SalesDog Quick Tip

Never assume that a prospect received, saw, or heard your message. When prospects don't respond, instead of feeling rejected or wondering what you did wrong, it's much more productive to ask yourself, "What should I try next?"

Don't let your self-doubt get the best of you. A prospect's lack of response has no meaning unless you give it one. There's no way for you to know why you didn't get a reply; it may have nothing to do with you at all.

Today's quick tip comes from C.J. Hayden, author of Get Clients Now! Learn more at her website, www.getclientsnow.com

Digg This!	Stumble It!

What You Need to Succeed in Tough Times

If you are a manager worried about maintaining sales momentum in a shrinking economy, you will want to check out Selling Power's Sales Leadership Conference to be held next month in Philadelphia.

This is your opportunity to:

• Learn how to inspire your team and build a high performance sales organization

• Discover exactly how top organizations are outselling their competitors using the latest sales productivity technology.

• Network with the CEOs and sales leaders from America's top companies (The face-to-face networking opportunities alone are priceless.)

You have until midnight tonight (Central time) to get the early bird discount. Click here for full details. While you're here, check out the video about the event on the page - very interesting.

Digg This!	Stumble It!

Monitor Your Messages

Communication is the key to success in sales. Whether it is in person, over the phone, or via email, your clients are buying because they have communicated a need to you, and you have communicated a solution to them.

If communication has stalled between you and your prospect, it could be due to incongruence in the messages your words and body language are sending. Change management expert Kevin Dwyer suggests you watch out for the following communication sin - most people don't realize they're committing it.

Incongruence

When a person speaks, the audience is attempting to assess whether we are sincere or not about what we say, and they take into account the following:

• The words we use - The content and knowledge of our topic, counts for 7 percent of their perception
• How we speak - Including our tone, pitch and inflection, counts for 35 percent of their perception
• Our visual presence - Our body language counts for 55 percent of their perception

Some examples of incongruence between words, tone and body which scuttles our message are:

• Talking about open communication and frowning at difficult questions (body language versus words).
• Reading from a speech in a monotone voice about how excited we are about the future (body language and tone and pace of voice versus words).
• Saying, "I take full accountability" for an error without expressing what the consequences of the accountability entail (words versus words).

The next time you're communicating with a prospect, try to monitor the messages you're sending. Do your words and body language match up? Do the words in your sentences support each other? Do this, and you'll get the message across - and get the sale!

Kevin Dwyer is President of Change Factory, a change management company that helps businesses get better outcomes by managing a change in their people's behavior. Learn more at www.changefactory.com.au

Digg This!	Stumble It!

Jeffrey Gitomer's The Sales Bible Revised Edition Released Today

Jeffrey Gitomer is releasing a revised version of The Sales Bible today, Tuesday, May 6. It's been reworked, added to, rewritten, and has the look and feel of his other popular title in his Little Book Series - complete with cartoons, a page marker, and Jeffrey's all new 10.5 Commandments of Sales Success. This 300-page bible is THE must-have title for sales professionals who've already come to know and trust Jeffrey's inventive, irreverent sales wisdom through his Little Book Series.

When you get your copy at Amazon today you can receive hundreds of dollars worth of downloadable e-books, white papers, audio and video files from top sales and business growth leaders, including SalesDog.com. For more details about the offer, go to: http://www.gitomer.com/newsalesbible.

Buy the book at Amazon today, then email your receipt to: salesbible@gitomer.com to get your bonus gifts. It's that simple.

Digg This!	Stumble It!

Quote of the Week

"Never let anyone tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes." -- Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. former first lady, U.N. diplomat, humanitarian

Wise words for every selling professional. Keep them in mind the next time you find yourself stymied by lower-level operatives. Remember: aim high!

Digg This!	Stumble It!

SalesDog Quick Tip

Don't send information before the cold call. Busy decision-makers toss unsolicited, bulging packages of literature with form letters. Starting out a cold call with, "I sent you a letter, didja get it?" rarely elicits a response like, "Oh yeah. You're that guy. I want to meet with you!"

Today's quick tip comes from Art Sobczak, president of Business By Phone Inc.

Digg This!	Stumble It!

4 Essential Tips on How to Make a Perfect Follow-up Call

Most people look at cold calling as the hardest part of the sales process. After you've made that first call, it gets easier from there, right? Maybe not, according to telesales expert Jim Domanski. "In many ways, a follow-up call to a prospect is more challenging than a cold call," says Domanski. "Typically, it's the follow-up call that really gets the sales cycle rolling. It's here where value truly begins to manifest itself. It's here where substantive information is gathered, and it's here where the relationship begins to establish itself."

For those reasons, it's absolutely vital you have superb follow up strategies and tactics so you can make the most of the moment. Here are four tips from Domanski to make the perfect follow-up call:

1) Get commitment for the follow up. Perhaps the single biggest mistake reps make is not establishing a specific date and time for the follow up call at the end of the initial call. Vague commitments from the prospects ("call me next week") or the sales rep ("I'll send the proposal and follow up in a couple of days") result in missed calls, voice mail messages and ultimately a longer sales cycle. All you need to do is simply ask for a follow up date and time. For instance:

I'll be glad to write up the proposal (quote, whatever) and e-mail it to you. And what I would like to recommend is that we set up Tuesday, the 16th, at say, 8:45 to review it in detail and determine the next steps if any. How does that sound?

If this is not a good time, recommend another time. If that doesn't work, get them to establish a time and date. Creating a deadline is a simple but extremely powerful tactic. Use it.

2) Build equity and be remembered. After every call to a first time prospect, send a thank you card. Handwrite a message on a small thank you card that simply says, "John, thank you for taking the time speaking with me today. I look forward to chatting with you further on the 16th! Kind regards..." No more, no less.

In today's fast paced world, a hand written card tells the client that you took the time and the effort to do something a little different. At some level this registers in the client's mind and creates a degree of "equity" in you. It differentiates you and it gets remembered.

3) E-mail a reminder and an agenda. The day before your follow up call, send an e-mail to your prospect to remind them of your appointment. In the subject line write, "Telephone appointment for August 16th and article of interest." Your e-mail should confirm the date and time of the appointment and then briefly list your agenda:

"John, the call should only take 10 minutes. We'll review the proposal and I'll answer any questions. And then we'll determine the next steps, if any."

Notice how the words echo the words that were used when the follow up was initially set. In particular, notice the trigger phrase "...the next steps, if any." The "if any" will help reduce some of the "stress" or concern a first-time prospect might have. Often they skip out on the follow up call because they are worried that they'll have to make a commitment. This is natural and okay. If the prospect senses an easy, informal, no pressure type of phone call, he is more likely to show up on time for that call.

4) Add value in a P.S. Notice in the subject line there is a reference to an article. At the end of your e-mail add a P.S. that says,

"John, in the meantime, here's an article I though you might enjoy reading..."

The article may be about your industry, the market, a product or better yet, something non-business related that you had discussed in your initial call. This creates tremendous value even if the client does not open it. Why? Because you took the time to do something extra. This helps get you remembered and gives the client yet another reason to take your follow up call.

Jim Domanski is the President of Teleconcepts Consulting Inc. Since 1991, Teleconcepts Consulting has been working with B2B distributors, resellers, manufacturers, service related industries and others, helping them increase the bottom line of their tele-sales programs. Learn more at www.teleconceptsconsulting.com

Digg This!	Stumble It!