If you’re a woman in sales –sooner or later you’re going to be tempted, coerced, bribed, or threatened to make daily and weekly cold calls. My word of advice?
DON’T DO IT!
Now let’s be clear here. If there was a DEAD BEAT SALES TOOL AWARD – cold-calling would win hands down. Here’s why. A cold call is when:
• You contact someone you don’t know
• They don’t know you either
• You interrupt someone’s day (as they don’t know you HOW could they be expecting you?)
• You’re more than likely leaving long-winded voice mail messages
• You’re afraid to leave a message so you don’t
• Your customer doesn’t answer the phone as they don’t answer numbers they don’t know
• You’re filtered through voice mail and call display
• You spend hours trying to connect with strangers and spark a relationship that doesn’t exist
• 99% of the people you contact NEVER call you back
• Repeat the same nasty process all over again
• You’re happy with really crappy results.
Feeling excited yet? I thought so. Now you also know how the person on the other end of the line feels. So. Let’s move you away from stuffy and stupid old-school sales techniques to…
7 Sales Diva Smart Strategies To Do Now:
#1: Referrals – Want new customers? Easy. Each time you’re in the process of working with your customers, ASK if they would help spread the word about you. Referrals are the FASTEST way to grow your sales and yet most people AVOID doing it as they don’t want “to bug” their customer. You’re NOT BUGGING THEM – you’re asking for their advice.
#2: Email Introductions – Many people have great intentions of phoning people to refer to you but they get busy. So ask them to send a quick email introduction. MOST OF THEM WILL DO IT – and FAST.
#3: Testimonials – Tell customers that you’d like to share their success and also help promote them. Then get a testimonial that shows what the problem was, what the process was working with you and what the end result was. Ask them to be as specific as possible and also if they could use a NUMBER. For example, “My skin looked better in 3 days” or “I had 4 times the sales after working with the Sales Diva”. (Couldn’t resist!)
#4: Hang Out Where Your Customers Hang Out – Networking is great as long as you’re connecting with the right people. If they aren’t your customers – then what are you doing?? Ask your customers what types of associations they belong to and then attend as a guest and eventually join as a supplier member. Note: You don’t have to own a hotel to be in the Hotel and Restaurant Association.
#5: Speak at Events – You don’t have to be a professional speaker to do this. But you do have to have something interesting, and educational to share. If you like speaking – then this is a wonderful opportunity to do 15 minute to 1 hour presentations where you TEACH people versus doing a big sales pitch. It positions you as an expert in your field.
#6: Tap your Database – Want to work with someone? Then send an email note to your personal database, Facebook fan base, twitter followers and ask if anyone knows the company/person that YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW. Ask them to do an introduction for you.
#7: Postcards – Choose a list of prospects that you’d like to ATTRACT and send them a postcard with a cool testimonial on the front. It stirs people up, makes them curious and it is through the postal service – so it’s something they can touch versus always through a computer.
So there. 7 Cool and very smart ideas for you to STOP COLD CALLING and for you to attract LOADS MORE CUSTOMERS. NEVER cold call again, lady. Now. Get cracking!
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4 Comments
Thanks for the really great suggestions! I always knew there was a better alternative!
There’s nothing like “getting back to the basics.” Thanks for reminding me that it’s not rocket science.
every women in sales I have worked with hikes up their skirt and gets the sale. and if you don’t believe this to be true, you aren’t true to yourself.
I’ve had a lot of success with cold calling for b2b sales. Stop being a wuss and just use it as one of your many methods to reach customers.