When meeting new contacts instead of trying to be interesting and entertaining be “interested” in them and be totally present and aware. People enjoy to be listened to and will often share more information and feel more connected to us if we have truly listened to them. This information can often tell us about their needs, values and long term business goals. This information is critical to landing them as a client in the future.
Relax, we’re just sorting
I once set a goal to add 50 new prospects to my sales pipeline and turn five of those prospects into customers. I would set out at each day with a high level of anxiety and self induced pressure. Often my approach would seem unnatural or forced and my prospects quickly found a way to avoid me or put me off. Talking later on to my mentor he suggested that I focus on building trust and credibility with everyone that I met. I could sort through my new relationships later on. By focusing on “beginning” a relationship instead of the $ sign on the forehead I was able to relax, be genuine and build my network. Relax, build the relationship and sort later.
Be on all the time
Some of our best clients can come out of chance encounters where opportunity has met preparedness. Be naturally inquisitive at all times. I’ve met two clients on airplanes over the past couple of years just by being curious and asking a few questions. Another client of mine scans local headlines everyday for new potential clients and industry trends, he often discovers clients and new market niches before his competitors know they event exist. After talking to a consultant for twenty minutes at a function we found we had similar target markets and were able to refer more business to each other.
Persistently add value
Be persistent. Remember 81% of conversion business is done from the 5th call and onward. Also, remember people trust you 70% more on the 3rd contact with you than the first time. Follow-up and follow-through is critical. Persistence isn’t enough though. We need to ask ourselves the question: How am I going to add value with this call, meeting e-mail etc? Persistent contact + Added Value = receptive prospect. Only 12% of sales people make 3 or more calls and keep going and they earn 80% of commissions that are paid out. [statistical source: American Dry Goods Association and John C. Maxwell]
The New Economy
"The big don’t eat the small, the fast eat the slow.” When we prospect and make new contacts the velocity of our follow-up is often one of the biggest credibility makers or breakers. We all want results and resources now. Act fast, deliver more than they expect, deliver on our initial commitments faster than promised to get the prospects’ attention.
Put a top of mind program in place
We all roll out the red carpet for big profitable clients. Why not put a loyalty and “top of mind program” in place for those people who refer great clients to us. Some of these people are capable of referring us dozens of clients. Too often we are too informal and inconsistent with those people who refer business to us. Get them on a mailing list, call them frequently, take them to lunch, and refer business to them too.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Cold Calling
Looking at the commonly agreed shortcoming of cold calling - rude people, random calling, interruption - they're process and execution oriented. In other words, they're complaints against poor form and technique. When I say form and technique in this case, I don't mean having a poor script and being well rehearsed in objection handling - I mean not doing their homework and acting too much the stereotypical salesperson.
Being interrupted is fine, if the interruption is something we value. And if the company contacting us profiled their market and target accounts, the odds of calling us because we're the person they need to contact are great.
I'm not a big proponent of cold calling, I prefer calls in follow-up to direct mail campaigns...which could be argued as merely semantics.
I've created and led many lead generation campaigns targeting executives in F1000 and public sector organizations. There are limited means to reach such people directly. What I've found is cold calling is pretty effective.
When you profile the purchase cycle and people involved; determine their biases, interests, concerns, challenges and opportunities; position your offer in business terms, addressing a recognized opportunity or challenge; and use your first contact as an introduction and offer to discuss the opportunity to work together in a meaningful way...cold calling works.
If you call people randomly, attempt to sell your product or service on the call, tell the person on the phone all about your features and functionality, ignore their business concerns, and press them to take an action outside of the purchase cycle...cold calling fails miserably and merely becomes an interruption not worthy of our time. The equivalent of email SPAM.
Although I'm not fully prepared to explain it, I've also found cold calling senior executives at larger companies results in greater response than calling large-company mid-level managers or small business executive teams.
In the public sector, I've found most anyone can be cold called - large and small organizations alike, including elected officials - IF AND WHEN you do your homework, position yourself as a peer, and call about something the receiving party really cares about....that's the rub.
Cold calling is a hot button topic of sales and marketing. My sincere opinion is it's poorly used and abused. I see it as a legitimate tactic that should be used when it makes sense...nothing more or less. Like all marketing tactics, it has a place and fits in some situations better than others. When it doesn't fit, it should be used.
Being interrupted is fine, if the interruption is something we value. And if the company contacting us profiled their market and target accounts, the odds of calling us because we're the person they need to contact are great.
I'm not a big proponent of cold calling, I prefer calls in follow-up to direct mail campaigns...which could be argued as merely semantics.
I've created and led many lead generation campaigns targeting executives in F1000 and public sector organizations. There are limited means to reach such people directly. What I've found is cold calling is pretty effective.
When you profile the purchase cycle and people involved; determine their biases, interests, concerns, challenges and opportunities; position your offer in business terms, addressing a recognized opportunity or challenge; and use your first contact as an introduction and offer to discuss the opportunity to work together in a meaningful way...cold calling works.
If you call people randomly, attempt to sell your product or service on the call, tell the person on the phone all about your features and functionality, ignore their business concerns, and press them to take an action outside of the purchase cycle...cold calling fails miserably and merely becomes an interruption not worthy of our time. The equivalent of email SPAM.
Although I'm not fully prepared to explain it, I've also found cold calling senior executives at larger companies results in greater response than calling large-company mid-level managers or small business executive teams.
In the public sector, I've found most anyone can be cold called - large and small organizations alike, including elected officials - IF AND WHEN you do your homework, position yourself as a peer, and call about something the receiving party really cares about....that's the rub.
Cold calling is a hot button topic of sales and marketing. My sincere opinion is it's poorly used and abused. I see it as a legitimate tactic that should be used when it makes sense...nothing more or less. Like all marketing tactics, it has a place and fits in some situations better than others. When it doesn't fit, it should be used.
3 Steps of Cold Calling
. Talk to the right people - make sure the people you cold call fit a logical profile of who might need or want what you do.
2. Don't waste their time - get in, accomplish what you came for and be done you don't get branded a self-serving time waster.
3. Plan your calls - know what your goal is, what you'll say and how to respond to different situations. Practice if you need to or write it down in front of you.
2. Don't waste their time - get in, accomplish what you came for and be done you don't get branded a self-serving time waster.
3. Plan your calls - know what your goal is, what you'll say and how to respond to different situations. Practice if you need to or write it down in front of you.
Cold Calling
Looking at the commonly agreed shortcoming of cold calling - rude people, random calling, interruption - they're process and execution oriented. In other words, they're complaints against poor form and technique. When I say form and technique in this case, I don't mean having a poor script and being well rehearsed in objection handling - I mean not doing their homework and acting too much the stereotypical salesperson.
Being interrupted is fine, if the interruption is something we value. And if the company contacting us profiled their market and target accounts, the odds of calling us because we're the person they need to contact are great.
I'm not a big proponent of cold calling, I prefer calls in follow-up to direct mail campaigns...which could be argued as merely semantics.
I've created and led many lead generation campaigns targeting executives in F1000 and public sector organizations. There are limited means to reach such people directly. What I've found is cold calling is pretty effective.
When you profile the purchase cycle and people involved; determine their biases, interests, concerns, challenges and opportunities; position your offer in business terms, addressing a recognized opportunity or challenge; and use your first contact as an introduction and offer to discuss the opportunity to work together in a meaningful way...cold calling works.
If you call people randomly, attempt to sell your product or service on the call, tell the person on the phone all about your features and functionality, ignore their business concerns, and press them to take an action outside of the purchase cycle...cold calling fails miserably and merely becomes an interruption not worthy of our time. The equivalent of email SPAM.
Although I'm not fully prepared to explain it, I've also found cold calling senior executives at larger companies results in greater response than calling large-company mid-level managers or small business executive teams.
In the public sector, I've found most anyone can be cold called - large and small organizations alike, including elected officials - IF AND WHEN you do your homework, position yourself as a peer, and call about something the receiving party really cares about....that's the rub.
Cold calling is a hot button topic of sales and marketing. My sincere opinion is it's poorly used and abused. I see it as a legitimate tactic that should be used when it makes sense...nothing more or less. Like all marketing tactics, it has a place and fits in some situations better than others. When it doesn't fit, it should be used.
Being interrupted is fine, if the interruption is something we value. And if the company contacting us profiled their market and target accounts, the odds of calling us because we're the person they need to contact are great.
I'm not a big proponent of cold calling, I prefer calls in follow-up to direct mail campaigns...which could be argued as merely semantics.
I've created and led many lead generation campaigns targeting executives in F1000 and public sector organizations. There are limited means to reach such people directly. What I've found is cold calling is pretty effective.
When you profile the purchase cycle and people involved; determine their biases, interests, concerns, challenges and opportunities; position your offer in business terms, addressing a recognized opportunity or challenge; and use your first contact as an introduction and offer to discuss the opportunity to work together in a meaningful way...cold calling works.
If you call people randomly, attempt to sell your product or service on the call, tell the person on the phone all about your features and functionality, ignore their business concerns, and press them to take an action outside of the purchase cycle...cold calling fails miserably and merely becomes an interruption not worthy of our time. The equivalent of email SPAM.
Although I'm not fully prepared to explain it, I've also found cold calling senior executives at larger companies results in greater response than calling large-company mid-level managers or small business executive teams.
In the public sector, I've found most anyone can be cold called - large and small organizations alike, including elected officials - IF AND WHEN you do your homework, position yourself as a peer, and call about something the receiving party really cares about....that's the rub.
Cold calling is a hot button topic of sales and marketing. My sincere opinion is it's poorly used and abused. I see it as a legitimate tactic that should be used when it makes sense...nothing more or less. Like all marketing tactics, it has a place and fits in some situations better than others. When it doesn't fit, it should be used.
What is the difference between sales and marketing?
Suze Bragg
What is the difference between sales and marketing?
August 4, 2008
I was having a discussion with an online forum this morning about the role of marketing in a sales organization. Having worked in both marketing and sales, I stated there is a huge difference between the two and they should never be mixed, nor lumped into one description. Every company should market themselves successfully and many don't. Hence the reason sales and sales support have to work so hard. Work the marketing of a company brilliantly and you've conquered 90% of the battle over your competitors. Ignore it--or do it for sales support only--and you have to work 100% harder than necessary.
Why is that?
Marketing is the company's story - the branding and all the components of its messaging - and sales takes the awareness marketing has created and sells to the people who now know not only about the product, but now want it. Marketing includes figuring out what makes the company tick, creating a need for it, leveraging customers emotional responses, providing the materials for the sales teams so they can close the deal, placing and creating advertising, running campaigns, handling social media marketing and all aspects of Internet marketing, launching products successfully (press releases, packaging, etc.), creating the style sheets for everything to look the same, etc, etc. In many medium and large sized business, the marketing team is divided into two now: e-commerce/Internet marketing and regular marketing. Both combine the necessarily awareness to propel the brand to the next level. If every sales team handled the awareness building, they'd never have time to close any sales.
In my 16 years in business, I've only worked with one sales person who could tell me why the best campaigns worked, or even cared about it for that matter. Salespeople normally want three pieces of information: who the company is, what are the features and benefits, and what will it take the close the sale. Marketing's role is to create demand. Sales' role is to find these people and distribute the supply. There's also a big difference in salary between sales and marketing. Sales people have the $$ incentive and receive commission. Marketing folks don't.
Understanding this relationship will make a company's success much easier, and much more profitable. This is one of the reasons some companies have attained cult status...Think of it this way: when people think of Apple, do they think of the sales people closing the sales, or do they think of the brand and have an emotional desire to buy the latest iPhone? That's marketing in its simplest representation.
Posted by Suze Bragg
What is the difference between sales and marketing?
August 4, 2008
I was having a discussion with an online forum this morning about the role of marketing in a sales organization. Having worked in both marketing and sales, I stated there is a huge difference between the two and they should never be mixed, nor lumped into one description. Every company should market themselves successfully and many don't. Hence the reason sales and sales support have to work so hard. Work the marketing of a company brilliantly and you've conquered 90% of the battle over your competitors. Ignore it--or do it for sales support only--and you have to work 100% harder than necessary.
Why is that?
Marketing is the company's story - the branding and all the components of its messaging - and sales takes the awareness marketing has created and sells to the people who now know not only about the product, but now want it. Marketing includes figuring out what makes the company tick, creating a need for it, leveraging customers emotional responses, providing the materials for the sales teams so they can close the deal, placing and creating advertising, running campaigns, handling social media marketing and all aspects of Internet marketing, launching products successfully (press releases, packaging, etc.), creating the style sheets for everything to look the same, etc, etc. In many medium and large sized business, the marketing team is divided into two now: e-commerce/Internet marketing and regular marketing. Both combine the necessarily awareness to propel the brand to the next level. If every sales team handled the awareness building, they'd never have time to close any sales.
In my 16 years in business, I've only worked with one sales person who could tell me why the best campaigns worked, or even cared about it for that matter. Salespeople normally want three pieces of information: who the company is, what are the features and benefits, and what will it take the close the sale. Marketing's role is to create demand. Sales' role is to find these people and distribute the supply. There's also a big difference in salary between sales and marketing. Sales people have the $$ incentive and receive commission. Marketing folks don't.
Understanding this relationship will make a company's success much easier, and much more profitable. This is one of the reasons some companies have attained cult status...Think of it this way: when people think of Apple, do they think of the sales people closing the sales, or do they think of the brand and have an emotional desire to buy the latest iPhone? That's marketing in its simplest representation.
Posted by Suze Bragg
Powerful Sales & Marketing Ideas of $100 Million Companies
So let’s imagine that you do sell office equipment and it’s your turn to give your speech and the audience is full of CFOs. If you’re a little strategic, you might go with something like: “The Five Ways our Office Equipment Can Benefit You.” Again, an approach like this appeals only to those who are “buying now,” and possibly those who are “open to it,” but pretty much 90% of your audience is leaving.
So what title would have a broader appeal? How about: “The Nine Ways You’re Wasting Money in your Operations and Administration.” I’m not saying this is going to rivet the executive to their chair, but they’re not leaving either. They’ll stay to hear a little more. This is also true for an ad with that headline. It’s definitely going to appeal to the top two tiers, but it also appeals to everyone in that stadium.
Everyone is interested in saving money in their operations and administration costs. Certainly every CFO is interested in that and, therefore, they would stay in the stadium. And if everything that follows has some substance to it, you’ve now taken your marketing and selling activity to an entirely new level.
The hardest thing we need to do today is grab the attention of the potential buyer and keep the attention long enough to help them buy your product. This approach of offering some education of value to them gives you a significant opportunity to attract more buyers and build more credibility. I call this “educational based marketing” and here’s a line you should write down: You will attract way more buyers if you are offering to teach them something of value to them than you will ever attract by simply trying to sell them your product or service.
As another example, I had a merchant services company as a client. They primarily target retail stores. So in their audience are retail storeowners. If they walk out there and start off with: “I’m going to show you why our merchant services are better than anyone else’s,” the 90% are leaving as they are not in the market for merchant services right now. So what could you say to keep every retailer in their seats to hear a little more? Here’s a great title: “The Five Reasons All Retailers Fail.” The tactical executive reading this is already saying: “But if all I really want to do is sell merchant services, than why would I bother with all this?”
Answer:
1. Because offering an education that helps the buyer is going to get more buyer interest.
2. If the information is actually good and useful, it automatically repositions you in the mind of the buyer as much more of an expert than all your competitors. (You’re teaching them things about their own business that they might not know.)
3. If you think and plan strategically, you will find a way to weave that information in such a way that ultimately sells your services far better than you could ever sell them by simply flat-out pitching your product.
For more information visit www.howtodoublesales.com
So what title would have a broader appeal? How about: “The Nine Ways You’re Wasting Money in your Operations and Administration.” I’m not saying this is going to rivet the executive to their chair, but they’re not leaving either. They’ll stay to hear a little more. This is also true for an ad with that headline. It’s definitely going to appeal to the top two tiers, but it also appeals to everyone in that stadium.
Everyone is interested in saving money in their operations and administration costs. Certainly every CFO is interested in that and, therefore, they would stay in the stadium. And if everything that follows has some substance to it, you’ve now taken your marketing and selling activity to an entirely new level.
The hardest thing we need to do today is grab the attention of the potential buyer and keep the attention long enough to help them buy your product. This approach of offering some education of value to them gives you a significant opportunity to attract more buyers and build more credibility. I call this “educational based marketing” and here’s a line you should write down: You will attract way more buyers if you are offering to teach them something of value to them than you will ever attract by simply trying to sell them your product or service.
As another example, I had a merchant services company as a client. They primarily target retail stores. So in their audience are retail storeowners. If they walk out there and start off with: “I’m going to show you why our merchant services are better than anyone else’s,” the 90% are leaving as they are not in the market for merchant services right now. So what could you say to keep every retailer in their seats to hear a little more? Here’s a great title: “The Five Reasons All Retailers Fail.” The tactical executive reading this is already saying: “But if all I really want to do is sell merchant services, than why would I bother with all this?”
Answer:
1. Because offering an education that helps the buyer is going to get more buyer interest.
2. If the information is actually good and useful, it automatically repositions you in the mind of the buyer as much more of an expert than all your competitors. (You’re teaching them things about their own business that they might not know.)
3. If you think and plan strategically, you will find a way to weave that information in such a way that ultimately sells your services far better than you could ever sell them by simply flat-out pitching your product.
For more information visit www.howtodoublesales.com
Did the Internet Kill Direct Mail?
Did the Internet Kill Direct Mail?
By Carol Oliver
It's hard to think direct mail still reaps benefits when everyone is resorting to online marketing. Put simply, many marketers now see the internet as an untapped chunk of potential markets waiting to be uncovered. This resulted in the boom of internet marketing websites, forums, and seminars. So did the internet kill offline marketing techniques such as direct mail? Many people will say it did, but there are always two sides of the coin. Let's look at this topic from a fresh perspective.
The world has become so internet oriented that you can hardly have a conversation without weaving internet website or tools into it. People who don't have basic internet skills are now met with raised brows and sometimes even jeers. So how does this relate to direct mail? When all marketers shift to a different technique, you have an advantage once the coast is clear. An average internet user has become so used to those flashy ads on blogs and websites that a paper under their door can definitely grab their attention more at this point.
Before internet advertising, one would receive heaps of junk mail under his door and would toss it away instantly. Now with companies shifting towards internet marketing, less are sending out direct mail. Chances of exposure now are much higher than they were in the past. The trick now is to grab your prospect's attention in an unconventional way - a way that totally goes against internet basics.
Let's put this scenario, your prospect wakes up, pours juice and checks the mail. You have up to one minute to grab your prospect's attention. In the internet world, at the moment, you have up to 8 to 10 seconds to grab the surfer's attention. That's the first benefit of direct mail over the internet marketing techniques.
Let's look into the factor of personalization. When your prospect surfs the internet, he is aware that at least thousands are being exposed to this ad in the very same second. This puts your prospect in the "impersonal, indifferent" mode. With direct mail, the ability of the prospect to touch a postcard or brochure addressed to them creates a sense of intimacy or connection. That is yet another benefit of direct mail over internet advertising that can reap enormous rewards on the long run.
The last factor that kicks in is your prospect's curiosity. While in both offline and online campaigns you can pique interest via design, copy, or incentives, when a prospect curiosity is minimal due to distractions. Let's see how this applies to a daily scenario. Let's say you're online, you find an ad that says "Are you broke?" While this may pique your interest if you're indeed broke or bored, you may click the website only to find it's a paid service and close the window.
The attention span of an internet surfer is very low. How about someone who's on the couch, bored to tears, with a direct mail catalogue on the table? Most people will look at catalogues for hours just for the heck of it. Their attention span amounts to how bored they are. That's a huge advantage for any company looking for exposure.
This effect is only maximized by targeting market segments. This can be done by distributing direct mail to those in need of your product.
You can't find such information? Acorn Marketing, a team of dedicated direct response marketing specialists, can help you maximize your direct mail recruitment today!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Oliver
http://EzineArticles.com/?Did-the-Internet-Kill-Direct-Mail?&id=1558236
By Carol Oliver
It's hard to think direct mail still reaps benefits when everyone is resorting to online marketing. Put simply, many marketers now see the internet as an untapped chunk of potential markets waiting to be uncovered. This resulted in the boom of internet marketing websites, forums, and seminars. So did the internet kill offline marketing techniques such as direct mail? Many people will say it did, but there are always two sides of the coin. Let's look at this topic from a fresh perspective.
The world has become so internet oriented that you can hardly have a conversation without weaving internet website or tools into it. People who don't have basic internet skills are now met with raised brows and sometimes even jeers. So how does this relate to direct mail? When all marketers shift to a different technique, you have an advantage once the coast is clear. An average internet user has become so used to those flashy ads on blogs and websites that a paper under their door can definitely grab their attention more at this point.
Before internet advertising, one would receive heaps of junk mail under his door and would toss it away instantly. Now with companies shifting towards internet marketing, less are sending out direct mail. Chances of exposure now are much higher than they were in the past. The trick now is to grab your prospect's attention in an unconventional way - a way that totally goes against internet basics.
Let's put this scenario, your prospect wakes up, pours juice and checks the mail. You have up to one minute to grab your prospect's attention. In the internet world, at the moment, you have up to 8 to 10 seconds to grab the surfer's attention. That's the first benefit of direct mail over the internet marketing techniques.
Let's look into the factor of personalization. When your prospect surfs the internet, he is aware that at least thousands are being exposed to this ad in the very same second. This puts your prospect in the "impersonal, indifferent" mode. With direct mail, the ability of the prospect to touch a postcard or brochure addressed to them creates a sense of intimacy or connection. That is yet another benefit of direct mail over internet advertising that can reap enormous rewards on the long run.
The last factor that kicks in is your prospect's curiosity. While in both offline and online campaigns you can pique interest via design, copy, or incentives, when a prospect curiosity is minimal due to distractions. Let's see how this applies to a daily scenario. Let's say you're online, you find an ad that says "Are you broke?" While this may pique your interest if you're indeed broke or bored, you may click the website only to find it's a paid service and close the window.
The attention span of an internet surfer is very low. How about someone who's on the couch, bored to tears, with a direct mail catalogue on the table? Most people will look at catalogues for hours just for the heck of it. Their attention span amounts to how bored they are. That's a huge advantage for any company looking for exposure.
This effect is only maximized by targeting market segments. This can be done by distributing direct mail to those in need of your product.
You can't find such information? Acorn Marketing, a team of dedicated direct response marketing specialists, can help you maximize your direct mail recruitment today!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Oliver
http://EzineArticles.com/?Did-the-Internet-Kill-Direct-Mail?&id=1558236
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