Northbound » Sales Coaching

Should You Leave a Voicemail When Prospecting?

Posted by: Michael Caron In: Sales Coaching, Sales Executives, Sales Managers, Sales Training, Salespeople, Uncategorized 12 Oct 2022 0 comments Tags: cold calling, consultative selling, growing selling skills, increased sales, prospecting, sales productivity, sales training, selling skills, voicemail messages

Why you need to leave a voicemail every time.

I’m frequently asked this question and my typical response is, “Why wouldn’t you?” The answers I get back range from “They’ll never call me back so why bother” to “If I leave a message, they’ll know why I’m calling the next time and won’t pick up.” Both are bad answers. With the current work-from-home movement, it’s even more rare for someone to be at their office desk. And we all know that mobile phone numbers are often hard to come by. Here’s why some objections from salespeople to leaving voicemails don’t hold up.

“They’ll never call me back.” – WRONG!

This just isn’t true. Our own statistics plus statistics from our clients who we’ve trained to leave voicemails all point to the same thing. Some prospects will call you back. While many won’t, some will and some is much better than the “none” who will call you back when you don’t leave a voicemail.

Naturally, the more clear, concise and compelling your message is, the greater the chance of a callback. Our research has shown that callbacks can increase dramatically with the right technique and skill.

But there’s an equally powerful reason to leave a voicemail. Even in the cases where it doesn’t lead to a callback, you are able to get your message through to the buyer. You are able to convey the reasons why it makes sense for them to have conversation with you. When you are able to convincingly speak of how you’ve helped others solve problems that they might have, it can cause them to sit up and take notice. Just as in advertising, you’re making a “impression” on the buyer and for people to take action, they often need multiple impressions.

“If I leave a message, they’ll know why I’m calling the next time and won’t pick up.” – WRONG!

The notion that catching a prospect off guard will somehow help you engage with them seems very flawed to me. Question: Would you be more likely to have a conversation with someone if you a) knew what they were calling about and b) think that they might be able to help you resolve a challenge? Of course you would. And your prospects are no different.

When you catch someone completely off guard, their automatic internal knee-jerk response will likely be something like, “It’s a salesperson. I’ve got to get them off the phone.” They will be far less likely to think about what value you might bring to them. If, however, you’ve already touched them with your value proposition several times like you can with your voicemails, there will be a higher likelihood of agreeing to a brief conversation.

If you haven’t been leaving voicemails when prospecting, start today. As with all your selling skills, you’ll want to practice again, again and again until you sound smooth and natural. You will instantly see both the number of connections increase as well as the quality of your conversations.

Northbound’s “Connecting to the Big Cheese” workshop will teach you and your team how to be master this critical selling skill. For pricing or more info, contact Craig Brandys, Vice President of Sales at [email protected].

To Sell More, Ask Questions and Listen!

Posted by: Michael Caron In: Sales Coaching, Sales Training, Salespeople 12 Oct 2022 0 comments Tags: sales questions, sales results, sales training

No talking

A good fellow sales training friend of mine, Jack Daly, always says that the shortest course on selling is “Ask questions and listen.” Having trained thousands of salespeople, although most of us know intuitively that this simple strategy makes sense, it’s not done in the real world often enough. Like any habit, the pattern of “Let me tell ya. Let me tell ya” is tough to break.

I love feedback, good and bad, from participants of Northbound’s “Goal Aligned™ Selling” programs. I just received an email from a sales manager that was forwarded to him by one of his team. Knowing how much we can help salespeople build their careers and, in this case, help them personally, is what drives me more than anything at Northbound. Our sales training works!

“I have applied some of the strategies learned in class on recent site visits and have had a positive experiences. Asking proper and relevant questions, using Northbound’s 0-10 competitor’s rating system. Listening without interrupting, understanding customer’s needs and problems. Even when this customer rated our competitor 9 out of 10 I uncovered that the customer was interested in a direct one person contact, thus allowing me the opportunity to look after his jobs directly and having his staff calling me as the one person. In the last two weeks, we have 3 orders placed and prior to that have not done any business since 2019. We learned one of the key points in training was to probe and uncover problems, and leverage any competitor deficiencies.

All in all it’s a new way for me to look at and approach day to day interactions.”

To look into a complimentary live workshop for you or your sales team, reach me at 416.456.1440 or [email protected]. Check out northboundsales.com/training/

Objection Handling: 3 Steps to dealing with “I’m happy”

It’s one of the most common objections you’ll get … and one of the most difficult to deal with.

You’ve Heard It Before:

Objections come in different sizes and shapes which makes objection handling a difficult skill to master. You will get different objections when prospecting than you will when presenting solutions and you need to be able to handle the common ones in a smooth and skillful manner. A tough objection when attempting to set meetings is the dreaded, “We’re happy with our current vendor” which might also come in the form of “We’re good right now” or even “We don’t have any need.” In this article, I’m going to provide you a 3 step process for handling these.

Goal Aligned Selling

Let’s be clear. There may actually NOT be any need. They might actually have a solution in place that is superior to anything else out there. While these situations MAY exist, they are rare. The sad fact is that in many cases, your solution IS better but you never got the chance to find out for sure. Objection handling is often a case of additional communication of the facts.

It’s a problem that is often precipitated by poor sales techniques. Why does this happen? In a nutshell it’s caused by the prospect not believing they have any problems with their current solution vendor that warrants attention. Logically, if they knowingly had a problem with their current vendor, they’d probably be calling you instead of you calling them!

In a recent workshop, I asked this question: “Who believes that there are potential customers out there who have problems that you can solve but that the customer doesn’t even know they have?” As you might expect, every person in the room threw their hand up. They are 100% right.

Find Problems:

The overall strategy here is to find some problems. If there is no problem, there is no opportunity. Sometimes I get pushback from people on the use of the word “problem” noting that their product or service provides an “opportunity” for the customer to do better than they are right now rather than there being a “problem” necessarily. While I don’t disagree, we’re really just looking at the same coin from a different side.

Northbound’s sales development program is named “Goal Aligned Selling™” because our entire methodology revolves around helping the customer achieve their goals. When a customer perceives a gap between where they are and where they’d like to be, “tension for change” is created. Only when this tension for change exists, will the customer be motivated to explore a possible change to the status quo. The diagram above illustrates the concept.

Naturally, a very direct way of course is to just ask the buyer what problems they have. You could come right out and say something to the effect of this.

You: “So, what problems do you have with your existing vendor?”

It’s not likely, however, that the customer is going to a) know all the problems they have or b) serve them up to you on a silver platter. Instead you’ll hear something like this:

Customer: I really don’t have any. Thanks for your call.

A better way to approach this is to use this 3 step strategy:

1. Establish what the customer is trying to accomplish in the key result areas.

2. Probe for areas where there might not be 100% satisfaction.

3. Help them see that they might be able to do better in the key result areas than they are right now.

Executing this strategy can be quite challenging and requires more detail than I have for this post. I will follow this up shortly with some specific ways of implementing this strategy with your prospect.

Happy Selling

Michael

The Power of Handwritten Notes

Posted by: Michael Caron In: Sales Coaching, Sales Executives, Sales Managers, Sales Training, Salespeople, Uncategorized 14 Sep 2017 0 comments Tags: cold calling, consultative selling, growing selling skills, increased sales, prospecting, sales training

In school, we used to pass handwritten notes. Even today, it makes you stand out from the rest

I’m a big advocate of using handwritten notes in your selling process for 2 main reasons

#1 Reason: They work

#2 Reason: They are a kind gesture which makes me feel good!

Why do they work?

In today’s world of digital communication, we are bombarded with literally hundreds of messages from others on a weekly basis. People just don’t get nearly as much stuff by snail mail any longer and the stuff we DO get it usually junk mail (sounds a lot like our email in box too doesn’t it?). Receiving something in the mail from a real live person is rare. Handwritten notes such as a thank you card is even more rare.

A handwritten note helps you stand out. Let me ask you this. The last time you received a hand written card, what did you do with it right after reading it? I bet you didn’t toss it in the trash. I bet you put it on your desk, your fridge, or even showed it to other people. What did you do with the last email “thank you” you got? See the difference?

Why do they make me feel good?

Taking the time to hand write and drop something in the mail connotes a deeper level of thanks and appreciation. As the famous Canadian futurist Marshal McLuhan famously quipped, “The medium is the message.” Giving thanks to a customer for their time, or for anything in fact, is a big win-win. It makes the receiver feel good but it helps me by building my gratitude. And a recent study published in the Harvard Business Journal confirms what you probably know intuitively – that having gratitude increases happiness and increased happiness leads to higher productivity and sales. What a fantastic ROI on your time!

There is one rule with sending handwritten notes including “thank you” cards. They need to be 100% sincere. If you ever try to pass around insincere thanks, it’s the same as passing around counterfeit money. You will eventually be found out and your credibility will be in the toilet from that moment forward.

I’d recommend that you order some simple customized cards from any of the online print shops and start each day with a heartfelt thank you. It’ll make someone else’s day and yours too!

5 Tips for Phone Prospecting

Posted by: Michael Caron In: Sales Coaching, Sales Executives, Sales Managers, Sales Training, Salespeople, Training, Uncategorized 13 Aug 2014 0 comments Tags: cold calling, consultative selling, gatekeepers, growing selling skills, increased sales, prospecting, sales productivity, sales training, sell more in less time, selling skills

Do these and buyers will give you more time, more often.

By Michael Caron, President, Northbound Sales

1) Ask questions but ask for permission first

It’s great to ask questions on a prospecting call to understand what issues, challenges or goals a customer might have but don’t forget to frame why you’re asking them. Otherwise, it can catch your prospect off guard and they will be less apt to want to answer questions until they know “what’s in it for them” to do so. Use language such as, “I don’t know if there’s a fit between our companies for sure but would it be OK for me to ask you two quick questions to help see?” In the thousands of calls I’ve personally used this strategy of asking permission with, I’ve only been turned down once!

2) Be friendly and conversational, yet professional

It’s a delicate balance to strike, but if you can speak to someone as if they are already an acquaintance, you will get them to listen to you and open up more as well. Too casual, such as, “We’re amazing at that kind of stuff man.” and you’ll be dismissed as unprofessional. On the other hand, “We have a superior track record of excellence within that category” will likely come across as too stiff.

In more advanced selling, you will want to learn how to read the personality of the prospect and adjust accordingly but for now, friendly yet professional will do in most cases.

3) Use softeners

Try to frame your questions with “softeners” that allow you to probe without sounding like you’re interrogating them. Use language such as “Would you happen to know . . . Could you share with me . . . Do you know about how many . . . How important would you say blah, blah is?” Be curious not interrogative.

4) Find at least two issues

Try to probe and uncover at least two problems/challenges/issues that your solution might be able to help them with before suggesting a meeting. If you can’t get two, run with only one but at least try for two.

5) Keep practicing!

Your prospects won’t give you honest feedback that will help you get better but your friends will!

You and your team can learn to prospect better and in less time with Northbound’s “Power Prospecting” and “Connecting to Mr. Big Cheese” workshops. For more information or to arrange a complimentary workshop for your team, contact Michael at [email protected] or 416.456.1440.

Five Strategies to Deal with Gatekeepers

Posted by: Michael Caron In: Sales Coaching, Sales Training, Salespeople, Training 10 Jul 2014 0 comments Tags: cold calling, gatekeepers, growing selling skills, prospecting, sales training, selling skills

Who gets through and who doesn’t? Only the gatekeeper for the decision maker decides!

When attempting to contact your important decision maker, at Northbound a person we like to call Mr. Big Cheese, it can be very frustrating to have a gatekeeper “get in the way”. Naturally, the larger the organization, the more likely that Mr. Big Cheese will have someone whose job it is to decide who gets thru and who doesn’t. But don’t despair.

Coming up against a gatekeeper doesn’t mean you have to retreat. With a few simple strategies, you will be able to safely negotiate your way through to your valuable prospective customer. Here are things to keep in mind:

1—Respect the gatekeeper’s role . . . Whether it’s a receptionist, an executive assistant or another subordinate, it’s important to realize that gatekeepers are being paid to filter people out and protect the time of Mr. Big Cheese. Not all people of course—just the ones who they feel wouldn’t be of great value to their boss. Contrary to popular opinion, they don’t hate all salespeople — just most of them. And for good reason. Most do a poor job of patiently explaining how Mr. Big Cheese would benefit from speaking with them. Use empathy when speaking to them such as, “I understand that part of your role is to figure out what’s relevant or not for Mr. Big Cheese.” Understanding that they are simply doing their job will go a long way to connecting with them and reduce defensiveness.

2—Sell them first . . . When you approach a gatekeeper, it will take more time because of the additional effort to sell them first. If you can convey the potential value that your product or service might bring to Mr. Big Cheese he or she is much more likely to let you pass through. A few months ago, I was faced with a very good gatekeeper named Arlene. When I asked for the President, she politely but firmly explained to me, “I’m sorry but I can’t put you through until I know what it’s regarding”. I noted to her that I respected that she was trying to ensure that the President’s time isn’t wasted. I then engaged in a conversation with her similar to what I would with a Mr. Big Cheese. I treated her with respect and carefully explained why it would make sense for Mr. Big Cheese to speak with me briefly. After a few moments, she came back with, “Michael, based on what you’ve told me, I’ll put you through.” I complimented her on the way she handled things and ever since, she recognizes my voice and is warm and friendly.

Remember though that you are only selling the gatekeeper on the benefits for Mr. Big Cheese to speak with you. You are NOT selling your product or service. Yes, the gatekeeper decides who gets through but they are not the economic buyer.

3—Don’t bulldoze them . . . Gatekeepers have the power and authority to shut you out. Trying to muscle your way through them will almost surely backfire. If you irritate them, it’s human nature for them to want to help you less.

4—Call before 9 A.M. and after 5 P.M. . . . I’m not a huge fan of calling prospects on their cell or well outside of business hours—prospects need their personal time too—but calling between 8 & 9 A.M. and between 5 & 6 P.M. will often allow you to dial direct to Mr. Big Cheese’s desk and speak to them while things are less frantic.

5—Be assertive . . . Salespeople sometimes invite gatekeepers to question the purpose of the call by sounding well, like salespeople! One of the concepts we teach in Northbound’s “Connecting to Mr. Big Cheese” workshop is that you are one business professional contacting another on Equal Business Footing. Ask for your “Mr. Big Cheese” as you would if you were calling a colleague—firmly and assertively. Often reception won’t even question your authority to speak with your prospect.

When all else fails—If you’ve tried the above and the gatekeeper is stubbornly shutting your efforts down, you could try this very bold verbiage: “Would you knowingly stand between Mr. Big Cheese and (the major benefit of your product/service)?” Yes, it’s bold, but you’ve got nothing to lose at this point and it has opened the door in some situations.

In summary, if you treat gatekeepers with the respect and patience they deserve, you will be rewarded (most of the time!) with an opportunity to connect to Mr. Big Cheese.

If you or your sales team would like to learn how to master this technique and learn dozens of other proven strategies to improve your prospecting results, check out our “Connecting to Mr. Big Cheese” workshop. For pricing or more details, contact Michael Caron at [email protected] or 416.456.1440.

Use Pete the Parrot to Help You in Sales Calls

Posted by: Michael Caron In: Sales Coaching, Sales Executives, Sales Managers, Sales Training, Salespeople 23 Jun 2014 0 comments Tags: cold calling, consultative selling, growing selling skills, increased sales, prospecting, sales management, sales productivity, sales training, selling skill improvements, selling skills

Is using an imaginary exotic bird to help you close more sales as ridiculous as it sounds? Maybe. Maybe not. Read on to find out.

The number one problem area for sales teams in terms of technical selling skills is doing the “feature push.” A feature push is the nasty and deep rooted habit of simply telling our customer about some of the wonderful “features” of your product, service, company or even of yourself. Some examples that I hear all the time are:

“Our company is the biggest in the industry.”

“We have unique technology called (Insert something here that nobody’s heard of) that’s very unique.”

“We have 12 locations.”

There’s nothing wrong with features. They often represent real competitive advantages. The problem comes when salespeople leave it up to the customer to figure out how these features can help them. The consultative approach to selling, which is generally accepted to be the most effective selling methodology, says that customers only make purchases in order to solve a problem.

Going back to sales training 101, we probably learned about features and benefits. In it’s simplest form the difference is:

Feature = How something works

Benefit = How it can help

For example, an executive at Black and Decker was famously quoted as saying, “At Black and Decker, we don’t make 1/2″ drills. We make 1/2″ holes!”

In the middle of a sales call, it can be hard to remember to follow up a mention of a feature with the accompanying benefit(s) and that’s why I recommend that you use Pete to help. Let me tell you about him. (This story might not be 100% true but it’ll help you remember about Pete!) Pete is a parrot who I bought years ago at a pet shop for only $100, a deal compared to other parrots. When I asked the pet shop owner why Pete was so cheap, he explained that he can’t say anything anyone wants.

Curious, I asked him what he does say. He explained that he used to belong to a salesperson who used to spout off about nothing but features when in front of a customer and that because Pete couldn’t stand it any longer, he finally started squawking, “So What?” after the salesperson’s feature pushes. This forced the salesperson to keep explaining until it was clear to the customer how the feature could help him solve a problem, challenge or issue. “PERFECT. I’LL TAKE HIM!” I said.

While you can’t borrow the real (cough . . . eh um) Pete for your sales calls, you can borrow the imaginary Pete anytime you’d like. In fact, I would recommend that he quietly sits on your shoulder on your next sales call. It’s like having a sales trainer with you without the cost. Any time a feature comes out of your mouth without a related benefit, Pete will squawk out “So What?” reminding you to keep going into the specific benefits to the customer.

One piece of advice. Don’t talk back to Pete in the middle of a sales call. It’ll kill your closing ratio!

If you’d like to learn how to use Pete and other techniques in improving your sales team’s performance, I invite your call or email. 416.456.1440 or [email protected]

Have fun with Pete!

Michael

Six Tips for Coaching Salespeople to be Productive Again

Posted by: Michael Caron In: Sales Coaching, Sales Executives, Sales Managers, Sales Training, Salespeople, Training 28 Apr 2011 0 comments Tags: consultative selling, growing selling skills, sales leadership, sales management, sales productivity

Everyone who has been selling for a while knows sales can be a roller coaster. The peaks and valleys of sales are a fact of life. One of the most challenging tasks is coaching a veteran salesperson that has reached a plateau and is struggling. Or worse, has reached a performance level where they are satisfied or they have earned the right to not do the things they used to do when they were building their business.

Earning a comfortable living is a goal for most people but in the sales world, it can lead to a salesperson becoming complacent and “plateauing”. Having trained and coached thousands of salespeople over my career, I see all too often the fat cat sales rep who built up their customer base from relentless new client development but now is living off the recurring sales. New business growth grinds to a snail’s pace.

Each situation will be different but one common sales coaching theme is clear. The sales manager needs to find out what will motivate the stalled individual to determine the type of coaching required. What works in one situation may not work in another.

Sales coaching will vary depending on the development levels of the individual. Some sales managers prefer working with senior salespeople because it is more interesting and rewarding for the manager. Others prefer to work with less experienced salespeople. The real world is that you must coach all levels. Each situation is different and the manager must adjust his or her sales coaching techniques to be effective.

1. Get up close and personal to understand what is important to them at this point in their career. Ask open ended questions in an informal setting. Find out if anything changed in their life, what sales activities are they doing, what sales activities are they not doing, what is the legacy they want to leave behind? Do they want to grow as a sales professional? Will they be happy 10 years from now if they aren’t one stick better than they are today?

2. Next you must observe the plateaued salesperson in a selling situation. It’s the only way to be sure they are using good fundamental selling skills and not cutting corners. You can’t coach from a spreadsheet. And to borrow from the world of sport, you can’t coach from the dressing room. You need to see them on the court or on the ice. When you’re sure they’re solid in the field, coach them in account strategies. Good selling skills are a means of executing good account strategies.

3. Account strategy coaching can be done in the office and to suit your schedule. Start with their existing accounts and review their current levels of business at key accounts and their sales plan for gaining new business.

4. Plan ways to get additional resources that will help solidify and/or expand their position at key accounts and top prospects. This will include executive bridging calls with senior executives and technical specialists.

5. Concentrate your coaching efforts on accounts with high potential or high visibility, or accounts that provide a unique learning opportunity. We are looking for an opportunity where the plateaued has a reasonable chance to succeed. This will build confidence.

6. Finally and most importantly, schedule monthly review sessions with the plateaued sales rep to review progress, give feedback and make adjustments. This is critical!

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