24. November 2009 by admin.

I was reading a blog post a few minutes ago that dealt with the issue of sales people “self-destructing.” He called it self sabotage. I call it lack of confidence

In order to sell you have to know your product. Inside and Out - NO EXCEPTIONS. I repeat you have to know your product. Yes it is up to the company to train you on the product but it always up to the sales representative to LEARN the product.

It is not enough for you to sit in a classroom and daydream through the obligatory sales and product training. After the sales training is over it is up to you to use the product so you can fully understand how it works. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Your prospects are going to be firing objection after objection your way. If you don’t know exactly how the product works then may I suggest the classified ads or maybe  a new head hunter because  you will be moving on in a few short months.

Today’s professional sales people are really good at what they do. You need to be just as good. The only way to speak intelligently and speak confidently about your product is through company product training and through self-study. Self-study must include you using the product that you are trying to sell.

If you don’t sound confident about your product then the professional sales representative will win the order every time.

Here’s a tip… Confidence = Sales

David Peterson - President: Atlanta Sales and Consulting

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23. November 2009 by admin.

Here is a simple rule of thumb. Make at least 10 sales calls a day to new prospects. Put it in your calendar right now.

We all need more solid sales leads. The only way to get them on your own is to increase your own activity. Don’t wait for the marketing department, that could take weeks or even months. Remember they are thinking about the next release or the next advertising period. Not what is happening right now.

Set aside time to do this task everyday and this will be your results.

10 sales call a day =

• 50 per week
• 200 per month
• 2400 hundred per year

Now that is on top of what your marketing department supplies you with! Do it now… set aside at least 1 hour a day for good old prospecting. Make at least 10 new calls to new prospects and you will have 2,400 new sales leads this year!

Good luck and happy hunting.

David Peterson - Atlanta Sales and Consulting

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19. November 2009 by admin.

I’m guilty of this one. Sales 101 says… You have to (HAVE TO) get your prospect to specify their budget and time frame before you try to move forward.

I know this, I preach this, I teach this, yet here I was last week wondering what happened to my prospect. I sent them the proposal on exactly what they said they needed. In fact I know and they know that they need this service. So what happened?

It boils down to their budget and their time frame. Even though they were in a hurry with an incredible sense of urgency when it came down to sign the contract the objections started flying.

I know better. This is sales 101. What tripped me up was the incredible sense of urgency. Money was flying in so many directions that I didn’t think that this little bill would be an issue. Whoops… my bad! Turns out the owner was getting so many little bills that it became overwhelming.

If you have ever owned a small business then you know what he was going through. I should have clarified the time frame and the budget for the project before moving forward.

You know what this is… this is a reminder that I will be discussing in every single training class that I teach. Hey I made a mistake. I might as well use it to help others.

David Peterson - President: Atlanta Sales and Consulting

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18. November 2009 by admin.

Salespeople are constantly running up against specifications. Specifications are the bible of any large project. If you don’t put in the exact equipment or lighting that has been required by the engineer or the owner then the whole project may come to a halt.

The problem is you rarely have exactly what is required on that specification. I was just writing my latest sales article called Paint the Picture when I noticed that in both examples I wasn’t offering the customer exactly what was in the specs.

For those non-salespeople reading both statements in that article they are probably thinking that neither scenario  is giving the customer what they need. Both are giving them a substitute. Isn’t that what specifications are for?

Real salespeople know specifications are written by another salesperson trying to keep you out. Car salespeople know that if you don’t have a red one it typically doesn’t matter the blue one will do just fine.

I’m not suggesting that you should ignore specifications. What I am suggesting is that many times you can use substitutions for those items that are specified. A lot of times these are needs that must be met by any number of products or vendors.

In other words the original writer of the specifications is using that document to create objections. You have to overcome those objections.

Here is a real life example: One time I bid a large landscaping job for a local contractor. In the specs it called for hardwood mulch vs. pine straw. There was a tremendous amount of area to be mulched. So I went to the owner and asked… “I see you are using mulch here, that is going to be extremely expensive, have you thought about pine straw?” The owner said… “I thought I had already switched that are you still seeing that in the specs?”

Specifications are written to ensure the proper products get placed on the job. That doesn’t mean that substitutions can’t occur. Make sure you treat all specs like a giant objection. If you do that then you may be able to place a lot more of your products on the job than you thought.

David Peterson - President: Atlanta Sales and Consulting

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17. November 2009 by admin.

The gatekeeper…

The gatekeeper instills fear to every cold caller except me. Here’s the way I look at it: Gatekeeping is a job, and a damn powerful one as well. Get past the gatekeeper and you have a shot at millions of dollars. Get shut down by the gatekeeper and you get to move on with your tail between your legs, your hopes  smashed by someone who probably makes less than $50k a year.

With that being said gatekeepers are people. Your job in getting past the gatekeeper is to try to build rapport quickly with them. Try these small tips:

1. Listen to exactly what the gatekeeper is saying.
   • Don’t put words in their mouth and DO NOT talk over them.
2. How does the gatekeeper sounds to you (old/young/southern/etc).
   • You may want to mimic their dialect.
3. Empathize immediately to begin building rapport.
   • If you hear anything that you can use to start a conversation then by all means start using it.
4. Be friendly and respectful – try to have fun.
   • Remember you are not the only one calling or interrupting their day today.
5. Be Concise.
   •  Do not waste their time. If you want to have a bad day waste a gatekeepers time.
6. Ask for the gatekeepers help.
   • My favorite method of getting past this person.
7. Sometimes you have to punt and move on.
   • There are a lot more fish in the sea don’t take it personally.
8. Always remember this is THEIR job.
   • If they don’t keep the gate closed they don’t get to keep their job!

Personally the one I use is to ask for the gatekeepers help. To me if you sound sincere and ask for their help the gatekeeper will move you on in your sales process. You might not get exactly where you wanted to go but… at least you move past that darn closed gate.

David Peterson - President: Atlanta Sales and Consulting

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17. November 2009 by admin.

Everyone knows that they need to build rapport but I find that this is one of the areas that inexperienced sales representatives fail on over and over again. The customer “gives” them something to work with and they miss it or avoid it. Typically… the sales representative is just not listening.

Sales representatives know that they have to be good listeners to be successful. So why do they miss the opportunities to build rapport when they get the chance?

Here is  an example, review this opening:

Me: Good morning Mr. Jones, my name is David Peterson with Corporate Sales Advice the online sales magazine. The purpose of my call is to get a moment of your day to discuss your participation with our magazine. If you don’t mind I would like to ask you just a few quick questions…

Mr. Jones: David I would love to but the traffic this morning was terrible and I am pressed for time.

What does the inexperienced or the lazy rep do when they hear this from the prospect?

Inexperienced Rep: Mr. Jones I can appreciate that but just let me have 3 seconds to ask you a few questions.

What would  I do? I would build immediate rapport!

Me: Mr. Jones I had that same problem this morning. Living in Atlanta it is a daily occurrence. What tricks do you have to do in your city it avoid the traffic?

When you are trying to open a call you need instant rapport. You don’t always get a chance to move on to the probing questions, nor should you always seek that chance as the inexperienced rep is trying to do. When a prospect gives you something to talk about you should talk about it - not ignore it 

People buy from the people they trust. Building rapport is the most important method to build that trust. Don’t waste an opportunity. Listen for it, then respond as soon as you hear it.

What is the worst thing that could happen with this strategy? You may not get to 2nd base TODAY with this strategy but you will at least get to 2nd base more often than not and you will be moving the sales process forward.

David Peterson - President: Atlanta Sales and Consulting

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12. November 2009 by admin.

I get to listen to a lot of phone calls in my business. As a sales consultant I’m always analyzing sales calls. The other day I was listening to Inbound payment processing calls at a local call center. Inbound phone calls are routinely recorded for training purposes.

Yes - call center personnel do get trained. You wouldn’t believe how much training goes into one call campaign.

The management and  I were actually listening for the tone of the call, the length of the call, and the accuracy of the call. In a call center since you are not face to face with your customer you have to be extra helpful, however sometimes that leads to very long calls and time is definitely money in this environment.

After a few calls we ended up on one where a customer was trying to pay a bill and handle a current problem. This particular call center can ONLY handle credit card payments. They can see the issues the customers are having but they cannot fix them (another department - and obviously any story).

The representative was professional and empathetic to the customer’s plight. Everyone has had this happen  to them at some point in their adult life. Yet midway through the call the customer was ready to pay. The rep was about to process the credit card and then she made a wrong turn. She went back to the customers issue to talk about it one more time.

5 minutes later they were still taking and the customer is NOW not sure he should pay the bill. Maybe he should dispute the entire charge!

Here’s the point, when you have a close deal, what ever that deal is, just stop talking. If you  reopen your mouth you reopen the closed deal. In the case above the rep could not fix the customer’s problem, she may have actually compounded the problem by allowing the customer not to pay.

Can you imagine when that customer actually calls customer service? He’s going to say…. “Your representative told me not to pay.” Now that’s not exactly what the rep said but she did make the situation worse.

JUST STOP TALKING. In all cases you should be doing more listening and less talking. Oh yea… If someone is handing you money then you should probably take it.

David Peterson - President: Atlanta Sales and Consulting

Do you need a BPO to process your credit card payments? Click Here

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11. November 2009 by admin.

Since everyone hates or ought to hate cold calling there is another option… Send a letter of introduction.

Sales representatives will find ANYTHING else to do besides cold calling. Unless you have a very good list to call off of it is hard to remain productive as a group and the reps will quickly become disinterested.

There is an option, when you send a personalized letter of introduction with a specific call to action in it then all of the sudden your cold call becomes a warm call.

Or at least that is what you can call it… a warm call. Your sales representatives will determine how warm the call really is. However your professional sales representatives will take this tried and true method of getting to 1st base seriously and begin the sales process right there.

The letter must state:

• Who you are…
  • “My name is David Peterson, I am a sales representative for XYX Corporation.”
• Who your company is…
  • “The XYX Corporation is a major player in the ABC industry, perhaps you have heard of us?”
• Why you are writing them…
  • “The reason for this letter is that I wanted to introduce myself to you and I think that I have uncovered an opportunity for both of us to succeed.”
• Call to action, or next step…  
  • “I will be calling you in the next week to discuss these opportunities.”

This is a very simple way to get your sales reps past the problem and stigma of cold calling by providing them with a list that they know #1 it is to their target market, especially since you spent the money to produce the mailing and #2 The prospect should be expecting a call.

Simple and effective. Give it a try both your sales reps and your prospects may enjoy the whole process just a little bit more.

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10. November 2009 by admin.

I have hired probably a couple hundred representatives over my sales career.  There is an art to hiring sales people. All of the good ones know that concentrating on the sales process, knowing where you are in the sales process are critical to enjoying success.

All of the successful professional sales representatives also know that some form of cold call will have to be done in order to fill their individual pipeline.

So why is it that so many professional sales representatives fail, or move on to other professions? That one is tough to put my finger on it exactly but I would have to say that cold calling is one of the areas that all representatives fear and loath to do.

There is a difference between loathing to do cold calls and not doing them. When I interview prospective sales candidates I always ask them these two questions.

1. Since you are looking for a new job this is your opportunity to get off the phone and stop cold calling, why are you interviewing for the exact type of job you just left?
2. Do you like spending 8 hours a day on the phone?

The first question I use to find out why they are leaving their previous position. Sales positions are easy to find but hard to keep. Sales representatives are also looking for a specific amount of money, so when they are not making that amount they tend to bolt.  Definitely drill down on this answer.

The second question is really the one that lets me know if the candidate is going to lie to me in the future. Nobody likes being on cold calls. If you hear something like “You have to smile and dial,” or “You have to stay on the phone to make money,” then my advice is to explore the candidate further. The sales candidate  is using both those statements because they think… “I know exactly what the new boss wants to hear.”

I have two final questions that I always ask prospective sales candidates. They are:

1. How much money do you want to make?
2. How much money do you need to make?

The answer to #1 needs to be at the high-end of your own pay scale. If it is not (way over or way under) then run and run fast. The #2 answer will immediately tell you exactly how much money they will make. Sales reps get comfortable with a set amount of money so if your “A” players are making $100,000 and your candidate needs to make $50,000 my advice is to pass and keep looking.

David Peterson - President: Atlanta Sales and Consulting

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4. November 2009 by admin.

In an article I wrote for Altanta Sales and Consulting on a new approach to conducting sales training.

I wrote “I would like to say to all of those sales trainers that I have had a privilege to work with that you all did a good if not great job at delivering your training program. These all encompassing training platforms and processes are terrific but… they rarely get to or they don’t spend enough time on the problems of the sales department.”

It boils down to 1 simple rule: Train on what needs to be fix, don’t try to reinvent the entire sales process.

Imagine spending $10’s of $1,000’s of dollars on a sales training program and have the sales reps leave feeling like it was a waste of time.

The new approach that was created by Atlanta Sales and Consulting is to focus on the strenght and weaknesses of the individual reps, the best and worst practices of your sales department, and to learn your exact sales process.

From there they will then build a new sales training program based on fixing what is broke. You can read about it here.

PS: They also claim this new sales training will produce immediate sales results!

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