One of the critical parts of generating a large number of quality referrals, of course, is getting quality referrals as opposed to just getting names and phone numbers. But at times, despite your efforts go get quality referrals from your client, they simply cannot or will not think of anyone to whom to refer you. Nevertheless, you need not walk away ...

So many companies these days get their leads from website inquiries, trade shows, Internet advertising, media advertising, etc, and they ask me over and over again: “What's the best way to deal with these kinds of leads?" Good question. You would think that getting back to a “warm lead" would be easy, but you'd be surprised how many sales reps (80% ...

As the world's largest buyer of products and services, the Federal Government spends billions of dollars on military and civilian purchases every year. Government agencies buy just about every category of commodity and service available, from paper clips to janitorial services to complex space vehicles. h4. Contracting Goals To ensure that small businesses get their fair share, contracting goals have ...

Contrary to popular belief “FEAR” doesn’t mean “Forget Everything … And Run”! But, what are you supposed to do when negative thoughts creep in, force you to live in stress, and cancel out peace of mind? If you’re like most sales pros you’ll be tickled pink to know that fear can indeed be conquered. You can greet every single day with ...

The first question asked by those who are new to selling is, “I know the company I want to prospect. Who should I contact first in that company?” Seasoned sales pros respond to the rookies by saying, the most desirable contact is always, always, always the top decision maker. So, why is it when asked, “what job title do you call ...

A great sales truism is that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Fortunately, as these Monster members learned, it is possible to make a sale despite a lousy first impression. h4. Facing Disaster Could you meet your clients the way Monster member tim_lex had to? My new company stressed professional appearance. After three weeks on ...

No one could hit a baseball the way hall-of-famer Ted Williams could. He knew there was a lot more to becoming a home-run champ than just swinging hard at every pitch. “To be a good hitter,” Williams once said, “you've got to get a good ball to hit.” Here’s a lesson in there for all of us as sales professionals to ...

In this horror story, rookie telecom rep Joe learns the hard way that it takes more than encyclopedic product knowledge to land the sale. Here's Joe's story: I was about to go on the first sales call of my life, and I was terrified! As a customer service rep for a company that sold telephone systems, I'd taken a call from ...

You’ve put in hours researching this account’s unique challenges, crafted a solution that perfectly addresses those needs, honed your approach and delivered a top-notch presentation. Now, finally, the decision is in — and you lost the sale. Before you tear out your hair, rend your garments and hurl your laptop out the window, remember that all is not necessarily lost. Professional ...

A conference is a huge opportunity to build relationships with extraordinary people -- people who might have a significant impact on your professional or personal success. To make sure you maximize the return on your (or your organization's) investment of time and money to attend, you can't afford to be a conference commoner. You have to be a conference commando. Here ...

It's a common misconception that prospecting for new customers means contacting as many people as possible. The reality is that more calls do not necessarily generate more sales. Sales reps rarely get lists of potential customers that have been boiled down to real prospects. Tom Roth, coauthor of the classic management book, Creating the High Performance Team, explains in Selling Power ...

Part I, Active Networking For salespeople to be effective lead generators, they must have both active and passive marketing programs. Now (1) their marketing program must be their own -- not the company’s (although the two can be in sync with each other), and (2) they will do both, halfheartedly or not at all unless you the sales manager shows them ...

You might be wondering whether your marketing efforts should adapt to the economic downturn. Should they address or ignore consumer fear? Worries and superstitions (which have been proved to decrease sales) get an extra push this month with Friday the 13th and the Ides of March, so we've asked George Belch, professor of marketing at San Diego State University, to ...

Emerging salespeople typically believe that all business is good business and to an extent, I can understand this viewpoint. If you are trying to make a name for yourself, being put under pressure by your sales manager to get “runs on the board” and earn the respect of the more experienced and successful members of the team, it is difficult to ...

If you are involved in prospecting then you will already know the challenges of persuading a prospect to give you the business. Ultimately there is a four-step process involved in buying that all of us follow; Step 1. We have to feel motivated to make a purchase, irrespective of its type or size. Step 2. At some point after we’ve become ...

I have read a plethora of articles and blog posts recently on the subject of pipeline management, and whilst it will never be an exact science, it really is not that complicated. Imagine a bath filled with water, almost instantly the water begins to evaporate or can slowly seep through the plughole. Over a period of time the water level reduces ...

Have you ever had hot prospects who suddenly stopped returning your call? Then you know how disconcerting it can be - especially when they'd expressed so much interest in your product or service only days before. At first, you assume their lack of responsiveness is an isolated situation that will quickly self-correct. But after repeated failed attempts to connect, you start ...

If you’re in a selling situation where you get to call back leads that have expressed an interest in your product or service, then consider yourself lucky. Whether they come from traditional advertising sources or from the internet, inbound leads save you the time, effort (and often the terror!) of cold calling. While these leads are great to get, they also ...

To permanently eliminate any confusion, lets draw a distinction between what it means to pre-qualify and pre-judge someone such as a prospect. If you read my cold calling book, you know that I’m a strong advocate of pre-qualifying anyone before you invest your very limited and precious time in meeting with or speaking with them. Conversely, pre-judging someone is something ...

I've written, tested, re-written, tweaked, copy edited, composed, marketed, reviewed, and used thousands of telemarketing scripts over the last 26 years. I've written and used opening scripts, closing scripts, prospecting cold calling scripts, warm inbound scripts, closing scripts, rebuttal scripts, trial close scripts, initial resistance scripts, blow off scripts, qualifying scripts, etc.... Bottom line? Nobody writes better scripts than yours truly, ...