Category: Frontline Reps

Best Motivational Book Recommendation for the Holidays

by mike

It’s been a challenging year with Covid, and as cases skyrocket it seems as if it could be a rough winter…

With the holidays and the end of the year just around the corner, I think it’s time to give your attitude a boost.

I want to share with you one of my all-time favorite books on how to develop the right mindset for overcoming and achieving just about anything. This is a book I picked up years ago, and I continue to read it at the end of every year as I set my new goals.

It’s made a tremendous difference in my results and my life.

It’s called, The Advanced Formula for Total Success, by Dr. Robert Anthony. If you haven’t read it—or haven’t read it lately—than this will be one of the most important books you’ll ever read. It’s packed with useful, no-nonsense examples that will really resonate.

It is out of print, but you can get used copies on Amazon.com for as little as ten dollars. Believe, me, it’ll be the best money you’ll spend this year.

Dr. Robert Anthony updated this book a few years ago and called it: “Beyond Positive Thinking.” That book is readily available, and there is an audio version of it if you prefer to listen to your books.

Either way, Dr. Robert Anthony is an awesome motivator who gives you the formula you need to set and achieve your goals—any goals.

So, while you’re contemplating that second piece of pecan pie, make sure you eat it while reading one of the most important books you’ll find in years.

Enjoy and all the best for 2021!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Black Friday: On-Demand Training on Sale First Time Ever!

by mike

Want to make more sales? Then learn and use better sales techniques.

It’s really as simple as that. And today, I have an easy way for you and your team to do that:

Get access to the Best Inside Sales Training available anywhere and save 20% for the first time ever! (Save hundreds of dollars during the next few days only.)

Our award-winning On-Demand Inside Sales Training program will immediately give your sales reps better scripts, better templates, and the proven techniques they need to:

  • Avoid call reluctance
  • Get past gatekeepers
  • Connect with more decision makers
  • Send better emails and leave more effective voicemails
  • Close More Sales
  • Overcome objections
  • And so much more: See full description here

You’ll get Instant Access (like today!) to watch from your home or office.

Choose from two options for this training:

  • 4-week, unlimited viewing for unlimited number of reps, (as little as $106 per rep) *
  • OR, lifetime license to train your current team and all new hires, plus unlimited viewing for unlimited reps! (Click to see pricing)

If you’ve been thinking of getting inside sales training from the company the AA-ISP calls, “Best Service Provider of 2020,” then NOW is the time to get it!

To save 20% right now, simply use the coupon code: (save20) during check out.

This exceptional offer ends on Monday, November 30th, so act today and be better at selling tomorrow!

*(Based on 15 reps)

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

One Simple Technique to Learn Buying Motives

by mike

(Image courtesy of All Ear Plugs https://www.allearplugs.com/)

Question for you: How often do you take notes while you’re on Mute and your prospect is revealing their buying motives?

What? You don’t take notes?

How about using your Mute button? Are you actively doing that? (If not, start using it today: search my blog to read articles on how to do that.)

Here’s a simple technique to help you actively listen to and understand a prospect’s or client’s buying motive(s):

While they are answering your qualifying questions, have a piece of paper next to you (or your computer or phone) and actively take notes as they reveal what is important to them. If you’ve never tried this technique, trust me, it’s a game changer….

Bonus: Write down the actual words, phrases, or terms they use. Then, by feeding these back to them, you’ll be speaking to a person’s listening.

By taking notes, you will:

  • Be forced to actually listen and hear what they are telling you (rather than thinking about what you’re going to say next).
  • Begin thinking about how to point out those aspects of your product or service that matches up with what they want (because you’ll be clear what they are).
  • Make a much better connection with your prospect or client because they will feel listened to and heard.
  • Become a better listener.

These are just a few of the very real advantages you’ll gain by actively listening and taking notes. This one technique will separate you from all the other sales reps who are just looking for someone to dump their pitch onto.

Like so many solid techniques in sales, this one is simple—but it will only work if you commit to trying it.

And if you do, I guarantee you’ll see the value in it, and you’ll quickly wonder how you’ve done without it all these years….

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

How to Avoid Call Reluctance

by mike

Nobody likes rejection, and fear of being rejected, of being unsuccessful, is what causes sales reps to avoid picking up the phone; it causes them to send emails instead of having a conversation with prospects.

The solution to this is to reframe rejection. And here’s how—answer this question: how many calls do you need to make before you speak to a potential prospect? Twenty-five, thirty?

And how many prospects do you need to speak with before you get a “lead”? Twenty-five, thirty?

Isn’t it true that the vast majority of your calls—and conversations—are unsuccessful in terms of finding an interested prospect?

The key to staying motivated, and to making calls, is to recognize this and embrace it as just part of the process. Face it: most of the time, you’re going to identify people who are not right for what you’re selling.

And that’s OK.

It’s like a professional baseball player: a good player—one who makes millions of dollars a year—averages a hit about 25% of the time. That means he strikes out 75% of the time he steps up to bat!

Three out of four times he “fails” and goes back to the dugout.

Do you think this depresses him? Do you think he goes back into the locker room and straightens up? (Kind of like sales reps who would rather clean their desks than make phone calls.)

NO! He can’t wait for his next up at bat, because each time he strikes out he’s that much closer to getting a hit—and that much closer to hitting a homerun!

And it’s the same thing for you as a sales rep. Face it: you’re going to “strike-out” most of the time, but it’s like Vince Lombardi said:

“It’s not important how many times you get knocked down,

what matters is that you get up.”

Once you can reframe being rejected as just getting closer to finding an interested prospect, you actually embrace getting turned down because you know it gets you that much closer to finding a buyer.

And once you look at it that way, you get motivated to keep calling…

So today, when you begin calling, if someone says they’re not interested, silently thank them for getting out of your way and for getting you that much closer to success. Because that’s what sales—and life, really—is all about.

Happy selling today!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

I looked It Over and We’re Not Interested

by mike

I’d like to revisit an objection and give you, once again, the scripts to deal with it.

I still get requests from clients, as well as readers, about how to handle getting blown off when they call a prospect back.

Here are three proven scripts you can use the next time your prospect tells you “I looked it over and I’m not interested…

Response #1:

“I understand, and that’s perfectly OK. At first a lot of people I speak with don’t fully understand all the ins and outs of this and that’s why I’m here. Before you make a decision though, let’s do this. It will take just a couple of minutes to explain how this might help you, and if, after you understand it, you still think it’s not for you, we’ll part friends. Do you have that information handy?”

[Must end by directing them to take an action…]

Response #2: 

“I didn’t expect you to be interested; heck, our marketing department hasn’t yet figured out a way to get our prospects to call us back—and that’s why they hired me! 

But seriously, {first name}, this (product/service/investment) has some great features that aren’t readily available in the (demo/material/information) I sent you, and it’ll only take a couple of minutes to find out if they would be a fit or benefit for you. 

Tell you what, do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes with me to find out how and if this would be right for you. Grab the information/quote/brochure and let me cover a few things – do you have it handy?

Response #3:

“I understand, and believe me, I get that a lot. In fact, some of my best clients said that at the beginning as well. But I’m sure you’d agree that any decision you make, whether it’s a yes or a no—and I can take either one—is best made once you understand all the facts, isn’t that right?

Well {first name}, I’m here to help you learn those, so do yourself a favor and grab that information, and let’s briefly go over it. If at the end it’s not for you we’ll part friends. Do you have it handy?”

Now, take some time and reword them slightly to fit your personality, your product or service. Then get in the habit of using them over and over again. What you’ll find is that more and more prospects will actually let you pitch them, and some of those will buy!

If you found this article helpful, then you’ll love my Completely Updated and Revised eBook, “The Complete Book of Phone Scripts.” Now over 200 powerful and effective scripts to help you easily get past the gatekeeper, set appointments, overcome objections and close more money!

Visit: http://mrinsidesales.com/products/complete-book-phone-scripts/ and find out why Jeffrey Gitomer, Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins and many others recommend my ebook of Phone Scripts! Download it now and be a better sales professional by this afternoon!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Are You Still Asking: “Is this a good time”?

by mike

The debate of whether to open your calls asking, “Did I catch you at a good time?” or “Is this time still good for you?” (for presentation call backs), is alive and well—unfortunately.

I still receive emails asking me whether to ask this or not. Some swear by it, while others never use it.

So, should you, or shouldn’t you?

I’ve been making calls—both prospecting calls and closing calls—for a long time. In fact, I still make them today. And in my experience (note I said experience, not theory), the answer is clear. What you should do is this:

Never ask if it’s a good time to have a conversation with a prospect or client. Instead, follow this approach:

Always greet your prospect: “Hi {first name}, hope your day is going well….” (or other opening you like).

And then listen carefully not only to how they respond, but, more importantly, to how they respond. Then ask yourself:

“Is this person happy to hear from me?”

“Does this person sound rushed?”

“Do they sound upset that I’ve interrupted them?”

“Are they unhappy they picked up the phone now have to talk to me?”

Or, rather:

“Do they sound relaxed?”

“Are they willing to engage—did they ask me how I’m doing?”

“Is there a smile in their voice?” (Or a frown?)

In other words, rather than ask if you caught them at a good time, listen to their voice and to how they answer the phone to see what their mood is. If you actually listen, you can always tell.

Then, regardless of what they say, acknowledge what you know to be true: they are busy! So let them know you respect their time and open your prospecting calls this way:

“I’m sure you’re busy, so I’ll be brief….”

And then engage quickly and ask them a question as soon as possible so you can give them an opportunity to tell you whether they have the time to speak to you or not.

For presentations where you’ve made an appointment, don’t ask if this is still a good time for them! You’ve made an appointment in advance, and if you’ve truly qualified them, they are expecting your call and should be ready for it.

For these calls, you open this way:

“Hi {first name}, how’s your (Tuesday, etc.) going?”

[Listen here and respond accordingly.]

“Good to hear. Well, {first name}, I’m excited to speak with you today, and I know you’re going to love…”

And then get engage and begin your discovery (second discovery!).

And, as always, don’t take my word for it, try it yourself. Your own experience will verify what I’m telling you.

Happy selling!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

A Better Way to Follow Up

by mike

Photo Credit: gambelino.com/my/

If you begin your follow up calls like this:

“Hi, I just wanted to see if you read the email I sent you?”

Then you’re going to want to read this post all the way through and adopt a better practice way of opening your follow up calls.

Couple of reminders before we begin:

#1: Sales is a set of recurring situations you get into over and over again. If you want to get better at making more sales confidently, then you have to learn better ways of handling those recurring situations (like follow up calls!).

See here for over 500 better ways to handle the situations you run into day after day.

#2: Practice doesn’t make perfect. Oh, I know, you’ve heard it for years, but it’s simply not true. Especially in sales.

Practice only makes permanent.

That’s why many sales reps don’t get better! They encounter the same selling situations over and over again, and they ad-lib and practice poor selling techniques over and over again.

And guess what that results in? Permanently bad responses—like the one above…

Solution? Use this response on your next follow up call and watch your confidence—and results—soar!

“Hi ________, this is ______ _______ with XYZ company again, how have you been?

“Great! It’s good to connect with you again. You may recall we spoke a few weeks ago and you asked me to send you an email about what we offer. I’m sure you’ve read through that, and I was wondering what products in there caught your attention?”

That’s it. Assumptive, on the money, and it leads into your pitch.

If they say, “Ah, I didn’t read it yet…”

You say, “No worries! I’m happy to point out a couple of things to you—can you pull that up? It’ll only take a second…”

You see how this goes.

Point is: follow up calls are a repeatable selling situation. Learn and use a better approach to get better results.

It’s that’s simple.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

How to Overcome the Email Stall

by mike

What do you say when you get this stall while prospecting?

If you’re like many sales reps, you accept it and become a willing participant in the follow up chase that ensues.

And you know how frustrating that is.

Let’s face it: This blow off is just a variation that prospects have been using for years. It used to be: “Can you send me something in the mail?” or “Just send me a brochure,” etc. Then email started and guess what? A new stall was born.

So, what’s the best way of handling it?

The first thing you want to do is find out whether it is a blow off (80% of the time it is), or whether your prospect is truly interested in what you have and wants to know more before they speak with you.

There is an easy way to find out:

Have an email already prepared while you’re prospecting.

If someone tells you to email them something, simply ask them what their email address is and then send it!

Right then!

Simply say:

“Okay, I’ve just sent it to you. Let me know when it pops up, and I’ll show you a couple of links you’ll want to explore later.

“In the meantime, let me ask you…”

And then ask a qualifying question. The point here is whether or not your prospect will:

  1. Give you the time to speak further with them. (If not, they may be busy and that’s OK—schedule a time to speak later that same day!)
  2. Open the email. (This tells you your prospect has time now and has an interest).
  3. Blow you off with another objection. (This is actually great because it tells you that you won’t need to follow up on the email—they weren’t really interested to begin with).
  4. Allow you to set a definite follow up appointment. (Which is fine—and at least you know they got your email! And remember: Go for a time later that same day!)

Any of these responses will get you a lot further—and give you the intel you need as to how to pursue this lead—than sending an email after you hang up and then then begin the cat and mouse game.

Try it this week, and watch your leads get more qualified as you put less “wood” into your pipeline.

And then watch as more deals roll out of it!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

One Question to Close More Demos

by mike

How many of you hold your breath at the end of your demo?

Wondering if the prospect is sold and/or what they’re going to do next?

If this describes you, then using today’s ‘one question’ before your demo can eliminate almost 100% of that dreaded feeling…

Remember: You can’t close an unqualified lead.

Yet that’s still what many sales reps and teams are trying to do.

Each of your demos (presentations) should begin with a series of brief qualifying questions. And the most important one is:

After you’ve asked the other qualifying questions (for a full treatment of this subject, see my book, Power Phone Scripts), you should end with this question:

“And last question: if, at the end of this presentation, you find that this is the exact solution you are looking for, what would your next steps be?”

Here’s an alternative:

“And the last question, if, at the end of this presentation, you feel this will work perfectly for you, what is your timeline for putting this to work for you?”

Simple, yet powerful question, isn’t it?

And wouldn’t you rather know now rather than wait and worry until the end?

Knowing what your prospect is thinking in advance eliminates the surprise of the inevitable stall at the end, and it also gives you the leverage you need to tailor your presentation, build value, get buy in, and of finding ways of working together sooner.

Try this today and this week during the beginning of your demos and listen to how your prospects respond. You’ll be more in charge, and you’ll become a better closer as a result!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

3 Easy Ways to Better Listening

by mike

When you open your mouth, you close your ears.

We all know the importance of listening to our prospects and clients, so why are we doing so little of it?

Simple—salespeople love to pitch, to tell prospects of all the features and benefits, and to find the one selling point that might make the difference.

But speaking so much just turns people off—and besides, it’s easier to ask a prospect what they want and then to listen as they tell you…

Here are three easy ways to listen—and so learn—what your prospects really want:

#1) Hit your Mute button after you ask a question, or whenever your prospect starts speaking.

No, you don’t have to utter an “uh-huh,” or “right,” to evidence you’re listening. That just distracts them.

Mute, shut up, listen and learn. Try it.

#2) Write down key words or phrases your prospect uses.

Have a pad and pen handy and make it a habit to jot down words or unique phrases your prospects or clients use.

Then feed these back to them.

This practice is perhaps the best way to make you an active listener.

#3) Encourage your prospect and clients to keep talking.

Once a person has stopped talking, use any of the following phrases:

“What else is important to you?”

“Besides that, what else can you think of?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Go on…”

“Oh?”

And then once your prospect/client resumes talking, hit your Mute button and take notes!

Remember, when you open your mouth, you close your ears.

Use these 3 simple methods to close your mouth and open your ears.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today