Sales – Page 4

4 Steps To Effective Voicemails

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Scott

You’ve let it sit on the corner of your desk all week – that dreaded call list. But now your manager is working his way office to office, asking how everyone is making out with their calls.

So you pick up the phone and dial the number, praying it’s been disconnected. It starts ringing, so you pray no one picks up and it goes to voicemail. And when it does, you still trip over your tongue and hang up feeling like a complete idiot.

Or maybe you feel totally prepared, project a professional tone, but still don’t understand why no one calls you back. Either way, odds are you aren’t showing the value that can be found by connecting with you.

Here’s my four step formula for crafting a value-filled voicemail.

1. Know who you’re calling. You have a name and a phone number, but that’s not enough. You need to conduct a little research. The point is to paint a picture of your customer. You need to find out how they think and what they are trying to accomplish.

If you’re reaching out to an existing customer, pull up their account and see what you can learn. What products do they already have? How do they use them? How much do they spend with you? What problems have they reported in the past? What about their demographics?

If you’re calling on a potential customer, the internet is your friend. Type their name into Google and LinkedIn to see what you can find out about them. What kind of business are they in? Do they even use the sort of product or service you offer? What can you find out about the specific contact your attempting to reach?

The better you are at understanding your target’s point of view, the better you’ll be able to position your message in a way that they’ll receive in a positive light.

2. Know why you’re calling. Maybe you want to sell something. Maybe you need to gather some information. Or maybe you need your customer or prospect to perform some action that will help you get some paperwork off of your desk. Regardless of the purpose of your call, you need to reframe the goal in terms of what your target needs.

What opportunity are they currently missing out on? What problem could they solve by moving forward? What inconveniences do they stand to face by not taking action? By positioning your goal as their goal you’ll stand a better chance of getting the response you need.

3. Know your desired outcome. Sure, you’re calling this prospect with the hopes of earning a sale; but what is the specific next step you want the recipient of your call to take? Do you need them to answer a question, agree to a meeting, or send you a document? Know exactly what you want to happen as a result of your call.

4. Craft your message. Know that you have these three building blocks, its time to craft your message. Assuming you’ll be connected to voicemail, write out your message – on paper. Spend some time massaging the words until you have a message that clearly communicates the value your customer/target will realize by taking the step(s) you identified in step 3.

Now all that’s left is to pick up the phone and make the call. When the phone rings, clear your throat and prepare to leave your professionally crafted message. If, by chance, your prospect answers, simply read the first sentence or two of your message as an introduction to your call.

Want to see how it works? Check out this voicemail I received and how I would rescript it using this method.

5 Reasons I Don’t Return Your Call

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Scott

1. I can’t understand you.
– You talk too fast.
– You talk too soft.
– You mumble.
– There’s road noise or other interference.

2. You sound bored.
Powering your way through a long list of calls? It shows. And I don’t care. If you can’t muster the energy to sound like you really want to talk to me, then I don’t want to talk to you. In fact, I didn’t even listen to your entire message.

3. You’re a name-dropper.
Telling me my boss or some other influential member of my company suggested you call me is a sure way to earn a delete vs. a call-back. Anyone who feels I should speak with you will forward your contact information to me. Name-dropping is a desperate ploy by an unprepared caller.

4. You haven’t done your homework.
Show me you really want my business by doing a little background work. Don’t pronounce my name correctly? No call back. Don’t demonstrate that you understand my business? Forget it.

5. You have nothing of value to offer.
If you want me to call you back, you have to communicate why it’s worth my time to do so. Calling to “check in”, “touch base” or “chat” wastes my time and yours. Show me what I stand to gain by speaking with you and I’ll pick up the phone.

Sales Meeting Tips, Part 2

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Scott

In my last post, I provided few thoughts on structuring an effective sales meeting. Whether designed as a stand-alone meeting or incorporated into an existing operations meeting, a good sales meeting is essential to maintaining a high-performing sales team. Here are some additional tips for getting the most out of the time spent with your team.

Vary the topics discussed. If you bring up the same subjects week after week, you’ll become too predictable and your staff will tune out. Potential meeting ideas include:
o Review your latest scorecard or campaign results.
o Lead the group in sharing sales success stories.
o Select a particular product or service and provide in-depth training.
o Perform some service mapping.
o Engage the team in strategy brainstorming.
o Share an article or video and discuss how it relates to your team’s mission.
o Invite a guest speaker to educate, inspire or challenge the team.

• Be yourself. You may find it useful to take advantage of pre-written meeting guides or other source material as the foundation of your meeting. If you decide to use such a guide, I encourage you to use your own words rather than those provided. You will be much more effective as a leader if your personality comes through. Add your own thoughts and questions. The precise words are less important than the concepts being discussed and the actions that come after.

• Make sure everyone joins in the meeting. Some employees are more eager to participate than others and can easily overpower their teammates. If you see this happening, you may need to specifically call on the quieter ones to encourage their input. Everyone’s point of view is valuable, so everyone should be heard.

• Use follow-up techniques to make sure the topics are fully discussed. Ask the initial question and follow each response with a statement/question such as “Tell me more,” or “Why do you think that is?” Ask the initial question again of someone else to hear a different train of thought. Write some follow-up ideas down so you’ll be ready when the time comes.

• Pay attention to time. If you have only scheduled 15 minutes for your sales meeting, you may find that you’re unable to ask all of the planned discussion questions. If this happens, you may decide to schedule a follow-up meeting to continue the discussion. Or you may find that you’re proceeding more quickly than expected and your 45 minute meeting will be over too soon. If this happens, make sure the group is fully exploring each topic. Ultimately, the amount of time taken for your meeting is not important. The key is to make sure that the time spent together provides value to the team and that everyone walks away with specific next steps.

Sales meetings can be a great way to bring your team together. Used effectively, they’ll help you keep everyone engaged and on track.

Sales Meeting Tips, Part 1

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Scott

Establishing a regular meeting is the best way for you to communicate with your staff. It allows everyone to hear the same message at the same time and within the same context. Properly conducted, your meeting will help you keep everyone on your team engaged, focused on the task at hand, and motivated to perform. Here are a few tips for putting together a productive meeting.

Who should attend?
Everyone. Obviously, those who have scorecard goals should be involved in your regular meetings. But anyone who comes in contact with the Customer impacts their experience and, therefore, the performance of the team.

Ideally, all team members meet together. While there may be topics that pertain to only one group, others may benefit from hearing the discussion. Tellers included in a discussion of average loan growth can gain valuable insight into how their job can impact that category.

How long should they last?
It depends. Some may prefer to have a dedicated meeting focused strictly on a review of performance or planning for the next week. In this case, try to keep meetings to no more than 45 minutes.

Others may want to incorporate a discussion of sales and service topics into a regularly scheduled operations meeting. In this scenario, the discussion may only last 10-15 minutes.

What do you talk about?
The key to a good meeting is planning for it ahead of time. Know what you want to accomplish going into the meeting and then organize your thoughts around that objective. There are three typical objectives when it comes to any kind of meeting.

• Inform – You want to share something with the team. For example, you want to inform the team about a new product or changes to an existing product.

• Discuss – You want to gather information from the team. For example, you wan the team to brainstorm strategies for achieving a particular goal.

• Direct – You want the team to engage in a specific set of actions. For example, you want to direct the team to begin using a new skill or process.

How do you get started?
It’s easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Schedule your first meeting. If you already have regular staff meetings, then decide how much time you’ll devote to sales and service related topics. If you haven’t had a meeting in a while, put one on the calendar right now. And then inform your team so they can be prepared for it.

2. Prepare the talking points for the first meeting. Take some time to write out a structure for your meeting. What is your objective? What points will you cover? What questions will you ask? What resources do you need?

3. Commit to a regular meeting schedule. Too many times, good ideas get off to a great start only to lose steam and disappear. Don’t let that happen to your meetings.

In my next post, I’ll share some more tips for getting the most out of your team meetings.