Jul
15, 2016
15, 2016
The Friday Four: Join me on Facebook LIVE!, PICK. UP. THE. PHONE. & more…
1 – GOT A BURNING SALES QUESTION?
Join me next week on Facebok LIVE! on Tuesday, July 5th @ 11:30am.
Grab a spot now and send me your BURNING SALES QUESTION:
https://calendly.com/salesqualia/startup-selling-live/
It’s “Facebook LIVE! Startup Selling hosted by Scott Sambucci,” and it’s a LIVE broadcast on the SalesQualia Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/salesqualia
(BTW – I’d LOVE it if you’d LIKE my Facebook page!)
I’ll knock out your question and we’ll have fun doing it. This is 1:1 coaching I normally reserve only for clients, and you have the chance to ask me anything you like about sales.
2 – PROSPECTING: ARE YOUR HIDING BEHIND EMAIL? (READ: PICK. UP. THE. PHONE.)
- “I did a round of emails to new leads and no one replied…”
- “How do I get people to open my emails?”
- “What’s the best subject line heading?”
Here’s the deal… If you’re a startup and you’re looking for your first customers, the only thing that matters is the next (or first!) customer.
Email is a just a channel to generate conversations.
PICK. UP. THE. PHONE.
Conversations is the end goal of your email campaigns, because if you’re targeting the right buyers with a big enough problem, your perspective and enthusiasm for solving their problem will net you your first customers.
Sure, email can be efficient, but with the voluminous amount of email tools, automated email strategies, and salespeople flat out outsourcing their prospecting emails, there’s more and more noise.
If you have a target buyer – someone that based on your research on a market and a problem – that you feel would be a possible fit for your product then PICK. UP. THE. PHONE. and call them.
So what if you get voicemail? So what if their not interested? So what if they tell you to F** off.
You’re just looking for the next, or first customers. Get into a conversation. Talk to people. Stop hiding behind email. It’s just a means to the end anyway.
Remember to grab your spot on Facebok LIVE! next week: Tuesday, July 5th @ 11:30am:
Click here: https://calendly.com/salesqualia/startup-selling-live/
3 – PIPELINE: ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF THE NEXT STEP?
A constant challenge in sales is maintaining control of the sale. Prospects say things like:
- “Send me something to look over and I’ll get back to you…”
- “Can you put me in touch with a couple of references?”
- “Shoot me over a copy of your contract and I’ll have legal take a look.”
These all sound like advances in the sale, and typically there are.
But… If we do EXACTLY what the prospect asks, we’ve relinquished control of the sale.
In each case, think about what you can do to maintain control. Think QUID PRO QUO.
Example:
Them:
Send me something to look over and I’ll get back to you…
You:
Sure, happy to send that over. Couple of quick questions – who else should I talk to first to make sure what I send over is covering the needs of everyone in the org?
or be a little cheeky…
Definitely. Now just so you know, I track email opens, so if I send this to you, I’m going to know if you opened it and read it. And as soon as I see that you’ve read the email, I’m going to call you to see what questions you have. Cool?
or set up the next meeting…
Yep – happy to send over a summary. Let’s put 10 minutes on the calendar for early next week so that I can answer any questions you have. What works for you?
4 – PROCESS: ASK YOUR PROSPECTS & CUSTOMERS FOR MORE CONTACTS
Working through references and referrals is the easiest way to break down the outbound sales barrier. It’s SOOOOO much easier to start a conversation when you can start with – “John Smith said I should call you…”
Whenever you’re talking with a prospect or client, ask them:
Real quick before we wrap up, who are 2-3 people you know that I should talk with?
(PRO TIP: Notice that I’m not asking – “Who should I sell my stuff to?”)
Often the prospect might say:
Hmmm… Let me think about it and get back to you…
The key is to look for CONVERSATIONS not sales.
So then take the lead:
Just to be clear, I’m not even looking for referrals or new clients. We just want to learn EVERYTHING we can about the problems people like you face every day and where to take the products we’re building. Who might be a good person you can think of that would be good for us to know and learn from?
Give it a try today – it takes a little work to feel comfortable with it, and when you are, it becomes totally natural.
And one more time…
Remember to grab your spot on Facebok LIVE! next week: Tuesday, July 5th @ 11:30am: https://calendly.com/salesqualia/startup-selling-live/
Have an awesome weekend!