Have you ever made it far along in the sales cycle with a prospect and then, just when you are about to close the deal, all communication stops? When a prospect ghosts you, it can be frustrating, leaving you wondering what you did wrong and what you could’ve done differently. However, just because communication has stopped doesn’t mean that you won’t ever hear from them again – there can be many reasons for the “ghosting,” and if you had a good feeling about an ultimate sale, the ghosting could simply be due to bad timing. Consider these suggestions for what to do when a prospect ghosts you:
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The Benefits of Crafting a Well-Written Prospecting Script
The most daunting part of making a sales call is preparing for the unknown. Will I reach decision-makers? What kind of questions will the decision–maker ask? Am I prepared with the best responses? Enter the sales script! Think a script is only useful for newbie salespeople? Think again! With the new year comes an opportunity to dust off old material and think of our messaging in a new way. This also allows for an opportunity to showcase new technology, services or offerings you’ve recently added. Taking the time to craft a script that is timely and relevant can mean the difference between a closed deal (great intro, effective probing questions and a convincingly delivered Value Proposition) and a lost opportunity (due to a poor introduction and lack of engagement questions that lead to a summary dismissal).
Consider these benefits of taking the time to craft a new prospecting script: (more…)
REDIRECTED – “Call Me After the Holidays”: The 2021 Edition
Winter is certainly coming, but the pandemic is not leaving. COVID-19 is continuing to uproot normalcy and force businesses to change their models. With new daily cases on the rise (as of this writing), the threat of another shutdown seems to linger around every corner. The pandemic coupled with the frenzy of the holiday season is enough to make anyone want to hold off stressful decisions. It hasn’t been easy to be a salesperson in the last few years.
Everyone is hoping that come the new year, the pandemic will slow down and ideally come to a screeching halt. Even so, it is important to take uncertainty into account when prospecting and understanding that, “Call me after the holidays” may also mean, “Call me when COVID is over”. (more…)
Prospect Qualification for Breakroom Suppliers
One of the most important topics you can cover with your sales reps: the effect that a successful qualification call can have on the sales process. The impact is inimitable. Proper qualification saves the sales team time, so that labor that can be properly allocated to pursuable opportunities. This process prevents pipelines from getting filled with an abundance of unqualified, or more so underqualified, prospects that drain your sales rep’s time and energy. Imagine dialing in multiple times over to the same prospect that is estimated to have 120 employees, only to reach them and find out they actually have 22 on-site! Or making 6 calls over 3 months to Suzie, who turns out to be a “coordinator” – hardly a decision-maker.
Although certain criteria requirements vary from Operator to Operator, the importance of an effective qualification call remains constant.
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Rekindling Prospect Connections
How many networking events, trade shows, seminars, and conferences did you attend this past year? How many business cards did you collect? If you spoke with people at an event, gathered business cards, or connected for a brief moment on LinkedIn- you are now on your way to cultivating warm leads! The trick is to turn that connection into a sale. Writing down notes on business cards after meeting someone will warm up the introduction to the call or email when you reach out somewhere down the line. Distinct dialogue from that initial conversation will help them remember the time and build rapport. Attending various events are all great ways to meet people and gather leads, but without follow-up, how will you get closer to the sale? Those prospects will rarely come knockin’ on our door. Actively go after your target market through a conversation that uncovers whether there is a reason to pursue towards a sale. Here are a few tips to help you pick up the phone and start building and managing that relationship!
ORGANIZE YOUR LIST.
The day after an event, take time to organize and capture the new names you have collected on your prospect list. Add the names, contact information, where you met, and any pertinent information about them to a spreadsheet, if you don’t have a more sophisticated database management system. Highlight the “hottest” leads in red and call them first, or, insert a call priority field to notate the opportunity as A, B, or C. This activity will offer more clarity on how much time should be spent on any given lead. Then, use the sort feature so you can differentiate your leads based on call priority. (more…)
Uncover Your Agency’s Value Proposition
—Reprinted with permission from Professional Insurance Agent Management Services Inc.—
In addition to a reliable prospect list, your agency’s value proposition is arguably the most vital element of your overall marketing messaging. A value proposition explains how your product solves customers’ problems or improves their situations. Let’s face it, it’s not always easy to differentiate in the insurance industry. From our work helping insurance agencies get sales appointments with their prospects, differentiating (on paper) has proven to be the most challenging piece of the sales process—but it is the most important first step toward an effective sales strategy.
It’s easy for an insurance agent to be a quote shop, but in an effort to not become commodity-based, let’s explore how to uncover the value proposition to get the insurance buyer’s mind away from just thinking about the price of a policy. That is not to say that the cost shouldn’t be part of the prospects’ mindset, as saving money often is the first consideration. However, how you save them money is part of your value proposition. A solid value proposition demonstrates credibility and expertise while developing trust.
The Consultative Sell on an Introductory Sales Call
Ask Questions To Learn About Your Prospects’ Wants And Needs
It is easy to fall into the trap of “I’m calling to give you a quote” rather than engaging in a meaningful dialogue. Asking good questions is the best way to learn more about your prospect’s needs and desires while, at the same time, building rapport. Rather than being viewed as “another Insurance agent”, you will become a valued advisor. This technique is referred to as consultative selling.
It would be easy if there was one right set of questions to ask that would always guarantee responses that we want. The best approach is to create a mix of open-ended questions that get your prospect talking, along with questions that easily yield a “yes” response or get the prospect thinking of what their current broker is NOT doing for them. (more…)
When Customers Want to See the Human Behind the Product
Harvard Business Review article by Adam Waytz on June 05, 2019
Everywhere you look these days it seems that modern commerce has been designed to separate humans from each other. Smartphones keep our attention locked in a virtual realm, online retail allows us to browse and shop without leaving our home, and automated tellers and cashiers seem designed to remove human interaction entirely.
My research and that of others shows that when people think of what it means to be human, they typically consider two fundamental capacities: conscious experience (i.e., the capacity to feel) and agency (i.e., having thoughts and intentions). Human-to-human interaction is central to this conception. As a result, businesses that try to distance its customers from other humans are missing a critical tactic — refocusing their products on services around the power of human interaction provides an opportunity to create enormous social and economic value.
Human contact has an almost magical power: For example, research shows that holding a spouse’s hand or in some cases even holding a stranger’s hand reduces the aversiveness of painful stimuli (e.g., excessive heat, electric shocks).
A human touch also imbues experiences and products with special significance and so increases people’s perception of the value of those (more…)
Don’t Let Your Pipeline Dry Up this Summer!
Summertime is here: the weather’s hot – but don’t let the summer heat wilt your business. In fact, summer is a great time to market – no matter what type of business you have.
Sure, it’s true, more people go on vacation during the summer, but that doesn’t mean that companies shut their doors and head to the beach for the entire three months of summer. The average worker gets two or three weeks off, and the rest of the time it’s business as usual.
