The late financier J.P. Morgan once said: “People have two reasons for everything they do: the reason they give you and the real reason.” When you hear an objection from a prospect – a reason why they won’t buy from you – it is often not the real reason.
What is it that stops some consumers from buying? It is one four-letter word: FEAR. Fear of buying the wrong product. Fear...
Have you seen the Lexmark “Ink Monster” ads? They are cute and funny. If you haven’t seen the TV commercial, check it out on YouTube.
Lexmark created at least two “Ink Monster” television ads and also developed a version of the campaign that runs on the firm’s Web site home page.
From http://www.observer.lyra.com:
Lexmark’s decision to join Kodak on the “cheap ink” bandwagon is interesting...
Just as a carpenter needs the right tools to do his job effectively, a sales person also needs good tools, and your best tools are words. A telesales person needs to be able to rely on words because the prospect can’t see you smile or shake your hand.
After writing a recent article about words, I received some great emails from readers offering interesting word ideas. (Thank you to everyone who sent word...
When an admirer praised him for Walden, Henry David Thoreau insisted that a greater achievement was within every person’s reach. “To affect the quality of the day,” Thoreau said, “that is the highest of arts.”
This quote is from one of my favorite books, What Clients Love, by Harry Beckwith. There is a valuable nugget of information on nearly every page of this book.
I am often asked...
Has this ever happened to you? The prospect needs or wants your product or service. You’ve made a good presentation and s/he seems interested, but for some reason, the prospect hasn’t placed the order.
You think s/he wants to place an order, but you sense a hesitation. To check and see if you’re on the right track, ask an opinion-seeking question. The answer will tell you how the prospect feels about...
Well, I feel very lucky because I do know a Good Geek.
Here is the story: Last year I bought the domain name AnnBarrBlog.com and wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do with it. . . until I found someone who has literally built it from the ground up and turned it into precisely what I wanted. (Is she also a mind reader?)
For 10 years I searched for someone who could redesign and renovate my first site...
Astonishing. The number of outbound calls that end up in voicemail. Last week, seven different telesales reps from seven different companies told me that more than 80 percent of their outgoing calls wind up in voicemail. 80 percent!
That means – with every call we make – we need to be prepared to leave a voice mail message. But – to get a return call, the first few seconds of the message must be...
In the midst of a recession that has hit business and consumer spending especially hard, it may not be so surprising that retailer Office Depot is having a rough go of things: The No. 2 office-supplies chain lost money in each of the past five quarters and is expected to lose $96 million this year.
But the company, based in Boca Raton, Fla., is facing troubles that go deeper than reduced demand for paper and...
“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” - Mark Victor Hansen
The word “motivation” has different meanings for different...
The television commercials last year were fascinating. You may have seen them – for an all-in-one printer. This sounded like the greatest printer ever made. And the supplies for the printer were advertised as priced lower than any other printer ink. The ad said: “Say goodbye to overpriced ink for good.” I was doubtful but curious and interested. I wondered: Was this truthful advertising? It...
If you have ever heard “I didn’t know you sold that” from a customer, your company may be missing valuable marketing opportunities. Somebody else is getting sales you should get.
Are all of your customers buying all of the products they could be buying from your company? They may be limited in what they can purchase from you because they are not aware of the range of products and services you...
Wouldn’t it be nice if – when you place a cold call – the person answering said: “I am so glad you called. Your product is exactly what I need today.”
Unfortunately, that does not usually happen. If it has happened to you, consider yourself very lucky. What sales reps usually hear is: “We already have a vendor,” or “We have a supplier that we are very happy...
It may surprise you to learn that there is one specific word you can use on the telephone or in direct mail advertising that will cause people to want to buy from you. Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. in his book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials),” talks about an experiment in human behavior with an unexpected result from using one specific word. I was reminded of this one word...
Are you a lucky person? Or are you someone to whom misfortune often happens? According to Professor Richard Wiseman in his book The Luck Factor: The Four Essential Principles, you can become luckier through changing your thoughts and behaviour.
Professor Wiseman conducted research with 400 volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds. He explored why some people seemed to lead charmed lives full of lucky breaks,...
The ITEX Show is the largest imaging industry trade show and is being held this year in Las Vegas. Whether you attend the ITEX Show or any other type of trade show, how can you get the best results?
I decided to ask three successful industry professionals for their trade show secrets, and got three totally different – very interesting – answers.
I also found very helpful tips online from Susan Ward....
It happens to the best of sales people, just the way it happened to Jennifer (not her real name.) She made the telephone call, scheduled the appointment and everything seemed to go well. She wrote a thank-you note after the first appointment and then made a follow-up telephone call to the client. The client wanted a demo. The demo was a success. The client asked for a proposal. Wow! Time to...
How would you like to receive the benefits of the most compelling sales advertisement on earth for absolutely nothing? What is it? It is a very effective marketing method seldom used by sales people. It is the method used by a man who is listed as the most successful salesperson in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. His name is Joe Girard. Joe was a car salesperson who generated extraordinary...
You may not have been taken hostage by pirates on the high seas, but whether you know it or not you or your clients have been contacted by pirates – otherwise known as fraudulent telephone marketers and toner pirates – sales people attempting to sell vastly overpriced or counterfeit products.
They will use many different words and scripts to convince the listener that they are legitimate. Counterfeiting...
Cold-calling is probably the most dreaded activity in a sales person’s day. The reason? Nobody likes to be rejected. Fear of cold-calling has ended thousands of sales careers. How can you make cold calling easier and reduce the fear of rejection? There is something you can do that will warm up your cold call. It has worked for me time and time again.
The Numbers Count
It is true: the more...
Have you ever been in a situation where you are dealing with one buyer in an account and suddenly that company stops buying from you? You call but can’t get through to the purchaser and you end up leaving voice mail messages but you never get a return call. If that has happened to you, you are not alone.
News reports of mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies are something we have become accustomed to. One...
What characteristics do most successful salespeople share?
Researchers for the Behavioral Sciences Research Press studied sales production for more than 25 years. Their work revealed that most successful salespeople share two characteristics. They are very simple.
(1.) They contact more prospective buyers than less successful salespeople do.
(2.) They ask for the order more often than less successful salespeople...
Did you ever finish a telephone conversation with a prospect and wish you had chosen your words more carefully? If your answer is yes, you are not alone.
Just as there are positive power words that get attention, there are negative words and phrases that can irritate prospects. Marketing research has found that consumers react favorably – and are more likely to buy from you when you use certain specific...
A sales person can have the best preparation and presentation, but four words at the beginning of a cold call can turn off prospects. You have probably heard these four little words when you received a call from a stranger wanting to sell you something.
You may have been taught to use these words at the beginning of your cold call, but it is possible to learn another way to make calls that will bring better...
The customer is always right? Maybe not. If you have ever had an annoying, troublesome, impossible-to-please customer, you are not alone.
Has This Happened to You?
It was not easy. You worked long and hard to win this large account. At first you were happy with your success. But it turned into a nightmare.
You delivered as promised. You delivered what they said they wanted. You provided top-quality...
After having lunch on Monday with my aunt Ginny in a local shopping mall, we walked to Dillard’s Department store because she wanted to buy a pair of Clark’s shoes. Ginny wears a size 7 wide, and it is not always easy to find shoes to fit.
We walked into the shoe department and after seeing what she liked, Ginny asked the clerk if she could try a pair in size seven wide.
The store employee went into the...
