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Action one of the most important keys to sales
By John Carroll
Carroll on Work
Last issue, this column addressed three ways to make 2007 your best sales year yet. Here are a few more ideas to kick start your sales season.
One of the concepts from the last column was going with the flow, as in following the movement of your clients and predicting where they will move next. You can also go with the flow where your best prospects for continued and new business are concerned.
For example, if you’re making cold calls and someone says they’re not interested, respond by saying:
“That’s exactly why I’m calling. I knew you wouldn’t be interested. Many of my best customers weren’t interested at first. However, they took a look anyway, liked what they saw and they’ve realized great value simply by deciding to give us that first try.”
Delivered well, this response should produce a short period of dead air, also known as two seconds of stunned silence. That’s all you need to push them from disinterest to interest and from interest to the desire to meet with you. You’ve also separated yourself from the crowd, since most would immediately wilt away upon hearing the initial “not interested” response.
Also, you should consider the trend of people wanting things done for them. Realize that most people really don’t want to learn; instead, they simply want the result of what the learning would get them.
Yes, most people would rather have the fish now than have to learn how to catch, clean and cook it before they can eat.
There are exceptions to that rule, of course. For some, the worst day of fishing is still better than the very best day at work.
You can apply this by determining how what you sell can take a task or an entire process off your prospect’s or customer’s hands.
What you’ll often find is that you can get paid well for effectively delivering on these desires, such as writing, producing and delivering your prospect’s newsletter for him or her.
Another effective way to go with the flow is to show your appreciation for business and referrals. Few of us send a written thank you note to those who make our lives easier and better, particularly those who choose to do business with us, to buy from us or to send business our way via referrals. I have yet to see the desk in any office where the person can no longer be productive because the desk is cluttered with too many thank you notes.
Noted author and management guru Peter Drucker once said that his success was due in large part to one habit he adopted early in his career. Drucker sent 10-12 handwritten thank you notes every single day. Now if Drucker, who was in high demand internationally, found the time to do that, I’m certain that you and I can jot a quick thank you note or two per day and make a positive impression among our customers, suppliers and associates.
None of us goes it alone. We all have help, even if only in our customers who buy from us. Therefore, we have people to thank for their role in our success.
Action is to wealth as a powerful electromagnet is to small metal filings. The former will attract the latter.
Perhaps you’ve heard of midday training and development meetings sometimes referred to as “lunch and learn” sessions. Taking action should be considered “launch and learn” and “launch and earn.”
Did you know that some space missions send the craft into outer space while on the ground they continue to write the software that will help them complete the mission successfully?
True wealth moves inexorably toward those willing to take action, to learn from their mistakes and to adjust on the fly. This is true for you and your business as well.
You should always be willing to learn on the fly. If there’s one lesson the Internet has taught us or reminded us, it’s that things don’t have to be perfect to be out there in front of people.
You can change a Web page or Web site in small bits at any time with little or no waste of time and money.
Remember that the market seldom demands perfection while it always demands value. It will seek out and find value and money will flow toward that value, even when they experience occasional system breakdowns along the way.
John Carroll is a business consultant, speaker, author and president of Unlimited Performance Inc. in Mount Pleasant. E-mail him at jcarroll@uperform.com.
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