I want to talk to the Sales Manager

Today we got a cold call from presumably a telemarketer. They asked for the sales manager, when our secretary (uh hum... Administrative Assistant) asked why, they said they would answer that when the sales manager answered.
So she took his number and hung up.
I'll save the suspense-- I am not calling him back.

He did many things wrong. All of them are good for us, so lets take a look.

1. He didn't know my name. If your going to cold call- get an updated list with names. If your not willing to do that quit now and go work at Gap or something.
2. Be NICE! That Administrative Assistant that answered- yeah she is going to do that every time you call. So I would make her my friend. For tips on that read this.
3. (This could really be an extension of 2) Say why your calling! Even if we are doing business your attitude is not getting me past our gatekeeper.

Its been about a year since I last posted about effective use of the phone. But I think deserves a revisit.

Here is what I do to have a successful sales call.

1. Names, Names, Names.
   - Whoever answered the phone I addressed them by their name. And immediately told them my name and the company I was with. By addressing the person by their name it made the conversation much more personal. And I acknowledged them, and not the person I was trying to get to.
   
   "Hi Denise, this is Mike with ACT,Inc.[...]"
   
   
   
2. Admit defeat right-away
   - I wasn't afraid to let the person on the other end know that we had dropped the ball and needed to update our information. In one word-honesty. No smoke and mirrors here, we lost contact and I want to re-establish it.
   
   "[...] I was calling because somehow we lost contact with Gene Kelly at your company. I know it shouldn't have happened, but I was hoping to update his email address. He had inquired about our product at the ASTD trade show and I was hoping to send him an email follow-up."
   
   If Gene didn't work there: "Ok, so it looks like my info is really out of date, do you by chance know who replaced them? And if so could I have their name?"
   
   
   
3. My number-YOU BET!
   - Because I wanted someones information I wanted to make sure they had mine, so I offered my contact information to them. That way if the call got interrupted or they received another call the ball was in their court. Basically I offered trust.
   
   "Just in case we get cut off, I want to give you my direct line, that way if they have any questions they can contact me."
   
   
   
4. More than happy to email
   -I really didn't need to talk to the person, and the secretary being the adamant gate-keeper most of the time didn't want me too, I knew that my information could be ascertained from them. So I asked for what I needed and told them why and what I was planning to do with the information.
   
   "I really don't need to talk to Gene, I am just looking to update his email address. That way I can just send him the information he needs and he can view it whenever he wants."
   
   
   
5. Thanks, I really appreciate your help.
   -After I received the info from the person I thanked them personally for helping me. And in the show of gratitude I used their name.
   
   "Denise I wanted to thank you for taking the time to help me out. I am going to email that information to Gene, and if either of you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me."

tags technorati : Sales Tools Secretary Customer Contact Information Sales Call Creativity Customer Retention Relationship Building Sales Tools

How big is your radar?

Everyday we are blasted with tons of emails. In fact I have days when I never think they will stop coming in.

A few months ago we had a major announcement that I sent out which was effective today. (I sent it on November 20th to be exact.) I alerted people to the change and warned that I would need their feedback.

Today the change came. Guess how many phone calls I received?

The problem was everyone's radar wasn't big enough. They didn't see how the change effects them until its within striking distance. It was a tiny blip on the screen. They didn't pay attention to the blip until it got really close.

Similar to our personal space theory of Americans- you don't bug me until you are within 4 feet of me.

Is this a phenomenon? Could be. I know many salespeople who seem to have short sighted vision. But not everyone.

So my question to is how big is your radar? Do you catch things right as they too close to you? Or do you have the vision to see them coming from way off in the distance and anticipate what action is needed?

The latter being an important characteristic in dealing with customer problems. By the time the customer calls in, it has already been a problem simmering for a while. Just not to us. To us- it didn't become a problem until our phone rang.

Here's an Idea for you...
Solicit feedback from your users. In Seth's book, he mentions that customer to customer interaction can really help to build a brand and increase sales- in fact he points to it as one of the future states of marketing. I agree. I am not advocating you put up comments boxes in your store, slapping a "How's my driving" sticker on every car. But change the philosophy of your company. The response rates of those items are low, because many people feel as though their information goes into a black whole. No, doing those things give CEO's a warm fuzzy. We live in the real world, and want to know what people honestly think.
So what do we do?
Lets make it part of our conversation. This will require training, but incorporate customer learning into every salesperson's life. When they go to see a customer they have a goal- increase the business and the sale. Lets add to that- increase our understanding of how to improve ourselves. Salespeople are instinctively good at reading people- that is why we are in sales. So lets get instinctively good at gathering feedback.

Technorati Tags: Customer Service Relationship Building Sales Tools Personal Space Sales Insight

Spontaneous Snowball fight

Shortly after finishing a "team building" excercise at work yesterday we all lumbered out to our cars on the way to a company dinner.

What happened next had the potential to educate our leadership team beyond reasoning.

It was a snowball fight.

As we exited the building, to our amazement it had snowed most of the day. As our group made its way to the parking lot the packed powder began to fly.

So why is this important?

All day we worked on team building. Standard "group think" answers where given and the veterans of the group paid each other the lip service they commanded.

But when the snow started flying, the leadership abilities became crystal clear. You could see those who could quickly adapt to a changing environment- one with baseball size packs of snow flying at you. You also saw others that could command and delegate to ensure victory. It also became apparent those that can immediately cut loose and be comfortable with co-workers.

What's the Point?
Planning can produce the results you wish. However, spontaneity can shed light on the less obvious.
And snowball fights are just plain fun!

Whats your job?

I think I would like to rewrite my job title.

Really. I don't see myself as a salesperson anymore.

Think of it. When was the last time you helped inform your customer into a decision? With the information age upon us (that's almost as bad a name as Cyber- Monday), consumers have access to way more information than in years past.

Consumers can make an educated decision. In fact, Consumers like to feel as though they are making an educated decision.

They don't needs salespeople anymore. What they need are reassurance people.

What are reassurance people? These are individuals who should be working to reassure prospects and current clients that they have made the right decision to purchase from them. That the customer is right, is making a good decision, and is purchasing correctly.

A while back a friend asked my opinion about a purchase. She said, "I am asking you this so you can reassure me that I made the right decision, not because I want your opinion."

This is the new job of a salesperson.

Technorati Tags: Sales Tools Differentiation

R.I.P.- Door-to-door selling

Every Thursday evening this summer I religiously sat in front of the television and watched Mad Men on AMC. Thanks to my friend Nick who pointed it out, I became addicted very quickly.

That being said. In episode 11 a 1960's suburban housewife (Betty, wife of the main character) is called on one day by a door to door salesman who is selling air conditioners. Now, set aside all of the 1960-isms, think for one second about the success of a door to door salesman back then versus now.

Then: The chances of the door being opened were pretty high. Most housewives in suburbia stayed home, you could target affluent neighborhoods and get a good 'open door' rate.

Now: The chances of the door being opened are relatively slim. On the off-chance one is open it could be someone who works overnight. I Googled "door to door salesman" looking for a picture for this post and found this article. It sheds even more light on the environment that salespeople would face if they continued to do door to door sales.

So in this series I want to look at what trends in what I will call the modern era (1960-present) of selling that have died off. The first being door-to-door selling.

When did "the knock on the door" become more costly than a phone call? There had to have been one day when the CEO of Electrolux sent a memo to his sales staff calling them in off the streets.

When that day did happen what was the results and how did that change the landscape of sales? We can all look back now and see the that the next logical step in sales was the cold call and the catalog. However that is hindsight, so what was their foresight?

The point of all of this is to see what will be changing in our landscape and what we can do to anticipate those changes. I have to believe that one day sales will evolve from relationship selling to what?

Please post your comments.

Random Crap for Sale

I check woot.com everyday for two reasons.

1. They inspire me to write good copy. Seriously. If you need a boost in the creative rear (pun intended) woot.com is a great place to go.
2. I like seeing what the deal is-because it changes daily.
   

So when they were selling a bag of crap today I was intrigued.

What? How-can-you-sell-that? Has the world gone mad?

Nope.

Check out the copy that they wrote.

Bag O’ Crap XXI

Wait, wait, why are you clicking that button? Don't click! You don't want this junk. Seriously, clicking that I WANT ONE button is a one-way ticket to disappointment and shame. You'll cram a few useless clumps of consumer flotsam into your life, be out like eight bucks, and for what? For what? What is the sound of one hand crapping?

If you must proceed, CHECK THIS OUT. Somebody misunderstands this concept every time, so please READ THE BIG PRINT:
1. WHEN YOU ORDER THIS ITEM, YOU’RE ORDERING ONE (1) BAG WITH up to THREE (3) PIECES OF CRAP IN IT.
2. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SELECTING THE QUANTITY: THREE WHEN YOU ORDER.
3. YOU WILL WASTE FREIGHT IF YOU ORDER FEWER THAN THREE. And you’ll get less crap. Wait, why is that bad again? Do you people really need more crap?

You’re only getting one bag, no matter what. The order quantity you select is the number of crappy items we’ll put in your bag. Select THREE. Later, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of taunting the surprisingly large number of less observant Wooters who ordered less than THREE.
As usual, we promise nothing about the quality or the desirability of these bags or their contents, except to promise that their quality will be low and their desirability will be non-existent. The best quantity you could possibly order would be ZERO.

THE HOLY CRAP COMMANDMENTS v2.0:
I. Thou shalt expect nothing beyond one bag of some kind and your chosen quantity of crappy items (which should be THREE).
II. Thou shalt not whine and complain when some people’s crap turns out to be nicer than yours.
III. Thou shalt take a moment to consider whether you might be better off just not buying this crap.
IV. Thou shalt not order just one crap and blame it on anything but your own inattention.
V. To paraphrase Stephen Stills, shalt thou not get the crap you want, want the crap you get.
The crap will be shipped via SmartPost, the crappiest shipping method available to us.

So you saw what they did there right?

First of all its woot.com, they have built a reputation with their customers that they are unique, they are not for everyone, and they are perfectly happy with that.

But look at how the marketing department addressed this problem (because honestly selling a bag of crap is exactly that).They didn't see the problem of selling the bag of crap, they only saw a problem of how many items can they convince someone to buy. So they just starting closing the sale right in the description.

Wow. What a great concept! They got this internet thing down perfectly.

Here's why.

• I went to the website with the idea that I more than likely would buy something if it was cheap.

• A $1 is cheap and really $3 bucks isn't much more, so yeah. Sign me up, I'll take 3.

• So rather than trying to sell me, the moved in for the kill right away, and just closing the sale by telling me I need to make sure there is 3 in quantity of the order. And if I don't put a 3 in the quantity I am stupid and getting taken advantage of.

Wait. I am not stupid, I know that I can order 3. I'll show them, I will put 4 in the quantity and press checkout!
Rats! Its already sold out. Now I really want one! Hang on. One what? One bag of crap that someone else just bought? Yup. Now I feel left out.


Here's an idea for you...
When was the last time you prematurely went for the jugular right away with a sale? I work with salespeople everyday, and every day I see them being very timid about closing the sale.

Stop being timid!

Go in for the kill, worst case scenario they will say NO. But in that 'No' your going to find out a key hurdle you needed to overcome a while ago. So now you can start addressing it.

Now, I wouldn't advise you to tell your customers you think they are stupid. But you should know that people don't like to feel stupid. So perhaps we should point out how smart other companies have been because they bought your product.

So what have we learned.
If you have a great reputation you can sell crap in a bag. Check that, you can sell out of crap in a bag.And we need to take a page from woot's book and start closing the sale sooner. They went in for the kill on a bag of crap--and sold out. If they can sell out of crap, why can't we sell the out of the best product in the world?

Technorati Tags: Advertising Creativity Positioning Sales Tools woot.com great copy inspiration

__________________________________________________________________


The ebook is here!

Friends first, customers second--the approaches I use for every sale, every time.

Click here to download it for FREE from my website!

Friends first, customers second.

The ebook is here!

Friends first, customers second--the approaches I use for every sale, every time.

Click here to download it for FREE from my website! And you can (if you like) make a donation, but its not required.

It is required is that you blog, email, and share this with your friends and colleagues. And while you are at add me as a friend on myspace.

tags technorati : Branding Sales Tools Free ebook Mike Gerholdt

Mark your calendar

May 21st, a FREE eBook for everyone that is in sales.




In the meantime check out my new site that will house the eBook.

http://mikegerholdt.googlepages.com

Technorati Tags: Sales tools Free sales eBook

Put your customers to work

By all means this isn't a new concept, but in a meeting a few days ago it was scoffed at when I mentioned it.

The concept I proposed was putting our customers to work for us, making them the evangelists for our new program.

Not really something my company embraced.

In fact they were far from it. Too bad really, because your best customers can be better than some of your salespeople. They already have the trust, rapport, and correct message for the audience they speak to. But lets get into that another time. Or read this great blog by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.

So for the sake of argument let's say that my company (or yours) embraced the idea. How easy would you make it to spread the word for them? Would you do anything at all? And more importantly, what would you do for them?

Fortunately for us we can turn to our political candidates for the answers. Yup, the candidates are now doing a fantastic job of recruiting every supporter to help spread the word. This last Sunday (Earth Day) I attended a rally in Iowa City for Barack Obama. Later that night, I went to his website to see what else I could learn. His site is a case study in using word of mouth and social networking for recruitment. You can set up a personal profile, find other supporters in your area, blog to other members, and watch videos.

What does this all sound like?

Hmm.

Maybe myspace, blogger, and youtube all wrapped into one. Of course he has links to profiles on all the social networking sites, but the best part is its one stop shopping. Everything I need is located in one location, and the best part is that it is user friendly, even for those a little less web-saavy.

The Selling Point:
Whether or not you are actively engaged in making your customers do work for you, some of them have the ability to move mountains. But they can only do so if they are properly equipped. So why not start today by setting up a page so they can watch videos of customer testimonies, you could have youtube host it. Make it easy for them to set up a members or customers area to find other companies looking for the same solution that you provide. And give them the tools to post everything they find to a blog or social profile. Chances are your customers outnumber your salespeople, why not properly equip them to spread the word?

Who knows they may be motivated to do this...

Technorati Tags: Creativity Lead Generation Sales Tools Church of the Customer Ben McConnell Barack Obama Word of Mouth Advertising

Be unexpected.

Scott reminds us the importance of a great customer greeting. They know what to expect when they walk into a store or pick up the phone and already have a pre-programmed answer for you.

But what if you catch them off guard?

Read his post: From greet to great.

And remember the customer experience is everything that touches the customer.

Technorati Tags: Differentiation Retail Sales Tools Scott Ginsberg

That reminds me...

I was reminded of a great sales tip today.

Talk to your customers like you do your friends.

What do I mean? Be yourself, be personable and most of all be honest. All of your friends have these traits and you would probably buy something from them. So make sure you project those same qualities to your customers.

Its amazing how quickly customers can sniff out a lack of confidence.

Technorati Tags: Sales reminders customer interaction Customer Service Relationship Building Sales Tools

Getting what you want

The secretary, every salesperson's nightmare! They are the ones charged with keeping the evil salespeople from getting in-touch with decision makers. For fear that WE in our snidely ways will somehow single-handedly talk that person into buying something that will ultimately bankrupt the company or something worse.

So today when I volunteered to help a college get some of her old leads and contacts info up-to-date, (yes I know it should have never been out of date to begin with, but we will deal with that issue another time) I knew that it would be an uphill battle. In some cases I had to find out if that person still worked for the company, and if not who replaced them. And in other cases why we simply haven't contacted them. All this without looking like a buffoon or a telemarketer digging for a quick sale. Since all I needed was the contact info-and not the real person I took a different approach.

Rather than preach to you the best way to do this. I am going to tell you the way I did it, feel free to pick apart, or use it to your advantage. That's what this blog is for.

Here is what I did to have a successful sales call.

1. Names, Names, Names.
   - Whoever answered the phone I addressed them by their name. And immediately told them my name and the company I was with. By addressing the person by their name it made the conversation much more personal. And I acknowledged them, and not the person I was trying to get to.
   
   "Hi Denise, this is Mike with ACT,Inc.[...]"
   
   
   
2. Admit defeat right-away
   - I wasn't afraid to let the person on the other end know that we had dropped the ball and needed to update our information. In one word-honesty. No smoke and mirrors here, we lost contact and I want to re-establish it.
   
   "[...] I was calling because somehow we lost contact with Gene Kelly at your company. I know it shouldn't have happened, but I was hoping to update his email address. He had inquired about our product at the ASTD trade show and I was hoping to send him an email follow-up."
   
   If Gene didn't work there: "Ok, so it looks like my info is really out of date, do you by chance know who replaced them? And if so could I have their name?"
   
   
   
3. My number-YOU BET!
   - Because I wanted someone's information I wanted to make sure they had mine, so I offered my contact information to them. That way if the call got interruped or they received another call the ball was in their court. Basically I offered trust.
   
   "Just in case we get cut off, I want to give you my direct line, that way if they have any questions they can contact me."
   
   
   
4. More than happy to email
   -I really didn't need to talk to the person, and the secretary being the adamant gate-keeper most of the time didn't want me too, I knew that my information could be assertained from them. So I asked for what I needed and told them why and what I was planning to do with the information.
   
   "I really don't need to talk to Gene, I am just looking to update his email address. That way I can just send him the information he needs and he can view it whenever he wants."
   
   
   
5. Thanks, I really appreciate your help.
   -After I received the info from the person I thanked them personally for helping me. And in the show of gratitude I used their name.
   
   "Denise I wanted to thank you for taking the time to help me out. I am going to email that information to Gene, and if either of you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me."

At the end of my calling adventure, I had a 99% success rate (one person didn't answer the phone). And most every call ended with the person saying "Wow, that was easy I wish more calls were like this!" To me that one sentence is the true measure of how good your phone skills are.

The Selling Point:
Secretaries are used to being overlooked and often trampled on when it comes to salespeople. I make the secretary my best friend, often I don't even try to get to the decision maker on the first call. Let's face it, sales is about relationships, and if you only view the relationship with the decision maker as important--its time to change jobs. Some of my biggest sales came from never talking directly to the money-person. Instead I empowered the secretary, it gave them a sense of importance and gratitude. And I was never afraid to just be human on the phone, if I made a mistake, or wasn't sure if I could get to the person I needed I admitted to it. Sometimes I will even jokingly comment on what a good job they are doing preventing me from getting through.

tags technorati : Sales Tools Secretary Customer Contact Information Sales Call Creativity Customer Retention Relationship Building Sales Tools

The dreaded fishbowl

This weeks sales tool is not what you should add. But what you should take away. And smash!

I call it the "Trade show Fishbowl." You know exactly what I am talking about. It's that bowl you put out when you are at a trade show with the promise that everyone who enters could receive a free iPod or a gift card. You know you are guilty of doing it, I know I am. I will admit to it.

STOP PUTTING THE FISHBOWL OUT!!!

I am not sure when CEO's decided that the measure of success at a trade show was based on the number of inquiries you had received. But it happened and to respond to that added pressure we all started to put out fish bowls to garner more inquiries. What we find out is that we receive a whole bunch of names of people interested in winning an iPod. Perfect! If your in the iPod give-away business. Of which I am not.

Sure it's great to get inquiries while your at a trade show, but that shouldn't be the measure of success. Trade shows offer the chance to interact with your clients on a neutral playing field. They also give you a chance to scope out your competition and most importantly gauge the pulse of your industry. I could go on, but you get the point.

The Selling Point: Determine your goal of a trade show early on in the planning process. Make sure that you have at least one person from your sales team there to work the booth and qualify the inquiries on the spot. And most importantly, gather quality information for your sales team.

And the fish bowl...well I am sure that your secretary would love a goldfish.

CRM: friend or foe?

My company spends upwards of $15K per year for our CRM tool. And let me tell you it's a Ferrari when it comes to customer management tools.

This got me thinking. What are some key points for you to consider when getting a CRM ?

1. Involve your sales people. This should be a no-brainer, but start out by asking them what they want in CRM. After all they will be the ones using it the most.
2. Talk to your Marketing Dept. Will they be using this as a means of organizing and building lists? If not, what will they be using?
   
3. Do your research. There many CRM systems out there. You need to decide if a web-based one is the best, or if software is the best. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
4. Make sure it fits your organization. Determine if this will be the end all be all for you. Are you going to run you inventory out of it? What about billing and P.O.'s will they part of it? Is this just a marketing tool only?
5. Get the best training package they offer. If they don't offer training, walk away. The best CRM isn't worth a nickel if your sales team doesn't use it effectively.
6. Ask IT. You may not interact with your IT people a lot. But when it comes to a CRM system they will be your best friend. If you decide to purchase software make sure they are involved in every level of the decision making process. They will also be able to assess what works best on a Mac or PC.
   
7. Emphasize data quality. The field is there for a reason. If your not interested in how many employees an organization has make sure the field doesn't exist. Sales people don't like to look at clutter. For that fact I don't anyone that does, so make sure you are capturing relevant information that is needed to move the sale forward.
8. Data Export & Import. What is the ease of use when importing vast amounts of information. And lets say you outgrow your CRM, how easy is it to get all of the data out?
9. Features. Can you save documents and other company info into the CRM? What about the reporting features? And for that fact how useful are the reports?
10. Flexibility. This is the most important thing to consider. Not all of your sales people will sell using the same techniques. The same can be held true when using a CRM. Every sales person will use it differently so it is vital that it can be adapted to each user in order to maximize its use.
    

The Selling Point: Too many cooks will spoil the stew. You don't need to involve your whole organization when making a decision. It may be tempting but you have to resist. A CRM is only as good as someone that manages it, so make sure they stay on top of what fields need to be there, and what doesn't. When it comes down to it, your salespeople will have to embrace the CRM you choose, so choose wisely. The reason you are getting a CRM is to help your staff sell more effectively than they do now. Not to create more work for them.

Add to your tool box...

[Beginning today I am going to post a weekly sales tool for you to use, view, or interact with. The hope being it improves you as a salesperson. Or increases your knowledge about sales and marketing.]

Janine at Vertical Response points us to a great website in her blog that I want to be the first item in our tool box.

www.sellingpower.com

Specifically I would like to point you to this page and a test called the Hunter-Farmer Test. I think this is an excellent tool for each of us to use when evaluating which position in sales we would excel in. The Test only takes five or ten minutes, and they will email you a nice word document informing you which end of the spectrum you fall in.

So are you a hunter or a farmer?

Ring ring!

It goes without saying that the "right hand" of any salesperson is the phone. Phoning is timely, interactive, and personal–the perfect combination of assets for building a relationship.*

When I started in sales I failed over the phone. We are talking crash-and-burn. And I didn't know why! I couldn't get an appointment, much less sell anything. My ship was sinking and I had to find a way to plug the holes quickly or start looking for a new job.

So I went a bought a book about relationships. Not a book about sales.

I turned to the chapter about talking over the phone. And I began soaking up every word on every page. It became clear to me that I wasn't listening to person at the other end. And not just the words coming out of there mouth, but the tone and inflection in their voice. The little "non-verbal" cues they were giving me.

The Selling Point: Some of the best advice about sales is not always found in a book written about sales. I didn't have a problem selling I had a problem developing relationships. Since I had to learn how to develop a relationship with my customer over the phone, it only seemed natural to read a book about relationships. My best advice for you is to not always jump to the business section of your local bookstore when you are looking for an answer.

* Quote taken from Lead Generation for the Complex Sale.