Category Archives: Fill the Funnel

Cold Calling, Fill the Funnel, Goals, Performance, Prospecting, Referrals, Winning

You May Be An Order Taker If…

If you’re having trouble hitting your numbers, you may be an order-taker!

What do I mean by Order-Taker?

An order-taker is a salesperson who is  so knee-deep in the accounts they are working  and the inbound requests they are responding to that they stop prospecting.

Don’t get me wrong. This can be a great cushy life – but, if you’re not consistently taking some actions to fill your pipeline with new, fresh opportunities (hunting), then I promise that your savvy sales chops are getting rusty – and you are running the risk of a pipeline that dries up!

Watch the Order-Episode of The SellOut Show! 

It gets worse! Order takers often become so reactive to the urgency that is right in front of them that they don’t even grow and service their existing accounts to their maximum value.

It’s a trap!

Continue reading You May Be An Order Taker If… →

Fill the Funnel, Goals, Performance, Prospecting, The Art of Selling, Winning

Can You Predict How Much You’ll Make This Year?

If you want to go from 5 – 6 Figures in sales, FOR REALS, you need to be able to predict how much business you are going to close in the year.

Most of us feel like sales are random. There are the deals

How much will I make this year? 

you’re SURE are going close – but they just never seem to get done.  And then, there are those deals that come flying in from out-of-the-blue and close – that you just never expected.

No wonder it’s so uncomfortable when you’re meeting with your Sales Manager – trying to tell them the truth about how your sales are going and what they can expect for you to close.

I’ve got good news for you. There are ACTUAL ways to predict how your year is going to go!

WATCH: VP of Sales, Michael Maynes, break it down on The SellOut Show here. 

The First Step is to “Know Your Stages”

Yes. this means you are going to develop a brand new relationship with your CRM, or your pipeline, or your funnel. (Sorry – it’s the thing every average seller hates the most – but the top 1%-ers live and die by it!)

Flip Your Perception About the Stages

Continue reading Can You Predict How Much You’ll Make This Year? →

Cold Calling, Dignity, Fill the Funnel, Performance, The Art of Selling

My Three Favorite Articles (So Far) About Sales Gatekeepers

Dear Tom Tenseth (@smgamesafari)

This week’s for you!

A couple of weeks ago – you asked for more information in dealing with Gatekeepers – you said it is your biggest challenge and struggle.

While I have a lot of opinions about working with gatekeepers – which I will share in Wednesday and Thursday’s blog articles, I thought I’d do a bit of research before I weighed in.

DISCLAIMER: If you’re familiar with my stuff, you know I hate the word “gatekeeper”! Why put yourself in an adversarial position from the get-go? That said, I promised a week of articles related to the topic, so here we go!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

In my research, I found some articles I really liked:

  1. Interview with a Gatekeeper

This interview with “Alice the Gatekeeper” is quite informative. She is brutally honest about what she does and doesn’t like about dealing with salespeople on the phone. My favorite observations include:

“I like helping people, I really do.”  and “…I am a warm soul-filled person. Let’s have a real conversation and then be done.”

Want to get into the “gatekeepers” head? Read this one.

http://www.cobizmag.com/Articles/An-interview-with-Alice-the-gatekeeper/

Continue reading My Three Favorite Articles (So Far) About Sales Gatekeepers →

Fill the Funnel, Performance, Presentation, Prospecting, The Art of Selling

Four Cold Calls Called Me Back!

How fun is that?

Maybe you’re way better than I am, but I find that it’s pretty tricky to get people to call you back from leaving a cold voice mail. Right?

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Now! That does NOT mean that voice messages aren’t important. They are!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Voice messages are an opportunity to share your style. Your voice. Make a connection. Demonstrate who you are and that you care.

As Anthony Iannarino says, calling on a person and hanging up if they don’t answer is a bit like ringing someone’s doorbell and running away. Why wouldn’t you take the opportunity to give them a flavor of who you are – so that they remember you when you email them or get them on the phone?

At any rate, I was curious about this success.  What was new? What worked so well?

Continue reading Four Cold Calls Called Me Back! →

Creativity, Dignity, Fill the Funnel, The Art of Selling, Winning

Buyers are 65% of the Way to a Sale Before They Talk To You – And What To Do About It

photodune-1328178-business-woman-with-phone-and-laptop-xsI hear this statistic thrown around a lot. Maybe it’s even true.

In fact, on a recent sales call, the guy on the other end of the line said, “I’m your typical Millenial buyer. I’ve already pretty much decided what I’m going to buy before I talk to a salesperson.”

Now, being the salesperson on the end of that call, it’s pretty good news for me, right?

But, what about those people you are calling on who should REALLY consider working with you because you can make their lives SO much better? But, they don’t know about you yet?

You’re kind of in a pickle with them, right?

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Here’s what I’ve found really works in those circumstances…

When people consider it so important to be 65% of the way to a buying decision before they talk to me –  but I want a shot at a deal, I have found that it’s all in the language I use when I am first talking with my prospect. There are five approaches that I find can really turn a situation around and to my advantage.

Continue reading Buyers are 65% of the Way to a Sale Before They Talk To You – And What To Do About It →

Creativity, Fill the Funnel, Goals, Performance

Remember this magical teenage moment?

Once upon a time, a boy and a girl (probably you) shared a favorite song.

Remember when she came to your house, with a new discovery of a new band, and together you fell in love with a new song? With a new band?

Maybe she even shared an ear-bud with you as you listened together (a la an 90’s Walkman moment).

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Do you have ANY idea how long it took for your favorite song to register for you?

With the exception of your favorite crush plugging the song directly into your brain, it probably took awhile (and a bunch of social reinforcement) for you to even KNOW the song, much less like it.

What does this have to do with sales?

WHY ARE YOU NOT INSISTING THAT YOU BE NOTICED?

CEOs, CMO’s, Your customer… They are waaaaaaaay busier than teenagers.

If you have something that you know will make their business better, it is your job to get the “song” into their ears.

And it will probably take at least 12 times of hearing you or seeing your name before you even start to register.

Just because you called them once and left a message, doesn’t mean anything got through.

Remember, they are counting on YOU to find THEM.

Go sing your song, over and over again, and don’t forget to…

Love ‘em ALL UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Should YOU be a salesperson? Take the 100% Reliable Mostly Foolproof “Should I Be A Salesperson” QUIZ here:  http://www.isalesgirl.com/thequiz.aspx

Fill the Funnel, Goals, Performance, Prospecting, Winning

Five Ways We Fool Ourselves Into Failure

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Didja ever notice how some people are reliable to produce results while others simply can’t seem to get what they want?

I see it all the time in sales. MY sales.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

I have DEVOTED myself to studying and learning to be reliable to produce results. And, it’s not by lowering the bar. It is by being on a MISSION to find the ways that I have fooled myself into failure. Hopefully, you can just learn these from me and you don’t have to make all these mistakes yourself.

#1 Way We Fool Ourselves Into Failure:

Thinking that email is the same as having a conversation or making a real request.

Email is an excellent vehicle for transmitting data, getting information, and exchanging ideas. Sometimes you can get people to agree to act through email, especially if it is a personal email.

But, if you think that you are going to fill your seminar, or get a babysitter for your children, or set a meeting with a prospect simply by sending out a blanket email, you are fooling yourself.

When the stakes are high, you’ve got to make SURE that you reach the other person, get their buy-in, and that they are willing and able to act on your request.

Many salespeople think that because they sent out 500 emails that they have accomplished something.

Not until someone responds to you with the favorable outcome you were hoping for have you achieved anything. Counting that email as a true sales activity is fooling yourself into failure.

 #2 Way We Fool Ourselves Into Failure:

Continue reading Five Ways We Fool Ourselves Into Failure →

Fill the Funnel, Goals, Irreverence, Performance, Prospecting, Winning

Break this Sales Commandment: KNOW THY COMPETITION

breaking wallI was listening to an absolutely brilliant speaker the other day – talking about sales. Most everything he said was right on the money and I loved it. But, he said one thing that I just don’t buy!

He asserted that successful salespeople should know their competition inside-and-out.

Now, why in the world would you do that?

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Here are the three DEADLY things that happen when you know your competition inside-and-out:

Continue reading Break this Sales Commandment: KNOW THY COMPETITION →

Cold Calling, Fill the Funnel, Prospecting, Top Ten Principles of Selling

They won’t tell … and you won’t sell!

I just found a great new sales tool and can’t wait to tell you about it.

But, let me first set the stage…

The Feedback You Will Never Receive

Great salespeople are greedy for feedback! We record ourselves selling, we videotape ourselves giving presentations, we role-play and invite coaching. We work to get better and better.

But, there is a silent killer and it is especially dangerous because you don’t even know to look for it!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

This killer is greedily devouring the top of your sales funnel. Effectively blocking entrants who could be your best prospects.

But You Will Never Know Because They Will Never Tell You

This beast is right now lurking in your email account.

“What is this terrifying killer?” you are compelled to ask.

IT IS YOUR VERY OWN WRITING STYLE!

You are very likely clueless as to how readers perceive your messages.  You may have insight into which prospects are opening your emails, but you have no idea why they immediately hit the delete button or sighed in disgust and passed right on by!

As a salesperson, you are defined by the messages you leave behind. Your voice messages, text messages, emails, InMails, and social posts are your go-to moves. So, they had better be good.

Ninja good.

Continue reading They won’t tell … and you won’t sell! →