Ready for the Big Game? Not the Super Bowl. Are you geared up for the sales game? Are you prepared for the challenges, hurdles and victories in your 2017 personal Sales Super Bowl? You’re not a bench warmer. Be a key contributor to your company’s success. If you didn’t track when your customer’s lease ends, that’s no excuse to avoid contacting a company.
For at least eighty percent of the US, it’s cold during January and February. If you’re like me, the cold and snow is an excuse to avoid sales calls. “No one wants to see me on a snowy, freezing cold day. However, your phone works.
Even though your car may not be able to pile-drive through snowdrifts and traverse treacherous black ice covered roads, prospecting calls are always in season.
If you no longer want to see the same results as in prior years, join me in a challenge for 2017. We’ll have to make behavioral changes to see new results. Let’s make 2017 one of our best years ever.
Take five steps with me.
- I will make more “warm” prospecting calls. A warm call is one that is a result of some prior communication. Warm calls may be the result of a chance meeting at a networking event, a former customer that slipped through our sales net, a referral from a current customer or someone who has received one of company marketing letters.
- I will prepare a series of well-written marketing messages.
- I will commit to make a specific number of marketing calls each week. How many calls is the right number? It’s different for each of us. Write a goal that is consistently achievable. Powerful results come from consistent calling efforts and a written goal. Hold yourself accountable and reward your successes.
- I will create a three step follow-up process for those I meet face-to-face. The process must be easy to put into place or the temptation to abandon the plan will hit by February.
- For everyone from whom I collect a business card, I will:
- Send a brief note or email within 3-5-days of meeting them. Personalize the message. Add a detail from your conversation. Form letters are a waste of time. In 2012, we must do that which is unexpected.
- The second contact includes your company qualifications as it relates to your ability to solve the prospect’s biggest problem. . All communication is from a customer’s perspective focused on needs and the outcome that comes with your solution.
- Step three is a phone call. The message is problem and solution oriented. Ask open-ended questions. No drive-by spontaneous visits allowed.
We will have an improved 2017 if we work this plan together. Let me hear from you when you hit a bump. I’ll be on the journey with you.
Mary Redmond is a negotiation expert that provides workshops, presentations and coaching for companies and organizations. She is a well-known professional speaker, author and consultant that can help you achieve success.