A few days ago I finally made contact with a new prospect and we started discussing his situation. Most preliminary calls like this take between 15-30 minutes and I usually start our conversation by asking, “Is this still a good time to talk?”
However, I didn’t do that in this particular situation and six minutes into the call my prospect said, “I have to get to a meeting. Send me some information and we’ll talk later.” As a result, I did not have the time to more deeply pursue my prospect’s pr…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on September 28, 2009 at 6:11am —
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Many people in sales know what they should do. However, they analyze the details to death and this “paralysis by analysis” causes them to hesitate and second-guess themselves. Many people hesitate to pick up the telephone and call a prospect who appears to be sitting on the fence because they don’t know exactly what to say. They may resist cold calling because they fear the rejection. They may not change their approach because it feels uncomfortable.
These are natural responses. However, these…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on September 14, 2009 at 9:56am —
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Veteran sales people often ask me for ideas on advanced sales training and I am usually at a loss for words (difficult to believe, I know!). Certainly, there are new technologies and platforms and the tidal wave of social networks opportunities have changed the sales world and given sellers new ways to prospect, connect, and sell. However, even though today’s business world is more competitive and buyers are more sophisticated than ever, the fundamental rules of selling still apply.
When someon…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on September 8, 2009 at 8:52am —
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When you make contact with a new prospect via the telephone you have an extremely short window of time to connect with them. If you fail to achieve this they will quickly tune you out. Here are five things you can do to lose their attention in the first five seconds of the conversation:
1. Start a telephone conversation with, “Hi, how are you?”
2. Open your conversation by introducing yourself, your company and what you do.
3. Give them an overview of your products and services.
4. Explain how…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on August 31, 2009 at 6:28am —
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Many people in sales find it challenging to stay motivated. Here are four ideas consider.
Do something different. Most sales people I know do the same things every week. They make their quota of calls. They use the same tactics and techniques to generate business. Or they rely on orders from their existing customers to reach their targets. However, it is critical to do something different if you want to get better results. What can you do differently that will help you increase your sales?
Joi…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on August 24, 2009 at 6:06pm —
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Most sales professionals love to get referrals because they are often easy leads to close. However, the majority of sales people I work with don’t generate as many referrals as they would like. Here is a simple way to change that.
Ask!
Here are the most common reasons people don’t ask for referrals.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m begging.”
“I have tried asking but people don’t give me qualified leads.”
“I don’t want my prospects to know that I need business.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Her…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on August 17, 2009 at 3:51pm —
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After a great deal of effort you have finally made contact with a prospect. You meet with them and they express interest in your solution or offering. You send additional information and schedule a follow-up session. However, now you can’t seem to make contact with your prospect. You leave a few voice mails, send several emails all to no avail. A seemingly hot prospect has appeared to turn cold.
Virtually every person who sells a product or service encounters this, and lately, it seems to occur…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on August 10, 2009 at 11:26am —
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Many people who sell products and services for small companies worry about competing with large competitors. They often stress over the fact that large companies sells products for less money thereby limiting their opportunities.
From my perspective, size does not matter. In fact, small companies (or sole proprietor) enjoy many advantages that their large competitors don’t. While they may not be able to compete on price, they often offer better service, more accurate knowledge, customized solut…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on August 3, 2009 at 11:12am —
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Over the years I have noticed that sales people make a wide variety of small mistakes that can cost them money. This week’s tip is devoted to sharing some of those mistakes with you.
Here are twenty tiny mistakes that can have a dramatic impact on your results; I have grouped them into several categories for quick reference.
Prospecting Mistakes
1. Not investing sufficient time prospecting for new business
2. Believing that anyone or any company is a prospect
3. Failing to let go of a p…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on July 27, 2009 at 6:42am —
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During many of my workshops we discuss the importance of asking new prospects and existing customers high-value questions to determine buying motives, potential sales opportunities and to help gain an understanding of the other person’s current situation, concerns or problems. However, I have discovered that many sales people ask questions that are focused on the wrong person.
When you ask a prospect a question who does that question focus on? Is it your prospect or is it you? Many sales people…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on July 20, 2009 at 8:04am —
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Want to impress your prospects and customers? Learn to recap or summarize periodically during your sales conversations. The Summary or Recap technique has been around for decades but it is seldom used. Here is what you do:
After you have asked your prospect high-value questions to gain sufficient insight into their current situation or problem, you say, “Mr. Prospect, Let me quickly recap what you told me.” Then in bullet-point form, you restate the key points she mentioned. For example,
“Your…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on July 13, 2009 at 9:44am —
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Sales professionals usually ask a few questions in order to gain a better understanding of their prospect’s situation. However, most of them don’t probe deep enough into the size and scope of the problem or situation. I remember hearing a great phrase from another sales trainer/coach (I think it was Tom Stoyan). He suggested that sales people “pick at their prospect’s scab,” referring to the pain or problem that a prospect may be facing.
Your objective in taking this approach is to help your pr…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on July 6, 2009 at 7:17am —
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“What’s your best price?”
If you have been selling for any period of time I suspect that you have heard this question before. So how do you respond?
Most sales people automatically drop their price, offer a concession and hope that their customer or prospect accepts. Unfortunately, this approach cuts into your profit margins and costs you money. There is a more effective way. Before I reveal this technique I will warn you that it seems deceptively easy and your first thought is that it will no…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on June 30, 2009 at 9:54am —
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An inside sales rep from our lawn care company called to ask if I would like a quote on a service that one of their “technicians” recommended. Here’s how that sales call went.
Rep: “Mr. Robertson, Gilles left you some information about a treatment for your lawn and I’m calling to see if you want a quote.”
Me: “I was under the impression that that service was covered in my maintenance program.”
Rep: “Just a sec. Let me check.” A few moments later, “No, that particular service is not covered.”
M…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on June 22, 2009 at 8:24pm —
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During a recent sales training workshop I conducted, we discussed the best way to open face-to-face cold call. One participant volunteered to share his approach.
“Hi Mr. Prospect. I’m Mr. Sales Person and I work for Big Sales Company. We do a lot of work in your industry and have been in business for over 40 years. We carry a wide range of products and services including this, that and the other thing. We pride ourselves on delivering great service and..” As he continued, I wrote blah, blah, bl…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on June 15, 2009 at 6:32am —
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During a conversation with a group of sales reps this past week I couldn’t help but notice how often one individual’s Blackberry buzzed with email messages. At one point, his attention was drawn away from our conversation and he became agitated and stressed. He later told me that he was dealing with a particularly challenging prospect. I spoke to several other reps about this and most of them admitted that they received similar emails or telephone calls on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, today’…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on June 8, 2009 at 2:56pm —
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Many salespeople can’t figure out why decision makers avoid their calls or are reluctant to meet. Here is a simple reason:
They don’t want to waste their time!
Unfortunately, most sales people fail to deliver a compelling message or demonstrate why a company should buy their product, service or solution, and as result, key decision makers are skeptical about meeting with sales people they don’t know. Here’s a personal example.
I recently met with a salesperson who initially sold me on the val…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on June 1, 2009 at 12:01pm —
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The season finale of The Celebrity Apprentice aired last week and I watched in disappointment as Donald Trump chose comedienne Joan Rivers as the winner. In my opinion, her competitor, poker superstar Annie Duke, played a much better game, behaved more professionally and was more deserving of the title.
Here is the key sales lesson I noticed.
Sometimes, the salesperson who is more qualified or who sells a superior product will not get the sale because of the final decision-maker’s agenda. I kn…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on May 18, 2009 at 11:24am —
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Several weeks ago I arranged for hotel meeting space for an upcoming public program I am holding. The sales person told me that she would email the contract to me in a few days. A week passed but no information landed in my in-box. After a ten day wait I finally contacted the hotel only to discover that there was no record of my meeting. The excuse I heard was, “Sometimes we wait for final confirmation.”
Huh? The sales person told me she would send a contract. Doesn’t that indicate a commitment…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on May 4, 2009 at 6:57am —
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The other day I had a conversation with a sales rep from a company that offered merchant services for online sales. Although I was impressed by this rep’s consistent follow-up—he called me several times after our initial conversation—he made a common sales blunder when I told him that I had chosen another vendor.
The mistake: He didn’t pay attention to what I said afterwards.
When I mentioned that I had chosen another vendor for completely different reasons, he continued talking about rates an…
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Added by Kelley Robertson on April 20, 2009 at 7:07am —
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