Pre-Call Planning

When you make any kind of sales call at all, you should have an objective in mind. Don't go into a call without a plan. If you're visiting with a prospect, take a few moments in the car to gather your thoughts and decide what it is you'd like to accomplish with this prospect.

When you enter the office, engage the receptionist. That person is the frontline of the company and the executive may ask her opinion of you. If there is a sign in book, look the book to see who signed in before you. You'll find out if they've been visiting with your competitors.

Your objective can be whatever you want it to be. If it's a first call, it might be to learn about what they are trying to accomplish and to determine if your services are a fit or to build rapport with the prospect.

Having a plan allows you to make the most of each call and best use of your time.

Marketing Initiatives

The way to evaluate whether or not a marketing intiative is right for you as an individual or your company is to be clear about what you're trying to accomplish.

Make sure you can write down in one or two sentences what it is you want to accomplish. For example, if you are a manufacturer of copper coils and want to get the word out about copper coils would Twitter be right for you?



The answer is 'maybe'. The company has to ask a few questions first:

• Is the community they are trying to reach on Twitter?


• Can they communicate effectively in 140 charachters?


• Do they have the commitment to participate in the Twitter community?

If yes, then do it. If not, reavaluate and choose another channel that is more right for the company.

Image via Wikipedia

Partnerships

Image via Wikipedia

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where hestands at times of challengeand controversy.”

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)

American civil rights leader

Nobel Peace Prize winner'

If you do business with people you trust, it makes the whole process easier and a lot more fun.

An Hourly Rate is not always an Hourly Rate

When we create TeleIntellgence Calling Programs, calling hours are billed at $45.00 and administrative hours (typing, distributing leads, updating reports) are billed at $25.00 an hour.

Sometimes, I get push back from clients. They say 'we have a admin we pay $15.00 an hour. We'll update the database ourselves.' Well you can, however our admin, Ryan, is freakishly fast and freakishly accurate. He types at 80 words at minute virtually error free. I've seen him whip through databases of thousands of names in just three to four hours. This is our core business. He knows what to watch out for and what errors to correct intuitively on the spot. Once he's done, we can hit the ground running with calling. While on the surface $15.00 an hour might seem less expensive for an investment of approximately $100 you can get your database updated quickly and accurately.

It might cost the same $100 at the $15 an hour rate, however, it will take longer and I'm sure there will be more errors.

When you hear an hourly rated quoted, take some time to understand the expertise that goes into that rate so you can accurately assess whether or not it is truly 'too expensive'.

Clever Social Marketing

This is a good use of social media

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7D2g5v-Sg

what a great, inviting way to get people to pass on a message and gain exposure for their company at the same time.

Much better than the manipulation to re-tweet, re-blog and re-post messages that is going on out there. This is a much more straightforward approach that has a message that will have meaning to some and still accomplishes a corporate goal.

Kinda fun.

Top 10 Tips to Get More Business in 2010

1. Don’t Let the Negativity Get You Down. There is business out there for those who will get it. Turn off the TV, and limit the time you will spend with complainers and naysayers.

2. Take the Most Direct Path. The most direct path to getting new customers is to call and ask for the business. If you don’t want to do it, we have a team of fifty B2B callers that consistently produce results. Let us do it for you.

3. Get your CRM in order. Are you tracking data that makes sense for your business? Do the sales people consistently fill out the fields? Are they contacting prospects at least 5 times to get
appointments. Do they follow up? Don’t have a CRM? Call us 312.375.3822 we’ll get you set up right away.

4. Make Your Service Offering as Competitive as Possible. Make sure your sales are profitable. When the credit market was free and easy it was seductive to think “we’ll give it away now and make it up in volume later.” That’s a myth. Don’t sell products and services that are not profitable.

5. Know your competition. You can’t sell against a company or person if you don’t know them inside and out. Be honest about their strengths and weaknesses as well as your own.
Keep a Steady Stream of Prospects Coming In. Lists are easy to get and it’s easy to profile targets. Call us if you need help.

6. Enhance Your Sales Skills. Can your sales people prospect? handle objections? Negotiate price effectively? If you’d like some tips check out our blog at www.fcmsales.blogspot.com if you’d like some help, call for a quote on a Company-Specific Sales Program.

7. Maximize Your Marketing. With digital media there are several effective, no cost or low cost tools available to get the word out. There’s no excuse not to. If you need help let us know.

8. Analyze Your Sales Process. Where are your sales people the strongest – prospecting? Proposals? Presentations? Where are they the weakest? If you don’t know and are interested in analysis, call us.

9. Be Persistent. Have a simple vision or goal and stick to it. Make sure that every action every day supports that vision/goal. Don't give up to soon. The work you do each day solidifies the foundation for the new business you are after.

10. Have Fun. If you’re not having fun, think about doing something else. It’ll be better for you, for the company, for the customers and the prospects. If you’re not having fun every day, ask yourself, ‘why not?’