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SALES TRAINING LONDON Word of Mouth Selling Cheap Effective
| Guest post by: Marcus Cauchi |
Article Overview: Sales is a tough old game and if you want to make your life easier there are a couple of hints and pointers in this article to help you do that ..... but do you know how to increase your close rate from 1:10 to 7:10?
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Free Download - Sales Training London: Why Aren't You Making R.E.C.O.N. Calls to Your Customers to Keep Them By Marcus Cauchi |
SALES TRAINING LONDON Word of Mouth Selling Cheap Effective
I know you probably had to queue to make your last cold call because of all the eager beavers in your company or business fighting to use the phone. No?
OK, let's face it few of us love cold calling and there's never a queue. So what can you do to ease the pressure?
Well, you've probably heard it a thousand times, referred business is the best type of business. It's between 5 to 9 times cheaper to win. You start without having to justify your existence, battling through gatekeepers, justifying why you're calling. It's much easier to say "Bob Jones asked me to call Richard. He's expecting my call" and then get shoehorned in to speak to the boss.
But there is an art to developing referrals. In the next article I'll cover leveraging your customer relationships in the form of testimonials.
REFERRALS
1. Ask for them all the time. On cold calls, on meetings, when you sign a contract, when you deliver phase 1 of a project, when you complete a project, every quarter until the customer leaves you ...... you get the picture I'm sure.
2. Be direct, ask for them.
You: "John, I need your help but I don't know if you'd be willing to give it?"
John: "Ah go on. Ask away!"
You: "It's my fault because I've been afraid to ask before now. I'm growing my business and I want to grow it by recommendation and referral. I don't suppose you know one or two (JOB TITLE)s in (INDUSTRY) who might be struggling with (PAIN1, PAIN2, PAIN3)?"
And then wait.
They may say "no". If they do are you any worse off? But if they say "yes", may I suggest you ask him to prioritise them.
YOU: "Why did you pick Andrew?"
JOHN: "He mentioned he was frustrated with (PAIN2) when I was talking to him last week."
YOU: "And you'd pick him above Jane? Why's that?"
JOHN: "Because he's having more trouble with his people in that area than the others. I think you can help him"
YOU: "Thanks John. I don't suppose I can be very cheeky and ask you for his number could I?"
JOHN: "Happy to. Here it is"
YOU: Smiling "You couldn't call him yourself and introduce me to him could you?"
JOHN: "OK"
YOU: "You couldn't do that now could you?"
JOHN: "OK, let's give him a try"
If you know John especially well or you've done a great bit of work why not knock it up a notch!
YOU: "Before you call him, can I ask; it wouldn't make sense for you to invite him out to lunch/dinner on me, and you two can catch up for a few minutes, then you can introduce me and we can see whether there's a fit between what he needs and what I do?"
Why would you do this?
A lead on average converts approximately 10% of the time.
A warm lead "Bob, expect a call from Marcus Cauchi. I think he can help you beat the sales target issues you mentioned when we last spoke. It should be worth your while" converts approximately 30% of the time
An introduction which looks like this, "Bob, I've been working with Marcus for the last 3 months. He's helped us increase our sales by 37% at the same time as helping me to drive up gross profit by nearly 86%. I think the two of you should meet because he can help you address those concerns in your business."
A warm introduction "Bob, it's been a while. I want to invite you out to dinner to catch up and to bring along someone I think you should meet. He's been working with my team for the last 3 months. He's helped us increase our sales by 37% at the same time as helping me to drive up gross profit by nearly 86%. I think the two of you should meet because you'll get on and I'm pretty sure he can help you make similar improvements in your business. What date works for you next week?". These have between a 70-90% conversion rate in my experience.
Which type of referral do you prefer?
Remember, if you don't ask you probably won't get .....
(C) Marcus Cauchi & Sandler Systems Inc 2007
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Article Tags: Bob Jones, Marcus Cauchi
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About the Author: Marcus Cauchi RSS for Marcus's articles - Visit Marcus's website Click here to visit Marcus's website   Sales Training London Why I Plan to Fail Often and You Might Too Sales Training London Credibility in Sales Doesnt Come From What You Tell Sales Training London Birth Order Selling Strategies Sales Training London Why Arent You Making RECON Calls to Your Customers to Keep Them Sales Training London What Opportunity To Improve Are You Wasting |
Related Forum Posts
Measuring Word of mouth
- [quote="jvprosperity":2l2ujat4]I couldn't find the Part 1 Doctrine on the site but I believe from reading the blog posts it had to do with the distractions entrepreneurs and their customers face daily. He may have also talked about Word of Mouth and the true way of measuring it.[/quote:2l2ujat4]
Hi Andy,
So how can one measure "Word of Mouth" marketing then?
Re: What's Up With Word Clouds?
- I would like to see Word Clouds used in conjunction with a Survey. I've been experimenting with Word Clouds within Google Docs forms using the advanced Word Cloud Widget.
Word of Mouth
- Word of Mouth marketing by its very nature takes time. You need to develop relationships before people will refer you.
Why not boost it a little by making a few partnerships? You could partner with a gym or put on seminars. Think who else targets the same people and how you can work with them and help them.
You can also write articles and become and expert in your field - put them online, write a column for a community paper on health, etc.
Even a door to door flyer drop with a simple one pager can help drive some clients.
Good luck!
Where I want WSI to be in Dec 31 2007
- Here are my goals for end of 2007
Employees
- SEO specialist
- admin assistant
- sales rep
- designer/data entry
- copy writer (may be outsourced)
Target market (client base)
manufacturers 10-50 million in revenue looking for integrated marketing solution ranging from 10k - 30k
Systems
- crm fully utilized
- project management smooth process
- sales and marketing to continuously generate leads
SALES (My big Goal to focus on )
Last years sales revenue was $220K
This year we want to hit $500K - approx 40k per month
Re: Free Word-Count Tool
- Hi David,
Thanks for the link. I will only use it anyway if I am not using Microsoft Word
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