How to quickly motivate someone watching the clock?

11/4/2009

I almost forgot about this tip and then I saw a cartoon posted on SmallBizTrends.com. The cartoon was of two coworkers staring at a clock that says "keep working." The caption read "We find it helps our less motivated employees."

Funny but true. Sometimes your sales reps just get into a rut and then become bored. They refuse to do anything sales related and find any number of other things to do. They especially watch and comment on the clock's movement for the rest of the day.

If you have managed calls centers like I have then you "hear" it first. The decibel level on the call center sales floor begins to decline. When you hear the noise level drop it's time to take action!

Ranting and raving about sales usually doesn't work when everyone is thinking about home. You need another motivation. Here is the one that I have used at least 200 times over my 20+ year career:

Just walk out onto the sales floor and say.... "Whomever makes the next 2 sales within the next 30 minutes GETS TO GO HOME!"

You want to know what happens next? The sales floor will start buzzing with activity. Even your less active reps will be in the mix. This especially works around holidays and pretty spring days.

Here's another play on this sales motivation. As Christmas approaches give the 2 highest performing sales representatives for that particular morning a 2 hour lunch that day for Christmas shopping. I bet you will kick that day off right.

To review all sales articles by David Peterson click here

How do you know if your sales call is going well?

10/30/2009

Here's a firm rule of thumb that you can follow to determine if your sales call is going well...Who is doing all of the talking?

This sales tip is really straight forward and can give you an immediate gauge on knowing how well your sales call is going at any point in the process. If you find yourself doing all of the talking then the call is going poorly. Yet if you find that the prospect is engaged and asking questions then the call is following an appropriate direction.

Here's why: If the customer is asking questions then their objections will be slowly identified and dealt with or notated as they occur. But if you find yourself doing all of the talking it is a sure bet that when you try to close the objections will start pouring out of your prospect's mouth faster than you can pour out spoiled milk in the fridge.

Sit back and reflect right now on your last sales call... Was the prospect engaged? Can you even remember one question that they asked? Did you find it important enough to write it down?

If you didn't answer YES to all three of those questions then you are still at the probing section of the sales process. Don't attempt to move from your pitch to the close or the objections will start flowing. Take a quick step back and get the prospect engaged by asking probing questions.

To review all sales articles by David Peterson click here

When times are tough...

10/26/2009

When times are tough where should you turn to get your next prospect? The answer is probably right in front of you... turn to your CURRENT customer list. You spend so much time servicing your current customer list that I bet you know more about them than you do about your own neighbors.

Your current customers may not be classified as your friends but some if not most of them would welcome the chance to recommend you to their colleagues. Customers realize that you run a real business and real business needs leads. These types of leads are officially labeled as referrals.

Here is probably what will happen when you get up the nerve to call them and ask for a referral (Please don't email them - CALL THEM)....

"Mr. Smith do you know of any other businesses that you deal with that would need my products?"

"Well Jim not at this time but I will keep you in mind."

Mr. Smith may not have your next prospect on the tip of his tongue but the next time he shows your product to someone he WILL tell them where he got it. I GUARANTEE IT!

Don't be shy and don't be afraid to ask your current customers for these referrals. Referrals are an essential part of any business. Every sales book, sales manual, or sales training class ever written has this sales tip - why don't more people use it?

To review all sales articles by David Peterson click here