Open questions in sales conversations

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Different types of question generate different responses. For example, an open question cannot usually be answered with a “Yes” or a “No”.  Open questions can be used to get people talking. Here is an extract from Telemarketing Results by Nigel Temple: Have you ever come across Rudyard Kipling's six honest serving men: ‘I keep six honest serving men (They taught me all I knew): their names are WHAT and WHY and WHEN and HOW and WHERE and WHO.’ Mind you, I feel sorry for poor old WHICH, who presumably was either burnt at the stake of knowledge or ran off with the Wizard. Incidentally, these questions can be prefixed with: ”It would be very helpful if you could tell me…” “I hope you can help me.” (Most human beings respond positively to a request for help) ”I was just wondering….” It goes without saying that the way in which you ask these types of questions will make all the difference to the conversation. It is best to form some rapport first. The customer...
Read More

The sales journey

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Customers go through a journey with you, before they buy: 1. Suspect An individual or enterprise that you want to do business with. They will fit your marketing criteria and they will probably belong to a target market segment. A reasonable number of them should be stored in your database. How do you figure out who your suspects are? By doing a market segmentation exercise. This involves thinking about groups of people who have similar needs, for whom you have solutions. You should have specific solutions for specific needs. 2. Unqualified prospect An unqualified prospect is someone who has uttered the three magic words: “Tell me more.” However, before we proceed we need to qualify them, by considering whether we can  satisfy their needs. 3. Prospect Someone who has gone through the qualification process. 4. Customer Someone who has bought from you once. Money has changed hands on a single occasion, therefore, customers are 'transactionally based'. 5. Client The next stage is to turn customers into clients (through repeat business). 6. Advocate A...
Read More

How to use the phone for business sales calls

By Walter Blackburn2 Comments
Nigel Temple @nigeltemple asked me the following question: "Do you have any tips for using the phone in business? What is the earliest time of day that is acceptable to start calling? Do scripts still work? What is the right way of calling a LinkedIn contact and what would you say in the opening 10 seconds? Is it OK to call prospective clients from mobile phones?" Earliest time to start calling: 8am if you’re calling someone in their office on their landline. If you’re calling their mobile I would leave it to 8.30 or even 9 because you don’t know if they’re working from home and most people don’t want to be disturbed there if they’re getting the kids off to school or whatever else they might be doing to get ready for the day. I would be careful calling mobiles if you don’t know them. Most of us are quite protective of our mobile numbers - but I believe it’s ‘fair...
Read More

How to get more sales enquiries

By Nigel Temple1 Comment
If you want to get more sales enquiries, it is a good idea to think strategically and to plan ahead. Within your marketing plan (hands up if you have one!), list all of the ways that you currently promote your business. For example, for an enterprise selling to other businesses: website, SEO, blogging, newsletter, networking, telemarketing, talks, printed matter and referrals. Consider which of these techniques have worked well for you in the past. If you keep track of where your sales leads come from, study the numbers. In addition, think about the promotional techniques which you are drawn to. For example, if you love to write, then you will be drawn to blogging, newsletters and article placement. At this stage, you may well decide to ditch some promotional techniques which aren't working for you. The next step is to add some new techniques to your list. Think in terms of promotional mix categories, i.e. Advertising, Alliance marketing, Direct mail (which is...
Read More