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@yousuckatsales
AD BLOCKING HAS NOW GONE MOBILE
And the ad industry isn’t handling it very well.
But we were warned this day would come.
And now we have to find a way to deliver our messages…without being so damned intrusive.
That’s the subject of my latest column for Applied Arts Magazine, which you’ll find here.
10 ideas for salespeople who make cold calls (and want people to actually consider returning their call)
10 ideas for salespeople who make cold calls (and want people to actually consider returning their call)
1. Stop the "I have a quick question for you... call me back" approach. Leave your bloody question on the voice mail.
2. Look me up online (I'm not difficult to find) and give me at least one reason why what you're selling might be a good match.
3. Stop acting like we're buddies. I don't know you, and you obviously didn't bother to learn anything about me.
4. CLEARLY leave your name (first and last) along with your phone number at the beginning AND end of the call. It should be the first and last thing I hear. If I'm remotely interested I don't want to listen to an entire message six times to try and make out your number.
5. Say your number SLOOOWLY. I need to write it down if I'm to call you back and you're saying it faster than the rest of your entire message and running all the numbers together. If you're afraid of running out of recording time, come up with a shorter message and include the number at the front end of the call (see #4)
6. Come up with a shorter message. Stop trying to sell me whatever it is you're hawking on your first (unsolicited) call. Don't know you, don't like you, didn't ask you to call me -- do you really think I'm going to buy at this point?
7. Leave your email address. You're more likely to get an email response from me than a return phone call. (Am I the only one who prefer this? Tell me in a comment below).
8. If you were referred to me, tell me. I'll either pay more attention to what you're saying or pay less attention to that "friend" who sic'd a salesperson on me. Either way, we'll both be happier.
9. Instead of trying to squeeze your spiel on my voicemail, why not send me to a website where I can watch a video or read up on it myself. And NOT the home[age of your website. Have a special cold-call response page where I can QUICKLY learn about what it is, see a video of you thanking me for visiting the page, and get your contact info in case I choose to follow-up with you.
10. Instead of Cold Calling, why don't you try Connecting? Everyone is so easy to find these days via Facebook or Linkedin, that you could be providing value to me and becoming known to me way before you ever hit me up to buy something from you.
Your Sales Pitch Sucks
I found a really nice SlideShare post that profiles the suckiness within most sales pitches (probably yours), and provides ideas on how to make your sales pitch suck less.
You definitely need to watch this...
Your Sales Pitch Sucks! from Slides That Rock
If you know their WHY, you can help them BUY.
~Don The Idea Guy
Want to suck a little less at sales?
Check out @Gitomer's new Power Lessons — available exclusively on his new Virtual Training website. Less than $30 per month for unlimited access to the best sales training in the world! AND you can save yourself a setup charge when you use the activation code at www.YouNeedSalesTraining.com !
You Missed A Deal That Would Get Me To Your Dealership
I drive a 1997 Jeep Wrangler with a soft-top and upper windows. Through the normal course of wear, tear, and aging (and couple random acts of vandalism by bored members of society) it has come time to get a new top for the Idea Guy Mobile.
I found a fair price on a new top via Quadratec.com and I thought that rather than wrestle with replacing it myself, that I would have the garage where my Jeep gets an occasional repair do it for me. I was surprised to find that not only wouldn't a repair shop do it, but neither would the used car dealer from whom I originally bought my vehicle. I ended up having to do what I was trying to avoid -- call an actual Jeep dealer and see what their Service department would charge me.
I sent a request through their website's Service page, but I was actually expecting to get my message returned by someone from their Sales department. I mean, a guy who drives a 16 year old vehicle is probably a good target to have in your sights for a newer vehicle, right?
But the next day (yes, it took them HOURS to respond to an online request) I got a quote from their service guy for about $300 to replace the top. Yikes! That's a lot more than I was expecting, and costs nearly as much as the new top itself.
It's important to note that the service guy who contacted me was nice, apologized for the delayed response, and directly answered the price-based question I posed.
But, here's my point...
Wouldn't you want a guy who drives an OLD Jeep to come into your dealership in hopes of being swayed into buying a NEW Jeep by the sight of all the shiny chrome on your lot?
Auto dealerships spend more money in traditional advertising media than virtually any other business category. All in hopes of getting bodies on their lot. Here I am. Someone who holds up his hand and asks about service on a vehicle you didn't sell me -- but now you have a chance to interact with me. Make a huge impression upon me with your service. Wave a shiny new Jeep under my nose by inviting me to take a test drive or (at minimum) get me into your marketing database so that you can contact me in hopes of a future sale (my Jeep has been wonderful, but it's not going to last forever.)
I helped you achieve your most difficult advertising conversion -- getting a person to visit your lot (and it's important to know that NONE of your actual Advertising had a hand in getting me there, you just happened to be the closest Jeep dealer I could find in my Google search) and you made it a transaction instead of an experience.
Why not tell me it would normally cost $300 but if I agree to wait in your lobby and use your free wi-fi, and offer me a coffee run to Starbucks in one of your shiny new Jeeps (call it a test drive if you must), that I could have the work done for $150 ...or even free (think about the cost of a SINGLE television ad in relation to your in-house expense of a little time invested by your Service department.
You know why you missed this opportunity? Because You Suck At Sales!
YouNeedSalesTraining.com Click the link above and check out some of the courses available to you for a low monthly charge (just $29!) Putting some of the ideas from the webinar on Customer Loyalty into practice would have given you the knowledge required to avoid the issue above. Sign-up using coupon code 1006 and get free account activation.
Contact me if you'd like a free 24-hour All Access Pass.
Do You Know Why You Suck At Sales?
Do you know why YouSuckAtSales (.com)?
It's because YouNeedSalesTraining (.com).
As a Gitomer Certified Speaker, I have a special access to the content, materials, and services of global sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer.
That relationship most recently resulted in first access to Jeffrey's new online training system: Gitomer VT (Virtual Training). Gitomer VT is a low-dough, high-value master collection of virtually (pun intended) everything Jeffrey Gitomer has published and presented over his decades long career as a speaker, writer, and expert on the subjects of selling, attitude, making connections, customer loyalty, earning trust, and the real reason why customers buy.
New content is constantly being added. Just days after Jeffery's most recent book "21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling" was published, the online course had already been added to the Gitomer VT menu (the online course was available before the Kindle version of the book was available!)
Go to YouNeedSalesTraining.com and take a look at what's available -- You get all Jeffery's best content for a flat 'all-you-can-eat' rate of just $29/month or for $329 for the entire year.
The best part is that since I've been such a long time fan and friend of the Gitomer group, I can pass along a special discount of $29. This is like getting a full month FREE! Just use my special promotion code "1006" on the checkout page.
Work your way through all of the content one course at a time, or just go back to your favorite sessions as many times as you like.
Going through a sales slump? Give the YES! Attitude webinar a view.
Gearing up for a big tradeshow or convention? Complete the Little Black Book of Connections course.
Need to improve your presence on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook? Spend 45 minutes with the Social Boom session.
Give it a try -- I know you'll love it!
Visit YouNeedSalesTraining.com and be sure to enter the special discount code '1006' and save $29.
Your Sales Process Sucks
From a recent Strategy+Business interview with Daniel Pink, author of "To Sell Is Human." S+B: To Sell Is Human is a pretty rare sales book. It doesn’t provide the reader with a sales process. PINK: I did that consciously, because I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all process to selling Winnebagos, to asking somebody out on a date, to getting your kids to clean their room, or to pitching your idea to a book publisher. I didn’t want to give people a set of custom Legos that builds only one particular castle, even if that’s an awesome way to build that particular castle. I’d rather give people a rich set of basic building blocks, which they can fashion into a process of their own and constantly evaluate. Sales processes tend to be very algorithmic. And when people get wedded to a process or to an algorithm, they miss all kinds of other clues and opportunities that could be really valuable. http://m.strategy-business.com/article/00204
Can Ye Sell a $120 T-Shirt? Kanye can.
One of the many reasons you suck at sales is the fact that you believe that what you sell is a price-driven commodity, like pork bellies or corn or plain white t-shirts.
You underestimate the value that YOU add to the equation. The increased value you bring to the transaction simply because your unique brand of personality and creativity and expertise touches the project.
You know who doesn't have that problem? Kanye West.
Apparently the hip-hoprepreneurial Mr. West capitalized on his own personal brand by offering a t-shirt that was nothing short of plain -- until it brushed up against his ego. The shirt pictured below did include a small tonal screen imprint on the inside (inside!) neckline, but other than that, it was simply a 100% cotton tee -- with a price tag of $120.
The shirt sold out, along with every other item in the 9-piece collection with items ranging from $120 to $250 each.
If you think that's incredible, you'll want to lift your jaw off the floor before your hear the news about the items now being auctioned off on eBay for $500 and up.
Still think your product is just plain vanilla? Rub your personal brand up against it and turn that commodity into a collectible.
You Suck At Linkedin
I received the email below from a person who recently connected with me on Linkedin. I didn't know this person myself, but we have several contacts in common, and this person currently does business as a vendor with a reputable company I worked with in the past -- so it's not like I randomly connected with a person of questionable or unknown origin (no princes of Nigeria, etc.) This is a business professional (their title is "Director of Business Development" who should know better.
And if they recognize this email as their own -- at least they'll know better for the next time!
Here is the very first email the person sent me -- their very first impression with a new contact -- in all its glory.
Don Hello We do business with [company name with whom I am familiar] and specialize in location based experiential marketing. We creatively engage the consumer and connect brick and mortar to online. Someone said you would be a great guy to connect with. Check us out on facebook by searching for [brand name removed].
[First and last name removed]
Beautiful, isn't it?
All the line endings, punctuation (or lack thereof) has been copied and pasted as-is.
The Object-Lesson Autopsy:
1. You don't know me. Don't spam someone you just connected with such a blatant inwardly focused message. You don't know me. And until you do, you don't know how your services might help me.
Why not ask me an engaging question instead?
Why not make an observation about something I posted or mentioned online or that you saw in my profile that made you think your company could be of service?
Why not provide me with a link to some online resource that I might find valuable enough to send you a note of 'thank you' in response?
2. Use punctuation. Period. I don't care if you're typing this from your mobile phone or not, use punctuation. Proper line endings would be nice, too. And you probably ought to capitalize brand names like Facebook (especially if your business is touting its online expertise.) I'm more likely to forgive a typo (we've all had Autocorrect rear its ugly head in our communiques), but being too lazy to hit the Shift key or add a comma or period is really lame.
3. What's that buzzing sound? "Location based experiential marketing" "Creatively engage the consumer" "Connect brick and mortar to online"
Where's the beef? Stop vomiting up pithy cliches and buzzwords and share a value message I can use. Creatively engage the consumer? You can't even creatively engage me in a four sentence email, and you were invited in to make this connection. If this is an example of your work, how could possible engage a stranger who won't give you the time of the day?
Ironically, the real weakness in using buzzwords like these is ultimately highlighted by the fact I removed the company's name from the email to avoid them further embarrassment. Without their name in place it quickly becomes clear that these words are meaningless! I'm certain that anyone reading this could substitute any corporate name from any industry and still have it read the same way. None of those words or phrases differentiated your company or what you do. It actually made you sound even more generic.
4. Name names. The person says in their email: "Someone said you would be a great guy to connect with." If you're going to tell me that someone paid me a compliment -- name names! I want to know who to thank (or curse!) for sending you my way.
If you'd actually included the person's name, you would have gained the initial credibility of the person you mentioned. Not including the name makes me think you really didn't hear it from a third-party and that you're simply using it as a feeble reason to connect.
The best way to use a third-party introduction is to actually have that person reach out to connect with me personally, and ask me to get together for coffee because they have someone that I have GOT to meet. Every personal recommendation that I make is done either face-to-face or through what I call a "virtual introduction" which is simply an email with both parties CC'd and my making introductions, personal recommendations, back story on how we met, and a few reasons why I think the two of them should connect. It is an obvious and overt personal introduction with individual reasons of value why the two of them should start-up a conversation together.
5. Don't make me do your work for you. Not only are you getting Spam spittle all over me, you want me to actually go out of my way to SEARCH for you on Facebook?
First, Facebook's search is TERRIBLE. It's likely I'll spend 10 minutes trying to find you, and I'll actually find some other company with a similar name.
Second, how about you just take two seconds to paste the silly link in your email?
Third, Your Facebook link should be included in the Contact Info portion of your Linkedin profile (which theirs is not.)
We all get way too many emails That means it's even more important to make sure yours is received in the best light and is created with the intent to make a great first impression and drive a desired action by the reader.
My guess is that this person wanted me to reach out to them and respond to their email in some way, but it's a mystery to me because the only real call to action I see is the invite to conduct a scavenger hunt for their Facebook page.
Posting an autopsy of their email fail probably isn't the reaction or response they wanted -- but it's definitely the one they needed.
From asalesguy.com:
You are not the customer’s bitch.
You are a great sales person.
A great sales person isn’t a go-fer, they are keenly in-tune to a customer’s problems and how to solve them. A great sales person doesn’t pester the customer with pitches and presentations. A great sales person provides valuable insight into the challenges, issues, and problems their customers are facing and that warrants respect.
If you’re customer says jump and you say how high
If the customer asks for a quote and you deliver it with out asking why
If the customer asks for a free demo and won’t share the results
If you are meeting all your customer requests but they won’t meet yours
If the customer expects you to change your business model to meet their needs and you do
If the customer only likes you if give them the pricing they want
. . . you’re the customer’s bitch!
Click the link to read the entire article. Stop being their bitch and start being of VALUE!
Coffee Is For Closers - A Poem
A poem by John Mark Schofield.
Coffee Is For Closers
I dance in waves of Limited Liability Companies visions of stock options swirling in my head as I work for frenzied hucksters with smiling faces and fuck-you eyes.
Polished liars who think “Glengarry Glen Ross” is a comedy and quote lines from it as often as “South Park.”
Here it’s about sales. Moving product and what have you done for me this month? It’s about the cash and cars and trips to Vegas and strippers with high firm tits and flat stomachs.
Are you a closer?
Just as you get to choose whether you SUCK or ROCK at Sales, so too do you get to choose the customers you work with.
Do your customers SUCK or do your customers ROCK? Either way, it's your fault.
Conrad Flynn has a great blog post on this very topic.
The OLD Sales Model
It used to be that a salesperson could simply sit back behind their desk and let the fax machine feed them orders.
Once a week their sales manager would show up, toss the sales rep over their shoulder, pat them on the back, and they'd burp up a commission.
That time has passed, bub!
If you're going to get an order these days you need to be creative in your personal branding, creative in your prospecting, creative in your approach, creative in your pitch, creative in your close, creative in your delivery, and creative in your follow-up (are you sensing a common theme here?)
Get up, get out, and get creative!
Do you know how many appointments you need per year to meet your annual sales goal? Probably not.
And the number is probably more than you think it is.
Stop Rebooting and Start Building
I just received a cold-call from a mobile marketing company trying to pitch me on using their services. This is a large company and they've been in contact with me approximately every-other year to try and hook me into using their overly-expensive (albeit extensive array) of mobile marketing tools.
The problem is they keep starting from from square one.
When I originally met them I went through their entire sales process; from being qualified as a lead, to sitting through a Webex demo, to an in-person meeting, to being pitched a contract. The result was no-sale.
And then NOTHING.
Fast-forward 24 months and I get the identical qualifying call and get pitched on sitting through the same demo. No thanks.
And now (another 24-months later), it's deja vu all over again. Same cold-call from a very nice, sweet dispositioned (but oh-so unsuspecting) member of their sales team (probably an intern who wasn't getting paid NEARLY enough to deal with a sales-critical attitude like mine!) to qualify me enough to put me into their sales funnel and connect me with their "specialist" -- who I already know by now will try to close me on a Webex demo.
In my frustration with their process (and my admittedly rant-leaning tendencies) the cold-caller got an earful of opinion and advice on how they could improve their process. Given the fact SHE isn't the one who needs to hear that message, I post this article not only as an apology for being a tad "passionate" in my response to the innocent and vocationally mislead cold-caller (shame on their company for making sales newbies think this is an acceptable sales process) but to also serve as a sales lesson on how to fix their broken sales model and earn more customers.
1. It's not a NO... It's a "Not Now" Anyone who says they'll NEVER use mobile marketing won't be around in a few years, so you don't need to even put them in your CRM system. Mobile ain't going anywhere and it will simply continue to become a more important part of your marketing strategy. Treat any No you get as a Not Now and move them into a different phase of the sales process, don't just dump them into a file marked "call again in two years."
2. It's your fault Given that mobile is so pervasive and vital a medium, only an idiot would say No to the incredible marketing tools your company is making available -- and not everyone who says No to you can possibly be an idiot -- so it's YOUR fault they said Not Now in the first place. You didn't do a good enough job of presenting your offering in a way that would matter to me.
Your canned sales formula of "Qualify, Pitch, Demo, Contract" doesn't work on everyone because everyone has a different reason for buying. They value the individual benefits of your features differently. They measure ROI differently. But your pitch is the same to everyone. I guarantee you don't know the real reason they turned down your offer. (Why not start there?)
3. Don't ASK before you GIVE The first words out of their cold-caller's mouth were to identify the company she was with. The second words out of her mouth asked me questions that were none of their business. (What kind of mobile campaigns are you running now? How are you using mobile in promotions? What kind of mobile sales are you making? etc.)
NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! Why in the world would I tell a stranger about my marketing strategies and ideas? You want me to tell you about the money I'm making (or not making!) using mobile.
NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! Why don't you just ask me for a copy of my tax return or ask me for my social security number? I'd be just as likely to give you that information as share private information about my sales numbers and concepts.
It would have been so EASY for you to have gotten that information out of me a mere two or three minutes later by simply SHARING information of value with me first:
"Hey, I don't know if you're selling any mobile marketing to your clients or not, but I just wanted to share something one of our clients is doing in another market that earned them an additional $20,000 in new revenue over and above what their client was already spending with them..."
TELL ME MORE! Another $20k in additional revenue? Oh, you better believe I want to hear about one idea that will net me twenty grand in new business. You could have closed me on the Webex by giving me the core details of the deal, and if you drive the hook in deep enough I'll sign-up to attend the Webex to hear exactly how you did it and to see the campaign details, video testimonial from the client, etc.
But you didn't. You asked me for intimate business details before you have even BEGUN to build rapport or even provide a good reason (or even a BAD reason!) for why you would need that information (or what you're going to DO with it.)
What you SHOULD be doing...
1. Don't Qualify -- Connect Don't qualify, categorize, or filter me. That's insulting. You don't want to waste your time, so you have a person whose job is to blatantly see if I have interest and then move me up your sales funnel? Hey Sales Guy, do your own homework! What happened to the whole "never get a second chance to make a first impression" deal? What if I like your qualifying cold-caller better than I like you? If I'm NOT the right guy, but you have real insight to share on how to improve business at my company, you can bet I'll match you up with the right person on my side of the fence.
2. Don't Reboot -- Build If I go through your process and we don't strike a deal today, don't put my name in a cold case file to be revisited every two years. Put me in a "YOU weren't compelling enough" file and start sending me weekly messages that are of such high value to me that I will have no choice but to phone you up and ask buying questions. An easy way to gauge the value of your content is by sending it to me on a specific day every week for two months and -- then skip a week. If I send you an email asking "where's my weekly tip/idea/success story?" You're doing it right.
3. Don't Pitch -- Position Instead of pitching a list of leads so cold you must have found them in the freezer section, why not position yourself as being the one company to seek out if I want to make money and deliver results using mobile media. Promote the availability of a white paper or (even better) a book that positions you as THE expert in your field. It has never been easier to publish a book (physical or electronic) -- and if you're trying to reach digitally-savvy people, I guarantee you they have Kindles or Nooks or iPads or smart phones capable of downloading your ebook.
Why not give me the gift of a book that will make me a better marketer by educating me to the biggest opportunities in using this media rather than trying to make me fall for your latest sure-fire "Close?" I'm excited to receive one and desperate to avoid the other.
I'll leave it to you to figure out which is which.
You suck at sales if this stadium beer vendor has a better brand than you.
