The Selling Sherpa

HELP!

Apart from being a great single, album, and movie from the Beatles, “Help!” is also a great selling tool when used properly with gatekeepers in B2B sales.

Instead of calling for the President or CEO of a company, being intercepted by a gatekeeper, and asking, joking, pleading, cajoling or demanding them to put you through, call for the gatekeeper and ask their advice.

This is how it works (and it DOES work!):

Call for the President/CEO’s Executive Assistant (by name, if you know it....and shouldn’t you already know it?).

Briefly describe why you think you may be able to help their company increase profits (you can do this, right?).

Ask the Executive Assistant who would be the best person to talk with about your offer to help them succeed.

If you are even remotely pleasant on the phone and they can detect your sincerity, the Executive Assistant will give you the name you need, instructions on how best to reach them, and maybe even an introduction that will lead to an appointment.

Whatever you do, never try to bully anyone. It’s not respectful and it will never lead to building a real relationship.

“Help!” is not a sign of weakness....it’s one of the most effective techniques for smart salespeople.

You’re smart, aren’t you?

THE LETTER

Having problems getting decision-makers to take your cold call? Why not send them a letter first?

In the letter, give a brief description of what you can do and how you might be able to help the prospect, then close by telling them you will call next week to set an appointment.

Then, when you do call a week later, you can start the conversation by asking if they received the letter.

If the say “yes”, you are already half the way to getting an appointment, If the say “no”, you can simply tell them what the letter said and proceed to ask for the appointment.

Either way, you have already demonstrated that you are willing to do more than the average “cold caller” ever would just because you sent the letter.

Give them technique a try and let me know how it works for you.

CALL ME

Person-to-person communication will always be a part of selling. At least, I am fairly certain it will be during our lifetime.

That’s why your phone number should be one of the most prominent elements on every piece of marketing you do.

From your website to your business card, and in every piece of mail sent, whether “e” or “snail”, include your phone number and be sure it is big enough to be read from 3 feet away.

Marketing is all about telling your prospect to “call me’, so make it easy for them to find your phone number.

Double check everything right now to be sure you haven’t left it off of anything your customer sees.

(A big “Rock On!” to Tyler Anderson of Business Examiner for suggesting this tip.)

THE TWIST

Yesterday was the anniversary of Chubby Checker’s single “The Twist” hitting #1 on the US singles chart.....again!

As incredible as it sounds, he actually hit #1 in September 1960, then again in January 1962. How did it happen?

Well, it was a generational thing. Kids heard the song, loved it, and twisted away in ‘60, giving it the first visit to the top of the charts. Then, a funny thing happened: parents discovered the song because their children were playing it, and it started a second wave of popularity that brought it back to the top 16 months after it’s original #1 achievement.

Putting your products in front of a new audience might be just the thing to really ramp up your sales.

I heard a story of a man who sold orthopedic beds to senior citizens, until a friend pointed out that anyone with aches or pains could be a customer. Suddenly, he started selling tons of beds to athletes, accidents victims, or just regular folks who wanted to get a better night’s sleep.

Who else could be your customer?

I’M A BELIEVER

Ever since we were both young, we’ve been cautioned that “seeing is believing”. Unfortunately, it has become a part of our subconscious programming.

The truth of the matter is, you have to believe in your in ability to achieve your goals before you can ever hope to reach them.

Visualize the end result in your mind, think about what it will feel like to achieve it, and start making plans for how you will accomplish your goals.

Stay focused on your vision, work diligently towards it, and nothing can stop you from achieving everything you want to.

I’m a believer.

Are you?

IMAGINE

When you are making a presentation, you are a walking, talking advertisement for the solutions you sell.

I’ve been creating advertising for print and broadcast media for over 2 decades and, trust me on this, the most effective advertising leads people (listeners, readers) to visualize themselves using and enjoying the product or service being offered.

You can make all the promises in the world but, without a visual, you may not make the sale. So, whether or not you have any visual materials, you must guide prospects to create their own vision.

In my experience, the easiest way to do this is start a phrase with “Imagine this...” or “Imagine yourself...”. This phrase engages prospects and compel them to create their own mental image, which is more powerful and persuasive than any brochure or PowerPoint.

WONT GET FOOLED AGAIN

Selling to someone who is dissatisfied with a current provider is good and bad.

It is good because all you have to do is demonstrate a solution that is marginally better or cheaper, and they will probably buy.

It is bad because now they are going to be more cautious than ever about making another investment to solve the same problem.

Basically, they need to know they are not buying another product or service that will fail to deliver what it promises. You must assure them that they won’t get fooled again by misleading sales-talk or embellished marketing.

That’s where your guarantee comes in.

Remove the buyer’s risk by offering a money-back guarantee.

Show them you believe so much in what you sell that you are willing to pay for it personally if it doesn’t deliver.

If you can do that, you will sell a lot more, and you will be able to sell it a lot more easily.

RUBBER SOUL

On this day in 1966, The Beatles album “Rubber Soul” hit #1 on the US album charts and stayed there for 6 weeks. Not bad.

Do you know how the cover design came about? If you own the album, you already know the cover is a slightly distorted color photo of the band, casually posed in front of some greenery in John Lennon’s garden.

As it happens, the photographer had taken several similar shots of the Fab Four and was previewing the slides on a white board as a makeshift screen in a darkened room. The boys weren’t particularly interested in any of the shots the photographer had.

Suddenly, the white board tilted and Paul instantly commented on it. The others agreed the effect made the shot more interesting and asked the photographer to reproduce the effect on the cover, which he did.

Could previously uninterested prospects become newly engaged by seeing your product or service in a different way?

Would a stale presentation or template proposal be freshened up by turning it to a different angle?

What would happen if you were to “tilt” your standard sales process or materials?

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT

Many times I have shared with you stories of outstanding customer service and salesmanship.

It should be obvious that being surprising and memorable (worthy of buzz) must be your constant goal in sales. Not just so I talk about you, but everyone talks about you.

With every customer contact, transaction, and complaint, you have an opportunity to go above and beyond your customers or prospects expectation. When you do, you will make it very easy for them to not only say “Yes”, but to also tell their friends and colleagues about you.

This year, make it your solemn oath to give everyone something to talk about.

Start today!

I LOVE ROCK N’ ROLL

Back in 1979, Joan Jett split from the all-girl group The Runaways and was pursuing a solo career. With the help of a few supporters, she recorded a debut album, “I Love Rock N’ Roll”, and it was released in Europe.

The title track would eventually reach #1 on the US singles charts, stay there for 7 weeks, and be certified Platinum (1 million sold).

But what you probably didn’t know was that Joan Jett heard “no” 28 times.

Jett received no less than 28 rejections when she tried to find a record company in the U.S.. Every major record label in America listened to her record and not one of them recognized a monster hit when they heard it.

[Actually, no record label ever said “yes”, so Jett became the first female performer to start her own record company.]

When someone tells you “no”, it may be that they simply cannot recognize the value of what you are selling. You can reframe your presentation to help them identify the value, or move on to the next prospect.

Either way, giving up is never an option.

Instead, I suggest you put Joan Jett in the player, turn it up and sing along. If nothing else, you will be really pumped up for your next meting!