To help you reach your sales goals
Archive for May, 2010
From The Street: Do you want to increase your sales? Leave YOUR phone number and I guarantee it will increase your sales!
May 21st
From The Street: Do you want to increase your sales? Leave YOUR phone number and I guarantee it will increase your sales!
By Mike Krause “Giving You 110%”
It still amazes me after listening to a 3 minute voicemail and life story of the person leaving the message they DO NOT leave their phone number? People are way too busy to search for your number and they will not return your call.
Sample script and some tips for you:
Hello <Prospect>. This is ________with _________ my direct number is _______I wanted to introduce my company and learn more about your needs at ___________. We can handle your ______________
Please call me when you get back to your desk directly to ____________thank you!
1. Phone number is left twice
2. Purpose of call
3. Be in silence no back ground noise or babies
4. You are curious about their business
5. You are to the point
6. You are clear in your message
7. It is not all about you
8. Point of action
9. You are offering a win/win
10. You are not going on and on and on.
11. Mike’s AH HAH! Your message is short and to the point, you leave your phone number twice so the prospect does not have to listen to your message in its entirety again.
To Your Sales Success,
Mike
“Giving You 110%”
Mike Krause is the Chief Sales Architect and owner of Sales Sense Solutions where he gives CEO’s VP of Sales and Sales Professionals stellar sales results they want by implementing the tactics, tools and high performance strategies they need.
From The Street: 11 Must Knows to Win an Interview in Sales
May 10th
From The Street: 11 Must Knows to Win an Interview in Sales
By Mike Krause “Giving You 110%”
The other day I received a call from a Sales Professional I admire and she asked me for some help preparing for an interview. I was honored that she thought of me and was happy to help her prepare.
I have interviewed/screened over 1,000 Sales Professionals in my time and wanted to share with you my top 11 tips:
1. Prompt! It still amazes me how many do not show up on time. Let’s think! Do you think the hiring Manager wants to put up with you already? DELETE!
2. Dress for success. My Grand Mother has always told me “you can tell a lot about a man from his shoes” Shine your shoes, dry clean your clothes, hair cut, manicure etc…
3. Three copies of your resume. Dah! When a job ad is posted there are hundreds or even 1000’s of resumes that come in. Most of the time the first time a hiring Manager sees your resume is when they meet with you. Do not assume they have read or even seen your resume. Here is why three resumes; if they like you they will send you up the ladder that day and you will meet more Executives.
4. Bring your brag book, if you do not know what this is maybe sales is not for you. My brag book is 150 pages with accolades, color copies of awards, rankings and a copy of my W-2’s. I always ask for a copy of a W-2 if the candidate states they made $150,000 a year, so I ask for a copy. In 15 years I have NEVER seen a copy from a candidate that made up a number. If you have made the income be proud and show it!
5. Prepare, Google the company and find out as much as you can about them the good and the bad. Do NOT be afraid to ask about pending lawsuits etc… As a Sales Professional you will be the spokes person for the company and you will have to defend the company’s reputation. Bring printed copies of the web pages in a separate manila folder. Bring 10 great questions to ask have them written down and interview the person back, remember you are ‘selling them on you”
6. Competition, as a Sales Professional you will need to know your competition, research and bring questions to discuss with the Manager.
7. Professional, act professional at all times, remain calm, cool and collected. Never talk bad about your previous employer (yes some people do in an interview)
8. Consistent, be yourself throughout the process, be friendly to ALL employees. The Gate Keeper sometimes has the final approval. Treat everyone with respect and you will be respected.
9. Communication, critical to keep ALL parties in the loop. If you are using a recruiter keep them informed of each step, they have the ear of the employer and can help you or hurt you. Follow up is key, send a hand written thank you notes after each meeting. I usually brought one with me to the interview filled it out and left it at the front desk, show excitement and demonstrate by operating in the now!
10. CLOSE, they are hiring you to sell for them. If you do not close the interviewer, how are you going to close a sale? Ask do you see any reason that I cannot move on in the process? Handle the objections in person. Ask what is the next step? Close them on a date and time to follow up and follow it up.
11. Mike’s AH HAH. When writing this article I have remembered all of the sales reps I have hired and it has always been the one that hunts me down and is hungry for the job.
To Your Sales Success,
Mike
“Giving You 110%”
Mike Krause is the Chief Sales Architect and owner of Sales Sense Solutions where he gives CEO’s VP of Sales and Sales Professionals stellar sales results they want by implementing the tactics, tools and high performance strategies they need.
From The Street: Are You Using Spell Check in the Sales Cycle?
May 3rd
Street Talk: Are You Using Spell Check in the Sales Cycle?
Spell check is a standard application that helps prevent you from sending out communications with spelling errors. A sales cycle is the sequence of stages a person goes through when going from prospect to customer.
So why is spell check important in the sales cycle? Every stage of your sales cycle should be strong, fluid and error-free. Nothing illustrates this better than a true story.
I’m Ready to Buy….
Let’s talk cars. For most people cars are a major investment. In this scenario, after thoroughly researching the product a prospect has decided she’s ready to purchase. She went to Ford’s website and reserved a Fiesta for purchase. At this point a representative contacted her through email.
Before moving further there are three important details you need to notice here.
- The customer never called a dealership and never spoke to a representative: all of her product research was done on her own using the customer education and communication tools available to her online. How many potential prospects do you miss because your company is not providing information at this critical awareness stage?
- Ford did a good job making the information she needed available. As a result, their company made a favorable and memorable impression.
- Their website gave her an option that worked for her.
…Or I Was
A reserved car and email communication with a representative–so far so good. Now, all Ford has to do is maintain this positive momentum in order to secure the final sale. Their representative brings a brick-and-mortar dealership into the relationship so the customer can go down and make the actual purchase.
This is a hand-off point…where one level of the organization hands the process over to a final salesperson. There is much more at stake than a car. The salesperson represents the company, the Ford experience, the entire Ford brand in the eyes of the customer is now in the hands of the salesperson.
Do you have a similar “hand-off” in your organization? If prospect calls customer service are they being treated with care? Does your sales staff embrace the same ideals and level of knowledge as other departments in your organization?
Let’s see what happens between Ford and our prospect. The representative copied the salesperson from the brick-and-mortar dealership onto the email with the prospect. This allowed the representative to introduce the prospect to the salesperson and complete the hand-off.
The salesperson sends the prospect an email (names have been changed and some parts have been deleted for privacy purposes):
Subject: YOUR NEW FORD FIESTA!!!!!!
GOOD DAY JANE…
JUST WANTER TO TAKE A MOMENT TO INVITE YOU TO STOP BY TO ORDER YOUR FIESTA.PLEASE GIVE US A CALL TO SET UP A DATE AND TIME THAT IS GOOD FOR YOU TO STOP BY TO COMPLEAT YOUR ORDER.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR VALUABLE TIME,
MR. GREAT SALES MGR
FORD LINCOLN DEALERSHIP
Here is where spell check along with a few other lessons in email etiquette would be helpful.
- The excessive use of exclamation points in the greeting makes the prospect feels smothered.
- Writing in capital letters is the equivalent of screaming. After reading this the prospect’s ears are probably ringing! (Note the single exclamation point.)
- “Compleat” is completely misspelled. The ellipsis points are misused. There is no space between the two sentences that make up the body of the letter. Evidently, despite Mr. Great’s enthusiasm, he felt making a good first impression with this prospect wasn’t important enough to merit a simple spell- or grammar-check.
Wondering what the prospect is thinking after this email? Here are her words, “So do you think he’s enthusiastic enough? This email makes me not want to buy the car from them. But (sigh), no other options for Ford around here.”
Ouch.
Ford made the sale but at what expense? Incidentally, what do you think this process looked like from Ford’s perspective? Probably flawless. Think about that.
The Takeaway: every stage in a sales cycle must be checked for details, accuracy, and sensitivity to your potential customers. Your thoughts?
Mike Krause is the Chief Sales Architect and owner of Sales Sense Solutions where he gives business owners the stellar sales they want by implementing the tools, tactics, and high performance strategies they need.
