cold calls
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How Stealing 2nd Base is Today’s Secret to Success in Sales
- June 16, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The count on the batter was 2-1 and it was time for a desperate fourth chat. This time, I demanded, with dire consequences (that I won’t reveal here), that he steal. He went. The catcher threw and he was safe at 2nd and the run scored. A momentary victory in the game within the game. A play that will change him, even though it wouldn’t change the eventual outcome of the game.
This morning, thinking about that play again, I’m reminded of two selling scenarios that are nearly identical.
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A Hidden Weakness that Makes Salespeople Procrastinate
- May 15, 2014
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday, I was on three separate calls with sales managers whose salespeople needed to fill their pipelines, but hadn’t. They needed those salespeople to schedule meetings, but they weren’t doing it. They needed those salespeople to make calls, but they wouldn’t make them. They needed to get those salespeople moving, but those salespeople were stuck.
For the salespeople, it was their own doing. Self-imposed. And they knew it!
Would you like to know which mysterious, hidden weakness was holding them hostage, preventing them from taking the action they knew was crucial to their success?
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Why You Don’t Have Enough New Opportunities in the Pipeline
- July 10, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
More leads = smaller percentage of good leads.
And the extremely easy ability to connect with your targets? Just because they have accepted your invitation to become part of each other’s network does not mean they want to talk with you, meet with you or buy from you. There’s a false sense of security there.
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My Top 14 Articles on More Effective Sales Cold Calling
- November 13, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I’ve written a lot of articles about cold calling more effectively, so I have linked to fourteen of those articles below.
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Gaining Sales Traction is Like Talking to Kids
- February 29, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
On a recent coaching call, I was explaining how to handle the prospect who doesn’t admit to having an issue on which they need help. During a first call where the salesperson is taking a consultative approach, it’s not unusual for a prospect to become protective or defensive by denying having issues. At this point, most (74% according to Objective Management Group) salespeople will choose one of the following three paths:
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Cold Calling Example – Best and Worst in a Single Sales Call
- September 22, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Your salespeople will only get a small percentage of their messages returned but when they do, make sure they are offering their prospects value on that call. Their messaging must be in the context of helping rather than selling and they must be able to overcome the resistance that is sure to be present with a blind returned call.
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Top 11 Reasons Why Salespeople Fail to Close Sales
- September 19, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The reason I’m bringing this up is that in most companies, when certain stages of the sales process are not being exectued as they should, executives often don’t know why. That’s one of the many reasons why we evaluate Sales Forces – to identify root causes of the known (and unknown) problems.
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Most Salespeople Suck at Selling – Is it Worse Than Ever?
- August 26, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
What is your approach to get people to call you back after you have left 2 or 3 messages?”
In the past month, there have been 47 comments, one of the most popular topics I’ve seen there. Some of the replies have been on target but most are embarrassing to read. These are sales management executives and this is a “what salespeople must learn to do in their 1st week in sales” topic. Most salespeople do not have the skills to consistently get new prospects to the phone!
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One Surprising Key to Selling Value
- July 29, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Gary Harvey, my guest on this week’s episode of Meet the Sales Experts, has great advice for companies that are trying to avoid getting sucked into having the lowest price. His secret? Purchasing Agents have always told salespeople that they go with the lowest price. When he asks them why they do this, they always tell him the same thing. “Because it works on every other salesperson until we met you.”
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Will Gifts Get Prospects to Return Calls from your Salespeople?
- February 13, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
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.
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