www.1001TopWords.com : "Sales" Home Page |
< How to Acquire More Leads
The most effective prospecting techniques were revealed inthe August 1st, 2002, issue of TIP (URL at end of article)that resulted from a survey of financial advisors earning over $200,000 annually. Here's how they rated the following techniques: The easiest one to add is a newsletter. Start by buying one where you can print or email it to clients, and prospects. Then ask clients you've been sending it to for referrals. In the first issue to these referrals include a note that says"Bill Smith told me you'd find my newsletter useful". To maximize referrals work in a niche market. If you deal mainly with dentists, for example, they know other dentists to whom they can refer you as someone who specializes in advising dentists. Your seminars, speeches, newsletters, etc. can also target their needs. Successful prospecting is an ongoing regular process. It's the raw material, the ore, from which sales are made. So make prospecting your primary daily activity. Copyright 2005, Donald F. Pooley, Inc. Don Pooley has shared his marketing know-how with audiences in major Canadian cities, London, Australia, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and now in his free ezine, TIP. Subscribe at http://www.eTIP.ca/, or get free article downloads, and redistribution rights info at http://www.eTIP.ca/Downloads/Publish.html
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Lead Companies, Eight Features To Consider So now the time has come to invest in Lead companies, but how do you know which one is the right one for you? Selling -abilities : Part 2 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 UpgradeabilitySo 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:Strategy 1: Ernest Dichter a famous advertisement executive made a statement that talked about how we as sales or marketers must use the techniques of motivational thinking to make people constructively discontent. Dichter knew people would only buy a product when they are discontent with what they currently have. The job of marketing and sales is to make 'people constructively discontent' with what they're currently using. A good example of this is our migration from the audiotape to the compact disc. Marketers reminded us of that annoying 'hiss' sound with tapes and how time consuming it was to rewind or fast-forward to find our favorite song. They went on to promise the delivery of full 'fidelity' with the compact disc along with the ease and convenience of finding your favorite song. Consumers bought the argument and the age of the compact disc was heralded in. When selling upgrades, are you making your customer 'constructively discontent'? Strategy 2: When I hear upgrade in any sales pitch I immediately think of options. The task of the salesman is to give the customer a 'vision' of what could be possible if they chose your product and decide later on to upgrade. Upgradability indicates there are other features that can be purchased without having to absorb the cost for them all at once. A customer likes to know that if they are satisfied with the products performance that they could upgrade at any time to something more sophisticated or advanced. This piece meal approach is especially effective with customers who have limited budgets. Strategy 3: Upgradeability, especially second or third generation indicates to the customer that your company is continually improving on the product (i.e., responding to customer needs and investing in Research & Development). This is key; many customers want to be reassured that the product has not 'peaked in performance' and that you will be improving the product over time. Upgrades should be sold on average once a year. To many upgrades a year can be seen as 'product fixes' or another way of extracting further sales from a customer leading to 'buyer resentment'.Strategy 4: A major mistake made by many salespeople is not taking the time to show or prove to the customer how using your product will increase sales and effectiveness thereby leading to quick return on the buyer's Return On Investment (ROI). Customers want to see hard numbers on how the solution you're offering is going to positively affect the bottom line. Too often salespeople will say things like, "This is going to improve you productivity.", "This will make your employees more effective in their jobs." Or, "This is going save your company a lot of money adding this upgrade." All these statements are qualitative, not quantitative; the latter can be proven, the former is just an assertion. Customers want quantitative proof of how your upgrade is going to improve their profitability either by increasing sales or reducing their cost. Highly trained salespeople go into a customer meeting armed with quantitative proof of how upgrading to the next product level will achieve their profitability goals.Upgrades are a great way to add an additional revenue stream to your company's bottom line. Again, think Microsoft. Every year or so, a new version of Windows comes out and many of us technophiles rush out and buy it. How can you create this type of excitement or anticipation with your company's product upgrades? Victor Gonzalez, All Rights Reserved 2004 An Introduction to Store Fixtures Everybody is familiar with the old retail chant, "Location, location, location!" It speaks volumes about making the right decisions from the start to make your retail establishment a success. Once you've decided what it is your store is offering to the general public, the next step you'll take is finding the right location. Once you've found it, the next step is to decide how to dress up your establishment; you'll need to decide what retail store fixtures will properly display your product. At this stage another invaluable cliché applies, "Presentation is everything!" Customer Loyalty in the Technology Industry For technology companies, service after the sale has emerged on equal footing with innovation as a competitive advantage. Nothing Happens Until Someone Sells Somthing You can always tell a good salesperson, they are always on the look-out for opportunities to do exactly that. Every chance they get they'll promote whatever it is they offer. They are driven through their need to either make money, they're passionate about the goods and services they offer or both. Dr. Seuss?s 3-Step Selling Process Hello Everyone: Here's a unique look at learning how tosell: Buying Mortgage Leads - Three Things to Consider The time comes for all mortgage brokers and loan officers to consider spending some of their hard earned money by testing the waters of mortgage leads. Great Telephone Skills Having good telephone skills is crucial as the call may be the catalyst for a prospective sale or provide vital counseling for a member of public. However, since both parties may not see each other face-to-face, a telephone conversation may not lead to favourable results; on the flip side, it may lead to unintended misunderstanding. Creating Your Perfect Pitch! Why should you describe your business to others in 5 to 10 seconds? Do You Want to Know the 8 Tips to Selling More Products? So often sales men and woman are the very people that prevent themselves from obtaining additional sales and increasing their commissions. It doesn't matter if it's counter sales or door-to-door. Selling For Keeps When you are in sales and you come across a customer, you don't want to think of that customer as someone you can only make one sale to, you want to think of them as someone you can make several sales to. Solution-Sell is a Myth! Who among us is not already up to here with the omni-smarts who wax poetic the benefits of "Solution Selling." Now it may seem strange for me, the author of the book "Up Your Income! Solution Selling for Profitability" to cast aspersions on the merits of this approach. Nevertheless like so many things in the real world, theory is one thing, application thereof is quite another. Create A Killer Product by Writing Your Sales Letter First! You may not realize this, but when if you are in the early planning stages of developing a product, the best thing you can do is STOP and write the sales letter first! Selling the Difficult: How to Sell What People Dont Understand How to Buy I'll play a seller, using conventional selling methods, selling something difficult to understand; you be the prospective buyer. As we go through the process together, note your reactions, how your beliefs are being challenged, what 'objections' and emotions come up for you as I try to 'sell' you. Once we're done with that component, I'll review how it would be different using Buying Facilitation; hopefully you'll be able to take that to the bank. The Force That Drives Buying Decisions What do people buy? Lead Generation Sins - 7 Of Them! I really just don't get it. Why Cold Calling Is Dead Our world of selling is closed off from other areas of business that continue to adopt and embrace new, efficient ideas. I was reminded of this recently while re-reading Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing." Here's a book that was intended for business owners and marketing executives, yet it provides a much-needed dose of common sense that would be of great benefit to sales organizations, especially sales managers, who continue to cling to very old, and, in their minds, very right, ideas. Unfortunately, our brave new world has made these old ideas very wrong. 3 Tips For Getting Through The Voicemail Screen How many times have you heard that you gotta get past the gatekeeper and get to the decision-maker to make the sale? Countless books and sales trainers have talked about this for years. Much of this advice was written for a world without voicemail. How A Simple Greeting Or Post Card Can Turn Into Cash ? Guaranteed I've been using a technique that has helped me to get business I otherwise wouldn't. This will get you more business also. It's so easy you're going to kick yourself for not thinking of it sooner. 10 Tips To Overcome Your Fear Of Selling Ahh. Selling. Sometimes, this is a word that is dreaded and feared by all but the most intrepid business owners. It seems that, even though we all know we need to "sell" our products and services, many of us feel fearful or anxious about actually doing so. |
© Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |