Prospecting in a Soft MarketWritten by Steve Waterhouse
Yesterday, I worked with a group of wonderful sales people who sell for one of leading companies in their industry. You would all recognize brand. They were complaining (only a little) that market was soft and that it was affecting their business. I asked them two questions. First, how big is total market for your product? Answer: over $200 billion. Second, for you to be a superstar, how much business would you have to do? Answer $150 million or 0.075% of market. If their market were to shrink by 25%, which would mean world-wide disaster, a superstar would need 0.1% of market. In other words, even in worst of situations, there would be 1000 times as much business available as anyone would need to be a superstar. They got point and they agreed that tough times just mean sifting through more leads to find nuggets.Prospecting is a necessary part of sales and something that many sales people do poorly. Done correctly, it becomes as much a part of your routine and as important as a great presentation or a winning close. Here are 14 tips you can use to improve effectiveness of your sales team's prospecting efforts: Define type of prospect that is likely to want your offer Separate your list of prospects by size or opportunity. A=big, B=medium, C=small Set individual and group goals for new contacts per day Work A list first. Whales are always better than minnows Minimize distractions and maximize call time Use telephone for as much of selling process as possible Have several good value statements written in front of you Brainstorm common objections (there aren't many new ones) Develop effective counters to objections Work in pairs and coach each other Record your calls and review them (at least your side of call) Leave value-based messages on voice mail Call early, late, lunch hour, anytime. Keep it up forever! Good prospecting requires skills, persistence, coaching and management support. Done consistently, it can be path to dramatic business growth or insurance against slower times.
| | What do you do now?Written by Steve Waterhouse
How to help your sales team recover from World Trade Center disaster. by Stephen WaterhouseThe question plaguing CEO's and sales managers around country today is, "How do I get my team back to work?" After tragedy that has gripped us for last week, what is best way to help our people and companies return to normal, productive life? For help, I turned to my friend and colleague, Dr. Robert Routolo, whose thirty years of experience helping fortune 500 companies through difficult times makes him perfect resource. Bob suggests that we organize a three step process for helping our people make transition back to normalcy. His three steps, recognition, reflection and refocusing form a structure that will help us help our people, our companies and our nation. Recognition Bob said, "Every person has been impacted by this tragedy on some level, and as CEO's and managers we must recognize that." We can't ignore what has happened and just go on. We must be ones to bring it up, even if it is uncomfortable to do so. Dr. Routolo recommends that you start a meeting by recognizing that each of your people has been affected in some way by events of last week and that you understand that this has been a difficult time. Reflection Once topic is on table, make time for reflection and sharing. Allow a few minutes of silence for each one to think about events and losses in their own way. Grief is a personal process and silence respects their individuality. Next, allow time for sharing. Some will tell of those they lost. Others may express their reaction to events. For many, telling their story is an important part of moving on. For others, just hearing that coworkers share their feelings will help them know that they are not alone.
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