| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Why Trying to Get the Appointment Can be a Recipe for Dis-Appoinment
Why Trying to "Get the Appointment" Can be a Recipe for Dis-Appoinment Last week, this e-mail from Jack arrived in my inbox: To: Ari Galper I've just coined a new disease for the medical books, and I'm hoping you can help me cure it. Have you ever heard of "freezing-up-on-the-first-call paralysis"? It's brought on by the stress of selling! I'm new to sales, and, as I've been starting out, I've studied all the programs from all the "sales masters." They all insist that, when I call new prospects, I should be laser-focused on getting appointments. The problem is, when I make that first call and lead the conversation toward the goal of getting an appointment, I hit a "wall." I know that if I can just get face-to-face with prospects, they'll see the value of my solution -- but I can't even get there because they shut me down. When they tell me "I'm not interested" or "I'm busy now" or "We already have a vendor," I'm left with nowhere to go. What's worse, I can't even come up with what to say next. Can you recommend some "medicine" that will help? Always open-minded, "Whew!" I thought when I read this. "That's an intense e-mail!" Jack's e-mail started me thinking about the hundreds of conversations I've had with many of you who are out there selling your solutions day in and day out. I realized that his "disease" is so pervasive that those of you who are suffering from it could probably use a "prescription" from the Unlock The Game? pharmacy. This was my response to Jack: To: Jack Dear Jack, First of all, thank you so much for being open to sharing your painful selling challenge. You articulated so beautifully what so many other people are experiencing, and I hope you won't mind if I share your e-mail and this response with my newsletter subscribers. Here's why you've been afflicted with this "disease"-- and what you can do to cure it. The "wall" you hit when you try to get the appointment is the prospect's reaction to you putting your own objectives ahead of the crucial trust-building process that would actually allow an appointment to emerge. By laser-focusing on getting the appointment, you're sabotaging three factors that are vital if you're going to build trust. To build trust, you need to: 1. Focus the conversation on your prospect's problems, while holding off on offering your solution. 2. Create a two-way dialogue instead of a one-way monologue. 3. Determine whether you and your prospect are a "fit" in terms of being in sync about putting resources toward solving the problems. All three of these elements must happen in the most natural way possible... and you can help them to come about. Here's how: *Invite your prospect into the conversation naturally and comfortably -- not by making a mini-introduction about yourself (that only triggers the "wall"), but by asking, "Can you help me out for a second?" *Toss out your selling scripts and create a dialogue path around the specific problems that you know your product or service can solve. For example, rather than saying, "Our solution lowers costs," try, "Our solution solves three specific problems that you may be experiencing." Then, state exactly what those problems are. Identifying and agreeing on the prospect's problems is crucial but not enough to build the trust and commitment you're seeking. You can continue the conversation with something along these lines: "Sounds as if these issues are important for you, but, if we can just take a second, are they considered a priority, given what else might be on your plate right now? I mean, are these problems immediate enough that your company can put resources into a solution at this point?" You see, Jack, the basic cause of your "disease" is that you're not focusing your calls on your prospect's perspective. But if you simply expand your mindset and begin implementing new problem-solving language, you might be surprised when your prospect suggests making an appointment. Warmest regards, Ari The next day, Jack replied: To: Ari Galper Dear "Dr." Ari, Thank you so much! Your reply gave me a huge sense of relief. All of a sudden, I'm feeling "healthy" and motivated again. Your relieved patient, Jack P.S. Sure, please do share our conversation with your subscribers so they don't have to suffer the way I have. Try this medicine and see if it works for you. With a Masters Degree in Instructional Design and over a decade of experience creating breakthrough sales strategies for global companies such as UPS and QUALCOMM, Ari Galper discovered the missing link that people who sell have been seeking for years. His profound discovery of shifting one's mindset to a place of complete integrity, based on new words and phrases grounded in sincerity, has earned him distinction as the world's leading authority on how to build trust in the world of selling. Leading companies such as Gateway, Clear Channel Communications, Brother International and Fidelity National Mortgage have called on Ari to keep them on the leading edge of sales performance. Visit http://www.unlockthegame.com to get his free sales training lessons.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Brainstorming Techniques as New Product Development Strategies When developing new products and strategies, coming up with unique ideas is often a struggle. It is one of the reasons why, in any industry, there is so much repetition. After Your Postcard Mailing: Follow Up with Finesse I've heard a lot of people lament the fact that they just sent out a big postcard mailing, and, alas, no one called. Hey, it's happened to me. Insiders Secret to Selling Mailing Lists If you've got a mailing list of at least a thousand names or more, you're sitting on a gold mine. All it takes is for you to get the word out that you've got a mailing list for rent, at a competitive price, and you should be home free!First of all, you've got to have a bonafide list of customers - a list of names of people that have responded to an ad or bought from you. Will Googles Gmail spell trouble for Email Marketing. We wait with baited breath for the anticipated launch of Google's Gmail - a fre*e email account, capable of storing50,000 short, text only messages. That was not a misprint. Mortgage Broker Marketing - Sell Problems, Not Solutions Are your marketing messages to Realtors® guilty of these promises?- To render great customer service? - To close loans on time? - To offer the best competitive rates? - To help them make more money? - To deliver referrals or free leads? - To co-market services? - To qualify all buyers through a diversity of programs?Guess what?Realtors® have heard this before. So much so, that they've become immune to listening. The Beginners Mail Order Opportunity Guide The "Mail Order" business is not a business of itself, but isanother way of DOING business. Mail Order is nothing more or lessthan selling a product or service via advertising and the offersyou send out by mail. New Years Planning Critical Success Factors New Year's is a good time for strategic planning or re-planning your business. But don't think that's the only time. Maximize Your Lead Generation Efforts by Recycling Your Leads The basic lead generation process is pretty much the same from company to company. Inquiries come in?they're qualified?and then sent to the sales team. Full Color Postcard Marketing: 7 Reasons Why They've Become the New Direct Mail The most crucial aspect of having a high response rate to any direct mail marketing list is to keep your business' name in everyone's mind, constantly. But how do you do that without annoying your business customers, or divvying up a lot of time and money?A full color postcard can easily fit the bill if you send one every month or so. Unique Selling Proposition - Your Competitive Advantage! To capture a larger market share and be viable, sustainable and profitable, you absolutely need to differentiate or distinguish your business, products and/or services from your competitors.In other words, you need to make your business special in the eyes of your customers and/or prospects. In Sickness And In Health I recently drove by a business that had a sign out front that read "Closed due to illness". This meant that the cash flow would stop until the owner was able to return to work. Mark Twain's Great Marketing Idea To tell you the truth (and about 53% of this article is true), I don't know where I heard this story about Mark Twain. But I've heard it enough times to verify that it's either (a) at least half true, or (b) a credible lie. 3 Strategies to Market Your Business Even When There's No Money Many small and home based businesses know they need to market and yet, have little or no money to do so. Sadly, many use this as a reason not to market. How to Really Get Your Customers What Really Makes Your Postcard Mailing Successful? The biggest single factor in the success of your postcard mailings is who you send your postcards to.You need a list of people or businesses to send your postcard offer to. Fundraising Letter Envelopes: How To Make Them Irresistible Readers spend only a few seconds deciding the fate of your direct mail fundraising appeals. Either they open them on the spot, set them aside for later, or chuck them in the waste paper basket. Whats Your Marketing Attitude? Entrepreneurs pay a lot of attention to the mechanics of marketing. They take workshops, read books, and hire consultants to find out how to do the best job they possibly can. Making the Intangible Real How do you make the intangible real? How do you take an idea or concept, something that can't be seen or touched, and convey its essence to others, quickly and easily?That challenge faces many of us in this age of information and knowledge marketing. In advertising and other marketing communications, we have to convince prospects to respond to words and ideas. How to Critique Your Own Yellow Page Ad Forget what you know about your business Your goal is to see your Yellow Page display advertisement the way a directory user sees it. You can't act like you know anything about your enterprise that isn't there, on the page. Mortgage Marketing - How to Find Your Niche Ann Landers, Dr. Phil and Roger Ebert take pleasure in being recognized as leading experts in their respective fields. Developing a Contact List- Part One One of the most essential things to successful networking is your Contact List. When you start a business, developing one is the first step in promoting and marketing your company.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
