10. You left your 60 or 90 second commercial on their voicemail, and it sounds like a marketing brochure. Marketing Brochure Speak does not sell. It is appropriate for collateral materials and websites, not voicemails.
9. You tried to sell on voicemail. If your goal is to make a compelling pitch on the phone, you will most likely be very disappointed. The goal of a voicemail is to get a return call. The goal of the return call is to engage the prospect in an Authentic Business Conversation.
8. Your tone and pace need improvement. We’ve all heard it—Salesperson Tonality. It makes me cringe just recreating it in my mind. Did you know that tonality is about 85% of how you are perceived on the phone? Therefore it is critical that you master this skill. If you sound subservient or pleading, prospects will determine you aren’t worth the time. If you sound bored, prospects are more bored. If you speed-talk your way through a script, prospects will hit DELETE in less than 3 seconds.
7. You failed to engage their curiosity. Do your research. Mention key events or trends that affect your prospects, give examples of results you help other companies achieve, reference mutual business experiences or connections. “Mr. Prospect, I would like the chance to tell you about XYZ Company and how we could help you. Please call me at ……….” does not engage a prospect.
6. Your prospects got slimed or irritated when they listened to your message. For example, “I’m calling to ask if you could save thousands on your ____________ costs, would it make sense for you to call me back?” or “Companies who work with us are committed to growing their revenue. If this is something you are interested in, you might want to give me a call.”  Yuk! Anyone else have the urge to take a shower?
5. You called the wrong person at the wrong level in the organization. I repeat, do your research. A couple of reconnaissance calls before you leave a voicemail are well worth the effort.
4. You asked for the chance to “get together” before giving a compelling reason for executives to expend their valuable time.
3. They are swamped, and you gave up after 2 or 3 voicemail messages. FYI, over 90% of sales people give up at this point.
2. You call often, but fail to create value, credibility or relevance in your messages. The messages are all a bland variation of, “I’m just checking in. If you don’t mind, please give me a call at………….”
1. They just aren’t qualified to be your prospect. At risk of being pesky, I repeat, do your research!

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Create and perfect multiple scripts of effective voicemail messages.
AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Never exceed 30 seconds on a voicemail.
AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Random calls are rarely effective. Identify your target companies before starting a pursuit campaign.
AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Pre-planning a structured, creative multiple-touch campaign is the key to pursuing and acquiring high-value prospects.

Yes, The Stall and Objection would be more popular than Cheers, offering a warm, leather-wrapped swaddle.   This refuge from the harsh realities of selling would have drinks garnished with VERY-low-hanging-fruit, and the sales ales would be legendary with names like The One That Got Away and Bitter Dog and Pony Brew. It would be a place where blurry lighting, brim-filled pints and sympathetic conversations would ease the frustrations caused by these evil quota-spoilers.

Capable of tempting even the strong and seasoned to go fetal, reach for a Snuggie, and proclaim all prospects villains, it’s no wonder that stalls and objections are consistent topics of sales meetings and sales books.  So, here’s my question:  Why do these well-know enemies of sales forecasts and profit margins continue to surprise us? Typically, it’s because we missed something during the sales conversation.  Either:

• The prospect hinted at a concern, but we didn’t want to bring up a negative
• We talked past an overt expression of concern
• We believed we could overcome the stall or objection later with our persuasiveness, value, features, benefits, closing skills, etc.
• We qualified poorly, asking questions that were 1 mile wide and 1 inch deep
• We are inexperienced and don’t yet know the typical concerns and reservations
• The stall or objection seemed reasonable on the surface, and we believed it would be resolved with a little more time, negotiation, follow-up, etc.

I have two strong beliefs: (1) Stalls and objections which aren’t addressed proactively during the sales conversation are often the reason we lose deals to the status quo or to less-capable competitors, and (2) over 90% of stalls and objections are predictable. Don’t believe me?  Make a list of the excuses or reasons people don’t buy from you.  I bet you can do it in less than 5 minutes.  Given that, would you rather hear the stall or objection AFTER multiple sales meetings, proposals, presentations and follow-up calls or during the initial sales conversation?  When do you have the best chance of dealing with it?

Simply put, here are the choices: Give the prospect the opportunity to address the stall or objection during the sales call or order a round at The Stall and Objection!

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Understand the difference between a Stall and Objection.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Anticipate and listen for the Hidden Objection which is often disguised as a Stall.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Quit being surprised or discouraged by Stalls and Objections.  Learn the skills to address them proactively during the sales conversation.

AcSELLerate Bonus Tips: 5 Sales Tips for Halloween http://acselleratesales.com/what-trick-or-treating-can-teach-you-about-sales/

More often I hear people who are frustrated with the actual results they are getting from networking.  There are several issues at play.

Issue #1: They have built relationships (a hallmark of good networking) yet the relationships aren’t resulting in referrals and introductions to qualified prospects. Yes, I just said qualified prospects.  Although I have no desire for others to qualify prospects for me, I am aware that if I’m never getting referred to the right companies or at the right level, it may be that the group either doesn’t understand what I do or doesn’t have relationships that fit with my business model.  The first problem is easily remedied.  The second problem is related to Issue #2.

Issue #2: They are networking in the wrong places. If the majority of people in your networking group do not have relationships into companies or with the executives for your target market, you may be spending time in the wrong place.  One way to quickly evaluate if you are networking in the wrong place is to take inventory of the types of products or services your networking partners sell.  Are they predominantly B2C offerings and you have a B2B focus? Are the offerings low dollar cost and you sell at a premium?  Do their offerings appeal to corporate clients and you sell to small to mid-sized businesses?  Are the offerings credible?— My personal networking low point came at a Sustainability Focus Group.  When asked to tell us about her business, a woman withdrew a gallon-sized Ziploc from her purse. She produced marker-sized mouth sprays that were filled with elixirs promising health, energy, stress reduction, etc.  She instructed us to insert the spray pump as far into our mouths as possible so that the very back of our throats got a well-coated maximum-benefit dose. When we protested the un-hygienic aspect, she was prepared with an alcohol towelette to use between fellow-networker-mouth-squirts.  One good sport actually complied.  I passed with something like “No thanks, I’m trying to cut down.”

Issue #3: They aren’t sure how to transition a networking relationship into a prospect relationship. This is often the biggest problem, and it’s multi-faceted. Some individuals and networking groups have a belief that selling to networking partners is somehow distasteful or compromises the integrity of the relationship.  Let me go on record: Selling to networking partners is not a moral dilemma.  If you are an expert in your field, your fellow networker needs what you sell, why wouldn’t you have a conversation to determine if you could be a resource???  By the way, if they wouldn’t consider buying from you, why would they recommend you to others?  The other facet is more a question of how—How do I open the sales conversation?   Fears of handling the conversation inappropriately or alienating a trusted relationship keep many from selling effectively.  From a process perspective, some elements that must be present are:

• an agreement about the purpose of the meeting
• an Authentic Business Conversation that focuses on issues
• the acknowledgment that whatever the outcome, no one will take it personally

The most effective sales conversations focus on questions, not presentations.  You don’t need to present to your networking partner, he probably already knows what you do.  You do need to skillfully manage the conversation and lead an excellent Discovery process.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Skip the presentation.  Focus on the Art of the Question.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Don’t ambush a networking partner with a surprise sales call.  Be clear about the purpose of the meeting.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Learn to set up the meeting in a non-threatening manner, and do not focus on closing.  Focus on Discovery!

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Are you Networking or Selling? You can do both!

Need for Approval is a natural need in every non-pathological human.  Overall it’s not a bad thing. The importance of approval was taught to us by our mothers who required good manners, teachers who rewarded us when we did things their way, popularity contests in high school, and adults who said things like “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” (I never quite got why catching flies would be a good thing—however, the West Texas girl in me can appreciate a folksy analogy when necessary!)  We all learned early that things generally go better when others like and approve of us and what we are doing.

Most sales people are used to being liked.  It’s one of the reasons we are in sales.  We get along well with others, are socially adept, build relationships easily and are generally charismatic. We thrive on positive recognition.  Therefore, it’s understandable that there can be a natural over-extension of these qualities. The sales people who are the most accommodating and patient are usually most susceptible to this over-extension.  Fondly, I call these sales people Approval Junkies!

Approval Junkies falter because the need to be liked or approved of by their prospects prevents them from holding prospects accountable or from asking tough questions.  Closing assertively and prospecting for new business also present real challenges for Approval Junkies.  They worry that cold calling a stranger might make the stranger irritated or result in being rejected. These types of sales professionals choose nice activities over productive activities by spending much of their time “servicing” existing customers or calling on their favorite, perpetual prospects instead of hunting aggressively for new business.  The only “flies” that are caught with this type of honey are appointments that do not result in new revenue!

Pay attention to this statistic: 47% of sales people suffer from the Need for Approval. This is half your sales team or could be you if you own your own business! What to do:

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: If you need love and approval, get a dog– a warm, fuzzy, wiggly-tailed fan!  The sales arena is the wrong place to get your Need for Approval met.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: If you still have Need for Approval, get approval from your sales manager, your business owner, yourself and your checkbook by over-achieving your goals.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: If sales people report to you, don’t be stingy with well-deserved praise and recognition.  Orchestrate events and contests that recognize your people.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: If you have a high Need for Approval, learn a Compensating Strategy so that you can achieve the high-level revenue production you are capable of!  Top Sales Professionals have learned to manage their Need for Approval, and you can too.

If you would like to learn more about Attributes of Revenue Rock Stars, be sure to check out the September edition of Texas CEO Magazine.

Many companies, sales teams and individuals come to me because they’re very frustrated with one issue.  They’re sick and tired of having to “buy” the business by dropping their prices. It seems that there is no industry that’s immune to competitors who will engage in a race to the bottom on pricing. Thanks, Competitors, nothing’s more fun than playing “Who Can Be the Cheapest”!  The demoralization continues after the sales person has presented the solution/proposal, and the prospect renegotiates on pricing several times in a row.  At some point, rewriting proposals, shrinking margins and covert, pleading calls to sales management for permission to lower the price beg the question “What are we doing wrong?”  In 3 words—NO UNIQUE VALUE.  The sales professional failed to create unique value during the sale.

When a prospect cannot differentiate your product or service offering from your competitor’s, he has one go-to strategy: PRICE. That’s because price is quantitative and is the one thing that the prospect can use to easily differentiate you from your competitor.  It’s quite easy to figure out that $4000 is less than $6500.  Therefore if you’re being asked to drop your price to win a deal, you can be positive you failed to create unique value during the sale and did not differentiate yourself, your product, service or company from the competition. Unique Value doesn’t come in bigger or better features and benefits. Unique Value is created when the salesperson positions himself as an expert and a unique resource to the prospect or the prospect’s company. This is what Partner-Advisor Selling is all about. If a prospect wants you to be cheaper, you have not positioned yourself as a partner-advisor during the sales call.  Not to mention that being cheap is not good for the sales person’s checkbook or psyche.

Here are some common prospect statements guaranteed to make a sales person feel cheap and reduce the sales process to to a garage-sale-haggling-session:

“I don’t have time to meet with you.  Can you just send me a quote?”

“Your competition is cheaper.  Why do you cost more?”

“Before you try and sell me something, just tell me how much it costs.”

“Put some numbers together and email me.”

Without a strategy, each of these is extremely effective at making a sales person irrelevant, defensive about justifying his price and vulnerable to price pressure.  I’ve heard the feeling described this way: “I’m fed up with being asked to lower my price. I couldn’t get any cheaper if I were wearing a leopard-print miniskirt and standing on a corner somewhere!”  Now I don’t have anything against leopard print.  It can be an interesting fashion statement; however it’s the wrong way to sell!

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Leave the leopard print at home.  Quit using transactional selling techniques and learn to sell as a Partner-Advisor.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: If you start discussing price too early in the sales conversation, you lose value.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem lightly.”–Thomas Paine

Say what you will, discovery calls are one of the most time-efficient ways to prospect for new opportunities. (Yes, I realize I now have sales managers who love me and sales people who hate me!) I’m not sure why we all get so worked up about the thought of making discovery calls into new opportunities, but it seems to be universal. You’ve heard the statistics: 99% of sales professionals hate cold calling and the other 1% are lying. That aside, some of my best opportunities and relationships have come through effective discovery calls.

When I talk with sales people and ask if their prospecting plan includes discovery calls, most sheepishly admit that they do them rarely, if at all.   When I ask why, there are only 4 answers:

A I don’t know how to do them well
B I feel like a creep and expect to be rejected
C They don’t work in my industry (which is usually an excuse that combines A and B)
D All of the above

The majority of the time, B is the answer that trumps all the others. No wonder the thoughts and feelings that register when looking at the picture of the convertible following too closely behind the Porta-Potty-hauling-truck can be the sales person’s reaction to the days blocked out for dials. The negative self talk goes something like, “Oh___! I’m on a collision course with disaster and when it’s over I’ll be stinky, slimy and disgusting.”  This mind-set alone will guarantee unsuccessful prospecting calls.

Let’s put things in perspective.  In case you haven’t noticed, I use the term discovery calls instead of cold calls, because that’s really what they are. A sales professional is simply calling into a company to discover whether or not there is a need for what they do. The goal of a discovery call is simple: To have an Authentic Business Conversation. An authentic business conversation will never diminish a professional’s integrity, although trying too hard  to close for business on an initial call could.  Not to mention it puts far too much pressure on the sales person and the prospect. Closing for an appointment with an unqualified prospect doesn’t make much sense either.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Rethink the purpose.  The purpose of your discovery call is to qualify an opportunity and determine if there’s a reason to go further with the prospect.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Learn to execute.  Effective discovery calls are conversational, not scripty.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Change your beliefs.  As a sales professional, you have a wealth of professional expertise that is valuable to your prospects.  It’s your obligation to let them know you exist.

CHANGE is what every hunter-salesperson is selling. The change can be from an existing provider, a change of product, process or procedure, a change of personnel or technology, and the list goes on.  The next question I ask is, “Is change easy or hard?”  “HARD” is the unanimous, resounding chorus from each group, and they are right.  Change by its very nature is difficult, and all of us find some levels of discomfort and risk associated with making changes.—No wonder prospects (especially guardians of the status quo) don’t get excited when a sales person suggests a “change”.

The discomfort, risks and problems associated with making a change are often quite substantial. If the discomfort, risks and problems associated with your prospect’s existing situation are less than the discomfort, risks and problems associated with making the change to your product or service, guess what? NO SALE.– And make no mistake, a change in the corporate or personal checkbook (spending money) always causes discomfort. This is why prospects negotiate pricing, want to get several bids and don’t pull the trigger on buying decisions.

What’s a sales person to do? Become skilled at helping your prospects discover how much the existing situation or problem is costing their companies or themselves. Understanding the dollar cost of a problem allows the money discussion to be positioned as a return on investment. Occasionally the cost of a problem is easy to discover. Most of the time, however, prospects are stumped by the question because there isn’t always an obvious connection between the problem and hard dollars. The cost of the problem can be disguised in several forms: money, time, energy, emotion and opportunities lost. When the prospect discovers that the cost of enduring the existing situation outweighs the cost of making the change to your product or service, money objections disappear.  This principle is what I call the CHANGE EQUATION:
Cost of existing situation < Cost of changing = NO SALE
Cost of the existing situation > Cost of changing = SOLD

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Learn the skills to make the change equation work for you!

• “Don’t put the fire truck in the toilet.”
• “Don’t sit in the toilet.”
• “When you need to go to the bathroom, don’t use the empty sippee cup in your closet.” (My kids clearly had some potty issues.)
• “Don’t eat the mushroom you picked out of the backyard.” (This resulted in my only experience with syrup of ipecac.–Why would a kid eat a backyard mushroom, when he gags over the ones on his dinner plate?)
• “Don’t shoot your brother with an arrow.”
• “Don’t eat a worm.”
• “Never use your sister as a paint ball target.  It doesn’t matter if she’s wearing a helmet”.
• “Don’t run outside in the snow when you’re naked.”
• “That is supposed to be on the INSIDE of your fly. Put it up, it’s time for dinner.”
• “Are you sure going to the grocery store dressed like Peter Pan is a good idea?”
• “Don’t tell the docent at the museum that the teepee smells like your underwear.  Don’t tell anybody that anything smells like your underwear.”
• “It’s bad form to complain that we are out of cream cheese while you’re wearing your SAVE DARFUR shirt.”

All of these statements come from my real life.  This trip down memory lane got me thinking about all of the things in SALES that you should say, but never think you need to say.  Here are my top five:

• “Is $360,000 a lot of money to your company?”

OK, I know this sounds ridiculous.  However, without asking the question, the sales person is making an assumption.  A problem that costs a company $30,000 each month may be a lot of money (depending on their profits) or it may be a drop in the bucket.  If it’s a drop in the bucket, the company may or may not be willing to pay money to solve the problem.  Don’t make the assumption that an amount which seems like a lot to you is a lot to the company you are meeting with.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Assumption is the enemy of the sales person.

• “When you say you want to move forward, what does that mean?”

Again, we could be playing in Assumption Land.  It’s the absolute opposite of that fun kid’s game, Candy Land—mainly because the salesperson usually loses.  Optimistic sales people (as most of us are) take the statement “I’m pretty sure we will move forward” as a sure sign that the deal is closed.  If I had a nickel for every story about a “verbal commitment” that didn’t turn into money…..

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Verbal Commitments should be tested with more questions.

• “I don’t want to stalk you.”

If you are thinking I’ve just gone too far, stay with me.  This phrase is magic when trying to get the prospect to agree that no one (including them) wants to get stuck on the Follow-Up-Merry-Go-Round.  Everyone has been on this ride.  It’s lots of fun: Sales person leaves a message, prospect avoids the call, sales person leaves a message, prospect avoids the call, sales person leaves a message, prospect gives a lame excuse and promises to get back with the salesperson soon, salesperson leaves a message… Anybody dizzy yet?

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: Quit following up!  Get clear agreements for decisions or next steps after every meeting.  If you are already on the ride and can’t get off, try this: I don’t want to stalk you with phone calls and emails, but I am trying to follow-up professionally.  What do you suggest I do?

• “It’s fine to tell me NO.”

If the prospect isn’t going to work with you, when would you like to know? ‘Nuff said.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: YES is better than NO, but NO is better than MAYBE.

• “Before we meet, you need to look at your checkbook.”

One of the largest mistakes I see is allowing the prospect to think that you will have a sales meeting without discussing money.  The second largest mistake is not preparing the prospect for that conversation.

AcSELLerate Sales Tip: If you can’t talk money, you won’t make money.