Will Gifts Get Prospects to Return Calls from your Salespeople?
Will Gifts Get Prospects to Return Calls from your Salespeople?
As I write about his attempts to reach me, a few thoughts are running through my mind:
* I can't recall a salesperson who had ever tried that hard to make an impression;
* He must not have any other prospects;
* It's an expensive way to prospect;
* It does make him memorable;
* The fruit was good;
* He's a lousy salesperson but has most of the strengths to support selling;
* I'd rather have an unskilled salesperson who pulled out all the stops than a skilled salesperson who didn't (can sell vs. will sell - our assessment would identify this);
The problem is that I'm not a prospect for him and sending me fruit doesn't make me a prospect. If he had already spoken with me and wanted me to remember him, the fruit basket surely would have separated him from the pack. But just to get me to talk with me for the first time? If I didn't have time to call him before, a fruit basket won't help me find the time tomorrow.
When your salespeople aren't getting through and aren't getting their calls returned, it's not because they didn't send fruit baskets. It's because they are ineffective on their calls or they aren't making enough of them. When they aren't very good at it, look to one of the following areas to improve:
* Introduction - is it 5 words or less and do they sound like someone you would choose to speak with?
* Attention - do they get their prospects' attention in the first 10 seconds?
* Engagement - do they get the prospect engaged in the call after that?
* Positioning Statement - are they able to articulate the prospect's likely problem in about 12-15 words or less?
* Example - can they provide two examples of the problems you solve in about 10 words or less for each?
* Stickiness - are the positioning statement and examples memorable? Do they have the elements of surprise, emotion, credibility, and a story? Are they concrete and simple?
* Dialog - do your salespeople have a discussion around the prospect's issues?
* Close - when they identify issues do they close for an appointment?
Remember, fruit baskets are OK for follow up. They are lousy for getting prospects to the phone. The best story I ever heard for getting people to the phone was a story I read in a business magazine last year. A company was recruiting engineers and they sent candidates a package containing a cell phone. When the candidate opened the package, the phone would ring and the candidate would answer. Bingo. This is a bit more expensive than the fruit basket but I'll bet it would work a lot better.
Will Gifts Get Prospects to Return Calls from your Salespeople - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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A fruit basket arrived this morning. My first reaction was, "who would want to send me a fruit basket?" It turned out that a salesperson sent it, hoping to get me on the phone. He had already left two voice mail messages and stopped by on one other occasion.
As I write about his attempts to reach me, a few thoughts are running through my mind:
* I can't recall a salesperson who had ever tried that hard to make an impression;
* He must not have any other prospects;
* It's an expensive way to prospect;
* It does make him memorable;
* The fruit was good;
* He's a lousy salesperson but has most of the strengths to support selling;
* I'd rather have an unskilled salesperson who pulled out all the stops than a skilled salesperson who didn't (can sell vs. will sell - our assessment would identify this);
The problem is that I'm not a prospect for him and sending me fruit doesn't make me a prospect. If he had already spoken with me and wanted me to remember him, the fruit basket surely would have separated him from the pack. But just to get me to talk with me for the first time? If I didn't have time to call him before, a fruit basket won't help me find the time tomorrow.
When your salespeople aren't getting through and aren't getting their calls returned, it's not because they didn't send fruit baskets. It's because they are ineffective on their calls or they aren't making enough of them. When they aren't very good at it, look to one of the following areas to improve:
* Introduction - is it 5 words or less and do they sound like someone you would choose to speak with?
* Attention - do they get their prospects' attention in the first 10 seconds?
* Engagement - do they get the prospect engaged in the call after that?
* Positioning Statement - are they able to articulate the prospect's likely problem in about 12-15 words or less?
* Example - can they provide two examples of the problems you solve in about 10 words or less for each?
* Stickiness - are the positioning statement and examples memorable? Do they have the elements of surprise, emotion, credibility, and a story? Are they concrete and simple?
* Dialog - do your salespeople have a discussion around the prospect's issues?
* Close - when they identify issues do they close for an appointment?
Remember, fruit baskets are OK for follow up. They are lousy for getting prospects to the phone. The best story I ever heard for getting people to the phone was a story I read in a business magazine last year. A company was recruiting engineers and they sent candidates a package containing a cell phone. When the candidate opened the package, the phone would ring and the candidate would answer. Bingo. This is a bit more expensive than the fruit basket but I'll bet it would work a lot better.
Will Gifts Get Prospects to Return Calls from your Salespeople - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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