SalesBlogcast.com - Sales and Leadership Blog: Recent Comments

Comment on Creating Value Q & A

Vicki O'Neill-Ropos — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:09:01 GMT

I see creating value separate from setting appointments. If the latter is the issue, your highest propensity for quality leads/appointments is going to be from those in which you've given a demo and like the product and value it creates. Asking for a referral from these businesses is likely to put you in contact with similar businesses.

Comment on Creating Value Q & A

Sheryl — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:38:19 GMT

Hi Jeff,

Enjoyed your statement. Have been in sales for quite a long time now but am always will to learn new techniques. Can you share some of your rebuttals with me in regards to the questions you addressed. I'd like to give them a try.

Thanks for your help!
Sheryl

Comment on Reviving Prospects Who Disappear into the Black Hole

Swapnadip — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:20:30 GMT

This is a very realistic situation and such situations are quite common in case of high value deals. One should not blame one self for the ensuing situation as the same person had generated enough interest initially with the prospect. The decisions gets suspended for various reasons - the client may have a sudden squeeze in their finances, they may get caught for necessary approvals, there can be many reasons for decisions going into the black hole other than questioning the sanity of self.
In such situations one needs to keep their cool and ensure the relationship is maintained. It is very critical to focus on efforts and not on the results. Harder the efforts, better are the results. The best way to counter is to develope a positive attitude by thinking positive and believing that one is doing the best.
As rightly pointed in Jills blog one can try various permutation & combination in negating the stress created for the unforeseen delay but one should never loose the focus of the effort.

Comment on Creating Value Q & A

Ankur Sood — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:05:42 GMT

Well, first of all you need to decide on the most convincing and appreciated part of the product demo which you think could be pitched as the USP to the prospective client.

Then, it could be marketed through various media channels. Almost half of your job is done.

Now, the people would be aware of the product and getting an appointment out of their calendars should not be a tough job.

Even if you manage to get 40% appointments in the first round that should be considered valuable as this would also help you giving references while approaching the new clients.

Regards,
Ankur.

Comment on Creating Value Q & A

F. Perquin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:09:33 GMT

If you have a brilliant proposition, it won't be a problem to get appointments in the first place...

Comment on Creating Value Q & A

Martijn de Zoete (the Netherlands) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:44:25 GMT

You have a great product, that will sell itself, but the problem is to make the initial appointment.
Then you have to create scarcity.
Not only by saying that in words, but also by doing that in your behaviour.

How do you do that? It's not so difficult.

FIRST:
If you say that you have a busy agenda, don't make an appointment with your customer tomorrow, but in 6 weeks! That gives your customer a feeling of scarcity.
SECOND:
Send a confirmation letter to the customer. Don't give telephonenumbers to reschedule the appointment.
THIRD:
Call the customer again 2 weeks before the appointment, to get a new confirmation on the appointment. You can say that a lot of people want to have an appointment and you want to be sure that your agenda is full (that's scarcity!! No one will reschedule!)
FOURTH:
Ask your customers for new leads!

All these behavioural things create the feeling for your customer that he is special (he gets a lot off attention) and that the product is scarce. And that conviction gives you the opportunity to rise the prize with about 10% and create your own steady agenda.

Comment on Creating Value Q & A

Abhay Bhargava — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:55:46 GMT

Well - a number of ways IMO to get more appointments.

First, Marketing. You need to take a look at what part of the demo is the most convincing part, and then delve into it to figure out what USP appealed to the attendees of these demos - in short, know what has the highest appeal, and then push that message out through marketing and means of relevant media. This would reduce some of the blocks that people might hold when you call them requesting for appointments, since they are "primed".

References. Another medium to get higher success in the appointments is to get references - assuming you have managed to even carry out 10 demos - use these people to provide you with references of previous companies they have worked with, or friends/ peers in other companies that form a target market for you. This form of expanding the target base has never ever failed for me. 10 will become 30 will become 100... LinkedIn is a great example.

Last, Knowledge. The people who are calling for appointments should know that they have all of 45 seconds at max to create an interest - your USP should be pushed out at this stage, clearly reflecting the relevance to the target. For this, each client you call needs to be briefly researched, allowing for guesses to be "educated" ones.

Comment on Creating Value Q & A

Jeff Goldberg — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:38:56 GMT

Getting the appointment has little to do with a brilliant value proposition in your opening and has almost everything to do with knowing what to say when the "prospect" gives you an objection. A good "opening" with a strong value proposition is useful and important but not as important as being able to work past the objection.

I've trained salespeople in a large variety of industries and it almost always boils down to the same 4 or 5 objections: "I'm not interested," "I'm happy with my current vendor," "I'm busy," I don't have a budget," and "Send me some information."

By knowing that this is what the prospective customer will almost always say when you try to set an appointment, you can be prepared with an appropriate rebuttal and you should easily set appointments with between 20% - 50% of the people you get on the phone.

Comment on Creating Value Q & A

Mark — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:26:47 GMT

You need to catch your prospect's attention and give them a reason to see you. You need to do something to stand out in the crowd!

Try using GoldMail messages to record a quick, customized voice over visual message overview that catches the prospects attention. It's your voice over visuals - very powerful.

www.goldmail.com

Comment on 7 Essentials for MASSIVE Success!

Max Rosenthal — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:54:51 GMT

by not wasting time reading mindless, trite stuff like this