20 years ago we would not have been discussing this topic, but Foxnews.com posts this article: Quirky E-Mail Addresses Won’t Help in the Hunt for Jobs. I believe it was Mark Twain who said that common sense ain’t so common. You would think job candidates would be wary of using party-like names. Apparently not: E-mail names deemed unprofessional included: alliecat@, bacardigirl@, bighotdaddy@, drunkensquirl@, foxylady@, gigglez217@. “bighotdaddy” made me laugh. Just as surprising was the fact that someone conducted a study to find out if these email addresses would have an adverse effect on a job search.
Continue ReadingHow To Get Your Sales Copy Read
Writing effective sales copy is difficult, time-consuming and financially rewarding once you master it. We have not mastered it at Select Metrix. Earlier I posted on the effectiveness of using “P.S.” in your voicemails and written correspondence. Now MarketingProfs.com offers Want Better Sales Copy? Take a Tip From Zig Ziglar. There are many tips in this article, but I want to focus on one tip about what not to do: Want to set your sales copy and your business apart from the overwhelming majority of organizations you’re competing against? Here’s a simple but powerful strategy you can start implementing today. Specify exactly what you mean when you use such words… Read More
Continue ReadingHow To Get Your Voicemails Returned
ManageSmarter.com offers some excellent suggestions for making your voicemails far more effective. Their 15 tips include a couple that I cannot stress enough: 11. If you can’t say it briefly, don€™t say it at all. Voicemail is not “story time.” Leaving a long message is an invitation to have the entire message skipped. The optimal voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds. Few things in life are more tiresome than a rambling voicemail. My view is if the topic required a call to discuss, then mention the topic in one sentence, leave your contact info and hang up. And this gem: 13. Leave a “P.S.” at the end of… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Need To Cross-Sell Accounts
Team-based selling has become a dominant trend in the sales world due in large part to the information flowing through the Internet. Prospects expect knowledgeable salespeople to call upon them – the basic information they can (and probably have) learn from your website. ManageSmarter.com offers this article – Cross-Selling Takes Teamwork – which discusses team-based cross-selling to your customer base. Some might suggest that customers are irritated by cross-selling and perceive it as an aggressive sales approach. Interestingly enough, consumer research indicates that the reverse is actually true. Most customers prefer a full spectrum of products and services and appreciate the convenience that is provided through a comprehensive cross-selling approach.… Read More
Continue ReadingSmoke Screen Objections
Smoke screens are moves prospects use on salespeople that appear to be reasons for not moving forward with a deal. Many times these smoke screens sound something like this: We’re going to take a look at all options. We need 3 quotes before deciding. We need to think it over. Smoke, nothing more. If you have salespeople believing these statements are a precursor to a close, take them out to the wood shed on their qualifying. These “prospects” are not qualified and should not be on any forecast. Justsell.com offers up a simple, yet powerful web page that addresses the real objection from the prospect. Their objection falls into 1… Read More
Continue ReadingA Strange Cover Email
I’ve never seen this statement in a cover email before: I’m well kept, dress business casual on most days, and mind my own business in the office. This statement comes from the cover letter of a salesperson. If you realize that you only have a small window to make an impression, I think there are far better topics to address in the cover letter. Maybe it’s just me.
Continue ReadingExperience Or Age – Which Is It?
I take a fair amount of grief from the “youngsters” in our organization. Being the elder statesmen has earned me several names and acronyms not suitable for publication. A recent article in Money magazine listed the “Best Jobs” if you’re over 50 and planning a new career. What struck me most, were the following tips – regardless of age or occupation. Make age an advantage Sure, bias is out there. It’s up to you to put your age in a positive light. Talk up your experience and how it fits into what a potential employer is looking for. Is the company trying to launch a service, cut costs or find… Read More
Continue ReadingInterview With The Coach
CareerJournal.com offers something new, at least to me, in the modern-day hiring process – Add One More to the Hiring Process: The Boss’s Coach. Welcome to the latest development in job hunting. You impressed the recruiter, treated the receptionist politely and bonded with the hiring official. Now, you must also pass muster with the executive coach for your likely boss. The rising popularity of such additional screening reflects management’s increased use of coaches and its worries about the high turnover among new hires. I’m not a fan of adding more cooks to the kitchen when it comes to making strong hiring decisions. Our process is geared around group input, but… Read More
Continue ReadingBig, Bureaucratic Or Both
I came across a sales ad by a large customer we used to work with at our previous company. We no longer work with this company which is not a bad thing. The reason I say that is due to the fact that though this company is fairly large, they are overrun with bureaucracy. One of the battles we took up was to change their atrocious sales ads since they were not attracting good candidates. We had no idea what a tar pit that topic was going to be. We were directed to the HR department. They accepted our suggestions in the meetings we attended, but they continued to place… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Relating To Others
This week’s focus is on the ability of a salesperson to connect with their prospect. Building rapport is first step in starting an effective qualifying discussion with a prospect. Of course, some salespeople can only build rapport – we call them schmoozers. Nonetheless, an strong salesperson with this trait is incredibly effective with new prospects. Relating to OthersThis trait coordinates personal insights and knowledge of others into effective actions. It includes the ability to make use of accurate interpersonal skills in interacting with others. A salesperson with strength in this trait is able to establish a good rapport with others including a feeling of comfort between both parties. A weakness in this area… Read More
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