Selling Power offers a short, but excellent article that provides 5 subtle ways to build credibility. We often talk about establishing rapport with prospects and then building credibility. This is sales 101, but it is surprisingly sparse in sales situations (emphasis mine): Of the five elements which are essential to building genuine trust (character, competence, confidence, credibility, and congruence), a Persuasion Institute poll found 44 percent of respondents said credibility was most important – yet it was established only 11.4 percent of the time. So here are the author’s suggestions: Admit weakness. Nothing’s perfect. Prospects know your company and your product are weak in some areas. You boost your… Read More
Continue ReadingAwesome And Awful Email Subject Lines
What emails do you open? The “From” field and subject line are the first draw for most people and a determinant for gaining a higher open rate. MarketingProfs.com has an informative article that breaks down examples of awesome and awful email subject lines. The article is a good read and worth your time. I’ll skip to the end where the author, Josh Nason, provides a handful of tips for writing effective subject lines: Don’t discount the importance of the From name. Keep it your company name and not an individual’s name or drawn-out term. In addition, keep your company name out of the subject line: It’s redundant—a waste of valuable… Read More
Continue ReadingManaging Remote Relationships
The management landscape is changing drastically as more salespeople move to remote/home offices within their territory. Yet, many aspects of sales seems to be moving more towards relationship-based sales. Yes, relationships have always been a key part of selling, but it seems to be the greater piece today. Information flows freely on the Internet so the differentiation between companies is being pushed onto their salespeople. So we have arrived at the place where relationship-driven salespeople work remotely instead of at the corporate office. The strain of this new arrangement falls squarely on the sales manager. The modern-days sales manager has to work with limitations that were less common just 10… Read More
Continue ReadingThe 9 Second Window
That is how long you have to hook a person on a cold voicemail message according to this article on Salesopedia (my bold): 6 Interesting Sales Prospecting Statistics 1. In a recent survey 95% of salespeople said they can sell – they just need to get in front of more prospects. 2. Effective prospecting blends both marketing & selling. 3. Most salespeople HATE to prospect. 4. The best prospectors often close more business than the best salespeople. 5. Nearly 60% of high performing prospectors consider the phone ESSENTIAL to their prospecting success. 6. Decision makers listen to only 9 seconds of a “cold” voicemail before deciding to press delete? Good… Read More
Continue ReadingOnline Job Movement
The online job posting statistics provide a look at general hiring trends…I think. My question is always in regards to which online boards are being tracked. We are seeing a marked migration away from the big boards to the still-developing niche boards. That migration may be skewing the data from this Inc.com article – I’m not certain. Nonetheless, the year-over-year tracking of the big boards is still noteworthy (emphasis mine): The number of online job postings last month declined 16.4 percent from a year ago, the Conference Board reported Friday. In total, there were 2,591,500 new jobs posted online in April, with healthcare and management accounting for more than 450,000.… Read More
Continue ReadingA Quick Questioning Tip
This tip comes from the Selling Power archives: Never ask a question without first explaining why you’re asking. Nirenberg says, “Just asking a question puts the listener on the spot. However, if you let him know why you’re asking, it makes him a partner,” Nirenberg goes on to explain, “People with sales backgrounds often avoid asking questions because they think that the talker controls the conversation. That’s not true because the listener can always tune you out. In fact, you’d be surprised how often you’re talking to yourself during a sales call.” That is a good tip. Asking good qualifying questions is crucial for successful selling. However, most people have… Read More
Continue ReadingMental Focus
In case you ever wondered why your marketing campaigns were not working: (h/t Seth Godin)
Continue ReadingSWAT Teams
I haven’t heard this term before, but I absolutely love it. From the Wall Street Journal’s How Stay-at-Home Moms Are Filling an Executive Niche: The decision among some highly educated women to stay home with children is sparking a countertrend: The rise of the mommy “SWAT team.” The acronym, for “smart women with available time,” is one mother’s label for all-mom teams assembled quickly through networking and staffing firms to handle crash projects. Employers get lots of voltage, cheap, while the women get a skills update and a taste of the professional challenges they miss. What a fantastic idea. The differentiation: Skilled workers taking temp projects isn’t new, of course.… Read More
Continue Reading“You Can’t Grow If You Aren’t Selling”
Isn’t that the truth? Entrepreneur.com has an excellent archived article (from 2002) titled Hire and Hire that discusses hiring salespeople during a recession (no, we’re not in a recession). The point is valid – economic downturns are the best time to upgrade and/or expand your sales team. Pick the right talent, and your new salesperson will pay for himself or herself many times over. After all, Buckley points out, because your ability to make sales is the “engine that drives growth,” salespeople are “pay-for-themselves-type expenditures.” That “pick the right talent” piece is not so easy, but it is the keystone of the approach. Run a hiring process and make sure… Read More
Continue ReadingStarting A Company In A Recession
Interesting history lesson in a short Inc.com post: William Wrigley, Jr. arrived in Chicago in 1891 with just $32 to his name. The 29-year-old entrepreneur began manufacturing soap, first enticing customers by offering free baking soda with every purchase. He later tried offering customers free chewing gum. The gum soon became more popular – and profitable – than his soap venture. Like many of the famous companies which have sprung up during recessions, Wrigley sold inexpensive goods that could be easily mass produced. Now, I’m not saying that chewing gum actually served as a distraction from the strife of the times, but what kind of startup do you think fairs… Read More
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