Tough Economic Times bring out the very best in seasoned selling professionals. In my Wake Up and Smell the Sale$ Opportunities post of September 26, 2008, I said I survived and even thrived through all the economic peaks and valleys since opening my business in 1978.
Today, my 30 years of experience has better equipped me to rise above the Chicken Little fray of, “The Sky is Falling…..the Sky is Falling” mindsets of an alarming number of small business owners.
Did I see THIS Recession coming? Yes, but I just wasn’t prepared for the Government to be so unprepared to respond so poorly to manage and slow down this deepening crisis. Nor, did I anticipate how quickly the R-word would become our grim reality. Like many self-employed small business owners I have been sticking to my knitting; meeting my daily challenges; and letting the BIG Picture take care of itself.
Well, the BIG Picture has front-and-centered and gotten my attention! In my face, on the nightly news and also in my pocket. Suddenly, sales training budgets with several of my oldest b2b clients have gone on crash diets!
Did I have a Backup Plan? Yes. Today, I will begin the process of sharing with you the nuts-and-bolts of my Plan. I’ll tell you how and why to structure your own Recession-Proof source of new business referrals.
I have a formal business contact network and my own Super-Givers network inside this group. One of the lead organizations in my formal network is BNI (Business Network International), the World’s foremost Business Referral Networking Organization. Founded in 1985, in Southern California by Dr. Ivan Misner, an organizational management consultant, BNI has grown to become the ‘800 pound Gorilla’ in the face-to-face world of business networking. With over 5,000 chapters in over 40 counties, BNI is growing exponentially at about 100 chapters monthly.
I can’t say enough good things about BNI, especially now as we ride out what looks like a lengthy Recession. The 30 local Chapters in the Central Florida BNI Region have become my “Islands of Prosperity in a Sea of Recession”. These 30 chapters have 600+ member companies whose reps meet weekly to document and share serious b2b and b2c referrals in the spirit of BNI’s Givers-Gain Philosophy.
Besides providing a catalyst in the form of robust, well-managed chapters with non-competing member companies, BNI provides several monthly members-only, informative referral marketing 2 hour training workshops. Member Success Programs, MSPs in BNI’s lingo, enables chapter members to continually sharpen their referral marketing skills. These are top notch, info-packed sessions well worth the nominal $15. fee.
While my company, Leads-Plus, Inc., is a member of BNI’s Referral Masters Chapter in Winter Garden, FL, my BNI membership entitles me to visit any of the 29 other Central Florida chapters so I can actively exchange referrals and network to my heart’s content. These 30 chapters are my formal network. I attend my weekly Referral Masters Chapter meeting plus, one of the other 29 Chapter meetings.
Dr. Misner has authored and co-authored several best-selling books on the subject of referral marketing and networking. According to the mainstream press, he is “The Father of Modern Networking”, a richly deserved title since he is still trotting the Globe spreading the BNI Gospel to thousands of business professionals, monthly.
Even if you aren’t a BNI member you can subscribe to SuccessNET, his monthly e-newsletter. It’s filled with timely tips for mastering the referral marketing process. Go to www.bni.com to learn more about this great organization; to locate a nearby chapter and to subscribe to SuccessNET.
ROI Realities. My most recent 6 visits, in the past 30 days, to other local BNI Chapters resulted in 17 referrals, 6 of which have already converted into $4,600 in new b2b client sales prospecting training contracts and sales of my September-released eBook titled, How to Get Face-Time with People Who Buy What You Sell. To download a FREE Preview Minibook, CLICK on The Purchase eBook Now button in the right or top margin.
Next week, I’ll tell you about my Super-Givers network inside the 30 BNI Chapters in my Central FL Region and how to avoid participating in the Recession by weaving your own Recession-Proof Business Safety Net!
After 30 years, I still let distractions such as business event luncheons and networking meetings interrupt my weekly b2b sales prospecting activities. Sometimes, I will scold myself with every intention of not repeating THAT mistake again, when my attendance proves to be a waste of time. You see for me, lunchtime hours are some of my best times to access decision-makers by phone or computer. This blog is about how to choose the events which net meaningful and worthy b2b prospect contacts.
I’m constantly getting e-mails and voice-mails from consulting associates telling me about the wonderful ‘exposure’ they received speaking for free at local trade association chapter or business networking luncheons. It’s their shameless way of coaxing me to do the same. Most often, I politely refuse and just keep prospecting and working my referrals. Exposure, without meaningful sales contacts, is counter-productive!
I could fill every waking hour in my appointment planner with free speaking or networking engagements but I don’t for several reasons. First, I have to pay my bills. Second, when I’m not on the phone or my laptop connecting to new sales prospects, following up on strategic referrals, or servicing clients; I’m not ringing up sales. Negative cashflow is a commission sales person’s worst nightmare. There are too few prime time prospecting hours in my day even though my day begins at 4:00 am.
So, today, I’m going to share with you my 4 test questions for deciding whether to be distracted or to pass on an ‘opportunity’. Distractions are always cloaked as ‘opportunities’. I still do an occasional free luncheon speech, and I selectively attend b2b networking luncheons but ONLY if they pass my test.
When I am invited to attend an event or to speak at an event, I always ask the meeting planner 4 questions:
What is the exact purpose of the meeting or event? I avoid meetings or events positioned as ‘the networking event of the year’. It’s pure hype. Anyone who has to pitch their event so blatantly is seeking to seat ‘breathers’, not professionals. Not for me! Also, I’m not into networking luncheons open to ‘entrepreneurs’. ‘Entrepreneur’ is a code-word for b2c MLM sales agent who seem to be popping up, like attorneys at traffic accidents. Since I only train b2b sales professionals and I only accept money, not beads and blankets (trade-outs) for my services, I avoid b2c MLM groupie events.
Were I attending as a guest, what would it cost me? I avoid free events. The food is usually marginal and the company isn’t much better. Moochers who are regulars at free events don’t spend money. I guess that’s why the moochers usually show up en mass. My interest begins at $35 per person. People who call themselves professionals realize they will not sit in the company of peers for free. They ‘get’ it and so do I.
Name some of last month’s attendees by company and their job titles? The answer to this question is the deciding factor for me. While b2b company names are important, I’m more interested in the job title of the typical attendee. Why? My best prospect-types by job title are: sales managers, regional sales managers, new business development directors and marketing directors. These are the people who sign contracts to hire me to re-tool their b2b sales teams and they make quantity purchases of my eBooks. So, an opportunity to rub elbows or to speak to a group of 40-60 of these job titles is worth my time.
How many people attended your meeting last [week, month or quarter]? For some reason, meeting planners have a tendency to add 10 to their last attendance count. Maybe, 10 more attendees is a lucky number! So, if I hear 25-30, I presume, it’s usually 15-20 which is too small for me to net any worthwhile contacts. When I attend functions, I’m seeking a critical mass of 40 - 60 attendees. This is true whether I’m the speaker or just an attendee because I will always meet 3-5 serious b2b decision-making prospects for my services.
How do you find out about these business event luncheons? Of course, most daily newspaper have a business section with weekly event listings. Also, GOOGLE ”local business event luncheons by City, ST”. But what about business event luncheons of decision-makers, by their job titles, for what you sell?
Read Chapter 1 of my new How to Get Face-Time with People Who Buy What You Sell ebook (also called the PowerProspecting eBook) and you will learn how and where to get FREE Lists of these decision-makers, by their job-titles, for contacts in your local, regional or national sales territories. To preview my eBook for FREE, CLICK on Purchase The eBook Now, in the right sidebar. CLICK on Home Page. CLICK on View FREE Minibook. Remember, you have a 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee to tailor and test my Power Prospecting Formula to painlessly and systematically get qualified prospect appointments for your b2b products and services.
Starting next week and every week, thereafter I’ll deliver shorter blogs beginning with Part 1 of How to Prosper in Tough Times. Have a happy and carefree Halloween and remember to vote next Tuesday.
I love it when readers challenge my b2b sales prospecting phone-use tactics. It brings out my best and provides me an opportunity to share tactics (hands-on, how-to’s) b2b sales professionals can use to master the sales prospecting process. Not theories but successful techniques tested on the street.
How do you, the sales professional, determine whether the person on the other end of the phone is being truthful? Your questions and how you ask them will reveal whether you are speaking with a liar or a potential buyer. Asking these questions on the phone will eliminate wasted face-time sales calls.
Professional Pollsters and Marketing Researchers who use the phone know the answer and so should you. They ask shielded questions. Actually, the same question, worded differently and asked once, twice or three times during the same phone interview.
I’m a great believer in having my 5-6 Qualifying Questions documented on a form I refer to as a CPQ (Call Planner Questionnaire). In fact, the CPQ is the lynchpin accountability tool I encourage sales managers and small business owners to use to make certain their sales team members are turning in legitimate expense reports at week end.
You may recall from past blogs my statement, “You are making a Social NOT a SALES CALL if you do not have 1 completed CPQ for each face-time decision-maker appointment.” None of us in sales were hired to make social calls. We aren’t paid for visits - ONLY CLOSED SALES! There should be 1 CPQ for each completed face-time sales appointment. This is RULE Number 2 of my Power Prospecting Formula.
One of the ‘key’ questions asked early on during the Qualifying Phone Follow up Calling Sequence should answer the important question:
Answering these questions strikes at the very heart of my Power Prospecting Formula. In 1967, when I began my formal sales career with NCR selling computers to the hoteliers on Miami Beach, I often discovered decisions to purchase equipment were made at the holding company HQ office, seldom at the local hotel property. My sales proposals were accompanied by the local managers’ purchase request and mailed to a distant decision-making office, far removed from Miami Beach.
Today, more than ever before, determining who signs the checks locally is critically important.
Many times, when I have conducted my Qualifying Phone Follow up Calling Sequence, I have discovered I’m speaking with an ego-centric ‘decision-maker’ who replies, “I make the decision!” Then, when I ask a variation of the same question later on during the same phone interview, their answer conflicts with their first reply.
Ah ha, a liar versus a buyer!
As a rule, I will not keep an appointment with a prospect to fails my shielded questions test. How can I believe anything else that person will tell me at our face-time appointment?
Am I being too sensitive? Am I placing an X on the door of a potential prospect? No! In fact, those few times when I have kept the face-time appointment with a liar, I have wasted my time on non-prospects. I don’t have the time or patience to meet with people who don’t respect me. When someone lies to me, they don’t respect me!
This shielded questions technique works especially well for commercial and industrial telemarketing sales. In 1987, I developed a CPQ scenario for an industrial sales software vendor. Elaborate product information kits were mailed, in advance, to all inquiries. Yet, fewer than 8% of these elaborate product information kits resulted in sales.
Two CPQ Questionnaires were designed and tested. The first CPQ narrow-focused an inquirer’s: urgency, decision-making-process, including who in the company by name and position was seated on the Software Evaluation Committee and whether the committee had a ‘funded budget’ to thoroughly research, conduct field trips to vendor installation sites prior to creating a short list of the three most capable solution providers. The ‘funded budget’ shielded questions and answers separated the curious from the serious.
The second CPQ Questionnaire was used after the prospect received the basic information kit which was one quarter the length of the original elaborate product information kit. The telemarketers asked the prospects specific questions about the software architecture and platform. Questions which could only be answered if the prospect thoroughly read the basic information kit. Both CPQ’s included multiple shielded questions.
Almost 8 months to the day the dual CPQ Questionnaires were implemented, conversions to sales were averaging 19-24%.
I’d be shocked if most of you aren’t using a CPQ type document, either printed or screen-displayed. However, if you aren’t using shielded questions, make some changes; add a few and you are sure to improve your conversion to serious, not curious decision-making prospects.
In Chapter 7 of the September edition of my How to Get Face-Time with People Who Buy What You Sell ebook (also called the PowerProspecting eBook) I detail how to design the ideal CPQ. Also, how to skillfully use my best secret weapon: The Columbo to forever eliminate wasted face-time sales appointments! CLICK on Purchase eBook Now. CLICK on Home Page. CLICK on View FREE Minibook. Remember, you have a 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee to test my Formula.
So, what works for you and your sales team? How do you filter liars and buyers?
Yes, I saw The President’s 15 minute Pep Talk about our “endangered American Economy and the urgency for bipartisan cooperation in Washington.” And, Senator Mc Cain’s announcement to suspend his campaign appearances, postpone his debate participation and to return to Washington to solve this catastrophic financial crisis before Wall Street completely unravels.
Yet, with all this gloom and doom news, I’m still very optimistic. My reason? I’ve been here before.
For 30 years, I have been a thriver, not just a survivor. Prospering in lean and mean times because I accept this as a natural progression in the entrepreneurial business climate in which we live.
Frequent readers of this blog already know I’m no Spring Chicken but neither am I Chicken Little, fearful the Sky will Fall! In the 60’s, I weathered the Vietnam War; gas crisis of the 70’s; dog days of the Nixon Whitehouse in the 80’s; Savings & Loan Scandal; Dot.com bust and every bump and grind in The Economy since the mid-70’s.
Guess what? That majestic Lady at the entrance of New York Harbor still shines her radiant torch of freedom on all who pass her graceful post and the NFL continues to entertain us on Sundays.
The fact is: I lived it and rode out every lean and mean lapse of economic insecurity. Tough Times, too……but serious career selling professionals who worked their system, not only survived, but thrived.
Here’s the secret: Only the strong survive in nature and especially in sales. It’s decision time for the carpet baggers or short-timers. They are in it when the economy is booming and running for the lifeboats when stormy seas are ahead. I’m not upset to see them go. In fact, I will cheerfully wave them goodbye!
FACT: Right now, NEW Opportunities abound!
This is not a typo or the rantings of an energized senior citizen who od’d on the Kool Aid! Here are 4 reasons to substantiate this claim:
First, I am thrilled to pieces my competition is pulling back, laying off sales staff and playing the Economic Blame Game. Meanwhile, I’m quietly harvesting the ripe, low hanging fruit they left behind.
My systematic laser-focused snail mail and e-mailings to decision-makers have doubled as have my timely qualifying phone calls to book the new business. Someone has to fulfill their needs, so why not me?
Second, less competition means more marketshare for me to prospect! With competition thinning out, there are many more new prospects for me to target. My favorite fishing holes are full, again.
Third, I can work my established networking contacts to reach out and touch many more new referrals. Both my BNI contacts and my LinkedIN Connections are ready and willing to extend my reach. Why should they do this, you say? Because my door is always open to help others achieve the income they deserve, in good and bad times, and they know it. So, with a little help from my friends, I’ll continue to nurture new opportunities.
Fourth, my sales message is tuned into the times. I preach value-added benefits and have a pocket full of client testimonial referral letters to backup my claims. Plus, I have made it much easier for clients to buy my services and new content-rich eBooks at market-sensitive prices with zero risk guarantees.
My latest $40. eBook is now available as a printable document. Titled, How to Get Face-Time with People Who Buy What You Sell, it’s chock full of time-and-money-saving techniques for getting b2b decision-maker face-time appointments in the era of $3.80/per gallon.
From where to get FREE prospect lists just like your best customers to How to Escape Voice Mail Jail. It’s all here. What works and why with complete examples. No hidden add-ons. All tactical hands-on how-to’s with very specific examples tested by me and my customers. Plus, you can download the FREE Minibook and take a look before you buy the complete book. Best of all there is No Risk because of my 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee. Interested? Go to the right sidebar or the top of this blog page and Click on Purchase eBook Now. Then, Click on Home Page. To preview my FREE MiniBook Click on View Free Minibook. Ok, enough shameless commercials! Let’s summerize and get back to business.
KEY POINTS for thriving in Hard Times:
I did many times before and I will once, again. I’ll see you out on the street, Gordie
*one of my favorite Zig Ziglar quotations.
Will happen if you know how to painlessly and systematically prospect for new b2b business and you have your selling priorities in the correct order.
FACT: There are NO SHORTCUTS in the DOING process.
Training b2b sales professionals by helping them to understand and apply the tactical hands-on how-to’s is where I have spent most of my 25 years. Not in a training classroom but out on the streets in the sales territory. Yes, it is a long time. Let’s face it, it is the stuff of my life as Ben Franklin said “time is the stuff life is made of”.
When people ask me, as they often do, what have you enjoyed most about your sales training career? My answer is pretty much the same because it is what brings me joy and my feeling of accomplishment. It is that I have invested my life, wisely that ‘my ladder has been leaning again the right wall’ in Stephen Covey lingo.
My answer is ’seeing the light go on when a sales trainee finally gets it’. When that person realizes the currency of success in the selling game is systematically filling the funnel with ‘qualified’ prospects who have an identified urgent need; true decision-making authority; and a concise understanding of what the sales person is selling. Once this realization becomes an urgent priority to be dealt with every week; then, my mission is accomplished.
It was 25 years ago, I believed that transferring the knowledge and skills was the difficult challenge to be reckoned with. Yet 25 years later, TODAY, to be exact (the day before my 65th birthday), I now realize it is really the second part which is the truly elusive challenge: that ’you have your priorities in the correct order’. This is what really matters most in sales. Getting my training clients to laser-focus on the essential activity of systematic and painless prospecting.
NOT checking e-mail or re-arranging the order of stuff on your desk; NOT hanging out at the corner coffee shop or the cooler down the hall. Having the iron-willed discipline to get down to the tactical business of speaking with real prospects; qualifying their needs; getting face-time and meeting their needs with your products and services.
In sales, everything else is secondary to getting the order and with it a check or purchase order to cement the deal. Chatter all you want about the up and down price of a gallon of gas (black gold) or the effects of IKE on the near-term price at the pump; the housing slump; the Recession, the War………..getting in front of qualified prospects……..determining their needs…………moulding your products and services to fill those needs; convincing the prospect that you can……….then, getting their name on the dotted line and their payment with their signed order………………….in sales…………THIS PROCESS is What Really Matters Most!
Three days ago, I sat down opposite a selling veteran I have known for some time who was making a lateral career adjustment. He was getting started selling a new service. He wanted me to analyze why he just wasn’t closing as much business as his new bosses thought he should be at this stage of this employment. I listened patiently through 2 cups of strong coffee and occasionally, I asked a question or two.
To my amazement, sat before me, a seasoned selling professional who, after all these years, had lost his way. Who was so distracted by the visions of sugar plums (fat commission checks) and promises of stacked commission spiffs that he had lost track of what really mattered most.
Yet, when I told him, he was almost indignant with surpise! Mark, ‘I said’, “you need to shelve all the crap and just get down to the business of prospecting’………….”FORGET everything else. Wrap your mind and your willpower around making the calls. Park that cute little PDA and sports car and plant your seat and start making calls”. He meekly agreed with me, when I asked to see his Calling Log Sheet and I pointed out how few calls he was making for each sitdown session. He was clearly a victim of the distraction of the trappings of selling success!
He was spending those commissions before he earned them. WHY wasn’t he making the calls? Was it a fear of rejection or, having to leapfrog the gatekkeepers; or, just doing the mundane task of making calls?
Make no mistake, if you and your peers, want to truly earn the income you deserve, it boils down to getting face-time with people who buy what you sell. Re-dedicate yourself to the PROCESS of systematically and painlessly prospecting. Every week, set aside whatever time it takes to book the number of ‘qualified’ face-time appointments it takes to exceed your weekly sales quota.
If you need a refresher course, I recommend you take a look at my newest eBook, titled “How to Get Face-Time with People Who Buy What You Sell”. Click on Purchase the eBook Now, in the right sidebar. My newest version is a PDF formatted version, chock full of stuff you can use to painlessly and systematically gain ethical access to decision-makers. It includes complete Phone Follow up Calling Scripts; a mailing campaign I used to get an 83% response; plus, how to get out of Voice Mail Jail. My newest version includes a FREE minibook you can download and read the Table of Contents; the Introduction and Chapter 3, How to Get and Use Ideal Testimonial Referral Letters; plus, my 1 Year Money-Back Guarantee. OK, that’s my shameless commercial plug!
Whatever you decide to do, I urge you to get back to the business of prospecting. My gift to you on my 65th Birthday is to remind you of this career enriching activity. Do it, NOW!
While conducting extensive tactical sales prospecting training for computer resellers from 1987-1994, I was frequently confronted with a stark reality. Many entry-level b2b sales professionals had very toxic levels of Call Reluctance.
Call Reluctance (CR) is a career-threathening condition which limits what sales people can achieve by emotionally limiting the number of sales calls they are able to make. CR is “emotional sludge”!
I can’t take credit for the CR definition. This belongs to George Dudley and Shannon Goodson, Phds and co-authors of “The Psychology of Call Relectance (How to Overcome the Fear of Self-Promotion) a 1986 paperback published by Behavioral Science Research Press, Inc., Dallas, TX.
Since I couldn’t put my finger on the reasons many of my trainees were making excuses instead of conducting their timely qualifying follow up phone calls, I was thrilled to hear about this book which came highly recommended by another sales training consultant.
I was even more anxious to read the book when I learned both authors conducted extensive CR field testing of sales professionals from entry-level through top producers with major clients in the insurance, computer, management consulting and telecommunications industries.
Besides publishing the results of their exhaustive field tests, the book identified 11 specific CR Tendencies with their characteristics; and, explained their application of a pre-employment testing instrument which they used to pre-test sales candidates.
The SPQ Gold Test Instrument was not a Personality Test. It specifically measured:
Out of curiousity, I took the SPQ Gold Test and much to my surprise, discovered I had some degree of Over Preparer Tendencies! While not career-threathening, I was interested in remediation so I flew to Dallas and enrolled in a 2-day CR Remediation Clinic taught and managed by Dudley and Goodson.
At the time, I thought some of the classroom exercises designed to remediate the 11 CR Tendencies were questionable and unlikely to be practiced by even the most ardent student. I was impressed enough with the veracity of the SPQ Gold Test Instrument to become an authorized test-administrator and marketer in Central Florida.
The Test Instrument was software-platformed and test results with a Remediation Analysis were provided to client management for each enrollee.
For several of our clients, the SPQ Gold Test became the primary pre-employment testing instrument. We offered the test instrument to several clients until the Dudley and Goodson Organization insisted we also conduct local CR Remediation Clinics. We declined since it was incompatible with our business model and we preferred to pass them on to Dallas for Clinic enrollments.
Even though we discontinued our affiliation with the Dudley and Goodson Organization, this book and the CR concepts are still relevant and applicable.
Shortly before writing this blog posting, I visited Amazon.com to see what books were in print. I found several used copies of the original 1986 Dudley and Goodson book and a later 2001 edition for sale.
I highly recommend this material to both sales agents and sales managers since the bone-shaking fear of picking up the phone to call prospects is still a malady which afflicts many of us.
Do you agree?
What are your 4 most frequently heard sales objections raised by potential sales prospects when you communicate with on them on the phone? Even if you are just beginning to use the phone to better qualify new sales prospects, you are certain to have heard the same 1 or 2 objection types; perhaps, worded differently. Answering this question should not be too challenging.
My reason for posing it is by anticipating these objections, we can carefully word our answers and commit their conversational adaption to one side of Cue Cards [3], [4], [5] and [6].
If you are a first-time visitor to this blog, please get caught up. Click and read the two Recent Posts. The Phone as a Sales Prospecting Tool (Part 2) and Mastering the Phone as a Sales Prospecting Tool.
Still stumped? The answer is easier than you think. Here’s why. Your mailing campaign will limit the type and nature of the objections asked by your prospects, provided of course, your prospect received the 1,2, 3 or 4 greeting cards spaced 4-5 days apart; and you conducted your timely Qualifying Phone Follow up Call within 5 days of their receipt of the last card.
In prior posts, I said the purpose of a pre-mailing is to set the stage for your timely Qualifying Phone Follow up Call. Your strategy should be to whet the prospect’s appetite with just enough information so they will thirst for your timely phone follow up call. Another important duty of your pre-mailing is to narrow-focus their objections to these 4:
How can I make such an assumption? It’s simple. The focus copy of your pre-mailing raises a problem or the ‘pain’ issue your prospect is likely to have recently experienced or is currently experiencing which is even better. Your solution, is reinforced by testimonial comments from clients (who are no longer pain-afflicted) because of your brand of Rx which soothed their pain or solved their problem.
If your pre-mailer copy is NOT focused on Pain issues, it should be! To waste this very limited real estate (copy block) which should not exceed 34 total words or about 2 sentences inside a greeting card on nearly any other subject, is the sign of an amateur or someone who has money to burn!
If There is NO PAIN………………………………..There is NO GAIN!
Isn’t just a cute saying. If the person who is opening your sequenced mailings isn’t feeling a pain or is someone who hasn’t felt this pain in their very recent past; they won’t be motivated to want to listen to your solution. They just don’t have a need now for what you sell. They have no sense of urgency! Your message will fall on deaf ears. So, do your homework. Don’t waste this precious space inside your 3 or 4 greeting cards with fluff.
Lets do Cue Card [3], one of the most commonly heard of the 4 Objections (copy between the ====):
==================================================================
[3] “We do Business with Your Competition” (top line in red ink)
[hand-print the body copy, in blue ink]
You Say: “[Mr. Prospect] DO YOU have COMPETITION in Your Business?” (pause and continue)
“I just Want the Opportunity to Compete for YOUR ACCOUNT. Does That sound fair to you?”
(pause and wait for reply) Prospect Says:
YES-> Go to Cue Card [7] -> [ask your 5 key Qualifying Questions] -> Re-confirm Appointment day, date, time and appointment address] -> End Call -> Decide?
NO -> Go to Cue Cards [4], [5], or [6] -> End the Call and Begin next Qualifying Call.
====================================================================
If you would like to see the carefully chosen wording for each of the remaining 3 Objection Cue Cards and a complete explanation with justification for use, CLICK on Purchase the E-Book Now in the right sidebar. My Power Prospecting eBook costs $40 and includes 4 FREE Bonus items. Plus, my NO NONSENSE Money-Back Guarantee gives you an entire year to try my program and then, if it doesn’t work for you; e-mail me your 5 completed Homework Assignments as proof, and I’ll refund your $40 credit card payment.
Why do I require proof of your completed Homework Assignments? To discourage impulse buyers! My mission with this eBook is to encourage you, a seriously motivated B2B selling professional, to end the pain of your weekly prospecting so you can systematically and painlessly earn the income you deserve!
Absolutely, nothing beats learning, by doing! If you are willing to complete my 5 paper and pen exercises to personalize this Formula to your needs, you will succeed, provided you apply the Formula, as designed and presented to you in this eBook to your prospecting situation in your B2B marketplace. Completing the 5 Exercises is important. Testing and re-testing (re-writes of your Cue Cards, too) the Power Prospecting Formula on your real world prospects usually takes several months of pre-mailings; timely qualifying calls; asking the 5 all important qualifying questions and then forming the disciplined habit of deciding to keep or cancel a booked in person appointment. You are deciding whether to make sales calls or social calls. Ultimately, you are deciding if this prospect deserves your time. Breaking old, unproductive sales prospecting habits takes time. You owe it to yourself and to those who depend upon you for groceries to allow the time for this new concept to produce tangible results. Thus, the reason for a 1 year guarantee.
In my next post, I’ll have several proven effective techniques for overcoming the bone-shaking fear of picking up the phone. This affliction, exclusive to sales professionals, is called: call reluctance. In the mid-1980’s, two behaviorial science specialists in Dallas, TX, wrote an excellent book about how to overcome the fear of call reluctance. The book includes a self-test which identifies several types of call reluctance with listed characteristics; detailed remedies and coping mechanisms. I have personally witnessed the transformation of several formerly shy sales wannabes into fearless Power Prospectors with the application of these techniques. You will not be disappointed!
As we continue composing your set of 8 each, 5″ x 8″ Cue Cards so you can painlessly and systematically qualify all B2B sales prospects before getting into your gas guzzler to only keep qualified in-person sales appointments, please note that Cue Card [2] is only necessary if the prospect doesn’t respond to your question asked during your use of Cue Card [1]
If you are confused by this opening statement, please read my June 30th blog posting titled: Mastering the Phone as a Sales Prospecting Tool because today’s blog posting is a continuation of the process begun on June 30th.
If you hear the sound of silence (no reply, no heavy breathing) then, the contents of Cue Card [2] should be vocalized to re-gain control of the qualifying call and to grab the prospect’s attention. It is called The Big BENE Card because it states very concisely the reason this prospect will WANT to listen to what you are about to say.
This is the moment you discover IF your direct mailing campaign worked. Most importantly of all, if it effectively set the stage for your timely qualifying follow up phone call. Did it uncover an open wound or raw pain this prospect is feeling? So much pain, that the prospect has been waiting to hear from you?
When you are composing your Qualifying Phone Follow up Presentation Script, hold this thought:
IF There is NO Pain……………..There is NO GAIN!
It is a selling reality. Selling is about satisfying an urgent need or soothing a FELT top of mind pain. If the person with whom you are speaking is tramatized by a lack of something you sell and they have the authority and ability to pay for it, you have a serious prospect on the phone, especially, if it is a constant, nagging pain they continue to experience. This nagging pain creates urgency. An immediate urgency from this felt-pain.
Wouldn’t our lives be so much more enjoyable if all prospects were this qualified? Not really! Our bosses wouldn’t need our services if order-taking was this easy and uncomplicated. This skill and our ability to use it repeatedly and successfully is really what sets the super successful sales achievers apart from the wannabes in the selling game. It’s the ultimate sales test where the rubber meets the road!
PAIN…..gets and holds a prospect’s attention. In 1999, an errant disc in my lower back got my undivided attention when it suddenly separated from my spinal vertabrae. From the moment it happened early on the morning of Oct 27, 1999 until 72 hours later when I slipped into unconsciousness on a surgical gurney my one-and-only focus was doing absolutely nothing to aggravate my severe pain.
Another, more timely example is the PAIN we are feeling at the pump, today! Since February 1974, the time of the first gas crisis, I have been repeating in print and on the presentation platform “the way we do business will change forever when gas increases to $4.00 per gallon”. Suddenly, I am getting media attention and being hailed as a visionary. Baloney! I have been parroting this for years. People just weren’t listening when gas was $2.00 or even $3.00 per gallon. They weren’t listening because they weren’t feeling THE PAIN.
Enough about pain! See below, between the ===== lines an example of Cue Card [2].
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[2] “[Mr. Prospect], SUPPOSE I Could Show You How To“ [top line in red ink]
[hand-print this body copy, in blue ink]
“DRAMATICALLY CUT YOUR COST of Getting NEW BUSINESS?” [This is an example of my BIG BENEfit Statement taken from one of my best Testimonial letters where the delivered 'quantified' value of my services was a single $52,000 order for 11 desktop computer systems booked 26 days after 1 of 83 Inacomp Computer Centers' store managers attended my December 1985 Power Prospecting seminar in Troy, MI.
[pause and continue]
“ I’m talking about REAL SAVINGS HERE….For One CLIENT a 52,000 DOLLAR RETURN on a 5,000 DOLLAR INVESTMENT in just 26 Days”. [I re-worded my BIG Benefit Statement Testimonial Story so it fits into my scripted, conversational delivery style]. ”I’m sure you would agree Results, such as these would be worth 20 minutes of your time, wouldn’t it?” [pause and wait for a reply]
Prospect replies:
YES-> Go to Cue Card [7] -> [ask your 5 key Qualifying Questions] -> Re-confirm your Appointment day, date, time and appointment address] -> End the Call and Decide to keep the appointment or cancel it based on the prospect’s answers to my 5 key Qualifying Questions.
NO -> Go to Cue Cards [3], [4], [5], or [6] -> End the Call and Begin the next Qualifying Call.
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That’s all Cue Card [2] has to say. See the final, edited version of Cue Card [2] below.
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[2] “[Mr. Prospect], SUPPOSE I Could Show You How To“
“DRAMATICALLY CUT YOUR COST of Getting NEW BUSINESS?” [pause and continue]
“ I’m talking about REAL SAVINGS HERE….For One CLIENT a 52,000 DOLLAR RETURN on a 5,000 DOLLAR INVESTMENT in JUST 26 Days…. ”I KNOW you would agree…. Results, such as these would be worth 20 minutes of your time, wouldn’t it?” [pause and wait for a reply]
YES-> Go to Cue Card [7] -> [ask your 5 key Qualifying Questions] -> Re-confirm Appointment day, date, time and appointment address] -> End Call -> Decide?
NO -> Go to Cue Cards [3], [4], [5], or [6] -> End the Call and Begin next Qualifying Call.
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5 ’Key’ Cue Card [2] Composition and Use Points to Remember:
If you would like to see Cue Card [2] and the entire Scripted 8 Cue Card set with actual wording and the complete explanation and justification for use, CLICK on Purchase the E-Book Now in the right sidebar. My Power Prospecting eBook costs $40 and includes 4 FREE Bonus items. Plus, my NO NONSENSE Money-Back Guarantee gives you an entire year to try my program and then, if it doesn’t work for you; e-mail me your 5 completed Homework Assignments as proof, and I’ll refund your $40 credit card payment. Why does my guarantee require proof you have completed the 5 Homework Assignments? To discourage impulse buyers!
Part 3 of The Phone as a Sales Prospecting Tool will address your 4 typical Objection-Response Cards.
logically begins with an appropriate introduction. Picking up where I left off from my June 18th blog post, the purpose of this posting is to compose Cue Card # 1, your Introduction. If this is your first visit to this blog, I suggest you read my June 18th entry so you will grasp the full value of this posting.
Let’s review some important ground rules. First, this scripting system is not intended for use as a cold calling tool. Heavens No! Always, always pre-mail (snail-mail, NOT e-mail) 3 tangible mailing pieces to this prospect BEFORE dialing to ‘qualify’ this person. The intent of your mailing is to set the stage for this qualifying call. An effective mailing campaign of 3 pieces, mailed in succession over a 15 day period to one prospect, so the addressee receives a personalized mailing on their desk every 5 days, is to whet their appetite. Never tell your whole story. But, only just enough to set them up for your timely and expected ‘qualifying’ phone call conducted within 5 days of their receipt of your mailing piece # 3.
No, your eyes didn’t deceive you when I said ‘your expected phone call’ in my last sentence. I expect some of you are saying, “this guy is nuts! I’m not going to mail 3 personalized mailings to one prospect over 15 days just to ‘qualify’ their need, authority or understanding of what I sell.” The whole point of my Power Prospecting Formula is to conduct your entire prospect qualification process by skillfully using personalized direct mail and the phone from the convenience of your office before getting into your gas guzzler so you only gain ethical access to thoroughly well-qualified decision-makers who have an urgent need, authority to buy and a concise understanding of what you sell. Before you discard my recommendations, consider this:
I have been a direct mail practioner (some, who paid me call me a ‘direct mail expert’ because my recommended results greatly exceeded their expectations) since 1978 when I opened the doors to Mr. Mailer, Inc., Central Florida’s first personalized direct mail processing center and list brokerage boutique. Over the course of 7 years and 1 month, we mailed 18,000,000 personalized mailings on behalf of 192 B2B corporate clients. While I sold Mr. Mailer, Inc. in 1983 to form my present sales prospecting consultancy, Leads-Plus, Inc., I have never left the mailing business. Frankly, I love the creative opportunities of personalized direct mail. It still works marvelously well to set the stage for timely, professional follow up ‘qualifying’ phone calls.
There is another more important reason for 3 pre-mailings. You are completely eliminating the coldness from your follow up ‘qualifying’ phone call. You are making a ‘warm call’ even though you haven’t ever spoken to this prospect. This will give you enormous self-confidence, so essential to project in your phone voice, when you call and speak with this decision-maker.
A well-orchestrated pre-mailing campaign that demonstrates tasteful originality but not at the expense of a relevant, benefit-driven message can make your reception during your initial ‘qualifying’ follow up call a memorable success - one you will want to repeat!
One last justification for a 3-piece pre-mailing. My most successful ever mailing was conducted in 2006 when I tested a new concept, which has since become my one-and-ONLY personalized direct mailing tool. The response from mailing 4 greeting cards to one prospect so that individual received a different personalized greeting card every 4 days; and then, a follow up ‘qualifying’ phone call from my telemarketer or me was 83%. That’s right, 332 of the 400 target prospects, who each received 4 distinctly unique greeting cards, over a 20 day period spoke either to me or my telemarketer. E-mail me at eurekaman43@hotmail.com if you want more info about the vendor who conducted the B2B mailing and the total mailing campaign cost.
Lets return to Scripting Cue Card # 1, your Introduction.
In my June 18th blog posting, you were asked to purchase a pack of white 5″ x 8″ index cards and a red and blue felt-tipped pen. You will only use one side of 8 of these cards to compose your entire qualifying script.
You will hand-print the single italicized line below at the very top of 1-side only of Cue Card # 1:
[1] “[Mr. Prospect], This is [Your Full Name] with [Company Name]“ [in red ink]
[in blue ink, hand-print this body copy]
“Recently, I mailed you 3 Greeting Cards about [Your BIG BENEfit Statement or a Testimonial where the delivered 'Quantified' value of your products or services was experienced by a very satisfied client]
“Suppose I could show you how to achieve [re-word your BIG Benefit Statement or your Testimonial Story so it fits into this scripted delivery] ? I’m sure you would agree Results, such as these would be worth 20 minutes of your time, wouldn’t it?” [pause and wait for a reply]
Prospect replies: YES-> Go to Cue Card [7] -> [ask your 5 key Qualifying Questions] -> Re-confirm your Appointment day, date, time and appointment address] -> End the Call and Decide whether to keep it or reschedule it.
Prospect replies: NO -> Go to Cue Cards [3], [4], [5], or [6] -> End the Call and Begin next Qualifying Call, [Cue Cards [3 - 6] are your 4 most frequently heard Objections, with your carefully-worded responses to each] If, after, voicing each of your 4 responses to these Objections, your prospect, still persists with a NO reply, then you are probably speaking to a non-prospect. End the call and cross this non-prospect off your calling list and proceed to your next call. Don’t personalize this rejection. Get over it! Be thankful you didn’t waste a valuable in-person sales call and the gas to discover this reality.
Prospect replies: Yes or No are Branching Statements which send you to either the Appointment-Setting Cue Card [7]; or to your 4 most frequently heard Objections, with your carefully-worded response to each.
Bold-faced words should be spoken louder to grab and keep the prospect’s attention.
Note, above, ‘5 key Qualifying Questions’. Their answers to your documented questions will tell you IF this prospect deserves your appointment time. Be selfish with your time! If you fail to obtain answers to these essential qualifying questions and you show up for the appointment, you are making a social call, NOT a sales call.
At $4.50 per gallon, none of us can continue to conduct social calls and remain in the sales game for very long. Asking your 5 Qualifying Questions, at this stage of your scripted sequence, works well because your prospect has already agreed to an appointment.
To learn how to get your ideal testimonial from a satisfied client which you can reword to use in Cue Card [1], please read my blog post titled, Best Ever Sales Prospecting Door-Opening Sales Tool.
If you would like to see the entire Scripted 8 Cue Card set with actual wording and the complete explanation and justification for use, CLICK on Purchase the E-Book Now in the right sidebar. My Power Prospecting eBook costs $40 and includes 4 FREE Bonus items. Plus, my NO NONSENSE Money-Back Guarantee gives you an entire year to try my program and then, if it doesn’t work for you; e-mail me your 5 completed Homework Assignments as proof, and I’ll refund your $40 credit card payment. Why does my guarantee require proof you have completed the 5 Homework Assignments? To discourage impulse buyers!
Remember, if you want more info about my personalized direct mailing vendor, just e-mail me at eurekaman43@hotmail.com and I’ll send you complete details. In my next blog posting, we will discuss how to effectively word Cue Card [2].
One other closing suggestion I mentioned in a prior entry is I have had great success acquiring new prospects at www.linkedin.com, an international professional online business networking community. You can sign on for FREE; learn how to apply it’s many user-friendly features; and build relationships among it’s 22 million members.
becoming a master communicator when using the telephone to access sales prospects. Never, never has mastering phone use skills been more important than right now. Today, at $4.50 per gallon, I’m going to make it easier for you to quickly and effectively make your point when using the phone to communicate with new sales prospects.
In December 1985, I conducted a seminar titled, “User-Friendly Telephone Use Skills” in Troy, MI. The audience was comprised of 83 retail computer store managers and members of their sales teams. Variations of the content of this seminar have since been repeated thousands of times to sales professionals and small business owner audiences throughout North America.
The 3 key concepts of this first seminar in 1985, and every one I have delivered since, are these:
It sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? You would think every selling professional would conduct some form of advanced preparation before dialing. Yet, fewer than 3% of the surveyed selling professionals, who have attended my seminars since 1983, admitted to completing 1 of these 3 key concepts. In round numbers, that’s 2,800 people out of 93, 500.
Is it because 97% of the selling professionals who responded to my pre-seminar survey form just didn’t care about their phone-use skills? No, I believe the answer is because the telephone is such a common everyday household and office appliance that people presume to know how to use it. They do: know how to operate it.
There is a very wide chasm between use VERSUS skilled-use. The telephone is one of our most universal intuitive appliances. When I stepped off the plane in Stockholm, Sweden in 1966, my first action was to call my parents in Miami to advise them of my safe arrival. No one had to explain to me how to operate one of the banks of telephones in the baggage claim area. It was second-nature, even though the operating instructions were in Swedish.
Call Purpose is basic. Is this your first contact? Follow up on a recent mailing? Follow up on a recent meeting? Very specifically, what outcome do you anticipate as a result of initiating this call?
Decide, in advance of dialing, your specific goal or expected call outcome. I’ll presume most of you who are reading this blog will use the phone to follow up on a timely snail mailing. In this case, I urge you to prepare a complete script of what you plan to say during this 8-10 minute call. Even though you probably know everything about your products and services, it’s wise to script every word, for 7 reasons, namely:
A scripted presentation gives you the confidence of being completely prepared and thus achieving your call purpose, which is thoroughly qualifying each prospect as to decision-making authority; an urgent need for what you sell; and, a concise understanding of your services.
Lets face it, when you are thoroughly prepared, you project more confidence in your voice which is crucial when using the phone to greet and meet a new prospect. You sound more professional because you are more professional.
Using the phone, in this manner, will dramatically eliminate wasted in-person, face-time appointments and thus reduce your number of trips to the one-armed bandit at your gas station. Imagine, conducting all of your prospect qualification calls from the convenience of your office! You will be equipped to qualify many more prospects since this method is exponentially more time-efficient than just showing up, unannounced, like a peddler.
Script every word of your telephone presentation. Go to an office supply store and purchase a pack of white, lined 5″ x 8″ index cards and a red and blue felt-tipped pen. You will only need 8 of these white index cards. Think of these 8 cards as your ‘Cue Cards’. Each has a specific purpose:
In succeeding blog posts, I’ll provide you script composing techniques that will turn you into a master telephone communicator. I will take each Cue Card, in succession, and explain how you can master this simple but proven effective 30 year old tool to achieve your call purpose - everytime you dial.
Practice your scripted presentation until it’s second nature. After composing each of your Cue Cards, I will introduce you to a script practicing methodology that will fine-tune your Cue Card use skills.
If you are in a hurry to learn this Cue Carding Process, the entire snail mailing and telephone follow up Formula is documented in my PowerProspecting eBook which is for sale. Click on Purchase eBook Now in the right margin. Click on View Sample Chapters. The Introduction and Chapter 3 are FREE for your viewing. If you purchase my $40 ebook, you have 1 year to keep it or get a refund. Enough said!
Next week, I’ll begin the Cue Carding Process with Scripting Cue Card # 1.
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