Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Videos About Advertise Blog Network Contact
   

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

Featured Ebook


ebook Famous Entrepreneurs - Modern Empire Builders


Featured Ebook

More Evan Carmichael
Have A Suggestion?


Sales Lessons From Starbucks And Dell

Getting Prospects to Call You



Getting Prospects to Call You
   

This process can become so much easier to exploit if you have a prospect pool that you can encourage your sales people to follow up on. Yet, what do you do if that pool dries up?
Imagine having qualified prospects calling you…no, it’s not a dream, and it’s a real possibility if you use this simple, yet extremely powerful process. You’ll need to invest some time to develop the first step, yet, ultimately you could discover the easiest prospecting approach ever created!
The solution is to produce a white paper that reports on the biggest problems facing the prospects and customers within your industry. Then, to position yourself as ‘the credible expert’ you’ll need to write up a range of solutions designed to address these problems. You’ll then be in possession of a compelling document that you can promote for free. If you’ve correctly identified the problems then you’ll discover an avalanche of people (who happen to be great prospects for your sales people) requesting your masterpiece.
This approach is also aligned to the biggest motivational strategy on the planet; people will do anything to avoid pain and then, once they’ve avoided it, they’ll want to gain pleasure. Your report can effectively serve to highlight and reinforce your prospects’ pain then tantalise them with the pleasure they can get by implementing your solutions.
The problems you choose to highlight should be those that your organisation can remedy, so that in essence your report can create buying criteria that ideally only your organisation can satisfy. There are 3 main steps involved in creating this prospecting tool:

Step 1: Your objective is to write a report that highlights and addresses the biggest concerns that your target market are likely to be experiencing. Here are some example titles; The 5 Biggest Pitfalls to Avoid when Making Investments, The 5 Most Dangerous Trends Facing Human Resource Managers Today, 5 Issues that Prevent Profitable Buying.
When writing your report keep it objective and use a variety of quotations from
recognised experts in your market. Where possible, validate your comments with research findings and reference the sources for your information. Ideally your report should be between 6,000 – 12,000 words and focus on approximately 5 main problems. Highlight some suggested solutions that can help the reader overcome the problems.

Step 2: Use direct marketing and/or advertising to promote your report and offer it free upon request. The people that request the report will be your hottest prospects. (Would you want a report on ‘The 5 Biggest Mistakes Obese People Make When Attempting To Lose Weight’ if you were slim and healthy? Of course not, people who want to read this report will be overweight people who have a desire to lose weight!)
Only send out the report once you have got all their contact information. Whether you want the recipient to complete their information online or by phone, it’s important that you have set up a process for capturing their key information. You may want to include a couple of questions that can help you qualify their potential for your organisation’s products/services. Ensure that you send them the report immediately with a covering letter or email, confirming that you are interested in their feedback and will be in touch. Because this is a prospecting activity, it’s vital that you follow-up every request within a couple of days with an acknowledgement email or letter, so that the prospect begins to become familiar with the name of your organisation.

Step 3: Telephone every prospect who received your report and irrespective of whether they have read it or not, (in most instances you’ll soon discover that the majority of people requesting the report will not have had time to read it) ask for an appointment to discuss in more detail how you may help them with resolving some of their own specific issues. Your report will have built
your credibility and because you have already given them value, prospects will be more receptive to meeting you. You can increase the number of appointments made by asking each prospect a couple of questions that reinforce the impact of the issues mentioned in your report. Here are some examples: "What impact would an additional 1% have on your earnings from your investments?" "How do you currently measure the success of your training programs?" "How would an extended period in your suppliers’ payment terms, impact on your cash flow?"

Ultimately, a well researched report will provide you and your team with a lucrative way of generating qualified prospects and convey that you are the experts in your industry.



Getting Prospects to Call You - To learn more about this author, visit Nikki Owen's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends
[Get Copyright Permissions] E-Mail | Print | More  


Related Articles Related Articles
Summertime Blues
  Life and work continue, even in the summer! If it’s too hot, then your prospects will be in their nice, air-conditioned offices—where you should be, too, making calls. If it is a beautiful day, some people may be ou...
Part Five - Prospecting for More Sales
  Part Five of a Ten Part Series. In this series, we explore all the different avenues of prospecting necessary for a business to succeed. Think of your business as a a beautiful garden, and then consider all the ...
Sales Call Objective
  It is important for you to know what you want to happen as a result of meeting with your prospect because everything you say will lead toward that goal and you control the conversation and steer it in the right dire...
Could Your Pre-approach Letters be Missing the Mark?
  Most pre-approach letters are a terrible waste of ink, paper, and postage. They don’t add any value to the receiver. They produce poor results for the sender.
“Ten Tips For Making Effective Calls To Your Prospects, From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Competition in business today is keen and those in business need to seek a competitive edge whenever possible. A strategic approach to making calls to your prospects is one area to gain a competitive advantage. Wi...

Related Forum Posts Related Forum Posts
Small Display Ads Small Display Ads
Re: Email Etiquette Re: Email Etiquette
Email Etiquette Email Etiquette
Best - Pen Ever Best - Pen Ever
Simple way to avoid Cold Calling Simple way to avoid Cold Calling
I answer my phone I answer my phone
Alex Mondassian's blog Alex Mondassian's blog
Money I made while in School Money I made while in School

Related Forum Posts Related Businesses - Evan Elite Authors
Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales success or one of the many who have failed to change? So what are you doing to change those results? Let’s be honest, with companies moving globally and at lightening speeds, the traditional business solutions are outdated and dead. My approach moves your business out of its comfort zone and secures your competitive advantage now. If you are seeking to increase sales, build customer loyalty, create a culture of great attitudes or just achieve some sleep filled nights, then we should talk because my clients have experienced exactly those types of results. Learn more about customer loyalty at http://www.processspecialist.com/customer-loyalty.htm Give me a call at 219.759.5601 for a free strategy session. P.S. If you are seeking a motivational speaker, sales trainer or small business expert that will leave your audience smiling and remembering, please feel free to contact me at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website


The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.


 
About the Author


Nikki Owen
(Visit Nikki's Website)
Nikki Owen has dedicated the last 16 years to the development of sales professionals and sales leaders for many large international organizations. She has coached and mentored over 6,000 sales people and their leaders. In 2004 Nikki conducted the largest sales research projects ever undertaken, involving 2663 organizations to identify the 5 biggest barriers to sales success. This extensive report has been referred to in global publications as the ultimate solution to creating high-performing sales teams. Nikki is the creator of The Sales Activator® an award winning sales toolkit. As a certified Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP, Nikki is an expert with applying seeming complex techniques within a corporate sales infrastructure. Nikki lectures on sales leadership using her own case studies from her client portfolio including Shell, Barclays Bank and Zurich Life. In 2007 she became an accredited firewalking instructor with the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education and studies Quantum Physics. Nikki is the author of 'A Second Chance to Live' that was first published in 1991 by Transworld and was translated and sold in 16 different countries. She has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows and is finalising her next book titled – An Audience with Charisma based on her cutting-edge seminars that she hosts at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London.
Have A Suggestion?

View Author's Blog
Become An Author

View Author's Video
Become An Author

Free Downloads


Nikki Owen's

Complete
List Of
Sales
Articles

First Name
Last Name
Email
 
If you enjoyed this article, get Nikki Owen's Complete List of Sales Articles For FREE!

More Nikki Owen
Probing For Pain
Getting Prospects to Call You
Customer Profiles for New Business
Persuasive Sales Presentations
A Magical Selling tale
Empowering Sales Beliefs
Referral Based Selling
The Exploratory Meeting
WHEN LIFE IS HARD
Features and Benefits
Become An Author