Ok, so finding new business is a subject we’re asked about a lot at the moment, and there are some practical steps you can take instantly that won’t cost much at all.

First you should make sure you keep the communication channels open with all your clients or customers (even those who are spending less.) You’re in this for the long-term and want to make sure you keep them as things pick-up. It is also really important that you understand how they’re doing, what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.

The next biggest block are those who have spent with you previously, but who are not active trading accounts. I am amazed at how little effort many companies put into ‘lapsed customers.’ They are all winable ! Well maybe not all, but many are ! You know something about them, and what they do - so milk this information to gain maximum advantage.

You may also need to have some internal brainstorming meetings with your team to tap into their ideas. Remember we’re all in this together, and they’ll value the opportunity to help out. You might need to look to promote ‘value’ products, or look for market sectors that are doing well at the moment. You may look to offer free taster sessions if you supply services, or some free ‘added value’ presentations if you sell products.  This may buy you some brownie points for when things pick up.

There are many, many ideas and the companies who will survive are those who adapt fastest and change their behaviour.�

Right now, many organisations are facing varying levels of decline in business. And because of the speed of the downturn and the severity of it, these are times when your business model has to be critically reassessed. Things that you may never have had to do before, will have to be considered.

Good will come of this, as it will make all of us take stock and appreciate the business we do get.

But if there was ever a time to make your business more proactive, this is it !

You will need to make a much larger volume of calls and approaches, and the sales team that you have involved in field selling, or a phone team dealing with incoming enquiries will need to lead this process.

So make sure you have a quality list or database for them to work from. They will also need training (possibly) to help them adapt to a different role, and they need a robust process to operate. So for instance they need to be able to store notes (on a computer) about each person they call, some notes of the conversation, and equally importantly a field to mark the next contact due. This makes intelligent use of the sales database. Remember that knowledge is power !

We have an audio CD on setting up and managing a telephone based team which covers the issues mentioned above on process etc http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=2 is the link for this product.

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As you know if you make outbound calls as a part of your job role, the people you contact are likely to be receiving many calls each day, all trying to interest them in a range of products or services.

So, your opening has to be well structured, and well delivered. I believe that your opening should consist of 3 things. You start with your name, the name of your company and the reason for the call. This will all take around 8 seconds. This is a good formula as it ensures you know what you’re talking about ! And of course it lets the other person know what the call is about. You will then get more from the other person - if they understand your motive for calling.

These calls you receive occasionally that start with the line “I’m not trying to sell you anything” are the opposite of this. They’re just rubbish because you know they ARE trying to sell you something !

So be professional, honest and upfront, and then the next thing you do is ask them a question. This is a good device as it brings them into the conversation. They will appreciate this. We cover this during our training on the directing the conversation module. We have also now got an audio learning CD that covers this easy to use 2 stage technique, called “How to get to where you want in communication.” Follow the link to http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=11�

Of course management of teams should be about using a mix of intuitive observations as well as raw statistics. The intuitive bit you get from the well established principle of MBWA - management by walking about. The quantitative bit is fairly straightforward and is based around just 4 key criteria. And if you ensure you look at each of these 4 numbers daily for each of your team, and in depth monthly you will find you’ve got a handle on what you need to know. The CD http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=26 explains this in more detail : how to set it up, what to measure and the short cuts and tricks to help you stay one step ahead of the team.

The 4 key measures are ;

1.  How many outbound dials they make per hour (over a given period) 

2. How many decision-makers they speak to per hour

3. How many of these decision-makers they convert into the desired outcome (sale, appointment etc.)

4. How many sales/appointments they make per hour

Understanding these numbers will help you with target setting for your team, and it will help you understand each person’s performance profile better (because not every person achieves their results in the same way.) It will also know what to address if somebody is off target and how best to help them

For all of us who communicate with customers on the phone, we all know that we have got to make our pitch interesting. And a motto that many sales people adhere to is that the customer will always be thinking “what’s in it for me ?” Unless we can communicate in a way that addresses this key question, chances are that you’ll never really have their interest.

They’re not really interested in how many colours your product is available in, or the turbo boost function is, or that you have 100 depots around the country - unless they understand HOW THAT HELPS THEM. Furthermore benefits are generally based around just 4 things (so it’s not much to remember) and these are covered on the audio CD “Sell the sizzle, not the bacon” http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=10

Think about your pitch, or sales spiel from the customer’s point of view, and you will find it makes a big difference.   �

The business environment is challenging at the moment. We all know that. Customers are harder to find and total spend in many sectors is down.

One of the current pieces of wisdom is to cut down on all your indirect marketing, advertising etc. Indirect marketing covers anything where you don’t get a dialogue with your customer. Instead switch all your activity to direct forms of contact. So this may mean bringing your field based sales team into the office to hit the phones. Or make sure your office based sales team have enough people to call, and then let them loose. By focusing on telephone activity you will get a feel for what is happening in your market, who is thinking of spending, who isn’t and an update on their current situation.

By understanding more about what is happening in your market, the easier it will be to find potential customers and to plot future trends. Now is the time to be talking to all customers, past, lapsed, competitor accounts and anyone else who may have a need for your services, either now or in the future. �

How many times do people try and sell to you either on the phone or face to face by dominating the conversation and trying to do all the talking ? It seems to me that sales people are often trained to simply benefit sell. And yes of course benefit statements ARE very useful.

But actually if you’re selling to a human (and of course you always are) it works much better to engage them in a 2 way conversation. If you get them involved, they will open up more readily and you will find out more.

So as a rule of thumb I think good selling is about 50% talking, 50% listening. Stray too far from this ratio at your peril ! Listening is an underrated part of the communication process. It is part of all the 2 day customer service training and telesales and telemarketing training that To Market carries out. There will be an audio CD available soon on the important topic of LISTENING SKILLS, follow this link to see the present range on communication skills topics http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=TELEPHONE%20COMMUNICATION%20SKILLS�

Another top tip gathered from one of the delegates on our recent telemarketing training course in Northampton.

JH suggested the following ; 

“One of my favourite examples was about 10 years ago, and is not about a product or service we offer that is different to any one else, it is more to do with how I tried to stand out from competitors selling the same thing.

I was quoting a very large contract for a Council authority. I, like everyone else had been walked round to assess the size and nature of the job. At the end of the walk round I asked several questions that I already knew the answer to, and a couple of questions that were slightly irrelevant to the quote (as far as I was concerned), I even inspected their present product, even though I new exactly what type it was and who supplied it. To the Council contact, no one else had done this or asked these questions and it gave an instant boost of confidence in my company that set us apart from the competition. The other big difference to being awarded this particular contract came from the written quote I submitted. The other 3 companies were fairly short “products to be supplied x, total cost £………..”  type of things.

I made my quote stand out completely by making it fill a couple of pages, giving details of the quality of the product. I then listed all the areas individually, pointing out any potential problems they may have in the future. I backed it up with references and some tips about information I’d read that I thought would help them. We were told that we were not the cheapest quote, but the council contact said it was chalk and cheese comparing our quote to that of the other 3 companies. It made him think these guys are professionals who I want to work with. All the companies were using the same method, all I did was present it in a way that made us stand out both on site and in the written follow up.”

Nice advice, just doing that bit more, taking more pride in your work can make all the difference. And remember in selling there is only one winner. You can find out more about the training that To Market offers by following this link   http://www.tomarket.co.uk/training.php There are telesales and telemarketing courses run around the country including open courses in Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Cambridge, Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry, Warrington, Leeds, Milton Keynes and Nottingham 

We’ve all noticed I’m sure that money is in limited supply. So it seems as a result many people have been contacting us recently to buy the training CDs we have available on the topics of customer service, telesales, telemarketing, PR and goal setting.

They are saying things to us like “we want to carry on investing in the team, but we don’t have much budget at the moment.” So they opt for the CDs which are only £17.99 as a way of keeping up with best practice while not breaking the bank. If this is your situation too, we’re keen to support you.

And all the CDs come with a 7 day money back guarantee. So if you buy them via PayPal online and you don’t think they’re useful, we will refund your money. Furthermore if you go ahead and commission any training with To Market to be completed before 31st March 2009, anything you’ve spent on the audio CDs will be refunded ! You can’t say fairer than that !  �

Jamie a sales director attended one of our recent telesales training courses in Leicestershire. He offers you the following tip ;

“Apart from the usual communication skills, a key part of selling is to try offer something that sets you apart from the competition, a Unique Selling Point. – this could be either goods or services your company offers that no one else is doing. It could  also be a USP about you as an individual, some thing that sets you apart from the (as always) 2- 3 other people quoting the same thing. It must be something that makes the customer remember you and persuades them to look at you and your company as the preferred option. This could be as simple as something you say on the phone or what was in the written quote, or even how the quote is structured and laid out.”

So it is worth giving it some thought. There are always some unique points to use - sometimes it just needs a little thought and imagination. We cover the idea of using benefit statements with one of the telesales audio CDs in the series on telephone selling and telemarketing http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=5 It covers the use of benefit statements, reason statements and open questions. These are the key parts to bear in mind when opening the sales call.