Hope you’re enjoying the NFL playoffs. A client and I were talking about that Bear/Eagles game a few weeks ago, and (besides the Bear’s kicker—I do feel bad for him), we were talking about that last scoring drive of the Eagles. How they went for it on 4thdown with 56 seconds left—and scored the winning touchdown. That reminded me of what I was taught when I was new on the phone: that the sale doesn’t start until the fourth or fifth no. My manager used to tell me that it’s a like football: He … [Read more...]
Gift Yourself the Power Phone Scripts
What is the one thing you all wish for this season? More money, right? If you’re in sales, then the way to make more money is to close more sales. It’s that simple, isn’t it? And if you’d like to make more sales, then you need to upgrade your selling skills. Would you be willing to spend just $18.30 on yourself to do just that? If so, then the easiest way to do that is to gift yourself the bestselling book inside sales guide that has over 500 Word-For-Word Scripts, Phrases and Questions that … [Read more...]
Asking the Right Sales Questions… The Key to the Insurance Sale!
Most of the agents and advisors we train are amazed to find out that asking your clients the right sales questions, can make such a huge difference… Not only in making a sale… But also, in the size of the sale! Why? Because asking the right sales questions is how you find out what’s important to your clients. Which also helps you to provide your clients with the right solution to their problems. Plus, when you ask the right sales questions… Your clients will tell you exactly what you need to do … [Read more...]
You Have 5 Seconds to Make a Good Impression
Years ago, they used to say you had just a couple of minutes to make a good impression when selling over the phone. As the Internet got popular and email lost its luster, they said you had just a minute to grab someone’s attention and earn the right to continue your pitch. Then as texting became the new mode of personal communication, that one minute shrunk to about 30 seconds… These days, as even texting is being ignored, you’ve got about 5 seconds to diffuse the myriad of emotions and … [Read more...]
Sales Managers – Measure What Matters Most!
If you’re an inside sales manager, then you know all about metrics. In fact, whenever I consult with new clients, the owners and managers automatically begin showing me their call monitoring reports. They show me metrics on how many calls a rep is making, how much average time each rep spends on the phone, what the top of the funnel looks like, what their conversion rate is, and so on. When they ask me what I think, I tell them they are missing the most important thing. Now don’t get me … [Read more...]
The Close is in the Follow-Up
As a homeowner, I‘m always having to fix something. Those of you who own homes know exactly what I mean. I’m in the habit of getting a variety of quotes for the big stuff, and it’s amazing how some companies/sales reps follow up on a sales quote (and so get the business), and others don’t. Here’s a recent example: My air conditioning coil went out (my existing heating and air company—we’ll call them Air Quiet—quoted me $2,500 to replace it), so I decided to have another company—we’ll call … [Read more...]
How to Handle Paralysis by Analysis
How many times have you had a potential sale end up in the twilight zone, where your clients will ask endless questions, and request wave upon wave of illustrations and scenarios? It happens way too often, I am sure. Some of this analysis is legitimate. There are people who are extremely analytical and require a lot of information to make a purchasing decision. They need to compare and contrast a number of options. However, at some point, this analysis reaches a point of no return. What can you … [Read more...]
Relaxing Over Objections Could Double Your Business
What two crises does every sale have? Objections and “the close”. It's at these two places that the success or the failure of your sale teeters on the edge. What if you actually used these two crisis moments to create deeper rapport with your prospect instead of the stress they normally create? When you learn to do this, you'll see an immediate doubling of your income. Am I making wild claims about income? Award-winning research scientist Dr. William R. Miller found that if a professional … [Read more...]
2 Totally Different Closing Strategies that Work
Your prospects think you are there to sell them something. Even if you are 100 percent committed to doing what’s in their best interest – which could mean you not winning the business – they still think your motive is to get them to do business with you. So how do you shift this dynamic? I have two totally different approaches for you to consider. Both can work. And, yes, it’s possible to blend the two into a super sales strategy. Strategy 1 – Teach Your Prospects How to Buy What You … [Read more...]
Go for the Close Five Times – At Least!
How many times have you seen a commercial (either a TV ad, a public billboard, ad in a magazine, etc.) for Coke-a-Cola? Perhaps I should say how many times a DAY do you see one? Now you’d think that people already know about Coke-a-Cola, but did you know that Coke still spends billions of dollars a year on advertisements? Why do you think that is? It’s the same reason that infomercials run over and over and over again. After you’ve seen the same infomercial 50 times, you begin to consider … [Read more...]