A Sales Compass – A Blog by B2B Sales Connections

No matter how much we wish it wasn’t so, business slows down during the summer. If a prospect isn’t on vacation, chances are he is covering for someone who is.  If you don’t have enough prospects in your funnel today, it can be a very difficult to make your sales goals once July and August rolls around.

First and foremost, to be successful in the summer months, you have to have a packed prospect list.  In fact, you should probably have double or even triple the number of prospects on the go to reach the same sales goals during the summer than you normally would during the busier months in the fall.  You can still sell during the summer, you just need to make sure that you have enough hot prospects on the go that when one is going on vacation, another one that you can sell to is returning.  If you take the time to make more prospecting telephone calls and knock on more doors now, you will glad you did at the end of August. (more…)

It seems like one of the most discussed topics in the online sales networks these days is how can sales people get more prospects to return their voice mail messages.   My answer to you is, regardless of the actual message itself, you first have to stop making the mistakes that make it impossible for the prospects to return your calls even when they want to!  (more…)

I know it seems a little early to talk about the summer months, but as a sales manager you have to look that far ahead.  Business can really slow down in the summer, and if your sales team does not have enough prospects in their funnel today, it can be a very difficult to make your sales goals once July and August rolls around.   

A great way for your team to generate many new prospects in a very short period of time is a blitz day.  A blitz day is essentially when everyone on the sales team sets aside time to prospect all at the same time, either on the telephone or face to face prospecting.  (more…)

A study published by Jobfox, identified Sales Representative/Business Development as the most recession-proof profession.  Profit Magazine reported; “Finding the right sales talent was one of the biggest concerns facing sales organizations today.”   Similar studies conducted annually by Manpower Inc. report that the position of “sales representative” is consistently considered by management as one of the most difficult jobs to fill.    

So if so many sales organizations are always looking to hire, why are so many sales people having difficulties finding their ideal sales positions?  Setting aside reasons like their resumes need improvement, or they need better interviewing skills, one of the biggest reasons is they are not applying to all the available sales positions! (more…)

A purchaser’s role is to execute a purchase for a product based on another department’s purchasing criteria.  Your best sales contact is actually the person in that other department.

For example, if you are selling group dental insurance, you may receive a purchase order from the purchasing department for your dental plan, but it was actually the Human Resources manager who decided the best dental plan to buy. 

Although a good contact to have, unless you actually sell purchase order forms, the name of a purchaser is not your ultimate contact.

In my ebook, Action Plan for Sales Success, I discuss in detail how to determine who is your best sales contact, including not only who you should ask to speak to, but also the best way to ask so that you actually get the right answer. 

Remember, if you are not talking to the right person, you simply won’t make the sale!

Aim Higher!

Looking for quick and easy ways to build trust with your prospects?  Join us for our free online sales training webinar!  Webinar not fit your schedule?  Download free videos of our sales training seminars from our Download Centre.  While you’re visiting the B2B Sales Connections Download Centre. why not download a free copy of our white paper How To Create Your Unique Value Proposition?

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections

www.b2bsalesconnections.com or www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns

In my role as a B2B Sales Coach, I recently received the following question.  As this is a very common question, I thought I would share it with our blog readers: 

Dear B2B Sales Coach: 

My boss insists I keep calling the prospect, but after a bunch of calls and messages, the customer told me to stop harassing him.  Any advice you can give me on keeping the boss happy and not annoying the customer?  - Rob, Toronto, ON (more…)

‘I hate cold calling”. Have you heard that line a thousand times or more in your sales career?  Or how about the promise to “never make another cold call again”.  Let’s not forget the ever popular “cold calling is dead”.  Of course there are tons of books, articles, blogs and tirades about the death of the cold call but there are still lots of industries where they work and lots of sales people who are very successful because they pick up the phone and dial.

(more…)

As President of the Sales Professionals of Ottawa, I was lucky enough to moderate a panel discussion entitled “How To Hunt In Today’s Jungle”.  Each panelist discussed the “how to’s” of lead generation in their field of expertise; telesales, social media, internet research, and print advertising.  The discussion was lively, yet in the end, the consensus was clear.  To generate leads, a diversified prospecting approach is what works best!  (more…)

Do you find that there are just not enough hours in a day?  Are you working long hours, making call after call, but you still don’t sell enough to even come close to reaching quota?  If you answered yes to these questions, you may be one of the many sales representatives who mistakenly believe that being busy is the same as being effective. (more…)

Recently, Susan posted  a blog that generated a lot of discussion on the merits of leaving a voice mail. There were numerous comments left debating both sides of the issue. I would like to relay a quick voice mail story that happened at one of my clients this past week.

The clients sales team had long debated the pros and cons of leaving a voice mail message and a few of the sales people decided they were going to start  leaving a well crafted voice mail and see if they would be successful.

Two days later one of the rep’s called me up so excited they were almost coming through the phone. He had left a voice mail for a prospect who he had never spoken to at a company on his target list.  Twenty minutes after he left the voice mail the contact from the prospects company called him back to find out more about the product he was selling.

Instead of launching into a ‘pitch’ about his product he asked the prospect what prompted them to call. It turns out the client had just been told by a major supplier they would not be renewing their contract and shipments of the products would stop. The prospect pegged the value of the contract at over $3 million and asked for a meeting immediately to disuss the opportunity.  Not bad for a 20 second voice mail.

By the way, all the sales team has started to leave voice mails.

AIM HIGHER

Robert J. Weese

Managing Partner

www.b2bsalesconnections.com