Email prospecting just got a lot easier

Sending a prospecting email is easy, sending one that gets positive results is a lot harder.

Yet, a great email can boost high sales growth.

Here are 6 simple insights to better prospecting emails

1. Your “I” to “You” ratio is 7:1.

If you see a lot of “I”, “we”, “our” and “us” words in your copy it’s a sign your message is too focused on your company and too little on your prospect. Turn the ratio around.

2. You’re confusing.

Stop using words like “end to end platform”, “optimized” and “360 view”. Use words anyone would understand.

3. You aren’t talking about your prospect’s problem.

Specific or crispy problems grab attention. CEOs tend to think about tomorrow and not the details of every activities in the business today.

4. Your preview isn’t interesting.

Prospects decide if they want to open your email after reading your first sentence on their phone. Your prospect’s favourite topic? Them. Use these phrases to start your first sentence: “Noticed your”, “Saw your post”, “Saw you’re looking for”, “It looks like you’re”.

5. You’re using too many words.

Keep emails under 125 words. People read them.

6. You’re asking for 15 minutes.

Prospects are very busy. Instead of asking for a meeting, try starting a conversation first. Like this, “Open to learning more?”, What do you see as a next step?”

When you start using these tips your emails will become better, resulting in more sales . Why not take advantage of the current series of complimentary sales surgeries.

It is a bespoke session with your sales team unblocking current sales opportunities.

#emailprospecting #sales #marketing #salestraining

Sales habits for professionals

This sales idea for sales leaders and sales people explains why developing good sales habits makes sense, how it benefits professional sales people, their leadership and what the key good sales habits are. A few bad sales habits are included!

Why have good sales habits?

Good sales habits improve sales success. Sales results follow when the habits are sound and are completed with great commitment and passion. An additional benefit is that knowing there is a road and steps towards success. This can inspire a sales person carry them through the inevitable tough times.

Good sales habits are aligned with the sales processes sales people use making sales. And when the sales habits are captured and measured, ideally through robust CRM, managers can better support their sales teams and make better business decisions.

The best companies articulate good sales habits as key performance indicators.

Developing good sales habits and well-defined sales processes are central to effective sales management.

What are good sales habits?

Good sales habits are repeatable steps needed to be a successful sales person.

Here are the key ones:

  • Finding prospective customers,
  • Engaging them,
  • Understanding their requirements,
  • Presenting your products/services,
  • Winning the deal
  • Urgency

A pure sales role may find that 80% of the time is needed to find prospective customers and 20% engaging, fact finding, presenting and winning the deal.

Account Managers develop and retain accounts. They spend no time at all finding prospective customers. All of their effort goes into the other sales habits.

Are there bad sales habits?

There are bad sales habits and you’ll probably recognise some of these:

  • Waiting for an enquiry
  • Not following up on a deal because it is too small
  • Presenting a product without understanding the prospect’s requirements
  • Death by Powerpoint and long monologues
  • Blaming others for the lack of success
  • Have no habits or structure at all
  • Lack of focus on outcomes

How sales people benefit from good sales habits.

  • Closing more deals – Having good sales habits is reflected in sales metrics. It delivers consistent results. As a seller I remember all my great sales and more importantly how I got them by having and executing the right sales habits. Are your sales people resisting a slightly more structured approach? Simply show them the undeniable and unbeatable proof in your sales metrics. This is not about gut feel.
  • Improving efficiency – Habits improve efficiency. It is not very different to a performing artist prepping and singing the same songs many times over. They become better and better at it with less effort, leaving room for more. Sales people will find additional sales opportunity with the customers when they apply the logic of good sales habits. That means more revenues for their company and more satisfied customers.
  • Confidence – Having a track to run on and knowing that the track leads to success, builds confidence in the sales person. That helps getting more sales.
  • Developing stronger skills through habits – The more you practise, the better you get at the job. Prospecting through social media and real world networking, fact-finding skills, presentation and negotiation skills all improve dramatically as the habit forming goes up. The improved closing ratios mean more revenues.
  • No need to reinvent the wheel with every new opportunity – This comes down to a comfort level and confidence executing time and again. No need of having to come up with new unrehearsed approaches for every opportunity, the sales person can rely on the tried-and-tested nature of their sales habits. Selling is about execution.

How sales leaders and their organisations gain from developing sales habits with their sales people.

In short, good established sales habits liberate a sales leader to support their team in the right areas and helps making better sales management decisions.

  • Better sales forecasts
  • It sets activity and results expectations
  • Up to date information to manage the sales funnel – A sales process should outline between 5 and 8 crystal-clear steps to take at each stage/habit.
  • Training needs analysis- The sales manager is responsible for training and motivating their sales team. By identifying strengths and weaknesses in each sales person’s sales funnel, the manager has an excellent starting point to train and motivate the sales team.

Developing good sales habits makes sense. It creates more sales. If you require input to stop bad sales habits and help forming the right sales ones with your sales team, feel free to get in touch

#saleshabits #salesprofessionals #salestraining #salesmanagement

4 successful ways to start a COLD prospecting call

This sales tip is for sales people who use phone calls as a way to approach prospective customers.

In the world of email and social selling techniques, the phone remains one of the most powerful ways to engage with prospective customers.

If you are in pro-active sales, you have to love and master this fantastic medium. And, if you are a social seller, you just do not know what you are missing out on!

Starting with the end in mind

Decide what you want from your call. A sale is certainly the best outcome. Yet, that is not always reasonable when you sell using medium or longer sales cycles.

Here are two objectives for those kind of calls:

Feel: After the call you would want prospects to feel happy, excited about the prospect of a better solution to their problems.

Do: After the call to prospective customer has:

1) agreed to receive a quotation and review it.

2) agreed to meet again.

3) agreed to share information about the company’s use of xyz products

Starting a call well is key because it sets the tone for the conversation and you are more likely to achieve your objectives.

Here are four proven lines starting a successful prospecting call:

The industry issue line

Strategy: Use a current known issue in the customer’s industry to start a conversation.

Tactic: ‘John, I was listening to a podcast this week and heard about the current sales challenges in the car sales sector. May I ask you to what extent this applies to (company name)?’

The follow up line

Strategy: Use a recently sent communication as a starting point to establish your prospect’s role.

Tactic: ‘John, you probably received an email about widget use last week. I wondered to what extent you are involved in the widgets supply?’

Asking for help line

Strategy: Asking someone for assistance to find the right person to speak with.

Tactic: ‘John, I hope you can help. I am looking for the person in your organisation who is responsible for Health and Safety. Would you be able to put me in the right direction please?’

The credibility line

Strategy: Using a fact gained from other sources to credit the prospect

Tactic: ‘John, I have heard your name a few times in relation to Mobile Communications and would like the opportunity to explore how we might be able to support you. To what extent am I speaking to the right person as far as your organisation is concerned?’

The temptation to script yourself and not giving it 100% is real, especially if our role involves making many calls. There are plenty of ways to start a successful call and every prospect deserves an approach that suits them.

Feel free to contact me for any specific advice or help.

#coldcalling

What is the most effective way to find new customers?

This sales tip is about getting referrals and recommendations.

In most sales departments there are 3 distinct functions:

  • Signing up new customers,
  • Developing existing customer relationships and
  • Retaining existing customers.

Finding new customers often means hours of prospecting on social media, long trade shows, daily cold calling, asking for referrals and knocking doors on business estates.

The good news is that all of the methods work! Here are my personal stats supporting this:

  • 100 cold calls produced 10 decent conversations and 1.5 sales
  • 21 doors knocked produced 1 sale
  • A steady 15 potential deals in my pipeline delivered signing 62% of all key UK prospects for a re seller initiative
  • My referral sourced prospects conversion rate to sale: 76%

Referrals are the way to go

My first boss showed why referrals are the most effective way to find new customers. In my case getting just 2 referrals equated to making 100 cold calls as far as the result was concerned. An easy choice……I was sold!

He also explained how getting referrals is made easy.

  1. Be pro-active and ask for them.
  2. Ask for referrals when you know your customer is emotionally and rationally very satisfied with your product/promise.
  3. Ask a specific question like; ‘Who do you know in your circle who would be happy to have a similar conversation about time and cost saving?’
  4. Aim for getting names and contact detail there and then.

Marketing can also help the company to gain referrals on an epic level. The quality might not be the same as above yet the number of referrals generated will outweigh this.

Here are a 5 tips for this

  1. Make it personal and customise the referral request process. Your customer is putting their personal reputation on the line.
  2. Let your customers know about your other products and services. They are most likely not aware.
  3. Make it as easy as possible for customers to give a referral. It should take no time at all.
  4. Reward your customers for referrals both intrinsically and extrinsically. Most of us feel good about helping others.
  5. Let your customers know how you progressed a referral they gave you. They are likely giving you more names later.

If you want to learn more about how I could help your sales team gain more referrals, feel free to mail me.

#salestips #gettingreferrals #salesteam #motivatingasalesteam #freesalesadvice #salestraining

Show who you are and make sales on LinkedIn


This social selling tip helps sales people to generate leads from social media

Before LinkedIn existed, I achieved my sales results by focusing on 3 areas:

  • Always meeting new people and qualifying them as prospects,
  • Sharing interesting facts and views freely with prospects including my own. I love music!
  • Be pro-active never waiting for prospects to contact me.

When using LinkedIn I focus on the same 3 areas

  • Always building my network,
  • Sharing information that I believe my connections find useful or interesting. I love playing keyboards
  • Be pro-active and reach out to people.

Little has changed but social networking has given an additional sales channel.

As a sales person, I continually fill my sales funnel with fresh prospects. It would be great if all of those prospects would knock on my door, called me or emailed me. They don’t so I need many more in my sales funnel than the number of sales required.

Once they are in my sales funnel I have to qualify my prospects. Some are in the market today, others next year and some never. By building a relationship sharing information about me, ideas and asking questions I find out who is ready to buy soon.

And once they are in the market I stay in close touch, agree next steps and achieve sales.

My simple advice is that, if you want to make sales from LinkedIn, make plenty of new connections ( LI allows up to 30,000!), share interesting information and be pro-active. And, most importantly share information about you as a person too. It is social after all.

Want to know more about selling methods old and new, feel free to contact me and more new sales are just a few calls away. 07738010170

#bestsalescoach #salesteammotivation #salesteamorganisation #salesteammanagement #musicandsales

How to get passed a gatekeeper by simply asking for help.

This sales tip helps sales people winning useful cooperation from a gate keeper.

We all know about the potential chalIenges getting through to the right person in a new prospect situation. It is not uncommon we find it tricky to get passed reception, Executive Assistants or even the Sales desk. And if you do not have the name of the person to speak to, a friendly yet firm ‘no’ is the answer. Gate keepers are trained to let the right calls through but stop time wasters. It is key to be relevant.

Here is an alternative approach that works for me.

I experience most people will respond positively to a genuine information request, especially gate keepers who a trained to be of service.

As always, do not worry about the outcome of the call. Just focus on the person you are speaking with. Some suggested words:

Good morning,
I hope you can help me….
My name is Gert Scholts from TBSC. I am conducting market research for my company in E commerce.. We currently work with companies like X and Y who are in the same field like you.
Who would be the appropriate person to speak to with regards to (company name) E commerce plans?
Thank you very much. Would he/she be available now for a few questions?

If the person is not available do not worry. Just ask for a suitable time to call back or ask for their extension number/email address. Get the name of person you just spoke to for future use and thank them for their help.)

This is very simple approach, yet it will set you apart and gets results.

Here is a simple tip: Use you first and surname. This powers up your credentials. You are researching this company to check out if they are a suitable prospect.

Why not try it today…..

If you want to know more about effective selling methods, or have your own approaches you want to refine, feel free to get in touch.

gert.scholts@thebestsalescoach.co.uk

07738010170

Bonus tip: If your call is answered by the option 1,2,3 etc voice, always go for the accounts option. People in accounts are generrally very helpful.

#askingquestions #salestechniques #merchantservices #salesskills #winning #salesteammotivation

Complimentary offer to find out how good your sales team’s telephone skills really are……

HOW WOULD YOUR BUSINESS BENEFIT FROM A MINI REVIEW OF YOUR TEAM’S CALLING ABILITY?

Simply email the call you want reviewing with an overview of the call objectives and I will score it FREE OF CHARGE (worth £75) against the following elements:

​

1. Introduction

2. Positioning of the call

3. Quality of questions asked

4. Ability to listen

5. Gaining agreement

6. Call summary review and presenting next actions.

​

Mail the call HERE.The feedback you receive, can significantly impact on sales results, the customer experience and provide you with new approaches to coach your team.

You will also receive a free tip to improve your call technique.

​

terms and conditions:

  • Maximum duration for the call is 3 minutes.
  • Customer Service/complaints calls are excluded from the free mini review
  • One call per company only
  • UK based companies only
  • The free offer ends 27th Oct 2017

#salesactivitycalculator #sdr #prospecting #discoveryquestions #121

5 useful tips for successful telephone calls in sales

Professional sales people use the phone engaging customers to achieve one of the following;

  • Make an appointment
  • Qualify customers
  • Make a presentation and make a sale
  • Follow up on a quotation and make a sale
  • Develop or retain the customer relationship

Here are 5 simple tips to make calls more successful and make more sales:

Smile when you dial

Our tone of voice transmits a large proportion of the messages we pass to your customers. A smile in your tone of voice will engage customers. Believe it or not, they can hear it. A friendly smile is welcoming and attractive. So look in the mirror, smile and start calling.

Stand and deliver.

Ever wondered why singers prefer to stand up while performing? Less pressure on their diaframe allows for a clearer voice. In sales a clear voice it critical too. Besides that it makes you feel more energised and can motivate the rest of the team. So stand up and deliver that well rehearsed sales pitch.

Have a conversation

People buy from people they like and trust. Give your customers a chance to get to know you and get to know them too. Product features and benefits are important yet a call is an interaction between real people. It is not a digital, scripted one sided story engineered by Marketing gurus. It is the real thing and the main reason why the sales job exists. So get ready and have a chat to ensure a great experience for your customer and yourself.

Be a telemarketer but do not sound like one

Avoid these self destructing call centre line: “This is just a quick call to………..” or “Apologies for contacting you this way but……………..” or “Excellent”after every sentence.

Instead let’s be proud of our company, honoured to be allowed to speak to customers and excited about our products. Customers value sales people who listen and ask smart questions so meet their expectations.

Use your prospect’s name during the call

One effective way to connect to customers is to visualise their words and challenges while calling them. Use their first name once or twice during the call. They will know you are taking a genuine interest in them. So have their name in front of you, write it down and use it during the call.

No matter how new or experienced you are, feel free to contact me about improving your sales techniques. 07738010170 or mail me.

If you like my tips, why not join my mailing list and get them delivered to your mailbox as soon as possible.

#salestechniques #sellingmerchantservices #salesteammotivation #salesteammanagement

B2B Sales Psychology in a nutshell

Cold Calling 1

Sales person: Hello, I have a product I want to sell to you

Prospect: Bye

Cold Calling 2

Sales Person: Hello, We help companies like yours save/make money

Prospect: Tell me more……………

Sales Meeting 1

Sales person: Hello, we are wonderful and fantastic

Prospect: Bye

Sales Meeting 2

Sales person: Hello, what would be a good meeting outcome for you?

Prospect: I need a solution to a problem that is stopping us making more money……………….

If you or your company want to know more about how to start great sales interactions and make more sales, feel free to contact me on +447738010170

Happy selling!

#salestips