Category Archives: Sales cold calling

My SELLING 101: Essential Selling Skills for Entrepreneurs, Consultants, Free Agents now on Amazon Prime

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Amazon has recently upgraded its Kindle software, so what appears on the Kindle comes out  closer to the visual quality and layout of the printed version.

101 Cover new 3rd ed-4x6jpg Small Web viewI took advantage of that opportunity, and cleaned up the electronic typography  of SELLING 101, and at the same time entered it in the Amazon Prime program.  Here's the link:  Selling 101: Essential Selling Skills for Entrepreneurs, Consultants, Free Agents

What Amazon Prime means to you as a reader is that you can borrow it free, from Amazon, for however long you want.  As I understand it, if you're  a Prime member, and own any version of Kindle, you can borrow up to 12 books each year.  Only catch, only one book at a time.

And if you borrow a book and find it so indispensable that you just gotta have it? Just "return" it, virtually, buy it, and borrow another.

If just want to buy Selling 101 in e-format, not borrow it, same link gets you there.

Just what IS a buying signal?

Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Finding & getting through to sales prospects Sales cold calling Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals Sales training No Comments

A buying signal may come as any of a variety of  types of often subtle cues that the mood has shifted, and the other person is now ready to agree . . . or at least to be open to what you propose.

 


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Prospecting for leads and other useful information via cold calling: essential info to be looking for

Finding & getting through to sales prospects Opening sales calls Sales cold calling Sales training Telephone etiquette & selling skills No Comments

In sales skills terminology, "prospecting" often means looking for industrial parks and the like, then doing a quick sweep in order to rapidly scan and flush out potential prospects.

In those sweeps, you speak briefly with the receptionist or secretary to make a quick determination of whether it is worth calling back to see the Decision Maker.

Just what information you are looking for at this early stage of your search for viable leads will vary with your product and the market. The checklist below is a starting point; adapt it to your own uses.

Checklist: The Kinds of Information to be Looking for When Cold Calling

Continue reading → Prospecting for leads and other useful information via cold calling: essential info to be looking for

Cold calling: when you CAN use it as a way to make the sale

Finding & getting through to sales prospects Sales cold calling Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training Telephone etiquette & selling skills No Comments

Cold calls as a sales method

Good sales can flow from cold calls. While cold-calling should NOT be your primary way of approaching new prospects, there will be times when it is appropriate as a selling tool.

For example, if you have open time between scheduled calls, consider using it to "smoke-stack" for other leads. (The term arose when sales people would drive around looking for factory smoke-stacks to guide them to industrial prospects. Now most smoke-stacking is done by scanning the list of tenants at the elevators of office towers and entrances to commercial parks.)

You may spot a possible prospect, and knock on the door in the hope

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Cold call selling overview: when, when not, how, why

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Cold call sales overview

Cold call sales involve dropping in on prospects without an appointment, either with the objective of going for a sale, or of collecting research for a later call-back. (Or, phoning people more or less at random is another form of sales cold-calling.)

 The fact is, cold-calls are usually not a good use of your time when selling. You can waste a lot of productive time waiting in reception areas for an opening to see the Decision Maker.


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Sales prospecting by phone: when and how to back off if you find this prospect is not viable

Finding & getting through to sales prospects Opening sales calls Sales cold calling Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training Telephone etiquette & selling skills No Comments

Prospecting, as we use the word in sales, is looking for potential buyers. But sales prospecting is also about screening out those who will not likely be viable prospects, at least not this time 'round.

Keep in mind those prospectors out west in the Great Gold Rush of '49. They spent months and years

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Buying signals

Buying signals Finding & getting through to sales prospects Free sales training articles New business start-up Opening sales calls Sales cold calling Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals Sales training Telephone etiquette & selling skills No Comments

Just what IS a buying signal?

A buying signal is some kind of often subtle signal that the mood has shifted and the other person is now ready to agree . . . or at least to be open to what you propose.

In other words, a "buying signal" may signal readiness to . . . 


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Buying signals gatekeeper: cues to be alert for

Finding & getting through to sales prospects Free sales training articles Opening sales calls Our sales training books-- info, samples, order Sales cold calling Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals Sales training Selling skills for new business start-ups Telephone etiquette & selling skills No Comments

Buying signals from the gatekeeper or screen: What kinds of cues should you be alert for? (For the record, gatekeeper and screen are usually interchangeable terms, and may apply to anyone from the guard at the gate, to the secretary, to the Decision Maker's personal assistant.)

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Telephone etiquette with the gatekeeper or secretarial screen

Buying signals Finding & getting through to sales prospects Free sales training articles Sales cold calling Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Telephone etiquette & selling skills No Comments

Telephone etiquette with the gatekeeper or secretarial screen . . . professional ways of speaking with, and maybe even winning the gatekeeper as an ally.

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