New business is the life blood of every profitable successful enterprise. Without it no business can survive over a long period of time. Many traditional professional service industries such as legal firms and accounting firms can survive for many years on referral and repeat business but even these firms must eventually look for new business. This is why the government is now allowing law firms to advertise. Every living organism grows to maturity levels off then dies unless it is injected with new life, new blood and new enthusiasm. The operative word being “new”.
Some businesses, such as retail outlets, depend almost solely on repeat business in their local area but the strong competition forces them to promote their business on a regular basis.
With direct sales we are dealing with the consumer in their home or at their place of business. We constantly seek out people to sell to, unlike the retailer, who waits for customers to come to them.
The most difficult task any direct sales company has is the on- going generation of new business. Having said that, one would assume that all direct sales companies would have the generation of new business as their top priority, On the contrary many direct sales organisations place far too little emphasis on the generation of new customers and consequently it is not uncommon to see firms go into liquidation in their first few years of operation.
On the other hand, those companies who are very successful allow a huge budget for the generation of new customers. They usually spend this advertising dollar on media advertising such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television. This form of new business generation is very costly but those who can afford to use it do very well and those who can’t afford it seem to struggle.
The most cost-effective method for a company to generate new business is through cold canvassing. Cold canvassing requires special skills which very few people posses in the twenty first century, so, unfortunately, this form of new business generation is seldom used. Those select few that possess canvassing skills are in high demand.
Telemarketing is selling a product or service, or generating a sales lead, using the telephone. The great advantage of telemarketing over door-to-door canvassing, or door to door selling, is the time factor. Another important advantage is that you are not affected by the weather. The disadvantages are that you don’t have the benefit of visual aids, eye contact, and personal projection.
Most companies will help you by supplying you with edited lists, from which to call, and a sales script. I urge you to follow their sales presentation to the letter, because in most cases, through their experience and expertise, they will have developed a presentation that will work for you. Having said that, there are four points I will cover, which, I believe, are vital to your success in telemarketing.
Companies invest a great deal of money on lead generation for their salespeople. They spend it mostly on media advertising, directories, shopping centre displays, and some, but very few, use cold canvassers, be they door to door canvassers or telemarketers. As I said earlier, door to door canvassing is the most cost-effecti method of generating sales leads, but rarely used, because companies simply don’t know how to organise an effective door operation
Most direct sales companies just hope and pray that some day they will stumble across a salesperson that is able to kill their own. Those salespeople, who can canvass their own leads and convert their leads into sales. Some companies don’t even know that this breed of salesperson exists. Of course, these salespeople are the “top guns” of the direct sales business. They are paid a premium commission and shown the respect they deserve.
Now that you have been taught how to deliver an effective sales presentation, filled with enthusiasm, and reasons to buy now, you would expect that everyone you presented to will buy from you. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case, because people will always exercise their God-given right of refusal.
Many salespeople get annoyed and frustrated with their prospects, when these prospects respond negatively to their closing question with an objection. You would be surprised just how many salespeople terminate their sales presentation when they are presented with a strong objection.
I can’t, for the life of me, understand why. If you think about it for a moment, you will appreciate, that your prospect has shown you the courtesy of listening to your sales presentation in the first place, and you, as a professional salesperson, should afford them the same courtesy.
As a professional salesperson, you should acknowledge their objection gracefully, then proceed to destroy it. When a prospect gives you an objection, they are simply telling you they are not ready to buy from you now. That does not mean they will not buy from you at some time in the future. That some-time in the future, may well be years away, it may be weeks away, it may be days away, and it may also be minutes away, depending on your ability to persuade them.
I have always believed that if a person is prepared to listen to your sales presentation, then they must have some level of interest in what you are selling. Surely, no one would waste their valuable time listening to a presentation that held no interest for them. Perhaps their level of interest is small, but it is our job, as salespeople, to develop this small level of interest to the point where the prospect will buy from us now. This is called selling. Surely, it must follow then, that if you have given a full presentation to your prospect, and they refuse to buy from you, then you have simply not convinced them.
Order Form Close:
With this close you will be shown how to use your order book as a closing tool.
Choice Close:
The choice close gives your prospect the choice of what to buy from you, rather than whether they should buy from you.
Direct Close:
With this close you will be shown how to ask a direct closing question that will result in a sale, or flush out their true objection to buying.
Qualify Close:
With this close you will be shown how to change your prospect’s focus from making a buying decision to focusing on whether you will accept them as a client.
The Appro close:
This is a close where you encourage a prospect to assume ownership of what you are selling for a short period of time and then make a buying decision.
Trivial Initial Close:
With this close you will be shown how to induce a prospect to make a buying decision by leading them through affirmative procedures.
Reduction to the Ridiculous Close:
With this close you breakdown the denomination of the cost by spreading it over a broader time such as a yearly cost to a daily cost to get your prospect to agree with the affordability of what you are selling.
First Call Bonus:
With this close you will be shown how to get your prospect to buy from you on your first call, rather than have you make second call on them to get their business.
Finance Close:
With this close you will be shown how to dispel your prospects fear of financing what you are selling.
Balance Sheet Close:
With this close you will be shown how to get a positive buying decision from a prospect that simply can’t decide on the day you present.
My Dear Old Grandmother Close:
With this close you will be shown how to get your prospect to respond to your closing question when they refuse to respond.
Lost Opportunity Close:
With this close you will be shown how to use your prospects fear of loss, in order to get the sale.
Objection Close:
With this close you will be shown how to use your prospect’s objection to buying, as a closing tool.
Price Close:
With this close you will be shown how to use your prospects objection to the price of what you are selling, as a closing tool.
Reverse Close
With this close you will be shown how to get your prospect to sell themselves on the benefits of what you are selling.
Colombo Close:
With this close you will be shown how to close your prospect when their defences are at their lowest.
Higher Authority Close:
With this close you will be shown how to use a third party to close the sale.
Other Quotes Close:
With this close you will be shown how to use your prospect’s desire to get comparative quotes as a closing tool.