According to Leads360′s latest report, The Ultimate Contact Strategy – How to Best Use Phone and Email for Contact and Conversion Success, “Lead response persistence is critical to maximize conversion. Making more than one call and sending even just one email can have a positive impact on lead conversion, yet 50% of leads are never called a second time and 59% of leads never receive an email.”

When leaving a voice message for a new lead keep it simple. Leave your name and number twice – once at the beginning of the message. Again at the end. Refer to the fact that you’re calling about the information they requested. Then, state a benefit of your offering to pique their curiosity to learn more (thus increasing the chances they’ll either return your call or accept your next follow up call.) (more…)

What is the emotional process that leads to the purchase of a new vehicle? It begins with a new development in the buyer’s self-image. That is, the buyers see themselves in a new way — as the owners of that new car, truck, van, or SUV and all the status it affords them.

If the projected vehicle purchase is small in relation to the buyer’s income, the self-image change need only be small. But if the purchase is a large one, the change in self-image that makes the purchase possible will be large. Such a change can come about very quickly. It can take place within a few minutes, or even within a few seconds.

Champion automotive salespeople are adept at spotting these changes in self-image as they occur during sales presentations. They are quick to reinforce the buyers’ realization that they can have, enjoy, deserve, need, and are worthy of the marvelous new vehicle they like. Do that, and they won’t just like it; they’ll want it, need it, and realize they can’t get along without it — then they’ll buy it. (more…)

If your experience with Facebook, blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn is like most sales pros you’re struggling to create leads and sales. Most of us are failing and here’s why. We’ve been given bad information about “what works.” So here is a new, 3-step process to make sure everything you put “out there” on social media always creates leads and sales. As it turns out netting sales is all about provoking a response to what you put out onto social media, super-charging buyers’ confidence in themselves and moving them off of social media.

The Case for Confidence

Being engaging, getting re-tweeted and telling compelling stories doesn’t cause sales. High levels of confidence in buyers and clear, compelling calls-to-action do.

The most effective, practical way to generate sales with blogs, videos, educational ebook downloads, LinkedIn and other social platforms is to give confidence to buyers in ways that increase their ability to feel emotionally grounded, intellectually stronger… fully equipped to own.

If you do this well enough prospects will ask you for the sale. But where to start? (more…)

     Think for a moment about what the greatest enemy is to the process of helping people come to a decision that’s truly good for them. What is it that jumps in and brings presentations that were previously sailing smoothly along to a screeching halt? You may think it’s the financial aspects of your offering. Perhaps you think it’s the prospective client’s inability to make a decision.

     Well, if you think any of those things, you are right. But, with selling being what it is — a bottom line business — let’s dig deeper and find the bottom line of what lies between you and your ‘future client’ coming to an agreement.

     If you look at all the enemies to the sale that you and your associates can come up with, you’ll find they have a common denominator. That common denominator is a thing called FEAR. Fear is the greatest enemy you’ll ever encounter as a financial services professional. This includes your fear, the potential client’s fear, market and trend fears and so on. (more…)

You may do everything else masterfully but if you can’t close the sale, you might as well be a professional product demonstrator instead of a salesperson. The real pros in selling have certain skills and habits that make them stand out above average.

Here’s a Personal Inventory Evaluation from my book, “Sales Closing for Dummies™.” Read these 16 statements and see how close you are to achieving “pro” status.

1. I have an ongoing personal plan for self-improvement. As the late great Earl Nightingale said, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.”
2. I have achieved mastery over questioning strategies to the point where I can keep the communication moving toward a closed sale.
3. I listen more than I talk. We all have two ears and one mouth. They should be used proportionately.
4. I understand and read body language fluently.
5. I build time for planning into my daily schedule. Fifteen minutes invested in planning at the end of today will save me an hour of time tomorrow.
6. I know at least four test closes for each of my products (or product lines). (more…)

In the past, most companies divided territories by geographical area. Today, many salespeople specialize in particular products or services and concentrate on clients who have needs that match the products no matter where they are on the planet. So, companies are more likely to claim as your territory any client who has a need for your specialty. That means your client base may well be anywhere in the world. If that’s the case with you, you’ll do very little face-to-face selling and a whole lot of remote closing.

What do you do when you’re not able to close face-to-face? Well, when you close from a distance, you call upon your skills as a closer and rely on the wonders of technology like phones, fax machines (yes, some industries still find this a successful way to do business), the Internet, email, and express or overnight delivery services. (more…)

Once all of the rapport-building is done and you’re ready to get down to business, it’s important to set the tone for your time with these clients. I suggest creating a consultative feeling by using a legal pad to make notes. In some types of selling, this doesn’t make sense, but it is helpful if you can do it. When you make notes of their concerns or other details they are sharing, the potential buyers feel that you’re truly interested in them. They feel you care enough to pay attention to their pain points. (more…)

Smooth transitions are critical to sales success. As the orchestrator of your time with clients, you need to be prepared to move away from the niceties of the previous steps into the sales presentation without creating any fear in the mind of the potential client.

I suggest incorporating a gentle transition phrase or paragraph into your presentation to get down to business. Here is one that I teach at nearly all of my live events: “John and Mary, let me begin by thanking you for the time we’ll share. I hope we can consider this meeting somewhat exploratory, meaning my job today as a (name your industry) professional is to show you our dynamic company and how we are helping the people we serve here in the community.”

That works well with consumers.

If you were talking with a purchasing agent or decision-maker in the B to B arena, you might alter it like this:

“Bill, let me begin by thanking you for the time we’ll share. I hope we can consider this meeting somewhat exploratory, meaning my job today as a (name your company) representative is to show you our dynamic company and how we are helping other companies like yours.”

By using the phrase “somewhat exploratory” you are relieving any perceived pressure that you’ll be pushing them to buy something today. You see, just because you have the title salesperson or sales consultant or representative in your title, a certain amount of fear or resistance will be created in the mind of the potential client. They don’t want to get sold anything. But, if they’ve agreed to meet with you, they are curious about what your product can do for them. So, with the proper words, you will gently lead them down the path of the presentation you have prepared for them…helping them to gain the knowledge they need to have in order to make a decision that is good for them.

If you have a nervous or stilted manner when trying to establish rapport with clients, instead of relaxing them, you’ll put them on edge. If you’re nervous, they’ll get nervous and start raising their walls of sales resistance. They’ll question your reasons for wanting to talk with them. They’ll become suspect of your every move.

In selling situations, many of your clients will respond to your demeanor in kind. What that means is that if you come across friendly and non-threatening, they’ll feel friendly and not threatened by you. In other words, you get what you give. That’s why it’s so important to be well-prepared before meeting with your clients. (more…)

Step #7 in the Rapport Setting process is to give a sincere compliment to your potential clients. This doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. Something simple is fine as long as it’s sincere. That means it must be honest. You would never compliment someone on their “lovely home” if it was a disaster. Likewise, you wouldn’t say you like anything that you don’t honestly like.

Rule of thumb: If you don’t like something, say nothing about it. Instead, look for something else that you do like or can honestly compliment them about (more…)