Posts from — July 2006

Anyone who has made it past their first day in sales has heard time and time again about the importance of following up with the prospect — because sales are rarely made on the first attempt.

Doubt that’s true?

Consider the survey from The National Sales Executive Association on how many sales a sales professional can expect to get depending on how many times they contact their prospects.

Notice that the statistics show that most sales are made from the 5th contact through the 12th contact.

Sales Survey Data:
(Cumulative)  Read more...

Hot prospect. You just made a good phone contact or had a brief meeting, and the prospect is interested in becoming a customer.

It’s time for your first follow-up. What do you do? Well, you probably send a package with so much information inside — it turns the US postal service from the brink of bankruptcy into a profit making organization.

Most follow-up packages include a video, a brochure, an audio tape or two, an article from some magazine, product flyers, testimonial letters, a fax on demand number, an order form, several other items you think the prospect “can’t do without,” and a cover letter — whew!  Read more...

How do you handle objections? Let’s say you just talked with your client on a fairly large project and they suggest to you that you are not in the ballpark on the deal.

What do you say and how did you get to this point in the first place? I also have difficulty when someone asks me about objections. I know it is important and each time this happens, I have to reach back into my memory and think about how I’ve handled objections in the past.  Read more...

There are books, articles and multi-day courses on listening. There are audio / video-learning programs that include hours of instruction and a variety of exercises. They are all valuable and helpful, but what they teach can be distilled down into a key skill.

Your mastery of these skills, through discipline and practice, is all you need to become an excellent listener, with all that that entails.

Listen Attentively When Others Speak…
The best listening skill is to listen attentively. Lean forward; face the prospect directly rather than at an angle. Focus your attention on the prospects face, on his or her mouth and eyes.  Read more...