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How Do I Make Prospects Come To Me?
Posted By: cstinson1970* on 12/30/2004 8:15 PM (CST) 250 Points
I am looking for new ways to gain prospects in sales area so that they come to me for help. I am fairly new in my industry and the the industry is very technical and a lot of the people are more technically knowledable than I am.
Other than cold calling my prospecting avenues are fairly limited and I am trying to avoid cold calling burn out.
My company has a strong background of helping clients with issues and I am trying to keep my funnel full.
My management team feels that cold calling is the only way to get new business in the door.
This also needs to be something that I can accomplish on my own.

Posted by: Deremiah *CPE Member Response
12/30/2004 8:43 PM (CST)
cstinson1970,

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
As a former sales consultant the best thing you can ever do for yourself from now until you get to heaven is to start building relationships. Without relationships you will be cold calling and that's a cold way to make a living.

TRY WARM CALLING...
Do you have friendships, Relatives, Former business contacts, Former business allaiances...well if you do you can warm call. A warm call is a referal from someone you know to someone you don't know. Your relationships are the inroads to you getting referals. Take advantage of this in the most respectable way you can. Guarantee the person who gives you the referal that you will make them proud they passed the name onto you.

INTERVEIW THOSE WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL in your company. There have got to be some very successful gals and guys in your company who would be willing to tell you (if you approach it respectfully) how they started generating business leads, prospects and referals.

CLOVER LEAF...
If you have one sell in a certain community you can always use that as leverage to talk to other businesses around that client. Again (if you approach it respectfully) people will listen and some will even want to know why others around them are participating with you and this leads to selling something or if nothing else getting more referals.

ALL YOU NEED IS ONE SALE to get REFERALS...
Do you have one sale? Have you at least sold one thing to somebody? If you have you can take this one sale leverage this into other possibilties.

Further more READ Jay ABRAHAMS book on "HOW TO GET EVERYTHING YOU CAN OUT OF ALL YOU'VE GOT".

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=How+to+get+everything+you+can+from+all...

I'm not getting paid to sell this book but if you buy it, read it and apply it you'll get paid (like I did and you might even win a few awards and make some huge bonuses). I know this stuff works. Now please go and get the book. This is my best advice. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)
 
Posted by: Peter (henna gaijin) Member Response
12/30/2004 8:49 PM (CST)
Be perceived as an 'expert' in your field. This can be done by being a speaker on a panel, writing byline articles for magazines and newsletters, etc. All of these get you in front of people who could be potential customers and often your name sticks around for long after the article is published/speaking event happens, as these types of things are often stored on web sites.

Of course, you do have to have some knowledge of what you are talking/writing about, but you don't need to be the most knowledgeable.
 
Posted by: Deremiah *CPE Accepted Answer
12/30/2004 8:58 PM (CST)
Great Advice Peter,

being that I'm a speaker you think I would have thought of that first (lol). But he does need to speak with confidence even when knowledge is limited. I've found as knowledge increases so does confidence to speak about it in a way that comes across relaxed. That's very important too.

Here are some things you can pull out of the archives of KHE below. Also put in Sales in the search box or Referals or Leads or Prospects. You will gain a wealth of knowledge in addition to what we have shared. I think I've provided you with some very valuable resources. Now get ready to sell something.

Sales Delimma
http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=2075

How to Find the Value Proposition
www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=2093

Where Do I Start When Marketing For a Company That Has Never Done Any Marketing Before?
www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=2042
 
Posted by: Tamara* Member Response
12/30/2004 11:46 PM (CST)
Stinson,

Okay, if you have a customer database I would send out a targeted direct mail campaign to your customers first. Always go back to past customers. It is easier to get repeat business if they have already bought from you in the past. I would send out a minimum of 3-4 pieces to the same people, with two different mailers. (It takes 4-9x for someone to remember your info.)

Next I would mail to potential customers you would like to obtain. You can reach this group via direct mail too. I would purchase a database at: www.zapdata.com of the customers you want and send the same mail campaign to them.

Important:
I would ask for their email on these direct mailers and all the info you can get (how much they spend a year on xyz, etc). Find out who is buying and buying what products. Offer something FREE to get that info. (Coupons, technical software, whatever) After which, you can email them e-promo. Tell them -- you will be sending them future promotional emails by filling out the mailer form.

Direct mail can act like a "sales person". Direct mail can help you gain exposure and on-going awareness, and see more people than an average sales person could.

Also, postcards seem to have a "pass along" value. So if someone else in the dept. you mail to that might need that service, they will give them the postcard. This does not happen with letters. Plus with letters you have to get someone to OPEN it. A little tricky there. That is where you might need some professional marketing expertise.

As far as cold calling and an actual non-gimmicky, tried and true, workable "sales system", I would recommend books by sales guru, Stephen Schiffman. Mr. Schiffman has been training Fortune 100 customers in sales for over 25 years, for 350,000 sales people to-date. It takes the "guessing game" out of sales and gives you an idea "who really will buy".

I would buy at least the top three books on this list. They rock! The books are cheap like $7.95 each. Any bookstore should have them. They are a VERY easy, fun and interesting read. He is straight forward and sensible! It helps your chance how and to whom you sell so you can get fast results!

These are his most current books that teach his sales system: (the first three are a must!)
* Cold Calling Techniques - That really work. (5th Edition) - Buy immediately!
* Getting to "Closed"
* Closing Techniques - That really work. (2nd Edition)
- this book shows you how to categorize potential "closes"
* Sales Don't Just Happen - 26 Proven strategies to increase sales in any market (over view of top three books)

His has 8 or more other books out like, "Power Sales Presentations, Telesales, The 25 Habits of the most successful people"... and more!

Schiffman's information is direct, and not your typical hokey sales stuff. I highly recommend reading (and implementing) them to speed up any sales cycle. He also has classes and seminars people can take. He is located in NY.

Hope this helps.
Good luck, Tamara :o)

PS: My company offers -- sales support marketing, branding and advertising design. If you have anymore questions, contact me at my website: www.caulderdesign.com.
 
Posted by: W.M.M.A. Member Response
12/31/2004 10:50 AM (CST)
***NO POINTS FOR ME***
JUST A COMMENT

Peter & Deremiah:
Two of the finest responses posted on this site. I wanted to state this openly, because I believe it is so important that one gains respect, influences their circle, learns from others, as we do on KHE.

Your responses are the principals of this site.
A Wonderful New Year to you both.

Randall
WMMA
 
Posted by: mgoodman Member Response
12/31/2004 11:25 AM (CST)
The way to get people to come to you is to offer them something they need so badly that they have no alternative but to call you.

If you can't make that offer, and deliver on it when they call, then you need to go back to square one and ask yourself what you would say on a cold call that will keep them from hanging up on you.

Said another way, you need to define the benefit you deliver and position yourself (and your company) as the perfect solution to the clients' most pressing and important problem. If you can't do that, you probably don't have a viable business.

This will also help you sharpen your focus on the target audience most likely to accept your offer.
 
Posted by: jong Member Response
1/3/2005 12:37 PM (CST)
Hi cstinson, try www.perrymarshall.com. You may find some helpful info. there.
 
Posted by: jacquesw@highprobsell.com* Member Response
1/4/2005 3:06 PM (CST)
Telephone Prospecting is the most effective way to quickly find good prospects without spending money and without having expert marketing skills.

The fear of Cold Call Burnout is caused by attempting to do a task without the proper skills and training to get good results.

If you have a good prospecting list and you call someone on the list once, than the second time you call that person, it will be a Warm Call. However, whether and how you will be received on the second call will depend on what transpired on the first call. You will sell a lot more when you stop trying to get appointments with most prospects.

The objective of each call should be to determine whether the person you call is a High Probability Prospect for your products and services, now. That average time for that kind of call to be completed is no more than one minute. The longer you talk to a prospect, the lower the probability that you will ever do business with them.

My Article “Eliminate the Fear of Cold Calling and Rejection” goes into the subject in more detail. Here's the link if you want to read it:
http://highprobsell.com/html/fear_of_rejection.html
 
Posted by: thinkmor Member Response
1/4/2005 10:33 PM (CST)
Hi Cstinson

Deremiah and Peter are spot on!

Most of the resources you need you already have, your Goldmine is your database of clients and customers and their experience with your company.

I would suggest, since you say you're new to your industry (maybe your company?) why not really understand WHY your company has been successful by talking to its past and current clients, what products they bought, do most clients buy for the same reason or to solve the same problem, how much, when they bought, how they bought, over what sort of time period etc

By talking to the different clients, categorizing and segmenting their needs, you'll be able take a snapshot to see if the 80/20 - 70/30 etc rule applies. If it does great, then you will be able to idenitfy profitable segments to go for. Don't worry there are always patterns that emerge.

Yes, you may have the technical products that deliver the benefits to client problems but what other factors persuaded them to choose your company and give your company the business. Deremiah already mentioned relationships and you should take his advice.

From your observations and notes you can start building Testimonials and Case Studies - you can add to PR & Articles on-off line. You should also send these in your Information Packs, tailor the information into your targeted Sales Letters and incorporate them into your 'cold or warm calling' pitch for each of your segments.

Your Testimonials and Case Studies will help build your credibility and give you added confidence as you learn more about the benefits and solutions your company provides.

Referrals are the easiest to source from satisfied clients but you can easily ask prospects too. You just need to ask, literally. For current clients offer an incentive, can you offer added value services - cross selling - affiliate services they will value?

Once you go through talking and understanding your clients and Your company services too, you will have distinct ideas as to WHERE the 'Pain Issues' lie for each segment of your target audience.

'I will make this my last point as it's very late here in London.'

You can compile a simple report on e.g. " How to Avoid the Top 10 Mistakes IT execitives make when choosing an X system.."

I hope you understand what I'm getting at. This is where you demonstrate your expertise in a short report narratively (or pictorially) about your chosen service and hand hold the prospect through the process in their minds. Once the prospect reads and digests the report, you are automatically the number one choice in their minds for the service you articulated and described.

You can use this offer of a 'Special' report in telemarketing, direct mailing, events or direct response ads.

Although, not immediate and you need some copy help, it is a great way in targeting prospects - even off a list - to generate quality leads that turn into profitable clients.

If you have the resources and need additional help with structure of the report, please contact me by clicking my name.

Hope this helps.

Zahid Adil

P.S. If you offer a range of services-products, consider offering scaleable products you can introduce prospects to at the lower range. As they become happy with your products they can then be ramped up to higher margin products over time.
 


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