Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

Before you even begin to look at engaging seriously in lots of networking effort, it is useful to look at your own temperament or disposition. This is the individual’s internal desire to network and to find value and enjoyment from the whole process of building relationships.

For some people this will be an almost irrelevant issue to debate. Their motivation to want to talk to people regularly and to network is naturally high. Talking to strangers in supermarket queues, at bus/train stops or even in the elevators is characteristic of such people.

However, even if you really enjoy talking to people, it is a proven fact that most of us are not highly confident and highly motivated networkers. In fact, statistics reveal that: Only one in ten people is actually comfortable in striking up a relationship with a complete stranger.

Unfortunately, this means that their own misgivings, fears and doubts, potentially hinder the vast majority of people.

Four Networking Types:

In practice, you can divide people who attempt to build networking relationships into four distinct types.

o The Loner (little or no networking)

o The Socialiser

o The User

o The Relationship Builder or Networker

Although our aim is to consider the fourth of these in some detail as the role to which we can all aspire (if we are not already there), let’s briefly look at each of these types in turn.

The Loner:

-  Likes to do most things by themselves (because they do it faster or better)

-  Doesn’t want to bother or worry other people

-  Feels that their knowledge and skills are often superior to most people

-  Only asks for help as a last resort (and when it may be too late)

The Loner is an easily recognisable type, because there are times when we all believe that we will do better ourselves than if we ask others for help. The Loner will not usually want to bother anyone else, or necessarily see much point in doing so, believing that others will be slower and will set lower standards.

Unfortunately, the loner attitude is a major obstacle to effective networking. We need to shift our thinking greatly in this area. We should be more willing to let others assist, and we should even ask for help more often

The Socialiser:

- Tries to make a friend of everyone they meet

- Tends to know people’s names and faces but not what they do

- Is not usually systematic or ordered about follow-up – contact is random

- May not listen too deeply and is quick to move on

Although the Socialiser may have a wide circle of friends and contacts, he or she knows little of substance about personal skills and resources. As a result, Socialisers do not often share their skills.

The Socialiser is also a random networker, following little or no formal contact system.

The User:

- Is likely to collect business cards without really connecting with people

- Tries to make ‘sales’ or ‘pitches’ on the first encounter

- Talks and focuses on own agenda rather than together information

- Has superficial interactions

- Keeps score when giving favours

Unfortunately, people of this type do network widely, but in a way that creates little benefit for themselves or others. Even worse, this kind of networker tends to create a bad impression and therefore can give networking an image of being about selling, taking, bargaining and keeping score.

The Builder:

-  Has a ‘giving’ disposition or abundance mentally

-  Is generally happy to ask others for help or guidance

-  Listens and learns about people carefully

-  Is regularly on the look-out for useful information for which others can also benefit

-  Has a well-ordered and organised networking system

This type of networker is what this article is all about – an individual who takes a long-term perspective on relationships with others and thinks more about what he or she can give or offer, than about the return.

This type is out there for others, or on call to offer help whenever it is needed. If they cannot help in person, they usually know someone else who can.

And Finally: Maintaining High Self-Esteem

Apart from the Builder, one factor connects the other three types in preventing them from networking more effectively. This is the issue of self-esteem.

The Loner believes in himself or herself, but not necessarily in others (especially relative strangers). The Socialiser likes people but also very much wants to be liked by others (and therefore does not want to ask for favours). Finally, the User takes a relatively selfish view of “If I benefit or gain, I might reciprocate, otherwise I won’t.”

Of course, all of these types fear rejection, obligation, being too pushy or even looking weak. All of these fears or concerns about networking need to be lessened or overcome.

In a short post such as this, a topic as largely and potentially complicated as a person’s relative self-esteem cannot be covered at any level of detail. However, it is important to appreciate how low self-esteem can have a major impact on your networking efforts if it is not at least basically understood and addressed.

An individual with high self-esteem is likely to build their own confidence to want to network by having a positive, open and ‘can do’ attitude.

Conversely, an individual with low self-esteem is likely to lack confidence to start with. They will convince themselves (and others) that they have little that would be of interest to others in any network.

Today’s News: Over at Salesopedia the focus this week is on speeding up the sales cycle and you can catch some great articles, plus one from me called ”The Most Important Element In The Entire Sales Cycle” here   

Tomorrow: It gives me immense pleasure to welcome the effervescent Debbie Fay, making her debut on The JF Guest Author Spot

The JF Guest Author Spot

Tim Wackel

My wife and I are the proud parents of two great kids—a teenage son and daughter. Our daughter is getting ready to start college next week, and our son is like almost every other 15 year old, living life large with lots of attention on comfort and few worries about appearance.

Last week I promised my son, Nicholas, that I would take him to the mall to buy new shoes. He loves to wear athletic shoes (or is still okay to call them sneakers?) and prefers to wear them until they fall part apart at the seams.

This shopping trip was going to be different because Nicholas decided he would expand his closet and buy a pair of Top-Siders (seems that these are making a bit of a come back on high school campuses). I figured we could find these at almost any department store but was surprised to find only one store in the mall that carried a variety of sizes and styles that he was interested in.

I find myself standing in Nordstrom’s shoe department surrounded by hundreds of pairs of shoes and a few well-dressed, professional looking salesmen. One of the younger men working in the department approached us and asked, “What brings you into the store today?” What happened next was one of the better (and least expected) lessons in “selling” that I’ve experienced in quite some time.

I have to confess that I’ve never thought of retail as being much of a selling environment. Point customers in the right direction, answer a few questions about sizes and availability, ring up the order and you’re done. So what valuable lessons did I learn in Nordstrom that day? Here are the four principles that everyone will recognize but very few consistently apply.

#1. Open questions close more business
The question that you are asked most often when you walk into a retail store is, “Can I help you?” This is a bad question, plain and simple. It’s closed and requires no thinking on your part. Most shoppers will simply blurt out “no” hoping to avoid premature pressure to buy something.

Let’s go back and look at what the Nordstrom shoes salesman asked:”What brings you into the store today?” Not exactly rocket science but this question encouraged me to share that Nicholas was interested in divesting his collection of athletic shoes and wanted to look at some Top-Siders. A conversation was born… what style, size and color? When did he plan to wear them? Looking for something dressy or just something to kick around in?

Ask questions that are thought provoking, not mind numbing.

#2.  Make it easy for customers to decide
Nicholas had pretty much lasered in on one particular style of shoe, but when the shoe salesman returned from the stock room he had several boxes in tow.

Nick immediately tried on his favorite style and began walking the floor to check out the fit. I could tell by his expression that he felt the shoe looked better on the shelf than it did on his foot. The salesman also picked up on this and suggested that Nicholas try on one or two of the other styles that he had taken the liberty to bring out of stock. After all, they were right there and it wouldn’t take but a minute to check them out.

The second pair generated a more favorable response but the third pair was a home run. Give your customer painless choices. What looks good in the window doesn’t always look good on your foot. Think ahead and develop contingencies. You’ll be glad you did.

#3. Look for unidentified needs 
Nick had picked out the right shoe, and we had the right size. We were ready to leave when the salesman asked permission to show us what he had in the remaining boxes he brought out of the stock room. He politely mentioned that he couldn’t help but notice how much “good use” Nick had gotten out of the shoes he was currently wearing. He then asked if my son would be interested in seeing some brand new athletic shoes in the latest back to school styles—need I say more?

Want to be more successful at up-selling? Read (and re-read) #3 above.

#4. Would you like some fries with that?
Nick and Ihave our purchases picked out, and we’re ready to leave when the young man pulls something out of his back pocket. As we walk to the register he shows me (the economic buyer) a shoe tree and shares facts about how these beautiful cedar appliances will extend the life of Nick’s new shoes (assuming I can get him to use them!). I hadn’t expressed any interest in shoe trees but this sales professional picked up on my frustration with how fast Nick could destroy a pair of shoes. He had the courage and the smarts to offer something we both knew had value. What was the worst thing that could happen?

I left the store that day with a lighter wallet but I got a real “deal” on some great sales training. These four simple (but powerful) lessons have been around for a long time, but very few reps consistently apply them.

Are you looking for ideas on how to take your craft to the next level? If not, you should be. You’ll be surprised by what you can learn and amazed at where these lessons can take place.
 
Speaking of Sales is about finding, winning and keeping customers for life. If that’s part of your job, then you won’t want to miss the next issue - you can sign up here and get a bonus copy of Tim’s “Questions That Sell” program.

Until then.

Tim Wackel is founder and president of a training and consulting firm based in University Park, Texas and is an active member of the American Society for Training and Development. He holds a professional membership in the National Speakers Association.
More about Tim Wackel…http://www.timwackel.com

Today’s News: I endeavour to keep my eye on the metrics for all our sites using various tools, specifically Google page ranking, incoming links, unique visitors etc, but I can share with you that the one statistic I ignore completely is the Alexa statistics - what a complete nonsense they are, and I have no idea why anyone takes them seriously. To begin with, they can only evaluate visitors to your site if those visitors have Alexa’s own toolbar, which is definitely for “techies”. Other than that, they simply guess and ask you to contact them if you disagree with their assessment.

For example, according to Alexa, 80% of visitors to this blog come from Canada! Now, I know that a lot of visitors do come from that wonderful country but 80%, I ask you I checked with Google Analytics and in fact the number is closer to 15%. The other fascinating fact that I discovered, is that so far this month, visitors have arrived from no less than sixty three countries, and I find that simply amazing.

But the most interesting statistic is that every Tuesday, more than fifty visitors come from Holland - but only on Tuesdays. I am very keen to discover why this is, so if you are reading this and you are in The Netherlands, please, please enlighten me - Welkom bezoekers uit Nederland. Ik wens u een prettig verblijf op het JF Blogit en hopelijk komt u vaker terug. Met vriendelijke groet. JF
 

Tomorrow: Discover what type of networker you really are.

It is said that 91 percent of people do not complain. They prefer to obtain their revenge by not buying from a business that has given them an inferior product or a poor service. They have passive power, and they know it!

The following is a true story - only the name of the business has been changed.

Blooming Buds was a well-established garden center on the outskirts of a growing town. Two years before it closed, it had expanded to include a café, a gift shop and an organic fruit and vegetable outlet. As well as employing a core staff of 10, it took on a number of seasonal and part-time staff.

The company didn’t have a customer service policy, nor did it believe in wasting money on training. Customers seemed happy enough. After all, the business hardly got any complaints. No, everything appeared to be rosy with Blooming Buds.

The manager should have been a bit suspicious. A lack of complaints doesn’t necessarily mean that all customers are happy. In fact, most of us don’t bother complaining. We just walk away and never go back.
The business’ expansion, unsurprisingly, led to a variety of organizational and logistical problems. There were staffing shortages and managerial inexperience. They experienced a reduction in quality. Gradually business dropped off, but still, nothing was done about it.

The staff stopped telling the manager about some of the problems they had encountered because he wouldn’t listen. He invested heavily in advertising and made sizable capital changes. He never once thought about getting some feedback from his customers.

Eventually, the inevitable happened. The business had to close.

Complaints Are Opportunities

That’s right: complaints are actually opportunities. Opportunities to do what, you ask?

You can use complaints to:

• Evaluate how well you are doing
• Identify weak points in your system and processes and put them right
• See situations from the customer’s point of view
• Improve customer satisfaction
• Create long-term loyalty - handling disgruntled customers well often leaves them feeling more positive about your organization than before.

Some Worrying Facts

One unhappy customer tells 10 to 15 others about their experience, and if it is really bad they will tell the whole world. For every complaint that could be made, around 20 people do not even bother. This means potentially 20 lost opportunities.

If you handle a complaint badly or with an “I could not care less” attitude, or worse, if you hide behind the “rule book,” you will lose that customer for good.

While the example above comes from the brick-and-mortar world of retail, the same rules apply for business-to-business (B2B) sales as well as e-tail and e-commerce.

Whether your team sells and services your customers face-to-face, phone-to-office, or over the Web, the strategy is the same: Welcome complaints, encourage complaints and ensure that your organization is “complaint friendly.” Your business will be healthier as a result.

Today’s News: Have you visited the Top Sales Experts site recently? A number of very talented new team members have been added recently including: Debbie Fay, Nigel Edelshain, Alen Majer, Terri Dunnevant, Steve Kramer, Stone Payton, Karl Goldfield, Dave Kurlan, Shane Gibson, Paul Cherry and Tim Wackel - do drop in here 

Tomorrow: On The JF Guest Author Spot, I welcome back Tim Wackel.

The early phases of negotiation consist of both sides finding out more information before talking about a specific deal or set of alternatives. For example, if you find out the other side has a time deadline that only your company can meet, it may give you the chance to negotiate a more favourable price. If you know that the other side has recently expanded their production capacity, you may be able to negotiate more favourable terms in return for a commitment to buy certain volumes over an agreed time period.

By spending time as part of your preparation in listing what you already know and what you need to know, you will give yourself a better chance to negotiate well on your company’s behalf.

Concessions :
Negotiation is a process of bargaining by which agreement is reached between two or more parties. It is rare in negotiation for agreement to be reached immediately or for each side to have identical objectives. More often than not, agreements have to be worked out where concessions are given and received and this is the area where the profitability of the final outcome will be decided.

When preparing for negotiation, it is advisable to write down a realistic assessment of how you perceive the final outcome. Find out the limits of your authority within the negotiation and decide what you are willing and able to concede in order to arrive at an agreement, which satisfies all parties.

Concessions have two elements; cost and value. It is possible during negotiations to concede issues that have little cost to you but have great value to the other side. This is the best type of concession to make. Avoid, however, conceding on issues that have a high cost to you irrespective of their value to the other side.

When preparing for negotiations, ask yourself the following questions:
• What is the best deal I could realistically achieve in this negotiation?
• What is the likely outcome of the negotiation?
• What is the limit of my authority?
• At which point should I walk away?
• What concessions are available to me?
• What is the cost of each concession and what value does each have to either side?

Strategy:
Planning your strategy is important in negotiation. Once you know your objectives, you need to work out how you are going to achieve them. It is also useful to try and see the negotiation from the other side and try and work out what their strategy will be.

During the negotiation there will be opportunities to use various tactics and you need to decide which of these you feel comfortable with and at the same time recognise the tactics being used by the other side.

Ask yourself the following questions:
• How am I going to achieve my objectives in this negotiation?
• What is the strategy of the other side likely to be?
• What tactics should I use within the negotiation?
• What tactics are the other side likely to use?

And Finally - Tasks:
If you go into negotiation with a colleague or colleagues, you need to decide during the preparation phase:
• What role will each team member take in the negotiation?
• How can we work together in the most effective way?

Some teams of negotiators appoint team leaders, note takers, observers and specialists, each with their own clearly defined authority and roles to perform. Having a clear understanding of roles within the negotiation will make the team approach much more effective.

Today’s News: Two very good friends in the news today: First up Paul McCord has launched a very specialist and in my view, much needed blog, about CRM and associated topics. I will be guesting for him frequently and you can discover it for yourself here

Over on Salesopedia, Greg Stebbins is in conversation with Clayton Shold and he explains the difference between a sales person and a sales professional - think you know? You can listen in here

Tomorrow: Well, I am working on a brand new project, which is going to be quite simply, mega Am I going to share it with you? No, not yet, due to confidentiality agreements etc but I will, within the next four weeks, maybe sooner.

As ever, wherever you are in this rapidly shrinking world of ours, have a great w/e and be sure to join me and my guests next week. - JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

Lee Salz

There is no bigger insult to a sales person than being called a “vendor.” Are you the reason why prospects see you that way? In this article, you will learn how to be seen as a partner.

So, it’s been another round of price squeezing. Very painful! They want it cheaper and your company has tasked you with protecting margin. To make matters worse, the prospect called you one of the worst things possible… a vendor! At this point, you have probably decided that sales really isn’t fun. There is hope! You can change the entire playing field by changing your style, your approach, and your game.

Let’s look at two restaurants… McDonald’s and Morton’s. When you go to McDonald’s, you are there because you are hungry. When you go to Morton’s, you want a dining experience. McDonald’s offers value meals. Morton’s offers a high cost a la carte dining experience. If you are concerned about price, Morton’s is not for you. The McDonald’s experience involves you ordering a meal and the order is provided quickly and accurately for you. The question asked of every order at McDonald’s is, “would you like fries with that?” (Apparently, fries go with everything.) At Morton’s, the wait staff make initial recommendations, listen to the diner, make additional recommendations based on the dialogue, finish receiving the order, and the end result is a stellar meal. While both are successful restaurants, this is a metaphor for the vendor/partner relationship.

With that in mind, consider these definitions courtesy of Websters.com…

Vendor: someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money.
Partner: one who participates in a relationship in which each member has equal status.

Now consider these…
Customer: one that buys goods or services
Client: one that depends on the protection of another

So if you put this together, customers have vendors, but clients have partners. Let’s make a deal, we won’t call them customers anymore and they won’t call us vendors because at the end of the day, people really want to be treated as clients. Vendors don’t have clients. I suspect that this isn’t overly revolutionary for you, but let’s contrast the vendor/partner relationship.

Vendors provide data, but partners interpret the data, analyze it, and make recommendations. For example, if you were having a business review meeting and told them how many widgets and gadgets they bought, you behaved as a vendor. If you asked them why the location in Missouri bought 30% more than the past, you behaved as a partner.

Vendors take orders, partners inquire as to why they want what they want. Out of the blue, you are asked to provide a different service than you have previously provided to your client. The vendor gets it done, and probably pretty quickly too. The partner asks questions to understand why this is desired and determines the optimum way to solve the business challenge at hand.

Vendors are reactive, or even responsive, but partners are proactive. Many sales people confuse handling issues quickly as being a partner. However, a true partner looks at the business and makes recommendations before challenges are experienced by the client.

Vendors take a narrow look at the world, but partners see the world in totality. If you were selling windows and your discussions exclusively focused on the windows and their benefits and functionality, you function as a vendor. If you discuss the entire house in conjunction with “the how” the windows purchase is related, you behave as a partner.

Vendors ask for the business, but partners share their perspective of the synergies that have been identified and ask how to put a marriage together. One of my favorite vendor questions is, “what will it take to get your business today?” There was a lesson I learned at a very young age when using a similar approach. I was selling to someone and we offered a point of sale incentive for buying on the initial visit. After presenting this, the man stood up and said if the deal isn’t good tomorrow, it isn’t good today. It was over seventeen years ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. No one wants to be sold. Trite sales expressions create the vendor aura.

Vendors make sales, but partners formulate mutually beneficial relationships. This is all about matchmaking which will be explored further.

In the movie “Wedding Crashers,” true love is defined as the soul’s recognition of its counterpoint in another. Wouldn’t it be great if client relationships worked the same way? Well, they can and they do. When true business partnerships are formulated, both parties grow as a result. In essence, one plus one equals four. But how do you find a match?

As a sales person, it is all about the mindset. If you wake up each morning with the goal of selling something to someone, the likelihood that you will formulate a partnership is probably equal to, or less than zero. Your mindset is about peddling your wares, not understanding and solving business problems. Business partnerships come together by identifying the synergies between organizations resulting in strong benefit for both.

The mindset of a matchmaker is very different than that of the traditional salesperson. Matchmakers wake up each morning with the goal of finding common bonds with business associates. Think of Velcro. The tighter the bond between the two surfaces, the more difficult it is to separate them. Thus, the ideal business partnership is created.

But what does it take to do this well? First, you have to master your half of the equation. You need to know every bit of what your company does and who the right audience is for it. You need to understand industry challenges and issues impacting your users. The best sales people are often viewed as industry experts because they understand the pertinent issues impacting their clientele. They have invested time to study and learn what is important to their clientele and mastered those elements. Most sales people never do this. They continue to repeat the same boring sales mantra over and over again. “Can I have your business, please?”
The second component is the ability to ask key questions of the potential business partner and synthesize the information. Launching questions into the air and failing to process the information is a common mistake. When preparing for the meeting, you should know what questions you will ask and the possible responses that you might hear. You can then prepare the appropriate direction for the conversation based on those responses. Another common mistake is asking questions that have little or nothing to do with matchmaking. There are just so many questions that someone will tolerate in one session, and in totality. Therefore, you need to ask the most relevant ones. Again, proper preparation on your part will help you to avoid this pitfall.

As a salesperson, there are a number of things you can do to establish partnerships instead of vendor relationships.
• Learn and understand your company’s capabilities so you can clearly articulate them.
• Study the industry you are in. Become well-versed on the issues impacting users of your product or service.
• Ask global questions to understand the overall perspective and direction of the company, not just relative to your solution.
• Analyze your client’s data. Ask questions of them and make recommendations based on responses.
• Focus on match-making, not selling.

Lee B. Salz is President of Sales Dodo, LLC and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” He specializes in helping companies and their sales organizations adapt and thrive in the ever-changing world of business. Lee is available for keynote speaking, business consulting, and sales training. He can be reached via email at lsalz@salesdodo.com, his website at www.salesdodo.com or by phone at 763.416.4321.

Today’s News:

Business Expert Webinars (BEW), an international community of business experts, comprising best-selling authors, award-winning speakers, and business gurus, announced its launch on Monday with more than 100 speakers and 700 live business education webinars that begin airing in May 2008.

“We are using webinar technology to deliver business eLearning,” said Lee B. Salz, President and CEO of Business Expert Webinars. Topics include all genres of business –sales, networking, public relations, marketing, real estate, human resources, entrepreneurship, management and many others.  Visitors interested in participating can view the extensive schedule and sign up for webinars here 

Each webinar is taught by a live presenter on the phone and is supported by a presentation delivered over the Internet.

“People are frustrated with the free webinar offerings where the price of admission is a sales and marketing pitch. Either the entire webinar is an infomercial or the content is delivered at a high-level in the session and concludes with, ‘if you really want to know how to do this, buy my CD, DVD, book, etc.’ Thus, they aren’t really free,” said Salz.

Business expert and author of “Selling to Big Companies,” Jill Konrath, said, “What attracted me to deliver content with Business Expert Webinars was that the experts pick very specific topics and go deep into the subject matter. This is strictly business education. Participants come away from BEW webinars with actionable information they can implement immediately. It is a great way for adults to learn valuable information inexpensively, without leaving the office.”

About Business Expert Webinars:
Business Expert Webinars is an international community of business experts that comprises best-selling authors, award-winning speakers, and business gurus. For more information, visit BusinessExpertWebinars.com.

Tomorrow: “Negotiation - How To Prepare For The Early Stages”

Telling others how you feel and what you think and believe, as well as telling them about your background, is a kind of currency, the currency of self-disclosure. Give out information and usually you will receive a lot back in return.

People swarm, flock and group together by type, background, interests, beliefs, gender, work and so on. And one of the most efficient ways to get close to one another is through self-disclosure.

As we begin to experience a powerful common bond, so too does rapport begin. Mutual interests, ideas, values and beliefs are the wrap and weft of social interaction.

Most people like people who are like themselves!

Biographic Matching:

It is rare for two human beings to be together very long before seeking to discover similarities about themselves. This biographic matching can be social or economic, achieved through outlook, education or background – common experiences of the world.

When you match, you reduce resistance by playing down differences while building on similarities.

Pacing:

Once you are matching one another, you can continue to maintain the rhythm you have created by agreeing with one another, seeing from the same point of view. Pacing is a conscious continuation of matching.

When talking, you can pace:
• Words that are used
• Tone of voice
• Language patterns
• Volume
• Body language used

Don’t overdo it – you may be accused of mimicry. Be elegant – your skills should remain unnoticed.

Leading:

One of the goals of matching and pacing others is to be able effortlessly to lead them in another direction. Once you are deeply in sync. With the other people, a change of pace from you will usually result in a similar change in others.

Matching and pacing help you share someone else’s experience and you will begin to know intuitively when it is appropriate to make suggestions, to influence, to lead.

Mismatching:

You can also influence behaviour in others by mismatching. It is useful to mismatch when:
• You want a meeting to come to an end – clear up papers, put a pen away
• You want to conclude a telephone conversation – minimise responses and noises off
• You need time to think before acting – use the bathroom, make a telephone call, add up figures on your calculator
• What you are doing isn’t working – go for a walk, listen to some music, make a phone call
• Matching is affecting your mood negatively – break off the conversation, change the subject

Networking:

Have you noticed how some people seem to be universally likes, trusted and respected? Chances are that they’re also good at networking – developing a wide network of friends, colleagues, allies and useful contacts.

Networking offers you a structured way of making certain that your ideas are effectively exchanged with others.

And Finally: Networking In Action

How can you get to know your team, other managers and clients better? Are there management associations you could join, luncheon clubs, your local Chamber of Commerce?

Organise team events outside working hours. Be seen at functions, offer to assist whenever you can.

Make yourself known – don’t stand on the edge looking in. Be part of the action.

Today’s News: Here is a message from my good friend Wendy Weiss:

Subject: Cold Calling Preview Call with Wendy Weiss

What would happen to your business if you were able to double the number of qualified, prospects you are able to reach?

How would it affect your bottom line if you met with and/or had comprehensive telephone conversations with twice the number of qualified, decision-makers?

How would it feel to have qualified, decision-makers eager, willing and delighted to meet with you?

Join me, Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling, as I discuss cold calling and how I help entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals – just like you – prospect fearlessly and schedule more new business appointments in less time.

The Cold Calling Free Preview Call is on April 24, 2008 and details can be found here:

Prospecting is perhaps the most important skill that entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals must master to be truly successful. Let’s face it, without customers you don’t have a business, and without prospecting, you don’t have customers!

In this day and age there are certainly many avenues that one can take to reach prospects. No other avenue, however, is as powerful as the one-on-one, personal, direct connection that you can make with a prospect by having a great telephone conversation.

Outsmart and Outsell the Competition

On the telephone, you can instantly build rapport, gather information, show your expertise and move your sales process forward, all of this while your competition is still trying to get in the door.

Many people, however, struggle with prospecting by phone. The reality is that prospecting can be difficult, but it doesn’t need to be. The good news is that cold calling is a communication skill, and like any communication skill, it can be learned and improved upon. In working with my clients, many of them have practiced new skills and are thrilled to see their results change.

If you struggle with prospecting, you too can see amazing change and terrific improvement in your ability to connect with multiple new prospects on a personal level, and have them agree to sit down and have a further conversation with you.

The Cold Calling Free Preview Call is on April 24, 2008 and details can be found here:

The Struggle is Over

Because so many people struggle with cold calling, appointment-setting and new business development, it has become my top priority to help you get your business to where you want it to be.

Here’s what people are saying about ‘Cold Calling College’:

‘I recently called six companies and was able to get four solid introductory appointments on my calendar with minimal effort! If I can keep up this pace I can make more money in less time.’ - Tracy M. Brodd, Account Executive, American Identity

And isn’t that what it’s about? Making more money in less time.

You can do it too.

The Cold Calling Free Preview Call is on April 24, 2008 and details can be found here:

Don’t wait. This preview call is guaranteed to help, right now, regardless of your sales experience or background.

To your success!

Wendy Weiss

Tomorrow: Lee Salz is my guest on The JF Guest Author Spot

The JF Guest Author Spot

Leslie Buterin

The statistic quoted loudly by those who do not know how to cold call is this, “An industry rule of thumb holds that only about 2% of cold calls produce solid prospects.” That has been the industry stat since the early 1950’s and means any idiot can pick up the phone, call prospects, and expect to find that 2% of the people on the cold calling list to turn into solid prospects.

Successful sales pros know cold calling is a great way to build and add to a client base out of thin air.

The tremendous advantage of cold calling is this: No other marketing method allows sales professionals to reach as many prospects in as short a period of time.

Before your colleagues tries to lull you into believing, the 2% figure only proves that cold calling is a tactic with a low return on time spent, stop and do some focused thinking about the importance and value of cold calling metrics.

Fact is a 2% return is the very place where every expert cold callers start.

2% is the test number sellers know they can hit if they get up in the morning and make calls. These experts want great results; and make all sorts of adjustments that allow them to beat 2% in geometric proportions. How do they do this? By ruthless examination of additional metrics that have meaning to outrageously successful cold callers. Such as:

1. Percentage of appointments scheduled out of every 10 calls made.
2. Percentage of callbacks from voice mail messages
3. Percentage of appointment scheduled with callbacks from voice mail
4. Average number of calls made to each prospect to schedule an appointment
5. Differences in numbers of appointments scheduled with changes made in words spoken.

The good news is your industry colleagues watch just one of these five important cold calling business metrics.

The bad news is you very well may be like most sellers who cold call and:

1. Settle for only one of five important cold calling metrics
2. Fail to leverage even that one metric into a higher response rate
3. Fail to capitalize on cold calling as a significant part of their sales strategy

You have got to ask yourself, are you going to be among the masses who settle for what’s been the norm for half-a-century? Or are you going to join the ranks of the elite sellers who examine their Cold Calling Intel to leverage the power and profit awaiting the serious student of cold calling? The answer to these important questions can dramatically change the results of your cold calls.

Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit www.ColdCallingExecutives.com ! Or call Cold Calling Expert, Lead New Business Development Coach, Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time) Find much more on our http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com/blog/index.html

Important Notice: Two Upcoming Events.

1) Business Experts Webinars (BEW): May 20 at 9:00 AM CST begins our Series with Lee Salz. The first of these live sessions is entitled “Reach the Top Dog: Radical New Cold Calling System for Those Who Dare to Succeed.” Yes, as an attendee you will have the opportunity to ask your most pressing questions, receive MP3 files, and have access to downloadable transcripts! Save the date and reserve your space now, click here

2)  The next 5th Thursday, Reach the Top Dog Special is May 29th! Subscribers are privy to deep, deep, pre-publication discounts on new releases … at least 30% off of the pricing seen by the public. WARNING: these are unveiled only on the 5 Thursdays of months that have 5 Thursdays, Only to those who are enrolled in the FREE Mini-Course “Ten Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” and ONLY in the one email sent to subscribers on that day. Mark your calendar for May 29th, , watch your InBox for the one-day-only, pre-publication gift to subscribers, don’t miss out … enroll NOW when you visit www.ColdCallingExecutives.com …you will thank me for giving you this “insider’s scoop”.

Today’s News:

I want to recommend a remarkable new book that will teach you exactly how the top pros are selling more - right now!  Every day!
 
Top Dog Sales Secrets is the highly acclaimed bestseller written by 50 leading experts for professional salespeople, entrepreneurs, business owners, sales leaders and executives … anyone who wants proven and powerful ways to dramatically increase their sales.
 
One reader said, “One of these top dog secrets can earn you a fortune.”  Another said, “It’s like reading the best ideas from 50 sales books all in one book.”

TODAY ONLY - April 22!
 
When you get your copy of Top Dog Sales Secrets today you will also receive $3,000 worth of valuable sales and marketing tools.  This is powerful stuff.  You’ll get downloadable e-books, white papers, articles, and reports, all yours from top sales and business growth leaders. Take a look at your complimentary bonuses here.
 
This is a one-time deal so I encourage you to get your copy of Top Dog Sales Secrets and your valuable bonuses today. You will be glad you did. Click here to learn more.
 
P.S. You have no risk. Your “extreme satisfaction” is guaranteed by the publisher. 

Tomorrow: “Thoughts About Self-Disclosure and Networking”

Today’s post was prompted by my considerable frustration last week, at being unable to make contact with people who appear to spend their entire lives in meetings. These are my thoughts:

Have you heard the one about meetings?

“Are you lonely?
- Work on your own?
- Hate having to make decisions?
- Rather talk about it than do it?

Well, why not hold a meeting?
- You get to see other people
- You can sleep in peace
- Offload decisions
- Learn to write volumes of meaningless rhetoric
- Feel important
- Impress (or bore) your colleagues - and all in work time!”

But of course, it doesn’t have to be like that.

Too many meetings, too little time. When the true cost of holding just one meeting is accurately calculated, it should provide sufficient motivation for us to want to ensure that all of our meetings are meaningful, necessary and can be justified.

Are Meetings A Waste Of Time?

Why they cause frustration:
• Too many of them
• No real purpose
• Too long
• Platform for the talkative
• Few decisions come out of them
• Make straightforward issues complicated
• Often slow things down

Potential benefits:

Run properly they can be an effective means of:
• Communication to a group
• Meeting people face-to-face
• Improving the quality of decisions
• Getting to know people
• Drawing from a variety of different experiences
• Building teams

The following figures are based on a working year of 288 days, with one working day equal to 7 hours. (I wish!) You begin to realise the true cost of holding a meeting.

Salary Per Annum: £40.000
One Hour Meeting: £24
One Day Meeting: £168

Salary Per Annum: £100.000
One Hour Meeting: £60
One Day Meeting: £420

Some Tips To Ensure A Successful Meeting:

• Only hold meetings if they are really necessary
Could people be told any other way?
Consider the cost; meetings are expensive – time away from job, salaries of those attending.

• If they are needed, then plan for them
What do you want to achieve?
What are you going to discuss?
What decisions will need to be made/actions taken?
Who needs to be there? How are you going to tell them what it’s about and why they are invited?
How long can you allocate to the meeting?
Remember, if you fail to prepare, then prepare for your meeting to fail.

• Prepare an agenda
Include only relevant items
Put them in order of importance
Decide who will lead the input on each
Allocate time for each item (don’t forget to allow for a 5 minute break at least once an hour)
What could go wrong and what will you do?

• Collect all information
If it’s lengthy, summarise it, outlining key points
Send out agendas and key points in advance.

• Prepare the room
Ensure that there are sufficient tables and charts
If you want equipment (eg: flip charts, PCs overhead projectors) make sure it is available and working
Arrange refreshments.

And Finally: Running The Meeting:

Achieve faster, more efficient results by:
• Telling everyone the purpose
• Setting the scene for each item, eg: open discussion by inviting specific contributions from those present
• Letting everyone who has something to say make a contribution
• Summarising what’s been said
• Watching for signs of non-participation
• Sticking to time (always start on time and don’t be afraid to finish early)
• Agreeing actions to follow
• Not being afraid to critique the meeting, i.e.: Was it worth it?
• After the meeting:
Circulating minutes promptly to those attending and interested parties
Monitoring and reviewing progress of any actions decided

End Result? A successful meeting and all in work time!

Today’s News: Congratulations to my good friend Keith Rosen, for such a mega launch of his new book; “Coaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions” which hit the very top of Amazon’s best-seller list last week. It has been so successful that he has extended the special bonus period until May 2nd, you can find out more here

There is a great deal happening this week in terms of site launches, major events etc. so be sure to stay tuned in

There are a brand new set of nominees over at Top 10 Sales Articles - all of them, very high quality and do drop in to the Customer Collective, when you can, as I am still hosting the Sales Sandbox.

Tomorrow (Tuesday): My guest is the amazing Leslie Buterin (as in buterin bread)

Whilst family, friends and other easily identifiable contacts are a good place to start your networking efforts, sooner or later you will need to extend yourself beyond your familiar surroundings and look to attend relevant meetings and/or events.
 
In many ways, the type of meeting or event that you choose is not particularly important. If your hobby is old model trains, and someone advertises an ‘old model train meeting and exhibition’ you are obviously likely to meet lots of people who might become good network contacts. However, this is likely to be the exception rather than the rule.
 
In most cases, meetings or social gatherings of people will be much more general affairs and ones that can only be broadly ‘qualified’ for their possible relevance.
 
 Start The Networking Adventure
 
 The trick in networking (if there is one) is to treat all meetings or events as an adventure.
 
Like any adventure, you may have some fear and trepidation about facing the unexpected, but you should also feel some of the thrill of the challenge and excitement in finding new people with whom you can really connect. By making time in your schedule to attend, you can use early opportunities to watch others networking and to get into the habit of talking to the people you meet.
 
Don’t forget, networking successfully means that we sometimes have to stretch ourselves to the edges of our comfort zones – hard at first but much easier with practice.

Be Prepared
 
Whether it is a formal meeting or event (with one hundred people) or an informal gathering (of only ten or less) being ready or open to network is very important – like the Scout’s motto ‘Be Prepared’.
 
Even if you are shy, introverted, nervous, bored, or tired, you just never know when you are going to bump into interesting and useful people. 
 
Part of this process of ‘being prepared’ is to have crisp information about yourself available so that your communication is short, focused and clear - not totally unlike an elevator pitch. Some of this is provided by a good business card, however, effective networking is rarely achieved by saying ‘Hello’ and merely handing over a business card – you have also got to give something of yourself as a person.

 ‘So, What Do You Do?’
 
 It pays to think hard about what you could and should communicate in what might be only a few seconds. It is amazing how many people respond to the question ‘What do you do?’ with ‘That’s a difficult/interesting question!’ or “I’m an engineer/analyst/administrator/co-coordinator/manager!’ 
 
Such responses do little to educate the person asking. It is far better to give some pre-thought to this question (even if there are two or three versions of reply you’d like to use) and practise using your answer.

 Keep It Short & Simple
  
Many of the books on networking advocate specific advice such as introductions of ’10 words or less’ or ‘no more than two sentences’. However, although keeping it short is important, it is more critical that you are:
 
• Clear – use common words, no jargon

• Concise – use short words and sentences

• Personable – use engaging, friendly and warm words

• Interesting – say something different or distinctive

You typically only have about 5 – 10 seconds to cover these four criteria, but this realistically gives you up to twenty words to use.

Finally - Introduce Yourself

Specific introductions will be very much up to the individual style and personality. However, once again, this is an opportunity to stretch yourself to the edge of your comfort zone and present yourself as positively as you can. A simple example that meets all the above criteria might therefore be:

“Hello, my name is Annabelle Jones. I spend my time designing and running interactive booklets on networking.”

Note that this has to cover what you do in practical terms and not just your name and job title.

Perhaps a more forthright example might be:

“Hello, my name is Annabelle Jones. I produce TV screen advertisements from script to screen and everything in between the two.”

Finally, I must highlight the fact that the warmth of your introduction will determine the outcome of the meeting. Even though you may well be shy and nervous, it is important to make eye contact and smile – it sends out the message that you are confident, relaxed and friendly.

Today’s News: Just heard from my friend Lee Salz that his new venture “Business Experts Webinars” will be launching on Monday, so I will have full details here next week.

Tomorrow: We are gearing up for the re-launch of Top Sales Experts, with an expanded team and lots of new features, so much work to do. As ever, wherever you are, have a great w/e and be sure to make it back on Monday - JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling

Whenever I conduct a workshop or teleclass, invariably someone asks the question: “What should I say when the prospect says, ‘I’m not interested?’”

My response invariably is: “It’s probably too late.”

Certainly you can try to recover from that “I’m not interested” response. You can ask, “Why do you say that?” (Say this gently, as though you are confused and really, really want the answer.) You can repeat back: “Not interested?” (Again, say this gently, as though you are confused.) This sometimes gets people to start talking and explain themselves. Bottom line, however, if everyone that you speak with says, “I’m not interested,” you’re not saying anything interesting.

If you have a compelling script with stellar delivery, you will hardly ever hear the words, “I’m not interested.” That’s because you will actually be saying something interesting!

On the telephone, you have approximately 10-20 seconds to grab your prospect’s attention - and if you do not do that, your call is probably over. 10-20 seconds is not a lot of time. You are not going to convey a lot of information in 10-20 seconds. Instead, what you’ll convey is your energy, your confidence and your excitement. Your words must reach out and immediately grab and hook your prospect’s attention.

From the moment your prospect says, “Hello,” your goal is to gain your prospect’s attention so that she is hungry to hear more. If you don’t hook your prospects in the beginning of your conversation, they will not want to speak with you. They will say, “I’m not interested,” and worse case, they may hang up on you.

In order to hook your prospect, ask yourself: Whom are you calling? Why should they be interested? You’re looking for hot buttons, those issues that are so important to your prospect that when they come up, your prospect stops in her tracks to listen. The big point here is that when you are trying to hook someone, you have to have some sense of what’s important to them.

Ask yourself: What is the value that I (the company/product/service) bring to customers. How do they benefit? How do I (the company/product/service) make customer’s lives easy, stress-free, happy, profitable etc? You may have to do some market research and/or brainstorming here. Once you’ve determined that value, however, lead with it.

Here’s an example:

Last year when I conducted the “Cold Calling College–Live” group coaching program, I received an e-mail from a participant. He said he was calling owners of mid-size companies and not having much success. His e-mail read:

“…I say my name and company and then say ‘we specialize in business performance management solutions for budgeting, reporting and analysis…. I hear ‘not interested’ then they hang up before I can say anything else.

Another thing I have tried is, ‘…the reason I am calling is to introduce [company name]’s budgeting reporting analysis solutions and to invite you to an Excel seminar….’ But after this I hear, ‘not interested,’ then they hang up before I can say anything else.”

It’s hardly surprising that these introductions didn’t work. They weren’t interesting. There was nothing in those first sentences to grab and hook a business owner’s attention.

Later on, after going through the “Cold Calling College” process, the person who wrote this e-mail was able to pare his introduction down. His introduction ended up being something like: “We help companies keep the money they make.” Short, sweet, to the point and focused on the value to business owners. Prospects stopped hanging up on him. Instead, he was able to start scheduling meetings with those business owners.

Lesson learned: Do your homework. Do what ever is necessary to truly understand your prospects. Before you ever pick up the phone, have the answer to the question: “Why should this prospect be interested?” If you have that answer, you will never again hear: “I’m not interested.”

Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. Make sure to attend the free preview call for “Cold Calling College—Live” on April 24th. Wendy will be introducing “Cold Calling College—Live” and sharing some tools and techniques that participants can begin to use immediately to increase the numbers of qualified prospects they are able to reach. Register now:

Today’s News: Over at Salesopedia today, there is a great interview with Rick Johnson - “Sales Questions, Art Or Science” and you can listen in here

Tomorrow: If you want to be successful in business today, you must be proficient at networking and tomorrow I share with you some of my secrets - “How To Begin The Networking Adventure”