Yesterday we ran the first half of an excellent article from tele-sales expert Jim Domanski on branding and building your business. Today we're featuring the second half of the article. Enjoy!
1. Get Better at E-mail Communications and Selling
Today's top 'brand' of B2B tele-sales reps must communicate at two levels. FACT: you will not achieve superior sales results if you cannot effectively use the telephone to prospect or sell if you cannot effectively craft a superb e-mail. The telephone provides audio messages (via direct contact and voice mail) and e-mail provides visual messages. In today's marketplace, the two go together like peas and carrots. The trouble is most reps do not know how to compose an effective e-mail that is persuasive and interesting. They write ponderous copy with a dozen sentences. The e-mail is crammed with self-serving propaganda. The grammar is questionable at best.
Learn how to write a good e-mail that LOOKS good and the READS good. And if you don't know how to do that, drop me an e-mail and I'll send you a report or two.
2. Practice Add On Selling
Over 70% of calls to clients and prospects end up in voice mail. What this means is that you must make the absolute most of the 30% or so calls that reach a live decision maker. Add on selling (AOS) is a means to squeeze, leverage and extract every single ounce of potential from the calls that you make in a professional, value added manner.
In practical terms, that means cross selling or up selling in a manner that educates the client and makes them want to listen and learn. For you that means additional revenue, usually at a better margin and typically, that means a better, bigger commission. AOS means asking for referrals because a good referral closes at a rate of 75%. AOS means getting curious and asking questions that gather 'market intelligence' by 'picking' your clients brains to get their thoughts, feeling and suggestions.
3. Work Just a Little Bit Harder
Do you want to quickly get a good name for yourself internally or externally? Then simply work harder. The top brands - products or people- did not become the top brand by sitting on the sideline watching their competitors waltz by. Top brands worked hard to achieve the #1 spot. It doesn't have to be 14 hour days. Translated, working hard means cranking out a few more calls in a day or arriving a little bit early - even fifteen minutes or staying late every now and then, and doing some work from home. It means searching for value added articles or recipes or thank you cards to send to clients to build personal relationships. It means learning your products inside and out. Break a sweat now and then.
4. Invest in Yourself
Invest a few bucks in yourself. Buy a book. Order some DVDs. Pay for a download. Sign up for a Send Out Cards program. Attend a webinar or conference and do it on your own dime. Invest in yourself and you invest in your brand by making it better, sharper, more professional. The moment YOU take some financial risk is the moment you'll want a greater ROI. You'll push yourself. You'll work harder because of it (see above). You'll buy those thank you cards and use them. You'll follow up a little more closely.
By Jim Domanski of Teleconcepts Consulting. Please visit Jim's web site at www.teleconceptsconsulting.com for additional articles and resources for tele-sales professionals.
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