See how more sales can be closed by combining best practices in outbound calling and emailing.

Related posts:

1. Cold Calling in the 21st Century: The New Rules
2. The New Rules of Cold Calling in 2010 with Wendy Weiss
3. 21st Century Cold Calling – The New Rules

Doyle Slayton had a great article on his SalesBlogcast – 8 Follow Up Strategies to Keep Your Prospect Engaged – with some awesome tips. I especially like his suggestion of giving your prospect a referral!

If you add up the average number of times you call a sales prospect without reaching them, multiply that by the 1 or 2 minutes it takes to make the call and leave the voice mail and then multiply that by the number of new prospects you pursue each month, it adds up to a LOT of time!

I believe it’s a key reason that sales people can get so frustrated and discouraged by cold calling. They’re not in control. They can’t even get to talk to their prospect. You can get a feeling of inadequacy because it feels like you’re dialing the phone a lot but, you’re not talking to anyone that can buy. Most sales people find themselves calling the same list of prospects that they called last week and wondering, how many times have I called this guy? How many more time will I have to call to get to talk to him? Will his secretary be inviting me to her birthday party after all the compliments I’ve thrown her way?

Well, there are many things you can do to improve your results. You can work on your “script” for talking to the gate keeper, your script for voice mails, as well as your emails. You can look at new sources of leads that you can connect with more easily. In all cases though, you need to have a prospecting plan that tells you what to do on each attempt to contact the sales prospect. On the first call, you take one approach – you might have an introductory script for the gate keeper, you might choose not to leave a voice mail or you could choose to leave one introducing yourself. On the second call you mix it up again, and so on…

Of course, this means you have to know how many times you’ve called each prospect. That means you’ll need a basic contact management system or CRM. Imagine if every day you could pull up a call list that told you who to call, how many times you’ve already called and what to do on this call! Believe it or not, that’s pretty basic stuff in most CRMs or contact management systems.

But here’s the payoff! You’ve got to “give up” on a prospect after some number of calls. You wouldn’t want your contact management or CRM system to remind you to call the same person every week for the next 12 months! So, when it’s time to give up, you get to Fire Them! That’s right! You, the salesperson, get to FIRE your prospect! I know, it sounds crazy and also fun doesn’t it?

The good news is that this is not just a way to get some “pay back” after a prospect has repeatedly ignored your messages. Done right, as soon as your fire a prospect, they will call you back post-haste.

How can that be? Well, your customers are used to being chased by sales people. They expect it. In fact, your aggressive pursuit of them relieves the sales prospect from the need to remember to stay in touch with you, even when they’re genuinely interested in your products and services. If they’re too busy to worry about it now, they can delete your message knowing that you’ll call again in a few days.

Well not anymore! Now your CRM or contact management system is going to tell you to call them 3 or 4 times, leaving various messages and then on the 5^th call, the CRM will say “5^th attempt – Fire Them” and you’re going to leave a message like this –

“Hi, this is Craig Klein, with SalesNexus online CRM. We help companies like yours grow sales by helping them market and sell more effectively. I’ve left a few voice mails and sent a couple of emails and haven’t heard back from you. At this point, I’m going to assume that this is just not a priority for you at this time and I’M GOING TO TAKE YOU OFF MY CALL LIST. If there is anything I can do for you, please feel free to contact me at 800.862.0134”

The key phrase is “I’m going to take you off my call list”. No one wants to be taken off the list. You’ve just told your prospect that you value your own time and won’t be calling again. Believe me. If they have any interest in your company, your product or your service, they will respond. At a minimum, they’ll shoot you a quick email saying “Sorry, I’ve been swamped. I do want to talk. Can you call me in 2 weeks?” or something to that effect.

This really works! If you don’t trust me, then just try it 3 or 4 times this week. Print out this tip sheet I’ve prepared for you –

Download Printable Tip Sheet

You’ll be amazed how often genuinely qualified prospects respond to your firing them by calling you back straight away!

So put a couple of leads in your CRM or contact management system and set yourself reminders to call them 3 or 4 times and then a 5^th time to fire them.

It’s going to be fun and it’s going to work. Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Double Your Sales in 2010
2. A New Race Car to Success in 2010 for Christmas This Year
3. 4 Steps to Attract Quality Prospects to Your Sales Team

Ready to get on the phone and sell something?

Are you tired of the emails from all these guys going on and on about how Cold Calling is dead?

Well then, you’re a real sales person my friend! Hey, I’m not denying the trends going on in marketing and sales driven by the Internet. Heck, I use them everyday!

But, I’ve been selling for longer than I like to admit. Long enough to remember when prospecting was very simple – get on the phone and start calling people. I cut my teeth cold calling and I still enjoy it. Granted, I don’t find time to do it myself much any more but, I like to keep my skills honed and “keep it real” and every few days, I’ll just sit down and work the phones. I always come away from the experience energized and refreshed. I know, I’m nuts.

Unfortunately, your sales team might not be as crazy as I am. They probably sit around telling you how cold calling isn’t working for them or making excuses for their lack of production from cold calling.

Well, I’ve got GREAT NEWS!

Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling, has come to our rescue!

Wendy has recast cold calling in light of the new realities of selling in the 21st century and she’s agreed to show you how its done! We’re hosting a webinar on November 12, 2009 at 2pm Eastern with Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling as our honored guest and speaker. By the way, its FREE…

Click here to register for Cold Calling in the 21st Century: The New Rules

Here’s the overview of what Wendy’s going to do for you -

“In today’s difficult economy it has become harder and harder to generate qualified leads. Because of this, more and more sales professionals are now looking to cold calling to fill the gap between the number of new business appointments they are able to generate from traditional methods– marketing, referrals and networking–and the number of new business appointments they actually need to meet their sales goals.”, said Wendy Weiss, the Queen of Cold Calling.

Webinar participants will learn how to:

Ø Find the prospects who are most likely to buy

Ø Separate yourself from the pack and stand out from the crowd

Ø Guarantee that your prospects will be receptive

Ø Build rapport and respect with your prospects

Ø Find your prospects’ hot buttons

Ø Make your message resonate with your prospects so that they want to hear more

Ø Win your prospects’ business

And much, much more

Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling, is an author, speaker, sales trainer, and sales coach. She is recognized as one of the leading authorities on lead generation, cold calling and new business development and she helps clients speed up their sales cycle, reach more prospects directly and generate more sales revenue. Her clients include Avon Products, ADP, Sprint and thousands of entrepreneurs throughout the country.

Click here to register for Cold Calling in the 21st Century: The New Rules There’s no cost to join the webinar.

Related posts:

1. 21st Century Cold Calling – The New Rules
2. When to say its “Over”
3. Podcast – Double Your Sales in 2009

If you’re in sales or manage sales, this is timely, powerful advice you can use in your everyday life to improve your sales results.

Topics include:

• Lead Nurturing
•  Call Reluctance
•  Keeping your sales prices UP
•  Effective Follow Up
•  Sales Compensation
• Effective Presentations
• Sales Management
• …and more!

The format is easy to digest quickly and take away crucial ideas and actions you can implement immediately.

Download your free copy here today!

Once you do, come back here and let us know what you think.

Related posts:

1. “Contact Management Ain’t Easy, Its Essential”
2. You Can’t Automate What You Don’t Understand
3. When to say its “Over”