|
 Calling On Sales Leads
Having access to qualified sales leads is the first step
in generating solid business opportunities. Understanding
how best to call on these leads, however, is just
as important as being able to access the leads. Follow
these few rules and you will be well on the path to
success with our sales leads exchange program.
- Call the leads immediately. New sales leads are posted
daily so it is important that you check back regularly
to get the updated information. Other vendors from
the same industry as you may be accessing these
leads too. Typically a potential client gets three
prices before deciding on a vendor, if you are the
seventh vendor to call you may be excluded from
the bid process all together. Call immediately and
try to set the appointment. If the potential client
asks that you just send some information make sure
that you send it and follow up to make sure that
they received it.
- Make friends with the gate keeper. Most receptionists
or administrators are tasked with blocking calls
from sales people who are trying to push their services.
The best way to avoid an immediate rejection is
to not act like you are trying to sell something.
If the individual who answers the phone states their
name, repeat it back to them and ask them how they
are before diving into your sales spiel. By making
this individual feel important you will involve
them in your process making them more likely to
assist you.
- Don’t let the company know that you are
aware of their upcoming move or need of your services.
Companies can be very protective of their information
and while their information is public record few
companies realize this. When calling on the leads
do not openly state that you know about an upcoming
business relocation services or project. First introduce
yourself and your services, ask about their organization
and ask to be connected with the individual who
takes care of procuring products and services for
the firm.
- Be careful when identifying the decision maker.
The quickest way to hit a brick wall when cold calling
is to call and immediately ask for the decision
maker. Asking for the decision maker immediately
identifies you as a salesperson and this makes the
individual answering the phone feel insignificant
and unimportant. The best way to determine if you
are actually dealing with a decision maker is to
ask if there is anyone else who gets involved in
the procurement or decision making process.
How Effective are you at Developing
Business Opportunities?
Business opportunities or leads are like capital,
the more you have the more you can do. Take for instance
a sales rep that has a 90% close rate and calls on
ten potential clients in a month. If 90% of those
calls result in closed business, that individual will
have won nine deals. Now lets consider a rep that
only has a 50% close rate but in a month calls on
30 potential clients. Even with a significantly lower
close rate the individual with more opportunities
does more business.
Let’s examine how effective you are at developing
opportunities. By determining the ways in which you
discover opportunities you can begin to realize which
methods are more effective than others. After making
that determination, more opportunities can be generated
by focusing more effort on the more productive methods.
Methods of developing opportunities include call
in business, existing clients, cold calling and networking.
These methods can be divided into two categories,
reactive and proactive.
Reactive Methods: The reactive methods of developing
opportunities include call in business and existing
clients. Below you will find some of the problems
with both reactive methods of business development.
- Call in Business
- This occurs when a potential customer calls
the office after finding your company in the
phone book.
- There are no efforts on your behalf which
generated this opportunity.
- This type of business is inconsistent and
unreliable; they are just as likely to call
a competitor.
- Existing Clients
- Existing Clients are those whose business
you have already won and may call when they
need your services again. Think about the life
cycle of the product or service you offer. If
you sell something like office supplies there
may very well be a large amount of revenue generated
by existing clients who have an ongoing need
for your service or product. If you are in real
estate, however, the average length of time
between clients needing your services again
may be as long as seven years.
- You may call on existing clients to try to
sell them additional services or products you
offer; your client base is a finite number and
without increasing that number you limit yourself.
Proactive Methods: The proactive methods of developing
opportunities include cold calling and networking.
Below you will find the pros and cons of both of these
methods.
- Cold Calling
- Cold calling causes anxiety. Individuals
don’t like to be told no or to get out.
- Cold calling is inefficient-there is no equality
between effort and outcome.
- Cold calling does offer practice interfacing
with potential clients and familiarizes individuals
with some of the more common responses of individuals
who do not want to be sold something.
- Cold calling distributes your information.
Even in the event that a company does not need
your services at the time you call on them,
sending your information will make them remember
you in the event that a need for your service
does develop.
- Companies that you call on may not need your
service but may know of someone who does. When
calling on companies if they state that they
do not need your service, ask if they know of
anyone who does.
What is the worst that can happen?
- Networking
- Networking through attending events or meeting
with other sales reps individually builds rapport
and synergy.
- Networking can really pay off but takes a
lot of time, make sure that you network with
likeminded individuals who are driven. You don’t
want to waste your time on sales people who
are not going to contribute to the relationship.
- Talk with sales people from industries who
look for similar indicators in the market place.
For instance if you sell voice and data cabling
services you may want to talk with commercial
builders or commercial real estate agents who
know of companies moving or purchasing or building
an office.
- Networking opens doors. You may want to do
business with a company that a networking colleague
has already done business with. You can use
your relationship as leverage to set the appointment.
You probably rely on some of all of these methods
to obtain business. As an exercise, take a look at
the last 10 or 20 appointments you had. Analyze the
method through which each of them was obtained. If
more than half came from a reactive method you could
probably be doing more to uncover business opportunities.
Rather than waiting for the phone to ring pick it
up and make some calls or go and attend an event.
You’ll be amazed at how much business is out
there if you know how to find it.
The three C’s of attending a Networking
Event
Networking events can be an excellent way of making
contacts, meeting potential clients and learning the
key players in any industry. While these events can
be rewarding they can also be stressful. Entering
a room full of people, most of whom are probably strangers,
and starting conversations multiple times throughout
the evening can be a very intimidating task. An easy
way to manage the experience is to remember the three
C’s of attending any professional event; consumption,
conversation and conduct.
Consumption: The first of the three
C’s could be the most important. Most business
card exchanges or business after hours meetings have
a buffet or open bar. Feeding attendees is always
a good way to increase event attendance since most
business after hours events overlap with most people’s
dinner schedule. Keep in mind, however, that this
is a courtesy offering of the event’s host and
should not be abused. Just because there is an open
bar does not mean that one should drink seven vodka
tonics. Furthermore the presence of a buffet does
not mean you are at Golden Coral. Over consumption
of alcohol or food at an event can make you appear
sloppy and uncontrolled. These are both characteristics
that are extremely off putting in the business world.
If you are going to eat and drink, limit your consumption,
you are less likely to be approached for conversation
if you are drunk or shoveling swedish meatballs into
your mouth.
Conversation: The topics that you
choose to discuss with co-attendees should be carefully
selected. Keep in mind that while event attendees
are all likely business professionals, they all come
from different religious, ethnic and social backgrounds.
The best way to stay safe in conversation is to avoid
debatable topics. Religion and politics are never
good topics at a networking event. Since you are attending
the event for business then try to keep your conversation
limited to relevant business topics. Tell people about
your company and your position with in the company
and likewise ask about theirs. Talk about business
development within the community, or how long they
have been in their respective industry. Maintaining
a professional demeanor through the conversation topics
you choose will not only help you uncover useful information,
it will showcase your professionalism to others.
Conduct: The purpose in attending
events is to conduct business or to take steps to
earn future business. Networking events should not
be seen as a free meal or as an opportunity to visit
with friends. It is likely that you may know other
attendees at an event and it is permissible to say
hello. The idea, however, is to meet new people. If
you spend an entire evening chatting with friends
you are going to miss out on many opportunities to
meet like minded professionals who may be able to
help you in your business endeavors. Remember that
you will only get out of an event the effort that
you put forth. Make a goal at the beginning of the
evening of meeting five new people or handing out
ten business cards or talking about your new service
offerings. This makes the event more manageable and
helps you visualize your efforts.
|
