Posted by Norma Shepardson on Wed, Sep 08, 2010 @ 01:16 PM
So what does Rocky have in common with your sales team?
Considering that they both take the punches and keep on rolling, a lot! Well, that is if your sales reps do indeed keep on rolling....
We all know that sales reps face a tough match in the ring daily, what with the constant rejection and persistent call-backs. But we also know that it's all worth it when there is a breakthrough, and an appointment is set that eventually leads to a huge deal for your company. Now that sales rep surely feels like a true champion!
We recently stumbled across an article by Paul Castain that likened the try-and-try-again philosophy of the best sales reps. He points out that while the average sales rep gives up after only 3-4 attempts, the greatest achievements in the world were only accomplished after multiple (hundreds! thousands!) of attempts. His lesson: Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Translated for a sales rep, this means simply don't give up! Pick up the phone and try again, because if you don't you will never know what could have been.
Here are few inspiring tidbits from the article amongst other sources:
- The Rocky script was rejected something like 1300 times
- Chicken Soup For The Soul received over 140 rejections
- Colonel Sanders took 1,009 “No’s” before his first “YES” in launching KFC
- Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never..."
- Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb
- Babe Ruth held the record for strikeouts for decades. He hit 714 home runs and struck out 1,330 times in his career.
- Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Jordan once observed, "I've failed over and over again in my life. That is why I succeed."
Click here to read the entire article by Paul Castain, or here to read about more famous figures who 'did not give up.'
Posted by Tara Robertson on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 @ 01:58 PM
This week we would like to share with you our newest white paper on the IT Predictions for 2010 at no cost (we can call it our valentine to you)! In this paper, you will see a comprehensive picture of the landscape for IT buying and how it will evolve in 2010.
Through this white paper, you will learn:
- Technology trends - the five biggest winners
- Which technologies and sectors will grow, and by how much?
- Which geographies will see growth or contraction?
- How will purchasing patterns change?
- What will CIO priorities be in 2010?
Here is a highlight from the white paper:
"Of the many organizations putting forth predictions for IT purchasing in 2010, the majority of the outlooks are positive. Gartner is predicting that growth in the industry will return, with IT spending looking to rise about 3.3 percent over 2009 levels to about $3.3 trillion."
Posted by Tara Robertson on Mon, Dec 07, 2009 @ 11:32 AM
As we move into 2010, selling effectively is a key aspect to overall business growth and success. This week we decided to use a cartoon everyone is familiar with to compare the simple use of selling an "O" to some of our proven effective sales techniques.
Now that you have watched the video, let's dive a little deeper into some of the techniques Lefty the Letter Salesman is using on Ernie and compare that to modern day selling:
Qualify your prospects - As simple as this is, one of the top reasons sales personnel do not have high close rates is due to bad data or incorrect prospects. In this video, Lefty knows that Ernie is his "ideal" customer, therefore he is headed right for the decision maker. However, if Lefty was selling to The Count, (who we all know is a "numbers" man) his prospect would not be a qualified fit. Here are some easy tips to help you qualify before you start selling:
- Have a profile of your ideal customer.
- Have a set of criteria that customer's must meet before you sell to them.
A Compelling Offer - Every product and/or service usually has something more to offer than the basic sale. For example, at TSL we don't offer just leads but also a database of business intelligence gathered, additional marketing services, and service level agreements. For hardware you may not just offer a server but also a secure system, backup capabilities, or lifespan guarantees. Here are some simple but effective offers Lefty used in his pitch:
- You can sing a pretty song with it like so...
- 2 sounds for the price of 1: Olive, Ostrich or Ocean, Old, Opening
- Looks just like a donut really good enough to eat
With all of the additional offers Lefty goes through, an O really does seem like more than just an "O."
Create a Sense of Urgency - In 2009 our economy created sense of "waiting" to make new purchases and therefore altered sales stages for companies across the board. While it looks like buying in 2010 will be more aggressive, decision makers are still hesitant by nature to buy. This is where a sense of urgency is needed in order to close the sale. Lefty simply says "It's not often that I offer," which then leads Ernie to believe that if he doesn't purchase, he may just loose the opportunity to buy.
The Proposal - The last technique used in this video is the proposal stage. While we don't actually see Ernie purchase his O, Lefty uses a couple proposal techniques that intrigue the buyer to buy. Here they are:
- It will cost you just a nickel - While a nickel certainly is a small number to us think of the audience Sesame Street caters towards. A nickel when you are a kid can actually be a shiny new coin that you may not want to part with. However, by creating a sense or urgency and discussing the compelling offers behind the many uses of an O, "just" a nickel makes this out to be a great sale. This is based on the theory "you get all of this for the price of just that."
- Buy the O and take it home tonight - In any sale you should be sure that you have a timeline planned out for service and/or product implementation. Be sure that whatever you are selling (whether it be an immediate purchase or longer term implementation) you properly outline the timeline for your prospect and walk them through this together.
We hope these small steps will help your sales techniques as you move into 2010.