Voicemails can either be your best friend or worst enemy (or possibly a little bit of both). It’s a common occurrence in sales and it’s a critical selling skill to possess.
My suggestion is that instead of lamenting about how frustrating it is to reach people’s voicemail, why not commit to improving your voicemail skills.
I often talk about the importance of Multichannel Marketing to audience communication. Email Marketing. Facebook. Direct mail. Instagram. Skype. Always more ways to connect with your audience.
I’m a big believer in this, because over time most media channels lose their effectiveness.
For example, there was a time when getting peoples fax numbers was all the rage among direct response marketers. You could send prospects a fax right into their home kind of like direct printed mail.
Despite all the advances in social media, CRM software, marketing automation and other high-tech tools designed to connect sellers with willing buyers, sales prospecting still involves a lot of old-fashioned pick-and-shovel work to separate the gold from the dirt.
But prospecting isn’t just about working hard. Some people dig for gold all day long and come up empty-handed. Others know how to work smarter and get a better return on their effort.
Are you one of those people who are timid when engaging a prospect with tough questions? Maybe you are someone that tries to gently nurture a lead or a prospect, so you don’t lose them?
Prospecting is the art of opening new relationships. The new business opportunities that later turn into sales are initially identified through prospecting, making prospecting the lifeblood of sales.
The first way to improve your prospecting results is to acknowledge its importance to your sales results and treat it accordingly.
Improving your prospecting results begins with setting aside the time and the energy to prospect each and every day. And, yes, we do mean each and every day.
Schedule to make time to prospect every day. It is best to set aside the time first thing in the morning to ensure it gets done before the world makes other demands of you.
“Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.”
– Adam Hochschild
Turn off the Internet, email, and turn off or mute your smartphone. We have found that Social Media to be the largest source of distraction.
Focus.
Tell your family and friends that you have a new found discipline and that you need their support. Promise to catch up with them later.
Hang a sign on your door saying “Do Not Disturb! Prospecting!” If you don’t have a door, use string and hang the sign over your desk.
Prospecting is the activity of opening new relationships, but it isn’t really what we are focused on here.
We are focused on the outcome that is better described as opening new business relationships to identify potential new business opportunities. There are many ways to do this, and all of them are effective sometimes.
To prospect well, you need to focus your time and energy on what works best for you, but not exclusively. If you are great at cold calling, you should absolutely focus on cold calling.
But that doesn’t mean that you should never use email marketing, inbound marketing, networking, trade shows and conferences, direct mail, social networking, or referrals. You should include all of these tools in your arsenal.
Make a list of all of the methods that you can and will use to prospect.
Plan the time that you will set aside for each method and how many prospects you will gain from your effort. For example, you might commit to attending one networking event per month with the result that you acquire two new prospects from each networking event.
Measure these results and focus on what generates the greatest return on your investment of time, but remember that your prospects may have their own opinion on how they best like to be approached, and you shouldn’t exclude any method.
Two things cause poor prospecting results. The first is not spending enough time prospecting. The other is ineffective prospecting. This mostly comes down to language choices. It comes down to what you are saying when you prospect.
There is no substitute for scripts.
“But wait!” you say. “I am a professional salesperson and I can’t sound like I am using a script!” We hear you loud and clear. And you can’t sound like someone that your prospect isn’t interested in meeting either.
First, you have to recognize that you are already using a script. The words that you use when prospecting and on sales calls, are choices that are comfortable to you because you have rehearsed them.
They are comfortable to you because you have them memorized, not because you are reading them. But this doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best script to use.
Your effectiveness is improved by choosing your words carefully. Making observations about what is working and what isn’t working. This takes an awareness, focus, and discipline. It also allows you to experiment with language structures to see what is most effective.
Write scripts for each of the prospecting methods you use. Write responses to the common objections you hear. Rehearse them. If you are part of a great sales team, do this together and rehearse them together.
The outcome of prospecting is to open the relationship. This almost always involves obtaining the commitment for an appointment.
Effectiveness in prospecting is improved by simply focusing on the outcome. This means that you don’t allow your prospecting to turn into a needs analysis, a presentation, or a discussion about the merits of your product or service.
It means you apply a laser-like focus on scheduling the appointment.
The reason some people struggle focusing on the outcome of an appointment and the reason often they slip into the sales mode is because they feel that they have to prove that they can create value for the prospect during their prospecting activity.
Selling, at this point, is premature.
Just know that a successful outcome here is almost always an appointment. It doesn’t matter how much you liked them or how much they liked you if you didn’t schedule an appointment.
From the start, we have to be focused on moving the lead forward, and that includes creating value as quickly as possible.
You create value by asking questions early, and we mean very early in the process.
If you fail to have a plan as to how you tie value to the outcomes the prospect desires, then you run a major risk of the prospect never going anywhere. This means you need to ask “value-focused” questions sooner than you most likely have been doing.
“Value focused” questions are ones that get the other person discussing the real issues they’re facing. They aren’t absolute questions regarding price, but rather they’re questions that help uncover the outcome the customer wants.
You can’t afford to not ask tough questions early in the process. The questions you ask will vary based on what you do and who you’re working with, but here are just a couple to get you thinking:
What is the risk if you don’t do anything?
Why has this become a problem for you?
How will this impact other parts of your business?
You see these questions are designed to engage.
Don’t think you can’t ask questions like this during the first call. If you don’t ask questions like this, you run the risk of having the other person focus the conversation on the features of what you sell and that you’re nothing more than a low-price vendor.
Today your job is to up your game with the questions you ask. Don’t hold back. The faster you know the outcome the prospect is looking for, the sooner you will be able to equate it to value. In the end, your customers will only pay for value.
There is too much to write here about how to get good at cold calling. But it is important that you have it in your repertoire, and that you build your competency picking up the phone and scheduling an appointment.
Cold calling is still one of the fastest ways to schedule appointments and to open relationships, and the very best salespeople are the very best at cold calling. They are also the very best at all other forms of prospecting, and the only people we have found that are willing to consistently ask for referrals, something else salespeople avoid.
Start cold calling.
Even when you use all of the ideas above, you are still going to hear “no.”
You are going to hear it a lot. But relationships, including business relationships, are built over time. Your consistent and unrelenting pursuit of your dream clients is part of a longer-term plan for success and not a quick fix.
Consistency here means that these prospects hear from you more than sporadically. It means they hear from you frequently and with all the predictability of the Sun rising each morning.
Some of the best relationships and the biggest deals will take the longest time to win, and your consistent nurturing of these relationships will open opportunities for you over time.
This approach proves that you are not going to disappear like so many of your peers, that you are truly interested in working with them, that you are a professional who executes well, and that you are determined.
These are some of the attributes that people look for in salespeople, partners and friends.
Write a nurturing plan.
What will you do to create value for your dream clients even before they decide to set an appointment with you? How often will you call? How often will they receive something from you? What will they receive? What will it say about you? How will it create trust?
Opening relationships is built upon the ability to prospect. Follow these steps to improve your prospecting results.
Invest in yourself by checking out our coaching program today!
Don’t forget that a coach can help improve your prospecting skills – excel in your business.
If you want or need any help – connect with us on one of our social media platforms or on our contact us form!
Talk Soon,
Nicky and Dave
Deciding where to invest your marketing dollars isn’t a decision you take lightly.
You know you need to attract new customers and keep your existing clients coming back, but you can’t afford to invest time or resources into something that isn’t going to deliver the results you expect.
An email marketing campaign is a cost-effective solution that gives you the power to reach customers in a place most people visit every day — their inbox.
Want to Try Email Marketing for Your Business?
Sign up for your FREE 30-Day AWeber Trial here.
There’s plenty of data to back up the benefits of email marketing campaigns.
For Example: Email is almost 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined in helping your business acquire new customers. (McKinsey)
But if you really want to find out how email can work for your business.
Read 25 benefits of using Email Marketing for any business, but especially relevant for those with small businesses:
People do business with people they know, like, and trust. Email gives you the ability to build credibility with your audience by sharing helpful and informative content.
People will read our newsletters and be able to tell if we’ve the right people for the project or to help before they even call us.
2. Generate CallsWhen done right, email marketing lets businesses reach the right person, with the right offer, at the right time. A well-timed email results in a flood of calls each time they hit send.
If you want to build strong customer relationships, it’s important to have an effective tool to communicate with the people who matter most to your business.
Email gives you the ability to stay top-of-mind and keep people engaged with your business during your busy season and the slower times of the year.
If your business depends on having a reliable way to communicate with your members and clients, you need to have a communication channel you can trust.
For real estate management companies email has provided a reliable solution to keep tenants informed and up-to-date.
Related Article: How To Get Really Good at Influencing Others
With email marketing, you can strengthen brand recognition with new and potential clients, and extend your reach when people forward or share your message with a friend.
“The emails are an important reinforcement of brand. I get calls from people I’ve never met all the time. They get the newsletter. Maybe it was forwarded to them by a family member or friend of theirs, and they know I’m the person to call. It really helps establish credibility upfront before saying a word.”
– Dave Cane, Easy Online Biz Solutions
When you have an audience of people who opt in to receiving updates from your business, you’ll be able to think differently about how you boost sales throughout the year.
This has been especially valuable for a business like ours, which communicates with local residents and prople from alround the world.
It has definitely been the easiest way to reach people.
Related Article: Who Else Wants To Be Successful With Tested Headlines That Will Generate Clicks?
Another benefit of email marketing is that it gives you the metrics you need to see how your campaign emails are performing. These insights help you market smarter, and also give you the advantage of better understanding the needs and interests of your customer base.
We can tell people are interacting with our content and click through to our website.
With email marketing software like AWeber (what we us for 98% of our Email Marketing), you’ll have the tools and training you need to get started quickly.
Related Article: How to Build an Email Marketing List Quickly
Regardless of your level of marketing experience or expertise. When you do get stuck, we have a team of people who are dedicated to your success. Just pick up the phone and give them a call.
With nearly two-thirds of all emails being opened on a mobile device, email marketing is one of the best tools you can use to take advantage of the growing popularity of mobile technology.
We are almost positive that all of those people were on their phones, not in a traditional office.
One of the benefits of using an email marketing provider is that you have access to professionally-designed email templates.
These templates are designed to make it quick and easy to get your message out to your audience, and ensure you look professional when it lands in the inbox.
Email templates aren’t just easy to use; they’re also designed to make sure you look professional when you reach your audience member’s inbox. You can insert your own content and customize each email template with your logo and colors to make sure it matches your brand.
Whether you’re an e-commerce business that sells products online, or a retail store that wants to increase traffic to your website so that you can bring more people into your store — email marketing campaigns can help.
Email definitely works. We see people clicking through to our website and we have people calling or facebook messaging to telling us that they saw our newsletter.
Unlike other marketing channels that often limit your ability to customize your message for the different audiences you communicate with, email marketing gives you the ability to organize your audience into lists and communicate with people based on interest, purchase behavior, location, and more.
Not everyone who joins your email list will be ready to make a purchase or sign up for a service. Email gives you the opportunity to capture new visitor’s attention and nurture the relationship with helpful and informative content.
Related Article: Should You Pay for Leads to Expand Your Customer List?
Email marketing lets you start a two-way conversation that will benefit you and your readers. Don’t just push your message out to them; encourage them to share their feedback and ideas.
Service businesses face the difficult challenge of keeping clients interested in their business, even when they aren’t looking for services at different times of the year.
Email gives you the opportunity to keep your client’s attention without overwhelming them with unwanted information.
Related Article: Need an FREE Offer for Your Email Marketing? We’ve Got 7
We know as a small business, it’s not always easy to stand out in a crowded market. Email marketing allows you to build an audience that is interested in hearing from you, without having to pay for other advertising channels.
Reaching out to clients on an individual basis can be a costly and time-consuming process. Email helps you save time by reaching out to your wider audience, while still delivering a message that’s personal and relevant to them.
Just schedule your emails at the beginning of the week and you’re done.
When you adopt a communication strategy that fits your audience’s needs, you’ll have more people paying attention to your message and get a higher return overall.
In addition to connecting with the people on your email list, you can also share your newsletters and announcements on your own social media networks to bring new people to your business.
As much as you’d like to think customers know about all of the different products and services you have to offer, there’s a good chance that many of them don’t.
Taking a more pro-active approach to your marketing could prove to be exactly what you need to improve exposure to the services you offer.
Once you learn the basics, you’ll be able to put together a plan to get your emails out to your audience of subscribers in less time.
The biggest benefit of email marketing is efficiency. You might think it take a lot longer to create an email than it actually does! But we have a ready made template so it’s easy to pull together an email quickly.
If you’re already using email marketing and have seen great results, we’d love to hear your story in the comments below!
If you’re not using email marketing, and are interested in seeing how it could benefit your small business, you can try it for free.
Start your FREE 30-Day Trial of AWeber Today!
Talk Soon,
Nicky and Dave
For how much time most of us spend on the phone, it’s amazing how poor our phone skills can become if we are not improving our skills regularly. It’s especially important for those in sales where’s it’s a necessity for you be on the phone.
We all need a little inspiration and motivation sometimes to re-shape our attitudes and our actions, and keep us on the road to success. It’s time to be intentional about your phone sales.
To do that you must consider our phone sales tips when you are contacting your customers and prospects.
Cold Email is an ugly term. No one wants to send them, no one wants to receive them. But, when used correctly, a cold email can be a powerful tool to generate leads for your business.
A well-written cold email may be the key you will need to find yourself in contact with companies, speakers, potential customers and just about anybody else you want to get hold of.
You may be trying to reach out to one person you want to partner with or you may be selling your product to two dozen people you found at a meetup. Either way, cool emails are an easy and simple way of communication. Read more
