Set the right priorities and stay focused on the people who matter most
Receiving inbound sales leads can be a blessing or a curse. How you manage your leads can make the difference between making sales or wasting time.
Inbound leads come in all shapes and sizes. Some appear because people have a problem that they hope you can solve for them. Others appear because people are curious.
Your job? Determine if the lead is genuine so that you can get an order.
Here are tips to help you.
How Did the Lead Come to You?
The best inbound lead is a referral.
Why? Because there’s a good chance that a referral will make a purchasing decision. Professionals don’t often…
Focus on building trust
Many people have a problem with salespeople. And who can blame them?
Haven’t we all been pressured or cajoled into buying something that we didn’t want or need. And when you attempt to seek a refund, you are treated like a loser or a complainer, which only hardens your animosity towards salespeople.
Others see salespeople as sleazy caricatures based on TV shows, movies, and plays. For example, who can ever forget how Ricky Roma (played by Al Pacino) plays on the insecurities of James Lingk (played by Jonathan Pryce) when he sells him real estate in the movie Glengarry Glen…
Determination creates strength
(Spoiler Alert — if you haven’t watched The Queen’s Gambit yet, please stop reading this post and return once you viewed the show. You will not regret it).
Summary –
The Queen’s Gambit is a 7-episode fictional miniseries on Netflix. It is about orphan chess prodigy Beth Harmon (played by Isla Johnston, then by Anya Taylor-Joy). The story follows her pursuit to become the world’s greatest chess player. But Beth’s quest is hampered with drug and alcohol addiction, along with emotional struggles. …
And what you can do instead
Selling isn’t easy. And why should it be?
Notice I said — you — not your products and services you are selling. You are asking strangers to shell out their hard-earned money on you. So, if you want your customers to trust you and be repeat buyers, you need to hold up your end of the bargain by providing solutions to their problems.
And because selling isn’t easy, people quit the profession or jump to another company hoping the pasture is greener on the other side of the proverbial fence.
It’s not.
Protect Yourself First
Continuing with open workspaces is a spacey idea. We should purge all open spaces at work until the COVID-19 pandemic has ended.
And with the Delta Variant wreaking havoc in the United States, especially in the South, does anyone in their right mind want to risk their lives and mental health working in an open setting for a paycheck?
Before companies start encouraging — or ordering — their employees to act like lemmings marching to the sea, we need to take a hard look at open space arrangements.
I’ve worked at four companies with open spaces. While I’ve never been…
Stop mourning & start living
Funerals are sad occasions until you realize you’re not dead yet.
Sure, we mourn the loss of our loved ones. We grieve. We cry. We pay our respects. We sign the funeral register book.
We share memories and funny stories with our family and friends. We look at old photos of the dear departed arranged throughout the visitation room.
But deep down, don’t you feel relieved that you’re not the one in the casket or urn? You know your time is coming, of course. No one escapes death.
You can try to prolong your life through exercising and dieting. Regular…
Be Fearless, but Not Careless
Despite the surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Delta Variant and breakthrough infections, more organizations this year are sponsoring either in-person or hybrid conferences and trade shows.
According to a July 2021 survey by the Northstar Meetings Group, more planners (30 percent) are booking new events than rescheduling events (18 percent) since March of last year.
That’s good news for many of us getting tired of watching virtual meetings and who want to meet and mingle with professionals in our industry or field.
However, as an attendee or vendor, how can you safely attend and prepare for an in-person…
Don’t be scared
Contrary to popular belief, ghosts don’t appear just on Halloween.
If you work in sales, you know from experience that ghosts appear all year long. I’m referring to clients who don’t return your phone calls or respond to your emails.
Scary? You bet.
And it’s even more frightening because you expected these ghost clients were going to order from you. You know, the ones that you considered to be a slam dunk order…only to find out later to your chagrin that you were the one getting slammed for your stupidity.
Too harsh? Maybe.
But your time is too valuable to…
It’s not What you Think
Cold calling in sales has negative connotations for both salespeople and clients. I know because I work in sales. Not only do I make cold calls, but I receive my fair share of them daily from other salespeople.
Making cold calls can be tedious and monotonous. And let’s not forget rejection. Getting hanged up on isn’t fun. And how many times have we heard lame excuses like the proverbial “I have to run into a meeting” or “I have to take another call.”
Most people don’t like receiving cold calls because it’s an interruption of…
Overcoming excuses and fear
With the pandemic winding down in my area and churches beginning to reopen, I must decide — Do I return to church in-person or drop out?
When COVID-19 struck early last year, like most churchgoers, I started viewing the services online. But as the months wore on, my participation began to wane, and I eventually stopped watching the services or partaking in church group chats.
Let me digress. I’m not a deeply religious person. I grew up in a Catholic family. I attended parochial school until the third grade. Then my parents withdrew me from the school and enrolled me…
Don Lee
Sales professional, Writer. Blog: http://dononselling.com. Author: Jumpstart your Sales Career: Help for New Salespeople — https://amzn.to/3eXg0O4.
