What is the Most Important Selling Technique?©
What is the Most Important Selling Technique?©
Prospecting is the most important, yet least used and taught skill in selling.
Most salespeople are never taught a Prospecting system!
Please note that Prospecting for our discussion here means actually talking to someone with the intent of making them a customer. Looking in directories for names to call on is research – not Prospecting.
The art of Prospecting has come a long way in the last few years. Telemarketing took over the Prospecting world in the 80’s early 90’s. I know one Insurance company that used a talking computer to make all their prospecting calls. Really.
But then voice mail came in and made telemarketing more of a challenge. I personally love voice mail because it allows me to leave exactly the message I want the prospect to hear. But voice mail can also put us off for a long time. That is where the importance of alternative prospecting techniques and persistence come in.
For younger salespeople, face to face Prospecting has never been a skill. They got into sales after the telemarketing boom hit, so that is all they know or maybe even direct mail, which is really expensive, but works for some products. However, you have to follow up on direct mail and that usually takes you back to telemarketing.
Now, however, I find that going into a prospect company and actually making field Prospecting calls is yielding rich rewards.
Like everything else, field Prospecting has had to adapt to the 21st Century which I feel it has done wonderfully. One of those adaptations has been that we actually use the field Prospecting wording on the phone during our telemarketing.
However, as I have said several times in the last few weeks, you can’t beat the wonders of making 2-3 field Prospecting calls a day while you are driving in the field. The way I teach this skill, they only take about 4 minutes each. So that is 8-12 minutes of Prospecting a couple of days a week.
Imagine what 6 calls a week for 40 weeks would mean to your sales life! 240 Prospecting calls in one year!!!!
We had one field Prospecting call a few weeks ago where we couldn’t find the front door. It was a plant that came right out to the street and there were cars parked all along the front of the building.
We found an open utility door at one side of the building where a couple of guys were standing so I recited my memorizes Prospecting words and one of the guys said, “you want to meet with Tom, I’ll take you to him.”
So he actually took us right through the entire plant to some offices. We met Tom, I recited my words once again and he said, “You don’t want to talk to me, you should talk with George.”
He took us outside to the front door (it faces sideways which is why we couldn’t find it originally). There was a sign on the door that said, NO SALESMAN SEEN WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT!
I recited my words to the receptionist and the next thing we knew, we were talking with George in the lobby. They have just become a client of my client company.
As we all know timing is important in sales and our timing was great with George. Imagine what might have happened if we were simply telemarketing this company and kept getting voice mail. When we finally got through it very well could have been too late! I hate to think of how much business I am losing by being “lost in voice mail.”
In conclusion, you must have a Prospecting System of some kind. I strongly recommend a complete Prospecting system that includes extensive use of field Prospecting along with tele-prospecting.
If you are a sales manager, here is a sales tip for you. If you are expecting your field sales professionals to be making Prospecting calls, every once in a while simply ask them to recite their wording for you. If they can, they are making those calls, if they can’t they aren’t.
I strongly encourage all sales managers to add a lot of Prospecting training to their overall sales training programs since Prospecting is by far the most important selling technique since it gives you the opportunity to use the rest of your skills.
Sell Well and Often,
Bill Truax
© copyright 2007 WJ Truax
PS To learn more about Prospecting using Bill’s BLITZ CALL System and to sign up for our free Prospecting Tip of the Week, go to www.BlitzCall.com
What is the Most Important Selling Technique - To learn more about this author, visit Bill Truax's Website.
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You guessed it, Prospecting. Why? Because you can’t use any of your other selling skills, ideas, or training until you have someone to show them to – a prospect.
Prospecting is the most important, yet least used and taught skill in selling.
Most salespeople are never taught a Prospecting system!
Please note that Prospecting for our discussion here means actually talking to someone with the intent of making them a customer. Looking in directories for names to call on is research – not Prospecting.
The art of Prospecting has come a long way in the last few years. Telemarketing took over the Prospecting world in the 80’s early 90’s. I know one Insurance company that used a talking computer to make all their prospecting calls. Really.
But then voice mail came in and made telemarketing more of a challenge. I personally love voice mail because it allows me to leave exactly the message I want the prospect to hear. But voice mail can also put us off for a long time. That is where the importance of alternative prospecting techniques and persistence come in.
For younger salespeople, face to face Prospecting has never been a skill. They got into sales after the telemarketing boom hit, so that is all they know or maybe even direct mail, which is really expensive, but works for some products. However, you have to follow up on direct mail and that usually takes you back to telemarketing.
Now, however, I find that going into a prospect company and actually making field Prospecting calls is yielding rich rewards.
Like everything else, field Prospecting has had to adapt to the 21st Century which I feel it has done wonderfully. One of those adaptations has been that we actually use the field Prospecting wording on the phone during our telemarketing.
However, as I have said several times in the last few weeks, you can’t beat the wonders of making 2-3 field Prospecting calls a day while you are driving in the field. The way I teach this skill, they only take about 4 minutes each. So that is 8-12 minutes of Prospecting a couple of days a week.
Imagine what 6 calls a week for 40 weeks would mean to your sales life! 240 Prospecting calls in one year!!!!
We had one field Prospecting call a few weeks ago where we couldn’t find the front door. It was a plant that came right out to the street and there were cars parked all along the front of the building.
We found an open utility door at one side of the building where a couple of guys were standing so I recited my memorizes Prospecting words and one of the guys said, “you want to meet with Tom, I’ll take you to him.”
So he actually took us right through the entire plant to some offices. We met Tom, I recited my words once again and he said, “You don’t want to talk to me, you should talk with George.”
He took us outside to the front door (it faces sideways which is why we couldn’t find it originally). There was a sign on the door that said, NO SALESMAN SEEN WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT!
I recited my words to the receptionist and the next thing we knew, we were talking with George in the lobby. They have just become a client of my client company.
As we all know timing is important in sales and our timing was great with George. Imagine what might have happened if we were simply telemarketing this company and kept getting voice mail. When we finally got through it very well could have been too late! I hate to think of how much business I am losing by being “lost in voice mail.”
In conclusion, you must have a Prospecting System of some kind. I strongly recommend a complete Prospecting system that includes extensive use of field Prospecting along with tele-prospecting.
If you are a sales manager, here is a sales tip for you. If you are expecting your field sales professionals to be making Prospecting calls, every once in a while simply ask them to recite their wording for you. If they can, they are making those calls, if they can’t they aren’t.
I strongly encourage all sales managers to add a lot of Prospecting training to their overall sales training programs since Prospecting is by far the most important selling technique since it gives you the opportunity to use the rest of your skills.
Sell Well and Often,
Bill Truax
© copyright 2007 WJ Truax
PS To learn more about Prospecting using Bill’s BLITZ CALL System and to sign up for our free Prospecting Tip of the Week, go to www.BlitzCall.com
What is the Most Important Selling Technique - To learn more about this author, visit Bill Truax'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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