Mark Hunter's Blog, page 45

Monday Motivation Video: Can I Prospect the Week of Thanksgiving?

Just like any other holiday week, the week of Thanksgiving can be a great time to prospect and make sales calls. Why? The reason is simple! Many people who are normally in meetings are now available. Anytime there is a holiday, people’s work schedules change and gatekeepers take time off.

I’ve always found holiday weeks to be the perfect times to sell, because your competition usually thinks it’s a bad week. This gives you the opportunity to make a major impression about how you support your customers.

 

 

Don’t allow others to tell you that it’s a not a great week to prospect.  Whoever is saying that is because they just want to kick back, relax, and justify in their mind that there is nothing to do. It’s an excuse to be lazy.

There is still lots of business to be done; however, it’s not going to happen unless you’re willing to engage and make it happen. Get after it!

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

How to Have More Deals to Close

Sales is like an ATM. Let me tell you why. Last week, I was with a sales manager reviewing the quarterly numbers. What jumped out to me was the lack of deals to close in the final stage. The sales manager zeroed in on it and asked for my help in correcting the situation. Unfortunately, he could not answer the one question I asked him which was this, “how much time are your people devoting to prospecting?”

How can you expect to have deals to close if you don’t first spend time prospecting? Try making an ATM withdrawal when you don’t have any money in the account, and you can’t do it. If you want to take money out of an ATM, you have to put money into it first! You feed the ATM and it will give back to you. Sales is no different! It’s why this is the first rule of my 10 Rules of Prospecting. Watch my video to learn more about rule #1:

 

 

Is your sales ATM not producing enough for you? Your sales ATM is your sales pipeline and it comes down to one simple thing: no one is better equipped to put money (sales leads / prospects) into your sales ATM than you. Even if marketing gives you leads, it’s your job to qualify them and move them through.

Don’t blame me when your ATM is empty and then continue to tell me how you haven’t had time to put money into it. You fill your sales ATM when you prospect, and it starts with focusing on how you use your time. You can’t say you’ll prospect when you get everything else done, because trust me, you’ll never have everything else done.

The amount of time you need to commit to prospecting is a response to the number of deals you need to close and your closing ratio. Here’s the easiest way to look at it: compare your results to your quarterly goal. The benchmark I use is: “75% / 2x.” This means that if I am finishing at 75% of quota, then I need to spend “2x” or double the amount of time I am now prospecting. Don’t say that you don’t need to make a change. Start using this ratio as your benchmark.

The time you spend prospecting is the foundation you put in before building a house. The bigger the foundation, the bigger the house. Once the foundation is in and the house is going up, it is too late to say you want to build a bigger house. The time to decide that was when you were working on the foundation.

Your goal is simple: build as big of a foundation as possible. Doing so, you’ll be able to put more money into your ATM.

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

What is the Best Way to Follow-Up With a Prospect?

Before I even get into the best way to follow-up with a prospect, I need to be firm about one thing: never start what you can’t finish! Thinking you can make a couple prospecting calls and that’s all it will take is foolish. Similarly, thinking you’ll fill your pipeline by making a bunch of calls one day but knowing you’ll never be able to follow up. Let me say it again: don’t start what you can’t finish!

The best way to follow-up with a prospect is repetition. That’s what it takes! It’s no different than Nike or Apple and the amount of advertisements they run, because they know it will take multiple ads to get you to buy. My gut tells me that what you’re selling and who you are aren’t as famous as Nike or Apple, so that means you need to be doing the same and even more.

 

 

First, let me remind you that your prospect isn’t thinking about you, so you have to be the one to lead. Also, don’t forget that when you lead, you’ll most likely be interrupting them – that’s a good thing! Your prospect will not appreciate you and how you can help them until they get to know you and what you’re selling. Interrupting is part of the prospecting process – don’t think you can avoid it. In sales, failing to interrupt is failing to succeed.

Second, always remember that your prospect could care less about you. They only care about their issue, their problems, and their needs. The primary purpose of each of your calls to them is to be 100% focused on whoever you’re reaching out to. Every single one of your comments, questions and statements has to be all about them. If you think you need to send them a link to your website, stop that thinking. Honestly, it’s a waste, because your prospect doesn’t care! And if they do care, they can always do a Google search to find you and your company. Trust me, it’s not that hard.

The most effective way to connect with a prospect is by using whatever they may have shared with you in an earlier conversation in your followup. Without a doubt, this is the most effective approach as it tells the prospect you remember and you value them and what they say. Gee, that’s a novel thought for a salesperson! It’s quite simple. All you need to do is take a comment the prospect shared with you in an email or a phone call and follow up with them. Just restate the comment and ask them to explain more. You could also share another example or add your own comments to what they said, maybe sharing something you have in common. The approach is especially good when you have a prospect not responding to your calls after your first call. Grab their attention more by making the subject line read; “You mentioned…” Make the first sentence read; “When we talked last you said, ………………..” Excuse me, but who isn’t going to open and read an email that is 100% completely about what they said?

Using what the prospect shared is an approach I’ve been using for years and in various stages of the prospecting process. I’ve used it early on, and I’ve used it deep into the selling process. It fits no matter what. The important piece is for you to use what they shared and keep adding more value to it.

Following up and adding value is important and it’s why I believe the old sales technique, “ABC” (Always be Closing) is dead! That may have worked for Alec Baldwin in the movie, Glengarry Glen Ross but it does not work today. “ABC” has been replaced with “ABV,” known as “Always Bring Value.” Each communication must bring new value, so this means you never repeat anything. If the customer won’t respond to your emails or your voicemails or your carrier pigeon messages, it’s because they could care less about what you have to say. Walk into any restaurant and you’ll see they offer many different many items – even In-N-Out has variety! Why do you think they do this? It’s simple: they know that not everyone likes the same thing. This means that you better provide variety. You don’t know what your prospect will respond to, because of exactly that, they’re a prospect!

A big trap some salespeople fall into is relying on email as their primary follow-up tool. This is dangerous. I don’t know about you, but won’t ever allow a plumber in my house with only one tool. I want the plumber to have a big truck with a lot of tools. It’s the same for you, so use multiple approaches. Just because you like email or social media does not mean your prospect does. You have to reach them where they live. Yes, this means using minimally the telephone, voicemail, and email. It may also include instant messaging, postal service, social media or any number of other methods depending on who you’re reaching out to. It’s your job to reach the prospect, not the prospect’s job to reach you!

Finally, don’t give up! Just because a prospect isn’t responding does not mean they’re not interested. How do you know? You don’t, until you’ve had the opportunity to engage with them at length. Silence is only a moment in time. Silence is broken when you provide a reason for the prospect to break the silence.

If you’re asking me what’s the magic number of contacts and the frequency with which to reach out? I will tell you bluntly- there is no magic number, but you should start by taking the number of times you do reach out right now and minimally double it. Don’t think you’re done until you reach at least 20 contacts. Remember, if you can help the prospect, it’s your obligation to reach out to them. Failing to do so is considered sales malpractice in my book!

Jump onto my website and download my free ebooks on prospecting. Here’s the link! Don’t forget to watch the video and subscribe to my YouTube channel. It’s all there to help you be successful! I know I can help you so yes, it’s my duty to continue to interrupt you.

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

Monday Motivation Video: Customer Facing Time and What It Means to You

How much of your day is spent doing actually what you’re supposed to be doing? Your job title includes the word “sales.” Your job description has the word “sales” spelled out probably 17 times. If your job is to sell, why are you spending so much of your day doing everything but selling?

Video: Customer Facing Time- What Is It?

 

 

“CFT” stands for Customer Facing Time. It is a metric that matters and includes whatever amount of time you spend talking with customers. This might be in person, on the phone, video call, or email – either way, it doesn’t matter what form of communication, but that you’re interacting with a customer. Honestly, it’s a shame that we even need to have this measuring tool. You would think if sales is what we do, then we do it. Sadly, that is just not the case!

If you don’t wake up each morning thinking about CFT, it’s amazing how quickly the day can slip away. Too easily, you can get caught up in taking care of other stuff, handling requests, and doing everything but selling. The biggest confusion around CFT is the tendency to amp it up by babysitting customers that do not need a babysitting service.

CFT is about creating incremental sales. If your focus is on babysitting existing customers, I’ve got another metric for you: “CSE,” known as Customer Service Engagement. I’ll save my CSE explanation for another time; let’s focus on CFT.

Your objective is to focus on doing everything you can to increase your Customer Facing Time everyday.

I can’t talk about CFT without calling out sales managers, so listen up. You play such a key role in this. It’s your job to not throw constant tasks at your salespeople. Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that it will only take a salesperson 15 minutes to do the “quick” thing you want them to do. That’s a myth! Things always take longer than you expect. Each of your requests does one thing: takes time away from CFT!

Now, ask yourself this question: What will earn me and my sales team next year’s top performers trip to Hawaii? Will it be getting reports done on time or blowing past your quota?

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

Do You Have A Mental Block That Keeps You From Prospecting?

Why are you letting what shouldn’t control you take control? Unless Star Wars’ alien forces are controlling your mind, Elon Musk is programming your brain, or Tesla’s are taking over, you are in control of your mind.

Video: The Mental Block People Have With Prospecting:

 

 

The mind games people play regarding why they cannot prospect are simply that, games. Honestly, I could list more than thirty different excuses I’ve heard about why people can’t prospect. I hear people say it is easier to get in shape or lose weight than it is to prospect people they don’t know.

Prospecting comes down to one very simple process and yes, it is simple so let’s not over complicate it!

Here it is:

· Self-discipline in doing what you say you are going to do.

· Belief in how you can help others

· Commitment in following through and not allowing obstacles to stop you.

I will break down this process step by step starting with the need to be self-disciplined. Regardless of who you are or how disorganized you may claim to be, you are naturally self-disciplined in a number of areas. For example, you don’t drive on the wrong side of the road, you don’t fail to eat nor do you neglect to pay the bills. You have more self-discipline than you realize. Often, I see people using the lack of self-discipline merely as an excuse to not do the work.

When it comes to prospecting, self-discipline comes down to doing what you say you are going to do. If you think you’re an exception and have zero discipline, set yourself some very easy goals. This could look like telling yourself you only have to make one phone call per day. The key to increasing your self-discipline lies in making achievable goals. As you achieve them, you’ll start to feel more confident and motivated. A person who has never run in their life doesn’t just one day say that they’re going to run a marathon tomorrow. No! Running a marathon takes days and days of practice. The same principle applies to prospecting.

The second step in the process is an unwavering belief in your ability to help others. You gain this steady belief by writing down all of the ways you help people. Do this right now. Take your time, and build a long list. Make it so long that with each line, you start to feel more and more proud of yourself and how you help others. Prospecting is about helping others. It’s not about manipulating people; that’s a fable that has been dead for years.

If you believe in how you help others, your eyes will be opened. It will change your view on why you reach out to people. You’re no longer reaching out to just sell them, you’re reaching out to help them. Yes, you’re helping them when you sell them; however, I see it as a contract where two parties are looking to help each other.

The third and final step in the prospecting process is the importance of the follow-through and not allowing obstacles to get in the way, no matter what. The biggest roadblocks are the lack of time and the fear of rejection. It’s crazy how much the two can feed off of each other. When we fear rejection, it’s amazing how quickly we blame it on not having enough time to make the call. When we don’t have time, we use the excuse that the prospect doesn’t want to hear from us.

If you think you will be successful by making a single call, try again. You won’t even see that in a Disney movie! Good things take time. The people you’re reaching out to aren’t expecting your call, so they don’t know how you can help them. If they knew how you could help them, they’d already be your customer!

Think of prospecting like a mountain stream. The stream doesn’t run a few feet and then stop. No, it keeps going and going and as it continues down the mountain, more streams flow into it making it bigger and bigger. The same concept applies to prospecting. Your initial call is like the mountain stream high up in the mountains; it’s nothing but very, very cold water. The water is flowing downhill…somewhere. You’re not even sure where it is going except to a lower elevation. The same goes for you. You’re not sure how the prospect will respond until you have a conversation and exchange information with them. The creek never stops. It keeps going and going, and as it flows downhill, it gets bigger. This is no different than how you prospect. You don’t stop prospecting while continuing the process. Along the way, you gather more and more information which will help you better serve the customer.

Prospecting begins with you! Don’t blame it on the lack of prospects or the lack of having a viable product. Start with yourself and you’ll be amazed at the results you can achieve.

Check out my YouTube channel here. I have numerous videos on prospecting out there just to help you become the prospecting expert. Take advantage of these free resources!

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

How Many Times Can I Contact a Prospect?

The answer is far more than you realize! The vast majority of salespeople are unsuccessful because they do not contact their prospects enough. Every salesperson struggles with getting great leads. The problem is most salespeople don’t know what to do with a great lead after they get it. Frankly, it reminds me of a dog chasing after a car. I’ve always wondered- what would they do if they actually did catch the car?

Check out my video where I share a number of additional insights:

 

 

We have to remember that sales is about interrupting people. I doubt you had anyone wake up this morning excited to know that you might call them. Prospecting is about interrupting; that’s the big issue salespeople must get over. The salesperson makes a couple of calls, but the prospect doesn’t respond. Quickly, the salesperson makes the conclusion that the prospects aren’t interested. Big mistake!

Why should the prospect get excited for your call? They don’t know you nor do they know what you sell and most of all, they don’t know what you can do for them. You can’t expect the prospect to suddenly realize who you are and how you can help them in a single message. There’s a reason why even the biggest consumer brands continually advertise. It’s simple! They know they need to if they want to remain a big brand. If Apple, Coke, Chevy and numerous other brands need to spend billions on advertising, there must be something we can learn. We need to create awareness and a lot of it! That means that we have to be willing to message the prospect far more than we used to.

When I say “message the prospect,” I’m not talking about email. I’m referring to using every possible medium the prospect may see and respond to. The telephone is definitely at the top of the list. Despite what many might say or think, it’s still a powerful prospecting tool, and its effectiveness increases when used in conjunction with email and other mediums.

The exact number of times you may have to contact will vary based on several things including the buyer, the frequency of the purchase, size of the purchase and how it is going to be used. The example I like to use is if I were selling temporary labor to companies who use temporary labor daily, I wouldn’t hesitate to contact these companies daily. Conversely, if I were selling major industrial equipment to a company that only buys every five years, my contact frequency would only be every couple of weeks. The key is to make a different contact message each time. You must bring new value. Nobody will be successful repeating the same thing time and time again.

Prospecting is about being focused and not giving up. You can’t be a successful salesperson without being great at prospecting.

One last thing, I can’t stress these two things enough! First, read my book High-Profit Prospecting. In it, you’ll find tons of strategies that you can use right now to grow in your prospecting skills. Second, call me so we can talk about making me apart of your next sales meeting. Your success and the success of those on your sales team is dependent upon us connecting. Let’s make it happen!

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

Monday Motivation Video: Success Is What You Do For Others

You won’t find success by comparing yourself. True success is found in helping others. At the end of every day, be certain that you did your job well and are better than you were the day before. Take control of success by making a positive impact on those around you.

 

 

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

Sales Myth: Provide Great Customer Service and You Won’t Need to Prospect

It’s time to put to rest the idea that the only thing you need to do to grow your business is to provide excellent customer service to your existing customers. You believe great customer service alone will prompt your customers to tell others and then you’ll get all the customers you want? Wrong!

If you believe that, you still think WeWork is a $50 billion dollar company, Theranos is going to revolutionize health care and the New York Jets are going to win the Super Bowl. Nope! It’s a sales myth lazy salespeople allow themselves to believe, so they don’t have to prospect.

Watch this video:

 

 

I am all in favor of great customer service. Believe me, it’s essential if you want to stay in business. I also agree that the easiest way to increase business is with your existing customers; however, I don’t believe for a moment that that’s enough to really grow sales.

Sales is about creating incremental opportunities. That means actively prospecting to create new customers. It’s interesting to see that those people who don’t like doing this work are the ones who buy into this sales myth of only having to care for existing customers.

When we place our future on the status of existing customers, we give up control. Things might be great while the customer is growing, but just as a company can grow, they can also shrink. I can only imagine what the Sears salesperson who was committed to providing great customer service to grow their business is thinking today? Don’t bet your future based on a couple of customers who you think are great despite how good they might be today. It’s not enough! They alone won’t help you achieve long-term sustainable growth.

This problem is magnified when management puts too much emphasis on salespeople having to handle things with an existing account. The constant nagging from management regarding existing customers and the need to make sure you, the salesperson don’t lose them only perpetuates this myth. With management fixated on existing accounts, salespeople find themselves with limited time to prospect. With limited time to prospect, it becomes quite easy to believe the myth of growing sales just with great customer service.

There’s a reason why companies need to have people dedicated to taking care of existing customers- it’s called customer service. These people do this job best. Best of all, when you have a customer service team responsible for meeting the needs of existing customers, your sales team is freed up to go out and prospect!

Be sure to check out my latest ebook: 50 Prospecting Truths!

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

Checking In Is Not Something You Say to a Prospect

“I’m checking in” is what you say to a hotel clerk, not to a prospect. Why do you think the line you use when checking into a hotel is one you can use with a prospect? If your prospect waiting standing behind a counter waiting for you just like the hotel clerk does?

Check out my video:

 

 

You’re in sales, so that means creating value for the prospect. If you say, “I’m just checking in” you’re admitting to the prospect that you don’t have anything else you can bring to them. It’s saying all of the value is already on the table. You’re telling the prospect that you’re desperate. To the smart prospect, it says the time is right to negotiate for a major discount.

When you follow up with a prospect, whether it be the first time or the 100th time, you have to bring more value by doing one of the following things:

· Ask for more insight about something they shared in a previous meeting

· Engage with a question to help uncover a deeper need

· Share a new insight of interest to them

· Clarify or answer a question from a previous meeting

· Build on something happening in the prospect’s business or life

· Ask or share about something going on with one of their competitors

· Educate them on a key piece of industry information

Don’t think for a moment there’s nothing more you can share, because they’re always is. The list above is just a sampling of what you can do to create more value. Remember you’re the expert and you’re the one who can help them, not the other way around. It’s your job to create an environment where they have confidence in you. That way, you set yourself up for the one thing you need to do with every call: engage the prospect with a next step.

Too often, the “engagement” part is left out and the prospect is left with one objective: make you disappear fast. When you call to say you’re just checking in, you’ll make it easy for the prospect to blow you off. When you truly engage your prospect, you create the next step for them to agree to. That is how you create value.

All you need to remember is one thing: it’s not the prospects job to engage you, it’s your job to engage them. Doing so, you will both move to the next step. Checking in is what you do at a hotel, not what you do with a prospect.

Download my Ebook, 50 Prospecting Truths, where you’ll find tips and secrets to help you be more effective at prospecting.

Ready to have your next sales meeting deliver the results you need? I would be happy to be part of your next sales meeting, it’s what I do to help sales teams prospect more effectively. With the new year quickly approaching, it’s important to get things off on the right foot and start planning now. Contact me – let’s talk! You can also check out my speaking video below:

 

 

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

Monday Motivation Video: Year-End Sales Strategies Quick Things You Can Do

It’s the first Monday in November which means there are only 2 months left in the year. Where are you hoping to be at the end of the fourth quarter? I have a few strategies to help you close out 2019 strong. First, make it as simple as possible for your customers to do business with you. Second, make sure you’re on your customer’s vendor approved list now. Also, don’t forget to reach out to your existing customers. Why? Because there’s always possibilities to up-sell and cross-sell. Don’t wait for them. Be proactive and reach out first.

 

 

Cop yright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result