Archive for Sales
May 26, 2008 at 7:46 pm · Filed under Sales
Sophia was doing some telesales training. She did a fair bit of cold calling, to sell cheaper phone calls.
When asked what her most difficult challenge was, she replied it was getting past the gatekeeper. She was referring to the secretary or PA who is tasked with keeping cold callers at bay. When asked why she find this the most difficult part, she said that the gatekeepers were often curt, even rude or obnoxious.
See if this sounds familiar:
Acme Widgets: “Good morning, Acme Widgets, how can I help you?”
Sophia: “Can I speak to the proprietor of the business please?”
AW: “What’s it about please?”
S: “I want to talk to him about a new range of drinks machines we have on offer.”
AW: “Sorry, she won’t be interested! Thank you! Goodbye!”
End of conversation.
Sarah’s complaint is “why can’t they just have the decency to put me through?”
What would happen if Sarah considered being a little nicer to the gate keepers? She went on to say how unimportant she thought they were and how some of them were trying to pretend they had more influence than they had.
The gatekeeper is the one person stopping you from getting to the person you want to speak to, so it make’s sense that we need to get the gate keeper on our side.
There are many ways of doing this.
Treat the gatekeeper like a new friend. Try to bring some humour or lightness into the conversation. Let them help you.
Smile before you pick up the phone…even when you don’t feel like it. Try saying the sentence with a grimace and then with a broad smile. Your respondent at the end of the line can HEAR you beaming. And that puts them in a more positive frame of mind.
Have the name of an individual to speak to. Do some research, get a name, and careful how you answer the question “What shall I tell him it is about”!
Be persistent. Not to the extent that you irritate but it is easier to put you through than keep putting you off.
Try pity. Tell the gatekeeper that your boss is insistent that you must speak to Mr Customer. The gatekeeper should know what that feels like!
Strictly you shouldn’t ’sell’ to the gatekeeper, which is true, up to a point. Well if you look at it, we’re not selling to the gatekeeper. We’re merely creating enough interest for them to want to put you through to the right person.
The problem we have, is that there are so many poor salespeople out there, that the gatekeepers are often irritated to death by sales calls, from people who are poor at what they do. When they do get a salesperson on the phone, who is courteous, professional, has an interesting voice, and a sense of humour, it’s a refreshing change. Be like that and you will stand out, and that is your first hurdle.
Remember, the gatekeeper has a tough job to do. Bring a little sunshine into their day, with a fresh approach and some humour.
Andy Szebeni is a sales trainer with A&P Training (http://www.a-and-p.com). A&P helps sales executives and management win more customers and it has its own telemarketing team to set appointments for A&P clients.
May 24, 2008 at 7:34 am · Filed under Sales
This issue’s topic on sales prospects comes in response to a question I received from a reader.
Question:
Five weeks ago, I had a good conversation on the phone with an important prospect in my territory. They have a need for our product and the prospect seems to acknowledge this as well. Every time I have talked to him, he has been very interested and seemingly aware of the problem in his company that our product can help solve. I sell print management and print tracking software and the prospect acknowledged that the cost of printing is an issue for his organization.
Last time we talked, he indicated he needed to gather some information regarding his current operating cost (which we most likely would be able to cut) before coming in for a demo. But when I called back at the time we had agreed upon, I kept getting voicemail. I have not been able to get him on the phone and he doesn’t respond to the voicemails I left either. What do you recommend I do?”
When Sales Prospects Won’t Take Your Calls
When sales prospects stop taking your calls, it’s never a good sign. It means one of three things:
- Your prospect cannot get any budget money.
- Your prospect is too busy with higher priority projects.
- They are working on this project with a competitor.
You said that this is a very important sales prospect for you. I assume that your print management and print tracking software are high ticket items for which there are a limited number of companies in your territory who can afford them. If this is true, then you should pursue it further. If on the other hand you have many sales prospects in your territory, then you should probably move on.
If you choose to pursue, you need to get to someone who can make something happen. I recommend that you get your management to go over your contact’s head to the executive who would be most impacted by this decision.
Salespeople often get nervous about going over someone’s head. We think of this as a high-risk maneuver. The risk of going over someone’s head at this point is actually lower than continuing what you are doing. Right now, the prospect is not treating you as a partner - he is treating you as a salesperson that he can dump on.
By going over his head, you can speed up getting to either a yes or no. Continuing to leave voicemails is only going to drag out what will then probably be a no.
Call your contact first and let him know that a call will be coming in. Leave a voicemail and say something like this: “The President of my company wants to speak to all of our best new prospective customers. He’ll be calling your VP on Wednesday. I thought that you would like to know before he calls. Please call me.”
This move alone may get you a call-back from your contact. If so, tell him that your President wants to speak to their VP because he knows that you can save their company money. Tell your contact that your President will be calling, unless you two can come up with a reason why he shouldn’t at this time.
This call and your President’s subsequent call should shake things up and either get the deal moving forward or off your forecast altogether.
Look at this way. If your sales prospects cannot get any budget money or are too busy with higher priority projects, then going to an executive gives your management the opportunity to make your case. If they are working with a competitor, then your management can position why the prospect should look at you also. If neither you nor your management can get through or get callbacks, then it’s a pretty clear sign that they aren’t going to do business with you.
© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.
Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown’s sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/
April 26, 2008 at 4:17 pm · Filed under Sales
The prosperity and popularity of successful companies is obviously the result of continuous training. Without proper sales training, a business is unable to stand out from the rest, thus having poor exposure and low credibility on the market. In order to achieve and maintain the success of their companies, business owners need to make sure that all their team members benefit from frequent sales training. While a short sales training course or seminary can familiarize your sales staff with the fundamentals of sales, the long-term success of your business can only be achieved through the means of ongoing sales training. Ongoing sales training is vital for maintaining the pace with other businesses in your branch and it can also help your company to get ahead of the competition.
Ongoing sales training programs are very important for any business, as they can help salespeople to maintain a good level of sales performance. It is important to note that the great majority of salespeople only improve their selling performance at first, being unable to progress further without frequent sales training interventions. Considering the fact that marketing and sales are a marathon, not a sprint, it is vital to frequently intervene with new, effective sales training solutions among the members of your business.
Proper sales training programs work on multiple levels: they provide the members of your business team with the latest marketing solutions and strategies, strengthen the relationships between the members of your team and also boost the morale and the motivation of your entire sales staff. An effective sales training program can have a very refreshing effect on the entire business, announcing a new stage in the activity of the company.
There are two main categories of sales training: self-study oriented sales training, which allows the trainees to learn on their own and trainer-oriented sales training, taught by a sales “coach”. The first category of sales training includes multimedia training, tradebooks and textbooks that contain various selling techniques and strategies. Trainer-oriented sales training includes programs that involve active participation to courses, seminaries or laboratories. In contrast with self-study oriented sales training materials, trainer-oriented sales training programs are by far the best means of acquiring a wide range of skills and abilities that can considerably increase the sales efficiency of your business.
Trainer-oriented sales training programs have the advantage of offering trainees the chance to engage in role play situations, thus allowing attendants to quickly polish their skills. During the entire program, the trainees are encouraged to express their opinions and ideas, being provided with proper feed-back from their trainers. Trainer-oriented sales training programs can effectively improve the skills and abilities of your business team members, thus enhancing the overall performance of your company.
So, if you want to find more information about Sales Training, we recommend you clicking this link.
|
|
