend less on your sales skills than on how soon you follow up on a lead and the time that you make your calls.

Dr. James Oldroyd from the Kellogg School of Management recently examined the electronic logs of more than a million cold calls made by thousands of sales professionals inside approximately 50 companies. “Using a variety of analysis techniques, we extracted patterns of success and failure which reveal that some of the conventional wisdom concerning cold calling is just plain wrong,” he explains.

For example, most cold-calling experts recommend putting aside a certain amount of time every weekday to make calls. However, Oldroyd’s research indicates that Thursday is by far the best day to contact a lead in order to qualify him or her as a prospect. By contrast, Friday is the worst day, by almost 20 percent when compared to Thursday.

Similarly, some experts recommend making cold calls around 1:00 p.m., during the natural work lull that follows the midday meal. Other experts recommend calling in midmorning, when your own energy is at its peak. Turns out, though, that those are the wrong times entirely. The best times to call to qualify a lead, according to Oldroyd’s findings, are from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. In fact, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. is 164 percent better than calling right after lunch.

Conventional wisdom also says that you’ve got anywhere from a few days to a week to follow up on a lead that’s shown some interest in your offerings (by accessing your Website, for instance). Not so. Oldroyd’s study reveals that in B2B selling environments, the best odds of qualifying a lead happen within 20 minutes after interest is shown. Best case, you should call within five minutes, which is 21 times more likely to result in a qualified prospect than if you wait an entire half hour.

Another maxim of cold calling is that the routine is pretty much the same, regardless of the target industry. But that’s not the case. Some industries, such as communications and information technology, require that cold calling take place almost immediately after a lead has shown interest in order to be effective. Other industries, such as financial services and healthcare, can tolerate longer response times, even as long as 24 hours.

Dr. Oldroyd cautions that his research, while definitive, is not yet complete. “We still need to study how the time factor influences selling at different price points,” he says. Oldroyd also notes that individual companies may find that their success rates are influenced by other factors. “It’s absolutely vital to measure and analyze your own sales data to see what’s working and what’s not,” he advises.

As a general rule, Dr. Oldroyd believes his research strongly suggests that companies should realign and reprioritize their sales team deployments. “It’s probably better to have inside sales reps sitting around and making cold calls whenever a lead shows an interest than paying them to make cold calls to follow up on old leads,” he explains.

He also believes that companies should staff up their inside sales forces, rather than invest more on field sales. Fortunately, that’s a trend that’s already taking place, according to Oldroyd. “Companies are adding new, inside sales departments at a rate of 7.5 percent annual growth,” he says. “By 2012, nearly 800,000 companies worldwide will have added inside sales departments where none existed before.”

14 Letter Word for Sales Success?

 

Accountability!  Join our free webinar on "The 14-Letter Word for Sales Success" from 12 to 1 pm EDT on Thursday, August 6, 2009. Register today!

Liar, liar, pants on fire...

We often talk about why clients/prospects lie to salespeople.  Here is a great article from Bill Cates about some of this reasons it happens.

Why do so many clients and prospects have so much trouble telling the truth when dealing with salespeople? One of the most common reasons is that they have been lied to in the past by a salesperson. Let's face it, the sales profession has a bad reputation and is considered by some to be among the least-respected occupations. Given this, it's little wonder that clients might be tempted to be selective with the truth! They'll lie to avoid an annoying sales pitch. They'll lie to protect themselves against the persistent phone calls and e-mail follow-ups and to avoid being pressured into making a decision. They'll lie to protect their reputations, their budgets, their time, and their jobs. They'll lie because they can- because they assume all salespeople are liars and they want to make a preemptive strike.

Think about how salespeople are portrayed in popular culture. Movies such as Tin Men, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Tommy Boy, and Glengarry Glen Ross don't paint a flattering portrait of this profession. That's a pretty swift current that our profession has to row against. But it's not an impossible challenge. Gaining the trust of your clients and potential clients just takes a little extra effort and forethought, as well as a complete dedication to honesty in how you conduct your business.

The fact is that dishonesty breeds dishonesty and honesty breeds honesty. This is good news, because it means the ball is in your court. As a salesperson, you truly can help turn the tide with your potential clients and begin to breed more honesty.

Suppose you can sense that your client is withholding information. You can just feel it. Perhaps he's telling you that there's no allocated budget for a purchase. But you know there's almost always some budget. In such a case, you might say, ''Thanks for letting me know. I'm not trying to burn your whole budget. What I want to do is give you the best possible solution within the investment that makes sense. Are you saying there is no budget for any purchase, at any price or just no budget for purchase of the $100,000 project we proposed?'' A direct and honest question expressed without frustration can often provoke prospects to reveal their budgetary constraints.

Honesty must be a two-way street. If it's not, sales and client service will suffer. If a potential client doesn't clearly tell you what they're looking for, it's hard to satisfy the demand. Haven't you ever thought, I wish they would have told me what they were really looking for, or I wish they had just told me their real budget so I didn't waste all this time? Most of us have. You can't sell if you don't have all the information. This is why two-way, honest, open communication is so necessary

As salespeople looking to increase sales we need to communicate with honesty and openness, and we need to help others communicate with us in that way. Not only is honest communication the key to long-term sales success, it's crucial in today's work world.

Do you need a coach?

Almost everyone is willing to offer advice to you whether it's wanted or not.  Well intended as it may seem we usually brush it aside.  Recently Fortune published a series from a variety of successful people and asked them what was the best advice they ever received? 

There were several intriguing ones but because of my passion for coaching this one stuck out.  Read what Eric Schmidt the Chairman and CEO of Goggle had to say.

What are you missing out on because you don't have someone you trust enough to help you get better and grow your business?

You had me at hello...

Many of you have probably seen the movie Jerry Maguire.  In the final scene Jerry returns and goes into about a two minute (uninterrupted) explanation of why he has returned for Dorothy.  Suddenly Dorothy stops and says "Shut up, just shut up, you had me at hello." 

Lots of salespeople talk too much.  Whether on the phone or during a sales call. 

When you make phone calls for appointments are you talking too much?  Do you engage them in the conversation immediately?  Do you sound like Jerry Maguire, saying more than you need to and instead of them saying you had me at hello, it's another call that doesn't result in an appointment?  Has calling for appointments become an exercise in repetitive behavior with less than desired results?

If so, why not create a telephone approach?  Not a script, but a process that allows you to engage the prospect in conversation immediately.  Here are a few a steps to follow for better results on the phone.

1. Say hello and give them your name.
2. PAUSE to let them respond.
3. Ask permission to tell them why you called.
4. Have a positioning statement that tells them what you do.
5. Give them compelling reasons based on the types of problems you solve.
6. Engage them in conversation to see if they have these types of problems.
7. If they do, ask them to invite you out to discuss further.

The addition of a process that is based on helping the prospect communicate the problems they are having will improve your success on the phone.

Getting introductions to people that have agreed to take your call will once in a while let them say, "you had me at hello."

Remember When...

As we face some challenging times today people often reflect back to a time when things were simpler.  On Sunday Father John our Parish Priest wrote a reflection that I would like to share with all of you in the hopes that we will all take his advice.

"May You Go Home Again....

Unofficially, Summer begins on Memorial Day or the last day of school.  However the calendar says that June 21st is officially the first day of Summer.  Memories of past Summers creep into my mind as I transition back to Shelby County where I was raised.  Swimming at the municipal pool, wading in the creek at Tawana Park, fishing at night with my dad and grandpa at Grand Lake St. Mary's, sitting on the east side of my grandparents' house in the country as we listened to the Reds on radio and watched the trains pass.  Life was much simpler when I was ten.

Thomas Wolfe pennned the immortal words, "You can't go home again."  And while there is some truth to that, we can always revisit and recapture bits and pieces of our past.  Summer is a perfect time for that.  May we all slow down a bit, remember when we were ten, and recapture a bit of the simpler life.  Wadein a creek, catch lightning bugs, turn off the television and listen to the Reds on radio.  You can go home again.  It won't be the same.  But why should it be?  You have changed to."

On July 1st Father John begins his new assignment as Pastor in a Parish near where he grew up.  He's going home again but he has certainly changed since he was ten.  God's speed.