Full disclosure, David asked me to be a part of it–and I told him I’d promote it to our blog readers.

There are something like 13 trainers/speakers/experts. I can’t vouch for the value of every one of them, but there are thirteen hours of content. You will be able to find something of value (in mine, I revealed a couple of things you may not have heard from us before).

It begins next week–there are three teleseminars/day.

COST: It’s free to be on each call. Or, you can pay $67 and own them all–all 13 hours. (The thing I like about this is that if you don’t like what you’re hearing, hang up and move on!)

Register Here.

So what’s the problem? I think I know.

They aren’t happy with you.

That’s right, they may not be entirely happy with your service. So how would you know if they were? Do you test? Do you survey? If not, why not?

Dinner at Sullivan’s

I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants the other night–Sullivan’s Steak House. It was less than special. Steak grisly. Potatoes boring. Desert lousy. An uncommon experience at Sullivan’s.

So what did the waiter do at the end? Sell us on why we needed to get on the email list.

Hmmmmm. Wouldn’t it have been better if they would have given me a chance to weigh in on my experience? AND THEN….ask me if they could have my email address. Never once at Sullivan’s have I been asked to rate the food, the experience or anything.

That night, the restaurant was 1/3 full. In this day, when customers are weighing their every dollar, doesn’t it make sense to do all you can to solidfy your current relationships?

And that starts not with “Can I sell you something else?” But, with, “How are we doing at providing you unbelievable service?” If it’s not unbelievable, then it can be replaced.

So all the time you’re out selling new prospects, goes up in smoke because you’re losing clients out the back end.

Here’s how. There is a step BEFORE the sales funnel takes effect and that is the WAGON WHEEL. In the illustration, I’ve used four different ways the prospect gets into the funnel.

Of all sales problems that exist now, moving someone through the sales funnel is still an issue. But a bigger issue is getting them in the funnel in the first place. 

Mike Sigers (simplenomics.com) showed me this for his internet business. But the same things apply to the sales professional. 

Write down the many different ways you “engage” with your potential clients. I suggest you have at least 12 ways. I put only four on this model because of space.

If you have 12 ways, then you must have a plan for each of the 12. For example, how do you encourage referrals now? Most people have no system for this. They just ask when they think about it. 

Just spoke to a client in Dallas who is implementing a referral program in 2009. All sounds good in practice but the discipline must be there. At some point you must have a system…like a letter automatically goes out 4 weeks after the first installation. And that letter has a space at the bottom for a referral. 

If you think that’s too corny, then make sure a copy of the letter comes to you so you can call the prospect personally and ask them.

Make a Plan

So take a look at what the spokes on the wheel look like for you and get about planning how you’ll engage more people in 2009.

I sometimes feel like we all (including us) make prospecting really hard. So here’s today’s tip, if you’re feeling like prospecting is difficult:

Think Engagement. Not Selling.

Do you have a “process for engagement?” Let’s say you meet someone on a trip that might make sense to have more conversation with. Do they go into a process of any kind? Well, they should. Yet most of us don’t think about prospecting as a process. We mistakenly think of it as an action.

As the threshold of free goes up in the marketing world, you must have something that engages the prospect after that initial conversation. Calling them for an appointment might be too much.

So instead, write down all the things that you could use to engage them further prior to that next call.

• Do you have a report that you could send them that educates them?
• Do you have an article that addresses the most common problems people similar to him have?
• What about an audio recording of a speech that you made where you discussed trends in the industry?

Think of the process of engaging prospects as a “sequence of events” that happens so that when you do call, they’re ready. (Or, they call you first. Even better!)

And even better, if you have someone in your office that is good with “systems thinking,” then have them help you flow chart an Engagement Process. You’ll be surprised at how a prospecting system will help you meet your goals.

So Here’s a Creative Idea I’ll Give The Real Estate Community

Even if you aren’t a realtor, bare with me on this. I think you’ll learn something.

I know many realtors–as we all do. At last count in Indianapolis, there were over 5000 realtors. But why is it that most of them are awful marketers? When you think about it, that’s ALL they should be doing is marketing/selling.

An Example:

My neighbor recently listed his house with a Century 21 realtor. He was telling me what a great realtor this guy was. Great guy maybe–effective realtor? Doesn’t appear so.If I were selling homes today, I would do one thing that would make me the top producer in an area. I’ve heard of no other realtors do this. (I have other ideas if you realtors want to call me. But don’t call me if you don’t want to rapidly grow your business.)

My Idea (you get for free): I would let everyone in the neighborhood know in advance of the listing/sign, that the house was going up for sale. Think about how insanely valuable this idea is.

Think about how many people we all know–that we’re only an email away from. Tens? Hundreds?I’d say every one of us knows 100-300 people that we could email. So, if he opened the house up for ONE WEEK to all people who were Friends of Neighbors, he could probably sell the damn thing in a week. Plus, he would get both ends of the deal (not just the 1.5% as the listing agent).He would sell the house quicker AND get double the commish.

He should personally call all 50-100 of the closest neighbors and have a two day open-house (Sat and Sun) prior to the list date. He should have champagne, Starbucks Coffee, spend a few dollars on nuts/chips.

But What Does He Typically Do?

Nothing of the sort. His sales strategy is 100 years old. He spends hundreds of dollars of his own money doing worthless advertising, sending out direct mail that no one reads and spending other company resources without results. So why do realtors refuse to change their thinking? Not sure.But those realtors who get sophisticated about marketing, who understand referral systems, who are creative marketers, will make 5-10x the rest of the pack. But most are afraid of stepping outside the traditional realtor thinking.

What can you, the non-realtor, learn from this?

Think differently. Think marketing. Think how to do things easier. Rather than making cold calls, make warm calls. Rather than doing direct mail to a cold audience, find out who else knows the typical prospect you’re going after. Read Seth Godin’s blog. His creativity will break some of your brain cells free.

It seems we were taught early in life to CONFORM–wear the unifom–don’t step out of line–do what everyone else does.Well, you can do that. But that’s not where the enormous growth is. Get out of line. Read and come up with new ideas and say to yourself, “I’m going to test this and see how it works. And if anyone challenges me on it, I’ll just smile and say ‘I know it’s probably stupid, but I’m going to try it anyway.’”

Good luck.

Sales Tactics. The Wrong Discussion. 

As I sat in the room listening to their ideas on mailing vs. calling first v. emailing, I thought to myself (and actually said it), “You’re working on the wrong thing!” (Sometimes you just have the be the ‘bringer’ of bad news.)

The right thing to work on is “what is my thinking?” Their thinking was all wrapped around: how do I get someone in to the free seminar?

Their thinking should have been: how can I bring value to this person by him attending?

The Key To Great Sales Results Is Great INTENT.

I see this a lot in sales orgs—their “intent” is out of whack. Think about how their new intent (of helping the prospect get value) will color their words, their tonality, the discussion etc., It will radically change their interaction with their customer. The customer will no longer feel sold to–and their will be less resistance.

As they all realized what they had missed, heads started nodding. They didn’t like my exposing this fallacy in thought–but they can now to their prospecting with their head on straight.

Are Your Filling Your Sales Pipeline With The Right Mindset?

Maybe. Maybe not. But before you make another cold call (or prospecting call), make sure your attitude is in the right place. And the best method for that is checking out “your intent.” Is it about YOU? Or is it about THEM? You know the answer.

But there is seismic shift happening in the world of B2B selling that we’re seeing. And it has to do with how people find information. And it may not affect your selling skills–but it will affect your revenue skills.

Mark Zuckerberg (Founder of Facebook), was on CBS’ 60 Minutes last night and talked about how social media was changing the face of the web–and how information is disseminated. He’s right. And I sense that not too many companies are on to this–I know our company isn’t.

Google recently offerred a preposterous sum of money for Facebook (in the billions). It was rebuffed.

And Bill Gates just sent a check to Facebook for $240,000,000, which represented 1.6% of Facebook’s market value (which puts the value at tens of billions). So why are these guys so into ‘facebook?’

Do They Know Something You Don’t?
Because they know the web is becoming a social media phenomena. When you Google things these days, are you noticing how many more entries are from social media sites (Squidoo, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, others)? What that means is that more and more of your reputation is being built on social media sites.

That means that when someone Googles your keywords, it won’t be your site coming up. It’ll be someone talking about you and your products. Are you ready for that?

An Assignment From Someone Who Doesn’t Even Know You
It might be useful for you to spend a couple of hours in the next few weeks researching the social media phenomena. I’d been thinking about it–but when I saw the Diane Sawyer interview, it jolted me out of my oblivion. Some things that are hard to understand really need to be understood. And if you’re going to play in the B2B game, then this might be worth a few hours of your time.

In fact, go to Stompernet and watch their video. It’s about 50 minutes. I have nothing to do with that company other than I trust them for insight on the web. It’s quite eye opening.

As your company sits in board rooms and talks sales strategy, then think about Social Media as one leg of execution.

Definition: ‘Social media’ (SM). SM is the interaction that people have online that creates conversations in which your company and/or products are centerpieces.

You, as a sales professional or sales manager, had best get hip to what’s happening online to your company/products/customers. And how to use this knowledge to grow your business. There are several vehicles in SM. Here they are, in no order.

Podcasts. You should have a podcast for your business (every business should have a podcast–and I challenge someone to convince me otherwise) if you have expertise about something. Your podcast will provide valuable information that your customers/prospects can use to see you as a resource for bigger problems. Talk to customers about problems you’ve solved for them. Record them and you have a podcast. Giving a speech at an industry event? Good, record it and now you have a podcast. Have a technical guru in the back room? Turn on the mic, interview him and now you have yet another podcast.

Don’t tell me you have nothing to talk about.

Plug: Check out The Advanced Selling Podcast, which is produced weekly. It’s 15-minutes long and takes us about 20 minutes to create/episode. We have about 12,000 listeners per month and it costs us about $100/month to produce and host. Where else can I speak to 12,000 people for $100?

Another Resource: Go to Podcast Tools to check out Paul Colligan’s podcast on podcasting. He does 5 minutes/week. Short but to the point. 

Another Point: The iPhone will sell over 10,000,000 units in the next year. Go to your Apple store, or go to apple.com and watch the instructional video. Guess what a big part of the feature set is? Podcasting delivered directly to the phone!

Your selling strategy should be to educate your prospects to the pains/issues they have that they don’t know they have. Every selling process or procedure should do this. What better way to do this than through podcasting or internet audio where your sales strategy is to help them see their problems–and help them see YOU as a solution to them?

Blogs. While there are 40,000,000 blogs, most companies don’t see them for what they could be. If you have a website and not a blog, then you’re missing a great way to lead people to your website. But make your blog a rigorous conversation about the industry. DON’T make it about you and only you.

Ask questions. Pose opinions and ask for feedback. Create controversy by being honest. Blogs should be written by people–not by some faceless company PR person.

You can also use blogs to create Case Studies on ways you’ve solved problems for your customers. Have a new product? Take a pic of it and post about it. But be honest about it’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t tell one side of the story. If you do, it’ll sound like it came from your marketing department–more blah-blah-blah.

Video Blogs. This includes the addition of Video to your blog site. If your value can be told easier through pictures/video, then this is a great application. Here is one that came from the Executive Learning Network. I have no idea who they are, but it looks like they have a new video blog site. I spent 15 minutes watching it. Not the meatiest content in the world, but well produced. Your ideas should be flowing by now.

RSS. This is a tough one. You’ve heard about it, but you may not undrestand it fully. Here is a link to Capture The Conversation, a blog written about new media. This post tells you what RSS is and how important it is for companies investing in the web.

Every sales person should know about RSS because it might just be the future of client communications. Period.

Conclusion
The idea is that your customers/prospects aren’t at chamber meetings anymore. They are online in their own conversations with people. If you’re a sales manager or top level sales person, then here are some questions you should address:
==’How can you meet your prospects where they are?’
==’How can you create some of those customer conversations by what you know–and educate them?’
==’How can you share your insights so your market comes begging for more–which consequently puts you in control of the sales process?

If you think your goal is to merely make cold calls and get referrals, then you are thinking in the old world. Good luck with new thinking.

Seminars are outstanding ways to generate “conversations” with prospects—and ultimately leads. But if done poorly, they can ruin your brand. If you’re a sales professional and you are asked to do a seminar, then take these into consideration.

FACT: Every company has expertise that lends itself to sharing at a seminar (telephone, webinar or face to face). I’ll post later on some ways to organize your material, but for now, we’ll talk about DO’s and DONT’s.

What To Do
Here are some tips on what to do when presenting a seminar designed to generate leads (or conversations):

1. Find Out Customer Objectives
This can be in the form of a PDF you send out on an autorespond when they sign up. Or you can pass out a brief questionnaire when people sit down. Remember, in our sales approach, we sell to the pain–to teh problem. How will you know how to convert your knowledge if you don’t know the pain of the group.

This also gives you a chance to talk about what you WON’T cover in a seminar upfront so people don’t leave disappointed. I always say, “John, that’s a great point. Because of limited time, I won’t be able to address that fully here. If you’ll mark on your business card, I’ll make sure we talk later.”

2. Tell Stories
People don’t want to see PowerPoints. They want to hear stories–stories of real people solving real problems. If you don’t have 5-10 good, short stories, then you’re probably boring your audience.

If you are not a story teller by nature, then do 3-5 short Case Studies. Remember, a case study should follow the following format: a) What was the problem you’re client was having? b) What impact was that having on their business? c) What solution did you bring to them? and d) What is life like now for the client. That’s the ONLY format to use.

3. Never Answer The First Question
This goes for salespeople on a call as well. The question the prospect asks you is never the real question. It is a “poser” for a deeper question. Consequently, you should find out what’s the question behind the question.

Barb (attendee): “Bill, how do you handle it when a prsopect tells you they don’t have the money to buy?”

Bill (me): “Good question–did everyone hear that? (then repeat the question). Before I answer that, give me a little more data — what exactly did you say that caused that reaction?”  You see, if I answer the question as posed, I may miss something that she said to cause the prospect to respond in that manner.

Once I know that, then I can answer the question. EVERY QUESTION HAS A DEEPER QUESTION BEHIND IT. You do the prospect a severe disservice if you merely answer the question asked.

OK-Now What NOT To Do

1. Stop Reading Your Freakin’ PowerPoints
Every good presentation book says this yet no one apparently is reading those books. If you’re in professional sales and you have to rely on a PowerPoint on a projector, then you’re making too much money.

2. Never Let People Out Without A Commitment
I am not looking to close someone from the front of the room. But you must never, ever let someone leave, after you’ve worked with them for the length of the seminar, without a clear future on what to do next. It frustrates your participant too. If you’ve done a good job upfront, finding  out what they’re pain is, then why shouldn’t you close for a future action?

3. Don’t Spend More Than One Minute on How Great You (or Your Company) Is
I was at a seminar earlier this year. The introducer spent 10 minutes on the qualifications of the main speaker. Come on….one minute is enough. It was laughable. I know you’re proud of your accomplishments, but did you know ‘they don’t care about you?’ They only care about you to the extent that you can help them to a better future.

If you don’t do lead generation seminars, then find a reason to start doing them. But if you do them, follow the very-simple tips above for a magical outcome.

By Brooke Green

I was having coffee with a friend of mine today.  He’s a bright, strategically-minded guy, however, he made the oddest comment.  He is an owner of his company and is in front of prospects and clients on a regular basis.  He also happens to know a lot of high level people in the business world. 

We were talking about his sales process, and he said, “I don’t do a great job of getting in front of people, but once I’m with them, they want to buy.”  I asked him how he targets his accounts and he said “cold calls.”  WHAT!!!?  Here’s a guy with a rolodex full of people that respect him and would love to help him – so why is he making cold calls?

Should it Hurt to Grow Your Revenue?
I talk to business development people everyday that feel that it should “hurt” to grow your revenue. Why is that? Is the money worth more if you have to cold call, get lied to, chase someone forever and finally land a piece of business? 

Wouldn’t we rather use our rolodex, ask for referrals, and work with people that want our help? Ahhh–quick and painless and just as (or even more) valuable. When I asked my friend this, he kind of chuckled and said, “I guess so.” 

Is Revenue Growth Right Under Your Nose?
Think about the people that you know and the clients that you are already working with. Instead of working on a cold call script, work on a referral process. My experience is that people will gladly refer you, they just need to know how to do it.  Lay it out for them.

Don’t reinvent the wheel – roll with what you have.