A lot of people over the last few weeks have been talking about “the best ways” to locate new customers and clients. A lot of people think that the strategies required have changed and that many of the old strategies don’t work anymore.

Out with the old, in with the new?

Not really. I agree that there are many “new ways” of reaching prospects and customers…

I have a LinkedIn account and a LinkedIn group (Sales Psychology & Performance if you want to have a look). I have a Youtube channel, I Twitter, I have a sales training blog and was blogging well before most other’s in the market place. I have numerous other social media profiles which I don’t use as much and I am also looking at the newest trends all of the time. I love to use the new ways and embrace change…

However, I think there is a real danger of throwing out what was and is still good about the old in chasing the new with comments like this one that someone made on one of my groups the other day when talking about traditional sales methods in particular prospecting…

“…you’ll be missing the 90%+ of the market that don’t buy like that…”

I am always suspicious of statistics but that one just looks wrong to me. To start with, if I only look at my  own stats, I can see that my business comes from multiple sources. It does not just come from cold calling, or from blogging, or from videos, or from article marketing, or from networking, or from referrals, or from sales meetings…

In fact, most of my clients and prospects travel through multiple touch points before buying i.e. “Well I saw you on a video programme where you were a guest expert, then I read one of your articles in a (traditional print) magazine, then someone said something about you at a networking event. I always thought I might book you for my team but then I changed roles and someone sent me a copy of your newsletter and so I came to one of your seminars and then I thought “Wow!” I need this guy for my next sales conference.”

Furthermore, it is indeed amazing how much of it still comes from traditional sources… speaking, referrals (proactive and reactive), word of mouth, recommendations, networking, traditional sales… with a kicker that most have read my blog after they found me, or watched my Youtube videos or checked me out on LinkedIn etc.

There are some markets where many sales are made using totally new ways of selling and there are some where no-one is buying this way. I am constantly amazed by how many of my paying clients do not have video enabled on their PCs, do not use Twitter and have failed to respond to invites to any of my online groups or communities.

The only “new way” they respond to is my email newsletter (permission based but the only one that interrupts them) and then they won’t post a blog answer on my website, they prefer to email me their thoughts and questions instead.

The new way of selling is here. The new way of making contacts and differentiating yourself from the market is here but it is not about new methodologies…

The new way of selling is about adding value for your clients. The new way is about better engaging your clients. The new way is about caring about your clients and their businesses. The new way is about focusing on your clients and not on you. And if you can use new media to do this, that’s great.

But the new way of selling is not about activity, it is about mindset. Selling is an attitude that leaves behind a trail of techniques.

It is misleading to assume then that the old methods do not work anymore. When you apply the new mindset to them they work incredibly well but too few people (know how to) do this and therefore fail miserably.

After my cold calling seminar of last week, someone Twittered the next day to say they had already  set up 4 meetings. After my cold calling seminar of Tuesday this week, someone already emailed me to say they would never have thought that they would be the person emailing me at all let alone saying that they had set up 5 appointments the very next day.

The old ways still work when you use the new mindset and new technologies to pimp them up.

It is also worth noting that many people using the new technologies do not have the new mindset and are just spamming anyway. The vast majority of comments and discussions posted in my communities are by people who ought to know better saying “go look at my seminar” or “see this article I wrote and spammed across every group”. They are no better than old school, bad, cold callers and I believe will be looked upon as the same in time. They add no value to their groups, no value to their communities, no value to their readers and this approach will not work long term.
Someone said to me the other day that I am the only person who consistently gives away stuff of value. This is clearly not true and I could name others who do too but it says a lot about the state of how people perceive the way people are using these new mediums.

People are unsubscribing from social media. People are clicking off from newsletters. People do not have the time to take part in discussions a lot of the time. I only need to look at the number of people who ring me and speak to me about booking me for a conference and who then fail to respond to emails. When I pick the phone up to them they invariably say, “I meant to call you,” and then book me.

And if every person out there started blogging, Twittering, Facebooking and videoing, firstly, many would just be no good at it and, secondly, no-one would be able to find anything worthwhile through the white noise…

So...

The expectation of salespeople has to change. The approaches you take have to change. The mindset you have has to change.

We have to add value. We have to utilise multiple routes to market. We have to employ new strategies, old strategies and hybrid strategies.

We have to use what works.

It’s not out with the old in with the new. It’s embrace the new, pimp up the old and mash up the lot to come up with a viable approach that connects and adds value for your clients. And this should include whatever strategies, old or new, that work best for you.

Related posts:

1. Now Is The Time For Sales Heroes
2. How Can I Use Technology To Build Credibility Remotely?
3. Does Cold Calling Work, 2?

After being asked by Jordan Adams to contribute to his LoveMediaSales site for media salespeople I also joined his LinkedIn group. One of the discussions posted there was asking. “Are sales floors getting quieter?” I thought I’d share my brief answer on my blog too…

Yes, sales floors are getting quieter and I agree that this is in part down to the use of email and social media. I use the latest technology extensively, probably more extensively than most and I am quite a techno-geek at times and it is most certainly powerful, effective and allows you to leverage networks. It also makes contacting people quick and easy. Every salesperson should know how to use social media properly… but that’s another story…

• Many salespeople do not pick up the phone when they should and this costs them money.
• Many salespeople and businesses rely on email contacts and fail to build open and honest relationships with their clients.
• Clients are less open, less honest and find it easier to say, “No” and give no feedback when not having to actually speak to anyone in person.
• Even though they may get less sales the secondary gain for salespeople of working this way is that they do not have to hear a “No.”

Because they now have other options many choose to progress sales via email and social media when they should be building personal relationships and progressing the sale in person. Many may not like the truth but for most, despite what they say, this progression onto using technology when personal contact would have been better is more about distancing themselves from personal rejection than anything else. Why have someone say “No” to your face when you can avoid it?

To take a simple email example…

A salesperson speaks with you personally about something and then follows up with an email a few days later asking if you are interested. You “park” the email because you are busy and unsure of how to progress and then a few days later you get another one asking the same. You decide you don’t want it and say so via email. You have made your mind up.

What can the salesperson do about this? Very little.

They were absent at the time of the decision. They knew nothing about your thought processes and they now have limited options to do anything about it without appearing overly pushy.

The supporting information could have been sent by email. Arranging to talk could likewise have taken place that way but the sales conversation should have taken place in person or on the phone. Only that way can you build a relationship, develop personal trust and get real opinions and guage the message, the person and the relationship using your communication skills. Via email you can do none of this.

In my experience, this use of email is common place in sales now. Many (most) salespeople use email to try and SELL. Email is a support tool not a sales tool. It supports the sale. It does not make the sale.

And don’t even get me started on the uses and abuses of social media…

p.s. I don’t see this as a new problem by the way… There were plenty of salespeople who used to solve the avoiding personal rejection by moving callbacks to letters or just not making them at all!!

Related posts:

1. How To Use Email When Prospecting
2. Cold Calling Blues?
3. Sales Training Tip For The Day: Get Up Close And Personal

As a sales motivational speaker and author I get to meet a lot of salespeople from a lot of different industries. Some are successful. Some are not. Many are slightly so. I have talked a lot on this blog and elsewhere about what the attributes of sales superstars are and why they stand out from their competition. One of the core habits that all sales superstars have is that they have an efficient and proven method of keeping in touch with and staying updated about their clients and prospects. In today’s competitive and fast-moving world this can be a challenging task and it is one that many salespeople fail to undertake well.

For want of a proven and repeatable contact strategy, Bert tried Ouija. It might have been fun and it might have been easy but it didn’t work. And neither do many of the strategies that I see employed, or should I say “not employed” by sales and business people that I meet! What is your strategy for keeping in touch with your clients and prospects?

Related posts:

1. Bert Found Targeting New Prospects Essential For Succesful Lead Generation
2. Should I Only Be Cold Calling Prospects I Convert Most Easily?
3. Clients Are For Life Not Just For Christmas!

I hear a lot about cold calling not working anymore and, as I say on my sales seminars, for many this is true. It’s far too easy to mess cold calls up… badly!

If you’ve been on my seminars or you have used my sales systems you know that this does not have to be the case. In the right industries and with the right approach and mindset, using the phone is still a viable and powerful strategy for developing new prospects and discovering new information. BUT… and it’s a big BUT! If you don’t do it correctly you will not make any friends, you will not develop any clients and you will not make any sales…

On this note, I had to share this call I just took with you…

Sales: “Hello, is that Mr Gavin Ingham?”
Gavin: (Deep intake of breath) “Yes.”
Sales: “How are you today?”
Gavin: (Awful question!) “Good!”
Sales: “That’s OK!”
Gavin: (What?!) “Yes.”
Sales: “I am calling because you may qualify for… (something or other – he was not speaking very clearly)… What loans do you have?”
Gavin: “Sorry, what?” (little personal that pal without any kind of credibility / rapport / understanding of me and whatnot!).
Sales: “What loans do you have?”
Gavin: (Shouting louder won’t help) “I don’t.”
Sales: “Well, you must have some.”
Gavin: (Still don’t have any) “I haven’t got any.”
Sales: “They can be in the last 7 years.”
Gavin: “Nope. Nothing.”
Sales: “Thanks, Bye.”

Seriously.
Really?

I rest my case. Most cold calls fail because they don’t deserve to succeed.

Related posts:

1. Does Cold Calling Work?
2. Cold Calling Blues?
3. What The Mile High Agony Aunt Can’t Teach You About Cold Calling

Here’s a question that one of my contacts asked recently that I thought I would share with you, “So I have got past the gatekeeper – after the introduction, what are the first 15 words (or so) I say to a prospect that’s going to get them hooked into a conversation?”

And here’s my answer…

One of the questions I always ask delegates in sales training seminars is, “How long do you have to make a first impression?” The answer they give me varies but is always no more than a handful of seconds. In today’s world, people make decisions very quickly and, upon receiving a cold call, even quicker still!

From a receiver’s perspective, they want to decide as fast as possible whether this call is a legitimate, business interruption or a nuisance, spam call. There are three things you need to consider to maximize your chances of achieving the former and minimize your chances of suffering the latter…

1. Plan and prepare effectively. Understand why you are calling that individual, why now and how you can make a difference for them. Also, get yourself into the right mindset. Mindset is critical for cold calling (and indeed for selling) and I will be posting some sales training videos on this soon…
2. Know how you answer their key question, “What’s in this for me?” If you can’t and don’t answer that, and quickly, you’re toast!
3. Avoid coming across as a salesperson and using “crash and burn” sales phrases. I teach people how not to use these on my programmes but the easiest way of thinking about them for yourself is to think about the cold calls you get and think about what really puts your back up at the start of the call… and don’t do it!

For more on cold calling, have a look at this short video I did on 10 tips for cold calling.

Related posts:

1. “How Do I Avoid My Cold Call Being Viewed As An Interruption By My Prospect?”
2. Does Cold Calling Work?
3. Should Cold Callers Ask, “How Are You Today?”