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Société » Les messages - Page 3815
arrow right Leave a Better Voice Mail Message

Yesterday I received a call from a financial planner named Richard doing a cold call. My policy is to always return those calls which help me to understand why I would personally benefit from doing business with a sales person. This one didn't, so it ended up getting deleted.This is what he said."Hello, Scott. My name is Richard ______ and I'm with ABC Financial in Phoenix, Arizona. We do 401K's for employers. My number is 480-555-1212. Please call me back."That was it. Nothing compelling. No benefit for me in there somewhere. Nothing to incite me to return the call.The next time you are making a cold call and leaving a message for a prospect, consider these four steps in the call.First, state your name and your phone number first. The prospect usually has a pen in his or her hand when checking voice mail, so if you start with your phone number at least you'll get on the list of people whose calls might get returned.Second, tell him what is unique about your firm. This sales person could have said something like "Our business takes the headache out of financial management for companies by being the sole outsource provider of employee investment programs. In other words, we do all the work, and make you look like a hero with your employees." Within your unique selling proposition, or elevator speech, there must be a personal benefit for the end user. For example, when I leave a message for a sales manager for my sales training, I say "I improve sales performance of organizations by showing sales reps how to become more disciplined, more focused, and how to sell from the heart." The focus of my USP is on them, not me. I start with their benefit, and then tell them how I do it. The personal benefit of your features is more important than your features, and nobody cares what you do, only how that benefits them.Third, drop a name or two. Use Robert Cialdini's principle of social proof in getting your calls returned. In his book Influence: Science and Practice, Dr. Cialdini explains the six reasons why people are influenced and puts them in the form of malleable principles. (For a free special report outlining those six principles, email me at scott@scottlove.com and I'll send you the executive summary). "We work with organizations such as Pineapple Computers?" If you work with a competitor of your prospect, state that name in your voice mail. Remember that trust is a byproduct of rapport, and rapport is a byproduct of common areas of interest. By establishing a common bond with someone you have never even talked with before, you are leveraging the principles of social proof and rapport to increase the likelihood of a call back.Fourth, give them a time to call back, such as between three and five o'clock. This makes you sound busy, and if you are busy you are important.Bonus tip: Tell them that if you don't hear from them by Wednesday (assuming it's a Monday), then tell them that you will put another call in to them on that day. This keeps you from appearing desperate and increases the likelihood of a call back because that person knows that you are serious about talking with them.And if you every run across a guy named Richard in Phoenix who does financial planning, please forward this article to him.Copyright © 2004 Scott LoveScott Love improves employee performance by showing managers how to put meaning back into work, how to build authentic employee motivation, and how to lead. To have him speak at your annual franchise, association, or corporate meeting, call him at 828-225-7700. To access his leadership resources and archive of leadership articles, visit www.scottlove.com.

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right 5 Ideas for Writing Effective Sales Letters

Sales letters, sent via e-mail or snail mail, are an effective and inexpensive way to get your message out. Even if your letter goes out to thousands of people, it can give the feel of a personal communication - IF you write it in a direct and conversational tone.To get your creative juices flowing, here are five tried and true formulas that can work for either e-mail or printed letters.1. Tell a story - from either your point of view or a customer's.Example: '

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right A Quick and Simple Tip For Gaining Customers

In the course of my career, I've had to deal with a lot of vendors-software companies, sensor manufacturers, electronics distributors and more. Some of them have left lasting impressions on me, whereas others have been eminently forgettable. I'd like to talk about two of the more memorable vendors, and the simple technique that they used (perhaps unknowingly) which made them stand out in my memory.As my bio shows, I have the letters "Ph.D." after my name; however, I seldom use that title, except in my various writings and official correspondence. For professional reasons, I do have these initials on my business cards and my e-mail signature; however, I never expect people to call me "Doctor," and if they do, I almost invariably insist that they call me by my first name instead. For most of my daily affairs, this title simply isn't very important.Most salespeople don't mention this title either, which suits me just fine; after all, I've always been a fairly informal fellow. On two occasions though, a vendor actually took notice of my degree, and chose to address me using the "Doctor" honorific. Even though I normally eschew that title, this was still a pleasant surprise. It was nice to see a prospective vendor take notice of such details, however unnecessary they may be.Any good salesman knows that building rapport and making yourself pleasantly memorable are key elements in developing customer loyalty. This simple, trivial act made these particular salesmen stand out prominently in my memory, and in a pleasant way. I'm almost ashamed to admit this, but I found that I almost wanted to send these people some of my business-perhaps because such deference is noticeably rare.This simple tactic can be especially helpful when dealing with prospective customers of foreign descent. Remember that some cultures are more title-conscious than American society is. The failure to mention this title may prove offensive to some of these individuals-or at the very least, it may suggest a lack of attentiveness. Better to err on the side of caution, I would say.This simple technique is exceedingly trivial to use, requiring no additional investment of time or effort. At the very least, it can be one way to make yourself stand out from the crowd of other vendors who are vying for someone's attention. So why not try it? It costs nothing, it can't possibly hurt, and it may just land you some new customers.V. Berba Velasco Jr. is a senior electrical and software engineer at Cellular Technology Ltd (http://www.immunospot.com, http://www.elispot-analyzers.de, http://www.elispot.cn) a biotechnology company with its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Lead Generation Sins - 7 Of Them!

I really just don't get it.How can so many businesses be missing the lead generation boat by such a long country mile?Billions of dollars in profits, flushed away!Just because of 7 innocent, yet deadly, tactical lead generation errors. Its nuts!Now before I continue, let me just say that some of you who read this might find it upsetting.I'm going to reveal some controversial ideas here. And yes, some of them are likely to fly in the face of many of the things that you've probably read & heard about lead generation, and come to believe.But I urge you to keep an open mind.At the very least, weigh this article without prejudice. When you're finished reading, I give you full permission to thumb your nose, and go back to doing lead generation the way you've always done it."The 7 Sins"Sales & Marketing on Separate FloorsThis, my friend, is the cardinal sin.Marketing guys sitting in an ivory tower, pontificating about company image & branding, and coming up with a bunch of award winning creative mambo that amounts to nothing more than pompous chest beating.And everyone waxes poetic about how good the company looks, and finds an excuse for justifying the money pit with the orders that some dialing for dollars sales guys brought in against the latest "marketing promotion".Nobody seems to notice that the marketing "campaign" is lame & useless, and that it's the sales force that is driving sales against the "promotion". And sales stay flat, because the promotion is really nothing more than another way of packaging a discount.Meanwhile, in another part of the building, the sales force is struggling to meet their numbers, and spending 80% of their time generating leads by leaving voice messages, and battling to finesse their way by gatekeepers, and showing up in lobbies unannounced because they happened to be in the area. Why? Isn't that 6 or 7 figure marketing campaign supposed to put them in front of pre-qualified prospects, with a genuine need for what their selling, so they can help them to solve problems, and close business?FACT, a real marketing program can actually do this.Effective lead generation is just "Salesmanship in Print". Its primary goal should be to automate nothing less than the top two thirds of the sales funnel. Full Stop.Salespeople are expensive. They should be spending their time interacting with prospects that are already pre-qualified, and pre disposed to doing business with you.How much more profitable would your company be, if your salespeople were up to 5 times more productive?"Content" WebsitesMaybe you've head the expression "content is king", when it comes to web sites. Allow me to debunk this popular myth for you once & for all.Do you want to win awards with your web site, or generate leads with your web site? Do you want to make your web site a really cool place for your prospects to hang out & push buttons, or do you want them to respond to your sales message in a meaningful way that advances the sales cycle?Forget about cluttered web pages that offer too many choices. If you want to rock your prospects world, give them one clear & compelling message at a time; one that they can focus on without distraction. Ask them to do one or two things per visit. Simple.In my humble opinion, the best way to format the page is in the form of a letter that addresses the title of the person you're most likely to be selling to. And it should have a bold heading that clearly trumpets the benefits of reading it.If you must have a content page, fine, but don't drive traffic to it. When generating traffic, advertise a benefit, not your company, and direct traffic to a page that deals with just that. If someone wants to come back and visit you later, they can then visit your content rich home page, and browse for what they want.Giving Away Intellectual CapitalMany businesses seem to realize at some level, that customers do value their expertise. So they publish whitepapers & ROI calculators, and reports, and make them freely available on their web site, off in the corner somewhere. They're just one more distraction on a content page that leaves the visitor wondering what they're supposed to do next. How about the back button?All that a prospect has to do to obtain the report or the tool, or whatever it is, is to click on a link. Good Golly, Miss Molly, what a huge mistake!I hope you're not making it.Isn't a dose of your expertise at least worth having the customer tell you who they are?And while they're at it, why not make it easy for them to subscribe to your newsletter, or a specialized course that you can deliver via email. Whatever you do, don't let them leave your website without introducing themselves. Good grief.Sometimes it takes several exposures to your print persuasion before the prospect becomes comfortable enough to come forward and make personal contact. But when they do, you've got a live one!And make no mistake. A prospect that convinces themselves that they need to talk to you by reading your problem solving story, is more than twice as likely to buy, versus one that you've cold called. Savvy?Boring & Hard To Read CopySome people will tell you not to use a lot words in your promotional materials. Poppycock.Prospects that are actively looking for what you're selling will read & read & read until they're red hot & ready to talk to you. But you have to know how to actively engage them.If you bore them with product features, or vain puffery about your company, or just plain poorly written bafflegab loaded with techno-speak drivel, forget it.If you want effective lead generation, grab them with a benefit riddled headline, jab to the solar plexus with a trance inducing opening, and bam, down they go, straight to the meaty emotional appeals & logic of your argument.Black type on a white background, large text that's easy to read, and plenty of white space between ideas works best. Now you're cooking.The more you tell, the more you sell, but only if you keep them awake.No "Soft" Follow UpHi, it's Sally Sales, are you ready to buy yet? Is this your idea of follow up?Don't you just love to hate this annoying little voice on the other end of the phone?Just as with the initiation of the sales cycle, it remains critical to your odds of closing that you get the prospect to continue to be the one who initiates the lion's share of the communication.It's a huge psychological advantage! You'll only achieve it by nurturing & caring for your prospect base with effective direct response follow up mechanisms. Things like newsletters, courseware, special reports, offers, tutorials, and the like.When you continually spoon feed your prospects information that is genuinely useful to them, and that helps them to better understand the implications of the problem that you can help them to solve, they'll call you when they're ready.Selling "Product" Too EarlyIf you want to really stand out from the crowd, and turn your lead generation hopper into the horn of plenty, don't sell your product too soon.To catch infinitely more fish, drive potential prospects to your web site, and pitch problem solving information, in return for your prospects contact information, and permission to follow up.More than ever, your prospect is interested in your experience & expertise, as well as your product. What better way to demonstrate it, than with a well-written whitepaper?It's dead easy to write a whitepaper that automatically qualifies prospects, and graduates them effortlessly to the next milestone in your sales process. If you need a little help getting started, try this.What your prospects are really looking for are results, not products. It's the "How To" that they crave.Lame PublicityFew businesses take advantage of good lead generation publicity.There are people out there right now searching trade magazines & publications for ideas about solving their problems. They should be reading your articles. They should be reading case studies about how your customer's reached their goals with your help. They should be exposed to your press releases, announcing the availability of your problem solving whitepapers.Just don't make the all too common mistake of doing these things without a carefully planned out system for harvesting prospect contact info & permissions.Smart & highly choreographed publicity is stealth marketing. It slips right under the prospects sales resistance radar.Since childhood, society conditions us to trust & believe things that we read in the media, and to distrust paid advertisements.So publicity is a far more effective lead generation tool than traditional advertising!But rare is the marketer that appreciates this, or knows how to do it.**************************************************************** Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto Canada. Recently, Daniel & world-renowned publicist & copywriter Joe Vitale teamed up to co author "Million Dollar Online Advertising Strategies ? From The Greatest Letter Writer Of The 20th Century!", a tribute to the late, great Robert Collier.Let the legendary Robert Collier show you how to write words that sell...Visit the below site & get 3 FREE Chapters! http://www.Advertising-Online-Strategies.com/ad-strategies.html****************************************************************

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Asking The Right Questions

On an introductory call, how do you gather all of the information that you need from a prospect? An introductory call is usually fairly short, just a few minutes. You generally do not have the time to thoroughly question your prospect and then also move on to your next step, setting that introductory meeting. So, how do you gather enough information to qualify your prospect and, at the same time, set up the meeting?First, make a list of all the information that you would like to gather from your prospect. Then, look at your list and decide what information is crucial and what information can wait for later (either later in the conversation or later at the meeting). Ask the crucial questions first. Then, if your prospect is chatty, you can ask the rest of your questions. If your prospect is brusque or to-the-point, ask the questions you need to ask, set the meeting date and save the rest of your questions till then.You should, as much as possible,

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Grow Your Business By Increasing the Value of Each Sale - 29 Ideas to Spur

There are 3 ways to grow any business:- Get more customers- Get more from each sale- Sell to each customer more frequently.That's it - everything else boils down to some variation of these 3 activities.Most owners and most managers want to grow their business. Most of them concentrate exclusively on getting more new customers.Odd really.There is lots of marketing research that is pretty consistent in pointing out that it costs somewhere between six and twelve times as much to get a new customer as it does to sell to an existing customer.And once you have a customer it is generally pretty straightforward to get them to spend more each time they buy from you.What's that?Your business is different. There's no way to get customers to spend more.Maybe so.But I don't think so.Here are 29 ideas for you to stick in your brainstorming pot, stir for a while, and then see what comes out at the other end.Price1. Raise Your Prices2. Sell Value, Not PriceSales techniques3. Up Sell4. Down-Sell5. Cross SellAdd value6. Back-End Sale7. Extended Warranties8. Service Contracts9. Consult For Your Own ProductMake the sale easy10. Terms And Financing11. Set Up An Account12. Try Before You Buy13. Work With Pre-PaymentsGive more14. Develop an exclusive product or service15. Expand Your Product Range16. First Time Buyer Incentives17. Concentrate On High Quality Prospects18. Use Package Deals19. Sell Bulk20. Incentive Builders For Big Purchases21. Offer Greater VarietySales force22. Sales commission structures23. Set Solid Sales Goals24. NLP Techniques25. Sales Scripts26. Keep In Touch With CustomersEducate your customers27. Demonstrations28. Educate your customers - make sure they know your full product range29. Audio And Visual DemonstrationsStill don't think you can get more from each transaction with your customers?Contact us.We like a challenge.Keith Longmire is the owner of JKL Business Growth Solutions. JKL specialises in bringing main stream business improvement and marketing solutions into the reach of smaller businesses. The Business Growth Solutions web site is designed as a source of information for all matters to do with Small Business Development

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Selling Against Goliath

Selling Against Goliath?How to Take on the Big Guys and WinBy Dave Stein, Author of How Winners SellIf you sell for a smaller company that competes against the big guys, the age-old story of David and Goliath might come to mind. In this story, the giant, Goliath, was beaten in a fight by the small boy, David (later to become King David), because of the boy's ability to outsmart the giant. However, in today's hypercompetitive, risk-averse, buyers' market, it's Goliath that often has the advantage. If you're the David in this scenario, read on. (By the way, if you're Goliath, you may want to see what David is planning...)When a sales team loses, whether they sell for the small company or the larger one, for that matter, it's for one of two reasons: They didn't properly qualify the opportunity, or they were outsold by the competition. There is no third alternative.Let's take a look at these two outcomes and explore specifically how to improve your effectiveness when selling against a much larger competitor.Qualis The word qualification shares the root, qualis, with the word quality. Qualification is the process through which we determine if it is worth our time and effort to continue to pursue a sales opportunity. Qualification is a process rather than a one-time event. It determines the quality of an opportunity. That means you don't qualify your sales prospect only once, when initial contact is made. You'll need to qualify vigilantly and unendingly. The reason? There are many. Buyers have been known to mislead sellers when they are losing. Things change during the course of the evaluation. In fact, these days, things change a lot, often. Budgets disappear. Influencers take on other responsibilities. Buyers who say they'll buy from a smaller company-no problem-feel different tomorrow.Every company must have a set of appropriate qualification criteria by which they determine (1) whether or not to pursue business and (2) how to pursue it. For most companies, these criteria will differ somewhat for each product or service they offer as well by geography, competition and market.When you are qualifying your prospect, you are asking them and yourself many of the same questions again and again, such as:Who is the real buyer, the person who is going to make the final decision?When are they going to buy?What are they going to buy?Why are they going to buy?Where in their company is the order going to get signed?Does our product fit their requirements?What is the decision process?Who is the competition?How will they pay for what it is that I am selling?What is my unique value?Why are they going to buy from me?And many moreQualification criteria for smaller companies who compete against the big guys must contain questions about the prospect's buying preferences. For example, you need to ask yourself, "What evidence do I have that the prospect will do, or even more importantly, has already done business with a company of our size?" Also you'll need to know what guidelines they must follow in terms of suppliers' company size, revenues or financial viability. (You may think your company is in great shape, since you have a team of savvy venture capitalists who not only have invested in your company, but also sit on your board of directors. That may not be of any value to the CFO of a conservative manufacturing company. In fact it may hurt your cause.) You can read a lot more about qualification in chapters 9 & 10 in my book How Winners Sell.Does Size Matter?It's hard to ask these questions, but it is irresponsible not to. You want to be certain that if you meet or exceed all the prospect's requirements, that size-for size's sake-does not matter. You may have the best product, innovative implementation services, committed people, stellar customer satisfaction levels, top product quality, most respected investors or anything else that you consider of value, but if size matters, little else will measure up. And if size does matter, and you can't convince your prospect fairly quickly that it shouldn't, you're out of there-and quickly on to another opportunity.You'll need to be careful here. Sometimes the size issue is less obvious. For example, your prospect may have a requirement that a vendor install and implement a demand chain management system in twenty-five plants within a year's time. They may have no specific issue with vendor size, but do have a legitimate business requirement that is directly related to your size. And if you are a smaller supplier, without pre-established partnerships with service firms who are capable of delivering the service levels required for that size deal, your chances of winning are remote.What all this means is that there are certain opportunities for which you should not compete, because you can't win them. Sorry, but that's a fact. If you do spend time trying to win business that you can't win because your company is too small, you are squandering time and resources from those opportunities you can and deserve to win.So They're Qualified. Now What Do You Do?Here is where competitive selling comes into play. You're going to need to influence your prospect's decision criteria, so that the perceived value of your competitor's size as well as other size-related capabilities are diluted, neutralized or, in the best case, seen as a disadvantage. Many salespeople are accustomed to highlighting a competitor's weaknesses. In the situations where you are competing against a bigger company, you will (professionally and subtly) attack their strength.Here is a simple, well-used example. Let's say I sell for a smaller enterprise software company and I am up against a major player. Based upon preferences and needs of the buyers, I may decide to use the "small-fish-in-a-big-pond" approach. It goes like this: "Ms. Prospect. There are few people who would not be impressed by my competitor's size, global reach and financial as well has human resources. I'm sure they proudly reference some very prominent customers. However, you might consider that a project such as yours, although highly critical for you, might very well not have the same level of importance for them and therefore may not generate the ongoing attention within executive levels of their company that their premier customers' projects would. It's only natural?" From that point, you would discuss how you would meet their technical requirements and establish a business relationship going forward, stressing attention that would be paid to the progress by your executives. You'd convince them that your company's success would depend directly on their success, not the other way around. You'll be portraying them as big fish in a small pond, with the driving message being how important their business is to you.If you are effective with this approach, you will have moved down in importance the size and impressiveness of their customer list and up in importance the attention paid to them by your executives as well as your company's interest in their success.Here are some ways that a larger competitor might attempt to exploit your size and potential considerations for handling those objections with your coaches and allies in the account:Challenge: The competition questions your viability to the prospect. "What would happen to you, Mr. Prospect, if they were to go out of business or be acquired?"Your strategy: Don't wait for this to happen, as it most likely will. Immunize. Exploiting size is the first card most salesreps who sell for large companies play against the smaller guys. You need a solid story, prepared in advance-concise and compelling-which must be credibly and sincerely delivered first by you, then echoed by your most senior executives. Mitigating perceived risk is on the critical path to success when competing against a much larger rival. Don't wait.It is so important to know your prospect's history regarding doing business with smaller companies. It may mean nothing to them, since they do it all the time. On the other hand, you may be the first and may have a long, bumpy road ahead.Challenge: The competition attempts to expand the scope of the evaluation into areas where you don't have a solution.Your strategy: Again, pretty standard practice for the big guys. Alert your prospect in advance that this may happen. Praise their efforts in defining their requirements as well as they have. Ask if they are prepared to have the scope of their initiative, project or investment substantially expanded. If they say no, alert them that other vendors may employ this "sales" strategy to differentiate themselves as well as to increase the size of their contracts.Please understand that I don't advocate negative selling, mud slinging or "slamming the competition." On the other hand, when you have built relationships in your accounts with influential people who are willing to help you, you'll need to provide them with the messages-the sound bites-to position your company advantageously.Challenge: The competition attempts to impress your prospect with hordes of resources to demonstrate their prowess and convey a "safety in numbers" message.Your strategy: Again, prepare your prospect in advance that this may happen. Suggest that these bigger companies have extra resources on board just to impress prospects to make a sale. If you know your competitor's bid will come in considerably higher than yours, you may want to subtly suggest that using resources to win business may be a reason that their overhead is so high. And, remind the prospect that if they do go with your competitor, the meter will start running. This approach is mandatory when you compete against companies who lavish prospects with toys, gifts, free trips and other goodies to try to influence their decision.Challenge: The competition, because they are bigger, is willing to guarantee results in a way that you cannot. Your strategy: They may be able to guarantee that their product will get installed (or service delivered) within a certain time, but what if they don't? The customer may not have to pay the vendor any more cash, but what about lost business opportunities, reduced customer satisfaction levels and employee morale if things go wrong?"Fire a Prospect" and Raise Your Competitive IQIn the scenarios I portrayed above, you might have wondered how you could possibly know in advance what your competition is going to do? I call it raising your competitive IQ. That will require "firing" one or more unqualified prospects and investing the time you would have wasted on them to collect, then analyze information about past wins and losses against a few key competitors. When you do, you'll start to see patterns of behavior that those companies and the people who sell for them use against you. Big companies often develop a default strategy they use against all smaller competitors.I agreed that it's hard to find the time to gather information like that. But you really don't have a choice. If you don't, you'll constantly be surprised by what your competition does and therefore be in a defensive position. Tap into other sales reps in your company, your customers and business partners to find out how those one or two big competitors position against you and how the individual reps manage their sales campaigns. I talk all about what you need to know and where to get it in chapter 17 of How Winners Sell.Learning to build sales strategies based upon accurate, up-to-date competitive information will enable you to begin to qualify out of deals you can't win and to outsell your competitors on a consistent basis in those you can.Remember the Two Components. You'll Be Glad You Did.Tough qualification combined with strategic competitive selling does work. After confirming that size did not matter in a face-to-face meeting with a division president of a $5 billion corporation, my client, the CEO of a small enterprise software company commanded that his team pursue a $2 million contract competing against a $750 million rival. Now there is a David and Goliath scenario.I coached that sales team during the nine month sales cycle. Among other things, we diluted the competition's apparent strengths and portrayed their large size as a liability, which in this case it really was.My client's team outsold the competition and won the business. And earned a lot more business after that, because they delivered what they promised to their customer. As the CEO related to me, elated with a contract five times larger than anything his team had secured up to that time, "the most important thing for me is that this process is repeatable."Before founding The Stein Advantage, Inc. in 1997, Dave Stein spent more than 20 years employed in a diversity of executive sales and marketing roles for corporations worldwide. Dave consultants with, coaches, speaks and trains on competitive selling strategies, helps companies to strategize specific, complex opportunities, organize a sales organization, present and position themselves with analysts in the best possible light, as well as to recruit and hire the best sales reps. He is the author of the Amazon best selling business book: How Winners Sell: 21 Proven Strategies to Outsell Your Competition & Win the Big Sale, Dearborn Trade Press, May 2004. For more info: http://www.HowWinnersSell.com or contact his office at viv@HowWinnersSell.com or call (845) 621-4100.

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Connecting with Customers

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine. Business is up he said, but he didn't know why. I asked him a few questions, but more we spoke about it the more concerned I became."What do you mean, you don't know why they're buying?""We never know why they buy," he told me.

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right The Wall of Defensiveness: 7 Ways to Tear It Down

Have you ever gotten frustrated when you realize that your prospects keep stereotyping you as a "salesperson"? And because of that, they don't give you the trust and openness that you deserve, and that are essential if you're going to help them solve their problems?That's

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Are You a Cultivator or a Harvester?

As a result of providing marketing consulting, training and coaching to a variety of individuals and industries over the years, I have come to recognize that people generally approach the business building process in one of two ways. Everyone tends to be what I identify as either Cultivators or Harvesters. The problem is the business building process requires both cultivation and harvesting. Read on to determine which you are and how to assure that you are both cultivating and harvesting new business.Harvesters are the great sales people of the world. These are the people that don't mind, may even enjoy, spending two or three hours a day cold calling. They willingly spend a day starting at the first floor of an office building and visiting every office on every floor to try and get an appointment. Harvesters will close business. However, they also tend to leave a lot of green fruit on the tree because their approach is geared towards those individuals who have a need now and are willing and able to purchase ? the so called low hanging fruit. Harvesters tend to move from orchard to orchard seeking out and picking whatever fruit is ripe at the time. They are constantly seeking out a new orchard that might have ripe fruit.Cultivators tend to rely on the other elements of the promotional mix such as advertising, direct mail, networking and public relations activities to develop business. Cultivators prepare the soil, plant the seeds, nurture the seedlings, and provide care to the fruit as it ripens. They grow their own orchards so they have an ongoing supply of ripe fruit. However, Cultivators sometimes are so busy tending to the orchard that they forget to pick the fruit, leaving it either for the Harvesters as they make their daily rounds or to rot on the tree.Clearly, in an ideal world the Cultivators and the Harvesters would work together to assure a constant supply of ripe fruit and to be sure that the ripe fruit is picked daily before a competitor picks it or it spoils. That is why in large corporations you will find both a marketing function and a sales function. However, most small businesses don't have the luxury of two separate functions. Many small business owners have to both cultivate and harvest new business as well as oversee or even implement the myriad of other functions required to keep a business going.The purchase decision involves a process of moving from unawareness to awareness, awareness to preference or liking and finally to conviction and purchase. Promotional activities such as advertising and direct mail are most effective in the awareness building stage. Public relations activities and networking tend to be most powerful in the preference and liking stage. Direct selling tends to be the activity that actually closes sales.Blair Singer in his book Sales Dogs says "The more marketing you do, the less selling effort you have to deal with. Prospects put up their hands and come looking for you instead of your having to sniff them out. It's the art of having sales opportunities come to you" In effect what he is saying is the more effort you put into cultivating your orchard, the less time you have to spend out looking for fruit in other people's orchards. The challenge for Cultivators is to make sure they call on the prospect once they've raised their hand.If you're a Harvester how can you develop cultivation skills? · Implement activities to develop awareness that allow you to reach many potential customers in less time than it would take you to reach each one individually.. For example send out a predetermined number of letters each week to prospective customers you have not met and that may not yet be aware of your product or service.· Develop systematic ways to stay in contact with prospects that are not currently ready to purchase such as a regular newsletter.· Develop credibility through active involvement or a leadership role in a trade association or organization that your potential customers are involved in.If you are a Cultivator how can you assure you are harvesting the rewards of your work?· Initiate one-on-one follow-up when someone expresses interest. Don't expect even very interested people to follow-up with you.· Don't approach the initial meeting as a "sales" meeting. Rather than trying to sell, use the initial meeting as an opportunity to really learn about the prospects, their problems and their needs.· Learn to love objections. If someone has an objection to your product or service at least they have an interest. An objection is easier to deal with than a lack of interest any day.· Rethink your attitude toward closing a sale. Think of it as gaining commitment for an action.If you are a Cultivator, the harvest will never be your favorite time of the growing season. If you are a Harvester you will never relish the work it takes to grow and ripen the fruit. However, successfully building new business requires both.© 2003 STRATEGIES-BY-DESIGN May be reprinted with credits and contact information.Julie Chance is president of Strategies-by-Design, a Dallas-based marketing consulting firm specializing in marketing programs including marketing coaching for professional service providers and specialty retailers. If you are interested in additional information about how to develop more leads, turn those leads into loyal customers, and obtain a greater return from your marketing investment, Julie invites you to sign-up for their free marketing tips newsletter at http://www.strategies-by-design.com.

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right A Stupid Question, but it has to be asked

This is a stupid question but it has to be asked.Does your sales letter create as many sales as you would like?What proportion of them respond to your advert?What is just as important, how many of those that responded actually purchased your product?How can you improve the response rate?How many new email addresses did you capture?Do you have an 'opt in' strategy so that you can mail them later with more offers without being accused of spamming?Let us look at the sales letter first.The headline.Does it stand out? Does it grab your attention?Does it shout,

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Refining Your Telephone Prospecting Techniques To Be A Master Closer!

Let me create a picture for you. This is the best way to illustrate my point."On a busy street you are approached apologetically by a well-dressed stranger who asks for a dollar to catch a bus and make a phone call. He says he has lost his wallet. What would you think? If approached in the same way by a haggard-looking stranger claiming to be hungry and unable to find a job, what would you think?When canvassing prospects on the telephone in an effort to ask them to join your organization or close a sale, how do you sound? Do you sound like you are poor and in need of some people to help you earn money..or do you sound like you are prosperous and are looking for people to make prosperous along with you? Analyze you telephone presentation accordingly. If you don't sound prosperous, your prospect will feel it and question your intentions. How can you offer them prosperity if you don't have a taste of it yourself? Good question huh?You know that old saying

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Customer Service Revival

Value is in the Eye of the BeholderSales today is filled with stereotypes. The "sleazy car salesman", the "annoying telemarketer", and the ever-present "pushy commission salesman". And in the sales profession, we may not realize it ? but we do think of other people in our profession this way sometimes. Now, this may not be because of our vision of them ? it may, in fact, be because of their vision of us as customers, and their knowledge of the sales process.We all know that the profession of sales has a stigma attached to it. If you're a salesperson, you are pushy, rude, overbearing, and only want money ? at least, that is the common misconception. And although you may not want to hear it, this is true of some. Those obnoxious, pretentious and sometimes even nauseating individuals, who are the primary reason for a bad outlook on salespeople. They are not doing this intentionally, though. They just do not know sales the way they should know sales.Think of this. You are struggling your way through aisles upon aisles of items, arms full, and have forgotten a basket. You see an employee walk by, and look. One of two things could happen.The uneducated sales person would continue to walk by, never to be seen again as they hunt for a more "worthy" prospect. However, the educated salesperson would handle this differently.You would see them walk by, and think nothing of it. All of a sudden, a friendly voice comes from behind you "Here you go. You looked like you could use some help."The employee hands you a basket with a smile. They take a look at the items in your basket, and ask if you have any questions. You tell them that you were wondering which cleaner is better on your flooring. The salesperson responds with a smile, and proceeds to give you information on each floor cleaning product. You thank them, and with another smile, the salesperson informs you of where you can find someone to answer any other questions, and continues down the aisle.Which person helped the customer more? Which person just made a sale, however small, where the other hadn't seen one?The more important question to ask yourself though, is which salesperson are you.This may or may not be a situation you can relate to. But if you have been helped in this way, you will surely remember it. And you will probably go back there again, hoping for the same great experience. But at least one of your customers can relate to this experience, and look back with a smile. Shouldn't all of them?It should be every salesperson's goal to genuinely help their customers. Instead of being the uneducated salesperson, try this. Rather than recommending a certain product, or completely ignoring a browsing customer, try to figure out what they really need. Use a random act of kindness as an icebreaker ? in this case, a basket to someone who needed it. Ask if they need assistance with anything. Give them information on all products they might be interested in. Answer any other questions, tell them where you will be, and politely leave them to their decision. This might seem simple, but you will be amazed at the response. Higher customer satisfaction, more return customers, more referrals, and more sales. Just from a smile, a question, and leaving them be.Cherilyn Lester is an accomplished sales professional and is currently involved in sales training for retail establishments. Most training is done at a distance, providing an easy resource for companies around the globe on a contract basis. You can reach her at cr_lester@hotmail.com

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right Dead Silence From Your Prospect: The Worst Sound Of All

Could this be the worst moment in your selling cycle?You've done all the right things with your prospect:? You've identified a real need and developed a reasonably solid relationship.? You've determined that your prospect is interested in your solution.? You've had a couple

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

arrow right YOUR Future Profits -- Protect Source With CARE

At 21 years, just out of Business College, I went into the mail-order business. Spent 4-1/2 years in this venture and learned many valuable lessons about building customer relationships. #1 is TRUST. Folks like to buy from someone who is dependable and responsible.... with integrity.... one who

Bandu2 - Herit.gif  Catégorie: Société   »   0 Lectures   »   Date: 02/01/2012 05:46   »   Par: Mouhamadou-bamb ...

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