Unapplied Time in the Sales Department
Sales department? Isn't unapplied time a measurement of service department productivity? Who ever heard of unapplied time in the sales department? Maybe those of us in the sales departments can learn a few lessons from how the service shop operates. In the service department we measure and track each technician's time down to one tenth of an hour. The information on the number of minutes of down-time or floor sweeping time that is not chargeable to a job is recorded and monitored. Service managers are highly focused on reducing this unapplied time - it is seen as wasted opportunity. Why is such close attention given to technician productivity?
Business Lead Generation
Business Lead Generation, as the term suggests, is the process by which a business finds prospective customers who may be benefited by its products/ service. The process and nature of lead generation is dependent upon the buyer's decision making. Though lead generation can be done in many different ways, the core strategies can be divided into the following types:- Broadcast and Concentration One of the most common forms of the broadcast method of lead generation is advertising. Here the nature/ benefits of the product/service are communicated to a large group of prospective customers. In the Concentration method, the business identifies and narrows down the set of prospective customers and then communicates the features of their products/services to them.
How Appointment Setting Helps in Lead Generation
In basic terms Appointment Setting is about trying to get a prospective client for a session of inter-personal communication. It is one of the most effective methods of lead generation because pre-fixed, inter-personal communication has a better potential of conversion than other methods of lead generation like cold calling. The client would be in a receptive mode, making it easier for the sales person to present his case. This is the primary reason why companies spend large amounts of money in appointment setting In most organizations it is a process that takes place continuously along with lead generation.
Dimensional Mail Most Effective Direct Response Strategy For B-to-B Sales - Part II
Every direct marketer has faced the challenge of getting past all the gatekeepers, and grabbing the attention of top executives, each of whom receives over 8, 000 messages daily. Based on our research, the best approach seems to be the following: a series of small hits designed to introduce brand and build recognition, and then an intriguing package, large enough to stand out, unusual enough to get opened, and relevant enough to trigger action. A tall order, but not impossible, with the right research and the right concept. Dimensional mail seems to be the most effective door opener for senior managers and executives, but it must be relevant and come from a known or at least recognized source.
In Praise of Passion - Selling s Secret Weapon
The stereotype many people have of salespeople is of an amoral hired gun. A sharp-suited, sharp-talking huckster who doesn't care what he's peddling as long as it brings in the money. But in reality, the opposite is true of all truly successful salespeople: they have a real passion and belief in the products and services they sell. In my 15 years as a consultant I've worked with and observed hundreds of sales people in action. I've seen very different selling styles and cultures, and helped salespeople from countries as diverse as Iran, the US, Lebanon, Algeria, Finland, Spain, Panama and Japan.
Business Software Proposals That Win - 5 Key Points
The software and software services business is changing, and with that the software proposal becomes ever more important. After many years of fairly static business models, traditional business software vendors are finding themselves challenged by a host of new business models: Software-as-a-Service(SaaS), open source, outsourcing are all trends impacting the business of software. This can shorten the decision timeline for the customer, and hence the sales cycle. Rather than the traditional steps of requirements gathering, POC, pilot and then finally full deployment.... customers are able to make a quick decision and deploy after a free online trial of a hosted software service, without the hefty financial commitment of a perpetual software license.
C-Level Relationship Selling - Increase Sales and Market Share Using C-Level Relationship Selling
C-Level relationship selling is simple and more effective than any other strategy, tactic or selling technique once you learn the process. However, if you don't know how to do it, it can be like cold calling in the sense that it's intimidating, fraught with rejection and nobody wants to do it. But unlike cold calling C-level relationship selling will increase your sales and market share faster and easier than anything else. C-level relationship selling will enable you to sell just about 100% of all the products and services in your portfolio that fit to 100% of your existing customers. Now would that help you meet your sales goals?
Stuck on the Feast Famine Roller Coaster?
Do you go from walking on air grinning ear to ear over your next commission to needing a ladder to step up to the curb because your bank account is empty and you're thinking you're going to have to get out of the insurance business? Do you accept this as just the way things are in the insurance business? Are you tired of living on "hopium" hoping you're going to sell somebody something sometime soon? Are you sick to death investing valuable resources on tire kickers? Are you tired of selling products you can't break even on no matter how you do the math? What if things could be different?
How Does a Ten Year Old Close a Sale?
Have you ever had a conversation with a ten year old? I can remember what I used to act like at age ten. Believe it or not I was more ambitious and probably a better salesman at age ten than I am now. The reason being I knew less sales techniques, less about sales psychology, and less about "closing." Instead what I did was simply approach a prospect, tell them what I was doing, and then ask for their business. Is usually went something like this: "Hi Mrs. Jones how are you today? " I would then wait for her response, smile, and then say "I'm asking everyone in the neighborhood if they would be interested in buying some cookies for my school fund raiser.
The Magic of Masterful Closing
I'm always amazed to hear people talk about master closers. It's as if their skills are most significant at the END of the cycle. This seems to me to be rather misleading. Are we saying that it doesn't matter how you handle the prior steps as long as you have some magic at the end? I believe that 'closing' is something that happens naturally once you have successfully navigated all of the prior steps in the sales process. Think about it. If you don't prospect well, listen well, problem solve well, and create trust well, there's probably no way you are going to close well. In essence, if you are masterful at understanding the value of your product or service, identifying your target market and then qualifying prospects within that scope, you should be closing easily.