http://www.manageyourleads.comManageyourleaden-usSat, 06 Sep 2008 00:34:32 GMThttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=219If you have hired a lead generation company or you have an in-house lead generation team ?.collaboration with your direct sales staff is what I call the "x factor" in new business development. In many companies, lead generation and direct sales each take place in their own isolated environment. The organization that successfully brings these two groups together in a real-time discussion about leads runs circles around their competition. Why? Because creating leads in an open environment where the field sales team has access to sales leads as they are being "developed" helps both teams improve their processes.Major account lead generation usually takes multiple conversations with decision makers before a lead is considered viable. Blurring the line a bit between the two by making these initial conversations available to the field sales reps and asking for their feedback early on (a simple matter via online CRM programs and databases) can change the outcome of a sales opportunity, since they bring strategy, suggestions and case histories to the table--information specific to the prospect's pain or challenge--arming lead generators with fresh content that is timely and very relevant. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=219http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=221To be frank, lead generation programs self destruct because of unrealistic goals. Despite what over-pressured sales and lead generation teams might think, this isn't a malicious effort on management's part. Management, after all, wants their teams to success, because successful prospecting leads to more sales, which leads to increased profits. But the fact remains that sales performance, even under the best case scenario, is often a factor of a few critical and often misunderstood metrics that are in play in almost every sales department. Lead generation programs often fail because sales cycle lengths (the time from lead creation to closed deal) are almost always underestimated by management. We're not talking about tightening goals a little bit in order to increase profits, we're talking wholesale underestimation that makes lead goals (and hence, sales goals) entirely unattainable. Why? Because cycle time for cold call leads, inbound leads and referrals are often rolled in to a single metric and served up as a benchmark to the sales team. This average is often way off the mark. A cold call lead can often take twice the amount of time to close as this benchmark, and inbound leads or referrals often take less. But, since cold-call leads usually outnumber the others, more then 50% of your leads (and sometimes more than 75%) drastically miss your mark. Because of this, it is not uncommon for lead generation programs to be pronounced dead just as a client's pipeline is securely filled and opportunities are advancing. The artificially short sales cycle projection makes a perfectly healthy lead seem to be leading nowhere. There is a real danger in counting up closed deals (ignoring what's in the pipeline) and shutting down a program too early. So how can this self destructive syndrome be prevented? Begin using a sales forecast for cold call leads that are advancing in your sales cycle. Keep your referrals and inbound leads separate from this process, measuring each independently. Its a good idea to recognize key stages of your sales process and track the projected sales to be generated and the length of time each opportunity is taking to close. In the beginning, go though your cold-call program with the intent of learning what the sales cycle is for these sorts of prospects. Generating the data regarding your sales cycle is as important as generating sales at this stage. Once you have a generous amount of data, establish bench marks for the length of your cold call sales cycle. Map out each stage of the cycle so that your lead generation team and your sales force have realistic expectations of the process. Once you have set the benchmarks, then you can set goals for improving upon them...and will see much better results than if you were using an average benchmark and having your team beat itself up because it can't meet it's targets, much less beat them. But when you establish this process with your sales team, the importance of making informed decisions with actual data from your own sales pipe line becomes clear. Your sales force actually has a chance to see results that match their projections. Once they see it's possible, then they will see more ambitious goals as achievable. With the use of incentives and team-based competition, your teams will start to shave time off of the sales cycle, boosting profits and morale at the same time.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=221http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=222Stop treating lead generation "not interested" as a roadblock in your sales lead script. Most sales people deal with not interested prospects in two ways. The first assumes that the prospects objection may be just a "brush off" and if countered with a strong arm tactic the prospect will back down and continue the conversation. The problem with this strategy if successful is that you have just "trapped" a not interested prospect in your lead generation process. The other accepts the statement at face value, assuming that it isn't worth the time it takes to convert the "not interested," when he or she could just as easily find one or two interested prospects in that same amount of time. Both are so focused on the result of making a sale, that they overlook the benefit "not interested" can have on future lead generation. When a prospect says "not interested," your first response should not be "but we really can help you [whatever]..."but? I will make a note in our files that you are not interested may I ask why??" The prospect will give you a response. If you have a counter to that response, make it quickly, but unobtrusively, and wait for another response. If you had an effective response ready, then you will move on to the next step of the process. But if you didn't have one, make it a point to do the necessary research and develop one so you'll be ready the next time you face that sales objection. The good news about using this process is that not interested responses if captured in this manner can be statistically trended. This allows you to better understand what objections you are getting most often. You can then bring some science to your cold calling process.Stop treating "not interested" as a roadblock in your script, and look at it as the detour it is. Over time, it will help you uncover and prepare for a wider range of objections than you ever realized your prospects might have. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=222http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=223Handling sales lead objections can enhance your lead generation program. In the last post, we talked about using "not interested" to uncover unexpected objections your prospects might have. When you uncover these objections and prepare responses, you should add them to your Go-To List. A Go-To list is, essentially, a crib sheet for arguments against any objections a prospect might throw at you. It can take whatever form you are comfortable with: a spreadsheet, a few printed pages tacked to the message board near your phone...you could even use HTML in a Word document (or online) to create a FAQ-style list where you can get to the appropriate response with a click of the mouse, if you are familiar enough with the application. More important than how you create the list is your commitment to maintaining it, and adding to it each and every time you get a new "not interested" objection. Most of these objections center around either quality, price or service, or whether this need is already being met by another vendor. Each of these are objections that can be easily countered. For instance, if a prospect isn't interested because they "just signed a two-year lease on our existing office space," Go To: "Are you in need of a satellite office or mirror-site to serve as a back-up?" Finally, develop more than one counter to each objection. Try them all a number of times and track them to see which ones pull better results. Be sure to revise your list accordingly. Your Go-To list should be a constant work in progress, and you should feel encouraged each time you have to add a new page. It means you're developing that many more new skills to deal with the dreaded "Not Interested." http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=223http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=224When generating sales leads is the lead generation gatekeeper a friend or a foe? Many of the lead generation strategies for handling gatekeepers have been thoroughly explored, and fall into two camps. On the one hand is the synergistic "partnering with the gatekeeper" approach. This approach relies on building a sense of rapport with the gatekeeper (either genuine or affected). On the other hand is the more subversive "confusing the gatekeeper" approach. This angle seeks to slip past the gatekeeper by either pretending you are a friend of the prospect, that the prospect is expecting your call or bending the truth in some other way in order to reach your sales prospect. I'm not going to get into whether or not one is better than the other. The truth is, there is no one magic lead generation method that is going to get you in every door. One of the best tools you have at your disposal is the flexibility to vary your sales propsecting approach depending on the situation at hand. This means being willing to focus on each potential sale lead to pick the right angle and not relying on a strategy, or simply going through the motions on autopilot. But there is something new we can bring to the table. Rather than focus on strategy, let's look at our tactics, specifically, the tactical advantage modern technology gives us. One such tool is the Power Dialer, which costs roughly $750 per workstation. Efficiency studies show that sales reps typically waste between two and three minutes between each call. Power Dialers recapture much of that time by initiating a new call the instant the previous call is terminated. This could mean the difference between reaching 3 prospects at 15 calls per hour and reaching 6 at 30 calls per hour. We have had similar success in managing our contact rates.The single biggest thing you can do to improve your dealings with gatekeepers is to deal with more of them more often. And by staying flexible in your approach, you just might find you are closing more often, too. Efficient, frequent action can do more to improve your number of successful sales than any magic approach offered by any "expert." http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=224http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=225In generating sales leads, like baseball, you want a home run. But in order to get home, you have to make it to third, which means you have to round second, which means you have to get to first. Once you're on first, making the rounds is pretty straightforward, if you pay attention and the right opportunity presents itself. But when you're at bat, it's a different ballgame. Someone is actively trying to prevent you from getting to first. And, given that .400 is an exceptional success rate, getting a hit is a lot of work.When doing B2B cold calling, you are at bat during your first 12 seconds--the dreaded "Shut Down Window". How you open your call can make or break your chance of even talking about the sale. But In baseball, you only have to connect on one of three good pitches thrown at you. In lead generation, there are three objections you must overcome in order to live through the Shut Down Window. 1. How long is this going to take? - Your prospect is busy and facing myriad pressures from both his customers, his employees and his boss. Every second you use is a second he loses in his struggle to keep up. Keep your opening lines short and to the point.2. Is this person wasting my time? - It's bad enough to lose time in a busy schedule. Even worse if that person is simply throwing that time away for something of little or no consequence. 3. What's in it for me? - If you aren't wasting your prospects time--that is, if you actually have something worthwhile to offer--how does your offer apply directly to your prospects job? If that seems like an awful lot to communicate in your first 12 seconds...it is. But it is essential if you want a chance at a successful script run-through. Miss any one of these, and you've struck out. It's important to be concise and clear in your into. No fumbling and stumbling over your words. Also, avoid sounding like you're reading from a script, or that you're simply rattling of something you have memorized. Make sure you're taking TO your prospect, and not at him. Be sure to work yourself into their business category ("we do systems integration of the manufacturing industry"). Finally, make it clear that you don't want to take up too much time. Once the client understands that your call is relevant and that you get that his or her time is important, you are much more likely to at least get onto first base. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=225http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=226Ready for the simple truth? You are not a sales person. Even if your job is technically in sales, even if the word "sales" is right there on your name tag--even if that's what it says by your name in the customer directory, you are not a sales person. You are a problem solver?.a healer. Your real job is to meet with someone in some sort of pain, some sort of trouble and provide the solution they need. Because of this, your best sales leads come not from a bought list, or even from a referral. Your best leads come when you open your eyes to the sources of pain you have a solution for. For example; ABC Manufacturing has a new idea for a high tech paint brush. This new technology promises to change the way commercial and industrial painters get their job done. This new product launch creates the need for marketing research, prototyping, copy writing, etc. ABC's competition realizes they may lose market share if this new product takes hold so they decide the launch an aggressive new business program stressing the customer loyalty and their 90 year tradition of producing the best paint brushes in the industry. This creates a need for a new advertising agency, a new phone system to handle the inbound call volume, etc. Sales leads are generated from natural occurring business moves and changes...expansions, relocations, up sizing, down sizing, new regulations and compliance issues. Any time change is in the air, positive or negative, new opportunities are created. Actively seek these new leads out, instead of waiting passively for sales leads to somehow find you. Keep your finger on the pulse of your market, and you can quickly develop a list of qualified prospects that aren't on anyone else's list yet. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=226http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=227"Hi, my name is John Smith. You need widgets. Our TruBlu Widgets will exceed your expectations. Would you like to write me a check now?"The above approach is simple, straightforward, brief...and of course it would never work. But it highlights a problem that faces our industry: the myth that cold calling, when done properly, produces instantaneous results. Somehow, the thinking goes, if you can reach your decision maker, ask a few questions, set up an on-site meeting and, in a one-call close (possibly even that afternoon), you have a new customer. This myth got started with some real-life accounts of a few people in the 70's and 80's who were able to achieve such results, and it became the standard measure of lead generation success rather quickly. But, truth is, those were exceptional results even back then, before faxes and cell phones and email and laptops were ubiquitous. People are exponentially busier than they were, and for 7 out of 8 of us, your product and/or service is likely to be considerably more complex. And still, because we were trained that way and our bosses were trained that way and their bosses were trained that way, we try to cram what realistically is a 3 to 4 day new business process of building rapport, identifying problems, framing the solution and closing the deal, into a single 3 to 4 minute call. It's a matter of quality versus quantity. The more time you invest in properly cultivating your sales leads, the more success you'll have in closing. The question is whether we can break out of our 3-minute mentality long enough to actually establish relationships, and turn prospects into business partners. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=227http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=228What's the difference between a prospect and a sales lead? Often, people in sales get locked up in the specifics of their industry and think the definition of a qualified lead is unique to their particular business (or aspect of it). However, there are a couple of basic elements common to every solid sales lead, no matter what industry: pain and motivation. And not only are both common to all good sales leads, they are both essential. In a previouspost we talked about pain as a qualifier for a sales lead. Yes pain is an important ?sales driver? and gives you traction is the sales cycle. But that's only half the story. In fact, your "fix" for the pain is equally important. If you serve up a solution to a prospects pain then it?s only logical that the decision maker should advance with you in to the sales process. With this in mind there is a very important second element to qualifying a good lead: motivation. Without the motivation to do something about the pain, the prospect isn't an ?A? lead, he's going to need a lot more work on your part and he may be a dead end. It?s important to filter sales leads like this and test them for the motivation to advance in to the sales cycle. Sales leads that prove to have pain but not the motivation to take action can keep you spinning your wheels. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=228http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=218You have likely met this type if prospect: all sorts of problems and a willingness to discuss them. You being a good listener take note. You walk away thinking wow what a hot sales lead this is. Not so fast...Are they motivated to actually do something about their pain? This is how we filter out prospects that are going to live with their pain for many years to come. Most of these prospect would really like to solve their problem but they can't. They lack internal support, money, knowledge, courage and/or experience. You need to discover whether this prospect is motivated or not (and fast!) or you are in for a long ride to nowhere. After you present your solution, serve up a brief web presentation and promise to show the client how you will solve their problem. Prompt them to follow you down a path towards a fix and see if they will advance with you. Forward movement in the sales cycle is a key moment in lead qualification, as it shows the prospect is ready to give up something (their time) in exchange for proof that you have what they need. If this sales lead is real then the prospect will follow you to the promised land. If not, you have a flawed opportunity. It may not quite be a dead lead, but without the motivation to do something about the pain, moving this prospect forward will be a huge challenge at best. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=218http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=215People don?t like a lot of cold things ? cold food that should be warm, colds and stuffy noses, cold weather; and, of course, cold calls. A cold call is always an interruption and prospects that are interrupted may not be receptive to your presentation. Like any business person, they have many things on their mind and that means that any cold call ? no matter how potentially valuable it could be to their business ? is interrupting them from more important matters. Making matters worse, they don?t know you, they don?t know what you?re selling, and there?s a good chance that they innately feel like you might try to sell them as hard as you can at the first meeting. So, what makes a cold call so cold? For your prospect, it?s the many unknowns and question marks in their mind while they talk to you. For you, it?s the delicate dance you need to do between selling and not selling, and between keeping it light and not wasting your prospect?s time. The first thing you?ll want to do is capture the prospect?s attention and set the scope of the conversation. In a sense, your opening line needs to create a promise that you?ll fulfill throughout the rest of your discussion. When cold calling by phone we offer to send literature very early in the conversation. We then ask qualification questions in an effort to make sure we send the correct information. This is very effective in disarming the prospect. Cold calls are sometimes referred to with disdain. And yet, business gets done because of cold calls; sales are made because of cold calls; businesses grow and innovate with new products and services because someone "made the call". http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=215http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=216Once upon a time a salesperson rushes into the office shouting, "Break out the bubbly because I just closed a sale!" Everyone congratulates the salesperson on their excellent work, knowing the time and effort that goes into each sale. Over the celebratory handshakes and backslapping, a colleague grills the salesperson, hoping to glean some tricks of the trade. "Who was it?", "How did you do it?", "What was the process?" Under this friendly cross examination, the successful salesperson brags about how the sales cycle compressed dramatically on this sale. Successful sales should be celebrated, but sales with ultra-fast closing times should be celebrated cautiously. Certainly some quick closes are smooth and the beginning of a great working relationship; they simply closed fast because the salesperson understood exactly the needs of the prospect, the prospect was already in a mindset to buy, and it was a perfect fit. But often, a fast-closing sale is like building a house without a foundation. It looks nice, but it simply won?t stand up. If your sale is moving at a brisker-than-usual pace, here are two reasons that the fast sale may be worse than you think: Reason 1: Perhaps the buyer has no intention of paying. If you perform a service or deliver a product and receive payment after delivery, it?s possible that the buyer needs your offering but doesn?t plan on completing the transaction. Maybe they?ll just keep the product and continue putting off the payment. Or maybe they?ll use the product once ? as they intended to do ? and then return it to you, claiming that it just didn?t work out for them. Signs that this is happening to your sale: The client pursues you more than most clients do. It?s a new client without a track record of payment. They make demands for specific delivery dates and hint (or even say) that money is no object. To combat this, make sure that you are fully qualifying the client, including their ability to pay. Slow down your sales process a little and see how they react. Ask them about when they plan on using your product. Talk about their longer term needs. At the same time, make friends with upper-level staff in the finance department to turn them into allies. Reason 2: Perhaps the buyer misunderstands what they are getting, when they are getting it, or how much they need to pay. Maybe they?re expecting one thing and think you?re supplying it, but you?re both in for a shock on the delivery date. Signs that this is happening to your sale: The sales process moves along rapidly and the client seems to agree with everything you?ve said. The client seems fixated on just one feature or benefit or refers to a part of the service rather than the whole. To combat this, do a test drive. Position it as an early-stage implementation "to make sure that the service is the right fit". Or, if it?s a product and not a service, show it to them (or at least a picture or video of the product). Keep coming back to all of the benefits it offers and make sure that when the client refers to one part you say "yes, but there?s so much more". Ever wonder why people who have been married for a long time never seem to fight and never notice the other person?s flaws? It?s because they?ve grown accustomed to how the other person thinks and acts. They intuitively adjust for it. And they can read the other person well. That?s the same kind of relationship you build with your clients over time. And fast-closing sales in the early stages are a sign to put on the brakes and evaluate the "opportunity."http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=216http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=211When a prospect asks for literature what do you send? Does everyone get the $12.00 color brochure? Does your sales team do it simply because that?s how it?s always been done? If not, how do you know when to send the $3.00 tri-fold? When should you send just a postcard, or when should you send nothing at all? Are there clear guidelines on who should receive what? Or is it left up to the whims and suspicions of the sales staff? The danger of not creating a clearly stated fulfillment step in your lead management system is that your sales staff will often choose the biggest, flashiest (and most expensive) mailing to send to all of their prospects, in the hopes that the material will help to win the prospect. However, if you qualify your leads before you fulfill their literature requests you may be able to pay for a significant part of your lead management effort in savings generated from reducing your printing, fulfillment and mailing costs. You can do this and increase the effectiveness for your sales follow-up process?here?s how: Introduce a qualification process into your sales cycle prior to an introductory mailing. Your leads come in from a variety of sources: Trade shows, web, inbound calls, direct mail, and trade publications. Before you send your leads to your fulfillment desk, create an outbound qualification process to call leads and determine their level on interest. Not only will you be able to identify your "A" leads from your "B" and "C" leads, you will be able to determine their decision-making timeframes. Don?t send everyone your "A" material. Decide what you want to send your "A" leads (chances are, it?s the material that your sales staff has been sending to everyone). Find good quality, appropriate content to send to your "B" and "C" leads as well. Follow up as you normally would. Why is this your smartest choice? Let?s do the math: If you generate 500 leads a month and send your $12.00 mailing pack to everyone (without qualifying them), you have a $72,000 dollar fulfillment expense. However, by identifying your leads as "A", "B", and "C" leads, and by sending the $12.00 color brochure to your "A" leads, a $3.00 tri-fold flyer to your "B" leads, and a $1.00 postcard to your "C" leads, your expenses will diminish while you increase the effectiveness of your campaign! Using this distribution method, let?s see how the numbers play out now. Assuming that 25% of your leads are "A" leads, 30% are "B" leads, and the rest are "C" leads, you?ll save over $40,000 each year in fulfillment expenses! Here?s the cost breakdown: You?ll spend $1,500 each month sending out full color brochures to your 125 "A" leads. You?ll spend $450 each month sending out tri-folds to your 150 "B" leads. And you?ll spend $225 each month sending out postcards to your "C" leads. Do that each and every month and you?ll have spent $26,100 on mailing in a year instead of $72,000. What would you do with $45,900 difference? Smart sales managers would use some of that new-found money to strengthen their sales process even further by offering more sales bonuses and by refining your marketing material. Now you?ve got more than enough money to rework the brochure and because it is more focused on your "A" leads only, you can target the content even more effectively. It?s like Christmas has come early this year: With a simple pre-qualification process, you?ll enjoy lower expenses, greater response rates on your mailings, and a sales staff with a new focus on the right prospects.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=211http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=212The money has been invested, the software acquired and installed. All staff are introduced to the program and sold on why this Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program will transform their work. Everyone is trained on the program. Everything seems to have gone well. The first quarter with the new program comes and goes and upper management is pleased, overall, with the information they?re seeing. Then the second quarter and third quarter come and go. The results are less than impressive. As time goes on, analysis shows that the company?s lead generation rate, conversion rate, and other metrics relevant to the sales cycle, are not any better than before the CRM program was implemented. That?s a common problem. And the reason may surprise you. Imagine that someone gives you a dog. They sell you on all the great reasons why a dog is great to have, so you take it home. Then you discover it bites. Frequently. It?s not long before you start having second thoughts. And that?s what is going on with CRM programs in many organizations. Like that dog, the programs bite the hands that feed them. Sales people at first agree with upper management?s pitch that the CRM program will help them do their job. And no wonder: salespeople often look for ways that can help them close more deals. Unfortunately, management doesn?t use the CRM program to track leads and identify ways to empower their sales staff. Instead, the CRM program becomes a way for upper management to track the sales staff! Underperformers are hauled into the manager?s office again and again and shown the numbers they input into the CRM program. Average performers are hounded about calling on certain accounts or not calling on other accounts. Even top performers are grilled on processes and methodology derived from CRM reports. The CRM program starts out as a tool to enable sales. But becomes a tool for upper management to keep an eye on the staff and make sure they follow the company line. Take this common situation to its logical conclusions. The sales staff may simply stop using the CRM system altogether; or they might only input certain sales into the system; or the company may have to mandate that all sales go into the system. Dire consequences result: In the first two conclusions, the CRM system becomes a useless waste of money and effort because its data is incomplete. In the third conclusion, the company becomes more hierarchical and less sales-friendly. So, what can your company do? Identify the metrics you use to monitor your sales reps. It is okay to monitor them to make sure they?re doing their jobs and to help those who need help. But check yourself and other managers before pulling another report and calling a sales meeting. Are you really getting all of the value out of your CRM program that you could be? Look at the reports you pulled in the last quarter. What were the most common? Were they lead- or sale-analysis reports to help your sales staff sell more effectively? Or were the reports used to keep staff in line? Make a list of sales-enabling opportunities you can mine from your CRM program. For example, identify the top 10 best-selling regions per product or further narrow your target market. CRM programs are good? when they are used for empowering and informing your sales staff and leveraging your customer data to increase future sales. But a CRM program becomes useless when salespeople discover that it bites back.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=212http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=213 Problem #1: You need to decide what you need before you need it. Before a CRM application can be matched to your needs, you?ll need to provide the developers with 2 things: You?ll need an internal work flow document identifying what types of data you should be collecting. And, you?ll also need an operational work flow document so that everybody on your team manages their leads in the same way. The problem is, you don't know the software yet so it?s hard to see what you need. Solution: Start with your current system. A simple analysis on pre-CRM application work flow will be a helpful exercise anyway, allowing you to drive a few more efficiencies into your team before you pass the documents on to the developers. To make the process even more effective, team up with the developer and have them help you create the work flow documents. It may mean you have to pay an extra day?s rate, but the investment will be worthwhile in the long run as you combine their expertise of the CRM program with your knowledge of the sales team. Problem #2: It makes things easier yet it creates more work. CRM is supposed to turn your sales cycle into an efficient machine, making it as automated as possible (without subtracting the vital human element). But sales staff are busy. And you?ll find that the really good performers often feel that they?re too busy to input their data into the system. You are likely going to need a CRM administrator to keep your CRM policies and procedures operating properly. A staff of 10-15 reps may mean you need a full time admin person to play traffic cop to keep things running orderly. Solution: You may not want the expense of another non-sales staff member but your salespeople will love it. Be sure to get buy-in from them by telling them that you are hiring this administrator to free up more of their time to sell. If they?re commission-based salespeople, that will be enough of an incentive to sell more. (And the obvious next step is that increased sales can help to cover the administrator?s salary).Problem #3: It saves time and creates efficiencies yet it can take years to implement: Most CRM software implementations take years to perfect and get running properly. This is not because there are problems with the software (although that is often the first assumption when sales don?t spike after the first quarter). It?s usually because of the typical response to change. Simply put, people don't like change... and sales reps are no exception. People develop habits and those habits become ingrained. Sometimes those habits are good, sales-supporting habits. Sometimes they are bad habits. And sometimes, those habits run counter to the design of the CRM application. Solution: Fortunately, the solutions to problems 1 and 2 will help to combat this problem. But one of the most critical ways to solve this problem is to make sure that your sales cycle is clearly stated with measurable definitions and expectations at every stage, and that your sales cycle is supported with ongoing training that is aligned with your company?s best practices. CRM software is no panacea, but it can be a powerful enabler of sales teams. But these 3 problems can rear their ugly heads if you?re not ready for them, so take note and proactively address them before your CRM program arrives.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=213http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=214We?ve all had them ? a sales appointment that just didn?t come together. You?re sitting in the sales appointment and you know the meeting has gone off the rails (or perhaps you know that it never really was on the rails). What do you do? Amateur salespeople will push through, shake hands, and walk away. But both salesperson and prospect will leave the meeting with a bad taste in their mouth and the very mention of your company will remind your prospect that their time felt wasted. Veteran salespeople know different. They know that no sales appointment has to finish badly. Yes, it may run off the rails, but that doesn?t mean that it needs to end that way. Here are a few tips to salvage your dignity and maybe even get some business out of it. 1) Ask for referrals. Salespeople should be doing that anyway, but it can be easiest to forget when the meeting hits rough seas. Say something like, "Mr. Prospect, it looks like I didn?t catch you at a time where you?re looking to buy," (this honors your prospect?s objection and gives him an "out", even if the objection wasn?t explicitly stated), then add, "but your peers in the industry may be looking to buy. Can you recommend 2 or 3 names of people who are in the market for my product?" This method is effective because it relents a little so your prospect feels like he or she has control and it positions your prospect as an industry player and they may just recommend a few names to brag a little. But it also gives the implicit hint that the sales meeting can be cut short with a few names. 2) Make referrals and be helpful. Sometimes the meeting might be slipping simply because you haven?t won their trust yet and you?re expecting them to disclose their problems when they don?t know if you?ll still be around next year to serve them. Say something like, "Mrs. Prospect, when we started our meeting, you mentioned that you were having a few computer problems. I worked with a network specialist on my last project who was a genius at fixing things. I?ll give you his number." Stop there. Don?t ask for anything. Thank them and be on your way. End result? They?ll learn to trust you and they?ll feel like they owe you one. Every salesperson has had bad meetings that felt like bailing water from a drowning ship. But they are salvageable. So why settle for a water-cooler war story when you can end your meetings on a good note with the potential of doing business some day!http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=214http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=208It's an election year. Let's say you decide you want to be president. You wait until November 2nd, go down to your local polling station and start stumping for votes. You stand outside the door and talk to people about why they should vote for you as they are walking in. Are you surprised when the trucks don't show up to move you into the White House? No. Because you went about it in a rather slipshod fashion. Now, let's say you want to undertake a lead generation program. Do you pick up the phone and start dialing seven digit numbers at random? Of course not. But if you aren't making the proper preparations before you pick up the phone, you might as well be. Let's start with three basic concepts: 1. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND: How Will You Engage the Decision Maker?As with any task, before you start out, it's a good idea to know where you want to go. And in lead generation, the final destination is always a meeting with the decision maker. How you choose to interact with your decision maker depends on many factors: the kind of items you'll be selling, the size/range of your market, the cost of your product or service, etc. In some instances, a phone call might be adequate. In others, you'll need a face to face. When time, and distance are an issue, a web conference might be the best solution. This will determine, in part, the sorts of questions you ask to qualify your leads, as well as the steps that will be required between compiling your list and making your pitch. 2. BUILD A PATH TO GET YOU THERE: Why a Good Script is a Necessity.Once you know where you're going, it's time to plan how you'll get there. And in lead generation, that means developing your script. Everything in the script should be geared toward getting closer and closer to setting up your decision-maker meeting (or phone call, or whatever). In order to do that, you have to prove it will be worth his while. Which means you'll need to uncover the pain that motivates him. Which means you'll need to gain his trust. Which means you need to make everything in your script revolve around his needs. 3. FIGURE OUT WHO YOU'RE INVITING ON YOUR JOURNEY: Putting Your List TogetherNow that you know where you want to end up (in a meeting with the decision maker) and the path of least resistance for getting them there, it's time to start building your list. Who goes on your lead generation list? The short answer is: anyone who might possibly need your product or service. This is not the point to get conservative with your efforts. Sure, you want to include all the people who are likely good prospects. However, if that's all you go after, you're likely to be leaving a lot on the table. Branch out from the usual suspects and see if you can uncover leads from untapped market segments or even whole new industries. Read the local, regional and even national business pages and be on the lookout for ANY events or changes that could create a need that you can fill. As you can see, lead generation is a different animal from the rest of your sales. When selling, you are consistently narrowing your focus in order to find those qualified leads who are more likely to become customers. But in lead generation, you are doing the opposite: you are stating with your product or service, and looking in ever widening circles in order to find a larger and larger pool to qualify. In lead generation, your process is a net. In sales, it becomes a filter. Remember, this is a numbers game. And the more leads you start with, the more final sales you are likely to make.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=208http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=210Building a business is a very hands-on endeavor. And, unless you're one of a lucky few, the building never stops. If you have a business that depends on someone buying something, then the likelihood of having that business run on autopilot is exceedingly slim. Of course, you know this. Chances are, you aren't just starting out. And if you've been in business a while, you know you're still out there building on a daily basis. While you'll never run on autopilot, there are a few things you can do to help make the process of building go much more smoothly. 1. Understand what a lead is.The first thing that will make a huge difference is learning to differentiate between customers, prospects and leads. You know what a customer is...it's a person who has bought something from you (getting him to come back and buy form you over and over will make your life a lot easier...but that's a whole other topic). A prospect is someone you have identified as a good potential customer, and is now being ushered into the funnel of your sales process. A lead is someone who may or may not be a good prospect, but shows good signs of potential. Let's look at this in terms of a different sort of relationship...a romantic relationship. The customer, essentially, has married you. You are both committed, and there's no turning back. A prospect is someone you've been seeing for a while now, and you think you might be ready to pop the question. Time to start looking at rings. On the other hand, if you're walking down the street and you pass by someone and think "hmmm...he/she is cute," or a friend of yours is telling you all about this other friend and she thinks the two of you might really hit it off...these are leads. You don't know if anything is there or not, but you'd like to find out. Understand these distinctions and you will know how to better approach your communications with a particular person. And that will increase your likelihood that you can persuade them to sign on the dotted line. 2. How will your process work?You need to have an understanding of how your process will work beyond the simple lead>prospect>customer path. How are you going to qualify your leads?Once qualified, are you going to treat them as a unit, or will you have different approaches for difference classifications?Are you going to give precedence to one group over another?How will you identify the pain in your prospects?How will you persuade them to buy?Will you have an incentive to convince the reluctant ones?Will you have separate teams for lead generation and sales?Will you outsource any of your generation or sales efforts?What sort of customer retention programs will you put in place after the sale? There are hundreds of details that must be addressed if you are to get the most out of your efforts...and deciding them on the fly can be costly. Perhaps even more costly than not deciding them at all. It's best to sit down and try to map out all of the possible variations in the lead>prospect>sale process. This will be practically impossible, of course. There will always be things you can't possibly foresee until they're staring you in the face. But the more contingencies you plan for, the better off you'll be in the long run. 3. Set successful goals.What is the difference between a goal and a milestone? A milestone simply marks one stage along the way to get there...wherever "there" happens to be. A goal, however, should be ambitious. Challenging. A good goal should have you (or your team) starting the morning eager to get going...the anticipated pay-off is that good. The danger, however, is setting completely unrealistic goals. Dangling the carrot is good...but if it is tangled too far out to reach, eventually the motivating factors are going to wear off. This is especially the case if your team's rewarhttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=210http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=207The world of business is in a constant state of flux and, as we recently discussed, this is great news for lead generation. Every time there is a shift in the business landscape, be it a small ripple or giant quake, the door of possibility opens. Once the door appears, what do you do? There are a few lead generation tests to apply to make sure this doorstep is the right one for you: 1. Is the company size a good match for my products or services?If you are selling a $100,000 solution a company may need your solution but not be able to justify your costs. 2. Is the person I want to talk to behind this door? Make sure you are calling on the corporate head quarters of this company as most high level decision makers are not located at the branch or satellite location. 3. Can I unseat the competition?If the previous two criteria are met, then you are ready to make your move. Most likely, this prospect is a good target for you...but you should be prepared for a battle. Chances are high that this prospect uses the sort of product or service you offer, and you know they are not buying from you. Your job will be to unseat the incumbent vendor who is your competition. Be prepared to deal with the following; The existing vendor is doing an average to good job.This prospect may be under contract and can not switch vendors at this time.Your competition may be a new vendor and the prospect needs time to evaluate them. With these tests at your disposal, you are now ready to make the most of any opportunity that presents itself. Regardless of what you find during the lead generation process, you have just graduated to advanced level new business development.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=207http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=209Warming Up the Cold Call: Choose Your First Sales Qualification Question Carefully Imagine you walk into a store you've never been in before. As soon as you walk in the door, you're approached by someone with a huge, insincere smile and a name tag. "Welcome to THE STORE. Will this be cash or charge?" Startled, you manage to stammer "I-I'm just looking, thanks." "Great! That's just great! Want me to hold onto your credit card for you while you shop?" You'd figure out really quick what matters to people at THE STORE, wouldn't you? It's not about you; it's all about the money. Closing the sale. Your first qualification question should be the least intrusive question that you ask. Why? Your relationship with the decision maker is brand new and you don?t want to appear pushy?instead you want to appear to be consultative and helpful. Asking a question like ?Are you in the market for a new system?? without first developing a relationship is going to be perceived as an interruption. You come across as someone who's only after the sale or your commission?fly by night?inexperienced...not trustworthy. You will increase your chances of getting this question answered if you slow your process and build a relationship first. Some examples of good opening question.. I noticed you are a Microsoft Solutions Partner?does that help you open doors? I noticed that you are using bar-coding in your warehouse; has that been working out? I read recently that you just won Toyota Manufacturing as a new account. Congratulations. That must be huge! (Okay, that's not a question...but it does show that you took the time to find out about their business, AND it sets up the questions about how they plan on handling the influx of new work.) Lead generation is NOT sales. Lead generation IS figuring out whether or not a prospect might be the right kind of person for your product or service. It doesn't matter whether they are in the market for what you sell or not, at this point. When they ARE in the market, will you have your foot in the door. And asking for the sale upfront is not the way to do it. To be successful, you need to leave your sales hat at the door. You aren't trying to sell anyone anything. You're trying to find out whether or not there is a way you can help this person. In order to know that, that person has to tell you what sort of help he or she needs. And before he or she tells you that, they have to trust you first. Forget your product for a minute and focus first on the person on the other end of the line. If they feel like you are interested in their best interests, then when they ARE in the market, you'll be the one they call. And you will have just generated a solid lead. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=209http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=205Wow...so it's 2008. I can hardly believe it, but we're nearly a full decade into the 21st Century. And how different things are today compared to just five years ago, much less ten. It's easy to get caught up in all of the technological advancements, which all seem to have a shelf life of about 15 minutes before they are replaced by something even better. FedEx, then Faxes, then Email, then cell phones, then blackberries...how long until communications devices are hardwired straight into our brains?It's also easy to get caught up in guessing where the future will take us. How different will tomorrow be from today? That benefits and challenges will the second decade of the 21st century bring? What's the next big thing, and how will it effect the Sales Lead Generation game? Well, let's sit back a moment and get some perspective...The World Has Changed Remarkably in the Last 6,000 YearsCivilization has made some remarkable advances since we first poked some seeds in the ground and grew the first village. If those first builders could see someplace like New York or London...heck, even your city or town...I think they;d be amazed. From grinding grain with two stones, to sitting in the air conditioned comfort of your car in the drive-thru. That's quite a leap. Maybe even too much for them to comprehend?I know I can get overwhelmed just by contemplating my options for communicating with my prospects. Sometimes wading through all this technology seems like more of a burden that it's worth. I mean, isn't there a point when enough enough? How do we judge what is a worthwhile advance, and what it just change for change's sake?But change just keeps coming.The World Has Changed, But People Haven'tAnd yet, if you look back at history, people--the actually flesh-and-blood, eat-sleep-drink people--haven't really changed that much. Pick up a copy of a 2500 year old story like the Iliad or the Odyssey, and you'll see the same emotions...the same PAIN...that drive them still drive us today.Greed, hunger, thirst, desire, vanity, pride, jealousy...the human hot-buttons haven't changed one bit. Moving into the future, however idyllic your outlook, I'd wager we won't change that much either. Which is actually comforting. Because no matter what else changes, I know that the techniques for qualifying and persuading prospects that work today, will likely work just as well in the 22nd century.The Tools Are Not the Job.This means that things like email, WebX and whatever technologies appear tomorrow become opportunities for us to discover and try to ease our prospects' pain. Our challenge lies in figuring out which emerging technologies allow us to do this better, faster and cheaper.But in the end, the chances that anything will ultimately replace face-to-face selling are slim-to-none, if you ask me. At most, the face to face might take place via computer screens tied together by the Net. But as long as people are people, there will be no substitute for looking a person in the eye as they try to sell you something...or as you try to sell them something. Because sales is ultimately a form of communication, and for the communication to build trust, the conversation needs to be authentic. And it can be difficult to determine authenticity in an email.That's why convenience ought not be the main motive in choosing the technology that powers your lead generation program. Approach any tool with the mindset of determining if it will let you find out more about your prospect, unearth more prospects, communicate with them or persuade them. he more tools you find to leverage these four areas, the more successful your lead generation (and your sales results) will be. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=205http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=199The Most Common Lead Generation Mistake: Asking The Budget QuestionThere is going to come a time when budget will come into play during the sales process. But the way you approach this question can mean the difference between a successful sale and a bad reputation. Play your cards right, you could turn this one sale into repeat business. Mess it up, and a scared or put-out prospect can spread the word around faster than you can dial the phone.Although you are going to eventually ask some sort of budget question, it is important to understand the dangers in pursuing this information. If you don?t ask the question in just the right way and at just the right time you will moist likely create negative energy between you and the decision maker. When this happens you risk getting bad (or no information at all) thus your sale is about to veer off the road. My advice? Never ask "Do you have budget for this purchase?"Sure, that's the question you want answered. But this is not the way to find that information. Itis the way to shut down the process quickly. The prospect may say no when in fact he does have a budget because he thinks you are prying in to his personal information. Then again, he may say yes and tell you a low ball figure because he doesn?t like the way you do business. Some people are going to take this question to mean "how much can I possibly charge you for this before you'll run?"Asking the question at the wrong stage of your sales cycle can be the kiss of death. Believe or not many sales people ask this question during lead generation (see the previous article about qualification questions). The earlier you ask this question the more dangerous your path becomes. You don't meet someone at a party and say "Hi, Jeff, nice to meet you. I'm Bob. So, what's your net worth?" It's not acceptable in a business environment, either.Asking this question the wrong way is just like sticking your hand in the prospect's wallet. Although we would all like to do that?there are smarter ways to get to the same place. (And you can do it without getting thrown out of the decision makers office.)Getting at the budget in a sale is an art form?it requires a lot of finesse. The real trick is getting the prospect to GIVE you the information you're looking for without having to ask for it. First, by leading off with questions that show you're concerned with their best interests. Then show them how you can help solve their problems. Finally, provide a basic cost-benefit scenario and leave it to them to tell you if the can afford it. You don't even have to ask if the "have enough money."The concept of budget is usually best introduced in the context of ROI. Don't ask if they can afford it. Show them how they CAN afford it. For example: "Our solution can save help you reduce your payroll by x and also give you more capacity and faster processing. This means that you can save X during the next 12 months?the cost of our solution is Y?would a return on your investment of Z be a good fit for you? If so, then we might have just the solution you're looking for.Again, you aren't ASKING them for money, you're SHOWING them how much money they can save/make with your product or service, as well as how you are going to solve their problem(s) at the same time.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=199http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=200When sales people advance to the proposal stage of a sale there is usually reason to celebrate. Most sales people understand the metrics of proposal writing. The more proposals you write the more closed sales you are going to have. But many sales people get carried away with producing proposals in an assembly line fashion in an effort to keep their pipeline filled with many deals that are on the brink of closing. Most sales managers support this kind of activity because sales managers and reps live on the good health of their sales pipeline. If you pipeline is empty you know you have a problem?a pipeline that is filled with opportunity shows a hard working team doing their job.The problem with this scenario is that proposal writing and rewriting can be a problem especially if too many of your proposals are ending up in the great sales ?purgatory?--the place where deals end up stalled between the 'yes' and the 'no.' There is nothing worse than a pipeline filled with opportunities that never have an ending.This happens because the original proposal was not customized to the client's needs. You pitch a pre-packaged system and its really not what the client wants or needs. You've invested so much time qualifying this proepct and ushering him through the sales funnel...why are you trying for that fast and quick deal again? This proposal usually resubmitted again and again, especially if we don?t start asking the right questions.This will only lead to endless rewriting and resubmitting of proposals, because the client said no to your original proposal and instead of taking the time to flush out the real objection ("but I can TASTE the sale! It's that close!") you threw more systems, services and products at him in the hopes that something would stick this time. In the process of trying desperately to reel him in, you're simply pushing him further away ("They're close...but I guess they just don't get it.")The most common reason proposals end up in the sales purgatory is that proposals are emailed, faxed or snail mailed in to the decision maker with the hope that the prospect is going to call you back and buy. When was the last time that happened??? It's a few words on a piece of paper. And no matter how persuasive your proposal, it isn't going to be able to answer any questions that weren't anticipated when it was written.But that's the least of your worries. The real reason that you never send your proposal in ahead of you without having an appointment to discuss it is that without you attached nothing will ever happen. Most of the time the decision maker looks at your total cost (if he looks at it at all) and never see the detail of what they are really getting.If you are attached to the proposal you will never have a better selling moment. In this scenario, the proposal isn't the dead piece of paper in front of you, but the face-to-face exchange that's going on between you. The proposal isn't passive information, it is a dynamic process between two people. It's not "yes or no," it's "What-if and why-not."Most deals are closed at these type of meetings, not by "deals in the pipeline," and if you regualrly miss these events your sales cycle will be twice as long as it has to be...if it doesn't break down entirely.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=200http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=203Have you ever seen a raw diamond in it's uncut, unpolished state? It's really not that impressive. I was surprised the first time I saw one, and thought "who was the first person to see these and think "you know, with a little work, I bet this thing would be pretty."Of course, in the hands of an expert, these cloudy little glass-like chunks become priceless gems, and are the basis of a global industry worth more than $50 billion, annually. And left to my own devices, I'd have passed them by as little more than a passing curiosityI've noticed that many businesses are doing the same thing with a fair number of promising leads. It's not that they are clueless, or even bad at sales. But it takes years of experience and a fair amount of expertise to differentiate between a lead that just needs a little work, and one that's a complete dead end.Like any thing in the business world to really be good you must knowyour stuff. And there are many reasons why perfectly respectable business owners, sales managers and sales reps don't have the extensive base of knowledge that can help.First, education and training in the world of lead generation isn?t easyto come by?most people learn about lead generation from a co-worker wholearned from a coworker and so on. It's like an apprenticeship. And while it's great to learn how to do something from a master, the apprenticeship approach is built on and steeped in tradition. The master is a master because he's been doing the same things the same way for decades. And he learned them as an apprentice from a master who had been doing them the same way for decades.Trouble is, there just aren't formal guilds of salesmen, as there are with plumbers and electricians and the rare artisan crafts that still exist. No overarching organization to help maintain a sense of unity in the "craft" of sales. This education gap creates a lag of innovation that hasn?t kept pacewith changes in the technology and communication revolution.The world (even the business world) moved at a fairly comfortable pace until the '80s, when FedEx appeared and created a next-day sense of urgency. Then came the fax machine. Then cell phones. Then email. Today, you can have a video conference with two dozen people on three different continents just as easily as you can pop your head into the next cubicle.But we're still using the same lead generation techniques that were "perfected" in the early '80s. And communication is just one facet of the changes that have hit the business world in the last two decades.The result is mediocre processes and tools that crash new business programs. To survive, businesses have to move faster than your sales team can work to influence their everyday decisions, much less the really critical ones. Or, at least, faster than they can work now. There are things you can do to make it easier on them (like outsourcing lead generation and qualification).But even that might not be enough. Because sometimes the problem isn't necessarily on the prospect's end. Sales call reluctance has been a problem has been around since the beginning of time. Sales people unnecessarily talk themselves out of cold calling, following up on leads and going on sales calls all the time. They decide not to pursue a lead for any of a thousand reasons: the prospect didn't really SOUND that interested...people in that industry just don't buy...they already HAVE someone else for that...they don't USE this sort of product...etc., etc., etc.Perhaps the prospect WAS interested, but was busy handling some crisis. Maybe that industry just hasn't caught on yet (think about the benefits of being the first to tap a new market!). Maybhttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=203http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=197"Hi there, this is Bob Jones. We have a appointment tomorrow at 10 a.m. I was just wondering if you'd like to cancel?"I know, I know. I exaggerate. No one would intentionally call a prospect and create such an opening. However, if you aren't careful when calling to confirm your sales appointments, you might as well be.Remember, your prospects are busy running here and there putting out fires. If you have gotten far enough to schedule a face-to-face, then the prospect is interested enough to want to listen. Chance are you've done a lot of work to get here.However, once the day rolls around, there will most likely be something more urgent that has risen for the prospect. Calling to confirm can inadvertently give him or her the opportunity to back out of the appointment to put these new fires out. But at the same time, you want to make sure the prospect is expecting you, and the appointment hasn't slipped his mind.One easy way around this is to place your confirmation call after-hours the day before the meeting and leave your reminder on voice mail. He'll get the message first thing in the morning and be expecting you. Could he still cancel? Sure. But if he hasn't gotten proactive and called to cancel before the day of the meeting, then chances are good that he won't do it the day of.One more thing to be wary of: trying to turn a scheduled face-to-face meeting into a phone conference. If it is a lead you are uncertain of, try to do a little better job of qualifying before you set up a meeting. If you really don't think it's worth your time, why waste your time and theirs?The prospect has overcome a lot of resistance to find time to meet with you. If you suddenly ask for a phone conference instead, he might think you aren't that interested in talking to him seriously, and he could decide that YOU'RE not worth HIS time.If circumstances dictate that you can't meet face-to-face for some reason, suggest video conferencing, versus a simple phone call. It's the next best thing to actually being there (and you can actually be almost anywhere!).http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=197http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=192Want to know something that astonishes most business people. Decision makers will rate their level of pain if you ask them.We ask decision makers to rate their present system/solution/vendor on a scale of 1-10 ( with 1 being horrible and 10 being the excellent) if they rate it an 8 or less we ask them what they would do to make it a 10. Once we get one pain point we ask "is there any thing else?" And we keep asking that until they say no. Because the more pain points you can identify, the more you can leverage the benefits you offer as the solution they've been looking for. Once we get them rate their pain, we can get them to open up and begin to discuss their pain in detail...including what we can do to remedy it.So, what is the magic secret that gets prospects to open up and share? Well, to be honest: we simply ask. It really is that simple. Many sales people think that businesses view their pain as a weakness and are loathe to share it with someone they don't know, because people, as a rule, don't like to disclose our weaknesses.We've found exactly the opposite to be the case, however. Yes, they believe this pain is a weakness, in that it is hampering their ability to operate at their full potential. But the truth is, they want to share it. They are eager to tell people about their woes...because they want a solution.Letting you in on their pain isn't putting them in a position of weakness (after all, if they aren't impressed with what you have to offer, they can still say no). Instead, it opens up a chance for someone to present a solution and put their pain to bed for once and for all. They are looking for a solution as badly as you are looking to be that solution, and they are willing to talk about their pain in depth if the promise of a remedy is near.They probably won't volunteer this information on their own (let's face it, they are probably in the middle of something when you call...they are putting out fires all day and aren't in "what's my wishlist" mode). But once you ask, you can almost hear the gears change, and all of a sudden they are telling you what is wrong, what they're doing to try to do it and how it would work in a perfect world.It's just like when you're in pain. You might shake it off, you might put on a stiff upper lip in public. Downplay it. Make sure everyone can see that a little pain isn't going to slow you down. But the minute you get in the doctor's office and he says "so what's wrong," you describe every twinge in detail. And you do it because you're pretty sure he can do something to take the pain away.In this instance, you are the doctor and the prospect is the patient. Ask the question, and if they are experiencing pain, they will hand you the keys to making your sale...if you can adequately solve the problems and soothe the pain they are dealing with.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=192http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=193Is making your sales reps make lead generation cold calls costing you more than you might realize?I'm not saying that cold calling shouldn't be part of your lead generation strategy. Cold calling works. If it didn't, telemarketing wouldn't be such a massive industry. It's not a question of whether it works or not, but the degree to which your current strategy is working for you. You could get a mute monkey to pick up the phone and dial (so the experts say), and you can expect at least a 1% success rate. It's a numbers game.The real question is, how smart is your strategy in playing the game. Sure, if you put out effort, you will get a return. But the smarter your strategy and tactics are, the better your return will be. Run the numbers and you might find that having your reps make cold calls is actually costing you an amount that will surprise you.As an example, let's say you have a great sales team. The real cream of the crop. Once the prospect is warmed up and in the active sales conversation with your reps, they can close the sale with impressive speed. In fact, you pay them for their remarkable ability to close...and with good reason. When they close, you make money (and so do they). Paying them is an investment in the success of your company.Here's the $64,000 question (perhaps literally!): how much time are they wasting with cold calls? If they are touching prospects for the first time, there is little chance they are in a position to close the sale on that call. There is little chance they will actually be able to funnel that call deeper into the sales cycle. In fact, there is at best a 50/50 chance that the cold prospect is even interested in the kind of product or service you offer. So that's 50% of your team's cold-calling time that is potentially wasted. Sales they will never close. Money you will never see.These people are your closers, and you are killing them by setting them up to fail half the time.Now, let's assume for the sake of argument that your sales force ISN'T top notch. Let's assume they are average. Or even sub-par. That numbers game is looking even more bleak, isn't it? If they're facing a struggle with pre-qualified prospects, what chance do they have in qualifying a cold prospect? And how much is that wasted time costing you versus time spent on actually selling.Okay, enough with the hypotheticals, let's look at the basic math: what is your average sale? $25,000?, $50,000? $100,000+? Do you also have re-curing revenue?Now look at what you are paying your sales rep. 50,000, 75,000, 100,000+? If your rep spends 50% of their time cold calling, the real loss here is that they are spending so much of their time cuing up their next deal that they are not spending enough time preparing for and getting in front of qualified prospects engaged in the activities that lead up to making sales. Cold calling not only takes that time away from selling, but the time it takes to shift gears from prospecting mode to selling mode.Are you still wondering why they aren't making their goals?Having sales reps makes sense because the cost of your goods and services is significantly greater than what you pay your reps...but when you take your reps off line and push them to cold call because they have no pipeline of new business opportunities you are just making the problem worse.If you are going to hire great closers, it only makes sense to give them leads that they actually have a chance to close. They will be more confident and more productive and you'll make more money (and so will thttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=193http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=194In the last post we talked about how cold-calling is killing the performance of your sales team. In a nutshell, if they're selling, they're not filling the pipeline. And if they're not filling the pipeline...soon they won't be selling, because there's no one to sell to.To further compound the problem, if they are paid fully or in part on a commission basis, they are going to want to focus more on making the sale than on developing prospects (a bird in the hand, and whatnot). Besides which, the qualities that make a great closer are not necessarily the same qualities that make a great qualifier.In your favorite restaurant the waiter doesn't seat you (that's the hostess), cook your order (that's the cook) or bus your table afterward (that's the busboy or dishwasher). When you fly, the pilot doesn't print your boarding pass, serve you drinks, load your luggage and clean the plane. When you buy a brand new home, your Realtor doesn't build the home, paint it, landscape it, finance it, and move your stuff in. If businesses as diverse as this divide the tasks involved in the interaction with customers among several specialists, why can't you do the same?The simplest way to ensure you get the best return on investment for your sales team is to let them focus on what they do best: selling. Dividing your lead generation and sales efforts can improve your sales results. There are two options, then--to create an in-house lead generation team operating alongside your sales team, or to outsource your lead generation. Unless you're prepared to go through the process of recruiting, training and developing such a team, the most expedient course would be to outsource. There are several benefits.First, it frees your sales team to focus solely on furthering the sales relationship, ultimately culminating in the close of the sale. Second, by providing them with pre-qualified leads, you enable them to focus their efforts in areas that are more likely to result in successful sales. In addition, by outsourcing your lead generation and management functions, you don't have to train, develop and maintain multiple teams pursuing different function, freeing your sales managers to focus on helping your team make the most of their stronger leads.Outsourcing your leads is an easy way to bring considerable improvement to your sales program virtually overnight with little investment compared with other alternatives. And compared with the cost of paying your salts reps to do their own prospecting, as they are now, it's an investment that pays for itself many times over within a very short time.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=194http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=189You are already investing considerable time and effort into qualifying and developing leads. Is sending literature in addition a waste of time? Are you just duplicating your efforts? Not if you use your literature properly. Your literature is, among other things, an excuse to ask a few questions. Your literature should answer common questions, and reinforce your product or service as a solution to their pain. Once you have identified the prospect as a candidate for your literature, the literature now becomes a valid excuse for another point of contact with the prospect. This is especially ideal for major account leads. When prospects take a long time to develop, every point of contact you can make is a valuable one. Ask them if it is okay to send the literature that you think might help answer their questions. Wait a few days to send it. Then, a few days later, contact them to ensure they receive it and see if there are any additional questions you can answer.Having literature to send to qualified prospects is an ideal way to prolong your exposure to promising prospects. I can't stress enough, though, that the literature should be worth the time they'll invest to look it over. And you must balance answering the questions they might have about how you can eliminate their pain with increasing their curiosity in order to keep them interested in talking to you. You're still prospecting here, it's not time to close the deal just yet.Of course, there ways to offset the costs of literature you want to send. Having e-mailable literature such as a electronic brochure in a PDF file allows you to send graphically appealing literature at a very low cost ( no printing or postage costs). It is simple for your prospect to send your information to others with a click of a mouse if this is a decision requiring multiple approvals. And perhaps more importantly, E-mailable literature allows you to create an opt-in permission based relationship with the decision maker. This opens a new communication channel the decision maker and then allows for a series of follow up conversations that are warm not cold. And anything you can do to create a more two-sided relationship is going to help.What kind of literature should you send? At this stage, less is more; a common mistake is to send too much. The approach is provide a positive overview of your company...you should look good, promote your brand or corporate identity. But your real goal is to make the prospect curious and have him further the conversation. At this stage, literature is the admission ticket to your next sales conversation.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=189http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=190Okay, so we recently discussed the benefits of having literature to send to a prospect. But if it can help persuade a prospect, might it be more economical to start with the direct mail first to warm up a prospect and follow up with a call where you and the prospect are already on common ground?No.The first problem with sending mail prior to making a cold call is that you will need to make sure that your mail is addressed to your key decision maker. If it not then your direct mail follow up program is going to run right off the road. Why? You are trying to synchronize two marketing tactics that have as their common denominator the need to reach your decision maker. Just because putting a direct mail campaign together can be inexpensive, many marketers use that as an excuse to send them out in bulk to many different addresses in the hopes that a few of them will reach the right hands. This is why 5% is considered a remarkable conversion rate in direct marketing circles. Ofcourse, any really good direct marketer will tell you that the best way to increase your conversions is to properly target your campaign.How do you properly target such a campaign? By making sure you are sending your piece to the right person before hand. And the best way to do that...is to pick up the phone and talk to people. Without talking to your prospect you have no idea whether or not they are the right person to talk to in that particular organization. But a quick conversation can determine if they are, and if not, who the right person to talk to is. The chances of getting transferred to the appropriate person are good. The chances of your direct mail piece getting passed to that same person are virtually nil. And even if you have a name and a job title prior to mailing that seems to be on target...you wont be absolutely sure until you talk to this person.So what should you do?Consider setting up a process that re-engineers your direct mail program by putting a phone call first in sequence. This call can collect key information as to who your decision maker is, as well as solicit the needs of your prospect, setting you up for successful future contacts. Not only that, but it will let you know who is interested in your information. And if you are sending information out to people who are expecting ( and even looking for) it, then your piece is more likely to get read---and read by people who are more likely to act upon it.For a piece like this, early on in the process, your call to action might be as simple as running some numbers or identifying key concerns in anticipation of your next call. That makes your next call a more collaborative experience and gets the prospect to start buying into the idea of working with you. Something to the effect of "we understand the issues you face; here's how we solve problems like that, and if you have this information on hand the next time we talk, I can give you specifics as to exactly how we can put our (product/service) to work for you."If you can get them to take this one small step, it builds momentum and makes getting them to take a slightly bigger step next time that much easier. And eventually, this series of increasingly small steps should lead to a sale. But only if they read your piece. And they are only likely to do that if they are expecting it...because you called them first.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=190http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=191Back in the year 2000, email was just making its inroads into normal business communications. Today, it's as vital to day-to-day operations in most companies as your telephone system. It's proven every time there's a hiccup with your company's mail server. Yet many marketers are still hedging their bets as to whether or not it is a viable medium as a marketing tool.Well, let me clue you in: Email marketing is here to stay?.and that means investing in both a list of customer and new business emails is critical. It's not just a strong suggestion: building your own in-house lists should be a priority. There is only one reason most marketers are reluctant to do this: it takes time and expertise. If you aren't already capturing customer and prospect emails, then you are going to have to put a system in place. Creating a system takes time and a solid understanding of email marketing and compliance. Today?s email marketing is fraught with all types of limitations. With this in mind most email marketing fails to live up to expectations. Here are 4 reasons why email marketing fails.1) Own your list vs. leasing: Most reputable email list brokers will not allow you to take possession of an opt-in email list. The fear is that the opt-in lists will fall in to hands spammers. So when you buy an opt-in email list you are blindly leasing a list (that you never see) and that your list broker retains. Your broker will send your message to an audience that you can not truly verify as being qualified. And, as we've mentioned here many times already, the key to successful prospecting (much less sales) is all about reaching your decision maker( and I don?t mean maybe) in developing qualified leads. Owning and managing your emails as a part of an ongoing prospecting and customer service campaign, gives you the opportunity to pre-qualifying your leads before you even add them to your database. 2) With bought lists, not only are you forking out money for something you could be doing better yourself, but you are losing control over the critical function of who belong on your list. Are you reaching your decision maker? Doing a mail merge and clicking send is so easy it feels like shooting fish in a barrel. But if you're buying your list, the barrel just as likely to be full of turtles, or boots, or outdated high school chemistry textbooks. You have no idea what you are buying, much less whether you are emailing your decision maker. And yet, you hit send with a boilerplate message, assuming you are targeting the correct person or level of contact.3) Quality control: The on going management of this list is done by a third party and you have no way of knowing what type of list maintenance is being done to keep the list up to date. Maintaining a list is no easy task as it requires ongoing verification and frequent updating. Keep in mind that you will never know the condition of an opt-in list unless you own and manage it. 4) On going fees: Each time you send email your opt-in list you are incurring on going licensing fees. Timehttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=191http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=187Most sales people think leads come in three different flavors: Hot, warm and cold.Not so?sales leads come in many many flavors, shapes and sizes?each one requires a unique sales follow up protocol that depends on what I call the ?sales lead?s DNA?. What is sales lead DNA? Just like human DNA which is the instruction book used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms, sales lead DNA can be compared to a set of blueprints upon which your sales lead was generated.Sales lead DNA may contain your target sic codes, the level of contact of your decision maker, the unique set of pain points captured in your initial conversation, competitiveness of your marketplace, geography, company size and the list goes on. Understand your sales lead's DNA makeup and you can predict they will behave in different situations with surprising accuracy.Why understanding saleslead DNA so important? 1) It helps you better understand how to approach your decision maker. The more you know about the specifics of your lead's business, market and industry, the more you understand the factors that drive your decision maker's decisions. And the more you understand about the things that drive his decisions, the more effective you will be in making sure you are on the upside of one of those decisions. Come to him saying "here I am, here's what I can do," and you'll have as good a shot as the next guy. But come to him saying "here you are, and here's where we can go together...and here's how and why it's a perfect fit for your business". You will be two steps ahead all because you took the time to figure out the lead's DNA.2) Sales lead DNA allows you to take a reality check when things do not go your way as you can point back to inherent characteristics of a lead that make it more or less challenging. When you have a lead that seems perfect, and then ends up slipping off the line inexplicably, having a detailed DNA report of that lead can help you try to identify where things might have gone awry. Maybe companies who are going through a restructuring aren't the best candidates for your product or service. Maybe the budget wasn't there after all? Go through your factors and see if you can discover what it was that caused the lead to not pan out.3) Understanding your sales lead DNA allows you conduct lead development process improvements by tweaking your chemistry. Periodically review the factors in your sales DNA database (or however you are tracking them). See if you can find correlations between certain factors and your successes or failures. If there is a factor that is consistently converting, then you need to clue your lead generation team into it. If there is a certain factor that keeps rearing its head in your failures, examine your lead management and sales procedures to see if you can figure out why (and what you can do about it).4) Lead generation diagnostics can be done scientifically. Is it the sales lead script, list or lead generator? By putting your DNA histories through a thorough analysis, you can see results by factor, industry, and sales rep. If you're tracking your process as well as the leads' DNA blueprints, then you can see what sort of factors are causing issues with which reps and where ihttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=187http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=183Don?t read anything in to your sales appointment?no shows? just get the reschedule and move on. In business, we all have a string of fires that must be put out. You run through your to-do list for the day, putting out countless little fires along the way, and show up for your appointment in spite of everything...to find that the prospect has had to cancel. You might conclude that this prospect was an unqualified lead. Or perhaps he is just rude or is feeling remorse for setting the meeting in the first place. After all the trouble you went through just to make the call or meeting on time, you are feeling great frustration...is your system broken?The fact is that a very small percentage of these leads ARE unqualified and that is a reality of prospecting...some prospects have a problem saying "no" and therefore they get caught up in the prospecting "net" we cast. This is not something you want to fix. Every prospecting effort that produces great leads should also produce "unqualifieds" and as long as this percentage is under 10%( sometimes higher depending on your business) of total leads you should accept this as an occupational hazard of being in sales.It is better to have to deal with a few unqualified prospects than to miss even one qualified prospect, right? But, as we said, these unqualified leads are relatively few. So why are prospects who you have great initial calls with you and who have significant pain and have proven to have motivation to solve a problem ending up on your "no show" report?Simply put, because you aren't the only one with fires to put out. Chances are, your prospect has fires to put out ,too...fires that are every as bit as urgent to him as yours were to you. Unfortunately, in the grand scheme of things, you are probably not as important to the prospect as the prospect is to you. Here are a few things to think about to put it in perspective.1)Don't forget you are the seller and when you line up to talk to the decision maker you must take your place at the end of the line. Who is ahead of you? The decision maker's clients (fire), boss (fire), wife (fire), kids (fire), co-workers (fires galore) and a host of little brush fires that burn continuously in the decision makers work day, month and year.2) There is an unspoken rule out there...if you are selling me something then I can make you wait, stand you up, not return your phone call and otherwise ignore you. After all, I'm busy trying to keep my world from burning down around me. Sure this is frustrating but the biggest mistake here is to conclude that this behavior is an indication that the prospect is no longer interested.3) If the appointment reschedules move on...and if it fails again reschedule it again and go with the flow.At best, when you approach a prospect, you are a break in his long day of putting out fires. At worst, you are just another fire that needs to be put out. Even if you are trying to sell the ultimate tool to help him fight fires, if he agrees, he's got to find the funding---maybe even fight to get approval---to go ahead with your product or service.In the end, all you can control is your own attitude. Do everything in your power NOT to appear as one more fire to be put out. You can't control how the prospect perceives you, you can only control how you present yourself and how easily you are willing to give up.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=183http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=184 Does it really make sense for your sales team to be conducting their own lead management program? There is something to be said for dividing your sales operation. We've already talked about the difference between lead generation and lead management. Now I want to discuss a bit about how lead management differs from your sales effort. As we've seen, lead management demands a fairly long-term strategy. Sure, some might result in immediate sales, but others might take a little finessing over time. The first question I want you to consider is whether it's fair to ask your sales force to undertake lead management. Most sales people have varying levels of computer experience, little time for an extra load of administrative work at the end of 55 hour week, and are not paid to think long range (they make most of their money on sales they write this week, month or quarter).If your sales people are good at closing the deal with highly qualified prospects who are ready to commit, then you might make better use of their time by relieving them of lead management tasks. Moreover, if you are paying them on a commission basis for the sales they make, you are cutting into valuable income-earning time by asking them to keep up with administrative tasks. That said, most lead management programs fail because there are a lack of procedures and the administrative support to make them work. Your sales people's time is most productively spent selling. All of your managers are busy managing your sales staff. And it can be more in depth and time-consuming than your assistants or clerical staff can keep up with. It might be time to take a look at outsourcing your lead management to an organization with the resources to properly manage your leads. Outsourcing lead management makes sense. Here is why; if your leads are pushed to an outsourced lead management firm then you can have all of your leads qualified before your sales team even touches them...that means your team only sees the ?A? leads. Your longer range leads are databased properly and re-qualified at some later date not by your sales reps but by your outsourced lead management team. Those leads are then pushed to your reps if and when the lead matures in to an ?A? status. So, if your sales team seems to be under-performing AND are complaining about having to handle administrative work that doesn't relate to immediate sales, the simple solution to your problem just might be to let someone on the outside handle the long-term lead management tasks for you. The benefits of this are as follows; all your leads are qualified with the same criteria, you can therefore determine if your lead sources (web, direct mail, trade show etc.) are working for you. Your team is happier because they are only working with the ?A? leads...this increases key selling time and thus your investment in lead management is going to produce solid ROI. You hired your staff for their ability to sell; outsourcinglead management functions can let them focus more on the task you are paying them for, and increase their productivity. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=184http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=185Lead generation can be seen as a buffet. You are faced with many choices, almost all of which look appetizing. However, you never really know until you take that first bite whether it is going to be something savory or not. Let's first look at those prospects who jump out at us, eager to do business asap as a result of our cold call; we'll call them Spicy (over-eager prospects who want to sign NOW), Medium (encouraging, but with reasonable reservations about your offering) and Mild (eager for information, but slow to move).Spicy ? This prospect displays a high level of interest, saying "your timing is great...so glad you called!" Watch out for this prospect as he/she may not be the best sales lead. Often prospects who are willing to skip all the logical steps in the sales cycle may be a prospect who has so much pain (and has neglected it too long) he is now in a panic to find a fix. Unfortunately, depending on the problem (and how long it has been a problem) such prospects may be beyond help. Although these leads are rare, many sales people believe that a prospect who is willing to move very quickly is the most qualified lead out there. Eagerness is far from the best criteria to judge a lead by. Desperation does not equal qualification.Medium -This prospect has pain usually on a scale of 6-8 with 10 having very little pain. This lead also has a fair amount of skepticism, which is normal when a prospect is serious about fixing a problem. This prospect meets you at the door, but is far from throwing it open and inviting you in for tea. He is going to throw up sales objections, ask you questions about your past experience, make you demonstrate your knowledge of their industry...in other words you should really be put through a buying or screening process. The medium prospect is looking to you as a potential solution, not clinging to you like a life raft.Mild - Prospects that have low motivation may lack the knowledge to understand what you do and how you do it...these folks require education so they are probably not ready to advance in to the sales cycle although they may engage you in great conversation and want to pick your brain. Once they understand your solution, they might be very receptive and step right on into your sales cycle. However, in most cases, you are simply pointing them at the door and saying "here's an opportunity." They will probably need time to do their homework and look a little more in-depth at your solution. These folks also may lack the internal support for your solution or lack the money to secure your services...in which case they would be great candidates for your lead management program, during which you can answer questions, provide more information or otherwise facilitate the decision-making process without wasting the time of your sales reps. Your buffet will probably have a good deal of mild dishes on it, which is fine. With the right ingredients, your mild prospect will likely make a fine meal eventually. When you happen upon a "happy medium," savor it. Make the most of it. Just make sure you are careful with Spicy prospects. Sometimes you won't know until you've been burned...but once you have been, it's a lesson you'll remember for a long time. Keep these principles in mind and you'll be enjoying the feast for a long time to come.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=185http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=182 What is the difference between lead generation and lead management? It's quite simple, but if you don't know the difference, you could end up making some costly mistakes in your efforts. Here's the gist: you need lead generation when you don't have any leads...you need lead management when you have plenty of leads but you are having a difficult time managing these leads. See? I told you the difference was simple. Most sales organizations have both problems. I know that seems counter-intuitive; how could you have too many leads and not have any leads at the same time? Well, when you are not managing your sales opportunities properly, then you have a difficult time discerning qualified leads from unqualified and you end up missing many exceptional opportunities. Therefore, you need a never ending supply of new leads to continue the search. It is a vicious cycle that results in spinning your wheels---you spend precious time uncovering new leads that could be much better spent properly following through on existing leads. There are two different types of leads you need to make a concerted effort to identify: the long-term lead and the short term lead. The short term lead is the one who is ready to make a decision right now: yes or no, thank you very much. In lead management the most challenging moment for most sales organizations is managing the long range lead. Why? Consistency is of vital importance in your management practice. Long range opportunities need to be managed with procedures that everyone on the team uses. In other words if there are 6 sales reps on your team you can't have 6 different lead management procedures. Everyone needs to be classifying leads in the same manner, and following up with the same (or at least similar) techniques.You need a centralized database where this lead management process is conducted. A system everyone has access to, so they can all see the notes on existing leads made by other reps. This is a simple means of internal communications so no one slips through the cracks...and no one is help in the system against their will. Leads need to be ranked with the same criteria...and long range opportunities should be date sensitive for follow up in the correct time frame.Manage your existing leads properly, and you won't have the same need for a constant, bottomless stream of new leads. If your management program is handling prospects properly, you will relieve a lot of stress from your generation program. That will save you time and money...as well as create an increase in the number of qualified leads you see consistently over time. http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=182http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=181Improving the sound of your lead generation staff.What should your lead generator sound like? James Earl Jones? Tommy Lee Jones? Barnaby Jones...okay, probably not Barnaby Jones. But I'm actually not talking about the particulars of tone, accent and inflection. As far as those go, find someone whose voice is pleasing to your ear, and chances are, most people will agree. Here, I'm talking more in terms of the delivery of your information.So what should your lead generator sound like? Friendly? Courteous? Confident? Of course. However, one of the biggest and most common mistakes in training lead generators is to start with the premise that lead generators should sound just like you on the phone. No one but you can sound like you?and if you try to force your style on someone else you and your employee are in for a very frustrating moment.Your goal in training your rep should be to bring out the best in their style and help them use their unique assets. With this in mind the first thing you should do is listen to them speak off the phone and in normal conversation?this is a very telling moment because your rep's natural speaking intonation, articulation, modulation and inflection should be one of the key reasons why you hired this person in the first place. This person is going to be the face...or rather, the voice of your business.Assuming you like what you hear?your goal is to help your rep recreate all of these great assets in lead generation conversations with live prospects. The key is to train your rep on your basic procedures, technology and strategies without trying to change the way they have been speaking all of their lives. It is very common to see your rep change their style when they begin to learn your lead generation script. This is usually the result of them trying to adapt themselves to fit into something that doesn't feel natural to them. See my early post regarding script or no script.Your task as trainer to help your rep adjust to a structured conversation while still being themselves?.you are looking for the best of worlds?adhering to the structure of your sales strategy and qualification process and at the same time be natural, not staged or robotic. One of several ways to do this is to give them lots of information about the company, product or service in question, and have them practice talking about the information and answering questions about it. It's easier to talk naturally about a subject, the more you know about it. And even if you do have them use a script, chances are they will do a better job with it now that they the facts behind what they're talking about.Its important to let your rep know what you are looking for and that you like their style and sound?you decided to give them the job (to give them your money) because you liked it. The last thing you want to do is change the very thing you hired them for. In fact, work with them to help them find the best way to adapt the script to their individual style. I always like to role play the script and introduce my style and make it clear that my style is all about me and not about them.Good voice work is more a talent than a commodity. Work to nurture that talent. Invest in cultivating your reps' individual styles and building on their strengths, and you'll see the dividends almost immediately. You'll start hearing more, better, stronger conversations and seeing the results in positive outcomes from those calls as well.Anhttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=181http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=179Poor quality sales leads? Not enough sales leads? Noleads at all?There?s a classic joke where a man has to have his car towed to the mechanic?s shop. He watches as the mechanic pokes methodically around beneath the hood. After a while, the mechanic closes the hood and wipes his grease-covered hands off with a rag.?Well,? asks the man. ?Do you know what the problem is???Yep.? Replies the mechanic, confidently. ?It?s broke.?Sometimes, figuring out what?s wrong with your underperforming lead generation program can feel about as enlightening. It feels like everything is running smoothly, but it?s just not going anywhere. It?s obvious that something in your program is broken?but exactly what that something is isn?t so obvious. Back to our computer analogy from the last post, your program just seems to have suddenly crashed. There are three common reasons why a lead generation program crashes: you?re not reaching the decision maker, your script is shut down before you really get going, or there just isn?t a need for your product or service. Let?s take a look at each of these and see if there?s something we can do about them.1) No contact with decision maker ? do you have the name of your decision maker? This is a vital piece of information that can transform your program almost instantly, and all it takes is a little research on the front end. Dialing without a name will produce low contact rates; when you ask ?who buys [insert your product here]?? you are telegraphing the gatekeeper that you are a sales person and you do not have a existing relationship with the decision maker. The gatekeeper, who is paid to be protective of his or her employer?s valuable time, is likely to shut you down right there.2) Early termination of your phone call or script shut down - This is the most common reason why lead generation programs crash. This is most likely to occur when you sound like you are staged, forced or reading a script. Take the time to learn your script and practice reciting it until it sounds natural and flows easily. This can also happen because your introduction ( this is where you state who you are, what you do and why you are calling) is way too long. Early termination happens early because you have approx 12 sec in the beginning of your call where the decision maker is deciding whether he or she is going to stay on the line. Think of your introduction as the headline of a news article or ad; you have about one breath?s worth of speech to engage your audience, or you?ve lost them.3) No need for your product or service ? Have you found the right mix of companies to call on? For example if you are a website designer you may find smaller companies to be better prospects than larger. Larger companies may have an in-house staff or be working with a dedicated dhttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=179http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=180Adding web presentations to appointment setting programs can enhance your sales lead generation efforts. Back in 1978, when I made my first ever sales call, the thought of doing anything but meeting my client face to face was not an option. Sales was an industry of first names and firm handshakes, of looking your client in the eye and saying their name. That was the way you did it (because that was the way your father did it, and the way his father did it).Back then, computers were the domain of the government, research scientists, taking up whole buildings. There were a few video games, but most were the size of refrigerators and sat in arcades. We had no idea what we were in for in just a few short decades.Welcome to the year 2007 and the maturing of not just the PC, but the internet as well. A time when personal computers are more than just glorified word processors. It is time to update your selling methodology: the internet is the new hotspot for meeting with prospects. No the internet is not replacing the face to face sales call; it?s just changing its purpose and order in the sales process. If this is news to you, you aren?t on the cutting edge. You?re not even a step or two behind. Your competition has discovered WebX and Go to meeting and are talking to their prospects right now, from across town?or across the country. How do we know that? Look at the stats: ? Founded in 1996, WebEx has grown into the worldwide leader in online meeting applications, with 64% market share. ? More than 3.5 million people use WebEx every month to communicate and collaborate online. As for their competition Go to Meeting?we know the numbers are not quite as strong, but when you combine these two, you get a sense of what is really happening in new business development these days---and more importantly, where it?s happening: the first sales call is being done at virtual meetings not on site meetings anymore. Decision makers are more likely to commit to on line meetings because they are faster, more convenient. There is no driving to another venue, no getting situated in the conference room?heck, he might not even have to leave his own desk. He can sit in his chair, sip his coffee, have your meeting, listen to your introduction, and then get right back to work.When a prospect commits to a online meeting it?s not the same as committing to an on site meeting. Online meetings are less intrusive and less interrupting to your prospect?s workflow. There?s a pretty good chance your prospect would PREhttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=180http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=178What's broken?Your lead generation script? Contact list?Lead generator? I like computers. Really, I do. But there are times when they (like any technologically sophisticated object) can confound. When they aren't working the way we expect them to--or more often, the way we want them to--we have to work to figure out if it is broken, if there is a temporary glitch, or if we are simply doing something wrong. Your sales lead generation efforts face the same issues. There are many factors that go into your lead generation process and, when it isn't working well, it can be a challenge to figure out where the problem lies. For the next few posts, we'll be looking at what might be happening in a lead generation breakdown, and what you can do to fix it.There are 3 basic component parts to a lead generation program, and one or all of these items can breakdown. Let's look first at the individual parts: The lead generator, the contact list and the program script. The lead generator is, in a word, you (or perhaps me). The person actively working to generate sales leads is, not surprisingly, a major factor in your generation efforts. Your style, professionalism, attitude, procedures and even the tone of your voice can all affect lead generation. The contact list is another major factor. In essence, your contact list is going to be filled with people who use the sort of products or services you are selling, so it is, in essence, all about trying to sell ice cubes to Eskimos. You could vey well be preaching to the choir. Then again, you could be preaching to a gaggle of circus clowns, or a tank full of exotic tropical fish. Either way, your message is hitting the wrong crowd and you?re wasting your breath. Time to reboot. Finally, the program script is your conversation with the sales prospect. It involves the content, marketing, lead qualification and your ability to pull all of these things together in a logical, short and very concise presentation. If you?re a great lead generator and your contact list is spot on, then chances are good that your words are missing the mark. It could be your delivery, the order of your presentation of key points?or maybe the words themselves just aren?t right. There is a loose connection somewhere, and your message just isn?t getting through. To get a lead generation program working all of these components must work together seamlessly.So how do you know when your lead generation program is broken? This is actually the easy part: you are not producing leads at all, your system is broken. Like a crash site, it is a barren wasteland with scarred and charred earth. It's pretty hard to miss. If it's not completely broken, things get a little trickier. If it needs just repairs then you may be producing leads, but of suspect quality. Or you might be generating quality leads, but just at a trickle...a few here and a few there. In any of these scenarios, the problem could be with any (or even all) of the components we have identified. The trick is identifying the weak link (or links) in your program. Once you can do that, fixing the problem is usually a pretty straightforward affair. Replace or repair the part in question, you your program will be operating smoothly in no time. In our next posts we will be looking at typical sources of problems in lead generation programs, and how to fix them.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=178http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=174Sales leadscripts provide lead generation consistency and qualificationcontrol. If you've ever been to the theater and witnessed a truly engaging performance, though you may not realize it, you know everything you need to know about how to make a sales lead generation script work for you. In a successful play, the actors have all memorized every word they say. There is nothing spontaneous in the dialogue; it is all planned out far in advance. However, the performance: the emotion, the interaction, the nuance are all real; it all occurs in the moment. Here are a few ways this applies to your script: 1. The sales lead script provides a structure for the process. - You know the questions you are going to ask and (if it's a good script) how you will answer the prospect's questions. 2. The sales lead script provides security - If you memorize your script, you know you will ask the right qualification questions and won't forget to cover something important. 3. The sales lead script provides consistency - Everybody on the team is qualifying sales leads the same way, making it easy to rank leads consistently across the organization 4. The sales lead script provides continuity - Anyone can pick up the sales lead in the next phase and know what has been covered and where to start the next conversation. Now, if you've ever been to the theater and witnessed a performance that was left wanting, then you understand the pitfalls of using a lead generation script. Here we'll cover the danger zones to watch out for; 1. The sales lead script is not a crutch - If you let the script serve as an excuse and let yourself get lazy, then your conversation comes off sounding staged. You are not the script, and the script is not the process, it is simply a tool to make the process easier and you more effective. 2. The sales lead script is not a conversation - Unlike acting partners, your sales prospect does not have a script. It is vital to "stay in the moment," as they say on the stage, and listen closely to the prospect. It may require jumping ahead in your script or back-pedaling to clarify a point for the prospect. If you keep plodding along in spite of what your prospect is saying you come off as disingenuous and will fail to connect. 3. The lead generation script is not "my way." - Experienced reps may already have a successful method. The script will have a learning curve that could cause a drop in successes resulting in a loss of morale. Recovery from this slump may be overcome with time, but it might also turn into a long-standing issue that will need to be dealt wihttp://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=174http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=171During lead generationasking for the right person creates on target sales leads. One group of people, the Sherpas, have a lock on guiding explorers and adventurers up the slopes of Mount Everest. To the Sherpas, the mountain is not just holy ground, it is worshiped as a god itself. They live in such close connection with Everest, that they know the mountain like they know their own homes, or their families. It is this connection, not just the geographic proximity that makes them such sought after guides. As a sales person, if you want to find your decision maker quickly, you need to find a lead generation Sherpa of your own. Asking the right person inside the company can really help, if you can find someone who is knowledgeable, personable and willing to usher you through the morass of corporate red tape and help you slip past the usual gatekeepers. Here's how you find your Sherpa--let's assume you want to know the name of the IT director (or the equivalent in the company in question). First, call the company and ask to be transferred in to the IT department. Once someone in IT picks up ask for the person you are looking for by phrasing your question in a manner that defines their position and better targets your specific product or service: "Who is in charge of software development?"At the very least, you will get a name, and often your "Sherpa" will offer to transfer you. Ask for the person who makes this sort of decision, and not some "Title" who may or may not be able to help you. This is a simple way to find your decision maker and can eliminate your contacting the wrong person. Further more, you now have a contact name inside the company and can say simply that "Jan Johnson referred me to you in regards to [your offering]." This beats getting transferred from department to department, hoping to find the right person. Be sure to keep in mind that your guide, like the Sherpa, is going to consider her company ?sacred ground.? While your guide may be exceedingly helpful, she isn?t on your side. The main concern is what is good for her company. If you approach your lead generation contacts from the standpoint that you can help the company be more competitive, more efficient, save money (or whatever), then you should be fine. However, if you come to the table with a ?sales at any cost? attitude and your ?Sherpa? gets burned in the process, it is a stigma that you will have trouble getting rid of not only within that company, but among anyone in her contact list with whom she might share the account of her misaligned trust. That warning aside, as long as you keep everything above water, your guide can help you navigate what could otherwise be a time-consuming maze of corporate bureaucracy. Don't try to do everything yourself. Seek out someone familiar with the landscape to guide you to the right place. You'll save time and you won't be frustrated when you finally reach your decision maker.http://www.manageyourleads.com/blogindex.aspx?BlogId=171