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Make More Sales by Contacting Quality Prospects
While the phrase “smile and dial” may be a catchy saying, the notion that the more potential buyers you contact, the more sales you will make is untrue. Instead, a systematic approach to seeking out the right sort of business prospects has proven more valuable for distributors.
Denise Graziano, president of Graziano Associates (asi/213121), has found that pursuing clients and referrals within the industries she is already serving can be fruitful. She began “going vertical” about 10 years ago, honing in on the insurance and health-care industries, although it was difficult at first, and she felt like she might be letting go of potential opportunities by increasing her focus.
But, learning from her clients and her own research about issues affecting brokers and health-care workers, Graziano found that targeting new clients came much more naturally, as she already had a sense of what their needs were. “When you can say you understand their industry, they don’t have to educate you on the work they do,” she says. “Your name comes up in the same industry, over and over, and you become the go-to person.”
John Moran, CEO of Starr International Enterprises Inc., advises sales reps to create a targeted list of prospects (generally of about 200 companies) that could benefit from knowing you, using research tools such as Hoover’s and ZoomInfo, as well as social media sites including LinkedIn and Twitter. “You should become a subject matter expert,” he says. “Educate your customer on trends in the industry negatively affecting similar businesses and innovative ideas to solve those issues.” He says sales has become more about buying than selling, and the salesperson who can provide targeted case studies and market research to potential clients, is more likely to get the business.
To learn more proven strategies to increase your sales performance, attend the “Power Prospecting: Getting Ad Specialty Clients” seminar at the brand-new ASI Holiday Preview Show in Las Vegas from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on September 13, 2010. In this motivational sales class, taught by David Blaise, author of Top Secrets of Promotional Products Sales, you’ll learn how to drive a steady stream of qualified leads to your door. For more information, click
here or
visit asishow.com |
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Create a Value-Packed E-mail
3 Dos and 3 Don'ts for Phone Cold-Calling
Norma Siciliano, author of 101 Cold Calling Tips for Hot Sales, lists some important dos and don’ts.
The Dos
1. Imply that the decision-maker knows you. “When the screener asks your name, give only your first name, intimating that the prospect knows you and will take your call with no question,” she says. “This works surprisingly well, but keep in mind that nothing works all the time.”
2. Prepare a script until you are comfortable. “Anxiety can block the most important benefits or features of your product or service when you're in the middle of a sales pitch,” she says, “but be sure not to let it sound rehearsed, like you're reading word-for-word. Include rebuttals to objections, as well.”
3. Recognize the value of your work. “It will be easier for you to make cold calls if you realize that your work has worth – that you are offering a valuable service and providing information that can improve your prospect's business,” she says.
The Don’ts
1. Don’t start cold, so to speak. “Prepare yourself on Sunday evening not only for Monday, but for the entire week,” she says. “You'll start out more self-assured.”
2. Don’t leave messages. “No one will call back unless they want something from you,” she says. “This is a hard lesson to learn because it seems much easier to have your prospect call back.”
3. Don’t ever put your prospect on hold. “You will lose him or her quickly,” she says. “No one likes to be put on hold. Do you?” |
Buzz Hill, owner of SourceMaster, uses a video e-mail tool that allows him to shoot a several-minute-long personal video greeting from his desk, upload it, attach it to an e-mail, and send it to his would-be clients.
The tool, which is powered by CoVideo Systems, is customizable. “If you have a good digital catalog that you want customers to look at, you can link the digital catalog there and direct them to all of your specials,” Hill says. “And it only takes two minutes to customize your templates.”
Hill recently used this techno-savvy door-opener to renew a relationship with a client. “Madelaine had been a customer since about 2007 and ordered on a regular basis, but then all orders stopped in July 2009,” he says. “I called and left messages and sent e-mails, but it looked like the relationship was done.
“Then, I got the video e-mail program, and I made my regular follow-up phone call to her as usual. I got the voicemail, but this time, rather than leave a message to please call me back, I just left a message that I sent a personal video e-mail to her inbox, and to please view it. In the video, I told her I appreciated her business, and although she had not ordered in almost a year, I still wanted her business and appreciated her as a customer.”
Almost immediately, Madelaine sent an e-mail reply to request pricing on 24 imprinted duffel bags that would promote the website of a youth health program. “Frankly, I believe without this video program, I would have lost her business forever, but the video made the contact personal and saved the relationship,” Hill says.
| To learn more proven strategies to increase your sales performance, attend the “Putting it All Together: Rapport-Building Tools and Questions to Dominate Your Market” seminar at the brand-new ASI Holiday Preview Show in Las Vegas on from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on September 13, 2010. In this dynamic class, taught by David Blaise, author of Top Secrets of Promotional Products Sales, you’ll get specific, word-for-word questions designed to open clients up and position yourself as a true promotional expert. For more information, click
here or visit asishow.com. |
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| This video from Stitches Editor and Director of ASI Education Nicole Rollender demonstrates how you can educate customers and set yourself up as an expert in your field. Subscribe
now to our YouTube videos. |
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Teach What You Know to Market Your Business
Before she started her own company, Debbie Honig was buying promotional products in the corporate world. Through the companies she worked for, she could see that every time, promotional products reinforced the business.
Now the president of Active Concepts Inc. (asi/104857), Honig started speaking more than a decade ago to college students and coach organizations about how to put the buzz in their business. “When I started lecturing at the Fashion Institute of Technology, I was teaching some classes there about how to promote and market your brand. I’d talk to many different types of students to explain the marketing aspect,” she says.
Honig finds the benefit of teaching students is twofold. “Their eyes are wide open because they haven’t been taught any of this. I come in and walk around the room and I’m coaching them on how to promote their business,” she says. She mentions that the students start to see the world outside of textbooks. And most importantly, “I’m learning from them and they’re learning from me,” she adds.
After the class is over, Honig offers a free consultation for the students working on a project or a problem. “Sometimes, they turn me over to their bosses and then I ask if I can come in to make a presentation,” she says. She’s also started mentoring two distributors due to her speaking engagements. “The more you speak to a targeted audience, the more clear and focused you become on what your goals are,” she adds.
Takeaway Tip
If you’re looking to teach what you know, reach out to your network. “I received two master’s degrees from New York University and Baruch College, so I had a relationship with their human resources department,” Honig says. “I let them know that if they needed a speaker, I would be available in marketing or mentoring.” Through meeting people and networking, she was able to fill in for various speakers and then earn some teaching assignments.
Honig also recommends reaching out to related organizations and letting them know that you are looking to get into speaking. Prior to becoming a teacher, she had to work her way up with interviews and presentations.
| To learn more proven strategies to increase your sales performance, attend the “The Ultimate 90-Day Marketing Plan: How to Create Top of Mind Awareness in Your Market” seminar at the brand-new ASI Holiday Preview Show in Las Vegas on from 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on September 13, 2010. In this information-packed marketing class, taught by David Blaise, author of Top Secrets of Promotional Products Sales, you’ll learn how to create a powerful marketing plan that will get you results quickly. For more information, click
here or visit asishow.com. |
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 DISTRIBUTOR
SUCCESS SYSTEM
ASI’s educational Distributor Success System is the
ultimate “crash course” for new distributors entering
the industry.
Led
by several ASI executives, and supplemented with
interviews with successful distributors, top
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the education content provides new distributors
with a clear roadmap to jump-start their business.
This
self-instruction series for new distributors is
available online so it can be accessed 24/7. Each
section contains valuable insight and content developed
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