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Cold Calling For Sales Leads – 5 Things to Increase Your Chances
#1 Research the List
There’s no point ringing hairdressers trying to sell software. Target those companies that you stand a good chance of making the sale with. It’s the ‘there’s been a fire in the area’ and you sell smoke alarms. Watch out for new industry policies or law, look through news items and compile a good list – then research it and the person you’ll need to speak with.
#2 Set Aside the Time
Cold Calling can strike fear into sales people, for no good reason. Set aside 2 hours with a 15 minute break. Make sure that you will not be distracted or disturbed during this time. You’re going to be generating business and ultimately making money – so focus.
#3 Have a Specific Aim In Mind
You’re probably as guilty as me when it comes to this. Sales people are hungry for business by nature and it can be tempting to go for a sale quickly. Your prospects are likely to be wary so it’s a case of 1 peg at a time. Go for a series of qualifying questions and an appointment. Treat the appointment as your sales close. Your questions shouldn’t be exhaustive. You need to qualify that the person can do business with you and will make an appointment to explore those opportunities with you. You can’t be weak though. Depending upon what you sell, asking ‘if we satisfy your requirements is there any reason you can see (feel/hear – use your NLP) from what we’ve discussed so far that you wouldn’t feel comfortable placing your business with ABC Company?’
#4 Prepare Your Opening Statement Properly
There’s no excuse for not doing this right – you shouldn’t be picking up the phone if this isn’t right! Let’s say your company specialises in the integrity of computer data and you’re targeting a company who has just announced its expansion by moving to bigger offices. Once through to the correctly researched person your opening should be along the lines of ‘Hi John’ (always use a first name), ‘It’s James Kent from ABC Company and I’ve just read that you guys are expanding and moving into new larger offices. My company specialises in computer data and hardware transfer to ensure zero loss transfer. I wanted to speak with you and see if our services may be something that you would need. I know it’s recently been announced but have you considered this area of your move yet?
#5 Evaluate Your Work and Track Your Results
Learn your ratios – properly. Analyze why you get an appointment and why you don’t. Listen properly to the people you speak with. What are the common objections? How can you answer them? What makes you different not cheaper than the competition? You’ll find certain vertical markets have similar concerns – crack one and you’ve cracked them all! Knowing your ratio’s means you know how much you need to do to get the results that you need and you can work them back. If 1 sale gets you 0 and it takes 3 appointments for a sale and 10 calls for 3 appointments then each call is worth . How many calls you going to make now?
About the Author: Get Your Free Mini-Course – ‘How to Generate a Stream of Targeted Sales Leads in 5 Days’ Now at www.SalesLeadSecret.com
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