Basics of Sales 10: The Internet
Now that I’ve focused on phoning people, there is the ever tangled web of selling through the internet to tackle. Every Medium Matters Not only was this the excellent slogan of my company (so don’t you go stealing it!) It’s an essential lesson with your sales efforts. Some areas lend themselves more to cold calling, […]
Basics Of Sales 9: Scripts
Earlier in this series I talked about the importance of core messaging as something that lies behind everything you do in both sales and marketing. Nowhere is that more evident than in scripts, primarily these are employed in cold calling but also product demos and the like. Don’t Write Scripts It seems odd to write […]
Basics Of Sales 8: Cold Calls
“Not Cold Calling!” I hear you screaming. People bemoan the amount of ‘nuisance’ calls they get everyday, and its mere mention springs to mind low paid workers with long lists simply trying to get through as many numbers as possible. They perforate your quiet existence with annoying persistence and don’t seem to understand the work […]
Basics of Sales 7: Feedback
One of the most powerful and under-rated tools is feedback from prospects and in particular the questions that they ask you. One is Many For every customer that asks you a question, there will doubtless be tens more that didn’t ask the question and then didn’t use your service. No matter how seemingly stupid the […]
Basics of Sales 5: Process
This is a rough guide on the sort of process you should be undergoing in your sales process. One – Research Selling something is really more about your prospect then it is about you. Spend some time researching your target online. Find a specific reason why you are contacting them and why your services […]
Basics of Sales 4: Set Up
Now depending on your industry this will differ, but there are certain things you need to have in place in order to get your sales rolling. A Contact Point You need some way in which people can contact you. You would think this would be easy but anyone whose worked at home with family knows […]
Basics of Sales 3: Goals
What is actually your goal when doing any sort of sales activity? It seems like a simple question doesn’t it? Pretty much every time I will ask this question the usual response is: to get more business/clients. I disagree with this. In fact I think this is the fundamental element that sits behind why companies […]
Basics of Sales 2: Messaging
At the heart of any sales/marketing effort is messaging. Here’s a little exercise I like to do with people. Think of just 3 attributes you would like to be known for. Write them down for me. Just 3 Attributes The interesting thing about this exercise is how often the attributes people put down do not […]
Basics of Sales 1: Knowledge
I often talk about lead generation being the most important factor for any business. No matter how established you are if you don’t put effort into expanding and retaining your customer base…it won’t work out well for you! Hate Selling? I speak to an awful lot of entrepreneurs who say that they hate selling. It […]
How To Convert lesson 5: Persuading a Prospect
We’ve been covering how to convert a pitch into a sale. So far we’ve covered spec work, small jobs, following up & objection handling. Now I want to ask a key question: should you persuade a potential client? My answer is no. Let me make myself clear. Everything you do as part of your pitch […]
