This is a Guest post by Art Sobzcak.

When I review opening statements for seminar attendees, clients at in-house training sessions, or for buyers of my Opening Statement Teleseminar on CD, I hear lots of openings that need assistance. Most of them, actually. And don’t even get me started about the openings that I hear when sales reps call me to sell. Many of these openings are destined to create resistance.

I am very picky about openings. That’s because we have so little time to create interest. Yet, most openings flat out elicit resistance, or don’t move towards interest fast enough, therefore giving the listener time to let the resistance build.

And the little things can do it. A couple of words here or there. Perhaps a question that doesn’t belong…too many unnecessary words that ramble like a congressman on C-SPAN late at night.

Sad part is, some of the things I hear are actually taught by sales “gurus” in seminars, books, tapes, e-books …whatever. I have to wonder if some of these experts have ever actually been on the phone.

I’ve decided to not be shy about dispelling some of the myths and bad suggestions being perpetuated out there—things that are causing salespeople to run into brick walls. I’ve been a bit hesitant to focus on this stuff too much, since occasionally I’ll get an email saying, “Don’t write about negative things. Don’t tell us about what to avoid. Tell us what to do.”

Well, I feel that one of the best ways to improve is to first cut out the mistakes. Let’s take this one: Finally getting a decision maker on the phone and then starting a prospecting call with,

“Hi, I’m Pat Seller with ABC Company. Are you the person there who would handle the decisions regarding your____?” Or, “…and I understand you are the person there who…”

I can hear the reactions now from some readers: “So what’s wrong with that?”

Here’s what’s wrong: You might as well start off the call with,

“I’m selling something. Are you the person I should be pitching it to?”

And again, I know that most of you see the problem with that, but yet someone might still be asking,
OK, we ARE trying to sell something and we want to be sure that this is the person we should be talking to, right?”

Right. But that IS NOT the way to do it. Here’s why:

• people would rather not talk to salespeople they don’t know. It’s natural, like the way we typically avoid the salespeople in retail stores who stalk after us and ask, “May I help you?” People like to buy, but don’t want to be sold. This announces your sales intentions, triggering the defensive posture.

• you have about five seconds to move a person into a positive, receptive frame of mind on a prospecting call. If you’re not doing that, they’re creeping into a negative frame of mind, moving into the mode of “How do I get rid of this salesperson?” Again the question about  “Are you the person…?” solidifies that before you have even begun to create interest.

• you should already KNOW that they are the decision maker for what you sell, BEFORE you ever hear their voice. That comes with good preparation and asking questions of other people within the organization. Even if you don’t know for sure, after delivering your opening—without this question— if you’re not in the right spot, they’ll let you know. And if you are in the right place, you haven’t jeopardized the success of what you want to accomplish: getting them into a positive frame of mind, and moving them to the questions.

OK, so what should you do? When the decision maker answers, go directly into your opening:

“Hi Pat, I’m ___with _____. We work with ____,  helping them ___. I understand that you’re now in the process of ____, and there’s a possibility we may have an option that could help you to ____. I’d like to ask a few questions to see if we should talk further.”

That’s very generic, and I always suggest that you tailor and customize your opening with information you collect before the call, and on the phone by speaking with others in their company so that you touch on results they would have interest in. And you can see that after that opening example, if you indeed were not in the right spot, they’d let you know.

Plus, if you still want to ask, “Am I in the right spot for what I just explained?”, you could do it after you’ve piqued their curiosity, since you’ve presented a possible benefit.

Sure, we need to find out if they are a decision maker. We just do not ask THEM in the opening.

Art Sobczak has helped sales pros say the right things by phone for over 27 years.  Get a free ebook of tips at http://www.BusinessByPhone.com, and see more free sales and prospecting tips, hear recorded calls, and watch videos at http://www.TelesalesBlog.com

This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

Never view any two calls in the same way.  Instead, have different styles depending on the type of customer you’re calling and the outcome you expect to achieve.  Top performing salespeople will have a distinct calling strategy for each type of person they call.  The best way to do this is to break your customer list down into segments based on their size, their potential, and, if you know, the contact’s personality and approach to decision making.

Using the Inquisitive Approach

This is an excellent approach to use when dealing with a small customer and especially when contacting the person who owns the business.  The Inquisitive Approach is based on the strength of the question you’re asking.  It needs to create interest and a sense of ego-satisfaction with the small business person / owner.

Using the Assumptive Approach

If you use the Inquisitive Approach with large customers, you will be seen as somebody who hasn’t taken the time to research and appreciate the size of the customer you’re calling.

Big customers want to be treated as big customers, and they only like to do business with others who they believe are equally big. Big customers find safety in talking to their peers (others who understand how big companies work).

Your opening needs to be statement-focused and deal with an area of pain the customer is experiencing.  Don’t allow your statement to come across as if you’re asking a question about what the person does or, worse yet, what their customer does.  A large customer expects you to have done your homework prior to the call. Demonstrate that you value their time and company.

Whether you are prospecting or calling existing customers, make sure you are thoroughly prepared with an approach that fits that particular customer.

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.

This is a Guest post by Art Sobzcak.

“Show me the money Jerry!”
Rod Tidwell, character in “Jerry MaGuire”

Once into his questioning, the sales rep asked, “So you’re finding that the last stage of the manufacturing process is a challenge.”

Prospect: “Well, yeah, we’re having to do a few repetitive tasks to get it done.”

Rep: “We have software that can make that job easier and it’s only $5,000.”

Prospect: “$5000 just for making that part easier. That’s crazy.”

So what happened here?

The sales rep uncovered a problem. However, he was so eager to talk about how his product solves that problem, he failed to continue walking the prospect down the path to realizing what the problem was costing him. He didn’t see the problem as being painful enough in the short- or long term.

For most business-to-business transactions, it’s all about the money. The return on investment.

It’s pretty simple: you will always sell more when you help the prospect or customer understand the cost of the problem or potential problem, and then the payoff of the solution and/or the result of taking action

Dollarize the Situation

In his great book, “How to Become a Rainmaker,” Jeffrey Fox calls it “Dollarizing.” He says, “Rainmakers don’t sell fasteners or valves or washing machines or double-paned windows or tax audits or irrigation systems or training programs or golf clubs. Rainmakers sell money! The sell reduced downtime, fewer repairs, better gas mileage, higher deposit interest, increased output, decreased energy usage, more wheat per acre, more yardage per swing.”

When you analyze it, we buy thins because the price we pay for something is perceived as being less than dollar value we attach to the result. Our job, then, is to be sure they realize that the value of the result is high and the price is low.

The classic book, “SPIN Selling” uses the term, “Implication Questions.” It’s taking a problem that a buyer perceives to be small (or nonexistent in some cases) and building it up in a problem large enough to justify action.

Using the earlier example and dollarizing with implication questions we could get a different result.

Prospect: “Well, yeah, we’re having to do a few repetitive tasks to get it done.”

Rep: “What do you have to do?”

Prospect: “In the final stage, one of the operators has to go back and re-input the command codes to keep the line moving.”

Rep: “Please explain.”

Prospect: “He has to leave his main station, move over to the other console, input the codes he already put in, and then go back to his position.”

Rep: “How often is that happening?”

Prospect: “Geesh, over a hundred times a day?”

Rep: “Isn’t that slowing up the line and cutting down production?”

Without belaboring this, you can see where the rep is going with this, and ultimately would get the prospect to tell him exactly how much lost production is costing the company every day! Extrapolating that out over the course of a year might mean hundreds of thousands in lost profits. Now then, wouldn’t that $5000 software be a no-brainer?

Monetize and Quantify

Whenever you uncover a problem, a pain, or a desire, attach numbers and dollars to it. For example,

“How much is that costing?”

“How many?”

“How often does it happen”?

“What are the other expenses involved?”

There are hundreds of questions that could apply. Matter of fact, you should define them for yourself.

Your Action Item

Pull out a legal pad. At the top of the first page, describe a result of your product or service, such as, “High quality plastic, meaning fewer returns due to defects.” Then, list all the possible costs of returns due to defects for a customer, such as customer service phone time to take the call, cost of replacement part, all shipping costs, return of defective part, possible lost sales because of poor quality, and more. Finally, develop questions designed to get your prospects and customers talking about the problem. Take if further and brainstorm for their possible answers, then your next questions to keep them talking, and attaching costs to the problem, and the payoff for a solution. Rinse and repeat. Start new pages for each of your results.

Just think of what lost sales might be costing you now, and how much more you could make by doing this.

Art Sobczak has helped sales pros say the right things by phone for over 27 years.  Get a free ebook of tips at http://www.BusinessByPhone.com, and see more free sales and prospecting tips, hear recorded calls, and watch videos at http://www.TelesalesBlog.com

This is a Guest post by Jill Konrath of Selling To Big Companies.

Here are Top 5 tips that a new sales person should learn:

1. Be different.

Sellers find it hard to realize that customers don’t care about the product or service. Customers care about the difference that the seller can make for their company.

I sell sales training. If I will approach a company and speak to the VP of Sales and tell them that, the company will not be interested with my offer. But if I change my approach and focus on the substantial results that they will get from the service that I offer, doors will open wide.

2. Take one step at  a time.

When I first started selling, I immediately wanted to become successful. I was eager to close early and impressed my prospects with my immense product knowledge. But the more I rushed things, my prospects became more resistant to moving forward. They would trash problems and complaints that I could not solve. But when I started to slow down, plan carefully and disseminate information over multiple discussions, my sales suddenly increased.

3. Research before making the call.

Personalized messages based on your research about their company will get the attention of corporate decision makers. Standard messages sent to everyone are deleted instantly. Take the time to do your homework and do some research. Companies will listen to voicemails that are made especially for them.

4. Plan different modes of entry.

If you want to set up a meeting with a corporate decision maker, plan different modes of entry. Use multiple formats in your campaign— try voicemail, email, direct mail, invitations to teleseminars, conferences and etc.  Establish at least 7-10 contacts to crack into corporate accounts.

5. In your cutsomer’s shoes.

It doesn’t matter what you say. What matters is what your customer’s hear. Before leaving a message on your prospect’s voicemail, try leaving it on yours. Listen to it and evaluate how you sounded. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Would you listen to that message? Would you take the time to call back and respond to that message? Rework your script until you finally created something worth hearing and worth responding to.

How about you? What tips can you suggest to new sellers?

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. For timely and provocative sales advice, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.

This is a Guest Post from Peter O’Donoghue of  Sales DNA.

If you didn’t read my  last blog post then it might be a good idea to head over here and find out why the following voicemail will get you 50% call backs from your targeted prospects.

As a reminder, the voicemail is:

“Hi John, It’s Joe Bloggs from ACME INC. I was in a meeting this morning and your name came up. I have a couple of quick questions that only you can answer. Can you give me a call back on 0000000000”

So what happens when the prospect hears the voicemail?

Firstly, they are intrigued and curious. Why are they calling me? Why did my name come up in a meeting? What questions can there be that only I can answer? These internal questions and inner dialogue will compel the other person to want to call you back to find out just what is going on.

Secondly, they call. What do you think the first thing they want to know is?

“Why were you talking about me?”

What would you say?

The main thing is that you have a natural and probable answer that will act as a bridge to the thing that you really want from the call – a conversation.

Here are a few ideas:

“Hi John, thanks for calling back. Yes, we had an internal meeting today.”

That’s it. It’s not complicated or underhand and can lead to a natural bridge to your value statement.  A complete example can go like this:

“Hi John, thanks for calling back. Yes, we had an internal meeting today, where we completed phase 1 of a project with ABC Corp. In six months, we reduced their staff churn from 29% down to 19% and we are on track to save them over 500,000 this year. We wanted to help other companies in that industry and as a top 3 player, we immediately thought of you. How is staff churn affecting your business at present?”

OK, let’s break it down to some component parts:

1)      The fact that it is an internal meeting is delivered smoothly and confidently with no apologies. It makes sense and it’s natural.

2)      You have ‘name dropped’ a company that is in their line of business and probably a competitor.

3)      You have proven value in business terms – percentages and money.

4)      There is a little ‘ego-stroke’ – “as a top 3 player.”

5)      It ends in an assumed question “How is staff churn affecting…” It either is or it isn’t and if you have done your homework well then you will know that it probably is. It is open and bridges straight into a conversation.

Now you might be thinking that this might be deceiving and the other person is likely to go:

“Hey wait a minute. You tricked me into calling you!”

I guarantee you it isn’t and they won’t. It naturally flows and as long as you make your reason sound natural, focused on them and relevant, the other person will be more than happy to engage in a conversation with you.

For more golden nuggets like this sign up for my free sales newsletter using the links below…

Peter O’Donoghue is the Director of Sales DNA who help Business To Business Sales Professionals increase sales profitability with Sales Training and Telesales Training.  Sales DNA work with clients in Europe and Worldwide through their Online Sales Training.  Visit his blog at  www.salesdnaltd.com/blog.

This is a Guest post by Alen Majer, CEO of The Science and Art of Selling.

If your prospect does not see the value in your product or service, and if the only difference between you and the competitors is in pricing, you didn’t do a good job as a sales person. The main description of your position inside the company is to create the value, not just to show your price list. Teaching and educating customers is no longer enough, giving them information about your products or services is no longer necessary. They can get them by themselves, without ever talking to you or your company, and know more about your product and positioning on the market than you.

If they know so much about you, how can you try to sell them the same product without knowing their business situation or their needs?

Remember that customers are sophisticated; they either have or believe they can get product information more reliably on their own. Information is readily available through many different sources, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Internet is full of different forums, blogs, and review or research websites where they can get information about your product easily.

Customers don’t just want a specific product; most of the times they want to solve their pain point or business issues. A customer in today’s competitive sales environment does not expect to educate the sales professional about their business.  Therefore, you must already possess a solid understanding of the customer’s industry, competitors, and business direction.

Developing such a comprehensive view of the customer is a task that requires extensive researching and education to get an overall picture of the customer’s business industry. The modern sales person needs to focus on understanding the customer’s business initiatives, strategic plans, IT environment, and key customer preferences.

If you are still seeing yourself as someone who is there to educate customers, you are living in the past. The time of product-centric sales is gone. Welcome to customer-centric approach in sales.

You need to move away from the focus on presenting your products. Instead, a customer-centric approach shows that you recognize and understand your customers’ needs, which is necessary if you want to survive in a 21st Century sales environment.

Your customers are tired of salespeople who come in and are unable to address real business needs, but talk about their company and the hottest feature, or unique one that nobody else has. There are many dimensions that you are selling, and price is only one of them.

Alen Majer consults and trains entrepreneurs and salespeople how to harness their (sex) energy and use it for the success of selling. He is the founder and CEO of The Science and Art of Selling – a sales training, coaching and consulting company in Toronto, Canada; co-founder of Sales Academy – Croatia and Sales Institute of Croatia. Visit his blog at http://www.alenmajer.com.

This is a Guest post by Art Sobczak.

“I leave voice mail messages all day long for prospects,” the salesperson bemoaned. “Why don’t people call me back?”

I didn’t need to listen to his calls to give an answer. The same reasons apply to all telesales people leaving voice mails. Pick any three (or more) of the following reasons:

• The message is too long. Grab their attention within 10 seconds or you’re “sixed” (or whatever their delete key is.) Picture someone picking up their voice mails in a busy, noisy airport; they don’t have time to listen to your life story.

• It’s not about them. They don’t care about you, your products, or that you’re their new “account manager.” And really, why should they?  They’re just like Toby Keith in his song, “I Want to Talk About Me.”

• You sound salesy. Mention that you have a new product, a service, that you want them to advertise with you, or that you want to meet with them, and you evoke the same resistance as when the retail store sales rep says, “May I help you?”  Face it: most people run the other way when a salesperson approaches them.

• Most people don’t return voice mails from telesales reps. News alert: They’re swimming upstream as fast as they can just to stay up with their daily piles of work. Very few say, “Oh, good. Another call from a telesales rep. Move that to the top of the to-do list.”

• You only called once. Even if someone returns the occasional voicemail, who do they call? Probably not the one-time caller. A buyer I interviewed told me that he never returns calls, and the only sales reps who have the remotest chance of even getting through his screener next time are those he recognizes as having left several interesting voice mails.

So is voice mail a lost cause for sales reps?

On the contrary, it’s a great tool to separate you from the majority of reps making mistakes. Here’s what to do:

• Learn about them first. Be a detective. Glean info wherever possible. Go to their website. Enter the company name and prospect’s name into search engines. Use LinkedIn and other Sales 2.0 methodologies. Read trade publications, your local Business Journal, and the ones in your territory. Then use that information in your message as it relates to how you might be able to help them get or avoid something.

• Talk to others in the company. Anyone and everyone. Continue your info-gathering. Identify yourself and company and say, “I hope you can help me. I’m going to speak with Ms. Byer, and I want to be sure that what I have would be appropriate.” Then ask questions.

• Be prepared. Voice mail is not new technology. It shouldn’t be a surprise that you will be asked to speak after the tone. So why not be dead-on prepared for what you’ll say?  (Just notice how many messages you get that begin with, “Uhhh.”) There’s no excuse to not be smooth and confident.

• Use a “possible results” statement. This is the grabber. Mention what you might be able to do for them. Personalization increases their interest level: “I understand you’re now looking at ways to increase the number of long-term leases at your Highland Park property. We specialize in some unique marketing methods that help property managers minimize vacancies…”

• Use a multi-media approach. Don’t rely on voice mail to carry the entire load. Back up your message with an email, a fax, a letter, or a message that you ask the screener to write on the pink message pad and give to the boss. And don’t overlook the lowest tech, but highest touch approach: handwritten letters.

• Say YOU’LL call back. You need to control the communication. It’s your responsibility to reach them. Tell them you’ll call back Thursday morning. Then DO it. But do give them options to reach you, leaving your phone number and email just in case they want to contact you.

• Use a “last resort.” At some point of repeated futility, depending upon their future potential and the size of your prospect pool, you need to punt and leave a final, firmer message. What is that point?  If you sell office supplies, everyone could be a prospect, so the magic number at which you let go would be smaller than for someone selling train locomotives to railroads. What to say?

“… I’ve tried several times to contact you about how we might be able to help cut your cost of customer acquisition by 20% like we have for B.O. Industries. If I don’t hear back from you I’m going to assume this is not something you’d like to discuss at this time …”

This often elicits a response (I’ve even heard apologies) from people who are interested and simply were too busy to reply.

While most sales reps are ensuring they never get through because of their voice mails, you can set yourself apart and pave the way for a productive conversation. Avoid these mistakes, use these ideas, and the sound of the tone will be like the music of a cash register!

Art Sobczak has helped sales pros say the right things by phone for over 27 years.  Get a free ebook of tips at http://www.BusinessByPhone.com, and see more free sales and prospecting tips, hear recorded calls, and watch videos at http://www.TelesalesBlog.com.

This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

Many times when I’m working with inside salespeople, I hear the common complaint how they don’t feel they’re at their best until later in the day. The first few people to whom they talk on the telephone wind up being disastrous calls. What makes this painful is these same salespeople are usually the ones who are not making their numbers. These are the same salespeople who spend way too much of their time – and the time of their fellow salespeople – complaining about how screwed up things are.

Rather than wasting the first several calls on customers you know are going to answer, take the first 10 minutes of each day calling people you know won’t be there. In other words, their voice mail will pick up. In fact, go one step farther and make the first call to yourself – yes, yourself. Here is why: By calling yourself first, you have the opportunity to engage your mouth, to get your brain working and to warm up. Consider it similar to the way an athlete warms up before a game.

Make the first call to yourself as if you were a prospect and leave a voice mail. But don’t just leave a quick voice mail to yourself. Go ahead and share with yourself one key benefit as to why you should buy from yourself. By leaving the message to yourself, you’ll get a chance to hear yourself later when you get the message. More importantly, you’ll start warming yourself up by sharing a benefit of what makes you different.

After you have left yourself a message, then call 2- 3 people who you know will not answer their phone. Leave your normal voice mail message.

Using voice mail as a way to warm up will help you be more focused and engaged when you do talk to somebody live. It will prevent you from stumbling through your first several live calls. Only after you’ve had several live conversations and you’re fully engaged should you then even think about sitting down.  Yes, that’s another tip: Standing up when making a phone call will always increase the strength of your voice and help you be focused. It gets your energy going!

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.

This is a Guest post by Jill Konrath of Selling To Big Companies.

Kevin Writes: I have a long-standing client. One noteworthy group asked us for a meeting to converse about a project and we geared up a moderately complex Statement of Work in just two business days.

We sent it, followed up with an e-mail several days later, followed up with one telesales call each week the following two weeks, and with another e-mail the next week. Ultimately, having hear nothing from the folks we were working with, I elevated to higher ups.

As you can imagine, I got a reply from my Director contact, and of course, ire and frustration from the unresponsive project folks.  Was I wrong to elevate? The logic of the project folks (my prospect) is that if we weren’t hearing from them, we should continue contacting them.

Now, where is it written that only telesales people or sellers have to exhibit professionalism, not the client?

—————————

My thoughts: The game has varied in the corporate world today. However, honestly, it is not that they are bad individuals. They are literally expected to do too much in too little time.

They are running so lean and mean that it is impossible for them to keep their head above water. I have preferred to have compassion for them. Personally, I would have hate to be in an environment like that.

However, that doesn’t mean that we need to change what we do. With each project you do, ensure you have full communications going at all times with multiple people in the organization.

Let the prospects know that you are communicating with the executives. Be completely  transparent about it-  it’s how you work.  That way, it won’t seem like you’re going around them.

What would you suggest?

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. For timely and provocative sales advice, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com

This is a Guest Post from Paul Archer, of Archer Training.

Here’s some body language reminders for you that as salespeople, we simply must get right. I’m sitting on a busy commuter train to London Paddington. There are a few seats available and most of the passengers are relaxed and enjoying the journey.

In my carriage there are a lot of table seats. One big table and four seats. Looking around I’m reminded of the human need for territory and how this can upset people if they’re not getting their territory respected. The problem is big laptops dominating the tables. Across the way from me right now is a chap with the biggest laptop I’ve ever seen. Now this is plain rude but if you could see her face and body language. She’s furious and the odd thing is, that chap is completely oblivious to and the poor lady opposite him is being squeezed out by the size of his electronics. what’s going on around him. He can’t read the signals.

In sales the message is respect zones and territory of your customer. Desks have an invisible mid line which you just do not cross, or indeed place your laptop. Items taken over to their side of the desk belong to the customer. A nice little trial close is to place something in the middle of the desk and if your customer takes it over to their side, they might be interested.

Body zones are even more important. I’m about to jump on the tube and will suffer armpits, backs and stomachs all over me during my half hour standing room only. We put up with this because we have no choice, but when we do have a choice, we do not like anyone we don’t know personally, within our intimate zone. This is roughly half a metre. Cross this as a salesperson at your peril. Be particularly wary of the zones of people who live outside cities. If they’ve been brought up in the country they may well have a larger personal zone than people who have lived in the confines of a city all their lives.

Test it next time you’re in a lift. Notice where everyone heads to the sides to find their own space.

And the best tip for you I’ve left to the end. Ever been to a networking event, or a party and you get stuck with someone you don’t really want to talk to? If so reverse the territory rule and get into their personal zone. Why? Because they will immediately back off like two poles of a magnet and move away, feel really uncomfortable and may well leave you alone.

Paul Archer is an international sales speaker, sales trainer, author and coach based in the UK. He specializes in rapport selling and rapport coaching and can ignite his audiences large or small. For more information on Paul and his training courses, visit www.paularcher.com, where you’ll also find his own sales blog, too!

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