"Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently"
-Henry Ford
Here’s a little exercise that I highly recommend:
Go back 60 days in your CRM database and glean through your ‘lost opportunities’.
From these opportunities, randomly select 10-15 prospects.
Next, examine your notes (you do log notes don’t you?) to uncover why the deal fell through.
Now that you have reviewed your list and notes, check the 'reasons' why you lost the sale.
Did you lose out because of:
1. Competition?
2. Pricing?
3. Timing?
4. The economy?
5. Lack of follow up/follow through?
6. Inability to reach the decision maker?
7. Prospect no longer interested?
8. No idea?
If any of the above eight reasons came into play (it helps to be brutally honest here), then it is well worth your while to revisit what you could have done differently since each one of these reasons suggest that you very well could have!
No one, of course, is expected to convert every opportunity into a win—however, you can certainly narrow the number of opportunities that tend to drop off your radar along with the reasons typically associated with them.
Paying attention to the ‘whys’ of previous lost deals will help to increase your awareness/sensitivity around selling with greater
focus--being able to lead with value, handle objections persuasively and elevate customer dialog.
Staying true to the technique of identifying need, budget, time frame and authority, will invariably create clarity and intelligent effort around understanding every layer of your prospect and his/her business...while improving your sales effectiveness.
In doing so, you will notice your ‘win' column gaining momentum while your loss opps not so much!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Trail of The Voice Mail
"If you care at all, you'll get some results. If you care enough, you'll get incredible results" -Jim Rohn
We have all been on the other end of a poorly executed voicemail message.
Perhaps, we have even been guilty of leaving one of those awkward verbal bloopers in an attempt to interest a prospect in what you had to offer.
In the business of selling, answering machines are standard fare—as telemarketers and inside sales reps, you typically leave a lot of voice messages throughout the course of your work day. However, as you know from first hand experience, only a small fraction of those calls are returned.
Question: What do you think compels a prospect to return some calls and ignore others?
Answer: Two things— (1) Content and (2) Curiosity.
Busy managers/directors/owners do not have the time or desire to listen to a rambling, “I want to sell you something" voice message!
They will only listen if you make it worth their while…and you have a very narrow window of opportunity in which to do so.
That’s why what you say and how you say it will be the all important catalyst for piquing their interest and getting your call returned!
If you want to reap solid results from the voice mail messages you leave, then take heed:
▪ Prepare what you want to say (rehearse it, if necessary) before you pick up the phone.
▪ Use this time critical window (25-40 seconds) to position WIFM’s—not to make your sales pitch! (Ex: they will be able to cut costs; reduce customer attrition; improve staff productivity; double ROI and so on). Think value proposition!
▪ Your message should always be concise and confident…remember less is more in the world of voice mail messages.
▪ Don’t rush through your message—be sure to pause and speak clearly. The objective is to give the prospect a compelling reason (i.e. WIFM) to call you back!
▪ Speak your phone number s-l-o-w-l-y! Don’t make the common mistake of racing through the number—do not put the prospect in the position of having to rewind the message several times in order to decipher your call back number!
Sample script:
“Hi Steve, this is Jill Richards with ABC Management Systems—I ‘m calling on industry professionals regarding a business tool that will help you dramatically increase staff productivity. It only takes 5 minutes to demo, and I am confident this is something you will want to check out. You can reach me at 800-5-5-5-5-8-5-5. Thanks Steve…I look forward to your call.”
▪ Steer clear of multi-tasking (i.e. eating, drinking, and similar no no’s ) when leaving your message. You would be amazed at the number of sales people who leave messages while eating!
▪ Stay mindful of the end result you want to achieve.
▪ Log and track all of your outbound activity via CRM entry—this way you stay on top of your business and maintain ready access to prospect/customer info when your calls are returned.
The goal: To eliminate scattered, unfocused voice mail messages which are always wasteful and counter productive; and replace them with polished, attention grabbing ones!
The above pointers when implemented with fore thought and consistency, will elevate the quality of your message, stimulate interest and motivate prospects to learn more about your special product or service.
Leave your message at the beep!
We have all been on the other end of a poorly executed voicemail message.
Perhaps, we have even been guilty of leaving one of those awkward verbal bloopers in an attempt to interest a prospect in what you had to offer.
In the business of selling, answering machines are standard fare—as telemarketers and inside sales reps, you typically leave a lot of voice messages throughout the course of your work day. However, as you know from first hand experience, only a small fraction of those calls are returned.
Question: What do you think compels a prospect to return some calls and ignore others?
Answer: Two things— (1) Content and (2) Curiosity.
Busy managers/directors/owners do not have the time or desire to listen to a rambling, “I want to sell you something" voice message!
They will only listen if you make it worth their while…and you have a very narrow window of opportunity in which to do so.
That’s why what you say and how you say it will be the all important catalyst for piquing their interest and getting your call returned!
If you want to reap solid results from the voice mail messages you leave, then take heed:
▪ Prepare what you want to say (rehearse it, if necessary) before you pick up the phone.
▪ Use this time critical window (25-40 seconds) to position WIFM’s—not to make your sales pitch! (Ex: they will be able to cut costs; reduce customer attrition; improve staff productivity; double ROI and so on). Think value proposition!
▪ Your message should always be concise and confident…remember less is more in the world of voice mail messages.
▪ Don’t rush through your message—be sure to pause and speak clearly. The objective is to give the prospect a compelling reason (i.e. WIFM) to call you back!
▪ Speak your phone number s-l-o-w-l-y! Don’t make the common mistake of racing through the number—do not put the prospect in the position of having to rewind the message several times in order to decipher your call back number!
Sample script:
“Hi Steve, this is Jill Richards with ABC Management Systems—I ‘m calling on industry professionals regarding a business tool that will help you dramatically increase staff productivity. It only takes 5 minutes to demo, and I am confident this is something you will want to check out. You can reach me at 800-5-5-5-5-8-5-5. Thanks Steve…I look forward to your call.”
▪ Steer clear of multi-tasking (i.e. eating, drinking, and similar no no’s ) when leaving your message. You would be amazed at the number of sales people who leave messages while eating!
▪ Stay mindful of the end result you want to achieve.
▪ Log and track all of your outbound activity via CRM entry—this way you stay on top of your business and maintain ready access to prospect/customer info when your calls are returned.
The goal: To eliminate scattered, unfocused voice mail messages which are always wasteful and counter productive; and replace them with polished, attention grabbing ones!
The above pointers when implemented with fore thought and consistency, will elevate the quality of your message, stimulate interest and motivate prospects to learn more about your special product or service.
Leave your message at the beep!
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