S&MM SoundOff

Don't Keep in Touch with Prospects This Way!

Several years ago I approached a PR firm about enlisting their services to promote my second book but after an initial conversation with the owner I declined to use their services. However, every six or seven months, I receive an email that states:

 

“I just wanted to touch base with you to see if you’re still interested in getting more publicity.  If so, please give me a call so we can set up a time to chat. I’d love to speak with you about how our company can assist you get the results you want faster and easier. You can send me some of your available dates and times in the next couple of weeks and my assistant will get back to you to confirm a date.”

 

While it is critical to keep your name in your prospect’s mind this email missed the mark because it does not give a compelling reason why I should respond and it is obvious that it was part of a generic email campaign.

 

A more effective approach is to send your prospects information that will help them solve their business challenges. Provide insights to help them improve their results. Personalize everything to their specific situation. Give them a compelling reason to call you back or do business with you.

 

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals close more sales at higher profits. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.Fearless-Selling.ca. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or by email.

Sales & Marketing Management to Discontinue

Hi everyone,

Regrettably, I have some unfortunate news to share with you: Earlier this week, The Nielsen Company made the decision to discontinue Sales & Marketing Management—along with our sister publication, Training magazine, and the Managesmarter.com portal—effective February 26.

At risk of giving anyone false expectations, the possibility does exist an outside buyer will decide to purchase the assets—and potentially relaunch the properties—subsequent to closure. SMM's LinkedIn group (http://tinyurl.com/yeyf6xw) and Twitter presence (http://tinyurl.com/yeyf6xw) will remain active for the time being, and any future developments will be related in those spaces.

Whatever ultimately happens, we’d like to thank you all of you for your loyal support of the Sales & Marketing Management brand over the years. For my own part, it's been a distinct pleasure.

Best regards,
Jeremy Cohen
Managing Editor

Is Social Media Ruining Your Sales?

In today’s Sales 2.0 environment, sales professionals, consultants, and small business owners are told that they need to create an online presence if they expect to achieve their sales goals and targets. However, too many people take this advice to the extreme and end up spending far too much time on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and the plethora of other social media sites.

It is very easy to spend several hours a day reading posts, adding comments to discussions, tweeting your actions, and sorting through scads of information. However, it is critical to realize that social media should not replace your other sales building activities. You still have to find other ways of marketing your business. You still need to actively prospect. And you still need to schedule face-to-face meetings with clients and prospects.

While I believe a strong social presence can help you, you need to guard your time wisely. Otherwise, you can fritter away too much valuable time while believing that you are proactively moving your business forward.

Allot a specific amount of time each day for social media activities. Choose whatever time works best for you. The key is to limit yourself to that allotted time and to not get sucked into the social media vortex.

 

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals close more sales at higher profits. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.Fearless-Selling.ca. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or by email.

Entering the Zone (Plus Five) for Leadership Success

 A confluence of extraordinarily bad circumstances notwithstanding, few would argue 2009 was a banner year for leadership—least of all the folks at AchieveGlobal.

That’s why the Tampa, FL-based global workforce consulting firm commissioned “Developing the 21st Century Leader,” a newly released study intended to serve as a blueprint for the successful…er, 21st Century leader.

Based on a survey of 971 business and government leaders and employees in Europe, Asia, and North America, the study identified six practices (“zones,” in their parlance) that future leaders will need to master in order to attain success. To tackle each in turn:

1. Reflection. Just like any other, thinking, breathing human being, your decision-making ability is influenced by your motives, beliefs, attitudes, and actions. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that…provided you’re aware of that influence, and attuned to when it’s leading you astray.

2. Society. Individual and group well-being are obviously high priorities, but that’s no excuse to neglect “higher-minded” principles like fairness, respect, and the greater good.

3. Diversity. No, this isn’t something merely to pay lip service to. As a leader of the future, it’s paramount to respect—and embrace—differences in gender, ethnicity, age, nationality, and belief.

4. Ingenuity. Want to create that much-ballyhooed “climate where innovation can thrive” in your own company? Easy: Lead by example. Develop and execute practical ideas of your own, then encourage others in your organization to do the same.

5. People. A title alone doesn’t command respect. It’s only when you connect with others on the human level that you earn loyalty and create honest-to-goodness motivation.

6. Business. The true no-brainer of the list. After all, as a leader, you’re tasked first and foremost with delivering bottom-line results. Your two-pronged approach for doing so is remarkably straightforward, yet depends entirely on your know-how and mettle: namely, developing successful strategies and effectively manage the efforts of those reporting you.

It's All About Timing

I was recently reminded how important timing is in sales. You can approach a potential prospect with the greatest idea in the world but if your timing is off, you likely won’t move forward in the sales process. This presents a potential problem because if a competitor approaches your prospect when they ARE ready to buy, then you will miss out on a valuable sales opportunity.

 

So, how can you manage this? You certainly can’t be calling your prospect every week to ask them if they are ready to meet or move forward. You can’t read their minds (at least I know I can’t!). And you can’t rely on them to call you when they’re in the position to buy.

 

Here’s a simple concept that can help: develop a plan to keep your name in their mind. Here’s what you do.

 

Develop a file or repository of valuable, industry-related information and regularly send your prospects something. At least monthly, perhaps every couple of weeks. Use a variety of approaches including; email, snail mail, fax, voice mail, courier, and face-to-face contact. This keeps your name in their mind while demonstrating that you are a resource, not just a supplier.

 

One word of caution: this strategy requires forethought and planning. It’s easy to start and difficult to maintain. The key to results is to keep the plan in action.

 

Get your FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to Kelley’s free newsletter, “59 Seconds to Sales Success” at www.Fearless-Selling.ca.

Kelley Robertson, author of The Secrets of Power Selling helps sales professionals close more sales at higher profits. Kelley conducts workshops and speaks regularly at sales meetings and conferences. Contact him at 905-633-7750 or [email protected].

Yet Another Reason to Forget 2009

While its overall finding doesn’t necessarily come as a shock, a new study released this week by CSO Insights illustrates just how bad of a hit sales performance took in 2009.

For its annual Sales Performance Optimization (SPO) study, the research firm surveyed over 2,800 companies worldwide to gauge their sales teams’ effectiveness and response to external challenges. The results, to put it mildly, weren’t pretty.

In 2009, the percentage of sales reps making quota dropped to 51.8 percent, down from 58.8 percent in 2008. Overall revenue plan attainment dropped from 85.9 percent to 77.9 percent as a consequence.

Alas, such drops may have been inevitable: According to the study, many companies financially handicapped their sales teams, with 67 percent of respondents saying they froze or reduced lead generation budgets. The overall training investment per sales rep also decreased by 13 percent.

And yet, paradoxically, 86 percent of surveyed companies reported increasing their 2009 quotas at the end of ’08. With 85 percent of respondents repeating this trend for 2010, it’s likely increased investments in sales will be needed to accommodate the higher quotas.

Is That a Real Objection?

People are often mislead by a request for information, a condition of sale, or a block or stall. Many sales people mistakenly think these are objections when, in fact, they are not. Here’s the difference:

 

A request for information is simply that. The buyer wants additional information to aid them in making a decision. The challenge is that many times it comes across as an objection because of the way it is presented by the buyer.

 

A condition of sale is an element of the decision-making process that you have no control over. The most common example is when a person wants a specific product feature or perhaps a service that you don’t offer. It won’t matter how much you try to overcome that issue, if the buyer is set on having that particular feature or service, you will not likely close the sales.

 

Lastly, a block or stall is usually an excuse to postpone or avoid making a buying decision. You will frequently hear this expressed as, “I need to think about it” or something similar. This is most often a result of failing to effectively position your solution.

 

Listen carefully to what people say. If it sounds anything like these chances are you are not dealing with a true objection. If you are unsure, ask an additional to clarify before you automatically start offering a solution.

 

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals close more sales at higher profits. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.Fearless-Selling.ca. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or by email.