“I love showing up to work & getting rejected!” said no one ever.
The feeling we get from a big, loud “NO!” is not usually associated with warm-fuzzies. Too much rejection means we’re out of business.
But a certain amount of rejection in sales & marketing will help us focus on those who are a better fit for our products. A narrow focus will help us win more sales, instead of a broad, distracted approach that focuses on everyone.
Here are a few pointers to get things headed in the right direction, culled from first hand experience as an outside sales rep & marketing grunt.
Research
Prospect familiarity starts before actually picking up the phone to dial. By visiting a prospect’s Facebook page or website, reading news blurbs or press releases, we’ll find conversation starters & selling points. Even vague information will show our call’s recipient that we’re professional enough to do our research.
And if we really like something that they’ve done, or their business as a whole, a sincere compliment or two certainly won’t hurt.
Marketing research will also give us a good idea whether a business is a fit or not. Visiting a website, LinkedIn or reading a newspaper article on a specific business will give us clues like 1) how many employees they have, 2) how much they’re doing in revenue, 3) what their current needs are and 4) if they will they pay on time.
Confidence
It’s equally important to sound like we know what we’re talking about, as it is to know what we’re talking about. How quickly do you hang up on the clueless telemarketer, who always happens to call at lunch to yammer on & on without breathing? Or how bad do we feel for the poor soul who isn’t making any sales, and is desperately trying to sign you to a contract within 5 seconds?
The first step is to take a few breaths before we pick up the phone. Relax, focus and make it fun! This is how we do our best work. We can even give ourselves some positive self talk, or start off our tele-prospecting session reading about a successful business case-study.
Just a smidgen of realistic optimism can make all the difference. Harvard Business Review recently published an article saying that “confidence is the cheapest form of stimulus.” And when our backs are against the wall, pluckiness will give us the staying power we need to win over those on the fence.
Let Go
Unless we’re selling oxygen, not everyone will be a fit. This is the hardest to cope with, because we dream of having everyone love our products & create a universal for them. But the reality is, the marketplace is segmented and no company is immune to this.
And this is good news! Through brand positioning and process of elimination, this segmentation can be used to our advantage by moving on to the next prospect or pivoting in our strategy.
Having someone tell us they’re not interested can give us clues as to what they, or our other prospects, are interested in. A “No!” could mean we didn’t clearly communicate the value our products will bring. Even still, it could mean there is no fit within our prospect’s company for our products. So cross them off!
That’s the beauty of prospecting. We get our hands dirty to help us create market awareness.
Be the Solution
It’s all too easy to get pumped up for sales, focusing on pushing instead of providing. If we are the sales rep who won’t let us get a word in, or marketer who becomes annoying over time, it’s because we’re afraid we’ll lose the sale. So before we even think about ‘selling’ someone, let’s focus on how we will solve their problems. Being the expert will make us indispensable.
So what’s the problem? Seriously! If we don’t know what your prospect’s problems are, therein lies a problem. But with a little research, prospects are likely to divulge what their biggest concerns are & we can use that to shape our strategies.
Objections
Companies are built just to survey customers. In fact, online surveys are a $2 billion industry. So any objections given are gold, incredibly helpful in positioning a product to win more sales.
Instead of jumping into a pre-written pitch each day, we can use objections to open the door to conversation & create fresh, new and relevant dialogue. Sales & marketing objections are typically based on things like fear, lack of information and wrong perceptions — whether by seller or buyer. Often buyers are fearful of expressing their objections, because once an objection, or problem, is stated a solution can be devised.
Prospecting is at times difficult, but imperative. Like a shower when you’d rather stay in bed. But like a shower, if we don’t do it regularly, we and those closest to us will soon regret it! If we adopt this view, how can we not win more sales?