Tag Archives: Prospecting

WWISGD about Prospects Who Waste My Time?

rsz_meeting-1019995Dear Irreverent Sales Girl,

I enjoy your blog posts, and have a question I hope you can help with.

Forgive the long intro, but I want to put the question into context:

Two weeks ago, I was introduced to a prospective client by a mutual business friend. Let’s call him “Bob.” Bob wanted to meet face-to-face. I tried to schedule the meeting at a half-way point for us.

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His response? “I’m so busy I wouldn’t be able to vacate the office unless we have billable work to discuss.”

Again… this was a “meet and greet.”

So I hustle out to their office on a Thursday, which is 35 minutes away. I also discover that Bob’s ‘office’ is actually within another company’s office. The owner of that company (“Tom”) was also in the meeting and seemed to be the driver of the meeting, not Bob.

We had a good meeting. Tom tells me he was impressed with my communication. And when I left, he told me he’d be out of the office on Friday but he’d get back to me on Monday.

I followed up the following Friday. Then I followed up again the next week on Wednesday.

No response.

I followed up again today with a more pointed question:

Hot or Not?

Was the project they discussed with me still hot or was it put on the back burner? I clarified that I didn’t want to be a pest but I do follow up. I said I would respond accordingly to the status.

So, Irreverent Sales Girl, my question: do you have any suggestions on how to handle one-on-one meetings for the ‘solopreneur?’ I am seriously considering not meeting in person anymore unless a consulting fee is paid.

I’m looking for action-takers not time-wasters. Any input from you would be appreciated!

Thank you,

Signed,

What to Do in Columbus!

Continue reading WWISGD about Prospects Who Waste My Time?

My mom is the best cold caller I know.

rsz_laura-128Allow me to introduce you to the amazing and fabulous Laura Posey – Founder and CEO of Simple Success Plans (www.simplesuccessplans.com). She wrote this post on Cold-Calling. And, frankly, I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen on this topic! So, I asked if I could steal it and she said “GO FOR IT!”

So, thanks to the wild generosity of Laura Posey, I give you: My Mom Is The Best Cold Caller I Know. Enjoy!

“She’s retired now but she was so good at cold calling she lost her job. That’s because she sold the entire inventory her company had available. (It was cemetery plots that time)

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Seriously, she has sold everything from burglar alarms to siding to charitable donations starting with cold calls. And she was the top performer in every company she worked for.

So what is her secret?

It is so simple you’re going to wonder why you didn’t think of it. Here it is:

She never tries to convince anyone to set an appointment when she calls.

What???

Isn’t that the point of the call?

Not according to Mom.

You see, she views calling as a survey. The purpose of the call is to sort people into three lists:

  1. People who are curious about what you are selling
  2. People who are not ready to talk about what you are selling
  3. People who are too dumb to be curious about what you are selling

As she tells it, when you cold call someone who isn’t already curious about your product and you push to convince them to set an appointment, all you end up with is a crappy appointment.

Instead of wasting your time trying to hammer the wrong people into meeting with you, why not just call enough people and find the ones who are interested now.

Recognize that the ones who say “no” are really just saying “not now”. You can always call them back at a later time when they might be in the “yes” pile.

If you’re skeptical about how this would work, imagine this scenario.

I give you a list of 100 people to call. Your job is ask them 1) if they like chocolate ice cream and 2) if they would like a free sample if they do.

That’s it. I’ll pay you $100 to do the survey and give me the tally sheet of results.

Could you do it?

Of course you could! A survey is so simple to do because you don’t care about the outcome. You aren’t trying to convince people to like chocolate ice cream; you are just seeing who does and who doesn’t. And you only offer the free sample to people you know want it.

That is all that cold calling is – a survey.

Your job is to dial enough numbers to fill in your ‘’yes” column with quality appointments.

That’s it.

No more freaking out about…

  • “What if they hate me?”
  •  “What if they hang up on me?”
  • “What if they are mean to me?”
  • “What if I don’t know what to say?”
  • “What if I can’t get the appointment?”

You are just doing a survey – there is nothing to hate.

(And, while we are on the subject, even if they did hate you, they would forget about you the moment you hung up the phone.

Seriously, can you remember the name of the last person who cold called you?)

Your job now is to grab a sheet of paper and make four columns like this:

Screen-Shot-2016-05-10-at-10_29_01-AM

Write your list of prospect names in the first column. Then just start your survey calls, making tick marks in the appropriate column after each name.

That’s it.

I can tell you this technique saved my butt when I first got into sales.

And it has saved countless other entrepreneurs and salespeople over the years.

It requires no fancy software, no automatic dialers and no manipulative call sheets.

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes. I’m willing to bet you are making more appointments than ever by the end of next week.

For more ideas on how to generate consistent, profitable sales, check out our 144 other strategies for making more sales and growing your business.”

Did you love this advice? Check out Laura’s Simple Sales Magnetism Plan! http://bit.ly/29r10Xd

Love ‘em ALL UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

And go here to get the Truly Irreverent Tuesday Newsletter from me! http://bit.ly/IrreverentTuesday

Are you a Networking Rock-Star at Conferences?

rsz_meeting-business-936059

It is officially conference season!

I don’t know how YOU feel about conferences, but they always put me a little on edge. I mean, going to the right conferences and meeting the right people is an incredible way to SPEED UP SALES.  But all of those people you have to talk to? And get to know? And approach in an appropriate manner?

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It’s exhausting!

Here is one simple thing that I like to keep in mind when I am attending conferences. It helps me a lot and I hope it will help you, too.

People Like To Be Included

They may not look like it. They may not act like it. But, fundamentally, they like to be included. Even if they turn an invitation down, they like to be asked!

Here’s how to use this to your advantage at your next conference.

Continue reading Are you a Networking Rock-Star at Conferences?

One More Call

I was reading Jeb Blount’s book last week. Fanatical One More CallProspecting.

And, if you know anything about me, you KNOW that I abhor most business books.

But, this one grabbed me. It made me think…HEY! I had NO idea I could do this stuff. I have never even thought this way. NO WONDER this guy’s a millionaire!

Seriously.

That’s what I thought.

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Then I got excited. I have always KNOWN I could do better, I just didn’t know where to look to find the flaws in my performance (yes, *sigh*, even The Irreverent Sales Girl has flaws in her performance – until NOW *grin*).

One of the challenges Jeb puts to you is to make just ONE MORE CALL. So, it was Friday afternoon and I was cold calling my list. Yep, successful people still cold call. And I was tired, but I challenged myself to observe Jeb’s rule. Make ONE MORE CALL.

Guess what happened? Continue reading One More Call