All Entries Tagged With: "follow-up"

Carpe Deal’m… Seize the Deal!

You crank out more phone calls than you can count. You do everything possible just to get an appointment. What do you do when someone finally shows you some buying signs?

Too many sales people take the approach of, “I’m still waiting to hear back… they promised to call me when they are ready to move forward.” Are you kidding me? I’m going to share two examples from my own personal sales experiences. These are things that I’m constantly working to improve upon. I hope these points help you win more deals!

8 Follow-Up Strategies to Keep Your Prospect Engaged

How do you follow-up with your prospects after your first conversation or after your first appointment? Sometimes we get so tired of chasing people down that we lose focus and take the lazy approach of “calling to touch base,” or “calling to check-in,” both of which bring little value.

Here are 8 follow-up strategies you can use to bring constant value and keep your prospect moving forward through the buying cycle. As you work through each of these, keep asking for the business!

Using Stall Tactics to Your Advantage!

Don’t you love it when a prospect throws out the same old lame stall, “Can you just send me some information?” For years, we’ve been taught to respond with our own canned reply, “What kind of information would you like me to send you?” …ultimately knowing that we really don’t send any information at all.

You can use this stall tactic to your advantage.

Emails That Win Deals!

One of our top performers called me to her cube today and said, “Doyle… I need your help. I was supposed to get a final decision today from a big account I’ve been waiting on. Although the prospect promised to call me… she didn’t. I’ve tried calling her and haven’t been able to reach her. It’s the end of the day, and I’m writing her an email. Can you read over it and tell me what you think…”

I read through the first three sentences and noticed it was just a bunch of fluffy language that didn’t really say anything… a bunch of blah, blah, blah. We’ve all been there right? So I told her…

The Difference Between Sales Success and Failure

Last week, I asked the question, “Is the sales mindset shifting?” I want you to know exactly where I stand. Selling is about being tough, confident, smart, competitive, strategic, active, compelling, aggressive, professionally persistent, solution oriented, and slightly empathetic… It’s about hunting, and it’s about closing! If anyone is hoping to hear about a warm, fuzzy, cozy, softy approach to sales… it won’t come from me.

Sales people who win focus on…

Hot Leads Getting Colder by the Minute

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a reader Q & A regarding lead conversion and engaging prospects who are “just looking.” Special kudos go out to those of you who offered some really good ideas!

In addition to highlighting reader comments, I also promised everyone that I would share my own ideas if I found anything missing. There’s just one tip I would like to add. It’s very simple, but critically important…

Stop Selling Like You’re Walking On Egg Shells!

Do you want to know why some sales people are struggling? Because they are believing all the whiners, sales snipers, and so called gurus who like to “talk” sales instead of “make” sales. These “big talkers” are filling everybody’s head with junk!

I’ve had enough of hearing people talk about how “prospects like to buy, they don’t want to be sold”. I’m tired of hearing that sales is “all about building relationships”. I’m sick of hearing that “cold calling is dead,” intrusive, and whatever else!

Driving Unbeatable Sales Numbers!

Someone recently ask me, “What are the critical things they should do to drive more sales for their business?”

I was pretty busy at the time, so I responded with six quick bullet points. Today, I decided to provide all of my readers with an expanded, more detailed version. Actually, it’s a specific breakdown of how I personally try to build my sales week!

Should I Leave a Voice Mail?

What’s going on out there? Is it just me, or does it seem like no one is answering their phone? I used to have a very strong opinion about whether or not to leave voice mails. That view point has recently changed. Share your thoughts on the questions below and I’ll explain my new point of view on the next post!

Reader Q & A: Do voice mails work? Should you or shouldn’t you leave voice mails?

Cold Calling Dead or Alive

If you missed the last post, Compelling Argument Against Cold Calling, it is piece you have to read several times to take it all in. I think there are two key issues. The first is cold calling and the second is lead generation. I’ll set the record straight. If you are in sales, cold calling isn’t optional. It is a must… but, most organizations are not being strategic enough about their cold calling approach and many are not focused at all on lead generation tactics.