What Are You Really Selling
What Are You Really Selling
A friend called me and asked if I was available that afternoon to do a workshop for him and one division of his sales team. He was insistent that I do it that day because he was concerned about what was going on.
As it happened, I was able to shuffle some other activities around and went to his office to see what the problem was.
The problem was simple to identify... his team weren't making anywhere near enough appointments from their phone calls. In fact, the conversion rate from call to appointment was around 3% which is very low, especially for their business.
I did some short role-plays to find out what they were saying and I was shocked. They sounded like telemarketers and we all know what to do when they call - get rid of them.
The calls started with lines like "Hello Mr Taylor, how are you today? My name is Freddy Creamcheese from Xavier Corporation. We're a 12 year old Brisbane Company with an impeccable track record of success in our field. We do (blah, blah, blah...)"
No wonder they were getting no response; they were boring the socks off their prospects.
When you're trying to get face to face with prospects, imagine for a moment what may be happening in their day at the time you call...
There's a tax account to be paid; they're worrying about how to meet next week's payroll, a key employee just rang in sick, a rep tells them a major client is threatening to go elsewhere, and you ring to brag about how great your company is.
You wonder why you get the rough end of the pineapple?
Here are some suggestions to help you get a better result...
When you've identified yourself, ask permission to take 30 seconds of their time. When you have the go-ahead, give them a short, snappy delivery that says what your company does that can help them, and ask if they can spare a few minutes to talk about how your company solves a problem that you suspect they're having.
Your single goal is to get the appointment, NOT make a sale. That's why you want the meeting; to identify if they're a potential buyer for your service.
It might go like this: "Hi, this is James Yuille of IMA Group, Sales and Marketing Consultants. Have you 30 seconds to talk right now?" (Yes) "Thank you. I was looking to see if you would be willing to meet for an obligation-free chat over a coffee to talk about how we can help you can get more clients with less effort"
If they say Yes, I've achieved my goal. I just fix a time and it's done. If they say No, then I'll ask if I can send them an email invitation to joining my Sales Tips newsletter subscription. A No to that is impersonal; it's not refusing me, just my newsletter, so I don't take it personally. I just move on to the next call.
The call takes one minute.
If you're struggling for prospects right now, analyse what you're really selling (in my case, more clients with less effort, not sales and marketing consultancy) and make some calls.
What Are You Really Selling - To learn more about this author, visit James Yuille's Website.
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I reached an amazing conclusion recently... I'm convinced that most people don't know what they're really selling.
A friend called me and asked if I was available that afternoon to do a workshop for him and one division of his sales team. He was insistent that I do it that day because he was concerned about what was going on.
As it happened, I was able to shuffle some other activities around and went to his office to see what the problem was.
The problem was simple to identify... his team weren't making anywhere near enough appointments from their phone calls. In fact, the conversion rate from call to appointment was around 3% which is very low, especially for their business.
I did some short role-plays to find out what they were saying and I was shocked. They sounded like telemarketers and we all know what to do when they call - get rid of them.
The calls started with lines like "Hello Mr Taylor, how are you today? My name is Freddy Creamcheese from Xavier Corporation. We're a 12 year old Brisbane Company with an impeccable track record of success in our field. We do (blah, blah, blah...)"
No wonder they were getting no response; they were boring the socks off their prospects.
When you're trying to get face to face with prospects, imagine for a moment what may be happening in their day at the time you call...
There's a tax account to be paid; they're worrying about how to meet next week's payroll, a key employee just rang in sick, a rep tells them a major client is threatening to go elsewhere, and you ring to brag about how great your company is.
You wonder why you get the rough end of the pineapple?
Here are some suggestions to help you get a better result...
When you've identified yourself, ask permission to take 30 seconds of their time. When you have the go-ahead, give them a short, snappy delivery that says what your company does that can help them, and ask if they can spare a few minutes to talk about how your company solves a problem that you suspect they're having.
Your single goal is to get the appointment, NOT make a sale. That's why you want the meeting; to identify if they're a potential buyer for your service.
It might go like this: "Hi, this is James Yuille of IMA Group, Sales and Marketing Consultants. Have you 30 seconds to talk right now?" (Yes) "Thank you. I was looking to see if you would be willing to meet for an obligation-free chat over a coffee to talk about how we can help you can get more clients with less effort"
If they say Yes, I've achieved my goal. I just fix a time and it's done. If they say No, then I'll ask if I can send them an email invitation to joining my Sales Tips newsletter subscription. A No to that is impersonal; it's not refusing me, just my newsletter, so I don't take it personally. I just move on to the next call.
The call takes one minute.
If you're struggling for prospects right now, analyse what you're really selling (in my case, more clients with less effort, not sales and marketing consultancy) and make some calls.
What Are You Really Selling - To learn more about this author, visit James Yuille's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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