Volume 4, 2009

Back to Newsletters | PDF Version

Featured Topic: Stimulate Sales

Inside This Issue

Stimulus Package for Sales

Economists tell us that people need to make purchases to get our country on her feet again. In order for that to happen, we need to step up our efforts to sell our products and services. We need a stimulus package for sales. TLC has a few ideas on what that process can look like.

First, make a list of all past and current customers. Next, include new prospects that you know something about. Finally, find new people by reading the newspaper and attending events. Now, organize your list into three categories: a) I know them well, and better yet, they know me and will return my call; b) I have been referred to them or met them briefly at an event; and c) I don’t know them at all and got their contact information through research.

Begin your contact through an email. Make sure the subject line is specific. For instance, it might read, “Referred to you by Nicole Smith”. Keep the email short so that when it is opened your entire message can be seen on the screen without scrolling down. (Blackberries or I Phones would be the exception.) The purpose of the email is to let them know that you will call them within the next 2-3 days. Immediately follow up this task by putting on your calendar the task to call them on a particular day.

Be prepared to leave a voice message. To be succinct, have your key message in mind. This message needs to be short and specific. An example may be, “I want to reconnect with you and discover how we can help each other with business. Please look at your calendar and see when we can accomplish that.”

If you reach them on the phone and they are geographically close to you, it is best to meet with them face-to-face. Both of you will be more focused on the conversation. So the goal of the phone call is to get a meeting with them.

The purpose of the meeting is to understand the changes in their business. Make sure you ask open questions and listen completely to their answers. Don’t be in a hurry to jump in and talk about your business. Listen first and get credit for that listening by first commenting about their interests and needs.

After the meeting, it is time to analyze the potential. If the contact has an immediate need, you will need to get other team members involved to begin preparing for the proposal or bid. It will be important to keep in touch with this prospect regularly to monitor any changes. If the person mentions a vague upcoming opportunity, be sure to check in with them in approximately six weeks to see what has changed, or ask them when it would be best to call back. If the prospect has no apparent needs, still stay in contact with them once a quarter. You never know, they could end up being a good reference for you.

With technology, people sometimes forget the importance of a handwritten note of thanks. Even the busiest executive will take the time to read it. Again, keep it short and sincere.

Each week begin to plan your contacts for the next week, continuing to add to the original list. Your other duties will determine how much time you can allot to this project. Consistency is important. Be sure that you do not initiate so many contacts in the beginning that will make it difficult to follow through.

Finally, be sure to keep track of your progress. When you are working this hard, it can be very motivating to realize how well you are doing. So get busy and start your own stimulus package to bring new sales. Together, we can make a positive difference.

What Our Clients Are Saying

Thanks for the wonderful seminar yesterday. I got some exceptional feedback from all the people that I touched base. Everyone saw the value that this will bring to them in their day-to-day jobs!!!

Nikhil Sawant

Set S.A.L.E.S.!

Vincent Ivan Phipps, A.C.E.

Let’s face it, when sales are up, so is morale.

When sales are down, so is morale!

For the last decade here at TLC, I have written about the origin of idioms. These are the common expressions we use to illustrate a point. Some of them included: raining cats and dogs, knock on wood, and under the table.

Since, in this issue of the exchange, we are focusing on sales, I would like to use a nautical term that is an appropriate metaphor for success in sales.

When you sail on the water, to move forward most efficiently you have to cast a sail. The sail catches the wind and the boat moves forward faster.

To move forward faster in the world of financial sales, you also have to cast a sale! This is an effort to catch a wave of good timing and opportunity.

When on a sailboat, if you cast a sail and there is no wind, the boat will only drift.When you cast a sale to an unqualified on disinterested prospect, your sales efforts will only drift.

If you cast your boat’s sail during the perfect wind, your boat will move swiftly. If you cast your financial sale with the right person at the right time, your business will move swiftly!

For some, financial sales can be as smooth as a secluded lake on a windless day. For others, financial sales can be as choppy as the open ocean during a hurricane. Since so many of us have our livelihoods dependent on sales, how can we improve our results?

We could await the promises of our current administration that the economy is on the rise. If so, what’s the guarantee that those who acquire means and resources will invest with you?

We could remain optimistic, maintaining aspirations that eventually, if we continue doing what we’ve always done, our big break will come. We all are waiting for the BIG sale that will put us back on the road to financial freedom. Will Rogers said, “Even if you are on the right track, if you just sit there eventually you will be run over.”

So what is the solution for boosting sales? There is not one! Does that shock you? Good! That is because there are several. The key to improving success in sales is discovering which sale’s approach is best for you.

Regardless of your product, your target market, or your current efforts, apply these 5 steps of the S.A.L.E.S. process:

Step one: Schedule

Allocate time slots daily when you will make a deliberate effort to contact others.Listing the time frame (10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. or 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.) in your personal calendar will help keep you accountable for focusing on sales daily.

Step two: Assess

Identify what has worked for you in the past. Continue doing what has worked and re-evaluate what has failed. If you have received valuable contacts by going to those monthly lunch meetings, keep going. If you have received no contacts from the after-hours events, spend that time calling more of the people you met during the lunches. If both are good investments of your time, yet when you call them a few days later they don’t call back, next time schedule appointments on the spot and send confirmations in an email.

Step three: Learn

Discover the trends in your industry. Remain abreast of what is current in the technology of your field. For example, group seminars were popular in the 1990’s. About 5 years later, more focus was invested in one-on-one coaching. This was found to be more conducive for industry leaders. Cost became an issue with coaching due to travel and out of office inconvenience. Today, telephone coaching is a common trend that meets the needs of the customer and his or her pocketbook.

Step four: Execute

Send thank you cards to those you have just met. Send emails with links to your website to let others know you have something to offer. Drop off periodicals that contain articles about what your prospects need. Recommend books or journals that give prospects a competitive advantage. Follow up sooner than you say you will. Ask more questions. Send proposals sooner. Offer solutions. Show them how you can help.

Step five: Strategize

Make an approach plan for qualified prospects. Determine how to contact them. Select who prefers to be called. Find out who wants something mailed to them. Consult with other members of your team to ensure what you are doing is an ideal approach. Implement your strategy and maintain the course, being flexible and adapting as necessary.

Follow the S.A.L.E.S. process and set your sales for success!

Happy Birthday

TLC wishes a Happy Birthday to clients celebrating in April:

Featured Service: S.O.S.

Therese Padgett

S.O.S. - Success Over Sales

“S.O.S – Success Over Sales” is one of the most exciting services that TLC offers because it combines the best of everything we teach! Before I tell you more about this month’s featured service, please allow me to diverge into the world of semantics, one of my favorite studies.

“Success” is the accomplishment of something desired, planned or attempted. It is the after effect of effort and it implies an adversary, in this case, “sales.” The word, “over,” is an adverb, adding to the adversarial sound of the phrase, while at the same time emphasizing the superiority of the subject. We could substitute any number of words for “sales” (i.e. fear, alcoholism, etc.) without altering the importance of the accomplishment and its preceding efforts.

TLC believes that to be successful one must draw upon and cultivate a number of tools. In our training program, “Success Over Sales,” we help you put together a toolbox full of strategies that will serve you well, no matter what you want to succeed over. In this course, we keep the focus on sales. We start with the assumption that you desire to be a good salesperson and we teach you to see yourself as that successful person. We show you how to get to know yourself better and how to build upon the strengths you already possess. We show you how to identify the needs of your customer (read body language and communication styles) and what you can do to improve the ways in which you communicate with him or her. In your toolbox, you will find your voice and all its variations and appropriate uses. And, yes! There will be questions: questions to keep the conversation moving toward the sale, questions to bring the customer back on track, and even the ultimate questions that close the sale and guaranty your customer will stay happy with you, returning for more purchases and sending referrals your way.

Success requires effort and effort implies resistance. If you or your sales’ team are ready to break through the barriers of resistance and to succeed over sales, contact TLC today to arrange for this exciting training, “S.O.S. – Success Over Sales.” Call 423-622-8255 or 1-888-BECAUSE.

CEO Corner

Beverly Inman-Ebel

“My Stimulus Package”

The news is filled with joys and woes of the new Stimulus Package. I have met many business people who want their own Stimulus Package. The good news is that many of us can create our own.

Perhaps the economy is making you anxious. Make sure that you spend time each day giving yourself positive thoughts to stimulate your day. Make three to five affirmations that follow these rules: make it in the first person, use present tense, and use only positive words. Examples can include: I am financially safe; I make wise choices; or I meet my goals; etc.

Determine projects that really would get you moving and reward yourself for spending time on them. What might you start if you knew you could not fail? Putting regular energy into projects usually ensures gradual success.

We all are responsible for sales, the lifeblood of all businesses. Brainstorm on what you can do differently. The process mentioned in our opening article has worked well for TLC. One of my clients in Nashville who is responsible for business development has steadily stimulated potential prospects averaging 9 contacts a day, scheduling two daily meetings, and discovering multiple prospects who are requesting bids for his company’s services.

One part of my personal stimulus package includes doing more with less. I have reduced 13 pounds and gained twice that amount of energy. The program is to eat less and move more. It really does work. There are no rapid paybacks, just steady change. Most worthwhile changes require consistent effort.

Do you want to stimulate your mental acuity? Take up a hobby that you have never done before. Play a musical instrument. Build something. Give to others. New activities wake us up and give us creative energy.

Don’t wait for a bailout. Stimulate yourself. If you don’t know where you want to be, at least know that you don’t want to stay what you are. Any change can be quite stimulating. Start your own unique stimulus package today. You are worth the investment. If it seems over-whelming, start small. Any journey starts with the first step. Just imagine where you can end up.

Stimulate yourself. Start now. Live your dreams.

TLC establishes long-term relationships with our clients. If we have helped you or if you believe our approach to change would work for someone you know, please request a proposal or phone 1-888-232-2873. We work with individuals and groups on the following subject areas: attitude, listening, body language, voice, leadership, compliments and corrections, behavioral style, teamwork, effective meetings, public speaking, accent reduction and much more!.

Back to top