Something I’ve seen over and over is that many of my clients originally believed that marketing and lead generation is supposed to bring “as many people through the door” as possible. It isn’t. It is about “getting the most qualified people through the door.”
I’ve developed a rule of thumb in my business consulting that has helped me identify one of the big problems my clients frequently have. The rule goes this way:
If there are
One of my sales trainees ended up with an extremely high cold calling response rate. It was nearly 90% of every live person she could reach. She was convincing nearly everyone she could actually talk to to explore the next steps.
She had convinced one of the other companies in the class to hire her to do their telemarketing. The result of her telemarketing was that she was bringing in a flood of leads to their sales department. The problem was that the sales department was not able to close many of these leads. Read the rest of this entry »
What do the words that you use say about you? What is your basic message? Do your words support that basic message?
As a business owner, entrepreneur or sales professional, part of your message must be of confidence and authority. You always want your prospect or your customer to see you as an expert in your field, as someone who is credible and someone who is knowledgeable. Sometimes, the words we use or the way we use them get in the way.
Have you ever started a conversation with a prospect or customer with the phrase “I’m just calling…”?
That little word “just” is an apology. It says that your call is not important and that what you have to say is not important. Delete it from your vocabulary immediately! Simply tell your prospects and customers why you are calling. That is enough.
“I believe that….”
“I think that….”
“I know….”
Who would you rather listen to? Someone who believes or thinks she knows something—or someone who just knows it? The phrases “I believe” and “I think” detract from your message. They detract from your power.
“Once we have completed… we will hopefully achieve…”
Hopefully?
No one pays you to “hopefully” do something. They pay you to do actually do it! Tell your prospects or customers what they will achieve or should expect to achieve.
To make your words sound powerful, pitch your voice to a lower level than your usual speaking voice. In our society, a lower-pitched voice is perceived as more authoritative. Also, make sure that the inflection goes down at the end of every sentence. When nervous, everyone tends to make even statements into questions with an upward inflection. This will make you sound nervous and unsure. Be careful also, as you are doing this, not to drop off or throw the last words of your sentence away. That would sound like you are giving up.
It may take some time and practice before you are fully comfortable eliminating the words “just,” “I believe,” “I think” and “hopefully” from your vocabulary. It will also take some time and practice to get the lowered vocal pitch and downward inflections at the end of sentences. But it will be time well spent when you see the difference in the way your customers and prospects respond. Even if you do feel nervous, using these particular word and vocal tips will make you sound confident and self-assured. Eventually, you will even begin to feel that way!
© 2004 Wendy Weiss
Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling Success, is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. She is the author of Cold Calling for Women and the recently released Cold Calling College. Get her free e-zine at http://www.wendyweiss.com.
A lot of energy is expended within selling organizations as they try to identify, adopt, and administer a sales process that works for them. The holy grail of selling is to find a foolproof method for creating a customer, the ultimate finished product of the perfect sales process. Prepare to be disappointed.
Webster’s tells us that a process is “a particular method of doing something, generally involving a number of steps or operations.” By performing specific actions in a certain order on allowable inputs, we can produce a finished result that meets a predefined design specification. This works well in manufacturing, and in recurring activities that we find in other areas of our businesses.
We may even have certain processes that we use while we sell. But when we talk about the whole of selling, we need to avoid using the term “sales process” because no such thing exists. That’s because there is nothing we can do to reliably produce a customer as a finished result. Read the rest of this entry »
We use only 5% of God’s given potential, 95% of them is not used. Why not tap the 95% of our Creative Intelligence and achieve our desired goals. Our goals are limitless because of our creative imagination. You have to commit to your goals. If you don’t have a goal , your life will be a failure. You are a goal seeking Organism. You can create your opportunity and you can do it anytime. You have to help yourself to achieve your goals.
The only way to reach the top is to have a goal. In order for goals to be effective they need to be big, because big goals create excitement once you accomplish. There is no excitement in mediocrity. The excitement comes when you are at your best. You need to see your life as something big and exciting . The only way to do that is through setting goals. Make a commitment and put it in writing. You have to crystalize your thinking so that you will be able to establish an exact direction for your own life. Goals must be realistic and achieveable. Goals must also include personality changes. Once you set goals and start to achieve them you will become successful.
Don’t have a goal that is so vague that you can’t tell, whether you have accomplished it or not. Have a clear statement of your goals. Write them down. Put deadlines on your goals. Have Short term, Intermediate and Long term goals.When you put them on paper they become tangible and you feel more inclined to do them. As you accomplish your goals, add more ambitious goals to your list.Your goals should be clear and definite.
Napolean Hill in his book ‘Think and Grow Rich’ says that your thinking should be crystal clear. You should know your goals. The purpose of those goals. Make a plan how you are going to achieve them. Be persistent and determined. Finally a burning passion and desire to achieve them.
You should give a definite period of time within which to accomplish those goals . Successful people are successful because they see themselves as successful.
Winston Saga the CEO of www.telesalestips.com and Sales International. He is the author of two best selling books, “How to become a Master Salesperson” and Total Success in Sales and Personal Life”. He is often refered as the Zig Ziglar of the pacific. International Biography Centre selected him “International Man of the Year” 2003 for his outstanding contribution to sales and service.
In the last article I talked about different strategies for selling the ‘reliability’ aspect of your software or hardware. I mentioned how most high tech salespeople love to talk about their “-abilities”: Reliability, Upgradeability, Compatibility and Expandability. In this article I want to discuss how to sell upgradeability. When is the right time to sell upgradeability? When do you mention the possibility of future upgrades? How do you position future upgrades to software or hardware with a new or existing customer without selling yourself short? How often should your company release upgrades? These are all great questions when it comes to the art of selling upgrades.
Selling Upgradeability
So how do you sell upgradeability? Well, lets start with a basic question. What does the word upgradeability bring to mind when a salesperson mentions the word? If you’re like myself, I think the product has room for improvement and in the future if I choose, I can upgrade to whatever new capabilities the software or hardware may offer. Microsoft Windows epitomizes the model for selling upgradeability. There are four ways to sell upgradeability: Read the rest of this entry »
Selling is as much an art as it is a skill. The basics of the selling process can be learned by anyone, but the practice of selling is something that the super star sales people have brought to an art level.
What gets them to that level?
1. Superstars develop their own style.
They know who they are and are comfortable with it. They watch the masters, but don’t copy the masters. They know whether their humor delights people or turns them off. They know how aggressive they can be and when to back off. They are great readers of people and people’s reactions.
In the business of speaking I think of Tom Peters who is one of the biggest management gurus of our time. He commands tremendous fees for speaking and is booked constantly. But when I watch him I am fascinated by the rules he breaks when speaking. He paces like a lion, he shouts to the point of straining his voice, he uses notes – all things that we are taught not to do. But it works for him. In contrast you have Maya Angelou who stands in one place and delivers in melodious tones and hold her audience riveted just as Tom Peters does. Different styles – both work.
In the field of acting you have Jim Carey who practically turns himself inside out to get his point across and you have Sir Anthony Hopkins who can get his point across with the raising of his eyebrow. Different styles – both work.
I have seen waitresses interact with customers. Some are brash and funny, others are sweet and accommodating. Both types make good tips because they’ve developed their own style. Read the rest of this entry »
The telephone is still the best and most effective way to reach people. It can help generate more sales and build your business. Unfortunately most people don’t like the telephone and don’t use it effectively. In order to become more proficient using the telephone, you need to follow some basic guidelines and then practice, practice and then practice some more.
Like everything else, selling by using the telephone has changed over the years. The hard sell approach doesn’t cut it today. With voice mail, answering machines, tele-zappers, and caller ID the old fashion way doesn’t work any longer.
If you are selling a high end product, trying to do it all on the first call doesn’t work. You need to go through a couple of stages to get your end result – the sale. First you need to introduce yourself. Tell them about you, your business and your product. Next try to set up an appointment to go into further detail. Or maybe send some information before calling again. Moving one step at a time gives the customer time to become familiar with you and your product. It also gives your customer time to realize how important your product is to them.
You need to be confident and positive. As we have told many of our students, if you don’t feel like getting on the phones – don’t. That negativity and lack of enthusiasm is going to come through on the telephone. Many years ago when I was working in corporate America as a receptionist my supervisor told me to always answer the telephone with a smile on. That smile carried over into the impression the caller received when contacting a company.
So be sure that a positive attitude comes through . Remember, the old adage, “you must first sell yourself, then sell your product”.
Also of utmost importance is to know what you want to say. If you use a script, have it handy, but don’t just read it. I can tell immediately when a call I get is being read from a script. Write down an opening statement (for example, Hi , my name is Susan from Home Business Solutions. I’m calling about the home you have for sale. Are you the person to speak with? What’s your name?). Make notes of points you need to cover. Practice saying what you want to say until it comes naturally. Be sure you make strong statements. Avoid the words: maybe, could, but.
You also need to know your product. You have to perceive its value before you can convince someone else. You have to know what it does, how it works, and be able to describe it in terms that the layman can understand. You also need to explain the benefits of your product.
One of the first things I go over with our students regarding our telephone script is that they must learn to listen, and I mean really listen. You can tell a lot about your customer just by hearing what they are saying. Also be sure you ask their name, and then use it now and then. Don’t overuse their name because this can become very annoying. My philosophy is if I hate it, so will someone else.
Be sure to ask questions to encourage them to talk about themselves. Empathize. However, don’t do a lot of talking until you are sure you understand. Let them do the majority of talking.
If you pick a certain time frame to make your calls, or do a certain number of calls in a row, try to say it a little differently each time. If you don’t you will start to sound stale, lose your happy voice and sound as if you are reading a script. So if this starts to occur, take a break, or stop for the day.
As we discussed earlier in this article if your product is a high end one you will make several calls to establish a relationship. Once you have done this, and they remember who you are, introduce something new about your product. Keep a record of your calls, and details of what you discussed previously, so that you know where you stand when you call again. When I worked for a franchise company, I kept a record of every call that came in from franchisees or calls I made. First, my employer was amazed at the amount of knowledge I had about franchisees at my fingertips, and more important the franchisees felt like they were the only one, I knew them so well.
Using the telephone can help you get repeat business. For certain products, you can call customers to see how they are doing with the product. Maybe there are additional questions you could answer or problems you might be able to solve.
If everything is going well, you have a excellent opportunity to introduce your newest product, and hopefully, make another sale. This is also a great time to ask for referrals. Even if the follow up call doesn’t pay off right away, you are building a relationship with this customer. Remember it is a lot easier to keep a customer happy than to find another one. Your follow-up also builds credibility with your customers.
Doing the above will give your business a boost.
Copyright 2003 DeFiore Enterprises
Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our “how to” Home Business Solutions Digest, it’s like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com
So the other day I’m watching the movie The Matrix, again. For some reason I can’t get enough of the great special effects.
Remember the part where is Neo (Keanu Reeves) is mentally tortured because he wants to find out what the ‘matrix’ is and finally meets with Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) who has the answer he’s been seeking, “ What is the Matrix?”.
Morpheus makes Neo an interesting proposition. He offers Neo two pills: a red and blue one. He tells Neo that if he takes the blue pill he’ll remember nothing and wake up the next morning in his bed as if nothing had ever happened. But, if he takes the red pill, the secret of the Matrix will be revealed to him.
Neo decides to take the red pill (of course, it wouldn’t be much of a movie if he didn’t). After taking the pill Neo finds himself in this other reality, outside the Matrix, where he is free. He realizes that he was never really a successful businessman but in reality he had been asleep; a slave to the Matrix all his life. The Matrix is the hi-tech version of a man who wakes up after dreaming he’s a butterfly and wonders if in reality he’s a butterfly dreaming he’s a man. After taking the pill, Neo wakes up to his ‘real’ reality for the first time after being enslaved in the Matrix all his life.
When I go around the country speaking, I wish I could distribute such a red pill. As a motivational speaker my goal is always to awaken people from their sedated slumber, their numbness to reality. I strive to make my audience begin to think in terms of possibilities and not impossibilities. To dream beyond the social matrix of mediocrity. Read the rest of this entry »
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. Read the rest of this entry »