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| Sales Training Information |
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8 Sales Lead Generation Methods
I've been getting lots of email from my readers lately. And one thing that I hear often is that people need more sales leads. In order to generate sales leads, you need three things:
In this article, I am going to discuss eight proven methods of reaching your sales prospects. Complementary Partner ReferralsI put this sales lead generation method first because this one generates the highest quality sales leads. How you do this depends on the market you are in. There have been a lot of articles written about networking through chamber and association meetings, so I won't rehash that here. If you are selling business to business, you want to strike up relationships with sales reps from companies who call on the same businesses as you do. An example is if you sell an information technology consulting service, then partner with a few computer systems hardware vendors. These reps call on the same customers as you and you complement each other by sharing leads and information about customers and prospects. Cold CallingAs much as nearly everyone dislikes this one, it is very effective for sales lead generation when executed properly. If you consistently prospect for leads by phone, you will consistently generate sales leads. You can find more cold calling tips at my website listed at the end of this article. Live SeminarsLive seminars are a great sales lead generation technique because you are usually delivering your a pitch to a prospect very early in their buying process. The key to a successful seminar is offering a solution to a problem that your target market really wants to solve. You can give the pitch yourself, or get one of your company executives to do it (sometimes business "celebrity" can help pull more sales prospects in). Live seminars can be done inexpensively. The costs for in-person seminars are comprised of room rental, refreshments, audio-visual equipment, and promotion. Teleseminars are the least expensive, with the only costs being conference phone line rental and promotion. Webinars are actually more expensive due to the hefty fees the online meeting services charge to use their services. Trade ShowsTrade shows are a good way generate sales leads if you can find events highly targeted to your prospect audience. Often such events yield low-quality sales leads because they are attended by the recommenders and influencers and rather than the true decision-makers. I rate this method lower on the list, yet it is a valuable one if your company has the budget and there are industry events well-targeted to your audience. Mass MailingsSales letters are one of the more underused sales lead generation methods. There is an entire industry of people dedicated to selling this way called direct marketing. But most field sales reps and business professionals don't know how to use this technique well. Success with this method comes as a result of mailing a well-written letter to a good quality list of names (quality = targeted at your audience). Two good primers on this are "The Ultimate Sales Letter" by Dan Kennedy and "Selling to VITO" by Anthony Parinello. AdvertisingThis method can be highly effective when done right. You must find publications that are able to deliver your target audience. You must run ads that stimulate people to take action. To generate sales leads, you must avoid big-company style image ads. I am no expert on advertising, but I do know that if you can't do this one right don't do it at all because you can blow through your marketing budget fast. Internet AdvertisingThis one is very appropriate for small businesses and some independent professionals. With a well-designed website, you can generate sales leads through "ads" that the search engines create from your webpages. If you know what keywords your prospects are likely to search for you with, then you can generate very targeted and qualified leads. This method is not for everyone though, as your prospects must be searching for something related to your products, services or the problems that you solve. Email PublicationsWhat you are reading right now is an example of an email publication that keeps my name and business in front of 9000 people every month. I collect all of my names through my website, but that isn't the only way to do this. A sales rep or business owner could create an email newsletter and mail it to sign-ups from an offer presented at a seminar, at a trade show, in a mass mailing, in an advertisement, or on a cold call. If your a sales rep, why not create your own email newsletter? You could send out industry news and tips to suspects in your market. Eventually a few of them will become customers because you are on their mind more often than your competition. © 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved. Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown's sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/
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Coaching 8 Must Questions to Ask in Every Sales Situation Solving people's and organization's problems is ultimately what business is all about. Effective selling involves defining your existing or potential customer's problems. If properly "sold", a sales prospect will have his problems solved with your company's products or services. To be successful at selling, you must systematically approach customers with a proven repertoire of qualifying questions that allows you to clearly understand your customer's current business challenges. 5 Steps to Selling Anything Technical One of the most difficult things we deal with as tech companies is trying to sell our services or products to prospective clients, would you agree? A major problem we face is conveying why our future clients need our services using terminology they will understand and pay attention to. One of the sales secrets I am going to let you in on, is that you can make sales without the client even knowing the name of your product or service or ever saying a word like: Search Engine Optimization, gigabyte, meta tags or even computer. How To Go Perpendicular In Your Sales Territory First and foremost are you thinking Strategically? "Do you have what it takes to do what it takes?" Sell Without Feeling Like A Used Car Salesman Many business owners and professionals are appalled at the thought of having to sell their products or services. If you are going to be successful though, regardless of your profession, you are also going to be in the business of selling. But you don't have to don a plaid jacket and adopt the sales techniques that have made the used car salesman infamous. Increase Your Influence, Increase Your Sales Selling is everyone's lifeblood whether they realize it or not. We all sell in the sense that we attempt to convince and influence others. We want and need to convince our children, our coworkers, bosses, spouses, clients or customers. How effective are you? Positioning for Profits! Last Friday, I was spending one last day of freedom with a dear friend who was expecting to have her first baby at any minute. We decided to hang out by the pool. Do You Have to Be Aggressive to Make Sales? A few weeks ago I was onsite at a company that had hired me to train their sales team on how to stop using traditional selling and start using the Unlock The Game? sales approach. 7 Keys to Turning Cold Calls Into Warm Calls Let's face it when it comes to cold calling many of us fear being rejected. What if I was to tell you I have come up with 7 keys to turning your cold calls into warm calls? Would you believe me? How To Master the Art of Super Salesmanship Mastering the "art of selling" is simply knowing how to present whatever it is that you are selling, to the buyer in such a manner that he feels buying it from you will solve his problems or fulfill his dreams. Selling online is really no different than selling in person, face to face with your prospect. Really, it's just a way of making sales calls more efficiently and economically. You've got to get his attention - you've got to appeal to his interests -you've got to make him understand how his purchase of your product will benefit him and finally, you've got to close the sale by causing him to reach into his wallet for money or to write out a check for whatever it is you are selling. Remember, in essence, even though the method of selling is the Internet, it's the same as if you were knocking on his front door. Thus it's very important that your material look its best. Make your website look professional and successful. The opening encounter with the prospect affects the success of the presentation and whether or not a sale is ultimately closed. Once he's gotten the website opened and is looking at your presentation, you've got to carry over that image of professionalism and success -Make him feel comfortable -Be friendly and believable. -Stimulate his interest in whatever you are selling by appealing to one of his basic wants, needs or problems with a solution. Don't waste his time with a long and/or complicated dissertation. >BR>The most important thing you want to do is to create within your fulfillment he'll have as a result of buying from you. Stimulate his imagination, and explain to him how he can use whatever you are selling to his advantage. Finally, and most importantly, make it as simple and as easy as possible for your prospect to buy from you. Don't force him to read a long, drawn out sales agreement or contract. Just make your presentation, explain how purchasing from you will solve his problems or fulfill his dreams, paint a word picture that allows him to see himself with your product and his problems solved or his dreams fulfilled, and then direct the buyer to your order page on your website. Too many sales presentations begin with some sort of story about the seller Hello there, I'm writing to you from the beautiful beaches of Waikiki; or after a hundred years of research I've found the fountain of youth; even some such tripe as dear friend - you may not know me but I'm now a millionaire... When you put your sales presentation on paper - when you are trying to sell something by mail or online - appeal to the basic wants, needs or problems of your prospect. He or she wants only to satisfy his or her problems - not read about who or where you are or what you've done -just ask them if they'd like to know how to make their tires on their car last 10 years or more (or whatever the benefit of your product is) Above all else, remember that people's wants, needs and problems are changing constantly - and that people are learning all the time meaning that you must constantly be up-to-date with what you are selling, and always be improving your sales presentation. May be reprinted and redistributed freely as long as the resource box remains intact. To show my appreciation to the people that use my article, I run a free solo ad to my ezine list. Once I receive confirmation of the url or a copy of the ezine that the article was used in, I will run your solo ad. Send the url or ezine copy to pnewsletter2004@yahoo.com*************************************************************DeAnna publishes the biweekly ezine Prospecting and Presents. The Art And Science of Closing - How To Close More Sales Right Now One of the questions I often get asked as a sales coach by sales people and business owners alike is, "How do I close sales better? What closing techniques would you recommend?" Transforming Problems into Sales My silent fish tank was no more. Enough water had evaporated to make the filter gurgle. It was highly annoying and I knew I wouldn't be at ease until it was silent again, so I filled the tank. The Art Of Persuasion: 7 Tips To Successfully Persuade Anyone The saying "No man is an island" is an undeniable truth. We need the support and cooperation of other people to help us in reaching our goals. More Sales - You Must Keep Asking I bought a second pair of reading glasses from my local Optician recently. I need this pair to help me find the first pair which inevitably go missing. While in the Opticians I remember thinking that I needed to buy some solution and some of those tissues for cleaning my mucky glasses. The Most Underused and Powerful Method of Lead Generation Are you worried about whom you'll sell today so you can feed your family tomorrow? Are you jealous of the top producers who are getting phone calls from new prospects every day? Wouldn't you love to come to the office and find your mail box full of messages from potential clients? Ideal Clients - Who are They and Where Do You Find Them? Ideal clients are the ones who are perfect for you. They are the clients who understand your offering, are happy with your services, are willing to refer you to their friends, return for repeat appointments themselves (where appropriate), who pay their bills on time, who show up on time for their appointments, who give you 24 hours notice when they need to cancel their appointment. How to Sell a Feeling To be totally in tune with the needs of your customers or prospective customers you have to listen to them. Listen to them it sounds easy enough to do but not everybody gets it right. What you must always bear in mind when you are selling something is that you are not selling an item or object you are selling a feeling. How To Write Sales Letters That Deliver Tired of sending out sales letters that generate anemic response? You could blame your list, or decide you just did not send out a high enough volume to get the replies you were looking for. Or, you could face the truth: Your sales letter just did not have what it takes. How To Become A Sales Superstar And Have Fun Winning More Business - Start Here! One of the interesting things about being a coach and speaker is that I have the good fortune to work with lots of different people from all sorts of different types of companies, markets and backgrounds. Whilst I do work (on the motivation and public speaking side) with non-sales people probably 95%+ of the work I do is with sales teams of some sort or other! As such, I get a real insight into the challenges and issues that many top sales performers face and also into who they are and what they believe. Quiz: What Kind of Sales Shoe Are You? Have you ever wondered what type of saleswoman you are? It doesn't matter if you run your own company or sell for someone else it is extremely important to know what your style is. What does The Sales Diva mean here? Well let me throw my high heel on my desk here and I will explain. Sharpening Your Sales Skills Making a living in sales can be very rewarding, however, it can also be tough at times. That is why it is very important to stay on top of your game at all times.
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