| These sales tips are reprinted from the sales training tip emails Mark Hunter sends out to thousands of subscribers every week for no charge. Sign up to receive these emails here. |
1. Early Morning Voice Mail:
Leaving voice mail messages is not a very effective way to develop new customers, but it is a great way to keep in contact with those customers with whom you already have a relationship but may not deal with on a frequent basis. The entire process takes less than 5 minutes per day between 7 and 7:30 AM. During this time the majority of people are not at work; calling them almost ensures you'll reach their voice mail, which allows you to make 3-5 calls in the span of only 5 minutes.
Your big objective here is to not let the person you're contacting forget about you. The way you do this is by merely stating that you haven't heard from them lately. You can compliment them on their business or simply suggest that the two of you should talk later. Should you reach someone at this time of morning, all the better. The person you reach live will be impressed that you're also at work before most people, and chances are the person will talk for at least a minute. Remember, the objective is not to sell anything--it's simply to raise the other person's awareness of you, thereby opening the door for future sales.
2. Learn the Customer:
Every time you're with a customer, make it a point to learn something personal and professional about them. Don't allow your time together to be so focused on the immediate business opportunity that you don't gather some additional, long-term information. It's the long- term information you gain that will help you retain the customer, and the longer you have a customer the more likely they are to refer others to you.
When you're gathering information about the person, look for items that are of common interest to you-- these are the items that will help you propel the business relationship to the next level.
3. A Perception is Worth a Thousand Words:
Recently I stopped by a computer store to have my PC worked on and the clerk proved to be anything but customer-friendly. When she did finally speak to me she told me I would need to leave my PC at the store for at least 3-5 days and that I should be prepared to have everything wiped off the computer. Her comments were not very reassuring, and as I left the store, I mulled over my decision to leave the PC with them. Within an hour I returned to the store, picked up the PC and took it to another store where I received the personal service I was looking for.
It's ironic to think that the first computer store probably would have done the same repair as the second store, yet the second store got my business (and all my future business) based strictly on the personal service of the clerk.
Have we stopped to think for a moment about the perception we give people when we talk to them? Next time you enter into a conversation with a potential or new customer, think about how the other person sees you; do they see you as an expert--a professional who can provide them with the confidence they need? In today's business climate we all have numerous competitors who can provide service or products similar to ours. The difference lies in the confidence we provide the customer. Before you begin the next conversation, think "confidence" not just in what you plan and say, but in how the other person will perceive you.
4. Opening the Sales Call:
Always start off a sales call by covering three things: 1. Gain a clear understanding of the amount of time the call will take. 2. Make sure the customer knows what the objective of the call is. 3. Relate the reason for the current sales call to the previous sales call you had with the person, or to information you may have sent them.
Connecting the current sales call to something previous gives the customer the comfort of knowing you remember fully everything that may have already occurred. This also gives the customer the comfort of knowing you respect their time and that whatever is decided in this current meeting will be acted upon by you.
5. Aca,!A"Your Price is Not High EnoughAca,!?:
OK, so you've never heard that line, but wouldn't it be great to hear it? A price can never be too high; it's only too high when we haven't taken the time to find out what the true benefits are of the item we're selling. Remember, there is no such thing as "too expensive;" there is only the belief that the potential gain from something is not worth the cost. This principle explains why one person might be willing to pay only $10,000 for a car while the car might be worth $100,000 to another person. Both cars supply the same thing-transportation, yet the cars vary dramatically in terms of price because they vary dramatically in terms of perceived benefit.
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