Hopkins Quota-Busting Prospecting Skills

Strategies to Make Prospecting Fun & Profitable
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61339-775-6
Verlag: Made For Success Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 100 Seiten

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hopkins, Tom

Leseproben

CHAPTER 1 Finding the People to Sell You’ve been hired by a good company to represent a product you believe in. They have offered you product knowledge training and some company-generated leads. If you have read the first two books in this series, New to Sales and The Mental Edge in Selling, then you’ve been through the early phase of sales training, getting an idea of what you’re facing. Where do you begin to make money in this business? It’s by finding the people who need what you have to offer. This area, called prospecting, is often the biggest maker or breaker of sales careers. Take a look around your company. How many salespeople are lying around the office like beached whales? I’m talking about the ones who say things like: “I don’t have anyone to call today.” “Oh, I hope some hot buyers walk in soon.” “I wish the company would give me more leads.” “Our advertising is a joke. How am I supposed to meet people if we don’t do good advertising? Nobody calls us from our ads.” “I’m waiting for an important call and want to be available so I’m not doing anything else right now.” Those are the people whose careers will be broken by not mastering the art of prospecting. Those who excel at prospecting never have nothing to do. It’s sad, but the average salesperson doesn’t really believe that getting to know people is the key to every door in selling. They’ll say, “It’s all in who you know” without understanding that most people are knowable—if they’ll just take the initiative to contact them. As the last of the audience was leaving the auditorium at the end of one of my three day, high-intensity seminars, a gentleman in his mid-sixties came up and said that he’d been in sales nearly forty years. I had noticed him taking copious notes during the lecture, and I was impressed that anyone with his extensive background would be eager enough to learn new things by attending the training. “I enjoyed your seminar very much, Mr. Hopkins. However, you could have shortened it.” “Was it too long?” “Not at all. I learned a lot. But in two minutes flat, you can give your next audience a secret that’ll guarantee their success.” He spread his arms wide. “After pouring forty years into this business, I know the secret of selling success.” “Just a minute,” I said. “You know the secret? My life is devoted to helping salespeople. Please—share this secret with me.” After looking at me for a moment, he said, “Tom, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” There was a charge of expectancy in the air—maybe even of reverence—when this great master of selling walked over to the board, picked up a felt pen, and drew this figure: “There it is, Tom.” As I stared at his drawing, the charge of reverence leaked out of the room. Then I looked around, hoping I wasn’t alone with this man. I was. Putting on a friendly smile, I said, “So that’s the big secret, eh?” “Exactly. Every month you talk to thousands of individuals who are struggling to make good in sales, don’t you?” “Yes, but a large percentage are already doing anywhere from good to great. They come to my seminars because they want to become even greater.” “Right—I’m in that category, and you’ve got a truckload of splendid techniques to help us. But the thing is, techniques count for nothing if they’re not used. Tom, if you can get this one point across, you’ll achieve your goal of helping everyone who hears you become successful in sales.” “Yes, but—” He lifted a finger. “Tom, if you can motivate everyone to use my secret, they’ll overcome every obstacle to earning big money.” His hands flourished. “And the secret is: “See Twenty People belly to belly every day.” Suddenly the air was charged again. He clapped his hands together and went on, “Get them to do that and they can’t fail.” He was right. All my years in selling convince me of it. Never have I heard a formula for success that beats his for truth, simplicity, and practicality. Put your belly button near twenty others each day and you’ll soon be living on top of the hill. The key to making more money is to see more people. Now, I know not everyone reading this book will be in a type of selling that’s done face to face (or belly to belly). You might be in telemarketing. You might conduct sales over the Internet, relying on e-mail and video conferencing. That’s okay. The premise still stands. If you’ll meet twenty people every day, you can’t help but succeed in sales. Even if they don’t need your services, they’ll likely know someone who does. It’s all in who you get to know. While the ink is still drying on your new business cards, you should be preparing a list of everyone you know in the contact management program in your computer. Start with Mom and Dad, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Don’t forget Grandma and Gramps, either. Then move on to your best friends and neighbors. Use your address book. Use your Christmas card list, if you have one. You might be thinking I’m crazy here. You might be selling highly sophisticated equipment that Grandma wouldn’t understand if you spent a week showing it to her. Why would you want her on your business contact list? Because Grandma knows a lot of other people. She loves you and wants you to succeed. She’ll be bragging about you at church, at the senior center, at the doctor’s office—everywhere grandmas go. And you know what? Someone will hear or overhear her mention that dear little Johnny or Jean is helping people with fancy computer equipment and doing quite well. And guess what happens next? Someone asks her about you, gets your contact information, and good old Grandma has just sent you a lead. Be sure to thank her. Once you have your list complete, draft a short and to-the-point letter about your new position. Be sure to explain the benefits your product offers—not the features, not the technical details. Don’t tell too much, just enough so people get the gist of what you’re doing. End by asking them to keep you in mind when the subject of whatever it is you’re selling comes up and offer to serve them, their relatives, friends, or clients most professionally. Send that letter to everyone on your list. Here’s a sample you might consider: Dear John and Mary, Something exciting has happened in my life. I have recently been hired as an associate [salesperson, consultant] with [name of company]: This company is one of the largest [best, fastest-growing] in its field. I have learned a great deal about their products and services and feel confident in representing them. It is my responsibility with this company to offer my friends [relatives, clients] the latest and most innovative ways to [state a benefit of the product or service]: There’s too much to tell you in a letter so I’ll be contacting you for a time when we can visit. I would so appreciate the opportunity to share with you ideas on what benefits this product might have for you. I thank you in advance for your time. Sincerely, Follow this up with phone calls to the top ten or twenty people on your list who would be most likely to help you. It might be people you know in business. It might be Grandpa with all his connections at the country club—or even the barbershop. Elaborate on the services you offer. Exude professionalism. Ask if there’s anything you can do for them in return for any help they give you. To keep your list—and your business—growing, add everyone you talk with every day. Besides your company-generated leads, this might include your local dry cleaner, folks at the restaurant where you have lunch, people you strike up conversations with at the car wash. You might wonder how you get contact information from people during these brief encounters. It’s simple and I’ll show you exactly what to do and say. I call it the thank-you-on-the-business-card strategy. Once the ink is dry on your cards, take a pen and hand write the words ‘Thank You’ on them. When you meet new people, hand them your card and say these words, “May I give you my card?” As you hand it to them, they’ll reach out. They always do. Next, say, “You might notice I wrote thank you on it and I guess I’m thanking you in advance for, hopefully, the opportunity to someday serve your [name of your industry] needs. May I have your card as well?” Those words are totally non-threatening. I designed them that way. You’re polite. You’re offering service someday—not being pushy at all. Asking for a card in return is only courteous. If the other person doesn’t have one, simply say, “That’s fine. May I have your permission to keep in touch here at the dry cleaners?” Most people will say, sure because they don’t think you’ll really do it. Little do they know you’re being trained by me! Get the correct spelling of their name, say your thanks, and take your leave. Follow up by sending them a thank you note. I’ll cover thank-you notes in depth in book 6 of this...