Tomorrow - Selling To Difficult Customers - Do you have certain customers who consistently seem to frustrate, exasperate or stress you out? Learn:

• The single biggest mistake that sales reps make when dealing with difficult customers
• How to effectively manage and handle irate customers
• How to effectively manage and sell to the “price chiseller”
• 3 proven tactics to mellow “Dementors” and other whiners
• What to do when you encounter the “indecisive” buyers that continuously delay the decision to buy
• How to “draw a line” in the sand with the notorious “Seymore” buyers (buyers who want to see more quotes, more proposals, more brochures, more line cards, more rate sheets…)
• And much more . . .

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So many companies these days get their leads from website inquiries, trade shows, Internet advertising, media advertising, etc, and they ask me over and over again: “What's the best way to deal with these kinds of leads?"

Good question. You would think that getting back to a “warm lead" would be easy, but you'd be surprised how many sales reps (80% of them) mishandle these opportunities.

Here are the do’s and don’ts of qualifying warm leads.

#1: DO begin your opening in a welcoming, and assumptive way. Try:

“Hi ______ this is ______ with ________ company. I wanted to thank you for (visiting our web site, stopping by our booth, your interest in) and I wanted to answer any questions you had. What specifically were you interested in?

DON’T be vague:

"Ah, this is ________ getting back with you, I see you went to our web site and I was wondering how I can help you?"

#2: DO be prepared to ask qualifying questions and LISTEN to uncover their specific buying motives. Try:

“What motivated you to take the time to fill out our request form?"

“What specifically were you interested in?"

“What part of our (product/service) appealed to you most?"

“Many of our clients like that we provide X. Is that what you were looking for, too?

DON’T start pitching! 80% of your competition make the critical error of assuming a warm lead is interested in your product or service so they start pitching. Don't go into pitch mode!

#3: DO use a script. The Top 20% understand how important it is to make a connection, stay in control, uncover buying motives, and disqualify the prospects who are just looking. Only a carefully crafted script allows you to do that.

DON’T ad-lib your way through your presentation. 80% of your competition still make the mistake of assuming that a warm lead is a good lead and so they often quickly make appointments, send demos, etc., without properly qualifying. Big mistake! Treat a warm lead like any other and qualify it using a script.

Applying these three rules will vastly improve your success with call-in or warm leads. Incorporate them today and see for yourself – you’ll glad you did!

If you found this article helpful, then you can get 10 more GREAT TECHNIQUES for FREE by downloading my Special Report, “10 Techniques to Instantly Make You a Better Closer.” You can read about this by clicking here: http://www.mrinsidesales.com/report.htm and you can get it for FREE by signing up for my FREE weekly Ezine, “The Secrets of the Top 20%” by clicking here: http://www.mrinsidesales.com/ezine.htm

About The Author:
Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, offers FREE Closing Scripts, and a FREE audio program designed to help you double your income selling over the phone. He works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance. If you want to Close Business like a Top Closer, then learn how at: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

Mike Brooks
http://www.MrInsideSales.com
(818) 999-0869

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Greetings,

Did you go through an annual review recently?

They can be very profitable.

Oh, I'm talking about YOU doing an annual review of your customer and prospect database, and then doing reviews with your customers and prospects.

That's right. The first place to mine for gold is in the treasure you now possess.

Most people begin a new year with grand plans to increase their new business. Yet many of those same people don't pick up the easy stuff first, skimming the cream already residing in their computer.

Here's how.

1. CALL YOUR BEST CUSTOMERS
Of course, you know everything important that's happened recently in the world of each of your best customers, right?

And you have your thumb on exactly what their plans are for 2008 and beyond, right?

And they're going to continue buying from you at the same level, right?

Of course you know this because they are very, very important to you, accounting for most of your income.

They are helping to finance that new car, house, boat, or whatever else you have your eye on.

You have an iron gate around these accounts because you also know that your smartest, hungriest competitors are having strategic sales meetings right now putting bulls eyes on those accounts, targeting them to steal away from you, so that THEY can get lots of business from them.

What's that you say?

Maybe all of those things are NOT true? Maybe you should pay more attention to them?

Yes, of course you should. Quickly.

Today. Target the 20% of your customers that now give you over 80% of your business. Call and do an annual review with them. But DO NOT say you just want to call and make sure everything is OK with them. Be proactive. Tell them that your goal is to help them have their best year ever.

Find out about,

• Major changes.
  
• News.
  
• Bought or sold divisions, assets.
  
• Added or dropped product lines.
  
• Major initiatives.
  
• Changes planned for 2008.
  
• Personnel changes for them? Promotions. Changes in the department(s) that you affect.

Know the answers to these questions, and you'll increase your value to them, consequently providing a payoff for you.

2. CALL YOUR SMALL CUSTOMERS
Mine your database and pull out the customers who bought from you once, or those who just buy one or two items or limited single services from you.

Are you customers small because you THINK they are?

Or are they buying other things that you sell from your competitors?

Chances are, the answer is "yes" to both questions.

3. CALL YOUR LOST SALES
Scan your database and pull out the 10-20 biggest sales you really wanted, worked hard for, but did NOT win in 2007. Call them.

But, please, do NOT say,

"I'm just calling to touch base."

___________________________________
By the way, if you would like word-for-word ideas of what TO say on openings, I just checked the archive of the Sales Tips Library at my Telesales Success Inner Circle, and there are 20 different articles there, all containing proven wording you can use. That does not include the past three YEARS of the Telephone Prospecting and Selling Report newsletter you can also get immediate access to. And you can begin right now for under $4. Go to http://www.TelesalesSuccess.com
___________________________________

Review your notes and develop a value-added reason for calling. Adapt something like this to your situation:

"I came across some interesting information in Info Industry Journal, and remembered how you were concerned with the issue of external data security locking in a multi-user environment. I wanted to send that to you ..."

Of course you would then ease into a discussion of their present situation, and perhaps uncover any possible areas of dissatisfaction.

Calls to all three of these groups are really no-brainers!

Think about it ...

...you've already done the heavy lifting with all of these people. You've put in the long hours, investing time and money in proposals and calls. You know their situation. And very importantly, you'll get to these people more easily than you would cold prospects. You probably know their executive assistants on a first name basis. Try it.

What will it be worth when you pick up a piece of business from one or two of them?

__________________________________________
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"The best preparation for good work tomorrow is good work today."
Elbert Hubbard

Go and Have Your Best Week Ever!

Art

About the author: Art Sobczak, President of Business By Phone Inc., specializes in one area only: working with business-to-business salespeople--both inside and outside--designing and delivering content-rich programs that participants begin showing results from the very next time they get on the phone. Audiences love his "down-to-earth,"entertaining style, and low-pressure, easy-to-use, customer oriented ideas and techniques.

He works with thousands of sales reps each year helping them get more businesses by phone. Art provides real world, how-to ideas and techniques that help salespeople use the phone more effectively to prospect, sell, and service, without morale-killing "rejection."

Using the phone in sales is only difficult for people who use outdated, salesy, manipulative tactics, or for those who aren't quite sure what to do, or aren't confident in their abilities. Art's audiences always comment how he simplifies the telesales process, making it easily adaptable for anyone with the right attitude.

Contact Info
Art Sobczak
Business By Phone Inc.
13254 Stevens St.
Omaha, NE, 68137
402-895-9399
ArtS@BusinessByPhone.com
www.businessbyphone.com

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"What was the #1 strategy you used last year that significantly impacted your sales?" asked Jan Vissar of SalesTeamTools.com.

Now that's one good provocative question! Almost immediately, an answer popped into my head. Then the next moment, another response emerged and then another. Before long, I was in a full-blown argument with myself with six different strategies vying for the top spot.

But after a rigorous analysis, I finally decided that the best results came from the strategic relationships I established with other firms who sell to my targeted decision makers.

These companies leveraged my expertise (in the form of ebooks, podcasts & webinars) as a part of their lead generation campaigns. Essentially, they "blessed" my work, telling their prospects and customers that I was a well respected thought leader in the sales field.

As a result, my ideal clients learned how my company could help their salespeople crack into corporate accounts and shorten sales cycles. In short, I leveraged their database to create more opportunities with minimal extra work.

The key to this strategy is LEVERAGE!

Have you ever stopped to think how you could achieve the same or better sales results with less effort? Mmmmmm?

I bet not! For some odd reason, most of us feel we need to slog it out by ourselves. Each morning we get up with a humongous list of "to dos" we need to accomplish in order to grow our business. And it seems like we can never get ahead.

So I'm going to challenge you to step back from your normal way of working for just one day to see if you can come up with a leveraged approach to increase your sales.

The first thing you'll want to do is identify potential strategic alliance partners. Think about who else calls on the same decision makers you want to reach. I'd suggest looking at companies that have related, but not overlapping products or services. Also, talk to your customers to find out which companies & individuals they respect.

Once you have some names, set up a time to explore the concept of strategic leverage. Be creative! There are so many things you can do together. You can share leads, focus on developing your business at specific firms, bring each other in as trusted resources and more.

Here are two examples of alliances that turned out to be extremely profitable for all involved.

• The top salesperson for a company that sells to the automotive industry established an alliance with other sellers who call on the paint shop. This enabled him to keep on top of new developments, thus ensuring that his customers didn't experience any line-stopping problems. Even though his offering is pricey, his sales are growing at the expense of the competition.
• Several years, I joined forces with four other firms to put on a seminar about new product launches. We co-marketed the event to our combined databases. Then, at the workshop we each talked about our areas of expertise. The event paid for itself, but more importantly, everyone netted new clients.
  Have I got you thinking? I sure hope so, because it doesn't have to be so darn hard to get sales and grow your business.

When I realized that strategic leverage was my #1 growth factor, I took a long lunch with myself to rethink my own plans. Within two hours, I came up with a couple knock-your-socks-off ideas that will take my business to a whole new level with less effort.

You can do the same thing! Figure out your own top growth strategy and do more of it! Or borrow mine. What matters is that you act with deliberate intent, analyze your results and focus on strategies with maximum impact.

About The Author:
Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events.

For more article like this, visit http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com. Get a free Sales Call Planning Guide ($19.95 value) when you sign up for the Selling to Big Companies e-newsletter.

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