Tag Archives: how to sell

Sending sales proposals: key tips

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Turns out we need a new roof over the sunroom, so  Susan started calling around for references, then invited contractors in to look it over.  It's not a busy time of the year here, so most came within a week or so.

They all brought ladders and climbed up on the roof, then climbed down and gave us their initial thoughts.  I think we've had five come by now.  One we crossed off almost immediately because of some intangibles.  I'm not really sure why, maybe it was something in his non-verbals. In any case, his price came in close to double the average.

Bear in mind that the estimators dropped by over something like a ten-day span. All but that one I mentioned seemed credible candidates to get our business. 

But then not much happened for several more days; we waited for them to send their estimates.  Now they are finally coming in. But it's hard for us now to put a face with the paper estimate.  Was AlphaBeta Roofing the guy who suggested . . .    Was Aaardvark Roofing the guy who pointed out . . .

On that, these thoughts.

1.  Put your mug shot on your business card, and leave one of those cards  when you make the first call.  Doesn't matter if you're not movie-star handsome or any of that. It's just to help the prospect remember you.  Send another photo business card when you send the proposal (even if that second one is just copied in and attached to the email). 

I first saw photo business cards when I did a couple of consulting projects with Kodak (obviously that was a while back, long before family friend Kodak started the final fall!), and everybody had a photo card.  Even now, when I look at those old cards and  see the faces,a clear memory of the person and how we worked together comes up.

Most of these contractors left us business cards, but generic ones from Staples or Office Depot with their name and maybe an image of a trowel or hammer or ladder– instantly forgettable.

2.  Get that proposal out ASAP.  If you promise "by the weekend," mean it. First, the prospect is paying attention to  your credibility–do you follow through as promised? If you're poky just in getting a one-page estimate off on time, what does that suggest about your follow-through if you get the job?  I've seen neighbors tied up for weeks when the workers leave the materials in the yard and cut off to do another job somewhere.

Another good reason to be fast in sending the proposal: a prospect with a leaky roof may not wait.  By the time  Pokey Joe finally faxes his estimate Speedy Pete may already have gotten the work permit and delivered the shingles.

Yeah, you're busy running around making those sales calls, but maybe it'd be best to pass on one of those calls at the end of each day and use that time more productively. 

Just my thoughts from the perspective of a prospect.

When it IS good sales strategy to begin with the purchasing department

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Last post, we explored why it's usually not a good idea to begin with the purchasing department.

But there are situations when purchasing is the place to begin.  Here are some considerations.

Continue reading → When it IS good sales strategy to begin with the purchasing department

Cold call sales: best uses

Finding & getting through to sales prospects Free sales training articles Opening sales calls Our sales training books-- info, samples, order Sales cold calling Sales management Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training Selling skills for new business start-ups Telephone etiquette & selling skills No Comments

First, what is cold-call selling?

Cold calling can be by phone, as you telephone prospects for appointments, or maybe to do some early research. (Telephone cold calling is a topic we'll be dealing with another time.)

What we'll be speaking of here are cold-calls made in person.

Continue reading → Cold call sales: best uses

Cold-calls: Tips and Techniques

Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Finding & getting through to sales prospects Free sales training articles Sales cold calling Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training Telephone etiquette & selling skills No Comments

As you make cold calls (whether by phone or in person), on these initial prospecting sweeps for leads and information, your tone should be that of a conversation, not an interrogation. Be friendly. Don't put them on the spot with a barrage of questions. 

If someone you meet during these calls is reluctant to talk, it could be that they are only a temporary employee and doesn't want to admit it. Or it may be that they don't want to give away too much information without knowing why you're there, and what you're going to do with this information

To overcome this,


Continue reading → Cold-calls: Tips and Techniques

Cold calling: the info you’re looking for

Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Free sales training articles Sales cold calling Sales management Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training Selling skills for new business start-ups No Comments

Cold calling is usually much more productive as a way of prospecting for leads than it is in making the actual sales.  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. 71811

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.

While these sweeps are, technically-speaking, cold-calls, the purpose is more to gather useful information: information you will draw from later in determining whether to come back here, with an appointment, as well as what kinds of questions to ask and information to present.

The checklist below is a starting point; adapt it to your own uses.


Continue reading → Cold calling: the info you’re looking for

Consulting, contract work, independent contracting

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On the topics of consulting, contract work, and independent contracting,  did you see Paul Davidson's article in USA Today (Dec 7, 2009), "Contract workers swelling ranks"?  Go to article   Some interesting points:

— About 8% of the US workforce consists of contract employees, most of whom are independent contractors.

— One person interviewed, a member of an employment law firm, predicts that half the jobs created in the recovery "will be filled by contractors, consultants, and other temps."

— More than half of all of these temporary slots are now "filled by professionals such as engineers and physicians."

— One of the key benefits for contractors like that is freedom: freedom to choose opportunities, and freedom to move on.

— From the perspective of an employer, one of the key benefits is flexibility: for example, firms can pull in specialists for product launches and new ventures without having to undertake the front-end costs in time and dollars of a permanent staffing-up.

All of this, need I point out, ties in with our overall theme: by learning to sell yourself (or your skills or whatever) face to face, you can help fill those needs. 

“7 Ways to survive the jobless recovery,” from US News & World Report

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The link is below, so I won't go into much detail here.  Only to point out that three of the ways echo what we've been saying here and in the sales books:

  • "Don't wait for lost jobs to return."
  • "Don't count on big companies."  They are doing very well, thank you, with fewer employees.  But, as an entrepreneur you can find those big companies a ready market if you can show how you fill the needs that they still have, even after layoffs.  Outsourcing, in short, can be sourcing to you, if you can find the need and make the case for yourself.   (That is, if you can sell— which is what we're all about here and in the sales books.)
  • "Become entrepreneurial."

7 Ways to survive the jobless recovery, Rick Newman, US News

At last!

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A few weeks ago, I expressed my frustration in getting the new series of sales training books up by quoting Yogi Berra: "Things take longer than they do." Still true, but now I'd add a corollary: "And sometimes things take not only longer than they do, but even longer than you can ever imagine!"

In any case, the three new sales books are finally out, as you'll see in the column on the left. (How to Sell Face-to-Face Survival Guide (for people very new to, and maybe a little intimidated by, the thought of selling face-to-face); Sales Training Tutorials (more detailed, with more advanced guidance); and Sales Presentations and Demonstrations. 

(Alas, there's still a small glitch:  as of this moment, Amazon is showing the cover for Sales Survival Guide both for that book as well as for Sales Presentations, which has a green cover.  "Within the week it'll be fixed" — so I'm told.)

By way of celebration, I'll be putting up free sample chapters within the next few days. (That is, samples beyond the free sections available via the link at the top of the left column.)

That said, this blog has been in semi-hibernation while waiting for the books, and now will begin adding fresh material.