The most valuable Business-to-Business Resouce & Referral group in Orlando and Central Florida

Sales Sales Trax is published weekly by Dave Rothfeld of Creative Sales + Management, Inc. We have reprinted some of his articles with permission. CS+M is headquartered in Orlando in Central Florida and conducts regular training for Sales and Management professionals.  Creative Sales + Management has a long-standing relationship with CFBF.

Follow up each lead as if it were from your biggest account. It may be!

Where business comes from is a question that earns the answer, "from the least likeliest sources" in every marketplace in almost every industry. Even in defined customer bases - like paper mills, hospitals, supermarket chains-where every potential customer is listed in detailed directories or advertises its visibility, business develops from odd angles and sometimes from odd people. When you get a lead, you must qualify it immediately. The flood that comes upon you after a distant trade show must be responded to immediately or the leads will have little value.

You have no way of knowing what the situation is unless and until you find out. Call at once. Respond quickly. Send the message that you care. If business is in the pile somewhere, how soon you get to it very well could be an indirect buying queue. Do they want the business? is a question that is asked because it indicates how responsive you might be if you get the business. The problem is that there is never enough time to keep your existing accounts up and running, so a low priority is often assigned to lead follow-up. "I know what is going on in my territory" is usually said by those who are close to clueless.

Treat each lead as a Christmas present you just received no matter when it arrives. Unwrap it as soon as you get it. You may be pleasantly surprised. If it is a lump of coal, you can use it to put some heat on the marketing types for sending it to you.

Over the top is where we work.

Heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Sales professionals are extraordinary people who do extraordinary things in the ordinary world. To say that we are different is an understatement to end all understatements. Until you have carried the bag, there is no way to understand where the top line of an income statement comes from. Perhaps we are one-trick ponies, but it is a great trick.

Transforming adversity into cash for fun and profit is what we do. A free electron falls on us every now and then, but for the most part we are lone warriors. We march the interstates and we bring home the bacon big time. No sales professional has ever had it easy.  In good times we can?t run fast enough. In bad times we can?t run fast enough. The constant is running fast. How fast you get from deal to deal (within the speed limit) determines how far you will go professionally.

We run our business and we run our territories at fast forward. We do it with grace and good health. We make rain! 

Each time you fill up your car with gas, make that a reminder point to think about filling up your business development tank with suspects and prospects. It just isn?t smart business to run on empty. When the low-fuel light comes on, remember to ask yourself, "What do I have in my prospect tank?"

Even with set accounts, you must explore internally to be sure you have left no stone unturned. Looking for suspects and qualifying them into prospects is work that must be done if you are to have a reasonable flow of new business. There is a time and place for visiting your friends, but you have to discipline yourself to do the hard work of beating the bushes on a regular basis. You are the one out in the field. You have the trained eyes and ears. You have the business contacts. You know when people change jobs. You know when a new outfit relocates into your area. You cannot be too busy with business to let new business development fall by the wayside. If you want to get hit by lightning, you have to spend a lot of time out in the rain. It?s cold and wet out there, but that?s where the lightning is.

Some will. Some won?t. So what? Next.

Some will. Some won?t. So what? / Next.

Selling is not mortal combat between a buyer and a seller. It is a search for common ground where goods and services can be exchanged for the benefit of both parties. In the never-ending search for common ground, the sales professional must keep moving to assure that he or she will not get bogged down in unproductive encounters when just around the corner a real customer awaits. 

Get around as many corners as you can and you will be rewarded for doing so.  You must live in the present. Forget about what didn?t work and why. If something isn?t moving forward, you should move out smartly. Go to where you are wanted, needed, and loved. Nothing wrong with selling to your friends, as long as you sell a lot of stuff.  Prospecting, following up on leads, and cold calling are part of many sales jobs. You can?t be afraid of that hard work and sometimes seemingly unproductive effort. 

Just remember, there is nothing wrong with you, your product, your service or your company. Everyone may not see things your way, so you may have to see large numbers of people to discover those who do. Not everyone is qualified to do business with you. Your job: find those who are. We hit for average. Times at bat count. The key word in the sales formula is: Next!

'How To Make Prospects Fall In Love With You'

Repeat after me:

'No problem.'

'I can appreciate what you're saying.'

'It's not my intention to inconvenience you.'

'It's very possible that this is not for you...and that's okay.'

'I wouldn't want you doing business with me if it didn't feel right for you.'

'You might like this, you might not. It has to fit. Either way is OK with me.'

'If any part of my business presentation is uncomfortable for you, please stop me.'

Most prospects are not used to hearing things like that. They're used to people shoving things down their throats. They're used to pushy, aggressive salespeople. They're used to being manipulated by marketers who are only interested in selling products and services and getting people to commit--whether the people are interested or not.

They're NOT used to someone letting them off the hook!

When you intersperse the right language throughout your prospecting calls and presentations like what I suggested above, it makes you stand out because you sound different. It makes you the exact opposite of the network marketers who come across as desperate, phony and predatory.

The strange truth about 'real' professional selling is simply this: If you convey to your prospects throughout your presentations that it's okay to say 'no' to you, they become more attracted and more receptive to you and your offer. 

When people love the way you present to them, they give you their respect, their attention and yes, their business.

Get Better Results On The Phone


The phone rang. I picked it up. The woman asked: "Do you need any additional telephone equipment?" I said no. The call lasted less than 4 seconds. 

Later in the day I received another call. This was from Cindy at Forbes magazine. She asked: "Is Dave Rothfeld in?" I replied: "Yes. What do you need?"  She said: "I'm responsible for handling your Forbes subscription, and just wanted to know if you're receiving your magazine every issue?" I replied: "Yes." Then asked, "Why are you calling?" Cindy answered: "I was calling to see if you wanted to extend your subscription beyond October 2003 and save $18/year." I thanked her for calling, said no, and hung up. The call lasted about 11 seconds.

A few days later the phone rang again and the caller asked: "Who in your company is responsible for computer training?" In reply, I asked: "Why do you want to know?" The caller said: "My name is Tom. I'm from New Horizons and we're offering free introductory computer training classes so you can get to know our company better?"  "Why are you doing that?" I said. Tom explained that New Horizons wants to establish a long-term working relationship with my company."  "No Thanks." I said, and hung up. The call lasted under 15 seconds.

Around 2:15pm that afternoon, the phone rang yet again. This time it was Phil from AAA, He asked: "Is Dave Rothfeld in?"
"Yes, whose calling?" I replied.  Phil said: "My name is Phil. I'm with the American Automobile Association and we've a wonderful new savings account program offering a TWO PERCENT interest rate." It's great for people on "fixed incomes".
Would you like to open an account?"  [I thought to myself: At this stage in my life, I'm still on a variable income. And I can't remember when I last became excited about getting a TWO PERCENT return on my money.]  I said "No Thanks." and hung up. The call lasted under 10 seconds. 

How many of these types of calls do you get during a day or week? Plenty!  How long does it take you to end these calls. Ten, 15, 20 seconds at most?  I mentioned that I would be writing this essay to one of my consulting clients and he said that he knew a salesman who use to say this: "You don't want to buy any forms from us today, do you." (With
his voice dropping at the end.)  No wonder why business was so bad. 

Now let's look at these examples from your perspective. How many telephone calls do you make that last less than 20 seconds?  If you're getting blown away like the people who called me, you're using the wrong telephone techniques. Instead of going into a sales pitch, you should be asking your prospects questions that they can't say no to.  

How would the dynamics of my recent phone conversations changed had the callers been asking questions like these:

* "What are the 3 most important things you look for in a telephone equipment service provider?"
* "What are the 3 things you most enjoy about reading your Forbes magazine?"
* "How many of your people are fully utilizing the features in your word processing, accounting, or spreadsheet software?"
* "What kind of return are you getting on your savings?"

"Five-Step Telephone Technique"
Follow a five-step telephone technique and you'll see a dramatic change in your telephone activity:

1. Introduce Yourself To Your Prospect (after Clearing The Guard at The Gate.) Always say: "My name is.... I'm with...."

2. Can You Talk.  Then ask: "Do you have a moment?" You are asking for permission to speak to them for about 10 more seconds.

3. Elevator Speech. Tell them what you do with your 6 to 10 second elevator speech.  For example, I say: "I help people grow their business, close more sales, and make more money." A client of mine who owns an art gallery says: "We help people have beautiful homes." An investment advisor client says: "We help people manage their money so they
can achieve their financial goals." What's your 10 second elevator speech?

4. Ask Permission. Then say: "I was wondering if I could take a moment to tell you a little bit about what I do?" Here you are asking for their permission to continue the conversation.

5. Turn Around Question. When the person gives you their permission to continue, ask a turn around question. Don't talk about you, your products or your company. Ask them questions about them, their products, and their company.  People love to talk. Encourage them to do so.  All you've got to say is: "Tell me a little bit about your company [or whatever is appropriate]."

Use this five-step telephone technique and you'll see dramatic improvement in your telephone activity. You'll schedule more
appointments, close more sales, and make more money.

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.  Cool it.

"If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?" (Sydney J. Harris)

Justifiable anger cannot be justified in sales. It would take up too much of the day. Get over it and get on with life. The faster we get on with life, the faster we get over it. We don?t even have time to get even because there is too much productive work to be done.

Making more calls not only makes more sales, it takes care of our mental health at the same time. Go find someone who wants to buy. They are waiting for you. Go there. Write the business. That is the go-go business we are in.

Selling is easy once you find someone who wants to buy. Enough things go wrong every day that if you took the time to deal with them all, you would never sell anything. Fix what must be fixed, but get on to the next call because something good might be about to happen and you don?t want to miss it. If you suspect a conspiracy, relax; it?s most likely just stupidity.

Educating the world is not your job. Go find some smart people and do some business with them. We have the perfect job for dealing with things that don?t go our way. We can make them go away just by leaving them in the dust on our way to the next call. Be happy! We have the power to make it a nice day. Few are so fortunate.