Pushing Past No

After a horrible interview about sales I knew I had to figure this out. There are no tricks, there are not secret passages to sales. I will not call a manager on Sunday morning to make a sale. I know I won't do that, that does not create a long term client. I will however push past No. I have a current client who will only respond through email. I have kept him in contact and am trying to set up a meeting. I have left information for him at his office and will not stop until I have a face to face meeting with him. There is something I like about this chase. I know I will not give up and will do whatever I need too to get the meeting. Selling past No is about creating a relationship. The easiest thing is to stay quiet and not doing anything, make no changes, but that doesn't make it the best choice. I will continue to push past No and let you know if I ever get to see this man's face!

Interview

So I went on an adventure today. I went on an interview. I sacrificed my time for some research. The position was for outside sales. It would have been for a young company. A company with young leadership and the promise of a lot of growth. I found it fascinating to sit across the desk and be pumped up. I was not told any lies, and I will give them the fact that they painted a realistic presentation. I was most surprised with the final question. How much do you want this job on a scale of one to ten? Well after only knowing about this company and job for thirty minutes I was not prepared to say ten. That of course was the wrong answer. I knew it was wrong, but I was not going to feed into this bullying. Sales is not about bullying. It is not about craming a product or service down someone's throught. That is how people have regret and you never have return customers. Sales is about a relationship. Building that relationship takes more than thirty minutes. It takes more than something slick to hand over. It will work, and will always work, but it is not the way towards long term successs.

Lead Lists

I have spent a couple of hours looking over lead lists on the Internet. I have talked to a few people who have tried to purchase a lead list for their response. Generally, I have not heard anyone say it helped their business grow. I have heard that is brought in one or two leads but that is all. I am sceptical about any lead generation system. Where do they get the names? How often do they verify the information? They give answers, but I am not sure the quality of the responses. No matter what there has to be a strong sales lead list in any business. Creating new contacts and finding new prospects is what makes a business grow. If anyone has found a strong sales lead generator or method let me know, but it looks like it is just hard work.

ZoomInfo

I am currently using the free trail day at www.zoominfo.com. You need to register today to use the trail. I have downloaded several contact lists. I have had to wade through a lot of bad information and piece together information that I already had. I have taken a break to work on other projects and will review the program tonight, but so far it has provided a valuable service. Something I will look into subscribing too. It has given me valuable information for potential clients.

Setting Up Appointments

I am still annoyed by those commercials for the Property show in HGTV. I cannot get "I am a natural Born Salesperson" out of my head. I think it is both ridiculous and funny. One of the most important aspects of sales is research. Finding out what your prospect currently has and what they might be looking for. It is your job to find the best solution for their customers. Spending half a day researching and setting up appointments cuts down on wasted time. I use an excel spreadsheet to keep up with all of my contacts. It may not be the most sophisticated system but it keeps prospects in order.

Making a Break

I recently read an article about the difference between someone who makes 30,000 vs. 100,000 a year. I think the comments were interesting. It seems the consensus is the amount of money one makes is dependent upon luck. I think there is a combination. Creating strong marketing materials and more importantly strong sales contacts. This blog was created to discover and discuss new sales opportunities and techniques. Right now I am overcoming objections and trying to get the first meeting. I have left messages and information sheets, but I refuse to step away. Refuse or am I just being hard headed?

Natural Born Salesperson

I was watching television last night, and came across a promo for a show called The Property House or something. There was a very interesting character claiming to be a natural born salesperson. I grew up with a father who sold insurance for 30 years. I think that might be as close to natural sales as I will see. I simply don't believe in the phrase natural born sales person. It does not happen. Who is born and people automatically want to buy things from them. I am waiting for that baby. Sales is not a science, but it is hard work. It is not something you can wake up get done by noon. I guess I'm just a natural born cynic.

Email Marketing

I recently sent out an email blast to 250 people. 37 opened the message. 4 people opted out of the newsletter. The ease and price of email marketing is enticing but there is not yet a plausible way to harness the sales process. I have a better response by going door to door rather than picking up the phone any day. Email and newsletters are just worse. Why is it that things that should make life easier just make them more complicated.

Sell Sell Sell

David Gray had it right all those years ago. Sales is one of the most important processes for a business. Often belittle and looked over. This blog will explore good sales techniques for a growing business.