SALES QUOTE
“All of our dreams can come true –if we have the courage to pursue them.” -Walt Disney
For Salespeople…
Are you on track to make your goals? It’s not too late to do something about it. I’ve found that by October it’s too late to do much to get yourself back on track. If you still want to make your goals, now is the time to do something. What can you do? You can have the courage to try something new. Do you rely on telephone appointments to get in the door with prospects? Maybe you should start using LinkedIn instead. Or maybe you should tap into your network of contacts and figure out who knows the prospects you want to meet. You have lots of options. Just do something new. It’s uncomfortable to try new things. Just remember, if you’re not on track to reach this year’s goals that whatever you’re doing now doesn’t seem to be working. So think about your strategies, take a deep breath, and pick just one new strategy to try. Who knows? That might be the right strategy for you to propel you on and get those new customers you need to make your goals. Walt Disney also said, “If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.” I’m sure you’re starting with a whole lot more than just a mouse.
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I’m now writing The Real Deal, a column on women in business for Allbusiness.com Hope you’ll read more ideas so you can achieve your success in business.
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Your Sales Tip
A great website to help sales professionals especially so they can travel light is:
https://www.onebag.com/
You’ll learn new strategies to pack light so you can focus on your business and not be distracted from a poorly planned trip.
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THE SELLING IDEAS FOR THE MONTH
Sales Starts By Getting In
What’s worse than trying to reach decision makers by getting past unsympathetic gatekeepers or breaking through voicemail? Maybe it’s not reaching them at all. Here are some creative ways to more quickly get in front of decision makers.
I remember you—and your great idea. If you’re trying to reach the decision maker on a cold call, gatekeepers are more likely to help you if you are favorably remembered. Get their name so that you can address them personally in a follow up call. Then be memorable with a thoughtful and creative gift.
An antibacterial stick is thoughtful since so many office workers are touching dirty surfaces and are concerned about the effects. If you’ve got great ideas for helping your prospects with their business, you could get coffee mugs imprinted with your company name along with “Great ideas are brewing every morning” and fill the mugs with coffee pouches.
Give one mug to the gatekeeper and ask her to deliver another to the decision maker she helps you identify. If you have difficulty getting an appointment with that decision maker, follow up with the gatekeeper and ask for her help to get you on the decision maker’s calendar. That gatekeeper will remember the person who had the great idea to give her a gift—and be more likely to help.
Strategic gifts. Whatever you give away should be customized to support your brand, tag line or sales objective. Insurance companies could give umbrellas to reinforce a tag line of “We’ve got you covered.” Oil companies can give coffee mugs shaped like an oil tank. Avoid the mistake of buying products based on their cost— think cheap pens here— rather than a product that supports your business objectives. If the product is not the right match, you’ll find that ultimately it’s a waste of money. Work with someone who is advising you in an advertising capacity.
Snail mail helps. You can also use the mail to reach a decision maker. Consider adding some dimension to the envelope. The curious recipient is more likely to open the letter and read the contents. One clever saleswoman achieved this by mailing a crumpled letter to her prospects.
She wrote, “I realize what a busy person you are, so I have personally taken a moment to pre-crumple this letter to make it wastebasket compatible.” Then she crumpled the letter. She even changed the font on “pre-crumple” to look wrinkled. She introduced her company and ended by saying she would call.
To add to the dimension and uniqueness, the letter was mailed in a muslin mailing bag along with her business card. It was a successful mailing and it got her sales appointments. Just make sure that you check with your local post office so you meet postal codes and are aware of the mailing rates before you undertake an unusual mailing campaign.
Come to me. Trade shows are the perfect venue to shorten the process of meeting decision makers. Before the show, identify whom you want to meet at the trade show. Your pre-show mailing should include a promotional product or an offer. This increases the likelihood that an attendee will stop by your booth. One university study found that booth traffic increased from 23% (letter only) to 41% when a promotional item was sent before the trade show. Partial items work, too. Send a high-end pen cap to the prospect and invite him to visit your booth at the show to get the rest of the pen.
Salespeople swamp decision makers with requests for their time. That’s why you have to be creative so you can stand out. Just be sensitive to the rules that your prospects have for accepting gifts. If only one of your gifts could free some of your prospect’s time. Maybe you could send a watch with a note saying “Hope it’s the right time to see me.”
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Action Items
1. What promotional product could you use to help you get in to see a buyer?
2. How can you use snail mail to get to see a prospect?
3. How will you prepare for your next trade show to maximize the selling you do there?
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Programs
What: Master Selling:
Persuasion Strategies, Strategic Questions, Laser Listening, Optional: Strategy/ Territory Management
Build your sales skills foundation to sell more now.
When: Thursday July 29, 2010, August 5, 2010. August 12, 2010, August 19, 2010
11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
Where: Small Business Development Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
For more information: 972-985-3749 or 972-985-3758
What: Effective Meetings
Run a meeting where people show up on time and participate to produce results.
When: Friday July 30, 2010
11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
Where: Small Business Development Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
For more information: 972-985-3749 or 972-985-3758
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DID YOU KNOW?
In 1902, three years before he wrote his groundbreaking paper on the theory of relativity, a young Albert Einstein ran newspaper ads offering his services as a tutor in math and physics. The ads prominently offered a “free trial lesson”—showing that free offers really are a smart marketing tactic.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are some selling tools to help you sell more now. Click on the photo to find out more!
Sales Quotes: A book that has quick ideas for you to be more successful in sales. Real-World Selling: A book with selling skills and strategies that work in the real world of sales. Secrets of Persuasion: Audio CD for the clues to use to speed-read people and close more business.