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Will You Add? - How to Double Your Sales Appointments in Half the Time; Part 2
In our last segment, we spoke about the first six of twelve questions you should ask yourself before "going live" with your product launch. Here are the final six.7) Have you priced your product or service competitively?Not too high, not too low. The price for which a product is offered may determine the perceived value by the customer. If you underprice your product, it is entirely possible that your customer will decide that the product is not worth purchasing. If you overprice it, you may not get the sales you want. Here's the solution: test different prices. Keep the one that results in the most sales.8) What are the growth and "back-end" sales possibilities?Can you sell the same or other
And to understand this…it becomes important to understand what I mean when I use the term…"Timely Training."
Timely Training means you have in place appropriate structures for learning and application. You have to be able to define useful short-term goals, long term objectives and performance benchmarks, but also measure each participant’s progress. Have participants work closely with qualified trainers for proper follow-up and support. But most importantly…"Timely Training" should be focused on only one key sales competency at a time.
That means you never move on to your next training objective (In-line sales competency) until your intended ‘benchmark’ performance metric is realized.
"Powe
Instilling urgency in a prospective customer can make the difference between achieving a sale and losing it altogether. If your prospects cannot vividly see personal benefits from taking action, there will never be the sense of urgency needed to follow your suggestions.Closing is the logical conclusion of a demonstration of your products and services. Make certain that you ask enough open-ended questions to know for certain that you are applying the correct solutions to the exact problems and needs you have uncovered from your questioning. Through this process, the answers to your questions should give you all the levers you need to create a sense of urgency in your prospects.Urgency can also be created when prospects can take advantage of special pricing on packages or bundles of products for a limited pe
And we discussed these (3) realities:
• If you double your new appointments you will double your revenue... regardless of your closing ratio
• Not setting enough new business appointments leads to Sales employee turnover, sub-par revenue results and longer Ramp-to-Quota for new hires
• The communication act of asking for a Business appointment should be internally declared a KEY sales competency and trained to individually
So logically, sales organizations should be willing to develop and provide ‘Best Practice’ support systems to their sales teams for ‘Measurable’ performance results in line with effectively setting sales appointments.
Why is a Conversation-to-Appointment Ratio a core sales competency?
Because it’s a sales skill set that is measurable around an essential task; sales prospecting and setting business appointments. It has a purpose and is directly tied to the end results; good or bad. In this case, it is to introduce and education the value of your product or service to a specific individual or group. It initiates your selling process. It doesn't matter if you are having this conversation by telephone, cold-calling in person, on elevators, or just yelling from one rooftop to another; it is a communication skill set that is essential to your sales success. It’s what you say and how you say it.
Here are a few prerequisites of whether or not something should be declared a core competency:
#1
Is it an essential component to the sales mission or is it just an ingredient in the recipe?
Think of a sports person. What are a golfer's essential competencies from tee-off to last putt? Are the ball and club core competencies? Or are the core competencies the golf swing and putting stroke? How about a basketball player with the essential competencies of passing, dribbling, and shooting?
Hint: Don't relate an Indy car pit crew putting gas in the fuel tank as a competency.
#2
You must be able to be measure it routinely and accurately. Ask yourself if you could measure it with a napkin, pencil, and calculator?
That way you’ll be able to know if you're performing this business activity better than your competitors. It's sort of like knowing if your team is "Blocking and Tackling" better than your opponent's team in a football game. Because at the end of the day, it’s the individual (Or the team) with the best overall stats that wins.
#3
You should be able to apply "Timely Training" and "Powerful Routines" around each core competency.
We all know what sales training is. But do we understand why sales training fails?
And to understand this…it becomes important to understand what I mean when I use the term…"Timely Training."
Timely Training means you have in place appropriate structures for learning and application. You have to be able to define useful short-term goals, long term objectives and performance benchmarks, but also measure each participant’s progress. Have participants work closely with qualified trainers for proper follow-up and support. But most importantly…"Timely Training" should be focused on only one key sales competency at a time.
That means you never move on to your next training objective (In-line sales competency) until your intended ‘benchmark’ performance metric is realized.
"Power
When writing a sales letter there are certain rules you should follow. Your main goal when writing a sales letter is to catch your readers interest. Before you begin to write your sales letter, research your target audience. Learn what their common needs and problems are. Now let's continue to the content of the sales letter.Your headline is key. Go through newspapers, and other ads to see what headlines strike you as effective. You want your headline to jump out at the reader. Your headline should also point out how it will benefit your reader. For instance " 10 ways you can make 1 million in a year." That is an example of striking headline. Or " Learn how my red monkey makes 15 grand a month".Next you need to arouse curiosity in the first couple of sentences of the letter. Then you must show how your cus
Why is a Conversation-to-Appointment Ratio a core sales competency?
Because it’s a sales skill set that is measurable around an essential task; sales prospecting and setting business appointments. It has a purpose and is directly tied to the end results; good or bad. In this case, it is to introduce and education the value of your product or service to a specific individual or group. It initiates your selling process. It doesn't matter if you are having this conversation by telephone, cold-calling in person, on elevators, or just yelling from one rooftop to another; it is a communication skill set that is essential to your sales success. It’s what you say and how you say it.
Here are a few prerequisites of whether or not something should be declared a core competency:
#1
Is it an essential component to the sales mission or is it just an ingredient in the recipe?
Think of a sports person. What are a golfer's essential competencies from tee-off to last putt? Are the ball and club core competencies? Or are the core competencies the golf swing and putting stroke? How about a basketball player with the essential competencies of passing, dribbling, and shooting?
Hint: Don't relate an Indy car pit crew putting gas in the fuel tank as a competency.
#2
You must be able to be measure it routinely and accurately. Ask yourself if you could measure it with a napkin, pencil, and calculator?
That way you’ll be able to know if you're performing this business activity better than your competitors. It's sort of like knowing if your team is "Blocking and Tackling" better than your opponent's team in a football game. Because at the end of the day, it’s the individual (Or the team) with the best overall stats that wins.
#3
You should be able to apply "Timely Training" and "Powerful Routines" around each core competency.
We all know what sales training is. But do we understand why sales training fails?
And to understand this…it becomes important to understand what I mean when I use the term…"Timely Training."
Timely Training means you have in place appropriate structures for learning and application. You have to be able to define useful short-term goals, long term objectives and performance benchmarks, but also measure each participant’s progress. Have participants work closely with qualified trainers for proper follow-up and support. But most importantly…"Timely Training" should be focused on only one key sales competency at a time.
That means you never move on to your next training objective (In-line sales competency) until your intended ‘benchmark’ performance metric is realized.
"Powe
There are so many naturally occurring business situations, which cannot be properly fit into the UFOC or Uniform Franchise Offering Circular for proper and legal disclosure to new franchise buyers as per the onerous rules and regulations in the Franchising Industry. You would think that a 250-page franchise agreement would be all encompassing, but it is not always. Often there are times when the rules and regulations do not consider other than straight black and white franchise sales. Such as transfers, trades, vendor deals, family members, original franchisee discounts to get the ball rolling.Recently, I was discussing all this with an individual who unfortunately had their franchise fail. His comment was that in the UFOC it showed a lawsuit with a franchisee and then that franchisee’s name was not listed in the
Here are a few prerequisites of whether or not something should be declared a core competency:
#1
Is it an essential component to the sales mission or is it just an ingredient in the recipe?
Think of a sports person. What are a golfer's essential competencies from tee-off to last putt? Are the ball and club core competencies? Or are the core competencies the golf swing and putting stroke? How about a basketball player with the essential competencies of passing, dribbling, and shooting?
Hint: Don't relate an Indy car pit crew putting gas in the fuel tank as a competency.
#2
You must be able to be measure it routinely and accurately. Ask yourself if you could measure it with a napkin, pencil, and calculator?
That way you’ll be able to know if you're performing this business activity better than your competitors. It's sort of like knowing if your team is "Blocking and Tackling" better than your opponent's team in a football game. Because at the end of the day, it’s the individual (Or the team) with the best overall stats that wins.
#3
You should be able to apply "Timely Training" and "Powerful Routines" around each core competency.
We all know what sales training is. But do we understand why sales training fails?
And to understand this…it becomes important to understand what I mean when I use the term…"Timely Training."
Timely Training means you have in place appropriate structures for learning and application. You have to be able to define useful short-term goals, long term objectives and performance benchmarks, but also measure each participant’s progress. Have participants work closely with qualified trainers for proper follow-up and support. But most importantly…"Timely Training" should be focused on only one key sales competency at a time.
That means you never move on to your next training objective (In-line sales competency) until your intended ‘benchmark’ performance metric is realized.
"Powe
If you own a service company perhaps you might look into selling to tradeshow exhibitors. There are so many services that tradeshow exhibitors need from cleaning and detailing of equipment, automobiles and trucks to consulting, tradeshow models and catering.If you own a service company this can be of great benefit to you, but first you must be certified to work on the property and give a copy of your insurance to the managers of the tradeshow facility. And additionally they'll want you to fill out forms to make sure they know who you are and what you will be doing.There are many services that only the union people will be allowed to do in the tradeshow facility might there are also many services that the union workers at the tradeshow company will not be able to perform because they do not have the exper
#2
You must be able to be measure it routinely and accurately. Ask yourself if you could measure it with a napkin, pencil, and calculator?
That way you’ll be able to know if you're performing this business activity better than your competitors. It's sort of like knowing if your team is "Blocking and Tackling" better than your opponent's team in a football game. Because at the end of the day, it’s the individual (Or the team) with the best overall stats that wins.
#3
You should be able to apply "Timely Training" and "Powerful Routines" around each core competency.
We all know what sales training is. But do we understand why sales training fails?
And to understand this…it becomes important to understand what I mean when I use the term…"Timely Training."
Timely Training means you have in place appropriate structures for learning and application. You have to be able to define useful short-term goals, long term objectives and performance benchmarks, but also measure each participant’s progress. Have participants work closely with qualified trainers for proper follow-up and support. But most importantly…"Timely Training" should be focused on only one key sales competency at a time.
That means you never move on to your next training objective (In-line sales competency) until your intended ‘benchmark’ performance metric is realized.
"Powe
When choosing an automated parking system it makes sense to assess your needs and budget to make sure that you can get something that is truly compatible and will have a fair return on investment, otherwise it does not make much sense. Perhaps you have seen the double stacker lifts where one car is raised up and the second car parks underneath? This is one option and generally can double your parking spaces if you have a flat indoor lot.Indeed these simple systems are a lot less costly than building a two-story parking garage out of cement and steel, which could easily run you in the millions of dollars before the project is completed. Steel and concrete are not cheap and you will need permits, architects and hire a construction company too, or hire a company, which can do it all for you, thus it could take 1-2 y
And to understand this…it becomes important to understand what I mean when I use the term…"Timely Training."
Timely Training means you have in place appropriate structures for learning and application. You have to be able to define useful short-term goals, long term objectives and performance benchmarks, but also measure each participant’s progress. Have participants work closely with qualified trainers for proper follow-up and support. But most importantly…"Timely Training" should be focused on only one key sales competency at a time.
That means you never move on to your next training objective (In-line sales competency) until your intended ‘benchmark’ performance metric is realized.
"Powerful Routines" are Best Practices internal to each Core Competency that result in the highest ratio of success. It’s a technique or communication process that through experience has proven to get the best result parallel to a particular sales scenario.
As an example, when a prospect says “Just send me some information” we identify that communication as an objection. 95% of the time it’s a polite way of getting rid of us. Deep down inside we know what happens to the information. It goes in the ‘circular file’. Bottom line, it keeps both the Post Office and the office Janitor busy. One delivers these 'information requests' and the other one throws them out.
What’s your current ‘Powerful Routine’ to effectively communicate to a third solution, because none of us want to be in the ‘Postal’ Business.
Key Learning Point:
There are only so many scenarios in any sales process. If you isolate them, train to each one of them with Powerful Routines and then measure the outcome, you are on your way to success.
Take for example setting ‘Top-down’ business appointments. We’ve already decided it would be a benefit to our sales success if we could reduce the time it took to achieve the necessary number of ‘Top-down’ appointments. In building an effective learning system to improve your Conversation-to-appointment ratio from the national average of 4-18%, you must first understand why that competency ratio is only 4-18%.
With that in mind, here’s what I know to be true:
1. We don’t seek to first (Before we pick up the telephone) understand the Prospect’s internal business objectives parallel to our solutions offering, then model our appointment approach around it
2. We settle for a business level of contact that has no direct fiscal authority
3. We sell our ‘product/service’ instead of selling the diagnostic steps in our ‘Evaluation’ Process
4. We fail to develop an effective Call to Action; strategic words and phrases that create a positive 'visual' reference to the Prospect of what happens during the initial appointment and how long it takes
5. We don’t support our ‘Call to Action’ with 3rd party valuators parallel to the Prospects business objectives; valuators like business statistics, appointment performance ratios, ROI figures and relevant success stories
6. We fail to document all possible Objections and develop Powerful communication templates to negotiate 3rd Solutions
These (6) ‘Here’s What I Know to be True’ factors are where you should begin your sales prospecting and sales performance improvement journey, because the definition of insanity is doing the same old thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
In Part 3 of ‘How to Double Your Sales Appointments in Half the Time’, we will take an in depth look at these 6 failure factors and flip them 180% into individual p
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Related Articles:
Right On Target - Choosing Promotional Items For Your Market
The Common Secret for Success in Both Markets
Simplify Negotiations with the Six Rules of Effective Communication
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