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Six Reasons the Four-Step Contact Process Works
Recently we shared our “secret sauce” for getting in front of prospects, known as the Four-Step Contact Process. But what makes this process so successful? It boils down to six simple reasons. As indicated in the name, the Four-Step Contact Process is a process that allows you to systematize your sales efforts. Systems reveal what…
Make Your Database Sales Ready
“You are only as good as your data.” Nowhere is this phrase truer than in sales. Should you take the time to organize your database? Will the effort be worth it? In short: you can’t afford not to! Whether you are trying to leverage the efforts of an experienced sales rep or set a new…
Improve Your Outreach Response Rates
Low Response Rates in Sales Outreach: A Prospect Problem? It’s every salesperson’s fantasy: The CEO of Company X – with whom you have never had contact – calls to say she has heard about your product and wants to place an order immediately. It’s a nice dream, and for a handful of companies, this scenario…
Putting the Right Team in Place to Close
Having the right team in place for your sales process can formulate your next win, or loss. Which will it be for you? Do you have the right people in the right roles to secure your next win? Is this scenario familiar? You’ve finally landed a follow-up meeting with that elusive prospect. Your PowerPoint presentation…
Sit and Wait is not a Sales Strategy. It's an excuse.
Patience may be a virtue but adopting a wait-and-see attitude in the sales process can cost you the deal. Allowing the prospect to control your sales cadence — the series of activities and contacts that take a lead to a customer — is a surefire way to delay, or even prevent, the close. Those not…
Changing the Money Mindset
Does talking about money make you anxious or uncomfortable? If so, you are in good company. Whether in personal or professional settings, discussing money can make even the most confident of us distressed. What is it about money that causes such discomfort? Many financial taboos are rooted in history and culture. In the early 1900’s…
Email is (almost) Everything
In the world of sales, a face-to-face meeting reigns supreme as the preferred method of interaction. However, getting in front of a potential customer can be a challenge if not approached properly. While phone calls are effective, more and more people in business are opting for email over telephone conversations. The Radicati Group, which collects…
Humanizing the Sales Process
Often, the process of selling is reduced to words like target, lead, prospect, and buyer. Potential customers are mapped to a pipeline; reports reflect numbers. Entry level salespeople are hyper-focused on meeting quotas and CEOs who haven’t been trained in sales swoop in for the close. While there is nothing wrong with any of the…
Get Paid for Persistence
Is this scenario familiar? You’ve done your research, identified a strong prospect, and initiated contact. You’ve had a pleasant and promising conversation. Yet, though your initial interaction was positive, your follow-up email or call remains unanswered. Why has your momentum with this highly-qualified, “you-need-what-I’m-selling” prospect stalled? What does it REALLY take to get through to…
How to Uncover Your Prospect's Budget
MONEY. What, exactly, is it that makes many people uncomfortable talking about money? After all, it’s said that “money makes the world go ‘round.” Yet even given its pervasiveness, discussing finances can be emotionally charged or seen as taboo. Social conditioning plays a large role in the reluctance to have conversations about money. In her…
Trade Shows: More than just a fancy booth
You have a pull-up banner, logoed apparel, and snazzy promotional products. Business cards and brochures are printed, and your booth backdrop is packed and ready to be shipped to the convention center. You’re all set for the trade show, right? Not quite yet! None of these items will guarantee a successful outcome — customers! —…
Silence is a Sales Strength
In comedy, well-placed silence is crucial to evoking an audience reaction. These breaks – referred to as “pregnant pauses” — give the crowd time to absorb the joke and react with laughter. But comedians aren’t the only group that benefit from exaggerated gaps in conversation. Pregnant pauses are also useful to employ in the sales…
Chemistry is great (but it’s not a sales strategy!)
We’ve all heard stories — and experienced it ourselves — of two people immediately hitting it off, perhaps even falling in love at first sight. This instant attraction, often referred to as “chemistry”, is a mutual feeling of connection that transcends the spoken word. Chemistry doesn’t have to be romantic. It can happen anytime we…
Breaking Up with a Client
Happy 2018! January offers a fresh start, a time when we make resolutions to do better, to be better. It’s also an opportunity to take stock of your business by asking three “W” questions: WHAT: Are we doing the work we want to/should be doing? WHO: Are we working for the right customer? WHY: Is…
How to Derail "Send me the presentation."
“Send me the presentation.” As a salesperson, these four words are equivalent to the kiss of death for a burgeoning business relationship. In my experience, this request is (polite) code for, “I am remotely interested, but not wowed enough to take this relationship further.” Or perhaps, “There are some good things here, so I’m going…
Measuring the Hunch
Intuition is a powerful tool in a business setting. Sometimes, a situation just “feels” right (or wrong) and it makes sense to trust our instincts. However, relying on hunches shouldn’t be the basis for your sales strategy. But what if you could measure those hunches? What if you could take a feeling and turn it…
How to (REALLY) Get Through to Your Prospect
Aim to find three prospects inside the company: decision makers, influencers, or someone who will refer you to the right person. When clients have databases built for the purpose of selling to their ideal prospects, most of what we see is an attempt to reach only one person, per company- a division head, VP, or…
4 Simple Steps to Describe Your Company and Your Client
There’s that time when I walk into a room and see smiles or concerning eyes attached to a face with attentive ears and I hear the many voices sending a low, escalating rumble throughout the room. This is networking. At my left and at my right, there’s a hand to shake, a smile to give,…
How to Set That Meeting Sooner
Selling – it’s about the speed. Many aspects you can’t control, but the parts you can, take charge, lead the process, wait for nothing you don’t have to. I’ve witnessed many sales professionals, be it the employee or the CEO (if they are the salesforce), be passive in getting that call or meeting with the…
How Much Money Is In Your Pipeline?
Do you know? Can you quantify what’s in there? Can you reasonably estimate the likelihood of close and the time it will take to get there? A client had with a tall order to nearly double revenue during a specified period of time. My question: “What’s in the pipeline?” Their answer, “I don’t know”. How…
Can a Communal Mindset Help You Close a Sale?
I had an insightful conversation with a missionary to Haiti, where two of my children are from. She spoke of a communal mindset where people are not inclined to “get ahead” of the pack. For those that do advance, what is gained belongs to the community. This philosophy is opposite of our American concept of…
How Yoga Improved the Sales Process
An a-ha moment from an interesting place. In yoga class the other morning, the teacher said, “Rather than criticize your body for what you can’t do, just make an observation.” That comment redirected my thinking through a frustrating work situation. Our principles and methods for lead generation, managing the sales cycle, and closing deals rely…
Getting A Response To Your Email
Scenario: Someone gave you a good lead or you’ve developed a lead yourself over time. These leads warrant pursuit. In either case, they’re at the top of your list to contact – whether they’re a new prospect or someone in your pipeline. The secret to getting a response from someone is to not just use…
Where Work Ends and Life Begins
On a note that has nothing to do with business and everything to do with living, I’m compelled to get personal sometimes. I’m an adoptive mother of two Haitian-American beauties – a role more complicated and unpredictable than selling, lead generating, or closing business. In 2009, my husband and I brought home two sisters, ages…
