Karen from Shine Sales Solutions in Sydney really is a guru in the Australian sales world. She is practical, energetic and smart in all that she does. Here are some of her tips on cold calling – something most of us struggle with at some stage. For more information about Shine Sales Solutions visit her website – www.shinesales.com.au
How can I make cold calling easier?

Lately I have been working with a number of sales teams to help them increase the success of their cold calling and I thought I would share with you some of my tips for success:

· Use a friendly, conversational approach rather than a cold, direct approach

· Don’t try and sell on the phone; you can’t. You can, however, get a meeting or permission to send information.

· Talk about how you can help that business or how you have helped other business. Don’t try and sell to them.

· Name other clients that you are working with who are in a similar industry or who are a similar size to the company you are calling.

· Set a goal for each phone call. Would you like contact information, a meeting or permission to send information.

· Write down all the possible objections that you are likely to encounter and have an answer ready for them.

· Target a particular Industry at a time so the script can be adapted and modified to their current situation, challenges or problems they may be experiencing.

· Always treat Assistants, Personal Assistants and Executive Assistants with respect; they have the power to get you in or keep you out.

· If you get through to the right contact and they sound busy or harassed ask them “is now a good time to talk?” should I call you at a later time?

· Make your calls from 9.30am to about 11.30am and then start again around 2pm and go through till 4pm

·Set yourself a call target rather than a time target, it makes it easier to achieve.

· Don’t leave messages; it is rare that anyone would call you back.

· sk or appeal for help rather than just going straight into a spiel

· Don’t be fooled into thinking that a person asking you to send information means they are interested….. they are simply trying to get you off the phone!

· If you send information by email make sure you follow it up the next day to confirm the person received it. This gives you the chance to ask them if they have any questions and gauge their interest in meeting.

· Try and do your calls in a block of time, one after the other, after the other. After you have finished 10 calls, for example, then send out information or do follow up. This saves you reliving the ‘fear’ or the ‘pain’ of picking up the phone. After about 3 or 4 calls you will have established a habit and you will be much more confident.

This is another one of those concepts that on the surface appears to be really obvious but it’s surprising just how many businesses make it really hard for people to give them money. Typically they have overly complicated procedures that make buying anything from their business a nightmare. For example; they might not take credit cards, they might be physically hard to find or they are never open at convenient times, they never seem to have enough sales staff on especially at the busy time, they never seem to have what you want so you have to order it in and wait weeks for it to arrive if it ever does and so on. These businesses just seem to miss the point and to me, this shows a real lack of respect for their customers. How many people will recommend a business like this? Clearly not very many.

If you want to attract more customers and keep them coming back often, make it as easy as possible them. If you don’t they will go somewhere that does – and it is a simple as that. Of all the marketing pieces of advice that I can give, this is easily one of the most powerful and the most cost effective.

The key word here is simple – keep every aspect of the sales process as simple as possible. To do this you need to be a keen observer of how your sales system works right now. Evaluate it, talk to your customers, talk to your staff. What could be improved or streamlined to speed things up and to keep people putting money in your cash register? Do this evaluation with an open mind or even better, get someone else to do it with an open mind and fresh eyes. Most sales systems fail over time, they get fatigued like the business itself and if you take the time and energy to give yours a makeover the results can be virtually instant.

I often hear business owners saying that they don’t take some credit cards because the merchant rates are too high. If you are in business today and you don’t take credit card you are absolutely positively going to lose customers. Put your prices up to cover the costs and accept the credit cards. Your customers expect it and if they like to use a particular credit card for whatever reason and you don’t accept it they are likely to go elsewhere.

Think about the last time you went to a business and they wouldn’t accept the credit card you wanted to use. It was an inconvenience and an irritation. What other difficulties have you encountered in the buying process and would you go back to the business where you were confronted with the problem?

So before you spend a pile of money advertising or promoting your business, why not take some time to really improve the way you sell to your customers. Challenge yourself to find ways to make as easy as possible and take enjoy the compliments that will come from your customers saying how easy it is to do business with you. The best part of this is that they will tell their friends and your business will keep attracting new customers simply because you treat people with the respect they deserve. Making it easy for people to buy from your business is simply good customer service and people expect it.

Customers are changing and their needs and expectations are changing constantly. How this affects customer service has been discussed in a previous section but it is worth discussing how it affects selling?

It is easy for a business to fall into the trap of creating a rigid sales process so that everyone who sells follows the same format. In fact this is generally a good process but if the process itself is not reviewed on a regular basis, you may start to lose customers. As the customers needs and expectations change, the sales process you use may need to be modified.

Imagine how butchers had to sell beef in the United Kingdom after the Mad Cow outbreak? Very different to before hand. This is obviously an extreme example but look at how travel is sold these days. The words “safe destination” are now well and truly implanted in the sales pitch for most holiday destinations, a concept that we were aware of but not as an everyday accepted risk assessment for when we plan our holidays as it has become today.

The point I am trying to make is that we need to review how we sell our products and services on a regular basis. There is really no room for the old “that’s the way we always did it” mentality. Sales is dynamic and ever changing, regardless of the business. It is the customers who drive sales and the more flexible and adaptable your business the greater your chances of succeeding where others fail.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TODAY? Today is the day to review your sales process to see if you have become a little set in your ways. If you have, turn it upside down and breathe some life into it.

Want to increase your sales and grow your business but worried you will come across as a pushy sales person? Not sure what to do or where to start to ensure your business is a success this year? The key to success, particularly in sales, is planning ahead and always be willing to try something new.

1. Review the previous year

Did you make enough money? Did you reach your goals? Compare your sales month to month; when were the good times and when were the quiet times?

2. Learn from your successes and your failures

And reinforce the actions and tools that generated results and those that didn’t. Maximize the good times and minimize the quiet times

3. Know who and what your best source of business is.

Was it client referrals or word of mouth and if so, who were your best referrers? What networking events generated the greatest amount of business or provided the best opportunity to meet your target market?
How many enquiries were generated from your website?

4. Develop a sales target

That takes into account your personal and professional goals and ask “how will this be achieved?”

5. Improve your sales and business skills

Not just your Industry and product knowledge. If you would like your business to change and grow, how will you and your staff need to grow and change?

6. Know your target market

Create a profile of your ideal client including what they care about, what challenges they face or what they would like to improve. If you know what you are looking for it’s easier to find them.

7. Ask for referrals

Tell your clients and your business network what type of clients you would like to work with and ask them if they know anyone that fits that description. Reward those clients that send you successful referrals.

8. Up sell your existing clients

How many of your clients know about all of your products and services?

9. Increase your networking activity

The more people who know about you and your business, the more people that can be referred to you.

10. Follow up, follow up, follow up.

The last and most important point. So many sales are lost simply because no one bothered to follow up. It’s not about being pushy and arrogant to get the business; it’s about helping that client make a decision that will benefit them in the long term.

Thank you for your interest in our Sales Solutions. If you would like more information about how we can help you to Shine, please contact our office on 02 9977 5006 or email kandrews@shinesales.com.au

1. Be yourself

Have you ever bought anything of anyone you didn’t like?
People buy people, not companies so relax and just be yourself.

2. Having a good Introduction/Elevator Story ready

This will help to give you confidence whenever you go into networking or face to face business meetings. Your introduction should only be around one minute and include who you are, what you do, your experience (if relevant) and what is the benefit of doing business you.

3. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions

It’s the only way you will know what your clients really want. When you know what they want you will know how you can help them.

Think about the benefits of your business and its products and services. What makes then unique or superior to your competitors?

Why do I need to buy your products or services? How will they make a difference to me?

Talk more about the benefits or the ‘why’ elements rather than the features so your clients understand why they would want them.

4. Know where to find new clients

Get out there and find your potential clients, don’t wait for them to come to you. Networking is a good place to find clients and there are hundreds of groups around. Try BNI, Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Network Australia, Australian Institute of Management or type ‘business networking’ into Google.

5. Sales takes time

Increasing your confidence in sales and the ability to win new clients takes time, it isn’t easy for everyone, so give yourself some time. Allocate some time each week to focus on building new sales.

6. Follow Up

One of the hardest elements of building a business is finding a constant stream of new clients. You have already done the hard work through networking, advertising or marketing so don’t waste it. Make that follow up call now! The biggest complaint that people have in relation to sales is that no one ever followed them up.

Thank you for your interest in our Sales Solutions. If you would like more information about how we can help you to Shine, please contact our office on 02 9977 5006 or email kandrews@shinesales.com.au